Feudal Friends

Chaper Four


It was close to midday when Kiba, Hige, Toboe, and Tsume emerged from the woods, all in much better spirits. Toboe was continuously smiling, his stomach pleasantly full to bursting. Hige was walking at a leisurely pace, not limping or in any pain at all, his hands behind his head as he laughed at Toboe's cheerfullness. Tsume had the faintest trace of a smile as he walked behind the younger two, watching their playful antics. He could walk by himself now, and the more shallow wounds had healed completely. He still walked slow, for some pain would shoot up his body every so often. Kiba walked slower, hands in his jackets pockets, eyes cold, face emotionless as he watched his friends with partial annoyance and partial acceptance.


Inuyasha and his gang had just finished their meal as well and were discussing ways to get out of the forest when the boys plopped down beside them.


"Well, you seem to be feeling better," Kagome smiled, dismissing her terrible suspicions from earlier when Toboe laughed cheerfully. "Yeah, a million times better, thank you!"


"Just so you know, your little kitten is now my new best friend," Hige teased, winking at Sango playfully. Kilala cocked her head to the side as she tried to understand what he had said. She suddenly decided that he was talking to her, and with a happy purr jumped into Hige's lap. The boy was taken aback by her sudden friendliness, saying "What the-" in surprise. He leaned back, as if to get away from her, and Kilala seemed to smile as she rubbed on his stomach. After a moment, Hige looked at her curiously, then shrugged and began petting her. "I guess all cats aren't so bad, right?" he asked her.


Sango chuckled. "Looks like you've made a new friend yourself! Never thought I'd see a wolf and cat take to each other so quickly."


"When the cat makes home deliveries, its hard not to, isn't it?" Hige said. "Besides, without her, I'd still be limping around like some old guy who lost his cane!"


"Speaking of limping, how are you dong, Tsume?" asked Kagome. The boy was sitting cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed in an odd scowl. "Fine," he replied coldly.


"Is your friend in a bad mood, Toboe?" asked Shippo quietly, perched comfortably on the boy's shoulder. He shrugged. "Tsume always tries to act tough when he's hurt, and hates it when people try to help. He's actually feeling much better now, but still in a little pain."


Shippo nodded understandably. "Inuyasha's like that, too. No matter how hurt he gets, he'll still keep keep fighting until every demons dead, or he is. Sometimes it's really annoying!"


The young wolf and fox-demon shared a silent laugh about their hard-headed friends just as Miroku said "Well, I'm glad you're feeling better now. We were just discussing how we were to get out of this forest. Since we have no maps or a compass, and seeing as we got slightly turned around fighting that demon, we can't even turn around and just go back the way we came yesturday! Do you four have any ideas?"


"Why don't you just ask your fearless leader? I'm sure he could just follow his nose, right?" Tsume asked, smirking.


Inuyasha, who had been ignoring the wolves, turned to glare at Tsume. "I would
follow my nose, but because of you, this whole place smells like demon blood!"


"And how exactly is that my fault?" Tsume asked, cracking an eye at the half-demon.


"If your little friend hadn't gotten his dumbass trapped in that hole, then-"


"Say one more word about Toboe and I will have to kill you," came Tsume's very serious threat. The boy was watching Inuyasha with narrowed eyes, one of his knives in his hand and waiting to be flicked into the helf-demon's neck. Nobody had even seen him
pull out the knife.


Inuyasha was taken back by the boy's steely gaze, and backed down. "Geez. No need to get so stiff about it," he said, looking away. The half-demon wasn't about to admit that he had been a bit scared of Tsume's golden eyes. If that's what I looked like when I'm pissed off, I wouldn't want to be on the other end of Tetsusaiga, either.


Nobody spoke, and no one knew what to think. Would Tsume have actually killed Inuyasha? He probably wouldn't have been successful, but would've tried hard as hell. It really reinforced Kagome's worry: Could they really trust these wolves, or would they turn on them?


There was a quiet chuckle. "I don't get why you're all surprised," said Hige. "Tsume becomes a grumpy ass if he doesn't threaten someone. He's just filling his quota for the day."


Immediately, the building tension broke. Nobody said anything, but a sigh of relief rose from everyone. They were all just glad they didn't have to pry the two apart in a bloody fight to the death.


"Miroku," Kiba said, his voice forcing the monk to turn to him. "Kiba?" he asked, still very much wondering if these wolves were trustworthy after all.


"We came from the west yesturday to get here, right?" Kiba asked, pointing in the direction of the dead demon's trap. He acted as though nothing had just happened.


Miroku nodded. "Yes, I believe that demon was in that general direction."


"You said you entered this forest near a village, so then if we follow this river upstream, ir would be safe to assume that this river flows through or close by that village, correct."


Miroku nodded, stroking his chin. "Yes, we could assume so. We could backtrack to that village, aviod that demon's trap, then figure out which way to go."


"No way," said Inuyasha, shaking his head. "If we're following this river anywhere, its downstream so we can get out of this stupid forest and find those jewel shards Kagome sensed. That's why we got lost in here in the first place, remember, 'cause we were cutting through?"


"But wouldn't it be better to follow the path we sort of know?" asked Sango. "We know there's a village somewhere in that direction, but who knows what's downstream?"


"It's better to be safe than sorry," Kagome shrugged apologetically.


"Well, fearless leader, I hate to say it, but Dogman makes a point," said Hige. Inuyasha's eye twitched. "I have a name, wolf. Inu-yasha. Remember it."


Hige rolled his eyes. "Fine, You're Inyuyasha, I'm Hige. Anyway-"


"Anyway! It's Inuyasha! Say it right!"


"If you two are through," growled Tsume, and Hige grinned. "ANYway, I'm with
Inyuyasha. We need to get back to our time, and you need to...to do whatever, so time is a bit important. It'll take way too long to follow this river back up a supposed village, and then have to go around this whole damn forest. Wouldn't it be easier to just follow the river until it flows outta here?"


"So, there is a brain under that thick mop of yours," said Tsume, causing Toboe to laugh, and even Kiba gained a small smile as Hige seemed to beam with pride.


"Well, then, seeing as you seem to be in agreement, why don't you take your merry little wolf pack and go downstream while we go up? The sooner you're outta my territory, the better," Inuyasha growled.


"As much as I would like to, we need you to help get back to our world," said
Kiba, looking at the half-demon with an icy blue stare.


"Why should I care?" came the equally icy response.


"You get us back to our world and we promise not to eat you," said Hige, his voice scarily serious. All the sarcasm and joking in Hige's usual comments was gone, and his face held no smiled as he made his threat.


"Um, Inuyasha? What about the Bone-Eater's Well?" asked Kagome.