Feudal Friends

Chaper Five


The Bone-Eater's Well was an ancient well, shrouded in mystery, were demon bones were thrown away. It was also a magical portal between the present feudal era and Kagome's time, about 500 years in the future. She and Inuyasha were for some reason the only two who could pass through, but it was theoried that if the four wolves used it, the well might take them back to their time. There was no guarentee, but it was the only thing anyone could think of trying.


A truce was agreed upon between the two groups: the wolves had to actually promise not to eat anyone ( "You guys are way too serious," Hige had said when he heard this term, rolling his eyes), and Inuyasha's group would take them to the village of the Bone-Eater's Well (which was Kagome's idea). It was unclear who was glaring more as they shook hands, Inuyasha, or Kiba. Both had narrowed eyes, bright gold versus icy blue, and tight grips. Kagome, I hate you thought Inuyasha.


Inuyasha's little trust in the wolves was quickly shattered by Tsume's and Hige's rash threats( nobody was really sure if Hige had been kidding or serious, so it was open to debate). It was only after a long group talk did he agree to escorting the wolves back to his original village. The 'not-eating' rule was really out in place to annoy Tsume; it was an unsubtle way to get under his dark skin, because he was thought to be the most dangerous wolf of the group.


Kiba was sorely tempted to growl "I'll kill or eat anyone who gets in my way, and not even a man that is somehow part dog is going to stop me." Tsume may have been the target of the 'not-eating' rule, but Kiba was the one who caught the meaning behind its words. Tsume may be a deadly wolf, but Kiba was certainly the most dangerous; he killed without regret, whether human or animal, and without fear. His scent was permanently that of blood and his wolf body was covered in scars.


The large group quickly packed up and began their journey downstream, hoping to cover a few miles before dark fell. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits now that they were on their way out of the demonic forest.


"Hey, Shippo, can I ask something?" said Toboe, walking beside the little fox-boy. Hige, Kiba, and Tsume had gone ahead, all three seemingly determined to stay away from Inuyasha and his friends. Apparently, all friendliness the wolves had extended to them was taken back by that 'not-eating' rule. Miroku, Sango, and Kagome were walking close together and they were talking about something. Inuyasha was a few steps ahead of them, walking in silence, but Toboe noticed that whenever Kagome spoke, his ears perked up in attention.


"Well, two things, I suppose," Toboe added. Shippo grinned, showing his small fangs, and jumped onto his shoulder. "Sure, Toboe, what's up?"


Toboe put his hands in his pockets, and kicked a small rock by his foot. "I meant to ask earlier, but what are these 'jewel shards' you guys keep talking about?"


"Oh, those? Well, a long time ago, there was this jewel called the Shikon Jewel, or Jewel of Four Souls. It was a very pretty gem, but extremely powerful. Any demon that ate it gained super strong powers, so you can believe a lot of demons wanted it!"


"Wait, demons?..." asked Toboe, slightly confused.


"Yeah, demons. That monster that attacked you was a demon. And Inuyasha's half demon, but he's a good guy," explained Shippo.


"Oh, that explains the..." Toboe trailed off, pointing to the top of his head where Inuyasha's ears sat on his head, and Shippo nodded. "Yeah, those are from his dad. Anyway, as I was saying, it was extremely valuable. One day, the jewel was shattered into lots and lots of little shards. Though not as strong as the whole jewel, any shard can give any demon that finds it more power, so we have to find the shards and put them back together. You see, Kagome can sense the shards, and Inuyasha kills any demon who had one and is a bad guy. That's what we where doing before we lost, anyway."


"That explains a lot. Inuyasha must be really strong, killing demons all the
time," Toboe said, slightly awed, and Shippo nodded in agreement.

"He is, but sometimes all that power goes to his head!" the little demon joked. Toboe stiffled a giggle. Shippo watched his friend, then asked "Hey you said you wanted to ask me two things. What's the other one?"


Toboe's face grew slightly red. "Um, it nothing. Nevermind"' he said, trying to blow off the question. Shippo looked at him curiously, then smiled brightly. "Come on, Toboe, what is it? Tell me!" he whined, but Toboe shook his head. "Nevermind, Shippo! It was a stupid question, anyway!"


"I'll bite your ear if you don't tell me!" Shippo threatened, baring his fangs. Toboe's eyes grew wide and he said "Please don't! I'll tell, but its really stupid...."


"So? Tell me!" Shippo said, beaming with pride.


Toboe sighed in defeat. He put his hand to Shippo's ear and was about to whisper his question when there was a loud voice.


"Hey, runt! You're fallin' behind. Get up here, we have a pack meeting!" called Hige. The three boys were sitting on a large rock formation, looking very suspiciously like street thugs, hanging out and waiting for a helpless person to pass by for them to rob. Kiba was crouching on the tallest rock, his jacket blowing in a quiet breeze, his cold eyes watching everything. Tsume was sitting cross-legged, one of his many knives balacing on the tip of his finger. Hige was simply lying back with his hands behind his head, looking very relaxed.


Whoa! That was too close! Thank you, Hige! Toboe thought. "Sorry, Shippo, gotta go!" he said, breaking into a run and Shippo fell off his shoulder. "Toboe!" he called, then sat on the ground, arms crossed, eyes crunched up in a pout.

"That's no fair!" he muttered. Kilala, now in her kitten form, came up beside Shippo and purred, concerned in her eyes. Shippo turned to her, saying "Toboe was gonna tell me something, but now he won't!" Kilala purred, and Shippo's eyes grew bright. "If he won't tell me, I'll make him tell!" the fox-demon said michieviously. He looked at Kilala and asked "Kilala, you can run fast, right?"


Though everyone knew they were wolves, everyone still gasped when the four boys were replaced by the canines they actually were. Still crouching on the rock was Kiba, only now he was a huge, powerfully built white wolf with ferocious golden eyes. Tsume's black leather clothes and dark skin was gone, but he still carried the X-shaped scar on his chest, only now it was surrounded by mist-grey fur. He was thinly built, even as a wolf he was all muscle and bone.


Hige was a large, tannish-yellow wolf, the color similar to the hoodie he wore as a human, and he wore a large leather collar in both forms. As he ran up to the others, Toboe changed as well. Toboe, who was dressed in a red button-up shirt, green combat pants, and black combat boots, became a reddish-brown, lean, lanky wolf, the metal bracelets on his right arm (or leg) clinking together as he ran forward.


"Come on," Kiba said simply, and leapt off his perch, followed by Tsume and Hige as Toboe ran up. All four wolves looked at Inuyasha's gang for a moment before they took off.


"Can you believe the nerve of that guy? 'Only if you promise not to eat anyone'? That's bullshit!" said Hige.


"Why are you complaining? You're the one who said you'd eat 'em," said Tsume.


"But I was just kidding! Kidding!" were Hige's last words as they disappeared into the woods.



"Hey, wait!" called Kagome, taking a step forward. Apparently, nobody heard the wolves' words, unless Inuyasha's throbbing vein was dancing for fun.


"Let 'em go," said Inuyasha. "Maybe we'll be lucky and they'll run into a demon up ahead and get eaten."


"It's so weird, seeing them as wolves," said Sango.


"I wonder what they're having a pack meeting about?" mused Miroku.


"Who cares?" grumbled Inuyasha, walking forward. 'They're probably deciding who their gonna eat tonight." Even though the wolves weren't even around to hear it, it made Inuyasha feel a little better to insult them, but not for long.


"If they were going to eat anyone, it should be you!" said Kagome, marching forward and ignoring Inuyasha. "Hey! What're you taking about?" he called.


"You've been nothing but rude to those wolves," said Sango, stopping beside Inuyasha. "They're lost travelers, but you treat them like criminals!"


"You didn't smell Kiba's scent," Inuyasha growled pointedly. "His scent is that of blood and death. He's a cold-blooded murderer!"


"So what exactly would that make you? You're a killer too, or have you forgotten all of those countless demons you killed to get the jewel shards?" asked Miroku. Inuyasha stepped back as though slapped in the face.


"B-b-but that's different you know damn well, monk!" said Inuyasha, watching Kagome and Sango walk ahead. Miroku looked at him before walking off as well. "You're sounding very hypocritical, Inuyasha," he said.


"Inuyasha!" called Kagome from up ahead. "If you don't stop being so mean to them and don't apologize the next time we make camp, I'll never speak to you again, and I'll go home when we get back to the village!"


The half-demon was about to yell back something along the lines of "Good, go home! You're annoying and loud-mouthed anyway!" but instead sighed in defeat and ran to catch up with his friends. Dammit! he thought. There's no way to convince Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kagome that these stupid wolves are bad news, at least not unless they see it themselves. He grimaced as he thought about the four boys. They aren't wolves, they're saints that can do no wrong! Fine, I'll leave 'em alone, but one wrong move and I kill them.


"Kagome!" Inuyasha called, running up to her. He began walking beside her, but she continued to ignore him. "Kagome?" he asked quietly, testing the murky waters before jumping in.


"Inuyasha." Kagome spoke his name with ice-cold, emotionless calm. He sighed heavily; he was in it deep. Her threat was all too real. Dammit, Kagome! he thought. Why must you be so naive?


"Uh, I'm sorry, okay? I'll say sorry to them when we make camp, so everything's alright?"


Silence. He sighed again.


"I promise to behave myself from now on alright, Kagome?"


She turned to him, the anger gone from her eyes. "I'm not the one you should ne apologizing and making promises to, but thank you very much." She lifted her hand and rubbed his soft, dog ears. "Aw, you're too cute when you're remorseful!"


"Kagome, what're you doing?!" he said jumping back from her, his face blushing bright red, and the junior high school student laughed, a light, airy sound.


"Hey, Inuyasha," said Sango, walking up next to the red-robed half-demon (whose face was the same shade as his robes). "You're not still sore about Kagome's 'Koga' remark yesturday, are you? I only ask because every time you look at Kiba or Hige, or anyone, you get this same look of disdained anger that you get whenever he is mentioned."


There was an akward silence. Miroku tapped Sango on the shoulder and whispered "Sango, I think you just sighed Inuyasha's death warrant!"


The previously happy teenager's face was a mask of rage that made Inuyasha cower as she roared "WHAT?! You're still mad about that?! You're been so mean because of-You are a jerk! What are you, three?!"


"Kagome, that's not it at all!" said Inuyasha, trying to defend himself from getting whalloped by Kagome and trying to glare at Sango at the same time. Suddenly, a sound cut through the air and caused everyone to pause. It was the loud, eerie, lone wolf's howl that echoed through the forest.


"A wolf's howl..." Sango whispered, looking toward where the wolves had run.


"Hey! Did you guys go deaf or somethin'? We could use a hand!" someone roared.


"That's Hige!" cried Kagome, and they took off into the forest. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's hand and began pulling him behind her. After they began running, she did not notice that it was he who was pulling her forward.