Cold Sunrise
Kiba's POV
I roll over, tugging the blanket with me, trying to go back to sleep. Normally I'd be up as soon as I wake, but it's freezing in the cave and sure to be even colder outside. Sighing, I glance outside over my shoulder. The first colors of the sunrise are just beginning to show. Great, it's hardly even dawn yet. Wonder what woke me up this early? Oh well. I lay my head back down and pull the blanket up to my throat. It's small, but better than nothing, as cold as it is.
Wait a sec. Blanket? But I shouldn't hav-... I sit up, more than a little surprised whan Hige's yellow sweatshirt rolls down into my lap. Skimming the cave, I find Tsume and Toboe quickly enough, but I don't see Hige. I get up and, carrying his sweatshirt, start outside to find him. I'm beginning to get the feeling he's what woke me up. Once outside, I don't have to look far. He's leaning against a large rock near the mouth of the cave. His hands are in his pockets, his eyes on the sunrise. He looks.... different, without his sweatshirt on.
I suppose that should be obvious, but it's just how much different he looks that gets me. He looks so serious right now. I know he's older than me. It's just so seldom that he acts it, I think I forget sometimes. I really don't want to break the silence. I've got the feeling I shouldn't, but... "Uh, Hige?" He turns to look at me and, for just a moment, I catch a far off look in those mahogany eyes. They're not shining and cheerful like normal. Not at all. Rather they're....sad? What could he be thinking about? This isn't the Hige I know, but I'd really like him back about now. Before I can look any further in those eyes, the sadness is gone and Hige's back, treating me like a kid.
Hige's POV
"Hey snowflake, what's up?" He caught me off guard. I'd have never let him see me like that. He hesitates a moment, then holds out my sweatshirt. "I brought this back. I...um-uh..." he sighs. "Thank you." I smile a little and take it from him. "Ah, forget about it." He seems almost upset, but why? Silence holds for a few moments, until Kiba breaks it uncertainly. "Hige? Uh, why'd you...I mean...." Maybe we could calm down a bit, hmm? All this stuttering and uncertainty isn't like him. I turn back to the sunrise, "you were cold, shivering. I didn't need it."
That wasn't the answer he'd expected. "Oh. Well, thanks." My smile spreads a bit more, "toquet." Damn it. I wasn't thinking. How could I let that slip? Kiba's looking at me confusedly. He didn't understand that at all. "I-I don't..." I sigh, "I know you don't. It means all right." Then, more to myself than to him, "I haven't said that in a long time." I don't know how I'm gonna explain this. "Th-there's a lot you're not telling us, isn't there Hige?" I study him a moment in mild surprise.
Sometimes, like now, I wonder just how old he is. One minute he seems so young and the next he's so mature, but all I know for sure is that he's younger than me. "Yeah, yeah there is." Heh, why not? Sooner or later, it'll have to be said. Kiba has me caught, so I might as well. No sense in repeating myself though, "Wait 'til Tsume and Toboe get up. Then I'll tell you, okay?" He nods and flops down on the ground beside me. A moment later, "how do you say sunrise?" I look down at him in surprise. His eyes are on the sun, its rim just barely on the horizon.
"It...doesn't bother you?" He didn't understand what I said, but otherwise he seemed unfazed. "Huh? No. No, not at all. I like it actually. It-it reminds me...." He sighs, "it sounds kinda like how Mom used to talk sometimes. It's different, I mean I understood what she was saying. But it's the same too, somehow." So, his mother spoke another language. "Tabbenoca. Sunrise. And you are an esa tosa, a white wolf." He thinks about that a minute, "tabbenoca?" I nod, "tasura, that's it." He smiles a little, "it was a pretty sunrise, wasn't it?" I look back to the sun, now in full view. "Yeah, it was." So much better, than that blood red sunrise, the last we ever saw together. And I can't help but wonder, if I can tell them, without crying or getting choked up....
Chaos: So, do you hate me for skipping around everywhere yet? Personally I'm enjoying this fic. Now really, is it just me or do I have a habit of making Kiba sound kinda young? Anyway, I thank you for reading. In fact, I'm so happy: a Wolf's Rain plushie for each reviewer! Back to my earlier rant: Cartoon Network's takin' Wolf's Rain off. Why?! The ratings can't possibly be bad. We've done almost 600 fics on it in about 5 months. That means we like it. A LOT! And they've only run it through once! Wha-? Oh. Stop me before I get started next time.
And for those of you who didn't catch our little Comanche lesson:
toquet - all right
tabbenoca - sunrise
esa - wolf
tosa - white
tasura - that's it
See you next chapter!