Lost and Found

by Mommawulfy

After the defeat of Naraku, Inuyasha finds himself totally alone and begins to struggle with his past for a second time. Strangely enough, Kouga finds himself in a similar situation and the two form a bromance that eventually forms into something deeper, steamier, and better. Another InuKouga ship fic, but who doesn't love watching these two? Suggestions/Critique welcome!

A red-clad figure sat at the entrance to a well, growling darkly while lost in his own thoughts. It had been years since that had happened. Enough years, in fact, that the white-haired hanyou had outlived every one of his original traveling party. Well, everyone but the little fox boy that he had fondly been annoyed by. There was so much that he could remember, and the canine hybrid often sat at the well in the middle of his forest wanting nothing more than to forget the things that had happened after the battle with Naraku. Sure, the first couple of years had been peaceful and fun. Two of his party had become parents of five children before parting ways to build a home in an abandoned demon hunter's compound. Inuyasha himself had found love in the black haired female who supported him in her own admittedly odd way. Life had been good for a while.

Inuyasha wasn't a fool, however, and had always known that good didn't last. The loss of his mother, and the issues with Kikyo among other things proved that. It didn't take long for their peace to fall apart. The village near his forest was destroyed one night by an old demon that Inuyasha didn't know. The idiotic thing had a grudge on the demon hybrid's father, who was proving to have made many enemies before dying, and had heard that Inuyasha lived near by. In the fight, every human in the village died or was fatally injured. This included Kagome who was bleeding out even as the white haired dog demon jumped down the well to get help from her future family. He'd been chased into the well by the family's fear and grief which all smelled horribly to the strong-nosed Inuyasha. He had stayed by the well, though, waiting for some sign that Kagome had been alright. She never returned.

For a time Inuyasha was able to live as he had long before Kagome had found her way to him in the first place, it didn't last long before guilt and old memories soured his freedom. He didn't know what to do, where to go, or how to act without her. Seeking familiar company, Inuyasha had stayed with Miroku and Sango for a time. It didn't take long for the brash hanyou to become annoyed with the young kids and leave for solitude once more. After another year wandering, the white haired dog boy came across an older-looking Shippo who was admittedly turning out just like Inuyasha imagined when they were together. They stayed in each other's company for a while, sharing a place to sleep and talking when they weren't busy. It was enough for Inuyasha to forget about his issued for a while. But that too was a temporary arrangement. Soon the white haired canine had to move on and found himself returning to his forest. By this time, the village was almost completely over taken with under growth and the well was so covered with vines that it was clear no one had used it in all his time away.

So now here he sat, annoyed at his own weakness, saddened by his loss, and pissed at himself for feeling like the world was ending when it obviously would not. Nothing would change the past or the future and Inuyasha would always be alone and lost in his own world with no one around him who was safe. His life had been pretty bad and the canine youkai knew that any human would have given up and died years ago while any demon would have just shrugged it off. Inuyasha hated being somewhere in the middle and gave a snort of disgust at his own heritage. Sure he'd loved his mother as any child should, but the demon wished that he had been pure blooded one way or another. He didn't care if he'd been all demon or all human, he just wanted to not be stuck in limbo.

Done with his musings and wanting to get the hell away from that place, Inuyasha stood and ran in the first direction that popped into his mind to find something to eat. It didn't take long for the canine to notice that the forest was thinning into dusty foothills and tall mountains. With a jolt, the half demon stopped in his tracks. He knew exactly where he was and the thought made the white haired male slouch in annoyance. He'd run straight into the territory of the eastern wolf tribe and unknowingly into sight of the tribe's prince who had been in a strong rivalry with Inuyasha for so long that the taunts and fights had gotten boring by the time Inuyasha had found himself alone. He knew that Kouga had married and merged his pack with another, but that had been something like 20 years ago.

For a moment, Inuyasha was curious to see what his friendly rival had been up to, but his curiosity was shut down with mournful howls emanated from the mountains near by and rattled the Halfling to his core. He'd heard something similar once before when one of the tribe elders had died. Inuyasha didn't want to be party to another death ritual. It reminded him of too much and made the red-clad hybrid shutter. Unfortunately, as the wind shifted Inuyasha realized that he was too late to retreat. Kouga's scent was strong and very close. He didn't realize how close, however, because when the white haired hanyou turned to move away Kouga was directly in his face. With a yelp of surprise, Inuyasha jumped backwards and nearly fell over.

Kouga smirked half heartedly. "Fancy meeting you here, mutt."