"Alright then." Kiara smiles, turning for the room, and heads back, Tori following close behind. She pokes her head into the door, looking down at the wolf on the floor, and steps in, kneeling beside him. She blinks, pressing a hand against him, and shoves, pushing him half way onto his back and lifting away as he flops back. "SilverFang..."

SilverFang shifts a bit, rolling over onto his other side, and flicks his tail, grumbling in a way that sounds half drunken. "Hiro I dun wanna go to school... I wanna stay home an’ play wif Archie..."

Kiara blinks, eye twitching a little irritably, and stands up, lifting a sandaled foot and giving him a swift kick in the ribs. "Wolves don’t go to school, idiot. Get your ass up off the floor, SilverFang!"

Tori cringes at SilverFang’s flinch, ears twitching to his quiet yelp, and looks over at Kiara, perking his brow questioningly. "Jeeze, Kiara. Do you really think you needed to kick him like that?"

SilverFang snaps around onto his stomach, lifting himself onto his paws, and shoots a vicious glare at Kiara with a quiet growl. "What was that for?! That hurt, Kiara!"

"It got him up, didn’t it?" Kiara glances over at Tori, giving him a sly grin, and looks down at SilverFang, twitching an ear and flicking a fluffy red fox tail from within the folds of her hakama. "You have to get your lazy ass up; we need to be getting ready to go."

"Alright, alright." SilverFang shakes himself a bit, just to toss silver fur back into place, and turns, padding for the door. He pauses, looking back, and gives Kiara a faintly dark look. "Maybe I should start sleeping in my original form from now on, so I won’t feel it as much when you kick me."

"I wouldn’t want to kick you in your original form. I’d jam my toes if I tried."

"Hey, Iaeruki, I have a question I have been meaning to ask you for awhile."

"...Yes?" Iaeruki turns his head, red-emerald gaze shifting to Komatazuki, and blinks, tilting his head in question.

"Erm... back there before she... died... I recall hearing you call something to me as I rushed to aid her."

Iaeruki flinches to this, face tensing a moment and ears lowering a moment before springing back up, and tries to shake it from his mind a moment, managing a faint nod in the process. "...Yes...?"

"It sounded very much like ‘Koto’. Do you happen to know where that may have some from?"

"Hmm... I remember calling something to you, though I cannot recall completely. Perhaps it was... and I believe I may know why." Iaeruki furrows his brow, lowering his head faintly, and lifts a gloved hand to his chin, now gaining a thoughtful look on his face.

"You do?"

"Yes. I believe it has something to do with a boy who used to travel with me. His name was Reikoto, but we always called him Koto. You look a lot like he did. Like an older, more mature version of him." Iaeruki’s face seems to twitch, as if thoughtful look was fighting to stay, and he closes his eyes a moment, hoping to help keep it that way.

"So, how did you come to part, then?" Komatazuki looks at Iaeruki, aqua faded, pale violet gaze curious now, and tilts his head, listening intently.

"We did not." Iaeruki simply states, smoothly deep, velvety voice ceasing a moment, and lowers his head a little, the thoughtful look seeming to have lost the fight and being replaced by a saddened one.

"What happened, then?

"He died while on his journey with us. Killed by an elemental guardian..."

"...Oh..." Komatazuki blinks a few times, scratching at his right temple, and frowns, turning his head and glancing off to the side. "Looks like everyone’s up now." He blinks, seeing Iaeruki turn to look back at him from the window out of the corner of his eye, and points over at the trio coming into the main entry from down the hall. "The last one has awakened."

"Good to finally see you’re awake instead of dead on the floor of your room." Ein shoots a glance at SilverFang as he says this, a quick smirk crossing his face, and lets a quiet chuckle loose from the confines of his throat, responding to the look he’s receiving.

"That wasn’t funny, Ein." SilverFang gives Ein a glaring stare and pads over by the door, sitting down, and flicking his tail.

"Hneh, sure it wasn’t."

"It wasn’t!"

"Fine, fine." Ein holds up his hands, clawed fingers opened at either side of his chest, and shrugs, giving a sort of gesture like he gives up.

"I thought it was kinda funny..." Tori blinks, hand lifted to his lip in thought, and glances between Ein and SilverFang, a rather puzzled look on his face.

"You don’t exactly look like you understand his sense of humor..." Kiara looks back at Tori, brow perked, and grins at the look on his face, watching him scratch the back of his head and turn a little red under his silver fur.

Yoko chuckles at this, getting up from her spot beside Ein, and rests her hand on Tori’s head, ruffling his long slate hair. "Don’t worry about it. I’ve found his sense of humor kind of strange from time to time since he had first become my guardian at the beginning of my journey to acquire all the Aeroukai I can find." She blinks, scratching the back of her neck, and walks back over to Iaeruki and Komatazuki, pausing right beside one of them. "Do you think everyone is just about ready?"

Komatazuki tilts his head, seeming to pout a little as Iaeruki turns back to staring out the window, and blinks, lifting his head and turning to Yoko. He shrugs faintly, brow lifting with another tilt of the head, and then looks back at Iaeruki, seeing that look having returned to his face. "I don’t know. I know that I’m ready to go, though."

Iaeruki doesn’t seem to respond to her question though, simply staring out the window, and blinks, face flickering a little bit of surprise as his eyes catch something in the branches of a tree. "...Toriyousei..."

"Hmm?" Komatazuki leans over, head hovering just above Iaeruki’s shoulder, and looks around outside, leaning forward a bit while trying to find what he just did.

"Maybe I should just go around and ask... –" Yoko’s speech suddenly stops, her mind just now registering what Iaeruki said, and she stares at them both, all of a sudden snapping upright. "What?" She presses her hand on Komatazuki’s head, just about pouncing on him, and shoves him out of the way and onto the floor, ignoring the loud ‘Aack!’ and the thonk from his landing as she searches frantically in the tree. "Where!?"

Iaeruki immediately steps back during this, staring at Yoko, and then looks down, ears twitching and stiffening faintly as he winces at the look and the sound of Komatazuki’s landing.

Komatazuki, surprised by the sudden weight on his head, had instantly flopped onto the floor, indeed letting out a noise of that sort and landing face flat on the hardwood floor. His arm twitches as he shifts to get back up, pushing against the floor, and he sits up, rubbing at his noise while his face contorts into a wince. "Oww... Yoko... please watch what you’re doing..."

"Huh?" Yoko blinks and looks down, just now realizing what she did and almost flinching. "Oh, I’m sorry! Tazuki, are you alright?" She steps back, kneeling down beside him, and looks at the mark she put on his nose, hoping that fades before they actually leave.

"Well, other than the sting from the initial landing and the probable mark, I think I’m fine..." Komatazuki glances over at Yoko as he says this, letting his arm drop a moment, and attempts to look down at the end of his nose, poking at it faintly and wincing again. "Yeah... that hurts..." He shakes his head a moment, eyes closing in the process, and looks back at Yoko, a faint frown on his face. "I know the Toriyousei is a very rare and enchanted bird, but I don’t think you had to cram my face into the floor."

Yoko twitches, turning a mite bit red across the bridge of her nose, and scratches the back of her head, a little of a nervous laugh leaving her throat. "Ahheheheh... Sorry, I think my eagerness got to me at that moment..."

"Erm, just remember to keep it in check next time, so no one else receives unneeded injuries..."

"Er, yeah... I think I’ll try to remember that..."

"What happened?" SilverFang looks over from a quietly laughing Ein, cocking his head to the side, and stares at Yoko, then Komatazuki.

"I accidentally shoved Tazuki over onto the floor."

"Ooh, smart one."

"Shut up!"

"Hmm... Oh, I see it." Kiara all of a sudden chimes up, having been leaning over in front of Iaeruki a good amount of the time, and sees the small shimmering creature perched partially hidden on a mid branch.

Iaeruki looks down at her from looking out at it and blinks, black brow perking while he watches her slowly lift an arm and point. "Where did you come from... may I ask?"

"Hm? Me?" Kiara turns her head and looks back at Iaeruki, deep cerulean gaze reluctant to leave the small bird, as she seems to give a faint shrug. " I’ve been here for some time now, I’m amazed you never noticed."

"I never even heard you."

"I was that quiet?"

"Yes, I would like to know how you manage to get past my sensitive hearing..." Iaeruki stares at her a moment, ears twitching to emphasize what he means, and patiently awaits an answer.

Kiara blinks and simply shrugs, genuinely unknowing. "I don’t know. Perhaps my stealthy moving has something to do with my being a Kitsune?"

Iaeruki blinks a moment, glancing back up at the little Toriyousei, and twitches, just realizing it’s gone. He furrows his brow, simply turning, and walks towards the door, taking his sword from its place leaned against the wall. He lifts it, slinging it over his right shoulder by the belt attached to the sheath, and takes the opposite end, bringing it up from beside his ribs and connecting the ends with the thick, silver buckle. "So, are we all prepared to get on our way? I know how long it will take to get to Nawakari from here."