"We're done here," said Kagome happily, pushing an arrow back into her quiver. "Let's head back, okay?" Daichi nodded, but she noticed an uneasy expression on his face. "Anything the matter?"
He flicked his white-tipped tail dismissively as they jogged along. "No, nothing really. I just wish we'd had some way to communicate with the others."
"I'm sure they're okay. It almost seems like the dire wolves may have left Kouga's lands entirely."
Daichi's purple eyes were grim. "So why did they bring mine, Hayate's and Ayame's to the ground and not his?" Kagome was struck dumb. She concentrated on moving her weary feet.
"I don't know," she said after a while, having turned it over in her mind. "Maybe they're getting tired of destroying every little thing they come across? Or they found something better before they had a chance to." Daichi raised a brow. She continued grimly, panting a little. "The biggest villages are concentrated over that way. I hate to suggest it, but maybe they went there."
Ginta broke in, skidding to a stop. "Maybe, maybe not! Look!" He pointed a quivering finger to the ground in front of him.
Kagome's blood froze as she looked at the gigantic footprint, obviously fresh. The wicked claw marks stood out cleanly and horribly in the soft mud. Before she knew what was happening, Daichi had thrown her over his shoulder and blasted into the woods faster than she would have believed, sliding to ground under a thick bush. Ginta wasn't far behind, eyes wide. "Where is it?" he whispered.
Daichi shook his head, nostrils widening vainly. "I don't know! Kagome, do you sense anything?"
She concentrated hard, then shook her head. "Nope, not even a scent. They must be too far away."
The older wolf rubbed a gnarled hand over his face in frustration. "There's something very wrong with this whole situation and I can't figure it out. We need to get back, though." He poked his head out of the bush, seeing nothing but that sinister print. "Come on. Keep an arrow ready, girl."
She scrambled out, feeling icy, muddy dampness seeping through the knees of her jeans. How can there be one, single set of prints in the middle of nowhere? Where'd the dire wolf go on its own? She had to scramble to keep up with the nervous wolves' pace. I hope Inuyasha's okay...
They saw nothing for the next hour, though every single nerve was tight as a piano wire, tingling with tension. Finally, Ginta gave a happy if quiet yelp and pointed to the rising of the cliff face where their back exit could be seen. They ran towards it with abandon, Kagome nearly tripping. Daichi gave her a hand to clamber up and wriggle inside, coming in right behind her. She took a breath of the dull, musty cave air in the larger entrance chamber and wrinkled her nose in regret.
They each found relatively comfortable rocks to sit and wait on, Ginta keeping one eye trained out of the exit for any others returning. Kagome huddled against the chilly gray wall, crossing her fingers that everyone made it back. Daichi was forced to put one hand over his twitching tail, looking anxiously towards the main cavern. It went against every instinct he had to leave his pack in the middle of three others, and he wanted to get back to them.
"There!" said Ginta suddenly. "It's the kitsune and the cat, and-"
Kagome leaped up with sparkling eyes, inadvertently knocking the hapless lookout aside as she rushed to grab Shippou and Kirara. Shippou gave a sigh of relief as Kirara twined about Kagome's legs in her small form, tails flickering back and forth with soothing swishing noises. "Kagome! We set up all our traps, and- sorry." She removed her finger from his lips. "So we got everything set up, and we didn't even see any signs of those big wolves. Oh, and this is Soten! Remember her?"
Ginta leaped away with a startled growl as a petite young girl with pointed elfin ears pulled herself through the opening, followed by a small red dragon. She gave a small wave. "Hi. I, uh, heard some stuff and I ran into Shippou soooo... if you all want some help me and Koryuu can." The dragon rolled his eyes behind her back, flapping his tiny wings frantically.
Kagome was dumbstruck. "Uh- uhm-" Shippou's pleading green eyes met hers and she swallowed. "It's not really a place for kids, you know, Soten."
The girl snorted, red eyes fierce. "I've grown up quite a bit since you all met me. Besides, I'm the last of the thunder clan and it gets boring all alone up at the old castle. I'm staying, like it or not." She plumped herself down beside Shippou, who was grinning madly. Koryuu flew up in front of Daichi's face.
"Hey, you. Hit me." The wolf blinked, then complied.
"Again. Again!" There was a soft pop and a rush of air as the dragon transformed into a fleecy gray cloud. A sigh of contentment came from it. "Thanks, this is much better."
Daichi massaged his temples. "You have some strange companions, Kagome."
She grinned apologetically. "Uh, yeah." A sound caught her ears. "That'll be Sango, and Miroku's with her," she said in satisfaction. Ginta raised an eyebrow at her when he looked outside and saw she was right. Kagome laughed. "I heard a really good punch land. It's a, um, familiar noise." Sure enough, the red-faced demon slayer swung inside the cave, followed by a sheepish Miroku, rubbing his face tenderly. Hayate, Kouga, and Kiku followed, glancing behind them. Ginta gave a glad smile when he saw Kiku, and she went over and sat beside him, though she wouldn't meet his eyes.
Kagome scooted over to make room. "So how'd it go?"
Sango shrugged, unloading the packages of concotions she'd made and giving Kirara a pat. "No one touch those. It went about as well as could be expected, we got the job done. No signs of anything either." Hayate's eyes were still watering. "How about you?"
Kouga scratched his ribs. "Yeah, I mean I'm glad we didn't run into them but there was just nothing at all, not a sign. There should at least have been something with that many of 'em running around. After all, we just saw one yesterday when you all came in."
"We did see a print," Kagome said slowly. "Over by that bunch of hills. But it was weird, there was just one single wolf's prints."
Miroku frowned. "Only one wolf? Was the ground rocky?"
"No, fairly wet. We'd have seen the others if there had been any." Kagome blew her overgrown bangs from her eyes. "Anyone see Inuyasha?" Head shakes no all around, and she slumped back with a sigh. Miroku eyed the pig-tailed girl nodding off next to Shippou, finally giving a triumphant grin as he placed her. The cloud that was Koryuu orbited aimlessly about her head.
The minutes ticked on relentlessly, and finally Daichi stood up. "If no one minds, I'm going to head back and make sure the packs aren't trying to kill each other." They all waved him on. Kagome pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on them, grimacing a little at the dampness. She was determined to wait for Inuyasha. In fact, if he's not back pretty soon, I'm going out after him.
Just then crashing sounds could be heard, followed by yelps and a loud snarl. Kagome trod over everyone as she leaped to the opening. She saw nothing but startled shrieking birds rising up just to the right. Then, as she stared intently into the watery sunlight, Inuyasha broke into view, running all out towards the cave, ears flattened against his skull with the speed he was traveling. Ayame and the blond wolf were right behind him, bounding like deer. Not three feet on their tails came an entire pack of dire wolves in a maroon wave, too many to count, horrible with their feral eyes fixed on the morsels in front of them. Kagome gave a short scream, feeling her throat close, before ducking out of the way as Ayame sailed through into the cave, propelled by Inuyasha, with the blond wolf close behind. Inuyasha dove through, ripping one sleeve nearly off on the jagged entrance, grabbing Kagome with one arm. "Go! Everyone go! Back!" he yelled. They all scrambled to get farther back inside the circular chamber, jumping over each other and stepping on quite a few fingers. Soten was wide awake now, grabbing the tail of the cloud above her as she hopped like a rabbit over Kouga's back.
The lead dire wolf hit the cave with an earth-shaking crash, sending cascades of dirt and gravel showering down the cave walls. It growled ferociously, sending a wave of fetid breath inside before drawing back and shoving its snout inside the opening. Inuyasha shoved Ginta out of the way with one foot, drawing Tetsusiaga, looking to his right and seeing Kagome right next to him with an arrow to her bow, glinting softly lavender.
The dire wolf was whining angrily, having wriggled one paw and most of its head inside, though it was obvious it wouldn't be able to fit through. Claws shot out with a dull sheen. Inuyasha tensed, golden eyes tight as he watched it. Behind him was pandemonium as the large group smashed together tightly. Sango was protecting Kirara against her body while the wolves were desperately trying to protect their tails from wayward feet.
"What happened?" said Kagome, her bowstring firm against her cheek. Inuyasha shook his head.
"We were all done and comin' back here, then I caught a whiff of that damn wolf and there it was! So I used my windscar, and I think I got it, but then all of a sudden there's hundreds of the things!" He curled his lip as the dire wolf suddenly stopped scrambling to get inside. It pricked its ears, fixing two muddy yellow eyes on the huddled group, opening its mouth slowly.
Inuyasha stepped forward lightly, raising his sword."No one chases me like that, you bastard! Get ready to die," he growled and swung.
Tetsusaiga flashed through the air and bounced off with a clang, sending sparks into the air and jolts of pain up Inuyasha's arms. The dire wolf rolled its eyes. "You should get some better banter, half-breed."