Kipcha's Responses: Prepare yourselves!

Toboe-Angel: Thank you for your review! You are the first to review! I hope you enjoy this chapter and the many more to come.

Nerevaire: Thank you! I really feel like I have grown and matured as a writer! We are both being extremely careful with the storyline to be sure that it plays out properly.

I Be Guest: Thank you! But yes, the characters will be behaving more like wolves and may act slightly OOC at times because of that. But this an AU so it's to be expected, right? As for any secrets about the rest of the story...well, I can't tell now can I? That would kinda ruin it wouldn' it? (Yes! The Sight is an awesome book! I couldn't put it down!) I hope you enjoy Heiri's installment!

Heiri's Note: This is my first Wolf's Rain fic. I hope we get some (more) good reviews

The sugar brown wolf trotted along the path he knew so well. He and the other wolves from his pack had traveled back and forth through these scattered woods so many times that the grass no longer grew along the path they took. He was returning at a much slower pace than he had come at. He had completely forgotten that he had come this way in search of food. Thoughts crossed his mind as he moved right along. Kipcha sure had been very defensive. She had a bit of an attitude! Hige was arguing with himself about whether she had been telling the truth or not. He wanted to believe her, but there was that voice in the back of his head telling him he'd believe anything an attractive female said. This caused a second argument. He half believed he would, but the other half of him seemed to say, "Yeah right! I make my own descisions!" It was a difficult matter. There weren't any second thoughts on that, thankfully. The problem was, there was sure to be more arguments once the rest of the pack heard. Hige had been so deep in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the hare he pawed right by. He held his head high as he came to the stream. The wolf lept right into it hoping that possibly, a member of the female pack would be watching. He craved a mate. Hige shook the water from his thick coat, and continued on. That voice in his head came back, telling him that Kipcha was lying and he was an idiot for showing off. Then another voice spoke, saying that he was just being himself. This was too complicated. No female wolf would ever want a male wolf that talked to himself! That's what it was like for Hige. Females and food were all that seemed to exist. Occasionally an annoying runt but that was occassionally.

The wolf was still just slightly damp as the cave came into sight. He had caught the scents of Tsume and Toboe a ways back but he hadn't detected Kiba yet. He sprinted the remaining yards as his destination drew near, resembling a racehorse about to cross the finish line. His tail flew out behind him as he ran. A blur of brown to the human eye, for wolves are very fast.

"Back already, Hige? You usually take much longer!" the young one called Toboe shouted to his pack member. Hige, however decided to ignore this remark. He walked straight past Toboe, who was trying to catch his tail, up to Tsume.

"You'll never believe what I found out!" he said proudly to the gray colored wolf. Too proud. Hige was so excited that he had forgotten to let his tail dangle between his legs, and was holding it up high. As he waited for Tsume to reply, he felt eyes fall on him. Sniffing the air, he caught the scent of Kiba and immediately realized his mistake.

"Competition for pack leader never stops I've learned," the lead wolf said with a great release of air.

"He was about to tell me something, Kiba. You don't have to put on the high and mighty act," Tsume said coldly. This statement caused Kiba's head to shoot up at Tsume. Anger welled in his golden eyes and he suddenly looked very dangerous.

"I wasn't trying to act 'high and mighty'. I merely had a comment. Hige, what were you about to say?" Kiba asked as he relaxed. He was in no mood to argue with Tsume. It was like beating a dead horse. Nothing could change Tsume's opinion about his position in the pack. He was almost positive about that.

Hige wasn't paying attention. At first, Tsume and Kiba's arguments had amused him, but now it was just boring. He was currently back to the voices. He couldn't help it! He was very, very undecided on this matter. Kipcha seemed the honest type, yet she also seemed the sly type. This was just too confusing. What if she did have a pack? That would mean less food for the male pack. It would also mean keeping the pack going. He couldn't decide if he should wait to investigate further into this Kipcha business or if he should tell them now and take the argument risk. The wolf didn't notice everyone was waiting for him to answer Kiba's question. Hige decided to tell them, because Kiba would find out anyways. He always did.

"I met a female wolf in the woods beyond the stream!" he exclaimed. His head was held low, causing a deep, warning growl to escape from Kiba's throat. Hige immediately lifted his head exposing his throat, showing submission.

"She said she had a pack, all female, too. At least that's what she said. Her name was Kipcha, I think. I couldn't decide if she was telling the truth or not, though." Hige said, happy to have been helpful.

"Females past your level of understanding, Hige?" Tsume said in a slightly rude way. Hurtful humor was his way of being funny. Kiba just stared at Hige, while Toboe looked thoughtful.

"Girls aren't hard to understand," he said defensively to Tsume. Hige saw this as an opportunity to crack one of his 'runt jokes'. He loved to pick on Toboe.

"Takes one to know one, doesn't it?" Hige said. This was aimed at Toboe. Kiba let a small snort loose while Tsume just narrowed his eyes.

"This is a serious matter. It concerns our survival. We have to stay together if we're going to make it through the winter. Hige, I don't need any of your little remarks. These female wolves have complicated things a bit. With them our pack can continue. Though, if we let them stay food will be even scarcer than it already is!" Kiba said matter-of-factly.

"I say we try to join packs with them. Otherwise, when we're gone the pack is gone," Kiba said. He was aiming this at Tsume, for he knew the gray wolf would say the opposite. He always did. If Kiba said day, Tsume would say night. It was that simple. It was a small challenge.

"I say we drive them out of here. If we don't we'll starve. You yourself said that we had to make it through this winter," Tsume said as he answered this small challenge.

"I say we join with them. We need females in this pack, or it's going to end up as nothing!" Hige said, trying to get his point through Tsume's somewhat thick skull.

"Hige's right," Toboe said quietly.

"What do you not understand about the word starvation?!" Tsume shouted. Tempers were rising.

"What do you not understand about mating?! You need a female!" Kiba shouted back. He let a snarl slip, as a final warning to Tsume. Back down now or regret it.

"In that case, we're all set," Hige said as he tilted his head toward Toboe. Toboe's eyes narrowed at this. He was sick of being called a girl.

"Hige, I'm not a girl! I want you to understand that!" Toboe said. He was shaking slightly.

"If we don't have food, we won't have any stinkin' energy for mating! You are just about the worst leader in the history of this pack! You'd screw your own mother if it kept the pack going!" Tsume shot angrily at Kiba. Kiba's hackles rosed at this. His lips pulled back, showing his long, white, fangs. He was snarling.

"Don't you ever say that again, you got that? Or I'll personally make sure you're eliminated from this pack! That will help lower the scarcity of food for you!" Kiba shouted spitefully at Tsume. Tsume crouched, ready to lunge at Kiba. He wasn't going anywhere. Kiba would be the one to leave, if anyone. His hackles rose as well and he bared his fangs.

"You've gone too far this time!" Tsume sprang up from his low crouch and flew towards Kiba. Kiba also forced all of his strength into his hind legs as he sprang up, off the ground. The two wolves clashed together with the sickening sound of bone on bone.

"Guys, stop it! We don't need to be fighting!" Toboe screamed at them. When he realized he wasn't getting a respone, he turned around and bolted. Nobody noticed Toboe's quick disappearance, for they were all much too busy arguing. Toboe ran as fast as his legs would carry him. His body was stretched out as he ran, his belly almost touching the ground. He leapt over a fallen tree in his way as he continued to run. He was sick of all these arguments! Tsume and Kiba fought over opinions continuously. He would go check this little situation out himself. Though what good would it do if the one called Kipcha were lying? Toboe hoped there really was a female wolf pack as he came to the stream. Ever since they started living in the cave, he had always had a problem with this stream. Young Toboe paced back and forth a few times, trying to decide how to take the stream. Finally, he just leaped in. He got across the stream as fast as he could and jumped out onto the other bank. He stood there for a second, dripping. The wolf shook himself then slowed to a trot. He picked up the scent of a female, as he caught the breeze. She wasn't anywhere nearby, so he quickened his pace. The scent got stronger with every step that he took. With his quickening pace, he came to a spot where the scent was very strong. Toboe stopped and listened. He knew that there was a wolf beyond these bushes. He was hoping more than one, actually. Excited, he found a small gap where he could peak through into the clearing beyond. There, he saw two wolves lying down! One was more of a black color while the second one was a gray blue. Toboe wondered which one was named Kipcha. That's when a third wolf exited the fox den and into the clearing.

"There you are, Kipcha!" The black wolf with piercing blue eyes called out as the third wolf came into the clearing. The third wolf was white with a streak of black down her back, coming to a widow's peak on top of her forehead. She had entrancing golden-amber eyes that were difficult to pull away from. Toboe was interested in these two wolves, but his interest was directed more towards the gray wolf with glittering emerald eyes. She was very attractive in his opinion, and he already admired her.

"Was I needed?" Kipcha questioned. Toboe remembered the name Kipcha. So she was telling the truth after all. She really did have a pack. The question was how many more wolves were there in this pack? He was yet to find out the names of the black and gray wolves.

"Blue and I were just debating whether we should run the males out or not. We need more food, for it is scarce. Yet this is an all female pack," stated the wolf Toboe admired as she lifted her head off her paws.

"Heiri is right," the black wolf named Blue said confidently to Kipcha.

"We need to come to a solution soon if we want to survive. Keep in mind that we don't have as much time as we need. We either drive the males out or let them stay," Kipcha said loud and flatly to make her point. Toboe didn't think they could drive his pack out. Kiba and Tsume wouldn't go anywhere if they didn't want to. That's one of the reasons that there is so much competition between them.

"We'll monitor this for a few suns if you understand what I mean." Heiri decided as she lay her head back down and closed her eyes. Well, one thing was for sure. This old fox den sure wasn't abandoned anymore. The wolves never liked the foxes that lived here in the past. They robbed the male wolf pack whenever they got the chance! It had gotten to be such an annoyance that Tsume actually attacked one of the foxes he caught trying to steal food and ate it! It was like killing two birds with one bite for him. He got a meal, and also sent a warning to the foxes to stay away. They didn't come back after that, but they did seem to always pop up when one of the male wolves was hunting. As long as the male pack got food, they were happy. When food was scarce, a fox would sometimes prey on the same animal a wolf was preying on. Or sometimes they would run out towards an animal being preyed on by a wolf so that it would run away before the wolf could have it. It was a way of getting revenge without getting too close. The males still managed though. A baby bird or two wasn't that big of a loss. The animals that really mattered, such as members of the deer family, were too large for the fox family to hunt. Then all of a sudden, that stopped happening. Kiba went to investigate the den, and found it empty. The scent that remained of the foxes hinted that no one had been there for a few days now. Now, the female pack lived in the old den. Toboe wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The foxes were a nuisance for depriving the male wolves of small animals. The new inhabitants of the den would deprive them of the big animals as well as the smaller ones! Toboe looked at the she-wolves one last time before turning around and trotting away. He inhaled their scent deeply, as if to etch it into his memory forever.

As Toboe exited the den area and entered the vast meadow, he increased his speed very quickly. He heard the wings of some prey bird beating overhead. He wasn't nearly as fast as the other three male wolves, but he still liked to stretch his legs with a run here and there. It felt good to just run across the meadow like that. Toboe looked a bit to the left and saw the sun. The sound of trickling water reached his ears as he neared the stream. Feeling proud of himself, he took the stream without a second thought! There was a small whisper in the back of his mind telling him of the water carrying small animals downstream in the past, and of the waterfall that lurked a few miles south. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and lept out of the cool water. After crossing the stream, he eased into a steady lope, and traveled that way until he reached the cave.

Meanwhile, back at the female's den Blue had picked up an unfamiliar scent. She paced around, trying to locate its source. The black wolf decided that it was coming strongest from the semi-circle clump of bushes and trees near the side of the den entrance. She traced it to the spot and inhaled. It was the scent of a male wolf! Fresh, but he was no longer here.

"Kipcha! Come here!" she called over to the amber-eyed wolf. Kipcha rose from her resting spot and half walked, half trotted over to Blue. She immediately recognized the scent as that of a male wolf.

"Is this the scent of the one called Hige?" Blue asked questioningly.

"No, it's not." Kipcha replied with a hint of anger in her voice.