Dawn was just beginning to poke its head out over the mountains when Tsume awoke the next day. The sky was in an array of colors; opening the atmosphere with a bright purple that shifted between pink and red. He watched the atmosphere and waited voicelessly as the sun, as if done searching for danger and finding the heavens the safest place to be, slowly rose into the sky, making the colors recede to be replaced by the blue color that practically screamed for a bright, sunny day.
Birds started chirping, hopping out of their nests in the trees to stare below them at the awakened wolf, and the still sleeping girl, by the lake. Squirrels and other little forest creatures soon followed suit and Tsume eyed them sleepily as they scampered out into the open. They saw him in all his canine glory and, with one quick stare at the naked human with him, scuttled away. Tsume scoffed, the noise sounding like a sneeze to even him, and some more creatures scurried away deep into the thick brush.
He glanced lazily about the clearing around him with yellow eyes, seeing the lake, the trees, the bushes; all, but one human girl. Yes, he still remembered that night where he had protected the girl from the cold as she slept peacefully, body bare and snuggling against his fur. He could still feel her fingers as they brushed his grey fur in their sleep.
Tsume looked down at the human female as if finally noticing her and his canine lips seemed to form into an awkward grin.
She had moved him, somehow, so that her head rested on the side of his belly and was facing him. He, himself, had even helped, and now he was curled protectively around her. Some of her long, dark hair was caught between her lips, and her eyes were still closed. Even this close, Tsume saw that her skin was pale and seemed like porcelain under the rising sun. He licked her cheek and swiftly moved her hair away from her mouth with his nose.
The girl stirred and her eyes slowly began to open; crimson orbs landing upon the wolf. She smiled, and her eyes shined into his. Cautiously, unsurely, her hand moved up towards him, and Tsume's ears pinned back when she placed her palm at the top of his skull. She petted him sweetly, as if he were the greatest dog, er, I mean, wolf that deserved attention, and he closed his golden eyes and let her.
Geez, now he knew that he was growing soft! Stupid journey for paradise has made me a pet…and for a human girl. Damn…Tsume thought silently, yet not with bitterness or anger, surprisingly enough, but with affection.
The wolf's tail twitched back and forth and it flicked against the girl's bare back as it did so. She laughed quietly, scooting away from the bushy fur. Tsume's eyes opened, the human's hand still on his head, and licked the girl's wrist with his big pink tongue. Her hand slid from his skull to his chest, where she traced the scar that lay there carefully, eyes fascinated and focused on what she was doing.
He watched her carefully, eyes blinking leisurely down at the girl, mind silently wondering about her actions.
A light breeze made her stop and tremble, taking a glance at her attire of basically nothing, and she move to sit up, hand sliding off the wolf's chest. Silently, with graceful movements unlike any other human that the wolf had seen, she made her way to her clothing.
The girl took them in her hands, scrutinizing the fabric with her crimson orbs, and then shook each article free of dirt. She slipped on the first piece of the material; a long sleeved black shirt that hugged the curves of her chest and that of her waist. She did not bother with putting on a bra, Tsume noticed with amusement as he, too, stood and casually strolled over to her to sit by her side. She was just putting on her underwear when she saw him do this. A small smile flitted across her lips before she returned to getting dressed.
She brushed her long hair with a brush that he hadn't seen her take out, and put on her pants. They were a pair of dark blue jeans that fit snugly around her hips and seemed to exaggerate the length of her legs, making her body look shapelier than it already was.
Inside his mind, Tsume had to praise whoever made the jeans so perfect on this human.
He blinked when she walked past him in her bare feet and reached up into an extremely bushy tree, pulling down a bag that she had hidden there. The wolf blinked again; he had not noticed that. She was smart; especially when she also brought out a bow and a quiver of arrows that she slung over her back.
The human turned back to him and grinned, coming to the wolf and holding out her hand. "I don't believe we've been introduced." She said politely. After blinking a few times in confusion and silently wondering if this human was insane or not, he got the idea and put his paw in her palm awkwardly. "I'm Kaira. It's nice to meet you." She told him, shaking it gently and laughing.
Tsume's tail was starting to wag by now at her antics and Tsume leaned down to lick the hand holding his paw with his big pink tongue. Kaira laughed and ruffled the fur on top of his head, earning a small half-hearted glare in return.
"Now I have to go hunting. You stay here."
He scoffed. Who did she think he was talking to? He was a wolf! He lived for the hunt! But he 'stayed' where he was. It was only when she was out of sight that he followed her. It was easy to do this; she had such a pleasant scent that he would gladly follow it any day.
He trailed after her and ducked behind some bushes when she looked back. It was a game of hide-and-seek for the wolf. When Kaira started walking again, he came out and followed her. It went like this for an hour, until the human finally slipped into some thicket and a deer slowly ambled into the clearing. He followed suit before she saw him.
The wolf watched with amazement as the human quickly transformed into the huntress. She readied her bow and he heard the creaking of the string as she pulled it back.
The deer was a male, and a big one at that; his antlers were huge. The animal's head snapped up from eating, and its eyes searched for a predator.
Before it could do anything, an arrow pierced its shoulder and Kaira stepped out of the bushes, another arrow ready to fire. And fire it she did, hitting its side. Blood quickly flowed from the wounds. Tsume couldn't take it anymore; the deer was taking too long to die and that practically spelled trouble.
He leapt at it and Kaira gasped with surprise. She clearly hadn't been expecting him to have followed her. The wolf's jaws sunk into the animal's neck, and crimson liquid washed down his throat. No sooner that he attacked it did it drop dead; a pool of thick red water forming around it, two arrows sticking out of its body and large puncture wounds and gashes were at its neck..
Tsume unlatched his teeth from the flesh and turned to her, tail wagging slightly, only to droop between his legs. He had been panting proudly, but now his somewhat happy smile dropped like a ton of bricks and his canine ears pinned back.
The girl saw this and sighed when she reached him; she had been stomping her way over, prepared to give the wolf hell, but couldn't when do it she saw his defeated stance, the saddened expression in his golden eyes.
She ruffled the top of his head again and smiled. "Good job, boy." She said and Tsume brightened again. All had gone according to his plan to get out of being scolded. Act sad, earn sympathy, then praise and you're off the hook.
He was an evil wolf, by god, and he loved it all the way.
Kaira had cut a portion of the meat for herself and let Tsume had the rest. Little did she know that three pairs of canine eyes watched her do her job hungrily. But the grey wolf did and he growled; sending a warning for the other wolves not to touch the human. Said human looked at him curiously and looked about, wondering, before she shrugged and continued to prepare the meat to be cooked later.
She glance up and she saw three sets of four paws, one set white, another with one leg having many silver bracelets on, and a rusty orange set. She looked up and her eyes met with three different pairs of wolf eyes.