InuYasha Fan Fiction / Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ A Wolf's Cry ❯ Flower ( Chapter 7 )

"There is a Legend

that Speaks of Paradise on Earth…

But Only Wolves

Can Find It."

A Wolf's Cry

Chapter Seven - Flower

Silence. No one spoke now but all were excited.

The pack now stood before three dark and mysterious tunnels, one leading to the left, another leading to the right and the last in front. They had been running for hours, non-stop, only relying on Kiba's sense of direction.

This was not their first encounter with the confusing tunnels; in fact this was the fourth set they had come upon. Each set of tunnels before this one always had Kiba choosing the one that was always in front of them. Each time Kiba had lifted his nose into the air and sniffed for a particular scent that the rest of the group had no idea about. Hopefully, each of them though, he will get us there.

Kagome glanced down at her arm for what would be the hundredth time. The bandage was pure red, the stench of blood filled the air, and the next time they stopped Kagome would have to change the bandage.

"This way!" Kagome heard Kiba say. The pack was off almost as fast as they had come, still running in the tunnel in front of them. Even though they all were in their wolf forms they could still communicate with each other.

"Hey Kiba! How exactly do you know which way to go?" Kagome asked, catching up with him. He turned his head to look at her, still running. Kagome almost tripped over her feet. He had golden eyes…just like Inuyasha. Why hadn't she noticed before? They seemed to be drawing her into him and her eyes widened. She quickly shook her head to get rid of all the thoughts so she could hear him speaking. "I can smell it, the scent of Lunar flowers and its getting closer. We should be out of here really soon."

Kagome nodded her head, hearing every single word. `Then I was right, he can smell it too from a far distance…but why cant anyone else?' The thought plagued Kagome but she thought nothing more of it as they kept running. She seemed to drift off into her own little world again, thinking about Inu Yasha, her ears flattening against her skull. It was so weird that Kiba had the same eyes as he did. They were both handsome but they weren't the same. Kiba was calm and thought things through. Inuyasha went into battles headstrong without thinking. Kiba was a wolf while Inuyasha was an Inu-hanyou. Kiba was probably attracted to things that were still alive while Inuyasha was attracted to the dead clay bitch. A smiled appeared on her face at the thought but soon faded.

She had ultimately left because of Kikyo and Inuyasha's relationship. She couldn't take the pain anymore at seeing them together, she didn't deserve it. Even though she had asked to stay by his side for as long as she could and he didn't say no, she couldn't anymore. It ripped her apart inside when Inuyasha tell Kikyo that he loved her more than life itself and that he would do anything for her. It hurt her more that he would leave almost every night to meet with Kikyo, leaving her unprotected and easy prey for any demon. She didn't want that anymore she didn't need Inuyasha…but why was she still thinking of him? `I need to let go and move on with my life…I should feel happy that I have new friends…but my family…No! I will have revenge on them…after all if that old man wants to kill me, he will come after me.' She sighed. Life was always cruel to her.

"Hurry up! Do you want to get there or not?" called Tsume as he broke away from the pack and ran up ahead. Kagome's ears instantly perked up at his voice, as did Kiba's.

Kiba, not one to back down, ran faster, as did the others, wanting to get there as soon as possible.

Dirt kicking up from his back paws, Toboe ran trying to keep up with the group. "Hey guys! Look there's light! We must finally be at the end!" Toboe said happily from the back of the pack. He was probably the most excited out of all of them, especially once he saw the end.

Hige snorted from beside him. "No duh runt. Everyone can see it. I mean its so big who wouldn't?" he snapped, causing Toboe to cast him a saddened look. "Oh…I'm sorry I-I didn't know…" Toboe trailed off. "Yeah well now you do" Hige snapped again.

Kagome growled loudly at Hige, her eyes darkening angrily. It was just like how Inuyasha would yell at her for almost the same thing. "Stop being so mean to Toboe! He didn't do anything to deserve that! He was just trying to be nice by pointing out the end of this tunnel even if we already knew! That doesn't give you the right to lash out at him!"

Hige looked at her the whole time, mouth open. "Wow…beauty, brains, and bravery! You don't come across that much these days." Hige said dreamily. Kagome glared at him. "What'd you say?"

Hige looked away right when Kagome turned to him. He found the passing walls more interesting then her at the moment. "Oh nothing, nothing at all" he quickly replied.

Tsume couldn't take it anymore! All their arguing was starting to irritate him! "Will you all shut up back there? Someone could be at the end of the tunnel, ready to shoot us you idiots! Do you really want to get us all killed?" Tsume barked at them. No one said a word to him but a calm voice from beside him suddenly caught his attention. "Tsume, you should have realized by now that there is no one at the end," Kiba told him. "There's no reason to be all jumpy."

Tsume growled at him angrily. "I'm not jumpy."

As they came closer to the light filled end, the pack went from a full out run to a calm walk then finally stopping when the dirt met green grass.

"It's a forest! Great I wonder what's hiding in there," Hige said sarcastically as he walked into the open. He lifted his nose into the air and took a whiff. "Kiba was right, those humans and their foul smell aren't anywhere around here." He cocked his head to the side. "I would have thought they would be all around these woods, ready to ambush us."

Finding it safe, each member of the pack transformed into their disguises and began the long walk.

~ ^_^ ~

"Have you found her yet? Is their any signal?" asked a woman desperately. The man she was talking to sighed and looked at her, obviously agitated. "No we haven't f-" A beeping sound caught his attention, cutting him off. "She's close." The woman said calmly but inside she was just glad that they had found her. `I wont let you take her Darcia!'

The man the woman had been talking to moments before ran to the front of the airship. "Pinpoint that location immediately, its Cheza!"

The two men at the front of the airship frantically pressed buttons in front of them. "Yes Sir!" they said in unison. One of them spoke up. "Sir! Cheza is now located above us. It shows she is also in an airship that is currently descending, Sir." The man patted the soldier on the back. "Good job. Get ready to shoot it down!" He declared as he looked out the large front window again.

The woman gasped. "You cant do that! You'll hurt Cheza!"

The man turned to her. "Cher, if you want Cheza back you'll let me do the work for now." The woman named Cher sighed in defeat as the man smirked.

"Sir," came the voice of another soldier, "the airship is now in firing range. Sir."

The man chuckled. `Now I have you.'

"Fire!" The command rang through every ear on board. A soldier who was in charge of the airships guns, aimed at Darcia's plane. A signal went off as the gun locked onto its target. Quickly pushing down a large blue button, the soldier fired at Darcia's airship. A loud boom sound could be heard as it hit the airship in front of them, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Nice shot men. Don't loose sight where it will land!"

"Yes Sir!"

~ ^_^ ~

"Damn it! Stupid bastards!" growled Darcia. "Well it looks like we will be landing soon Cheza." He spoke flatly as he turned around and found Cheza by the airships exit. "Cheza?" he began as he watched the Flower Maiden open the hatch, pressing the red button next to the door.

She looked at him blankly. Giving one last glance to Darcia, she let herself get sucked out of the exit. "Cheza!" screamed Darcia as he ran to see what happened to her. His eyes widened but then relaxed as a smile appeared oh his face. She was falling smoothly to the Earth, spinning slowly. At the moment she truly looked like a flower. `I will find you Cheza. Make no mistake of that' Darcia though right before he disappeared behind the forest trees.

~ ^_^ ~

"What the hell are those two airships doing?" came Hige's voice. "It's obvious that the really big airship wants to shoot down the Noble's airship, duh," Tsume answered. A growl emitted from Hige's chest. "What are you gonna do about it Porky? Try to beat me up? Lets see what you got," Tsume tested as he walked right up to Hige. Toboe pushed them apart. "Guys stop it! We're friends remember? Friends don't fight!"

"You told me before we came here that the Flower Maiden was the cause of the flower smell right?" Kagome spoke, catching everyone's attention and continued when she saw them each nod their heads. "That flower scent is close."

Closing his eyes, Kiba smelt the air slowly and agreed. "She's right."

Taking off into the woods, Kagome followed the scent. "Come on! You want to find her or not?" Kagome yelled from ahead of the pack. The rest of the group followed with no hesitation as the one airship went down in the background.

~ ^_^ ~

`This one is finally away. Finally free…' The Flower Maiden thought as she slowly fell. The wind blew around her once again, making her twist in the air as she closed her eyes and smiled, for the first time, enjoying how it felt.

~ ^_^ ~

"Kiba I see her! I see Cheza!" Toboe yelled, finally catching up to him. They paused for a few minutes and looked at Toboe as he brought his hand up and pointed at a figure in the air. It was she, and she appeared to be falling! Kiba looked directly where she would land and his eyes widened. She'd land on the top of a mountain where anything could see her or hurt her.

"Come on we need to get to her!" Kiba announced as he headed in the direction of the mountain in sight. "I hate running" Hige said breathlessly. "I wouldn't be surprised with all the food you eat and how fat you are." Tsume said bluntly. "Hey! Its not my fault!" Hige yelled back at him.

Toboe sighed. "Guys please stop. Cant we just get along?" he asked.

"Whatever." Tsume said, ending the conversation.

~ ^_^ ~

Kagome had made it to the mountain before anyone else but she didn't have to wait long for the rest of the pack to arrive. "Nice to see you made it." Kagome said with a smile. "It looks pretty steep but I think we will make it," she added as their eyes traveled up the mountain.

"Pretty steep huh?" Hige said, catching his breath. "By the looks of it, its one slip and your dead!"

Without saying a word Kiba jumped onto a ledge that stuck out of the mountain and began to climb. He jumped so high up making Kagome wonder, how? If he could do it couldn't she do it too? `Might as well try' she thought and jumped.

It suddenly felt like she was flying. The wind blowing in her face, and the scent of Lunar flowers all around her…it felt so real. It made Kagome feel calm once her feet left the ground, only until she had to grab onto a ledge or she'd fall right back down to the ground. She looked below herself to find that both Hige and Toboe still on the ground, but where was Tsume? Suddenly hearing a sound, Kagome turned to her left and saw Tsume also climbing the mountain. She looked up and thought about jumping again but decided against it.

She could fall right back down if she missed or didn't catch a ledge in time. She began to climb up, grabbing onto a ledge and pulling herself up. She heard Hige and Toboe finally start the climb by all the noise that had begun from below her. Kagome suddenly felt glad that she wasn't wearing her green school uniform, or she would be giving the boys below her a nice view of her rear.

Both Tsume and Kiba were ahead of her and she began to pick up the pace.

~ ^_^ ~

More than a half hour had passed and they were finally towards the middle of the mountain. Kagome had caught up to Tsume and Kiba by this time and began climbing with them, catching her breath once in a while.

Both Hige and Toboe were a few ledges down from them. They were all quiet; their only focus was making it to the top of the mountain, than find Cheza.

Kagome pushed off of a small rock with her feet and then pulled herself onto a large ledge that was big enough for her to walk around on. She took in a large breath as she stood, and then let it out slowly as to ease the pain from her wound. It still hurt but much of the pain was gone since she wasn't using it to pull herself up anymore. The pain was greater than what she was feeling now since she would use it to lift herself up to ledges that were above her.

She looked below herself and noticed that they were above all the trees and began to worry about falling. You could either go straight to the ground if you were lucky, or you would get caught in the trees. `Ouch!'

A rumbling was heard followed by a crackling sound suddenly. The noise was that of something breaking and Kagome's head shot straight up. `What's that noise?' The ledge she was on began to shake underneath her feet and Kagome let out a gasp. Everyone was too far away for them to help her in time so she couldn't as, she wouldn't risk their lives as well, and she would have to do it herself.

As if on cue, the larger rocks above her started to plummet to the ground, some almost hitting Kagome. Her teeth clenched as she fisted her hands at her side. `I'll have to jump…but how?' The boulders were now streaming down the mountain and Kagome started to worry that she might not make it.

"Kagome! Get out of there now!" Tsume yelled from up above her.

Kagome's turned her attention to him until another voice caught her ears. "Hurry Kagome! You'll get hurt!" Toboe screamed, fear in his voice.

She had to thing fast or she could die. `But I need to keep going.'

Kiba looked down and could barley see her. The rocks were falling down from right beneath him and he was sure the ledge he was on would break off. "Kagome!" he yelled, ready to go to her if need be.

`I'll jump after this boulder comes down.' Kagome thought to herself. From the corner of her eye she saw a huge boulder crashing down. She nearly dodged it and got ready to jump. `An opening!' The absolute second Kagome was about to jump; the boulder she had just dodged hit the ledge she was on, causing her not to get a large enough jump to get out of the boulders path completely. She looked down in case she would fall and tried to figure out which ledge would be best to grab onto.

"Kagome watch out!" she heard Hige call to her. She took a quick glance at him before she followed his eyes and she looked up. A boulder was suddenly right in front of her and everything froze. It was too close for her to dodge even in mid air, and she suddenly thought she could die. Memories of her family, the Sengoku Jidai, of her school and her friends came into her all at once.

Everything began moving again and the rock hit her. The air instantly got knocked out of her lungs and she started to gasp for breath. `Damn' she thought silently as the boulder began to push her down.

The pack watched as she fell, too shocked and afraid to do anything.

"Kagome!" Toboe screamed and got ready to jump but Hige grabbed his arm before he could. "Toboe stay right where you are! There's nothing we can do." He finished sadly and looked away. The sound of someone sliding down the mountain somewhere by him made him turn around to look who it was, and he saw Kiba. He-he was going after her? A smile appeared on his face. `That guy is really crazy. I just hope he comes back with Kagome.'

~ ^_^ ~

Scratching desperately at the rock, Kagome pulled herself to the top of it with much effort. She quickly jumped and tried to hold onto the ledge but found herself once again falling against the cliff. Only now that she was trying to hold on she was skidding down the mountain painfully. The rocks dug into her hands as she tried to stop herself and she could now smell the scent of blood strongly. `My god I practically just got shot and now this! Kami-sama must really hate me.'

"Grab on!" demanded a voice next to Kagome. Kiba…he-he was there…next to her. `Maybe Kami-sama doesn't hate me after all!'

"Kiba?" she asked shakily. He was skidding down the mountain with his legs, trying to save her and it made Kagome wonder before coming back into reality from hearing his voice. She looked at him, surprised.

"Grab on!" he ordered again. Quickly reaching out a bloodied hand, Kagome grabbed his outstretched one. Her hands were slippery from all the blood and Kiba was having a little trouble holding onto her hand as his hands were covered with it also. He pulled her onto his back and she immediately clung onto him as he hit a sturdy ledge. Wrapping his arms tightly under her knees, Kiba jumped off the ledge almost as soon as he landed on it.

He jumped onto the boulders that were falling towards them and headed up the mountain by using them to jump off of.

"Are you alright?" he asked her softly while jumping. She replied weakly and if he were human he could not have heard it. "I'm alright…I'm just tired and my hands hurt."

Kiba could see why they hurt as he looked down at them. They were bloody and dirt was filled in the cuts in her hands. If they weren't taken care of properly they could be infected. Looking back up, he jumped from the boulder he was on and landing on another one that was falling. "We are almost to the top. Once we get there we'll clean your hands," he said kindly to her as she rested her head on his shoulder and began to relax. "Thank you."

Passing by Toboe and Hige, Kiba made it safely to where Tsume was and landed quietly on a secure ledge. Tsume looked at him. `What was with this wolf?' he wondered but didn't say anything about it and instead asked, "Is she alright?"

Kiba looked at Kagome, "She says she fine but her hands are injured," he stated flatly. He glanced down and saw Hige and Toboe finally starting to get closer to them. "We need to hurry up." The words seemed to have left his mouth at the same time he was thinking about it. Kiba looked up, eyes traveling up to the rest of the mountain and then back to Kagome. Her head still rested on his shoulder. She was wincing in pain as her bloodied hands twitched uncontrollably.

His eyes softened suddenly as determination filled him. He spoke softly to her, "Hold on tight so you wont fall." Instinctively her thighs tightened around his waist but her hands stayed where they were. Kiba tightened his hold under her knees once again and jumped.

"Kiba! Be careful! Its not just your life that could be endangered!" yelled Hige, catching Kiba's attention. A pang of anger hit Kiba surprisingly. `I'm not trying to get us killed! Why the hell are they slowing down? Don't they realize she's hurt?' A small gasp of pain from Kagome brought himself out of his thoughts. Her hands were dripping blood and twitching from the pain that jolted through her body.

`How am I supposed to avenge my family when I can barley keep from getting hurt?' The sad thought coursed through Kagome's mind over and over and over again. `I guess Inuyasha was always right. I am pathetic…'

Inuyasha…

The thought brought many questions to mind. Did he decide to give Kikyo flesh and blood and a new soul? Did he screw Kikyo over to become a full-fledged demon? What if Kikyo brought Inuyasha to hell? Or maybe, are they starting a family now and living happily ever after?

`Too bad I'll never go back to know.'

~ ^_^ ~

Finally jumping off the last ledge, they glided through the air before Kiba's feet touched the ground safely. He crouched down and gently released her knees, letting her feet touch the ground softly underneath them so she could stand. Kagome brought her arms from around Kiba's shoulders to rest at her sides. He turned around and looked at her, concern in his eyes.

"We need to clean your hands" Kiba said as he took her hands in his, instantly causing her to wince in pain as she inhaled a sharp breath. Kagome quickly took her away from his and tried to look like she wasn't in pain but her eyes deceived her. "I'm fine, lets keep going" she tried to say firmly, trying to make him believe she was just fine. She didn't want to be a burden or slow them down with her injuries and it didn't help that they were only into the first few days of getting to know each other.

She slowly made her way past him, limping. She was only a step past him when Kiba grabbed her shoulder and she stopped.

"You and I both know your not alright so why don't we both save ourselves the trouble and just clean your wounds before we continue to find Cheza," he told her calmly.

Sadness found its way once again into Kagome's heart as the tears began to well up in her eyes. She turned to him. Why was he so focused on helping her? They barley even knew each other, so why?

"Why?"

He wasn't expecting the question but he would answer it nonetheless. "It was instinct. I wasn't just going to let you die."

It was a simple answer but it was one Kagome would never think would come out of his mouth and it suddenly made her happy. She smiled at him teary eyed before her legs began to give out on her with a sharp pain. She bit down hard and a hiss sound escaped through her clenched teeth and she began to fall backwards. Her back hit against Kiba's chest as he caught her before she could hit the ground.

"I told you, you weren't okay. I need to clean up your wounds." With that said Kiba gently sat down and placed Kagome in his lap, her back against his chest. And odd warm feeling pooled into Kagome's stomach as she tensed against Kiba's chest. It felt like thousands of butterfly's were trapped in her stomach and wanted out. She let out a sigh as Kiba reached into his coat pocket to get bandages, a bottle of water, and extra herbs that he was carrying for Kagome.

Kiba felt Kagome's figure still tense against his chest so he placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her. "Relax."

Kagome looked up at him for a few seconds before complying. She let out a deep sigh before melting against him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. A cool breeze passed by and the trees around them began to sway, almost dance.

A lone white butterfly suddenly landed on Kagome's outstretched leg. It was just so pure and innocent just sitting there. `Just like Toboe…' Kagome thought happily but then was brought out of her thoughts by Kiba's voice.

"Let me see your left hand," he said kindly. She raised her bloodied hand and noticed that it had left a dark spot on her shorts where the blood must have sunk into. It wasn't very noticeable but if someone stared at her thigh very closely they could. That would never happen though because no one could get close enough to look at her thigh that closely.

Coming out of her thoughts once again, Kagome kept her eyes on Kiba and watched as he poured water from the water bottle on the medicinal herbs. The herbs became smelly and sticky once the water had sunk in which was almost immediately.

Kagome hated that smell ever since she had to put it on the wound that was on her arm. It always made Kagome think of the doctors she hated with a passion like no other. It didn't make anything better when she found out they were sticky so they would stay securely on the wound and heal it. It also hurt when the time came to change the herb and bandages when they were either full of blood or had fixed the wound. It was just like ripping a large band-aid that was securely stuck to your skin, off and it sometimes brought the little hairs from her arms right off with it. Why did life have to be so cruel to her?

Kiba washed her hand to get the dirt and little pebbles out of it, and he now had the medicinal herb in his hand that was a few inches above her still bleeding hand. Kiba looked at Kagome who looked back up at him, afraid of what would come next. "This might hurt a bit. Are you ready?" he asked her sternly. She bit her bottom lip, almost drawing blood and nodded her head. He took the cue to move on and he gently placed the whole herb around her hand and pressed down.

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!"

Her wound suddenly hurt much more than when the cuts in her hands were full of dirt and pebbles. It burned all over now and Kagome felt like she was in the depths of hell. "Ouch!" she hissed through clenched teeth as she fisted her hand, not caring how much it hurt.

After a few minutes of letting it set in, the burning slightly began to decrease but it began to pulse when the herb was securely wrapped around Kagome's whole hand. Kiba started to wrap her hand in bandages. He made sure her fingers were individually wrapped and not wrapped altogether so it would look like she was wearing a mitten.

Tying the ends of the bandage tightly together, Kiba finished with the first hand.

"Kagome!"

They heard someone scream, startling both of them and they turned to look at the cliff's edge. An arm was resting on the ground and Toboe popped his head over the ledge and looked at Kagome in Kiba's lap. A confused look came over him at the site of them but vanished when he remembered his question.

"Kagome are you alright?" he asked, quickly heaving himself over the ledge. At the same time Tsume came out of nowhere and landed beside Toboe. Tsume raised an eyebrow at both Kiba and Kagome and the position they were in. "We heard a scream but I guess it wasn't about the wounds," said Tsume sarcastically as he walked over to one of the trees and leaned his back against its' trunk.

Hige, who had finally made it to the top, was crouched by Toboe, pointing his finger at Kiba and Kagome, eyes widened. "Kiba, w-what are you doing to Kagome?! Are you molesting her?!"

Kiba narrowed his eyes at how foolish Hige was before he smiled and shook his head. "No Hige, I'm not molesting Kagome. I am wrapping her hands in herbs and bandages."

"Yeah Hige theirs nothing to worry about! I'm fine!" smiled Kagome as she nodded. She winced when Kiba pressed another herb to her other hand. "OUCH!!! You know you could have told me before you did that!" Kagome yelled angrily at him, then pouted. Grinning, Kiba shook his head at her rather cute expression before returning his thoughts to the bandages. Finding it securely on, he began to wrap her hand with bandages each finger individually wrapped.

Seeing her wince Toboe quickly made his way over to them and sat down. "Kagome what's wrong? Does it still hurt?"

Kagome shrugged. "Its just my hands and my legs that hurt a bit." A saddened look came over Toboe, immediately making Kagome sad also. She tried to cheer him up. "Don't worry Toboe! I'll be all right! I promise, okay? I'll be up right after Kiba's done and we'll finish our search for Cheza!"

A smile spread across Toboe's features and he nodded. "Okay Kagome but try not to hurt yourself anymore."

Kagome nodded in agreement and looked up at Kiba. "Are you almost done?"

He nodded as he tied the two ends of the bandages together. "All I need to do now is replace the herb and bandage covering your gunshot-grazed wound."

Kagome sighed and rested her head on his shoulder more comfortable. Kiba began untying the bloodied bandages, then placing them on the ground next to him and revealing the sticky herb that had been under them. Quickly grabbing s loose edge with his index finger and thumb, Kiba ripped the herb from Kagome's arm and she screamed.

"OUCH! God damn it! You don't have to be so ruff you know!" Once the words left her mouth she instantly closed it. She had never spoken that way ever and she became embarrassed.

Without hesitation Kiba grabbed the last medicinal herb that had been soaked in water, and placed it over her old wound and wrapped it up. "Done," said Kiba finally. Kagome brought both of her hands in front of her and fisted her hands slowly then releasing and doing it once again. She winced but did nothing more when a stinging feeling shot through her hands. Smiled and rested her hands in her lap, "I guess we should go now, I'm feeling better already!"

Everyone nodded their heads and Hige sought out the chance to help Kagome up. `No ones in my way! Ha ha now's my chance to talk to Ms. Single and beautiful' he thought as he made his way happily towards her as she struggled to get up off Kiba.

"Here Kagome I'll help you!"

Hige stopped dead in his tracks. The runt was already by her, his hand wrapped around her wrist as he helped her up! `That stupid runt! Always ruining my plans!' he thought angrily.

"Thank you Toboe!" Kagome said happily as she smiled up at him and stood. Toboe closed his eyes and scratched his head, smiling back at her. "Aww it was nothing…" A faint tint of red appeared on his face.

Tsume and Hige were standing next to each other and watched them. "Its not fait that the runt is getting all the attention. Stupid love stuck puppy." Hige spoke up. Tsume chuckled and shook his head, hands in his pockets. "Jealous are you? Your just as love-struck as he is." Pouting, Hige leaned back against the trunk of the tree, arms crossed. "So."

Making it to his feet Kiba began walking towards both Tsume and Hige, Kagome and Toboe right behind him. "We should get going," Kiba said, brushing the dirt from his pants. He turned around to see Kagome and Toboe nod. "We probably would have been there by now if you had went a faster" said Tsume, "Hopefully your done getting hurt now girl." He turned to Kiba. "What are we waiting for?"

With one last nod Kiba was off running into the woods, following the scent of Lunar flowers, Tsume right behind him along with Hige.

Kagome looked down at Toboe. "Come on, we shouldn't keep them waiting" she said and he nodded before they both ran after the group.

They ran through the forest as fast as they could, over rocks, logs, and streams. Toboe noticed Kagome ran with a slight limp as he ran along side of her. He questioned her about it but she quickly said she was all right, slightly wincing at the time.

The smell of Lunar flowers got stronger with every step they took and Kiba was sure they would be there in a matter of seconds. They were so close now that nothing could stop them.

Then the group suddenly stopped. They were in a clearing where there was a lake that sat in the middle of it with large rocks pointing out of the water. On one very large rock, sat a girl with pink hair who was wearing a rather tight white outfit. Kagome's eyes widened, "That's her…" she said in excitement. "She's so pretty" Toboe said from beside Kagome. Hige smiled happily, "And she smells like flowers!"

"That's the Flower Maiden, she's meant to smell like flowers," Tsume told them and looked at Kiba who had started to move closer to her.

"Cheza" he said in wonder. At the call of her name Cheza lifted her head to stare at him. Kiba instantly froze. Her eyes…they were so gentle and they were a pink almost red color. She slid from the rock and into the water, beginning to walk towards Kiba, a smile on her face. Kiba took slow, easy steps to her and walked into the water as he changed to his real form. Finally reaching each other, the group on shore watching, Cheza dropped to her knees and hugged Kiba around the neck. His ears flattened against his skull as he let her gently hug him.

She nuzzled her face into his fur and spoke gently.

"We finally meet…Kiba."

Well now you see why it took me soo long to update?? NO MORE COMPLAINING! Lol anyway please review! That's what keeps me going!

Thank you for all the reviews!

Until next time!

Dark Paine