Jen wasn't entirely sure when she fell asleep, but at some point, she had laid down on her back by the lake and fallen asleep. She came awake slowly to a peculiar sensation. A hand, its touch feather light, sliding through the hair beside her face. It reminded her of when Leta would crawl into Jen's bed after a nightmare, and fall asleep stroking her hair.
Jen opened her eyes to find the last person she expected. Crimson eyes staring down at her as his hand froze, Hiei had been the one stroking her hair. Before she could say anything, he disappeared.
Confused, Jen sat up and wondered if she even saw him there. Then only thing that told her she wasn't entirely insane was the lingering scent of a smoldering log that felt cold when she inhaled. Shaking her confusion away, Jen stood up and walked over to the camp, just as the sun was rising.
She was greeted by a group people who rushed to her, bombarding her with questions. Jen held a hand up to silence them and said simply, "I am okay, we should make our way back."
Hiei didn't know why he had touched her hair. It was as if his hand had moved on its own accord. That's what he told himself atleast. Somewhere else in his mind, hidden away and unacknowledged, he knew the truth. He wanted to know what her hair felt like running through his fingers. He wanted to know other things too, but he didn't dare think about them. They were foolish, not to mention impossible, things.
Hiei stayed away from the group as they made their way back to Aerisia. He couldn't help but look into Jen's mind. What had she thought about waking up to him touching her? He expected disgust and anger, but only found curiousity. Hiei swore he felt something else but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
He kept a mental tether of sorts to her as he continued to jump through the trees with ease, curious to see if that unplaceable feeling came back and he could investigate it further. The bad feeling had remained in his chest, deep-rooted and had only increased as he continued towards Aerisia.
As Aerisia came into view, he froze. Someting was definitely not right. Well ahead of the rest of the group, Hiei proceeded with caution, his senses straining. As he came to the edge of the cliff to the North of the kingdom, he cursed.
To Jen, the walk back had been uneventful. Avidan had been talking with Yusuke, Salvatore was catching up with Kurama and Terrance was talking to Kuwabara and Yukina about wolf customs. She could sense Hiei parallel to the group off in the trees. Something about his energy seemed to cling to her, as if she could feel him in her thoughts and ribbons of his energy were wrapping themselves around her. It was a curious feeling, though she didn't dwell on it much.
Jen still couldn't place why she had felt a difference in the presence in the sky. She had passed it off as being outside of Aerisia, but deep down, she knew something else was different. She had been outside the atmosphere plenty to know better but she refused to elaborate on it.
Avidan had swung his arm over Jen's shoulders as they walked, startling her out of her thoughts. "So you think they are gonna have a parade for us, Jenny," he asked, his usual upbeat voice making her smile.
"We went on a mission that was disapproved by the society, not only because it did not affect us, but it was also during the time of a Prince's mate-celebration. If we get anything, it will be a serious tongue-lashing from the ancestral council."
Avidan seemed to think about that for a moment. "Yeah, but we, the disapproved, kicked some serious ass! They have to at least give us props," he said, nodding his head at the end.
Jen laughed a little. "Come on, Avi. We both know that wasn't anything all that difficult."
Avidan frowned. "Yeah, come to think of it, I was surprised it was as easy as it was. I know we are bad ass and all, but that seemed like the other four could have taken care of it."
Kurama spoke up at that point. "It was a great deal easier than I had anticipated."
Avidan smirked. "Maybe they caught wind you recruited a group of wolves and they ran away."
Jen laughed but didn't say much more about it. What had her confused was how they knew their weakness. It was a very little known fact that electrical shock would render a wolf-demon incapacitated, and they made a habit of neutralizing those who did know about it.
So why was it the Delphyrs had been armed with electrical rods? She knew Mukuro had no knowledge of it, considering she would have taken advantage of it long ago and stormed Aerisia. It made her uneasy that an enemy they weren't aware of had the knowledge. Jen made a mental note to tell her father as soon as they arrived.
Jen had been pulled out of her thoughts once again by Avidan as he clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Race you to the front door," he said as he took off.
Jen smirked, tearing off after him. She always caught him at the cliff because she could leap farther, land, and continue her run smoother than Avidan. She took to the trees, dodging through them with ease as the scenery flew by. Something strange went straight through her causing a panic to ripple through her. So taken by it, she nearly crashed into Avidan and Hiei standing at the edge of the cliff. She froze as her eyes raised to the kingdom.
The pseudo-atmosphere was gone. The entire kingdom held a certain greyness to it and Jen trembled, unable to sense anything. "No," she said quietly as the rest of the group approached the cliff.
Jen launched herself from the cliff, landing near by and running towards the walls. Vaguely she heard Kurama call out to her to be careful. She knew they followed her but only one was close on her heals. Hiei.
She tore open the doors and nearly whimpered. Dead bodies lie strewn through out the entire kingdom. Jen looked around, numbness washing over her as she saw her people slaughtered at her feet. Jen turned to the group, speaking with determination. "Split up and search the kingdom for any survivors."
"But Jen-" Avidan started and Jen snarled.
"Now."
Without another word, the wolves split up and began making their way through the ruins as Jen made her way to the palace itself. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noticed Hiei and Yusuke following silently but didn't pay much attention.
Once inside the palace, Jen placed her hand on the wall and concentrated on lifting the energy signature from the room. Feeling some degree of confusion from Yusuke, she spoke quietly as she continued to concentrate. "Everything we do leaves an energy-based mark on the objects around us for a short time before it dissapates completely. With concentration, you can pull those signatures of sort from the objects and in a sense retell what happened there."
As if on cue silverish forms seemed to lift from the walls, floor and surrounding objects. The forms were blurry at first but quickly sharpened as Jen pushed a small amount of her own energy through it all.
Jen saw Delphyrs everywhere fighting against the royal guard who were little to no match. Those who stood a chance were shocked and then slain on the ground. The trio made their way through the reenactment slowly, looking for some clue as to how the Delphyr got in.
With a sigh, Jen turned and froze immediately. The silvery image of her father standing there stole her breath. He walked toward her with a warm, relieved smile. Jen turned to look behind her to see her mother walking towards him. Stepping out of the way, her heart stopped at what she saw. There, in the center of the throne room, her mother had driven a dagger into her father's chest, a look of satisfaction gleaming in her mother's eyes as Kravyn fell to the ground. A look of surprise and betrayal creased his face as the life quickly faded from his eyes.
With a feral snarl, she forced as much energy out of her body as she could, banishing the reenactment. She hardly noticed Yusuke leaving to find the rest of the wolves as the energy slowly faded from the room. Now on her knees in front of her father's dead body, Jen let out a harrowing howl of vengence. Tears of anger and frustration fought to fall from her eyes as she noticed Hiei was now standing behind her silently. "It's all my fault," she choked out.
"You can not blame yourself for something you weren't even here for."
Jen shook her head as a single tear succeeded in falling. "You don't understand. The ancestors told me this would happen if I didn't find a mate. This is my fault."
Her head lowered as more tears, despite her best attempts, fell and mixed with her father's blood. Jen didn't even look up as Hiei scoffed. "The kingdom didn't fall because you didn't mate. The kingdom fell because your race's weakness was exploited and your queen let them in. Nothing more."
"But if I had been here-" Hiei cut her off.
"Then you would have been just as useless as the rest of the wolves who were shocked and executed."
Hiei's voice was firm, but held a tone of calmness and gentleness that calmed her to a degree. It was then that she noticed his hand on her shoulder. It didn't move, nor urge her to move; It was just there, just as he was just there. He didn't demand her attention. He didn't tell her what she needed to do. He didn't even scold her for crying. He was just there, a silent anchor that kept her from losing her mind. For that, she was grateful as she came to terms with what she just saw.
Hiei dropped his hand from her shoulder an instant before the group crashed into the room, Salvatore and Yusuke at the lead. "Is it true?" Salvatore's voice was hitched with grief as he stared down at their father. "Did she do this?"
Jen could only nod, assuming Yusuke had told them what the energy signature had revealed. Salvatore let out a howl of agony before disappearing, Jettalynn disappearing after him with a sob. Avidan sank to his knees beside her, intending to wrap an arm around her and Jen snarled. "Find her," she growled. "Bring her to me alive."
The group shifted uncomfortably and Jen growled again as she looked up. "Did you not hear me? I said-"
"Carlotta has fled to Mukuro's kingdom. We traced her to the Lord of the Makai's own dwellings," Makya reported and Jen growled again.
"So break down the door and drag her out of Mukuro's by her hair and bring her to me," she snarled.
"But what about-"
Jen cut off Terrance with another snarl. "Fuck the treaty. Makya and Terrance, bring Carlotta to me by any means necessary."
With uneasiness, they nodded before leaving. "See to it our guests make it out safely," she said quietly to Avidan before Yusuke stepped forward.
"Hey, we aren't going anywhere. The Delphyr are still our problem, and they attacked because they saw an opportunity that we created by asking for your aid. We will stay until everything is settled."
Too tired to argue, Jen nodded slightly, partly grateful for the support. "Then see to it our guests are tended to," she said to Avidan, who nodded and stood.
"If you will follow me, I will lead you to an inn we've been clearing out for those still alive."
The upbeat tone was gone from Avidan's voice. His usual prankster self was gone and in place was a somber, defeated wolf whose family, much like hers, had been slaughtered. Their race may have frowned on them, each for their own reasons, but they were still their people that they vowed to protect.
Now alone, Jen stood with a sigh, looking around. The throne room that had once glowed with life and strength now laid in shambles, their proud leader dead in the center. With a painful sigh, Jen left the room and pushed on to aiding in cleaning up the inn.
Hiei could feel Jen's grief straight to his bones as they cleared the area. Due to the pseudo-atmosphere, Aerisia had no ceilings in their buildings. Between the controlled climate, and their connection to the stars, it made sense, but now as the sun was setting, he felt the frigid cold start to sink into his skin. It wouldn't bother him, but he expected the rest, especially the dumb human would struggle from it.
He walked through the hall shortly after everyone had been appointed rooms and settled in for the night. Listening to the shivering and thoughts of anger and betrayal in each room, he stopped in front of Jen's room. The turmoil he felt was beyond description as her father's murder ran through her mind over and over. He opened the door, intent on telling her to quit thinking about it and get to sleep. He froze at the sight of Jen already asleep. The images in her mind began to shift to the people in the inn being slaughtered. Closing the door behind him without a sound, he leaned against the wall near the bed.
Some time later, Jen came awake with a scream. Hiei shielded the room so the sound wouldn't draw everyone's attention as she looked around the room before finally focusing on him. Without a word she got up and wrapped her arms around him tightly, burrying her face in his shoulder. He froze, unsure of what to do as she sobbed against his chest. Deciding to rely on instinct, he wrapped his arms around her slowly, carefully cradling her against him.
Hiei ignored how her body felt good against his. How her scent of lavender calmed his senses alongside the scent of something that purely belonged to her, that did other things, far less calming. Pulling him from his thoughts he heard her mumble, "I'm glad you are okay."
"It was just a dream," he said, unsure of exactly what to say that would calm her.
His voice seemed to pull her out of her daze as she pulled back and wiped her face quickly. "I apologize. I'm not entirely sure what came over me," she said quietly, though her mind was still on her nightmare.
"Hn. Must run in the family," he said quietly, smirking slightly.
He succeeded in a small laugh from Jen, though he was unsure why it pleased him. Sadness washed over her as she remembered Leta and a small pang of regret hit his chest, realizing the little girl was dead. He even felt a twinge of grief over the young girl, but couldn't quite place why. Perhaps the wolf's emotions are rubbing off on you since you are in her head so much, he thought to himself and sighed. He knew the real reason.
Leta's innocence and pure heart had reminded him of his own sister, who never refused anyone kindness. Leta's indiscriminate gesture towards him had touched him, and now, something pure and innocent had been destroyed.
Jen's shivering as she moved back toward the bed shook him from his thoughts as her thoughts ran through his head. I hate the damn cold. Might as well be back on the floor in the dungeons. Images of her beatings followed by being left on the frozen ground flooded his mind as he continued to look into her thoughts.
Without a word, and refusing to really elaborate to himself on the 'why' of what he was doing, Hiei laid down beside her, his arm barely touching against hers. Bracing himself to leave in an instant, he looked into her thoughts. Surprise, then confusion, followed by gratefulness, but the disgust he anticipated never once touched her thoughts. Hiei was in turn surprised that she turned on her side towards him and laid her head on his shoulder. The intimacy of the moment made him want to run as far away as possible and never come back, but he refused to give in to the idea of fleeing from something.
No, Hiei would never flee from anything, especially not a wolf-demon who hated the cold. That was why he stayed. Somewhere in his mind, he heard himself laugh.
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.
A/N~ Okay, so I simultaneously love this chapter and hate it. I would have loved to show more of Jen and Kravyn interacting and I love the character of Kravyn, but I felt it lean towards this. Perhaps there will be flashbacks where you can see some more of Kravyn.
But I do love it because it shows a little bit of bonding between Jen and Hiei and we all love that :P
Anyway, review, favorite, message, whatever you fancy, and hope you have enjoyed it so far. :) Don't be afraid to let me know what you think! I love feedback
Oh, and to answer a few people who PM'd me about this whole "You gotta mate within a week" thing the ancestors told Jen, no, I'm not gearing up for Hiei to be mated to her to save the kingdom. One, the kingdom already went to hell and there's no going back (later chapters will explain why it was sped up) and Two, the council would never accept Jen being mated to Hiei. And Hiei might have a few objections too. Don't get me started about Jen.
Anyway, have fun :)
Much love ~Jessa