Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Jackrabbit ❯ Jackrabbit ( Chapter 1 )

Jackrabbit
by Kaitsurinu


Hige’s two main dilemmas that day? One: Finding the way to Paradise and protecting the fragile Flower Maiden who would help lead him and his comrades to that miraculous place; and two: quenching his poor, groveling stomach before it consumed him and he wasted away right there in the wilderness.

It was ironic that he, a wolf, should be so hungry and deprived of food while surrounded by nature, but it was the cold, hard truth of things that day. The latter problem seemed to loom larger over his head than the idea of wandering endlessly in search of the wolf’s haven as he laid on his stomach, spread across the roots of an old tree. No, running about the dangerous world forever didn’t bother him — it was in a wolf’s blood to wander, but no creature ever wanted to be hungry for the rest of their lives. He could live happily in his motley, dysfunctional pack but not with out something solid and palpable to weigh his growling stomach down. He was the first one, and often, the only one in the pack to admit he was hungry and he’d received his share of annoyed glances for it. It wasn’t his fault he needed something tangible in his belly, and it certainly wasn’t his fault that there seemed to be only two living creatures in these woods, besides the four wolves passing through, and they were a pair of scrawny jackrabbits.

If there had been a third rabbit in the atrocious amount of land they’d covered, hunting for their dinners, he would have caught it and been dinning on it at this very moment, instead of fantasizing of food. No, he wasn’t as lightning-quick as the snow-white Kiba, or as headstrong as the rain-grey Tsume and he suffered now for it. Both wolves sat only a little ways away in the clearing, tearing through the rabbits they’d caught in wolf form. Hige lounged in his human one, watching them inhale the sparse amount of meat on the small animals and chew hungrily at everything from the bones to the furred skin, trying to fill their stomachs however they could.

It was sick, almost. He was the only one not eating. Tsume had dragged his kill off into a more isolated section of the clearing and the pup was close on his heels, wagging his tail enthusiastically and whining softly for a share of his food. And he would get it, too, Hige supposed. He didn’t think anyone could withstand Toboe’s young, hungry eyes for long, when they were so focused on you.

Sure enough, when he twisted onto his side to glance over to where Tsume was hunched over the rabbit, he saw a large portion of the carcass flop out of his mouth at Toboe’s eager feet. It was still steaming.

Damn, I really shouldn’t have looked, Hige moaned to himself. Now he felt his mouth water and beg, along with his stomach churning beneath him.

With a sigh he rolled back over onto his stomach and looked across the clearing over to where Kiba wolfed down his meal.

His front white paws were stained red as he pressed them against the rabbit’s skull and pulled at its ear, his fangs sunk into the chewy but edible cartilage. A blood vein burst in the rabbit’s ear and some of the crimson that had not already been bled out of the remains splattered onto his muzzle. A moment later the sound of skin and cartilage ripping came and Kiba lifted his head, already snapping the tiny bit of food down. He didn’t seem to notice that the blood was running down his nose and across his paws and went about stripping the sinew off the thighs. He didn’t notice a lot of things, Hige thought to himself as he sat up, drawing his attention from the rabbit being torn to bits to the white wolf himself. He didn’t seem to notice just how different he was.

Did he know just how mysterious he was to the rest of them? Did he realize how much he embodied a great alpha? He was innately strong and fearless and seemed guided by some holy force, the same force that gave him that sometimes infuriating faith in his intuition - his often blind intuition. Hige didn’t understand how a wolf like him had ever been born; one so determined, so beautiful - just downright perfect? As Hige stared and watched him devour his sparse meal, gazing endlessly into those glowing amber eyes, he didn’t notice when they changed to a cool green-blue and turned toward him.

"Hige."

He startled at the sound and sat up against the tree trunk, blinking rapidly as he returned to the real world, with the white wolf he’d been contemplating staring at him, now in human form. Hige scratched a little at his collar with his human hand and smiled nervously.

"Yeah? What’s up, Kiba?" His skittish laugh came to the surface and he hooked his hands behind his head. "Heh, sorry ‘bout spacing off like that, buddy. Just a little hungry, that’s all. Didn’t mean to stare at you or anything," Hige chuckled again, and this time it helped to mask the gluttonous whine from his stomach.

Kiba glanced around discriminatorily, scanning the other wolf over as he sat in the arms of the roots of a giant old oak tree with a grim face. "Didn’t you make a kill?"

Ha. Leave it to their leader to sound so flat, even when pretending to be concerned. Hige sighed theatrically and just leaned back into the moss covering the tree’s long-dead trunk once more and shook his head, trying to act as if he wasn’t going to make a big deal but simultaneously doing just that.

"There’s nothing in this stinking forest to kill. I think you’re eating the last living resident of these woods right now, and Tsume’s tearing his brother to shreds over there with the runt." He waved it off again with a shrug, closing his red-violet eyes. "Whatever. There’ll probably be a few mice to chew on when we get started tomorrow, or maybe I’ll even get lucky and find something already dead to eat." He made a face when his stomach roared beneath him to spite him.

"You should eat. No one will want to hear you complain later," Kiba answered plainly, resting a paw on the rabbit’s breakable rib cage.

Hige snorted. "Well, I can’t promise you anything, but — "

But the leader wolf seemed to ignore his sighing complaint and mouthed the limp remains of the rabbit into his jaws and trotted over toward the crippled oak tree where the other wolf sat in his human form, his thick brown coat embodied in a nappy crown of caramel hair and his stomach still griping painfully. Kiba let the carrion to the ground in front of Hige, and crouched on his haunches, once again human. His fingers were waxed red with blood and his face had not escaped unscathed either. When he blinked stoically, Hige could see bits of it in his eyelashes. Still beautiful, and it was horribly Kiba to be so beautiful while soaked in blood.

"Take the rest."

Hige blinked dumbly in return. "Nnn?"

He could hardly believe this had happened. Though time didn’t slow dramatically and no choir sang in exultation anywhere nearby when it happened, this moment was a first and deserving of its own place in record book, even if he was imagining it. That honestly sounded more plausible than the former. Kiba, the lone, white wolf, was actually being courteous and almost friendly? Man, his hunger hallucinations must have been getting much, much worse.

Kiba noticed how the red-eyed wolf stared in return, his human-form mouth dropping open. "I’m sharing it with you," he explained plainly, lifting an eyebrow at him.

There was even a hint of a smirk through the bloodstains on his face - though it ranked no where near the first Hige had seen of him. He would have enjoyed it if he hadn’t been so taken aback.

"Whoa, wait - What? Really?" Hige straightened out in a hurry and cautiously sniffed the rabbit remains, noticing with a distinct salivation that there was still a fair amount left on the bones.

"Have it."

"Hey, thanks, Kiba!" he beamed while his stomach still pined hungrily and gurgled at the scent of food. "You’re a real lifesaver!"

He snatched it up eagerly in to his jaws and tore away at the rabbit’s meager bones as if his existence depended on it. In a way, it did, so all the more reason to scarf down the last scraps of that unfortunate jackrabbit. Even his human form, endowed with an inevitable scrap of human psyche, ached like an animal for the tiny bits of fur and meat he could pick off the bones. The sound of the bones crunching echoed through the clearing once Hige had gnawed the whole thing clean and started snapping the ribs for entertainment.

Kiba still sat nearby, watching the woods for signs of danger in wolf form. His ears flickered back and forth and swiveled toward Hige when he started to bite through them. He turned and looked at the scruffy brown wolf with even gold eyes.

"Come on, Kiba," Hige said, a long, barren rib clutched in his jaws. "Lighten up a little! You don’t need to be on guard all the time. Let’s have a little fun." He slunk down into the universal playful position, tail twisting in the air and his muzzle low the ground.

"I thought you were hungry," Kiba replied flatly, turning away, declining the game.

"Oh, come on, Kiba! What’s with the sourpuss act?" That immediately returned the bright gold eyes on him, narrowed slightly. He’d seen Kiba rip throats out in split seconds and constantly come back from the edge of death to bite it in the ass – naturally he was respectful of the white wolf’s strength. But this stare didn’t scare him at all. It spurred Hige on; this was just too much fun to pass up.

"What happened to being so damn tough, huh?" Hige teased, creeping forward in the inviting stance. His muzzle dipped so low to the ground that the long rib in his jaw dragged through the dirt. When the white wolf did nothing but glare in return, the plump brown wolf let his hindquarters sink low to the ground as well and he stalked toward the disgruntled alpha.

"Shut up and eat."

"Admit it, Kiba, you’re getting rusty, and you’re afraid to get thrashed," he teased, smirking neatly.

"You wouldn’t want to find out," the white wolf returned, the tiny hint of his own smirk also seeping back in. "You might hurt yourself."

"Oh, don’t worry about me." His tail saluted in the air, wagging slyly.

A second passed between them where both wolves remained stock still, save for the steady back and forth of Hige’s inviting tail and the snorting from Kiba’s coal black nose.

A moment after that, the white wolf had lunged into action and Hige sprung back with a cloud of dirt flying up from his paws. Mock growling, he surged as the other retreated, playfully yipping through the bone clenched in his teeth. Hige was laughing, and Kiba pursued, snapping mischievously at his heels when he turned and flashed around in a circle. He caught the white wolf by the shoulder and stiff-leggedly tried to knock the faster alpha over with his paws. Kiba barked excitedly, a rich, lovely sound that was magic to hear, and wheeled away, kicking up dust as he moved so swiftly. He could barely see him turn and get behind him, nothing but pale lightning.

The clearing echoed with their yapping and playful scuffling. Tsume lifted his head from breaking the jackrabbit’s skull in his mouth to watch, a little amused at Kiba’s unusual and unexpected abandon around the brown wolf. Meanwhile, Toboe was happily in human form, chewing at the leg he’d received and playing spectator as well.

Somewhere in their roughhousing the prized rib had been knocked out of Hige’s mouth and fell to the dirt. That absence did not stop the mock fight going on, two whirls of color wheeling around one another. Kiba was crouched down, fearsome fangs bore low to the earth, while Hige bristled and towered over him, knocking a paw at his muzzle. He lunged up at it, jaws wide, and Hige allowed himself to be caught by the foot and whined playfully, pretending to be seriously caught by surprise. With a paw clenched in Kiba’s mouth, he tumbled over to the ground and the white wolf instantly was on him, pinning him victoriously. He growled in triumph, baring his fangs in Hige’s face like a wide grin.

The brown wolf, stricken on his back and unable to free himself of the stronger one, started to lick at his muzzle in mock-submission, still yipping in laughter. As was part of the ancient dance of a wolf pack hierarchy, Kiba continued to growl and bark at his pinned subject, asserting his position as alpha over the beta. But it lacked the blind, primal enthusiasm of wolves of old – they still remembered it was a game, even as Kiba snapped and nipped at Hige’s nose, demanding submission. The blood covering his jaws was slowly being licked away.

The white wolf, swept up in the game, closed his mouth on the brown wolf’s muzzle and felt the happy growl rumbling through his jaw. They kept their position and Hige began thrashing impishly beneath the conquering alpha, trying to break free. Lying on his back, his paws clawed at Kiba’s chest but he was unable to dislodge him. He growled at the movement and tightened his grip around Hige’s muzzle, feeling the short caramel fur and hair-thin whiskers bristling against his lip.

"Uncle!" He was barely able to get the sentence out over his laughing yips and growls. "Uncle!"

"Not yet," Kiba rumbled back, his panting breath spilling down the beta wolf’s muzzle and his ears pursed against his head excitedly.

"Uncle! I said, ‘Uncle’, damn it! Uncle!" he yipped.

"I don’t think you’ve learned your lesson yet." The white wolf tried to ignore as Hige used his forepaws to paw at his shoulders, clawing for purchase on something to free himself, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. His hind paws still were plastered to his ribcage, trying to push him off. His muzzle was still captive of Kiba’s gentle fangs.

"You win, damn it!" he whined, half-laughing, making the submissive noises of a young pup as he writhed, his tail twitching back and forth knocking at the alpha’s heels. "Come on, Kiba! Do I have to sound like the runt? I said I give in!"

The bright, golden eyes narrowed happily, glowing with the pleasure of a victory. "Alright," he growled playfully, the vibration echoing through Hige’s muzzle just before he released it.

When finally given his pardon, the brown wolf let his head fall back to the ground, his tongue lolling out of the corner of his mouth and his panting breath taking in fresh air of new freedom – freedom from Kiba’s jaw. Though, he had to admit, it hadn’t been all that unpleasant. He grinned up at the white wolf, noting with a little amusement that there were still flecks of blood in his eyelashes. He laughed.

"Cheater," he accused of the white wolf mischievously. His body was still coursing with adrenaline and his brain clouded with the endorphins of a chase.

"I told you that you’d only get hurt if you went looking for a fight," Kiba growled proudly.

"I know, I know. I can hear you," Hige drawled in defeat, though the smirk did not leave his face.

When the game had ended and Kiba had sufficiently won the scuffle, sufficiently solicited his authority, he remained motionless over the stricken caramel-colored wolf, panting slightly from the exertion. The beta did not make a motion, either, his paws still resting in the air, nearly brushing the thick white coat of the alpha over him. Kiba could smell a new scent and it made him stiffen up anxiously. Hige was suddenly struck with nervousness and he blinked at him blankly, waiting for one of them to make a move to leave. His paw twitched beyond his control, getting tired, and rested on Kiba’s shoulder.

"Kiba, don’t you think you should get off me now — ?"

The golden wolf eyes took their subtle path into a human blue green and, instinctively, Hige also found himself transitioning to human form. It was a process none of them really even noticed anymore and they were becoming comfortable in the soft, vulnerable bodies. Hige realized he felt even more prone on his back without claws to defend himself and with Kiba’s dangerous physique hovering over him, so he squirmed. He didn’t realize that where his paw had been, his human hand remained, clenching shirt. "Kiba - "

Just as soon as he had moved and Hige felt lips pressing against his, from the other side of the clearing, the runt let out a loud woop of excitement, jarring the two apart with surprise and plenty of color in the beta’s face. Kiba glared up at what had disturbed them, and only saw the runt scampering enthusiastically into the brush after a flash of the cottontail of a rabbit.

"Oh man, did that ever scare me for a second," Hige groaned, letting his head drop back down to the soft dirt and sighing. He still had to get the other surges of adrenaline out of his system and it was not working well. His heart drummed against his ribs. Oh, yeah. He was still lying here, beneath the white wolf.

"Hige?" Kiba asked him suddenly, exhibiting a new, almost awkward expression. "Do you know any other games?"