When the duo finally landed it was several hours later, and Kagome's harried thoughts ran from I am so so cold to where the heck did I end up? She clambered out of Youko's arms into the gratefully warm shelter of an enclave of trees.
"Humans are awfully weak."
Well if you had let me grab a jacket…She cusped her hands to her mouth, teasing numbed fingers with hot breath. "Yeah, yeah, we're dumb and weak and slow, I know."
Peering ahead, she tried to make out any clue of where they were. Soft sun filtered through the leaves, but the plant life around her was too thick to make out much else. Had he really run away from one forest to another?
"You do not sound like you are agreeing with me."
"Well, I'm not." Kagome said, glancing at the youkai. She cocked her head up at him when she was met with a few more moments of silence. "Where are we?"
Youko seemed inclined to wait out his explanation in favour of hers. "The Eastern Lands."
"But why are we here?"
"This is where we shall be staying."
She grumbled. "This isn't also your forest is it?"
"No," he admitted "it is not claimed."
"Then…why?"
His face gave nothing away. "I have a friend here."
Words: 217
AN: Er...better late than never? Please be distracted from a sad author's sporadic posting by the intriguing case of what friend?