InuYasha Fan Fiction / Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Promises Under the Moon ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Promises Under the Moon

Chapter Three

Kouga returned to his cave to make preparations to leave and find Kagome himself. "To hell with all this waiting," he muttered under his breath. If he wanted her back he'd have to get her himself.

He looked forlornly at the skins he used to sport back during the Feudal Era. He hadn't worn such clothing in many centuries, yet he still kept them. They were a reminder of more pleasant times.

The clothes that he currently wore were still of animal skins, but no longer furs. Leather hide now covered his flesh. Shades of brown were to be replaced by shades of tan.

Kouga snickered to himself as he remembered his trip to the Americas where he met the natives and the whites that called themselves, 'Mountain Men.' After Kagome had been gone for the first few centuries staying in Japan had been too painful.

The newly crowned Wolf King had ventured East, to the West coast of North America. The mountains and those dwelling there had taught him a great deal. But, mostly he had liked their form of dress and adopted it for himself.

"Kouga?" Ginta's voice could be heard from the entrance of the cave. He entered hesitantly. "Are you really about to go and look for nee-san?"

Arctic ice turned towards him with an incredulous expression. "Do you really have to ask?" Kouga answered, slightly annoyed to be asked such a stupid question when the answer should have been obvious.

"I don't think Ayame will like this much. Plus I think Shippo would prefer to travel with you as well." Ginta told him seriously, gauging his leader's reaction.

Kouga shrugged. "What should I care what Hakkaku's mate likes. And Shippo will only slow me down." He looked back towards Ginta, a serious expression to his eye. "Besides, while I'm gone you and Hakkaku will rule in my stead, Ayame should be happy. That was, after all, the position she sought in trying to become my mate." Kouga's deadpan explanation brought shivers to the silver and black haired wolf.

"Of course Kouga, it's just, we're going to miss you. Why can't you just wait here patiently? Didn't Kagome promise that she'd find you if something happened?" Ginta asked gently, not seeking the anger of his short tempered leader.

Kouga threw the articles in his hands that he had started to pack across the cave. They scattered to the stone floor. He shut his eyelids and took some deep breaths trying to calm his rise in temper. He didn't need to take his frustrations out on his brothers. With his eyes shut he answered, "We made many promises under the moon."

A hand rested amiably upon the king's shoulder and a pair of concerned brown eyes met the glacial blue. "Can't you wait just a few more days? At least until the scouts you sent out come back and report to you what they learned about her. And by that time Shippo should be here as well. He would be very unhappy if you sought out his mother without him."

Kouga didn't answer but shrugged the friendly hand off of him. Only one person could offer him comfort and it seemed that everyone was against him finding her and the peace of mind she offered him. "I can't wait." Kouga answered in a barely audible voice.

"Well you're going to have to," a feminine voice from the cave entrance rejoined. Both men looked up to see a heavily pregnant Ayame standing there, hands on hips, emerald eyes flashing.

"Well if it isn't miss rolly polly," Kouga joked, a fanged smirk coming to his face and his previous misery erased. He wouldn't let anyone other than Ginta or Hakkaku know just how much he suffered. Well, perhaps his adopted son Shippo would see that side of him, but they hadn't seen one another for nearly two centuries. He may have respected Ayame, but he still didn't trust her. Even if she was the mate to one of his best friends.

"Kouga, that's not nice," Ginta scolded affronted with Kouga's rudeness towards the female.

Emerald eyes rolled. "It's alright Ginta, I'm used to him by now," Ayame reassured. "Besides, he's just jealous that his mate isn't ready to birth his pups any time soon."

"What do you want Ayame?" Kouga demanded, tired of the woman already. Seriously, she got on his nerves like none other. At least she wasn't throwing a hissy fit anytime someone mentioned the name of his woman anymore.

"What do I want?" Ayame asked bewildered. "What I want is for you to wait a few days before leaving my mate with all this responsibility." Ayame answered. "That's what I want! But knowing you, you could care less of what I want." She finished with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Sighing, Kouga dropped to the floor of the cave with his legs crossed and his arm's folded across his chest. He pointedly looked away from his friend and the pregnant she-wolf. "Fine, but as soon as you have those damned pups I'm gone, whether or not Shippo is here by then is irrelevant."

"Hmmm, Kouga, maybe while you are waiting you should work on your language. Kagome-neesan isn't going to like hearing you speak to others like that." Ginta admonished with a frown upon his features.

"Whatever," Kouga replied in annoyance.

Ginta walked towards Ayame to help her back to her own cave. "I think he spent too much time with Inuyasha," he explained.

"Hey! Don't compare me to dog-turd!" Kouga shouted back, but there was no hostility to his tones. It was more a plea to not speak of such times when he had such hope in his life.

Kouga listened as his two friends left. He stood as soon as they were out of range and walked towards the shelves that aligned one of his walls. He collected the paints there and moved deeper into the recesses of his cave to an area that no one but himself had been. It was the room he had dedicated to Kagome's memory.

Looking around, he smiled at the images that he had painstakingly drawn to remind himself of her beauty, love, and kindness. The few photographs that he had five centuries before were long since destroy in a terrible storm, including the one he always carried on his person. That photograph had been soaked when he jumped into a raging river in order to save a cub in his tribe.

It was a sacrifice he didn't regret making. That cub had grown into a strong wolf demon, but always in the back of his mind did the pain of that loss forever haunt him. Now he had no picture of his love but the one that remained in his memories.

A tear slipped from his crystalline blue eyes as he stroked his brush against the cave wall. He put the finishing touches of the scene he had composed of him with his queen and their pups. The scene was bittersweet.

Without thinking, his clawed hand reached for the drawing and slightly mused the painting as his finger tips ran across the surface of their faces. "I don't want our family to only exist in my imagination," he whispered brokenly.

Kouga steeled himself and left the inner sanctuary of his cave home. Such thoughts would not help him wait out the next few days, impatient for Hakkaku's new litter to be born.

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Tsume walked behind Kagome and Toboe as they made their way back to the camp site. He shook his head at the young wolf. He simply didn't seem to understand that humans were trouble. This one would prove no different.

Why the hell would the king of wolves wait five centuries for her? She wasn't that special. Sure she was beautiful, kind, intelligent, sympathetic, beautiful, nice, strong, beautiful, but that didn't make her worthy of waiting hundreds of years for!

A pair of sapphire jewels locked on his golden irises in the night. A concerned look unmasked within them. "Are you okay Tsume?" Kagome asked.

Tsume looked away, not wanting to grace her with an answer. She didn't care about him, why should he bother telling her about his feelings? Besides, he was fine. He was just annoyed, as usual. The young wolf was being foolish. It seemed that no matter how much he tried to teach Toboe that humans were nothing but trouble, the red wolf ignored him and automatically started eating out of their hands.

If it wasn't for his ever wary eye that little wolf would no doubt have been stuck in a zoo somewhere, or worse.

Tsume allowed Toboe and Kagome to enter the camp before him and chose to remain on the perimeter of the group. He was already fed so simply dropped the bags he held at Kiba's feet before seating himself far away from the others, but still within hearing range.

Kiba stopped his restless pacing and felt a smile crossing his features as he lifted the bag and dug out some of the food inside. He nodded in greeting to Kagome when Toboe introduced her. Sure it was great to meet the promised mate of the leader of Paradise, but such notions ranked second to a happy stomach.

Tsume almost smirked at the reaction. Kiba may have been obsessed with Paradise but even he had to succumb to the demands of his physical body. It made the white haired male feel better about his need to stop and eat earlier. The tiny nodules of guilt he had experience for eating before his pack mates completely disappeared.

"You can have some too," Kagome told Hige, who remained sitting still and simply stared at her. Kagome shifted nervously under his penetrating gaze. "What?" She demanded, finally annoyed.

Hige shook his head, empting it of whatever thoughts previously were circulating and moved towards the food and started to devour his share. Toboe was a bit more controlled in his eating as he took his portion and sat beside Kagome on the grass covered earth.

"He hasn't seen a girl in a while ever since Blue left," Toboe informed Kagome matter-of-factly. Kagome's brows drew in confusion as she looked down at Cheza slumbering peacefully.

Toboe grinned, mouth full of meat. Tsume shook his head and looked away. Had the child no tact? He'd really have to teach him some proper etiquette. Not that the human deserved to be on the receiving end of such etiquette, but perhaps since she would be the one to help them find Paradise she didn't deserver completely disgraceful manners.

"Cheza doesn't count. Kiba's claimed her," Toboe clarified.

"Hey!" Kiba shouted indignantly.

Tsume shook his head at his leader. He was so whipped and wouldn't even admit he had any feelings for the lunar flower with the pink hair. He vowed right then and there to never allow himself to become such a fool when it came to women.

"What? It's true," Toboe replied innocently, before smiling at Kagome again.

"I wasn't staring at her. I was just looking at her. Besides she is the one promised to the king of wolves. That makes her like royalty." Hige defended himself. He had a dazed look to his eyes. "Think of all the beautiful women she must know. I'm sure she wouldn't mind putting in a good word about me to them, right?" Hige looked over at Kagome with hope in his amber eyes.

Kagome started to giggle, reminded of Miroku when the of so familiar lecherous look glazed the wolf's eyes. "Sure, as soon as I meet some lovely wolves in Paradise, I'll be sure to tell them about you."

"Be sure they know about what an idiot he is," Tsume warned from his the outskirts of the group.

Kagome frowned at him. "Why do you have to be so negative?"

Tsume glared back at her. "Why must you be so damned positive?"

"Say, Kagome?" Toboe asked at her side as he wiped his mouth of the last crumbs of his meal with the back of his hand. Kagome turned and smiled down at him. He looked suddenly shy, as if he had something embarrassing to ask. His large purple eyes looked over towards Tsume quickly.

Tsume stared back with hard golden eyes. 'He better not ask what I think he's about to ask,' Tsume thought silently.

Toboe began to wring his hands nervously and seemed to be gathering his courage. "It gets pretty cold here when the weather is bad and I was wondering if you didn't mind if I slept beside you?" He looked up, purple eyes wide and he looked about to burst in tension.

Kagome couldn't refuse eyes like that. They were eyes so similar to Shippo in his pleading. "Of course Toboe-chan, I would be honored to sleep by you." She ruffled his auburn hair a bit and was rewarded by a toothy grin.

Kiba looked up through the thick crop of trees that blocked them from prying eyes. "The sun will rise soon and it feels like it might snow."

"There's a cave back that way," Tsume pointed to an area to the North of them. "I passed by it on my way to the village."

Kagome snorted quietly at his description of Tokyo.

"What?" Tsume snapped at her, walking towards and stopping to glare down at her in what he assumed to be an intimidating fashion. At least, in all his previous years it had proven intimidating to those that annoyed him.

Kagome tapped his nose, causing his golden eyes to blink in confusion as to what he did wrong with his proven stance of intimidation. "It's just funny that you refer to the great city of Tokyo as a village."

"Whatever, let's go." Tsume replied twitching his nose, trying to rid himself of the tingling feeling that resulted from her teasing. How dare she touch him so familiarly! As a matter of fact, he couldn't think of anyone who had ever dared to touch him before.

Actually, the only others to have ever touched him and not be dead were in this pack. He ignored her scent as she moved close behind him. She didn't belong in this pack. She was just a means to an end. Besides, Paradise, if it even did exist, was probably destroyed now.

Kiba walked beside Kagome and Toboe with the slumbering form of Cheza in his arms. He looked at Kagome and smiled warmly, yet cautiously at her. "Do you think there is anything you can do for her?" He asked, referring to the flower maiden in his embrace.

Tsume listened, waiting for Kagome to give his leader false hope. He knew her kind. That's what she would do. Fill your head with everything positive so that you'd forget the negativity of reality.

"I'm sorry Kiba, but I'm not really sure that I can do anything. It is in the nature of her kind to live a short life." She sighed sadly, and Tsume looked over his shoulder to see the exchange. Kiba looked defeated with head bowed as he stopped walking.

Kagome touched his chin and lifted his head as she stopped in front of him. "But I will try to give her as much of a chance as possible. Perhaps when we get to Paradise they will know of a method to extend her life."

Kiba offered a sad smile. "Thanks for trying. It's just, she represents the first time I ever had any real hope." He confessed; cerulean eyes deep and full of sorrow.

Kagome released his chin and began walking once more, Toboe at her side like a faithful pet and Hige trailing behind everyone, unusually quiet. "We all must have hope. It can be found in so many places." Kagome answered wisely as she took Toboe's hand and held it in hers.

Tsume noticed this from the corner of his eye as the two had now caught up to him and walked alongside him. He almost frowned at the exchange. Toboe didn't look like her pet now, more like her son or younger brother. How dare she try to act like a wolf! She didn't belong.

"We're here," Tsume announced.

Everyone clambered in to the shelter. Kagome moved to the back of the cave and took a large blanket from her bag. She set it out and wrapped herself in it's warmth. Toboe looked at her uncertainly and she opened the covers for him to share in the comfort.

Grateful, the young wolf transformed into his animalistic form and allowed his warmth to be added to Kagome's. She closed her eyes and ran her fingers sleepily through his auburn fur.

Tsume stood at the entrance of the cave. A jealous feeling knawing in the pit of his stomach. Toboe was like a son to him, to see him being treated by the human in such a motherly fashion bothered him.

He could barely remember his younger years when he was with his tribe before he had left them to find his own way amongst the humans. What he did remember was the children sleeping with their parents. Toboe looked sound asleep; never did he fall asleep so easily.

Tsume shook his head and observed his other companions. Hige was snoring softly on the other side of the cave. He wasn't sure but he thought he could hear him muttering the name, "Blue" in his sleep. Foolish wolf, one should never fall for a woman. It only caused problems.

Besides Blue was only half wolf. She was also half dog, it was only reasonable to expect her to run away and abandon their group. Hige should have known better than to have become attached. "Fool," Tsume muttered before turning his attention to his leader and the flower maiden sleeping soundly beside him.

Kiba sat with his back braced against the stone wall. His gaze was upon Cheza. "You should sleep," Tsume told him, not that he was concerned. He just didn't want his leader making foolish mistakes from exhaustion.

"I know I should, it's just that I'm worried about her." Kiba answered, looking back up at Tsume. "But at least we have Kagome with us now. I feel a little more hopeful of finding Paradise with her aid."

"Go to sleep and stop obsessing over Paradise," Tsume advised. He watched as Kiba absently nodded his head and then transformed into his white wolf form.

Everyone was asleep it would seem, except for Tsume. "Why do I suddenly feel like I don't belong?" Tsume asked himself quietly before donning the form of the dark wolf.

He was confident that Blue would return to them, he didn't exactly hate the half dog, but he was angry that she had left to begin with. Hige had complained for weeks. That pissed him off. When she returned, Hige would have Blue, Kiba would still be obsessed with Cheza, and now Toboe had his parental figure in that human. Where did that leave him?

His ears twitched as he picked up on faint sounds that sounded like crying. The scent of salt tears soon followed confirming his suspicion. Annoyed, Tsume made his way towards the source of the disturbance.

He wasn't surprised to see that the human was shivering. Her blanket provided little warmth when compared to the fur of a wolf's coat. The cold wind blowing into the cave from the new snow storm had brought a great chill. Toboe was too small to offer sufficient warmth, despite the fact that she was holding him tightly.

"Shippo-chan, I'm so sorry son," her voice whispered into the thick auburn fur of Toboe. Tsume frowned, he would have figured she'd be having some stupid girly nightmare, but he remembered the engraving on the tree. She had left a son behind.

Guilt began to build within the depths of his soul. Angry with himself for submitting to what he was about to do, Tsume decided to do it anyway. On his four black paws he padded his way over towards her. He concentrated and turned into his humanoid appearance.

Cautiously he slipped into her bedding behind her and spooned her body into his form as he wrapped his arms around her securely. He could feel her sigh contently before her sleep became peaceful and her breathing even.

He knew this was stupid and unlike him, but somehow, seeing his 'son' cuddled beside this woman he felt it his place to protect her. But, he couldn't allow this weak human to become sick or have her soul saddened anymore than it already was no doubt at being forced to lose touch with her closest friends.

He was too familiar with the feeling of losing those you held close. This pack, as mismatched as it may have been, was the only thing close to a family he had anymore. He didn't want to lose that. If that meant he'd have to accept this human, so be it.

Besides, he'd just slip away from her before she awoke. She need never know that he comforted her. Decision made, Tsume buried his nose against her dark raven locks and inhaled her calming scent.

"Yes, I'll just keep you warm, that's all," he vowed, muffling his words in her thick locks.

Across the cave, Kiba's golden wolf eyes opened a fraction. He knew he had convinced Tsume that he was asleep. He had become familiar enough with the other man to realize that when he was most rude to an individual it usually meant that he respected them most.

As he watched Tsume transform into his human form and slip into sleep behind Kagome, protecting both her and little Toboe his thoughts were affirmed. 'I guess there is hope after all,' he decided before allowing himself to join his family in sleep.