Knowing the sensitivity of time on their mission, Hiei and Amira wasted precious minutes. Yoko was placing a lot of his hopes on the belief that what they were getting would fix this whole thing. Or at the very least make it more manageable.

"Is this even going to work?" Hiei finally asked her as they flitted through the forest.

"It has too," Amira replied, not looking at him. At the speed they were traveling, she had to watch ahead of her. Even glancing at Hiei for a moment could result in her crashing into something. "He's not going to stop until he frees her. So if we ever want to get things back to normal then we have to hope we can get that locket back."

"And the locket will solve everything?" Hiei asked, doubt toning his voice.

"You have a better idea!" She snapped in Yoko's defense. "It contained the glacieragon once. Surely, it has the power to do it again."

"But it broke," Hiei pointed out. "Making it useless."

Amira made a face, but didn't reply. The locket had broken in the fight. Perhaps it could be repaired with strong magic? She didn't know. She felt crazy for doing this. The whole thing seemed pointless like they were wasting their time. A part of her was ready to cut her losses and take off. Hiei would follow her, of that she was sure. He had less faith in this plan than she did. If they left, Yoko would have to solve his own problems.

She snapped out of her train of thought, shaking her head in defiance. No! She was loyal to Yoko. He had helped her out more times than she could remember. After all, she owed him a great deal. He had given her a home and a family when she thought she would never have that again. She would see this through. She was a wolf! Wolves were known for their loyalty. She just hoped Hiei stuck around.

"We have to try," She finally told Hiei.

"For Yoko?" He asked, wanting to know who she was doing this for.

She nodded. "For Yoko."

Hiei did not appreciate the run around. This glacieragon creature was dangerous and after seeing what it did to the hideout, well, he wasn't so eager to face it again.

The trees seemed to blend together as they ran past them toward the cave. His jagan gave him the advantage, allowing him to see a few seconds ahead. This made it easy to avoid any low hanging branches. Why was he even still here?

The question nagged at him. Was it for Yoko? He supposed that if he had anyone to call a friend it would be the fox. Until now, they had a common want, wealth and power. Working with Yoko had given him both. But this newest development wasn't serving his purpose. He cared little for the feline even though the fox had come to love her. He was sure, however, that once Yoko got the cat back, things would return to normal. Yes, that was why he stayed. Wasn't it?

His red eyes darted to look at the wolf next to him. The spots of sunlight that managed to make it to the forest floor made her gold fur flash like well shined treasure when she passed underneath it. Treasure, something he had always liked. He scowled. He hated that she sometimes reminded him of something he valued, and yet, a part of him liked it. Made him want to look at her more. Stupid she-wolf. She trusted that silver fox with her life. And now he was dragged along to make sure she didn't get herself killed over Yoko's potential mate. The thought made him blink. Was that why he stayed? To protect her?

"We have to rest soon." Hiei told her. He knew they could make it to the cave soon at their current speed, but they would be to exhausted to make it back the next day. They had to pace themselves.

Amira made a small noise to show she heard as the two broke out of their run to a jog, which slowed to a walk, and then finally a complete stop. They both sat down to catch their breath.

"Thanks," Amira muttered to him. If Hiei hadn't told her too, she would have kept right on going, pushing herself to exhaustion. A bad habit of hers that Hiei had noticed.

"There is water nearby."

Hiei took Amira's pack and pulled out their supply of food. "We continue at dawn."