When Memories Fade Chapter 10, an inuyasha fanfic

So sorry for the delay guys! I've had not writer's block but more writer's...apathy? For some reason it's just been a difficult chapter to write, even though I had it all planned out before I'd even wrote it. Anyway, I apologise for the delay, I'm trying to keep my schedule to once every two weeks.

I hope that you all enjoy this chapter; I don't have too much to say about it this time, shockingly, other than that!

Oh yeah, one more thing. Sex scenes. What do you guys think about them? Should this story have one? It is rated M so I suppose it probably should, plus I have no qualms with writing one...let me know!

When Memories Fade – Chapter 10

'-sick and tired and of having to play nice with the human-'

'-don't know why Kouga doesn't just eat her already-'

'-I saw him laughing with the human-'

'-can she actually even see the jewel shards at all?'

'-maybe we should just eat her instead-'

'-the sooner the human's gone, the better.'

The caves were abuzz with heated anger, vaguely disguised as gossip. Kouga could sense it.

The brief respite that the pack had shared from Kagome's presence seemed to have bolstered their standoffishness, and with it their bravery to speak out. Kouga couldn't help but admit that he was shocked at their level of distaste for the human, after all her presence had a rather lucrative purpose for the pack and Kouga had not anticipated such passionate resistance. Kouga's pack in particular – even before he had taken power – had never utilised the labour of human slaves as some other packs did, largely due to their particular dislike for humans, however Kouga assumed that as Kagome had such a unique skill that was guaranteed to bring strength and power to the pack, they would begrudgingly accept her presence.

Instead, their opposition was strong.

Kouga contemplated why this could be. Was it perhaps the lack of any actual progress? They had only managed to acquire so far one jewel shard, and as Kouga had retained it for his use alone, it benefitted the pack only in an indirect way. This posed a problem for Kouga, as if his pack was so intently dissatisfied then it would not be long before a call to action would be made. Though confident in his ability to do so, he was reluctant to continue to fight the members of his pack each time an issue arose in order to get them to back down, as such an imposition of his power would undoubtedly lower morale among the men and women that he commanded. As a result, this would likely lead to increased coup attempts, more death, and then an even greater decrease in morale. He severely doubted whether continuing to massacre his tribe when they pissed him off was ideal for fostering loyalty.

He chuckled darkly for a moment, remembering the last time his temper had gotten the best of him and ended in corpses. It was to be expected to some extent for death to occur in the wolf demon tribe: they were aggressive by nature. Wolf packs usually anticipated this and were expected to mourn their lost ones with no real anger or bitterness...though this was often not the case. However, since Kouga had been particularly agitated that day, the victims had all but asked for it by attempting to engage in fight. Still, though forgiven on occasion, making murder a habit was never a good choice for a leader who did not want to be a dictator. And there was always the concern that if he riled too many of his pack-mates up that they would band together as one, single, furious entity and try to overthrow him in unison, which was clearly not an ideal outcome in any situation.

Provisions would have to be made to ensure that it did not reach that stage, he decided.

A throaty laugh.

Kouga switched his attention back to the gratingly chirpy woman at his side.

'So, where's your shadow?' She asked amusedly sarcastic as she leant against the cool stone of the rock wall behind her.

'Not here, thank God.' Kouga sighed a breath of relief; he really did mean it. It had been a few days since he and Kagome had traversed back from the mystical well, and since that time she had clung to him like a lost puppy following anyone with the scent of food. He was well aware that being in the caves was not a particularly comfortable or pleasant experience for her on account of all of the wolf demons that wanted her dead, but prior to this she had coped by merely staying isolated and alone for most of the day. Was it really too much to ask her to do this again? He supposed she was probably lonely, but in that case why couldn't she just spend more time with Nami? Why did she insist on following him around everywhere? He had mentioned Nami in passing to her, cautiously optimistic that his suggestion would subconsciously stick and she would begin to spend her time with the young girl instead, but with real sadness in her eyes she spoke of her concerns. She was worried that too much of a presence around Nami would anger her brother, and most of all would cause her to become an outcast in the pack. Kouga supposed she had a point. Still, she was creating a similar problem for him. Her insistence on remaining in his presence meant that he had to stay out of sight of the pack for fear of starting any more rumours or fanning any more fires. It would not be taken well if it were discovered that Kouga was tolerant of the girl. It was already concerning to him that Nami knew of their odd kind of understanding: he did not know her and nor was he particularly fond of her. His apathy toward Nami was not for any particular reason of course, it was just that Kouga was not partial to wasting his time with teenage girls.

He found himself briefly considering why Kagome was suddenly so comfortable around him as to feel secure enough to follow him everywhere. The prior events of that night had, he admitted reluctantly, changed the nature of their relationship some. There was a new honesty among them and they had even gone so far as to enter into an agreement vis-à-vis the jewel shards, and they had been getting along surprisingly amiably. Regardless, however, her persistent presence was beginning to become somewhat of an annoyance.

He turned his eyes pleadingly to Katsumi. 'You're a woman.'

'Glad you could tell.'

'Why don't you take the little human for a while? I mean, you could talk about…fashion and boys and make up,' he began, struggling to recite the topics of conversation of which Kagome had suggested he talk about with Nami. Katsumi cocked her head to the side rather wolfishly, completely lost. 'You know, girl stuff.' He clarified.

'No thanks,' she dismissed uninterestedly with a toss of her hair, 'I have better things to do than to babysit a human.'

'Do you?' Kouga answered sceptically. 'Because from what I've seen you mostly just lounge around barking orders at my men.'

Katsumi shrugged innocently in a way that didn't convince anyone. 'Sometimes I get thirsty and I need a big, strong man to carry all the alcohol that I'm going to consume.'

Kouga laughed outright at this; annoying as she could be, he really was grateful at times that Katsumi was a part of his pack.

'If she annoys you that much then why don't you just eat her?' She glanced from underneath deliberately nonchalant eyelashes, gauging his response carefully.

Kouga opened his mouth to parrot the words that he had spoken so many times before, but Katsumi held up a hand authoritatively in a way that would have ended in a broken neck for anybody else.

''For the jewel shards',' she mimicked unflatteringly, 'please. We both know it's about more than that.'

She paused for the briefest of seconds, considering her thoughts before she spoke again.

'I spoke to her when she was healing. She didn't seem particularly interesting or special to me. Braver than the average human…or maybe just more stupid. Either way, she was pretty unremarkable. So why is it that you keep her around, exactly? Is it because she's pretty?' She guessed earnestly now, trying to delve deep into what made her ruthless leader tick.

'Her? Pretty?' His face bunched up in disgust. 'She's a human.'

'And that means she can't be attractive?' Katsumi replied with an unladylike snort.

'Obviously.' Kouga grumbled, aggravated. 'Why do you ask? Perhaps you've got a secret human lover, hm?' His tone changed quickly, and he jeered at her with great amusement.

'If human men were able to handle me then I assure you, I would have eloped with one a long time ago. They're much more obedient, you know, and far less full of themselves.'

Her frank response irked him into a disgruntled silence. He had momentarily considered deriding her for this, his discomfort in her words spurring the urge, but Katsumi had and always would be the most confident woman he'd ever met and he decided against it, realising that his words would not affect her in the least.

Eventually, he settled for a half-hearted joke.

'That must be why you've never been interested in me, then.'

'I've never been interested in you because you're more of a child than you are a man.' She answered immediately, using words so blunt that they ricocheted off of his skin like he was being pelted with rocks.

In a rare display of conscience, Katsumi expanded for Kouga's sake: 'You know, emotionally.'

A small waif of a man approached, and Kouga recognised him as the wolf that he had put in charge of the day's hunt. Being truthful, Kouga couldn't care less who lead the hunt as long as it wasn't him, and he had chosen this particular demon to lead it in a fleeting 'fuck it' moment that he had had, for no other reason than comedic value.

The demon was small and scrawny, and undoubtedly one of the weakest of the pack. Kouga doubted that he would even be able to beat the children in the tribe. He had chosen him on a whim, darkly entertained as he struggled to try and control an unruly pack of men, all of whom were stronger than him. Kouga really could be an asshole at times; even he had to admit it.

He was clearly nervous, and seemed to be on the cusp of speech.

'Ah ah.' Katsumi held up her hand again, back firmly turned to the unimposing demon with one finger wagging as if to a naughty child. She offered no further vocal cues, body language all it took to make it explicitly clear to the demon that she wished for him to leave.

His eyes darted back and forth like perceptive cattle being lead to the slaughter.

'K-Kouga-' He stammered, taking a hesitant step forward.

'I said 'ah ah'.' Katsumi chastised, calmly agitated at having to actually turn and face him. The demon looked imploringly at his leader.

'She said 'ah ah'.' He parroted with a helpless shrug of the shoulders in a way that said 'what can you do'?

Worried, and even a little visibly upset, the demon silently backed off, facing them as one would face a defensive mother bear, until he was completely out of sight.

'That wasn't very nice.' Kouga chided, feigning a look of disapproval at the woman.

'Nao is a pussy. He doesn't need someone to be 'nice' to him, he needs someone to toughen him up.'

'Who?'

'Jesus Kouga, you don't even know his name? What happened to valuing all the members of your tribe?' Katsumi spoke disapprovingly, tutting as she slapped a hand across his chest as punishment.

'I value the ones that are worth being valued.' Kouga responded simply and honestly. Perhaps it was due to some small sliver of conscience in him, but Kouga had made it an unofficial rule that even the weak members of his kind were welcome in his caves, providing that they made themselves useful in other ways. Some tribes were renowned for only allowing those who were strong to remain in their ranks, forcing other, weaker wolves to leave, alone and vulnerable. Having known of this first-hand under his father's strict rules, Kouga had decided long ago that he would not impose the same orders on his tribe, however this did not mean that Kouga was particularly interested in the weaker of his pack. Harsh as it was, if they died they would not be missed in the way that an accomplished fighter would, and Kouga had even been known to deliberately position them as fodder on the front lines of battle. Of course they had always done so willingly, dying bravely and valiantly and surrendering their lives for their so-called 'wolf demon pride' and the ability to finally be useful.

Katsumi laughed throatily, unsurprised and unperturbed by his response.

There was another dainty, hesitant crunch of grass from behind him, however this time the flash of wickedness in Katsumi's eyes as she set her sight on her new target suggested that it was not Nao that had intruded upon their space.

Fighting back the urge to groan, Kouga turned to face the source of the sound. 'Kagome,' he said grimly, 'you're here.'

'Um,' she was hesitant, eyes trained on Katsumi, no doubt thinking back to their previous encounter, 'sorry to interrupt…'

Kouga began to open his mouth to admonish her, to tell her that they were discussing official wolf demon business and needed to be left alone, however Katsumi beat him to it.

'Kagome,' she greeted chirpily, but not entirely sincerely, 'I see your wounds have healed well.'

'Ah, um, yes. Thank you.' For some reason Kagome found herself at a loss for words around the fiery wolf demon before her. She had a sharp tongue and a sharper mind, which left most of those around her on edge. She seemed to be constantly sarcastic and constantly judging, and her overt confidence was disconcerting considering that she was so petite that even Kagome had managed to overshadow her where height was concerned. She looked at Kouga worriedly.

'Katsumi was just leaving.' Kouga turned to constantly-derisive woman with real meaning behind his words. As usual, she ignored them.

'Was I? I remember thinking that I was in the mood for a drink, and I remember thinking that you should go and get me one so that I can get to know little Kagome better alone, but I don't remember thinking that I was going to leave.'

Kagome sent Kouga another wordless stare, this time one of clear panic.

'Sorry, my mistake,' Kouga uttered lowly through gritted teeth, 'you weren't thinking about leaving, I was telling you to leave.'

By this point however, Katsumi had already made her way to Kagome, hand on hip and surveying her ruthlessly.

Kouga sighed. Katsumi had always had a way of pushing him to the limits of his patience.

Clearly more drastic measures needed to be taken.

In an instant, Kouga had Katsumi grabbed not at all delicately by the waist and hoisted up onto his shoulder. They were on a secluded grassy verge, a place where Kouga often conducted talks in private. A place in which he had spent a lot of time recently with the clingy little human. Effortlessly, and without a lot of concern for her wellbeing, Kouga walked calmly to edge the mountain, inspected the drop below with some interest, and then flung the tiny woman from his shoulders and over the edge.

Kagome screamed, covering her mouth with eyes wide in horror, and raced to the edge, Kouga almost winding her with the solid arm that he slammed into her stomach as she risked sliding off of the side of the mountain…again.

'WHAT THE HELL?!' She screeched, frantically searching for any traces of the intimidatingly defiant woman.

'She'll be fine.' Kouga said with a wince as Kagome's shrill voice pained his ears.

'YOU JUST THREW HER OFF A CLIFF!'

'She's a wolf demon.' He tried to remain calm in the face of his overwhelming irritation.

'BUT IT'S A REALLY HIGH CLIFF!'

'I jumped off of a really high cliff with you,' he replied, finally letting his ire get the best of him and slapping a stiff hand over Kagome's mouth, 'and we were fine. Wolf demons aren't as fragile as humans, and you should really try to remember that.'

'But…but why did you have to throw her off of a cliff? Couldn't you have just insisted she leave?' Kouga's reaction was so over-the-top that Kagome had trouble believing even her own eyes. A move like that was something she only ever expected to see on TV or in movies, and to be confronted with such an extraordinary – such an inhuman – action so calmly sent her heart hammering wildly in shock.

'She was annoying.' Kouga shrugged.

'But you threw her off of a cliff.'

'She'll climb back up eventually.'

'But it was a cliff.'

Kouga shrugged again.

Kagome was wary now, wondering if being by Kouga's side was the safe haven that she had judged it to be. Kouga had become relatively decent at reading the girl over the weeks, and surmised her thoughts accurately. He opened his mouth instinctively to reassure her, then closed it again, thinking that he could use it to his advantage when trying to convince her to leave him alone.

He flashed her a toothy grin, not assuaging her concerns in the slightest.

The girl bent down to Kouga's confusion for a moment, before he noticed her begin to pick an assortment of fruit off of the floor.

'What's all that?' He questioned, wondering why she would be bringing her incredibly dull menagerie of food items with her.

'Fruit.' She responded with a defeated sigh, clearly disappointed with his reaction.

'Why so much of it?'

'Because,' she paused momentarily to make a small grunting noise as she lifted her body off of the floor, fruit once again gathered in the wicker basket that Kouga had only just noticed was in her arms. Were humans really so weak that even standing up was difficult for them? 'I was going to share them with you.'

'Pass.' He responded immediately and definitely.

'What do you mean 'pass'?' Her eyes were fiery and her tone was hot.

'I mean pass. I don't want that stuff, where's the meat?'

'There is no meat. It's fruit.'

'Exactly, and that's why I don't want it.'

Kagome exhaled heavily.

She looked melancholy now. It irked Kouga uncomfortably, and he found himself reaching hesitantly for one of the sticky little fruits, biting and crunching it between his teeth with some forced enthusiasm. Kagome watched his mouth as he chewed, raising her eyes to his in unspoken question.

'It's not…awful.' He answered, not entirely lying. It was not a texture or flavour that he was particularly used to or fond of, but he supposed that he could handle eating an apple or two if it kept the girl happy. Her sad eyes could be rather persuasive.

A glimmer of a smile was enough to set Kouga at ease, and to assuage the prick of annoyance he felt at having succumbed to Kagome's melancholy so easily.

'You don't have to be so dismissive all the time, Kouga. Sometimes it would be nice if you just said thank you and accepted.' She had planted herself on the ground, legs crossed as she played with the stork of the sharp green apple in her hands, twisting it around and around until it snapped from the fruit satisfyingly.

'You didn't say 'just accept' and say thank you for the raw meat that I gave you once.' He retorted. Kagome re-focussed her attention on him, rather than the apple, staring at him as if he was crazy.

'Of course not, that was raw meat! It could've killed me!'

'Well maybe eating fruit could kill me.'

She gave a pretty laugh. 'Now you're just being ridiculous. It's fruit, not poison.'

'It tastes like poison.' Kouga quipped sulkily and in the manner of a child who had just been told to eat his vegetables.

'How would you know? You clearly haven't ever tasted poison otherwise you'd be dead.' Kagome responded in the manner of the parent offering the vegetables to the child.

Kouga opened his mouth to argue, but realising that he could not think of a comeback he closed it swiftly. He sighed dramatically before he took another bite of the source of his disdain, munching it with more forced enthusiasm whilst Kagome watched, stern and vigilant.

'Kouga!' A silver Mohawk bobbed and weaved between the throbbing crowd of demons. Kouga had been making his way back into the caves after his 'meal' with Kagome, feeling less than satiated, when the strangled-sounding voice pierced his ears. 'There you are!'

'Hakkaku,' he looked around for his inevitable shadow, greeting him as he arrived seconds later, 'Ginta.'

'We've been looking for you.' Ginta chimed, placing his hands on his thighs and bending to breathe heavily for a few seconds.

'I can see that.' He briefly wondered what Kagome intended to do whilst he tended to his pack. It turns out that by feigning more enthusiasm for her unappealing little treats, she was actually more amiable to his request for space. It was not a conversation that Kouga was looking forward to having, but with Kagome's recent clingy-ness he thought it was a necessary topic to address. He saw a flash of sadness in her eyes, but for the most part she seemed willing to oblige, even going so far as to apologise and to explain that she merely sought his company as she had felt safer with him than on her own in the caves. Kouga had mixed feelings about this: he wasn't entirely comfortable being thought of as a source of safety by a human. He supposed that old habits died hard. Regardless, his sudden appreciation of her generous snacks brightened her mood and he had managed to avoid a potentially dangerous situation with relative ease. He would have to remember this method for next time, as apparently humans were quite partial to fake compliments and flattery.

'-really lift everyone's spirits. What do you think, Kouga?' Hakkaku's voice rudely interrupted Kouga's reverie, bringing him swiftly back to the present.

'What?' He responded gruffly and rather harshly considering it was he who had not been listening to Hakkaku.

'The lunar festival. We didn't celebrate it last year since you had only just taken over command, and the pack are eager to celebrate it this time. It would really help morale.' Hakkaku explained again, condensing his words to a less irritating length.

'Hell no.' Kouga responded, his eyes glazing over at the mere mention of the troublesome festival. 'That's way too much effort. Fuck that.'

'But Kouga-' Hakkaku began, tagging Ginta in with a swift catch of the eye.

'But Kouga,' Ginta continued for him, 'the pack is really excited for the festival.'

'So? The only reason they're interested in a stupid thing like that is because they use it as an excuse to get drunk and bed women.' Kouga dismissed, incredibly against the idea of indulging their silly whims.

'It's not just about that. We also get to see our brothers and sisters from the north. You always enjoy that part.' Ginta tempted, knowing how much Kouga himself had indulged in the women from the northern tribe at the previous festivals. He still did not take the bait.

'That's exactly my point! If we had the stupid festival, isn't it supposed to be held in a couple of weeks? I'd have to go all the way to the north and escort the damn bastards back here, and that's a two-week trip there and back! I don't even know if they would even want to join us this year.'

'Well,' Ginta began before Hakkaku took over.

'We received a message from the north via one of their wolves a few days ago, saying that they would be honoured to come to the east to celebrate with us under your new rule this year.' He explained, paraphrasing.

Kouga felt an agonising sense of obligation. He looked around at the rowdy excitement in the cave, and he had no doubt that it was due to the tantalising promise of a boisterous and alcohol-laden festival. Holding the lunar festival would keep his tribe happy, please his northern brothers and strengthen their pact, whilst also allowing Kouga to mend some of the fraying relationships within his own pack that the past couple of months' events had brought about. He really couldn't find a suitable reason to deny his tribe a night of festivities, though he tried hard to.

'Why didn't you tell me about that, idiots?' He questioned angrily, thinking with faulty reasoning that if he had known about their message sooner, he would have had more time to come up with a reason to disregard it.

'Well you were…away. With Kagome.' Hakkaku referred to the time that he had spent waiting for her by the well, alone and anxious. 'And when you came back it didn't seem like the best time to talk about it.'

'Plus, it'll probably distract the rest of the wolves from Kagome.' The clincher. Ginta had Kouga with this one, and he knew it.

A defeated sigh.

'Fine. I guess I'll have to leave later today.' He turned, angry and thoroughly defeated. 'I'll take the girl with me. At least then we might be able to find some jewel shards and something useful will come out of this stupid waste of time.' He added as an irate afterthought.

'I'll have one of the women begin the preparations immediately!' Ginta exclaimed enthusiastically. It was clear that they were just as excited themselves for the festival as the rest of the pack were.

She was looking at him, curious in a childish way as he spoke to her, the round end of a weird-looking white stick in her mouth as she suckled gently.

'So we have to escort the tribe from the north back to here so they can come and celebrate a festival that wolf demons hold for the moon?'

'Basically,' Kouga sighed, becoming less and less thrilled with idea each time he heard it spoken out loud.

'Sounds fun.' Kagome smiled. Kouga was willing to bet that she wouldn't feel that way for long.

"Fun' isn't the word I'd use to describe it,' Kouga began, gathering some provisions for the journey and stuffing them into Kagome's convenient holding-sack, or 'backpack' as she liked to call it, whilst she scowled at him, the words 'I hope you're not expecting me to carry all that' on the tip of her tongue. 'I hope you brought some warm clothes, the northern mountains aren't known for their pleasant weather.'

'But it's only spring.' Kagome shook her head, not quite willing to believe that there could be such a difference in climate.

'Yes, but we're in the east. They're in the north.' He spoke patronisingly slowly.

'Whatever,' she dismissed, 'I didn't bring any warm clothes anyway.'

'I guess I'll have to get you some furs from somewhere then. It's better that I do actually, at least this way you'll be dressed in appropriate attire for a human slave.'

Kagome's eyes suddenly hardened in a way that was so defiant, Kouga sighed on reflex. There was no way in hell he was getting her into any furs now.

'I'd rather freeze to death.'

'Good, because if you don't wear any warm clothes then you will.'

'Perfect.' She responded snippily, drawing the pink, circular ball from her mouth and sucking it back in again in a way that was vaguely sexual. Kagome caught him staring.

'You're such a pig.' She huffed, turning away but continuing with her actions.

Kouga quirked a disinterested eyebrow. Then he snorted. 'Please.'

'Then why were you staring at me?' She questioned angrily.

He shrugged. 'I'm still a man. If you were naked I'd probably look at that, too. Doesn't mean it would do anything for me though.'

'You. Are. Such. A. Pig.'

Kouga didn't respond, and instead busied himself with attaining at least some kind of appropriate clothing for the girl to sneak into her 'backpack' for when she finally gave in to the cold.

Kouga noted, rather incensed by the notion, how excited his pack were for him to leave yet again, and scowled, irritated, in response. He packed the light human girl, her 'backpack' and her stubbornness onto his back and braced himself to take off, wanting to complete their journey in as short a time as possible. No doubt the girl would object to this however, considering how constant her complaints of nausea when being carried by him seemed to be.

Just as he had anticipated, the further north they got, the more the little human complained. She was cold, that much was obvious, and it was all he could do to keep the smug undertones out of his voice as he asked her:

'I brought some furs along with me, Kagome. Would you like to wear them?'

His tone was exceedingly pleasant, honey all but dripping from it as he spoke.

'No thanks,' she responded through gritted teeth (both out of irritation and the cold). 'I'm fine.'

'But Kagome,' he said sweetly, concern colouring the edges of his speech in an artificial way, 'you'll freeze to death out here wearing that!'

'I said I'm fine.' She had meant to say resolutely and inexorably, however since her teeth had begun to chatter so hard that it took three or four times to get the words actually out of her mouth, the effect of them was somewhat lost.

'Really?' He snapped back to his usual lazily sarcastic intonation in a second, clearly bored with feigning agreeableness. 'You're wearing practically nothing and you're gonna say no to putting on some furs?' As if to emphasise his point, the howling wind increased in ferocity, whipping Kagome's hair back bitingly as her bare shoulders and legs grew yet more numb from its frigid onslaught.

She used the edge of the pretty spring dress that she had adorned earlier that morning to wipe the tears that she vehemently swore were caused by the wind and couldn't help but take offence at Kouga's comment. She would have him know that her dress only finished an inch above her knee – a more than modest length as far as she was concerned – and certainly could not constitute being 'practically nothing'. You couldn't even see any cleavage, for God's sake; though she probably wouldn't mention that to Kouga.

'I will have you know,' she began her tirade, 'that this dress only finishes an inch above my knee, which is more than modest and is certainly not 'practically nothing'. I mean sure, maybe most human women around don't wear dresses quite this short, but that doesn't make me into some kind of harlot or whatever it is that you're thinking!'

'Ok, one,' Kouga began responding, sounding amused, 'I didn't say you were a harlot. Or imply it. Or say or do anything at all that would suggest that, actually. Two, I take it then that since your dress is so modest and amazing that you're all toasty and warm inside it and not cold at all?'

She wanted to assure Kouga that in fact, yes, she was perfectly toasty and warm in her current attire, thank you, however she wasn't sure how much more of the awful, hideous weather that she could take. Her face and extremities in particular had already surpassed the point of mere numbness and had advanced onto the stage of frigid pain, her skin unable to feel anything but a dull aching and burning sensation.

'Well I suppose I wouldn't mind some kind of jacket.' She grumbled, defeated, falling backwards with a painful thump when Kouga released her from his back to retrieve said furs from her bag, and her deadened legs were unable to hold her weight.

He laughed once, quickly and sharply at this, but otherwise ignored her.

'Well I'm not sure what a 'jacket' is, but this should help to keep you warm at least until we can find a cave to rest in.' He said, gesticulating to the long, fur garment in his hand before throwing it at her, evidently expecting her to be able to catch it. Instead – her fingers being so numb from the cold that she could barely move them – she made a panicked claw with her hands in attempt at grasping the furs flying through the air towards her, before letting it ungracefully hit her in the face. It was at this that Kouga could not help but allow himself to burst into full-blown laughter. It was difficult to not feel smug when you're wrapped up to your neck in cozy, warm furs whilst a certain stubborn human flailed about helplessly in the freezing cold trying to don her own fur garment, he found.

'Here, let me.' He urged mirthfully after several more seconds of watching her struggle and laughing. He took the furs from her and draped them over her shoulders, covering her body from the neck down entirely and fastening it together with the various strings attached to the garment. Kagome pouted as he did so.

As funny as it was to see Kagome's hands so hilariously obsolete, he did find himself equally as concerned by this. After all, if there were a part of her that he wished would freeze and fall off it would be her tongue, not her hands. She would likely need those to point out more jewel shards to him.

He took her delicate, milky hands in his, taking a moment to notice just how small they were in his own, and raised them to his lips. He blew one long stream of blissfully warm air into his cupped hands and onto hers, and then began rubbing them fervently.

'We should probably find somewhere to rest for the night.' He stated as he observed the sky growing perceptibly darker as each second went by. The sun had set quite some time ago by this point and he feared that Kagome's more fragile constitution would not allow her to travel much further safely, considering how long she had insisted on doing so without any form of suitable clothing.

'That would be nice.' She sighed wistfully, visions of a warm log fire captivating her thoughts.

She opted to walk the remaining distance as they searched for a cave, seeing as her legs were worryingly numb and she supposed that actually using them would help at least some blood to begin to circulate around her appendages again. After all, she found herself thinking, if her legs were to fall off from frostbite her dresses would look much less cute on her.

It was roughly twenty minutes later that they had found a suitable shelter. A cave, partially hidden by the bare and desolate branches of the trees around it, which was surprisingly lengthy upon entering. It was dark and almost impossible for Kagome to make out anything other than Kouga's vivid blue eyes. Being a demon, Kouga's night vision was much more impressive and he at least could make out the diminutive girl's features.

'This will be perfect.' Kouga stated, proud of his find. 'This way nobody will be able to see us light a fire and we'll be less likely to be attacked.'

Kagome's eyes widened in alarm. 'Attacked? We might be attacked?'

'Well yeah. The predators around here have gotta eat, you know.' Kouga said, rolling his eyes. Humans. So scared all the time.

He noticed her chewing her lip nervously at this, and felt a strange urge to brush his thumb over it, to see if it really did feel as soft as it looked.

'I'll just get some wood for a fire.'

'From where?!' She stood up – slower than usual due to her still-thawing legs – anxiously as if to follow him. Perhaps he should have refrained from mentioning predators after all.

He shook his head. 'You stay here. There are some trees right outside the entrance. I'll only be gone for a few minutes.'

She sat back down reluctantly, but obediently. If only she was like that all the time he found himself wishing.

Wood gathered, he took a second to take in his surroundings. For the most part, they were bare. Devoid of any of the green of nature, or of any nature at all, the floor was a sombre grey colour and its earth was cracked. There was no sign of life – though Kouga knew from experience that this was a dangerous assumption to make – and the further north they went, the more eerily still the land would become. There was no snow, though there seemed like there ought to be. He regarded his surroundings with nothing but disdain; Kouga was not at all a fan of the north.

He hastened to return to the girl before she did something idiotic and hurt herself yet again. She was prone to doing that, he had found, in the time that they had spent together so far. Knowing her she would probably panic, thinking that Kouga was taking too long to gather firewood and slip whilst trying to run to find him, hitting her head a bit too hard for a human. It was a melancholy thought, sure, but Kouga had no doubt that when the silly little human died, the reason why would be painfully stupid.

'I'm back,' he called for safe measure, to avoid scaring her further. Fortunately for Kouga, however, she was sitting stock-still in the place where he had left her, her teeth still chewing on her bottom lip agitatedly and her eyes glued to his form.

He laid the branches down on the floor and tugged her lip from between her teeth by placing his thumb on her chin and gently pulling it downwards. By the surprised gasping sound that she made, she had clearly not realised that Kouga was able to see her so well in the darkness.

'You'll hurt yourself.' He scolded with an inward curve of his eyebrows. She did not respond, but flicked her eyes about the cave jumpily. He considered trying to placate her by uttering some kind words of comfort, however Kouga realised that he had no such words in his arsenal as he had never had the reason or the inclination to comfort a frightened woman before. He instead busied himself with arranging the thin branches into a barely adequate firewood position, reasoning that if he could get some light in the place, this was likely to alleviate some of her concern.

'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here after all…' She said in hushed tones, almost imperceptible over the roar of the wind as it hit the sides of the cave. Before he could respond, the fire was lit and a soft amber glow illuminated the lines of her face gently. He settled himself by her side as she instinctively moved closer to the source of warmth in front of her.

'What exactly is bothering you?' He asked, trying not to sound judgemental or accusatory.

'It's just…creepy around here. And cold, obviously. I just didn't think I'd get such a sense of…foreboding from being here.'

Kouga nodded. 'It is creepy,' he agreed. 'And you have a reason to at least be a little tentative. It's not like the north is exactly danger-free. There are just as many wolves and bears and demons around here as there are in the east, and with it being so damn cold food is even more scarce than usual: meaning that they're usually more desperate to eat. Plus,' he hesitated before finishing his sentence, 'since conditions are so harsh around here, the demons and animals tend to be even more ferocious than usual, because they need to be in order to survive.'

Kagome shivered, and Kouga doubted whether that it was from the cold.

'Not that you have anything to be afraid of,' he hastened to add, 'you have me, and I'm not gonna let anything happen to you.'

'You won't?' She questioned, a sparkle of appreciation in her eyes.

Kouga shrugged. 'Of course not. Then how will I find jewel shards?' She huffed in response, as she often did.

'I just don't understand how it got so cold so quickly.' She stated, bitterly amazed. 'I mean, I know you can run fast but it hasn't even been half a day and already it's like we're in an entirely different country!'

Kouga shrugged again. 'That's what it's like in the north.'

This did not seem to curtail any of Kagome's concern however, and so he spoke again with a small smile of reminiscence.

'There's an old tale that the elder wolves used to tell us when we were children about the north,' he said, piquing Kagome's interest with a rare admission of his past. 'Do you want to hear it?'

Kagome nodded her head eagerly.

'Once upon a time,' he said, clearing his throat for dramatic effect, 'there was a young wolf cub who decided to go exploring outside of the caves on his own, despite his parents warnings not to.' He shot a reproachful glance at Kagome, as if she herself was the mischievous little cub of which he spoke. 'He travelled and travelled and travelled so far away from the caves that he became lost. After many hours of walking, trying to find his way back to his parents, he came across an old, wooden house. He ran to the house, wondering if it was perhaps the home of a human or two that he could snack on-' he shot an apologetic glance at Kagome, who was less than amused, '-as he was very hungry. He knocked on the door three times: knock, knock, knock, until a very large, very ugly human woman answered. 'What do you want?' she croaked at the scared little wolf, who replied, 'I can't find my way home.' The ugly human let the cub inside, and told him that she would help him find his way back to the caves. She told him to sit very still, and not to touch anything. But of course, the young wolf didn't listen, and as soon as she was out of sight he began to look through everything in her home that he could find.'

'In a small little cupboard, in a small little corner, the boy found a jewel. However, this was not just any jewel: it was the most beautiful jewel that he had ever seen. The young cub decided that he would take the jewel, as he wanted to give it to his mother so that she would be less angry at him when he finally got home, and so he hid it in the lining of his furs. When the old human came back however, she looked at him down her long, crooked nose and said; 'I will take you home, but first you must answer a question. If you answer it truthfully, I will let you leave, but if you answer it dishonestly, then you will never leave again.' The little wolf agreed to this immediately, confident that he could answer any question she asked him.'

"Have you taken anything from my house?' Was her question, and without any fear or hesitation the cub said, 'Of course not!' The human asked again, 'Have you taken anything from my house?', and the cub responded in the same way. The human asked a final time, 'Are you sure?', and the silly little cub said that he was. The human cackled an awful laugh, and grabbed the cub by his arm. 'You have lied, and so you will never go home again!' She cried, before throwing him into a big pot of boiling water. 'And because you've lied, I shall put a curse on all of the wolves in the north so that they shall never see the sun again!' For you see, the ugly old human was actually a mean old witch in disguise! With a spell and a wave of her wand, the witch cursed the northern mountains so that the sun was never able to shine and the wind was always cold. The plants died and the animals went hungry, and snow fell on everything that the wolves of the north touched. The little cub was cooked alive in the pot, and the witch ate him for her supper that night, cackling with each bite that she took. The end.'

Kouga had reminisced upon his tale with some degree of nostalgia, however as Kagome's face was shocked and aghast, it was clear that she did not also perceive it to be a sweet remembrance of childhood.

'That was awful!' She eventually exclaimed. 'She actually ate him!'

Kouga shrugged. 'It certainly stopped us from ever wandering outside the confines of the cave.'

Kagome laughed, all traces of fear gone. 'I'm not surprised. I think if I had heard that tale when I was younger, I would have had nightmares for months!'

Kouga grinned wolfishly, trying to imagine what a child-Kagome would look like.

'It kind of reminds me of Hansel and Gretel, actually.'

'Who and who?' Kouga responded, the words sounding foreign on his tongue.

'Never mind,' she chuckled before the cave went silent. 'So…is that one of the stories that your parents told you?' She asked, knowing full well that she was prying a little, but not be able to resist. Kouga immediately stiffened.

'No. Like I said, it was the elders that told us it.' He said in clipped tones.

'Did your parents ever tell you any stories?'

Kouga turned to look at her, an anger present in his eyes that was different from any emotion that she had ever seen in them before.

'Kagome.' Her name was staccato on his lips. 'I have no intention of talking about my parents with you again. Drop it.' And she did, because with the intensity in his eyes and the hurt in his voice, Kagome was genuinely scared as to what he would do if she didn't.

Trying to change the subject as quickly as she had brought it up, she began offering the various snacks that she had hidden in her seemingly bottomless backpack. It had been left far too late to hunt successfully, and Kagome was not at all keen for him to leave her and so she hoped that her makeshift meal would be filling enough for the both of them until morning. He accepted the food in silence, and it was in silence that he ate it.

'Should we be going to sleep soon?' Kagome asked tentatively, in the smallest voice that she could.

'You can sleep,' he began, voice gruff but lacking of the heat it possessed earlier, 'I'll keep watch.'

'What, all night?' She questioned, surprised that it had not occurred to her that someone would need to guard the cave to make sure that no one tried to make them into a meal.

'Of course, who else would do it?' He snapped irritably.

'Well, we can take turns?'

'Oh sure, I really want to leave my safety and wellbeing in the hands of an incompetent human.' He scoffed rather unkindly, to Kagome's chagrin.

'Well obviously if there was an intruder I wouldn't go all Lara Croft on them and start strangling people with my bow,' she retorted snippily, 'but I at least think you should get some rest. You said it takes about two weeks to get to the north, right? You can't stay awake every single night for that long.'

'I'm a demon, I'm much more durable than you.' He said, though he didn't look at all pleased by the idea.

'If anything happens, I'll wake you, ok?'

'Fine,' he acquiesced reluctantly. 'But you sleep first. You look like you're gonna pass out at any minute.'

Kagome chuckled self-consciously. 'I guess I am pretty tired.'

'Then sleep.'

She did as she was told, arranging the furs around her into a comfortable position, ensuring to stay next to the orange glow of the fire.

When Kouga woke her up, the fire had dissipated entirely. Broken light was streaming in through the entrance of the cave, illuminating her surroundings haphazardly through the branches of the trees. It was early, she could tell, by the way the light took on a purple haze.

'Is it my turn?' She asked with a yawn.

'Yeah. I'll sleep for a few hours – I only need a few-' he said in response to her disapproving glare. 'And then we'll be on our way. You sure you'll be all right to keep guard for a few hours?'

She nodded, and so Kouga did the same. Without many more words, he settled down upon the rocky floor and was soon asleep himself.

Kagome passed the time by reading, pulling a scarcely read book from her bag, and sitting so that one of the rays of light shone demurely over the pages. After some time, however, delicate circular shadows began to fall slowly through the light, obscuring the words of her book.

She looked up, towards the entrance of the cave. She was hesitant, as she knew that Kouga would not approve of her venturing to the outside alone, but even so she still rose to her feet and made her way to the cave's opening. Pushing the branches hiding the cave from view aside, she took in a large gulp of crisp, northern air.

The sky was painted with the most brilliant shade of indigo that she had ever seen; every object under its expanse bathed in its gentle glow. The snow that had began to fall fizzed and foamed on her fingertips as she reached out to touch it as it twirled gracefully through the air. She looked back at Kouga, and then she began to walk back to him. He was peaceful as he slept; his face was delicate and unassuming, a far cry from the beast that she had seen him become. The snow continued to glide from the skies serenely, their shadows dancing across Kouga's face. She contemplated waking him. Outside was a scene more beautiful than any she could remember seeing, but Kouga seemed to care very little for such things as pretty skies and snow judging by their previous encounters, and she worried that her interruption of his sleep would not at all be welcome.

In the end, and against her better judgement, she laid soft palm against the skin of his face and whispered his name. His eyes opened immediately, and he turned them on her as they shone purple and vibrant in the light, concern filling them.

'Is something wrong?' He asked uncertainly; there was no urgency to his awakening.

She shook her head, calmly, lightly, before taking his hand and guiding him to his feet. If Kouga would not witness the beauty in the world unprompted, she had decided, then she would lead him to it herself.

They stood at the entrance of the cave, the wind seeming more temperate somehow as it kissed their skin. Confusion marred Kouga's face for a second, before realising that she had awoken him to show him the view outside. He almost protested and reprimanded the human for waking him for such a pointless observation, but was stopped by the tranquillity of it all. He could not bear to break such an exquisite silence.

And as he lowered his gaze from the sky, finding it focussing instead on the small woman next to him, he noticed how its ethereal glow coloured her skin in its soothing lilac tone, and how each snowflake that touched the dainty skin of her palm made her gentle smile grow larger, and he decided that for once, the human was right. It really was beautiful.

THE END. For now. Just to clarify actually, this is not the ending of the fic.

Things have happened guys. Small things, but things nonetheless. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to seeing you for the next one :) until next time guys~