I'm back to this story and man... cant seem to start it nicely -.- I have like the middle part done and already know how it's going to end, but the start! *sigh* I hope you will still like it and put up with me for a while XD
As said in the first chapter, I use Name for the teens and last names for adults(unless its other specified)
btw It was so so so hard to call Nitori : Ai; Aiichiro. I almost gave up on 'calling the young wolves by name and older ones by last name' idea.
Disclaimer: Don't own Free!
A howl echoed over the valley sending the herd of deer running from the yet unseen enemy, but the animals could feel their predators. Four wolves emerged from the shadows of the forest just up the hill a second later and followed the panicking animals running ahead. For a moment it looked like the carnivores would lose this race, before their speed picked up immensely and they were running side to side with the slower ones of their prey. Now and then a flash of snapping teeth came from the predators, almost teasingly missing the flesh of the deer.
The young wolves where testing out their prey, trying to single out the weakest. It didn't take long before just a couple of them where thorn from the massive herd. A young deer, not older than a year gave the four wolves the slip, as they closed in and circled their prey, but the predators didn't seem to care for that much. The young hadn't been their target anyway, and as long as they had one kill, it would be satisfactory. They had more than thirty hungry mouths waiting for their success after all. Focusing on the leftover group they searched for the weakest in them, finally cutting off one of the females, they circled her. The rest of the herd still was running and would probably only stop when their heightened senses caught not even a scent from their pursuers.
While the three where bringing down their prey, Haruka stood before them protecting the group. He was the one with best reflexes and therefore best for this job. And he found himself needing the flexibility.
One of the male deer, probably the mate of the female they had captured, had stopped and stayed behind, turned back to face the wolves. With his antlers lowered he was about to charge at the black wolf. Thought the head accessory of the mammal weren't fully grown again, one lucky stab with it and it could kill the predator before him. The coal black wolf growled, but that didn't seem to faze the stag.
Haruka lunched forward in an attempt to bite the animal's legs, scaring him away, snapping his jaw shut right before his teeth sank in the skin. The animal stepped back and rose itself on his back legs, ready to stomp down on the black wolf who jumped to the side right before the hooves could graze him. But as its legs touched the ground, the deer swiftly swung his head and the tip of his antlers caught Haru's paw, making him fall on his back and roll on his side, right under the maddened animal.
The three wolves had been successful in bringing down the female and Makoto's eyes fell on the scene happening just some feet away from where they stood.
Looking back at the deer before him, Haruka's eyes widened as his mind processed the next move the animal would do and what it meant for the young wolf. He knew he couldn't evade the next attack, not in his current position. Bracing himself against the stab that would come, the black wolf squeezed his eyes shut.
"Haru!" Makoto's voice echoed through the valley. And the next think Haruka saw was red. The sound of flesh and muscles ripping, blood dripping to the grass and the distinctive irony smell filled his nostrils. The black furred wolf held his breath, his mind racing through blank and muddy thoughts.
Why don't I feel anything? The young wolf wondered. Am I dying? Did it stab me so precise that I would feel nothing, but just pass on? Or was it the shock numbing the pain?
Haruka slowly opened his eyes and looked down on himself, his eyes widened in disbelief. He was unharmed. The angered animal's antlers hadn't even scraped him. In fact, the deer had been the one that bled out on the newly grown grass, eyes staring back at the young wolf, as he looked at it, blood oozing through a wide gash in its throat, a dark shadow hovering over the dead body. Haru looked up, sharp blood covered teeth glistered in the morning sun, small puffs of breath left the cage of razor sharp canines that still dropped wet with the essence of the deer's life. Red eyes burning a stare into Haruka's brilliant blue.
A threatening, but low growl rumbled in the beast's throat and rose up to escape, only to be trapped behind the scarp teeth that had pulled into a… smirk? Haruka's brilliant blue eyes widened.
"That was pathetic. Tch. You don't think of feeding thirty hungry mouths with only that." The blood smeared snout pointed at the deer at the feet of Makoto, Nagisa and Rei. His growl was slightly rough at the edges, but somehow familiar to the coal black wolf, still lying on the ground on his side.
"Who..?" Makoto spoke first, but didn't finish his question as the beast turned around and with his back facing the other carnivores shifted his form into a young, muscular and lean man. Maroon bangs rippled in the light breeze and a swift movement over his mouth left the teen's light skin on his forearm colored crimson, before he shouted.
"Sei, Ai! You guys are too slow! You are going to miss all the fun." There was an amused snorting sound before he slowly turned back to face the wolves again.
A gasp echoed between the four, although Rei didn't recognize the man before him, the view was mesmerizing none the less. The quite long maroon hair, that almost touched the broad shoulders, nicely accented his face that harbored two purple, almost ferocious looking eyes, sharp nose and chin, a slight slit, that were his lips and razor sharp canines that seemed to prevail even in his human form. Well build and toned muscles, tall and most definitely strong, Rei concluded, judging by the lifeless deer at the teen's feet.
"Rin…" Haruka breathe out, finally standing up.
"Rin-chan!" Nagisa jumped almost a feet high and changed his form in mid air. The blonde hyperactive teen run up to the long lost friend and wanted to wrap his arms around him, which Rin skillfully evaded, stepping back and letting Nagisa hug air, almost tumbling to the ground.
"Senpaiii~!" A shrieking voice echoed through the valley that came from the little hill to their left, making Rin and everyone else look at that direction. Two teens were hurriedly closing in on them. One with silver colored hair and big blue eyes. Having unusual for their standards, a light jacket on his shoulders. The other one was more bulky looking, fiery-red hair and golden eyes. Only loose pants covering his long legs.
"We…we were supposed to get a gift for the… the Iwatobi pack, senpai." The smaller boy slightly panted stopping beside the redhead, two rabbits dangling from both his hands.
"Yeah! The hell did you go off to, bastard? Leaving us to do all the work!" the fiery-red haired teen snarled, fixing the grip on the small piglet that was slung over his shoulder and glared at Rin, who just gave the slightly taller teen a smug smile and kicked lightly the deer beneath his feet.
"I did exactly that."
Seijurou eyed the dead animal and murmured a curse under his breath. Then lifting his eyes he finally noticed the other four.
"Your… friends?" He looked at Rin and nodded to the Iwatobi hunters.
"Welcome committee." Rin said sarcastically.
"I would have preferred girls…" Seijurou said to himself, while he scratched his chin with his free hand and then gave them a bright smile, offering the hand for a handshake. "Hey! I'm Mikoshiba Seijurou. The leader of the mountain pack hunters. We came here for an official visit… hehe"
Rin rolled his eyes. Yeah, right… leader. The remaining three wolves shifted to their human form and Makoto stepped closer, taking the teen's hand and squeezing it in a firm handshake.
"Tachibana Makoto. Nice to meet you. This is Hazuki Nagisa, Ryugazaki Rei and Nanase Haruka." The green eyed teen gestured to each individual boy as he introduced them. Seijurou shook his hand while looking over everyone and then returned to Makoto for a moment, his eyebrows pulling together and then one of them made an arch.
"Tachibana? Tachi- Wait!" The golden eyes went up and down and then back up over the green eyed teen. "Dude, why didn't you tell me we meeting the Alpha's son?" Seijurou turned to Rin, who made a 'tsk' sound and without any word lifted his prey, slinging the head of the dead animal over his shoulder, to drag it back to the camp, while blood slowly covered his torso. The silver haired boy instinctively went to the side of his superior to help moving the deer's body if the need of his assistance accrued, which he was pretty sure wouldn't happen, while Rin went off.
"The usual sunshine…" Seijurou sighed and smiled at the four teens. "Need help with that one?" He nodded to the deer.
"We will be fine." Haruka answered before anyone else could, earning him a couple of surprised glances.
…
The camp hadn't changed much from how Rin remembered it. A green circle shaped space that easily could fit the entire pack on it, surrounded by dens from three sides, leaving the east side, facing the valley down the hill, free.
He fixed the hold of the game over his shoulder. The deer was heavy and the half grown antlers started to get in the way, but that didn't hinder him to be the first to reach the camp and drop the lifeless body with an almost dramatical thud to the ground. The showy arrival didn't go unnoticed.
Faces of people he knew and couldn't recognize slowly surrounded him as the rest of hunters caught up to the redhead, going to drop their prey next to his.
"Who are you?" Two bulky looking men, probably assigned to be the watchmen, the redhead concluded, approached Rin and stopped before the teen, looking over his blood stained appearance. A sharp smile crept up the redhead's face, stripped of any humor, but full with a provocative mockery. Purple eyes met with brown and green, throwing a silent challenge for the two to find out the hard way.
"Hey! Hey! We need none of that, dude!" Seijurou noticed the tension building between the three and hurried over. Putting a calming hand to his pack mate's shoulder he earned himself a snarling fiery glare and withdraw the hand again. Murmuring a 'don't touch me' muffled with a growl, Rin turned around, taking some steps to not stand close to anyone particular, and crossed his hands over his chest.
"I'm sorry for the bumpy greeting. The name is Mikoshiba Seijurou and I think the Alpha is expecting us." The teen, almost the same height as the men before him, smiled to sooth the agitation that Rin had left behind.
"What a pleasant surprise." A low, but friendly voice echoed through the crowd and an olive green haired man approached the group slowly. "Young Mikoshiba! You come with some great gifts. It can't be that you are that eager to please us?"
"Not really, Alpha. Just presenting some peace offerings for things that are bound to happen…" Seijurou glanced at Rin, who didn't even paid the slightest bit of attention to the talk. "And somewhat of a payment slash offer to keep three more mouths here." The teen laughed lightly, but none the less his laughter boomed through the air around them. The Alpha's reply went silent as a happy sounding girly voice shouted out.
"Makoto, Rei, Nagisa, Haruka! You are back!" and a redhead broke loose from the crowd, joining the little group of four young hunters. "How did it go? Did it work?" The girl looked excited from one to the next, completely unfazed that she did have almost every pair of eyes in the pack on her.
"Now that 'welcoming comittee' I did appreciate to have had…" Seijurou said to himself and smiled, eying the girl, as a soft red colored his cheek bones. At the exact moment the words had left his mouth he felt a cold shiver go over his spine and turned to a furious glare of purple eyes. If looks could kill… The fiery-red haired teen swallowed, not quite understanding what had gotten into his maroon haired hunting partner today.
"Wow! Did you get all that?!" The red haired girl looked down on the pile of dead animals, not receiving an answer from the boys.
"Not quite. We got just the one deer." Makoto finally spoke and gave free a small smile.
"Yeah. The stag is my doing and the rest is from my hunter group." A low and firm voice cut in the conversation and the girl turned her head to the speaker. A pair of purple eyes met, while the smaller ones widened and the other ones slightly softened.
"O-Onii-chan?!" The girl almost squeaked and forgetting again about anyone else's presence ran up to the blood stained teen. Though before she could throw her arms around him, Rin put a strong hand on the girl's small maroon head, ruffling her long hair that she had tied up in a ponytail, efficiently stopping her.
"You have grown, Gou." The red haired male said and his eyes briefly threw a glance at the fiery-red haired teen, who slowly put his hands up in a surrendering gesture, before fixing back to his sister. "Last time I saw you, you were still a little pup."
"Of course I have! I'm sixteen now." Gou beamed up at her brother a sparkling smile. "Are you coming back home this time?" A hopeful look was directed at the male.
"I guess… That's the plan." Rin scratched his neck in a thoughtful manner.
"Then we better get you cleaned." A soft and soothing voice said and both maroon haired teen's turned around, following where the sound had come from. A woman in her mid-forties, dressed in a gray dress, immerged from the sea of people and with light steps approached them.
"Gou, why don't you get some friends and start cutting up the meat?" She looked at the direction of the Alpha, who gave her an approving nod. Turning back to her daughter she smiled and the girl jumped into action, calling some other girls to sort the animals and what they would use, like the fell, meat and some of the bones, and what had to be discarded. The people surrounding them starting to thin out, as they had fulfilled their interest in the commotion, now returning back to their daily activities.
"Gou is not the only one that has grown." The woman smiled and stopping before the red haired teen her lean, pale hand lifted up, gentle fingers brushing through a sea of maroon locks. Rin's eyes went from slightly widened to half mast as he let the gesture wash over him. "It has been four years since you last visited us, still young and immature, but now you look already almost like the spitting image of your late father."
Rin's head leaned into the touch unconsciously. The words washing over him like a waterfall of tranquility.
"Hey…" Seijurou whispered coming closer to the four teens of the Iwatobi pack hunter's. "Who is that lady? And why is she still alive after touching that red mess?" The taller teen pointed at Rin's back as the teen in question let the fondness flow over him without protest.
"Wha- Emm…" Makoto met the golden eyes of Seijurou, which sparkled with undoubtedly immense curiosity. "That is Matsuoka-san. Rin's mother."
"Oh! Figures…" The taller teen scratched his chin in a thinking manner.
"Seijurou-san what did you mean with 'still alive'?" Rei spoke up, not being able to suppress his own sparked interest.
"Huh? Oh yeah, you guys don't know…" The golden eyes looked around carefully and the teen leaned more closely to the others, as if he would be about to revile a major secret. "No one is allowed to touch his hair. The one guy who tried still has scars to show." Seijurou leaned back and put both hands on his hips, nodding knowingly.
"You have to admit that the red locks are quite tempting, fluffy and stuff. But that's our sunshine, as we know and love him." The bulky teen laughed.
"Why do you call Rin-chan sunshine?" Now it was Nagisa's turn to ask.
"Coz he smiles like a sunshine." The fiery red haired teen chuckled. All four gave him a questioning look.
"Rin doesn't smile."Not anymore. Haruka spoke, earning another knowing nod from the taller teen.
"Exactly!" And with that he waved them goodbye and left the four to themselves, as he caught the soft movement of the Alpha's hand, calling him to end the talk they had started before.
"I don't get him." Haruka muttered, earning a soft giggle from Makoto, as they watched the tall teen leave and were about to get on their way themselves.
"But he used to." Nagisa said softly after a moment of silence, his lips pulled in a small pout, as the group was heading for their homes. His hands buried inside the pockets of his pants. Kicking a pebble and turning to his own family's den, the blond sighed. "I wonder what happened…"
Haruka, following everyone just a step behind the group, turned his eyes to look at the redhead in question. An endless frown frozen on his features, slightly softened by the touch of the woman before him. As the brilliant blue eyes were about to shift away again, they caught a small twitch up of the thin slit on the redhead's face, as his mother yet again had slid a soft and pale hand through the maroon locks. Turning and leading her son back to their den afterwards.
…
The Iwatobi pack was gathered around the central fireplace, where parts of the prey the hunters had brought simmered quietly over the lashing flames.
Pair of girls were occasionally keeping their eyes on the meat, making sure it didn't get overcooked. Seijurou was keeping them company, joking and dropping some flirty remark from time to time, already feeling at home in the new environment. The other two hunters of his team were standing quite a distance away from everyone else, Rin refusing to mingle and Aiichiro not leaving his senpai even for a moment.
"Everyone? May I get your attention?" The Alpha spoke up when the cocked meat was distributed among the people. "I have some news for you all." Waiting for a couple of seconds for the crowd to settle down he spoke again.
"From today on we will have three more wolves joining us. One you already know, it's Matsuoka's son and the remaining two are handpicked by the mountain pack's Alpha himself, his son Seijurou Mikoshiba and a hunting teammate Aiichiro Nitori. They will make a second hunter group. As you all know, I am not chosen as Alpha, so my time goes to end soon. One of the promising young men here will soon take my place as the rightful Alpha of Iwatobi. In one year's time they will have to show their wits and strength to us all and earn the position. 'The Alpha is the best hunter in the pack. He puts everyone else's needs before himself.' So let the best of them be judged."
A cheer went through the people, added with howls and yips to celebrate the Alpha's words who bit greedily into the piece of meat he was holding and looked around with a bright smile.
The time for the young to take over was here.
Hey guys :) I'm just dropping a note here to say sorry for the typos I'm making lol And a big thanks for people to actually point them out for me, so I can fix them.