Disclaimer- I don't own Kouga, Ginta, Hakkaku, or anyone else in this story except Shina. She's mine, stay away. Everyone else belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Authors Note- Don't ask me to update my FF8 stuff. I just don't have it in me to do that anymore, okay? The endings are left to your own imagination. What else... Nope, that's about it! ^__^

She awoke in a haze of pain. Her memory was sketchy at best. Leaving the caves with her brother, a shard rumor... Taku was hitting on her again, and then she had walked into something, something alive and hissing, and the most frightening blood red eyes... With a gasp, she sat up.

The scent was familiar and comforting, but different enough for her to notice. Wolves and rotting meat, and the low, growling voices of yorouzouku, but there was running water too... And her pack didn't live that close to water. Looking down, she realized someone had discarded her armor, and taken down her hair. She wore only the black fur around her breasts and waist, and her foot was crudely bandaged. Where...am I? Perhaps they had already reached Kouga's den? How long had she been unconscious? As the voices came nearer, she decided to try her luck and call out to them. "Ne..."

The voices stopped, and one barked a short command to the other. Then both ran and she sighed, leaning back on her hands. Hopefully they were going to get someone who would answer her questions. Either that or they were afraid, which was stupid enough to make her mood lighten just a bit. Well, all she could do now was to wait.

When the two finally did return, they had brought a friend and his scent told her he was the leader of the pack. But even if she didn't have her sense of smell, she could still tell who he was by the proud, almost arrogant way he held himself. He was tall and lean, and his muscles were painfully obvious. She guessed he was maybe a few years older than her, and his furs and tail marked him as a kasshoku wolf. Wasn't Kouga a kasshoku? She frowned, trying to remember, and then realized with chagrin that he had been speaking. "Sumimasen, oyabun...."

The young man sighed impatiently and knelt beside her. "I said, are you feeling better? Because I've been waiting two days now and I want to get going."

She really must have missed something. "Go where? Why? What's going on?" He gave her a withering glare, and she ducked her head, gulping.

"We're going after Naraku," He told her in a matter-of-fact tone. Standing up, he stretched and held out a hand to her. "He has Shikon shards, and we're going to take them from him."

A rush of memories flooded her. It was perfectly clear now and her eyes widened as the implications of his remark struck her. "Then... nii-chan and the others failed in taking the human castle?"

He froze, then drew back his hand and turned away. His voice was muffled. "Let's just get going already, okay? Don't you want to see your brother again?"

Of course she did. Kotaishi was everything to her. He was all she had left. Taking a deep breath, she struggled to her feet. "My armor-,"

"It's here, nee-san," A smiling young wolf demon said, and handed her neatly folded armor and weapon with a flourish. "Polished and ready to go."

"Arigatou." She snapped on her spiked shoulder pads with practiced ease, then fastened her metal brassiere and hooked the chains to the shoulder pads. Finally, she hung her chain blade on a loop about her fur wrap. Wrapping her long dark hair, she pinned it back, then stood in front of her new leader. "Ready when you are, oyabun."

"Don't call me that," he replied with a grin. The idea of finally being able to leave had obviously lightened his spirits. "I'm Kouga. And you are?"

The kuroi wolf-girl grinned back as she followed him out of the cave. "Me? I'm Shina."

Yorouzouku- wolf demons Ne- Hey (used here, can have other meanings as well) Kasshoku- brown Sumimasen- I'm sorry Oyabun- chief Nii-chan- big brother Nee-san- sister Arigatou- thank you Kuroi- black