Hiya! This is my newest AU! Since I'm now living in Colorado temporarily I got inspired to write this.

Enjoy,

He limped on the rocky edge, granite scraping his paws. Every step took a heave of breath. Fucking wolves. Fucking curse. What kind of existence was this? Fighting off predators, guarding his meals, watching the sky rotate above him day after day. The winter a cold unforgiving bite, the spring literally a pollen sneeze-fest, the autumn making it impossible to hunt with the crunch of leaves beneath him. The summer was physically pleasant but also when all predators were full of competitive energy. Sometimes he got through the season without a scratch.

His nose was bleeding down his muzzle. As he knew his vision was fading, he asked himself the very last line of self-preservation. The question that kept him from fully becoming the animal that he was; What is my name?

"What a gorgeous day!" The optimistic girl up the hill shouted to her friends below, the Colorado breeze sweeping the loose wisps of dark hair while caressing her face.

Her best friend caught up to her first, "I don't know where you get the energy!" Sango huffed with her hands on her knees already, "You don't even work out!"

"Looks like all that preparation didn't do you any good after all." Kagome teased with a grin. They both looked down the hill at the sound of quick footfalls. Miroku was running- sprinting up to meet them. Kagome gave Sango a confused look when he didn't slow down, passing between them with only a gust of dust as proof he'd even been there. He shouted over his shoulder, "All this spiritual training sure paid off!"

He skidded to a stop and turned around, flexing his sleeveless arms, "The ladies love a man with endurance!"

Kagome laughed at his antics. Sango was not amused. "We'll see about that MONK!"

Then Sango trekked up after him. They are so cute together.

"Kagome! Come on!" The female voice echoed off the mountain face.

He needed water. He needed to get up, to keep moving. But there was no point. He couldn't track anything with a busted snout. Was it going to end here? In his drifting consciousness, he thought he heard a faint caw from somewhere above. Fucking Vultures. How much had he bled already?

He thought of his life before this. Even if he had managed to change back, what was there to live for? All he could do is live on his own here, away from the humans. His tongue was rough and dry. The mountain air will kill him if he didn't act.

Hunching his shoulders, he sat up. His head swam heavily, but he could still see well enough. Don't let this fucking mountain beat you up. You are Inuyasha. The sun's new position told him he had slept through the night. He was lucky nothing had preyed on him during his rest. He was easy to spot in the open, day or night. He often took a dip in the mud if it had rained to go hunt more easily.

Focus. Water. Head bowed, he made to stand, and made a fucking whine at the stabbing needle of pain in his flank. The cuts in the pads of his feet had clotted at least. He growled frustratingly.

Come…. On…. Damnit

Sango lay a sweaty mess on a rock some yards away from camp. She had stopped panting after five minutes. Miroku looked calm as he unrolled and laid out his tent, but Kagome could see the glint of perspiration on the back of his neck. Kagome unwove her braid, having set up her shared tent already.

Warm flickering light blazed against the dark forest as the last inches of sun slowly sunk behind the mountain range. Across from her, the couple were curled up on the ground, Miroku softly whispering sweet words while a hand rested on Sango's rear. She noticed her friend's toes curl through the flames. Kagome smiled at them and Miroku met her eyes, giving her a wink.

She winked back. Miroku was her childhood friend. It was only natural as both of their families were quite religious.

Not wanting to interrupt his moment trying to woo Sango, she went to her orange tent to grab the toilet paper as her evidence. She'll give them five minutes of alone time before she and Sango would crash in their sleeping bags.

Huddled in her old college hoodie against the cold, she wound her way between trunks, the brushy undergrowth scratching her calves. She wished she changed into pants before she left, but it's always easier to go to the bathroom in the outdoors with short shorts. Her flashlight flickered.

"Argh, Really? Come on!" she slapped its plastic side repeatedly. After about seven hits, the flickering faded back to a steady beam. She returned the beam back to the ground ahead, and froze.

A large dirty canine stood but twelve feet away, eyes momentarily closed from the bright light on its face. She did not dare wish it was anything other than a wolf. They were far too high in the mountains for that to be possible. She'd learned that running from such a creature would be futile if it decided to give chase.

Her eyes met flaring gold.

As his eyes adjusted, a woman in red came into focus. Human?

A blast of a groaning pain rippled through his skull. His tendons wobbled, burned. His last thought was barely registering his body falling to the forest floor.

Was it hurt? She cautiously took one step forward, snapping a stick. The limp body didn't even twitch. She loomed over its form. Her small light told her it had- White fur?

Wolves in this area couldn't possibly have white fur. She kneeled before it. Shades of brown and black, yes. Grey, maybe. But white?

Could it be just a very big dog after all? Whatever it was, it was hurt. There was dark red all over its flank.

"Miroku!" She yelled.

As she waited, she tentatively placed her palm on his head, her anxious body empty of breath. When it still didn't stir, she glided her hand back. It was quite soft. Her fingers flattened back his big ears before drawing away.

Lights searched through the trees, "Kagome!" Miroku called.

"I'm here!" She waved her flashlight above her.

"Are you alright?" Sango hollered.

"Yes! Just come help me!"

"Woah! Is it dead?" Miroku asked when his light caught the legs of the wolf- or dog.

"No. Do you think its a wolf?"

He crouched next to her. Sango had her hands on her knees, looking over him. "Well," He said, his chin between two fingers, "It could be a large shepherd."

"A German Shepherd?" Sango asked.

He nodded then sighed at Kagome's pout, "You want to help it, don't you?"

"You got it!" She chirped. He knew her so well.

He rocked back on his heels and stood, bending over. He slid his fingers beneath its belly, noticing the wound's location. "I hope I don't make it any worse for the poor guy," he commented as he lifted the canine.

"You got him?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah. You ladies lead the way."

Voices swam in his head. He felt something brush his fur. His mind's eye looked at his flank, checking the pain. It had dulled since before. His nose had regained its intel as well. He could smell human sweat, burning wood, and the plastic-like fabric of tents and sleeping bags.

He didn't smell gunpowder. A wave of safety washed over him and he crashed beneath it.