Cleaning Day
Mikayo stepped out of her cave and looked down her mountain. She could feel a stirring of something new in the air. Today she would leave her mountain. Something she hadn't done in over a thousand years. In that time very few wolves made it up her mountain to see her. Only those desperate enough came to her. She returned to her cave and packed the supplies that she would need to reach the wolf den of the young prince. Today she would meet him and his mate and see if the prophecy was indeed coming true. She once again stepped out of the cave and with her wolves following her she set out for her quest.
Kagome awoke to find herself in fresh furs and her mate sleeping soundly beside her. She quietly climbed out of bed and entered the main den. She looked around and saw many bones littering the floor and some wolf demons sitting around. She sent them all out to hunt or fish and rounded up all the available females that she could find. Together they cleaned the place from top to bottom. They piled all the bones up and Kagome grabbed a couple of young pups that weren't able to hunt yet to carry them out of the den. They removed all the old straw and replaced it all with fresh. As the men started returning Kagome found odd jobs for them. Pretty soon they learned to stay away from their leaders mate. Kagome was having a grand time with the other females. They talked as they worked and got to know each other. The females of the pack were not afraid of hard work. And Kagome was working them very hard to clean the den. After the main den was done they started on the individual rooms. Soon every female minus the few that Kagome put in charge of the pups were cleaning. The men were doing their best to stay out of their way.
Koga awoke to find his mate missing and left their room to find his den in an uproar. The females were chasing the males out of the den and dust was flying everywhere. He found Kagome a couple of rooms down throwing old straw out the door. He walked up to her and put his arms around her and brought her against his chest. He leaned down to nuzzle her neck and took delight in hearing her laugh. "What are you doing?"
"I decided to clean the den. It was filthy and smelled worse. So us females are cleaning. I sent the men out hunting and a few have returned already but I don't know where they went after they came back. I need a couple of strong ones to replenish the firewood supply and then I need some to do some lifting for us. Not to mention that we are running out of fresh straw. Do you think you can get them to do that for us." She moved out of his arms and smiled at him.
"I will have them get the firewood and do everything else that you need done. I will keep the ones you don't need out of your hair. Today would be a good day for training and since you are busy I guess I will work with them today. But tomorrow you start your training again." He leaned down and kissed her before he departed the den. He found most of his men outside the den sitting down and watching as the wolf demonesses rushed by them. Doing some chore that Kagome assigned them. "What are you all doing sitting around. Don't you have better things to do than just sit here watching the females work?" He watched as several of them just looked at him with blank expressions on their faces. He grabbed the younger warriors and sent them to Kagome with orders that they were to obey her and they were not to be released from their duties till Kagome told them they could. A few of them grumbled but they all followed his orders. He gathered the rest of the men and went to the training field.
A few of the older wolf demons couldn't believe the change in their leader since he got his mate. He wasn't as rough as before and he certainly smiled more. Although with a mate like his who wouldn't smile more. There were many jokes bandied about that day.
Koga let the wolves have their fun but he made each of them pay in his own way. As he stopped to take a break he saw the monk headed toward him. "Hey Miroku. I thought that you were out helping the girls or something."
Miroku shook his head and smiled. "I have spent the morning trying to escape the den. Every time I tried to get away Sango or Kagome would find something else for me to do. Finally one of your wolf pups got them distracted and I managed to escape to freedom. Who would have thought that Kagome could turn a wolf den upside down just cleaning it." He sat down beside Koga and laid down on the grass.
"Yeah it's great isn't it?" Koga smirked at the monk.
"That's easy for you to say. You didn't have to carry all the furs in the cave to the river to be washed. I was lucky that they didn't make me wash them." Miroku was too tired to sit back up. "I think I made about a hundred trips to the river with furs. How she expects them all to dry I have no idea. The last time I was by the river every available branch had a fur on it. The forest looks like a big monster with all those furs on the trees."
"Better you than me though monk. Almost makes me feel sorry for the young warriors I sent to help her." He laughed at the look on the monk's face.
"The last time I saw them they were hauling water. I am surprised that there is still water in the river. They are definitely getting a workout today." Miroku closed his eyes and was soon asleep.
Koga watched as a couple of the young warriors joined him. They were worn out. He could tell. They barely managed to make it to him before they collapsed. "Oh come on, surely helping the women hasn't worn you out that bad?"
One of the braver ones Daiki looked up at him. "That's easy for you to say. I have never cut so much wood in my life. I think that we now have enough to last the whole winter."
Hiroto sat up and glared at him. "I think that I cut enough straw to feed every horse in japan."
The last one Seijun, sat up and rubbed his sore arms. "She had me haul so much water that I'm surprised their was enough in the river to save the fishes. How often do you think this is going to happen?"
Daiki looked over to Koga. "Yeah I want some warning the next time. That way I will know to leave the day before." He saw his leader frown at him "Don't worry Koga. I will return after a couple of days."
Koga glared at the young warriors around him. "You have all grown soft if my mate can work you hard enough to make you collapse. Maybe I should put her in charge of training you all." He held back a laugh when he heard moans all around him. He stopped teasing the men when he saw Kagome and a few other females heading toward him. They were carrying trays with food and flask of water to them. Koga stood up as Kagome got closer to him. "What do we have here?"
Kagome smiled at Koga and then at the demons and the monk around him. "I thought you all might be hungry so we fixed you all something to eat." She handed each of the men a flask of water and some meat and bread. The other ladies handed the rest of the demons their food and water and when everyone was fed they joined the men for a break. "So how's the training coming along."
Koga looked at his warriors and then back to his mate. "Just fine. The younger pups really need to practice quite a bit more though. We will work with them this afternoon. What are you going to be doing?"
Kagome laid down beside Koga and laid her head in his lap. "We're almost done with the den then all we have to do is wait for the furs to dry so that we can return them to their proper places. So we have an easy afternoon ahead of us. I think we will give all the pups a bath."
Koga couldn't believe that she considered giving pups a bath an easy afternoon. She had never tried to get a wolf pup to take a bath. She had her work cut out for her. He laid down and enjoyed the small break he had with his mate. Before long she rose and with the other females returned to the den. Koga looked over at his warriors and found that most of them appeared to be asleep. "Get up you lazy curs. Besides we are going to have some fun this afternoon. We are going to be training in stealth. Kagome said she was going to bathe the wolf pups this afternoon. If your quiet we might be able to get a good laugh at watching them." He stood up and led them to the top of the cliff above the den. They silently crawled to the edge and watched as their leaders new mate chased after a pup.
Kagome chased after a pup and was surprised that it took her so long to catch her. Finally she had her cornered and she scooped her up in her arms. "Time for your bath little one." She carried her to the river and when she went to place the pup in the water she felt a sharp pain in her hand. She looked down and found that the pup had latched herself to her hand using her small fangs. Kagome pried her hand from the pups mouth and then placed the pup in the water. She had to basically hold her with one hand and soap her down with the other. The pup fought her every step of the way. She didn't know who got wetter her or the pup she was trying to bathe. The pup constantly thrashed around in the water drenching her and the other females near her. Many times Kagome had to jerk her hand away from the pup before she could sink her fangs into her hand again. After washing just one pup she was soaked. She lifted the pup out of the water and sat her down on the bank of the river and before she could wrap her in a towel the little thing shook its body and Kagome found herself taking a shower. She wrapped it up in a towel and handed it to Chizu. "You could have warned me Chizu."
Chizu just laughed and took the pup from Kagome. "Now where is the fun in that. Wait till you try to give the wolves bathes. They are worse than ookami pups."
Kagome just sighed and took the next pup from another demoness. Better hurry and get this over with. It took them most of the rest of the afternoon before all the pups and wolves were bathed. The wolves retired to the sun heated rocks to dry and the females were doing their best to stop the pups from rolling in the dirt. After all the pups had been gathered up they returned to the den to start the evening meal. Everyone was pretty tired by now and couldn't wait for evening to come so they could retire to their chambers for some much needed sleep.