With that, Hisoka went to go change into something a bit more suited to going through the woods. Once he'd changed, he left, heading out towards Kris's cabin. With any luck, his hypothesis would pan out and she would be there.

Aura, on the other hand, wasn't even home at all. She'd taken an extra shift at the daycare, and was there with Shippou. Nothing like earning money as a distraction, right? And it helped that the kids she worked with were all pretty cute.

Kris was sort of at the cabin. The cabin had a new bathtub, with another two rooms added to the cabin. She'd also installed wood flooring. She had been a very busy hanyou.

Sesshomaru called her, waiting semi-patiently for her to answer. She should be home.

Hisoka investigated the new additions curiously even as he looked around for Kris. She'd been a busy hanyou, indeed...

"Kristine?" he called cautiously, looking around.

The answering machine picked up at the empty house and Aura's voice came over the line in the pre-recorded message.

-click- You've reached us! If you're looking for Aura, try her cell phone next. If you're looking for Kris, just leave a message, she might get it. Otherwise... You know what to do! -beep-

Kristine stopped in the middle of felling another tree bare-handed. She was not a happy hanyou. She didn't turn to look at him, her shoulders heaving as she panted, the edges of her eyes red.

Sesshomaru made a sound of disgust and hung up. Time to try her cell phone, since she wasn't at home.

Then he waited to see if she'd pick up then. Hopefully.

"Kristine?" Hisoka tried again cautiously. At least she hadn't injured herself somehow, that was good. Now, how to break the proverbial ice... "The additions to the cabin are very impressive."

Aura almost missed the call. She was busy chasing around the kids, and almost didn't notice her phone going off. She caught it just before it rolled to voicemail.

"Hello?" she asked, a bit breathlessly. Almost immediately, her attention was drawn elsewhere and she pulled the phone away from her head for a moment. "Tak, don't make me pull you down from there!" She turned her attention back to the phone. "Sorry about that."

Kris turned to look at him, growling faintly in warning. She looked about as bad as she felt, too. Which didn't make things easier for anyone.

"I hear you're at work," Sesshomaru said dryly. He could hear the children in the background. "I merely wished to check on you."

Hisoka stood next to the stump of a tree that looked like it had been taken down within the last day or so. He made sure not to get to close to the hanyou, but he was still close enough that he could see how rough she looked.

"Your packmates are worried about you," he commented softly. "They wonder when you will return home." He wasn't trying to guilt her, necessarily... He was just informing her of the situation back home.

"Yeah, I picked up an extra shift," Aura replied. Pulling the phone away for a second time, and called across the room, "Don't make me warn you again, Tak!"

Kris snorted at that and turned back to her work, shaving off the bark of the tree in strips as long as she could manage, leaving the strips wherever they landed. She figured she could use the extra wood to finish the flooring, or chop up to use for firewood later on.

Sesshomaru snorted. "It sounds like the normal chaos is reigning," he said, his voice dry.

"They worry for you," Hisoka offered again, leaning against a still-standing tree. This once, he would keep pushing until he got some sort of verbal response. "Your kit has taken to snuggling in with Aura until you return, but it is clear that they both miss you."

"Typical day," Aura agreed. "Holes in my shirt, scrapes on my arms, the whole nine yards today."

Kris rolled her eyes at him and finally turned to look at him, her eyes still rimmed red. Not a good sign.

"And thus why they sent you, eh, cat?"

Sesshomaru snorted. Now he really wanted to get her youkai-made clothes. Maybe after he made up with Kris and got her permission...

"Hisoka is attempting to talk to your hanyou. Kristine."

"You packmates did not send me, no," Hisoka replied evenly. Not technically a lie. "Although I confess I wanted to check on you, myself. It is unlike you to disappear for so long."

"Yeah, good luck," Aura snorted. Kris was stubborn on a good day and nearly impossible to talk to on a bad one. Aura's voice softened a bit as she continued. "I hope she's alright... I've never seen her that upset before, and she's already been gone for almost four days..."

"Because you're such an expert." Kris snorted and turned back to her work. Pieces of wood fell everywhere. Hey, it helped her get rid of some of her agression.

"I'm sure she will be alright," Sesshomaru said after a moment. Perhaps not as comforting as she wished, but true, at least.

"One does not need to be an expert for something to be true," Hisoka pointed out. At least he was getting the verbal response he was looking for. "Now... If you would like, I am more than willing to listen, if you should feel like telling me what exactly is bothering you." That was a gamble, but he had one more way of getting her to keep talking, if it didn't work. He was just hesitant to use that last option, yet.

"'Will be' and 'is' are two different things," Aura replied. She looked around the room, trying to gauge how much longer she had before she had to step back into the chaos. Less than two minutes, she estimated. Abruptly, that time was cut in half when two of the little girls started scuffling over a toy. "And that would be my cue to leave. I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to go."

Kris rolled her eyes at him and turned the log so she could get to the other side, starting to shear that too. She figured if she ignored him for long enough he'd go away and she could go back to sulking and working.

"I understand. I will check on you later." Sesshomaru could hear the daycare noises in the background, and he was actually rather surprised she'd been able to talk for this long.

Hisoka sighed. He had been hoping not to have to point this out, but she was leaving him with no choice. He was actually fairly certain it would shift some of her anger onto him, but if it got her to go back home, then he could deal with it. Kris would feel better once she was back with her family, and that's what mattered.

"Before I leave you to your sulking," he said, still leaning against the tree, "I just want to clarify something. You are your pack's alpha, correct? And you take care of them?"

"Alright," Aura replied. "Bye." She didn't wait for a reply. Disconnecting the call, she went to pull apart the two little girls, ignoring the scratches on her arms that she got from the attempt. At least these two were small enough yet that she could pick them up and pull them apart without having to worry about one of them breaking her arm.

Kris was silent for a few long moments, not moving. Finally she half-turned to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Aura chose Sesshomaru," she said, her voice very quiet. "And Shippou is young. He'll adapt."

"Aura seems to only have the barest understanding of everything going on, and indeed, of anything around her," Hisoka countered. "She looks to you for guidance. And you would have Shippou lose two mothers so young? He clings to Aura for comfort, but is desperate for you to return." The words came out a little more harshly than he really intended, but his meaning was clear.

Kris didn't say anything for a few long moments. Then she snorted. "The kit needs to learn that nothing is solid, and that you have to be self-dependent. It's the only way you don't get screwed over all the time. As for Aura, I've tried explaining things to her before. She either doesn't get it or doesn't want to hear it. I tried. That's more than most people can say."

Hisoka knew better than to believe what Kris was spouting.

"You don't really expect me to believe that," he chided gently. "I like to think I know more about canines than that. You would not have claimed them as pack if you cared that little for them."

Kris shook her head in a sharp, angry motion. "It doesn't matter," she growled. "I'm sick of trying." Life would be so much easier if she could just go back to wandering and avoiding youkai most of the time.

"Trying what?" Hisoka pressed. Now they seemed to be getting somewhere. Softer, he added, "because I think it does matter." Carefully, he took a couple of steps closer to her.

"You wouldn't know. You wouldn't understand!" Kris growled at him, starting to pace, flexing her hands and cracking her knuckles. "You can't understand."

"The problem with understanding," Hisoka said gently, "is that for something to be properly understood, it must first be explained." He took one more step towards her, albeit a small one. He didn't want her to feel threatened. "I will listen, if you want to talk, and I will do my best to understand."

"I've never had a pack." Kris glared at him for a moment before she continued stalking back and forth. "Never. I never knew my father, and my mother died young. I never had anyone else to depend on, and no one depended on me."

She turned on Hisoka again. "It's not worth it."

"You have a pack depending on you now," Hisoka pointed out gently. And, if he was reading her right, she depended on them, too, which was the entire reason for this fiasco. "I think it does matter."