Author note:hiei is a rat and Yoko kurama is a kitsune (i drew pictures of this fanfiction there is a link on my bio if you want to see them..)
In the demon realm forest
Hiei was jumping at superspeed through the trees using his tail to balance. He was on his way to get home before demon winter started, because in that weather he would probably freeze and had the high metabolism of a rat and had to get ready for hibernation.
Suddenly he came to a clearing, and just before he got ready to jump across to the branch of the other side, he heard a low whining noise coming from below the tree. He moved back and hid behind the leaves and looked down into the forest clearing.
There was a white shape there, a big beast with silky fur... It was curled up on itself, fussing over its paw and waving its tails in agitation. The whining noises it was making were pitiful for such a big beast..
Hiei decided he would stop to investigate. He didnt usually get involved with other demons but something drew him to this demon. He jumped down without a sound and landed in front of the demon.
It stopped its whining and calmly searched around for the flash it thought it had seen. "Who goes there?" He asked in a smooth tone. Hiei stepped forwards out of the grass, and the big white silky fox started straight into his red eyes with his sharp yellow ones..
Hiei was surprised. Those eyes..! "Legendary thief Yoko Kurama!" He said.
"Purhaps" Yoko kurama said, licking the fur on his chest but not letting his guard down.
Hiei paused.. "I heard those sad cries you were making" hiei sneered.
"How is my singing voice" yoko kurama joked. Yoko kurama moved to stand, but couldnt put his weight onto his left front paw.
"Ha, Yoko kurama brought down by a thorn in his paw?" Hiei cruelly said. "I suppose your stolen artifacts are unguarded back at your den?"
Yoko kurama smiled with his fangs.
"A thorn would be easy.. As I can control plants, i would never be hurt by one" Yoko kurama said, inspecting his paw pad. He ignored hieis threat.
Hiei paused to sense the atmosphere. It was getting colder very fast At this rate they would both be stuck out in the demon winter.
Yoko kurama had noticed too because his fur was on end to conserve heat which made him look even bigger.
He looked down at hiei and said "your den is far away from here isnt it"
Hiei didnt respond but squinted his jagan eye. Yoko kuramas den was also far from here and he wouldn't be able to take advantage of Yoko being stuck here to steal from him and get back to his den before winter started. Hiei said " Yours is also"
Yoko kurama smiled at the use of the jagan eye to get one up in discussion. He lifted his hurt paw and extended it gracefully towards hiei. He had long sharp claws and grey paw pads. "See" he said. The handle of a weapon was sticking out from his paw and it seemed tiny im comparison. "I know you are a sword user and have nimble paws, no matter how much I paw and bite at it it only gets driven further in and hurts more. I would risk injuring my tendons if I left it in and ran"
Was legendary thief Yoko kurama asking him for help? hiei moved forward cautiously in case Yoko kurama was tricking him into being crushed under his paw. He looked closely.. From the handle it looked like a cat size sword made to be held in a (small) mouth while they wielded it.
"How did this happen?" Hiei queried almost amazed
"I stole the Feline crown jewels a short time ago and they sent a warrior after me" Yoko brought his paw up to lick at it. " but I ate him"
Hiei shuddered inwardly but tried not to show it on the outside. He still couldnt tell if the kitsune was trying to trick him or not.
"Well why should I help you?" Hiei said.
" Will you be able to get back to your den before winter even with your fast speeds?"
"How do you know?" Hiei asked
"I heard you coming towards me from a mile away but I still doubt you will make it to your home in time at that speed" He flashed his fangs in a smile again.
Hiei thought that the kitsune was right even though he didnt want him to be.
"I have a longer stride and more stamina, I could get you there, if you just..."
Yoko kurama extended his paw for hiei again.
"Hah you think i would fall for that!" hiei sneered and drew his sword at Yoko kurama.
"I am telling the truth" Yoko kurama said, rolling over onto his back. "you can trust me" he said stretching out his big paw again. It was weird to see a big proud kitsune lying on its back with its tails waving.
hiei stepped forwards as the kitsune couldnt stomp or bite him from this position without moving and warning him to jump away. He looked at the kitsunes eyes to guage what he was thinking again, Yoko kurama was staring straight at him with his yellow eyes.
Hiei pulled at the handle, the sword must have a serrated (fanged) blade because it caught and was hard to get free.
Slowly it came free from Yoko kuramas paw but it was too big for hiei to hold, meant for a cat demon to fight with so he threw it away.
Yoko kurama flexed his paw to check his claws and tendons and rolled back onto his paws very gracefully checking to see if he could stand on it. It seemed to be ok as he lifted his paw and licked the blood from it.
"All right" he said and bowed towards the ground to hiei. "Climb up my snout and hold on to my ear"
Hiei was cautious
"Unless you want to ride in my mouth" Yoko kurama smiled.
Hiei jumped carefully in one jump onto Yoko kuramas forehead and held onto one of his soft furred ears like he asked.
it was getting cold very fast and snow started to fall as Yoko kurama ran
Suddenly he changed course, jumping over a stream and between some sharp rocks. "Where are you taking me?" Hiei demanded feeling uneasy.
"I do not think we could make it to your den before it becomes too cold for me to run but you are welcome to stay with me for now."
hiei was shocked, although he had already used the jagan eye to find out the location of Yoko kuramas den which was a secret to every other demon, but was it possible the kitsune had taken a liking to him...?
He decided to trust the strong demon who had rolled onto his back where hiei could have easily cut his neck or stabbed him in the chest. Even if he was not trustworthy (which was uncommon for demons anyway) he was very brave and confident.
He didnt say anything in reply and thought Yoko kurama would understand he was agreeing with him.
Then they got to Yoko kuramas den, there was already deep snow on the ground, if hiei had been stuck in it he would have died which is why he had been travelling through the trees but he was still vulnerable there to snow falling from the branches. Yoko kurama slinked into the den and hiei couldnt see at first. glowing flowers lit the passage way as they brushed past them. There were other passage ways leading off where yko kurama probably stored all the stolen treasures. Then at the end there was a tangle of vines and leaves that made a soft bed
Yoko kurama bowed his head to the ground and hiei jumped off. Yoko kurama padded into the den and curled up. "Oh" he said " I forgot smaller demons have to eat before hibernating. I already ate the cat demon but I could share if you would like" he started to bring it back up. "No" hiei squeaked. That disgusted even him. Why was Yoko kurama being so nice to him without an ulterior motive?
He had been moving dens frequently while searching for his sister and koorime home so his recent one was unfurnished bare and cold compared to Yoko kuramas established strong hold so he was lucky to stay here during hibernation. He was hungry though. Yoko kurama left him for a moment, said "wait there" stood up and flashed a smile over his shoulder at him before he left the den. Hiei did stay there. Usually he knew he would have taken advantage and stolen something and ran but he was too shocked by the kitsunes kindness.
In a short while Yoko kurama came back shaking the snow off his thick fur at the entrance to the den and he brought a twig with small berries on it in his mouth and they were comically small compared. He had very delicate bite when he had to...
He set this in front of hiei and careful not to step on him he lay down and curled up around him and hiei was almost lost in his long whitw chest fur. He was grateful and checked just in case that the berries were not poisonous and then he ate them.
He remembered suddenly hearing that kitsunes were extremely loyal to demons they were indebted to.. This is why Yoko kurama had such trustworthy bonds between his thief partners. Well he wouldn't complain..
"The faster that we sleep the faster spring will be here" Yoko kurama said wrapping all his tails around them both. "I know that" said hiei and curled up also. He could continue to look for his sister in the spring and it was easier to search with his jagan eye when the weather was warmer anyway
Author note: I dont know of they have seasons in demon realm but in this story they do