Feudal Friends

Chaper Three



The sun was just rising over the horizon as the last fingers of night fled to the west. There was a thin blanket of fog over the river, and bird song drifted through the air. It was pleasant, very similar to a crisp autumn morning, but warm enough to not need blankets or jackets.


The serenity of the peaceful morning was broken by a loud "Wah!"


Hige, who had laid on his back all night, suddenly rolled onto his side, throwing Shippo to the ground with a quiet thud, a rude awakening, no doubt.


"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Shippo said, sitting on the ground, looking slightly dazed. Hige cracked open a sleepy eye. "That's what you get for falling asleep on someone's stomach," he said, partially annoyed and partially amused.


Shippo rubbed his eyes, now fully awake, and stood up to stretch. Nobody had stirred at Shippo's surprised cry, so he decided to wake everyone up. Before he could even grin mischieviously, Kagome yawned loudly and sat up, stretching her arms. "Morning, Shippo," she said as she rubbed her eyes.


"Hi, Kagome!" he said, jumping over Hige, the smouldering campfire, and landing on her shoulder. "What's for breakfast? I'm hungry!"


"I don't think we had much," she said quietly, putting a finger over Shippo's lips. "Let's go foraging, okay? Just not far from camp; we don't want to get lost, right?" Shippo nodded vigorously, and with a smile Kagome quietly walked off into the woods, the little demon following her like a duckling follows its mother to the pond.




Last night, Toboe had fallen asleep lying beside Tsume, but woke up this morning curled up against the boy, Tsume's arm wrapped around him, his head on Tsume's shoulder. He sat up quickly and looked around, wondering if anyone had seen them. He sighed with relief when he realized everyone was still asleep. Tsume was sleeping on his back, and Toboe, after watching and listening for a moment, realized that his breathing was very shallow. I never checked his wounds! Toboe thought, feeling extremely quilty. Tsume had been so normal yesturday that he had forgotton about the demon attack.


With expert grace, Toboe silently unzipped Tsume's jacket and opened it, the boy never stirring. Toboe's mouth dropped open when he saw his chest; it was covered in purple and black bruises. The demon's handprint from when he had picked him up was clearly visible, even against Tsume's dark skin, and the bruises over his ribs were the most colorful. There were all kinds of slashes, cuts, and scrapes everywhere as well. It was a miracle Tsume had survived, nevermind moved around at all.


"Tsume..." came the strangled whimper from Toboe. All those wounds were from trying to save him. Toboe never knew that Tsume cared about him that much, and was now feeling so bad about not checking Tsume earlier that he wanted to cry and howl.


A shadow fell over them and Toboe looked up to see Inuyasha standing over him, the half-demon's golden eyes wide in surprise. He crouched down and looked over Tsume's wounds.


"He got all those wounds fighting that demon?"


Toboe nodded, blinking back a tear or two. "He was protecting me."


Inuyasha blinked, then looked at Tsume again. Is that kid so important? Would I go though all that to save Shippo? Kagome, sure, but a kid?...


"Well, I gotta admit, he's sure is a tough one. I'd be out for three or four days not moving at all if I had all those, yet he acted like it was nothing," said Inuyasha, not even trying to hide the mix of awe and impression in his voice. Toboe half laughed and half moaned. "Yeah, he's got a bad habit of doing that."


"What the hell's going on?" Tsume grumbled, glancing at them, then glaring daggers at Inuyasha. "What do you want, Dog-boy?" he snapped, and tried to sit up.


"No, you don't!" Inuyasha barked, putting his hands on Tsume's shoulders and forced him to lie back down. "Get offa me!" Tsume growled.


"You're in no position to argue," said Inuyasha. "Now lay down, dammit, before I knock you out!"


"Tsume, you're really hurt, please try to rest!" said Toboe.


"Quit worrying over me! It's just a couple goddamn bruises-!"Tsume snarled, but stopped when a wave of pain ripped through him. It was like acid was racing through his veins as lightning struck him while getting run over by a train. Sweat broke out all over his body as he tried not to scream. What the hell, a delayed reaction? It didn't hurt this bad yesturday!


"Quit being so stubborn," Inuyasha said sternly. Without warning, he scooped Tsume up in his arms. Tsume was absolutly livid. "Put me down, Dog-boy, or I'll rip your throat out!" he snapped as Inuyasha, vein throbbing and all, carried him over to the where the others were sleeping. Toboe followed, mouth open in shock. Was this guy bipolar or something? One minute he's threatening Tsume, the next helping him! What's the deal?


Toboe was not the only one wondering that. What the hell am I doing? Inuyasha asked himself, but no answer presented itself. In not the most gentle fasion, Inuyasha deposited Tsume on the ground beside the remains of the campfire near the still sleeping Hige.


"Hey, Sango, wake up," said Inuyasha, walking over to her sleeping form and tapping her on the shoulder. The demon slayer looked at the half-demon sleepily, saying "Inuyasha?" She bolted upright, fully awake. "Inuyasha! What's wrong, what happened?"


Inuyasha held up his hands. "Nothing happened!" he said. He pointed to Tsume, who was lying and gritting his teeth in pain. "That dumbass wolf got hurt yesturday and didn't tell no one. He needs some looking after, so will you fix him up?"


Sango nodded, and looked over at Tsume and Toboe, who was kneeling worridly beside him. "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden, Inuyasha?" She turned back to see that he was watching the two boys, his gaze far off in thought.


"He got all those injuries because he was trying to save the kid. It wouldn't be fair if we let him die now, would it?" Inuyasha asked as he stood up. "Besides, I'm not carrying around a half-dead wolf. The sooner he's better, the sooner we get out of this stupid forest and find those jewel shards."


"Yes, of course," said Sango, smiling. Inuyasha would never admit it, but the jewel shards were an afterthought. I'll bet he was worried about the wolf, but he's too proud at admit it.


"Hey Sango," said Inuyasha, looking around curiously. "Where's Kagome and Shippo?" he asked.


"'Said somethin' 'bout foragin'," came the mumbled answer from Hige.


Inuyasha nodded once, then leapt up into his tree without another word. Sango watched him, then shook her head, just unable to figure him out. She leaned over to get her bag when she saw Miroku, still fast asleep.


"Hey, wake-up, you lazy monk! Are you going to sleep all day?" she asked, leaning over him, when her eyes grew wide in surprised shock.


"Good morning, Sango," said Miroku sleepily, gently squeezing her butt.


"Don't you dare 'Good Morning' me, you perverted monk!" Sango cried, hitting him hard on the head with her bag, causing a fist-sized lump to grow. Miroku rubbed his head gently, saying "Sorry about that, it was an accident!"


"Whatever," she mumbled, and she took, her bag with her as she went to kneel beside Tsume. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the extent of his wounds. "Oh, my! You were able to move around yesturday with all these injuries?" she asked in awe. Tsume crackled opened an eye at looked at her. "No, I got in a bar fight last night," he grumbled sarcastically.


Sango ignored him and went digging through her bag. She landed Toboe a small animal skin. "Take that ointment and gently put it all over his wounds, and I'll bandage him up, alright? You'll be healed up in a few days," she reassured Tsume, but it was Toboe who sighed in relief.


Kiba was still sitting on the rock when Miroku came up behind him. The monk saw that his eyes were alert and awake and thought to himself He kept watch all night? Don't wolves need sleep just as much as humans do, or is he an insomiac?


"You're still on watch," Miroku said simply, coming to stand beside the rock, leaning against his staff. Kiba turned to look at him and shrugged. "I didn't get tired, so there was no point in waking someone up to relieve me."


Miroku nodded understandably. After a moment, he asked "So, what did you and Sango talk about last night?" It was a casual question, but Kiba cocked an eyebrow at the monk, whose eyes were closed. His scent had just a hint of jealously in it, and Kiba smiled to himself.


"Sango was just curious if Hige, Tsume, and Toboe were my brothers," Kiba said, almost chuckling at the thought. "But they're just my...friends." He almost said 'packmates' again.


"Is that all?" Miroku asked, unable to hide the small sigh of relief he breathed.


"Don't worry, Miroku, I don't want Sango. She's all yours," he said, and Miroku suddenly blushed bright red and rubbed his head embarassingly. "I don't know what you mean!..." the monk said. Kiba stretched, his bones popping and cracking from the hours of stone imitaiton, then jumped down from the rock, and looked at the brightening sky.


"I can smell your jealousy, so there's no point in lying about it. You're human, aren't you?" Kiba asked. Miroku laughed at himself. "Sorry, Kiba. I did not mean anything by it, really," he said, then there was silence.


"There's someone from my time I need to get back to. She's waiting for me," said Kiba, thinking about the pink-haired flower maiden, Cheza. He walked past Miroku back towards the camp when he suddenly gained a small smile. "Besides, I'm not the one you should be worried about, monk..."


Sango had finished bandaging up a cut on Tsume's arm and was reaching for her knife to cut off the excess when Hige rolled over. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman with pale skin and ebony, waist-length hair. "Whoa," he said, and Sango turned to look at him. "Hm?"


"Did I die and go to heaven, 'cause you've gotta be an angel," he said, before realizing who he was talking to.


Sango let out an annoyed sigh and smacked Hige on the head. "Twice in one day!" she muttered, exasperated.


"Hey, all I did was give you a compliment!" Hige said, sitting up and rubbing the growing lump. He heard a chuckle behind him as Miroku sat beside him. "Used the old heaven-and-angel bit, eh?" asked the monk.


Hige nodded. "Geez, is she always this nice?"


"Pretty much," Miroku laughed. Hige saw the lump on the monk's head and grinned. "Looks like you didn't fare much better. Hey, aren't monks supposed to be all moral and upright?"


Before Miroku could answer, Kagome and Shippo came walking out of the forest. "We found food!" Shippo said.


"This is food?" asked Inuyasha, sitting cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed in annoyance. He looked like a god who was disappointed in his village's offering, and he was. Spread out before Kagome and Shipppo were three small, twisted apples, a couple handfuls of berries, several large walnuts, and a small fish.


"It's all we could find," Kagome sighed.


"Are you kidding?" asked Hige. "Here we are, in the middle of this big-ass
forest, and that was all you could find?"


"Shippo could inhale that," said Kiba.


"This breakfast is sorely lacking," observed Miroku.


Kagome's eyebrow twitched. "Well, nobody exactly volunteered to help, did they?!"


"This is pure toture!" Toboe cried, and his stomach let out a long roar, causing
everyone to stare.


"Wow, Toboe!" said Shippo. "Just how long has it been since you last ate?"


"Long enough for me to lose for weight," said Hige.


"I forgot what food tastes like," Toboe whimpered.


"Too damn long," Tsume muttered.


"I think about nine days," Kiba said flatly.


There was a stunned silence.


"Nine days?!" cried Shippo.


"You've gone nine days without eating?" Kagome said.


"You haven't eaten in that long, and still had enough strength to fight that
demon?!" Inuyasha said, clearly impressed. These wolves were just full of surprises!


"Well, then, I don't think anyone would mind if you took the food," said
Sango. "After all, we ate just yesturday morning, so we'll be okay."


Kiba shook his head. "We appreciate the offer, but-"


"-we're wolves, so we're more of the carnivorous sort," finished Hige.


"And if Tsume eats some meat, he'll heal up in no time," said Toboe.


Everyone was quiet as they tried to think of were they could find some meat in this rather empty forest. Miroku was about to suggest they try fishing in the river when Shippo suddenly cried out "Kilala, you're back."


The cat, now in her more fearsome form, came padding out of the forest with two large brown lumps on her back.


"Kilala, I wondered where you got off too!" said Sango as Shippo bounced over to his feline friend and jumped on her head. "Hi, Kilala! Where were you?"


Kilala growled her answer, which caused him to laugh loudly. As they walked back, Shippo translated. "She said that everyone's tummys were making so much noise they were keeping her up last night, especially theirs!" He pointed to the four boys. "So she went hunting and found two deer, one for us and one for them."


Before anyone could move, Toboe jumped up and ran over to the cat. "Kilala,
thank you so much! You're the greatest!" he said, hugging her neck fiercely, causing her to purr proudly.


"Well, then lets get to work," said Sango, standing up. "Kagome, will you fill that pot, in my bag, with water? Miroku, could you please get a fire going? Inuyasha, you'll help me take the deer over to those rocks and skin it, right?"


Inuyasha was about to ignore her when his stomach grumbled. He sighed and stood up, secretly glad for something to do as he walked over to Kilala, who was waiting to be relieved of her burden. Smiling, he scratched behind her ears, saying "Thanks, Kilala. You're alright, I guess." She glared at his teasing, and growled an unknown reply.


As he pulled one of the deer off her back, Kiba came up to the other side an grabbed the other one. The in-disquise wolf and half-demon looked at each other for a moment. Both leaders of their respective packs judged the other's strength, unconsciously deciding in the other could be a worthy ally.


He's strong, he killed that thing in one swing. If he and Tsume could get along, this Inuyasha could be helpful in finding our way back home, thought Kiba.


I thought I had these wolves figured out as weak cowards, like that jerk Koga, but the grey one got pretty messed up protecting his friend. I haven't see 'em fight either, but that demon was really tore up, and they were starving when they did that damage! Inuyasha looked at Kiba. I don't totally trust 'em, but they might be helpful if we run into one of Naraku's incarnations.


They looked each other over one last time and came to a silent agreement: I don't trust you or your's, but we'll help each other out. Kiba gave a silent nod, which Inuyasha returned, and whispered "Thank you" in Kilala's ear. Inuyasha went over to
where Sango waited and Kiba, instead of carrying the deer to the fire, started off to
the woods.


Kagome saw Kiba carrying the deer away, followed be a still-limping Hige, and a still hurt Tsume who was being helped by Toboe. "Hey, where're you going?"


"We're trying to be polite and give you some privacy," said Kiba, causing her to gain a confused appearance. "Excuse me?" she asked.



"We don't wanna ruin your appetities for the rest of your lives," Tsume growled, wishing to keep moving because idly standing around was hurting him.


"You don't wanna see a pack of starving wolves literally tear into their first
meal," said Hige with a wicked grin.


"It's not very pretty," agreed Toboe. Without another word they disappeared into the woods. A few minutes later, the sounds of snarling wolves, crunching bones, and shredding flesh filled the air, and Kagome couuldn't help the shivers running up her spine. No matter how human they look and act, they're still wolves, she reminded herself. Wait! We're they tempted to eat us? Visions of Hige, Tsume, Kiba, and Toboe, all with long claws and red eyes, snarling and drooling as they watched their sleeping forms.


"Whatcha doin', Kagome?" asked Inuyasha right beside her. She yelped in surprise and almost spilled the water bowl she was holding. He was looking into the woods like she was, and his ears twitched at the sounds of the feeding wolves.


"Inuyasha, don't sneak up on me like that!" she said, her face turning red in embarassment for getting so scared, and for thinking those awful things. So what if they're wolves? Inuyasha's half-demon, and she knew he'd never eat her! But that's different...


"I'd hate to be that deer," said Inuyasha. He glanced at her. "You yelped pretty loudly there, Kagome, so you were thinking of something pretty scary. What was it?"


Kagome hung her head. "I was just thinking if those wolves were ever tempted to eat us last night, that's all."


"Well, if they were, they wouln't have gotten away with it," said Inuyasha, and she noticed the circles around his eys.


"No wonder you were so irritable today!" she teased. "You kept watch all night, didn't you?" Inuyasha sighed tiredly. "I don't know why, but I couldn't sleep at all last night. It was really weird."


"But, Inuyasha, I feel bad for being so jumpy. I'm just being silly, assuming they'd eat up just because they're wolves. I mean, they didn't eat us, so what's to worry about, right?"


"Wrong. People can change in a second. It's better to be cautious than betrayed," he said quietly, and she remembered Kikyo, the woman who had betrayed him.


"Miroku, what're you-? Miroku!" Sango said loudly, followed by a loud slap.


"Miroku, you shouldn't try to play when Sango's holding a big knife like that. Someone might get hurt," Shippo said.


"I think we should get back," said Kagome just as Sango called "Inuyasha, get back here!" He sighed heavily, and followed Kagome back to camp, momentarily forgetting about the wolves.