Three Wolf Demons walked into the clearing opposite them, with two wolves at there flank. The male in front was very large and grizzled compared to the other male and he seemed to be protecting the woman just behind him. They saw the girl in Kagome's arms and halted, not sure of weather she was a threat or not.
"Go on and go home little one, but first do me a favor?" Kagome had just realized the thing she had forgotten to do.
"Yes miss?" The little child was trying to test her leg while Kagome set her down on the ground.
"Tell me your name." With a smile Kagome straitened out the girls fur dress and stood her up right.
"Talia. Thank you for helping me." And with that the little girl hobbled off to her papa and crawled into his arms, telling him all about her adventure.
Kagome and Shippo started to leave when they heard a howl in the distance.
"Miss! We have to leave and get back to the pack, but we are very grateful you saved our pup. When we come through here again we will bring you a gift of our thanks. Goodbye!" And all of there group ran off into the trees with those words.
Climbing back up to the cave again that day a thought occurred to both of them, they might be in danger of other demon attacks. They had always had a powerful demon near bye to keep the lesser demons at bay, and all they had ever done was fought demon after demon. Now they would have to dig into there new home, stake out territory, protect themselves.
Shippo went out the next day and searched for near bye demons, making sure they were alone; when he was done he placed mushrooms all around the edge and waited for Kagome. She was out collecting proper materials for arrow shafts and stones from the creek, when she was satisfied she grabbed her bow and went off to find Shippo. Together they killed small animals and used there scent to erect a territory barrier as neither of them had very strong auras or scents to begin with, agreeing with each other to get Kirara to help when she came back.
After that day of gore there was a period of calm repetition. Wake up, eat, clean, find food, kill and clean and cook it, cleanse the furs for later, collect and care for herbs, keep searching for a hot spring, meditate or practice, sleep. Through all of the hours they spent in the cave Kagome kept up all of the habits she had gotten into with her powers. Because even though she could not go back to Feudal Japan, she had retained her priestess powers, and it wasn't long before she realized she would need to gain control of them to keep others safe.
Calm breathing, finding the center of her body, focusing on the power that coursed threw her like breathing. In and out. If she was not careful the power would crawl out of her on the exhales and cleanse the area, she had to learn to drain off the entire excess not that the power had become stronger. Stones from the river, smooth colorful crystals and gems from the heat of the mountain long before were perfect storage vessels; they were already cleansed and pure from the constant movement of water around them. When she wasn't building an arsenal of healing gems, she was focusing her frustrations, sadness and any anger she felt into ordinary stones, when thrown at a demon they worked like bombs, exploding the energy out and purifying.
Most of the time though she wasn't doing any of those things; she was spending time with Shippo. Before she arrived the very first time his whole family and been slaughtered and he had no one to turn too, and then she came and he had hope for a little while. Then she left again and he spurned any other advances of friendship or family in the interim. Now with her back Shippo was the happiest he had been in nearly four year. Though he was still very young he had a heavy heart and a sharp sad mind, but with Kagome around he felt better and he spent every opportunity with her he could. Kagome could not know what he thought on the whole matter, but she cared for him deeply and loved him like a member of her own family, a son even if she were being honest with herself. Though she would never presume to give him direction in life she always worried if he had enough food or was warm enough, and always wanted his opinion. A bond was growing between them in those weeks and they had no inclination to stopping it.
Before they knew what had happened the month had passed by and Kirara was on the horizon. It was a bright day outside, still cool up in the sky and Kirara had brought them a large mountain cat in dappled brown that she had obviously been offended by. Kagome set to work cleaning the skin and put the meat on the fire while Shippo gathered the bags of goods they had prepared for the village. He was to ride on Kirara down to the village and trade off all that he could for money and anything else they needed. Though she had promised Rin, Kagome still did not want to go to the village, feeling that to change anything about her life in that moment might ruin it; so she had given Shippo a message to give the little girl, and hoped she might come and visit instead.
Shippo was off with Kirara, and he was supposed to stay in the village that night, making sure everything was okay there before returning in the morning; possibly with Rin. Kagome grabbed her bow and quiver and headed off in a random direction, still in search for a decent hot bath. Not wanting to go all the way to the spring by the village for it; though she had considered it. Kagome could not know that the day would be so full of happiness for her, but she soon got an idea as she was walking way from the cave. At the bottom of the cliffs rise Kagome heard a voice shout out to her and she lifted her head to see the little wolf girl Talia running in her direction with her parents in tow.
"Talia? What brings you back so soon?" Kagome asked the little girl as she jumped into her arms.
"Well the chief wanted to check out the area since he doesn't like demons in his land and he came with us to see the spot and told us that the demons that attacked me were Pit Vipers. So momma was all crying and papa thought that we could come say high and thank you again because they're all grateful I didn't get bit or id be dead." Talia carried on and on in a very fast voice as she snuggled into Kagome's arms while her parents walked closer.
"Hello, I'm Kagome. We were not formally introduced the last time we met." Kagome held out her hand for the older male in front to shake. All three of the Wolf Demons walked up to her and gave her a good sniff, and odd as it may be Kagome had already expected it from all of her time spent with Kouga's pack.
"Hello Kagome. I am Coul, and this is my mate Yazzi. My blood brother Cul is there. We are very grateful for what you did to help Talia. She is our only pup. If there is anything we can do to help you just let us know. We are preparing a present for you, but it will not be ready for another moon." Coul spoke in abrupt sentences, as if he was stringing his thoughts together while he said them. Cul and Yazzi did not speak at all though Yazzi seemed particularly watery eyed.
While they were speaking a thought occurred to Kagome. "Well you guys know this area pretty well right?" They all nodded they're heads. "Maybe you could help me find a hot spring, Shippo and I know there is heat in the mountains but we can't seem to find a decent bath anywhere." Kagome waited while they sniffed around for a minute.
"This way Kagome, this way!" Talia jumped out of Kagome's arms and pulled on her hand to follow the group. They led her to a shallow indention in the cliff she was living on, and she finally noticed the sound of water. Behind some tall grasses a hot stream bubbled out of the rock and into a deep pool only to flow off again into another hole in the ground. During the thank yous' that Kagome was giving at the wonderful find they heard a low howl in the distance and said a hasty goodbye.
They arrived in a flurry and left just as quickly, hardly and time had past at all but it was spent happily. Not one to waist a good opportunity Kagome hiked back up to the cave and grabbed fresh clothes, a spare fur, the dirty clothes and some lavender and jasmine she had collected. The trail they had broken over the month made for an easy walk down, easier still as Kagome bounced down the path, happy at the idea of a real soak.
So happy was she when she first stepped into the hot waters that she did not notice the intense blue eyes gazing at her from a tree near bye.