Chapter 19: Boulders, falls, and bears! Oh my!
The next morning, Kagome woke early, feeling refreshed and ready to do some hiking. Moving carefully so as to avoid waking her tent mates, she exited the tent, stretching as she stood. She was a bit surprised to see Koga already up.
"Good morning Kagome. Did you sleep well?" He smiled and handed her a cup of coffee. She took the cup, wrapping her hands around its warmth.
"Morning Koga. I slept very well. I always do when I come up here. Thank-you for the coffee."
"Did I hear the word 'coffee'?" Kagome felt two arms wrap around her waist. "Good morning angel." Inuyasha reached out and took her cup from her, taking a drink. Kagome pouted while Koga laughed and handed her another cup.
It wasn't long before everyone was up and moving, if not fully awake. Koga made a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, much to everyone's pleasant surprise. When the group had eaten and dishes were cleaned, everyone gathered around the table to plan the day's activities.
"I am ready to do some hiking; I would like to take the Skyline Trail." Sango pointed out the winding path on the map spread before them.
"That sounds really good to me. The wildflowers should be at their peak right about now. Count me in." Kagome stood eagerly. The others quickly agreed. They gathered their gear and piled into Koga's van to head up to the trail head.
When they reached the start of the trail, Miroku and Kagome made sure that everyone carried food, water and emergency supplies. Kagome handed everyone a whistle. "If you get separated, lost, or if something happens and you need help, blow your whistle and stay put. Someone will find you."
"Don't forget to stick together and make noise as you go. We don't need any encounters with bears," Koga added. With the warnings given, the group headed out on the trail. Within a few minutes, the group split into 2 groups; the first was Miroku and Sango out in the lead, while the second group contained Ayame, Kagome, Koga and Inuyasha.
Miroku and Sango soon left the others far behind as they navigated the steep trail like mountain sheep. Before too long, they were out of sight. Ayame expressed concern but Inuyasha laughed and told her that Koga had the keys to the van, so they were going to have to wait for them eventually.
Kagome and Inuyasha were quite content to walk with Koga and Ayame. They would stop now and then to take in the spectacular views and take pictures of wildflowers. Koga pointed out a white-tailed deer and her twin fawns. Kagome pointed out an eagle that soared on the thermal currents coming off the mountain.
Miroku and Sango sat catching their breath, realizing that the others were far behind them. "Hey Miroku, take a look at these tracks." Sango pointed to a set of tracks that marred the damp ground beside her.
"Those are bear tracks. They appear pretty fresh too." Miroku took a look around. "The bear is probably looking for any early huckleberries that may be ripe." Sango stood and nodded.
"I still don't want to meet one, thank-you very much." Miroku stood and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I will protect you my dear," he whispered in her ear. Sango blushed.
"Let's get going." She stepped out of his arms and continued up the path. Miroku sighed and followed close behind.
They hiked through the sub alpine forest, to emerge above the tree line. They halted when the path they were following ended in a washout.
"This probably happened a few days ago when they had the heavy rains here." Miroku stood studying the path thoughtfully. To either side of the trail lay a tumble of boulders and rocks of varying sizes.
"Should we wait here for the others, Miroku?"
He turned and looked at Sango. "Stay here for a moment. I want to check something out." Sango watched as Miroku made his way over the fallen rocks. When he was about 200 yards in front of her, he turned back to call out, but lost his balance and fell off the boulder he was on.
"Miroku! Are you okay? Miroku, answer me!" Sango started to scramble her way to the spot where she last saw him. There was no answer to her calls and she expected the worst. She had just come to the rock where he last stood when Sango heard a moan. Miroku sat up and slowly put his hand to his head.
"Ow, that smarts." He looked up and gave Sango a sheepish grin.
"You had me worried, you baka!" Sango stepped down to reach Miroku's spot. As her foot came down, a rock rolled from beneath her, twisting her ankle. She fell into Miroku's lap with a small cry of pain. "Damn it! I don't need this right now!"
Miroku gently checked out her ankle. "I don't think it's broke, just sprained. I don't want to take your boot off until we get back to camp, as it will help keep down the swelling." Sango nodded, gritting her teeth against the pain.
"Are you okay?" She reached up and touched a small cut behind Miroku's ear that had already stopped bleeding.
"Yeah. I hit my head when I fell, stunning me for a bit. Other than a slight headache, I am okay. Do you think you can stand up? We should probably go back to the path and wait for the others."
Sango nodded and stood to her feet, trying to keep the weight off her bad ankle. Miroku offered his help as they slowly made their way over the small boulders, but Sango would give small cries of pain. Finally growing frustrated, Miroku put Sango on his back and carried her carefully over the remaining distance back to the path.
"Sit here and prop up your foot. The others are coming as I can already see Inuyasha's red shirt." He handed her a bottle of water and a couple of aspirin from the first aid kit. Settling down, the two waited for their friends to catch up.
The group reunited and rested while Kagome cleaned and bandaged Miroku's cut. After determining that Sango could walk if she took it slowly, they turned and headed back down the path.
"You guys were lucky that you weren't seriously hurt. You should know better than to go off the marked path. Neither of you are geared for back country hiking." Koga scolded the two injured teens. Miroku mumbled an apology and hung his head. If it hadn't been for him, Sango would not have gotten injured.
"Hey look down there!" Ayame pointed excitedly at a black shape in a clump of bushes about ½ mile down the mountain side.
"That must be the bear whose tracks we saw earlier. That is a patch of huckleberries." Sango informed her. Ayame stared as the bear stopped and looked at the group before heading into the cover of the forest.
"Wow! That is as close as I care to get to a bear, thank-you very much. Although it was kind of cool seeing it." Koga chuckled and grabbed Ayame's hand, giving it a squeeze.
"Don't worry, the bear probably feels the same way you do." Everyone laughed at Koga's observation.
The group finally made their way back to the van; Sango was walking better by that time. Piling in, they returned to camp.
Back at the campground, it was quickly determined that Sango had suffered a mild sprain. The group decided that the icy stream would help relieve any swelling, so they quickly changed into shorts and headed down to do some wading and swimming.
Sango sat upon a rock, dangling her feet into the frigid water. Ayame sat beside her watching as Miroku and Koga tried to see who could skip rocks the farthest. A cry of surprise caught everyone's attention as they turned to see Inuyasha throw Kagome over his shoulder and head to the deep part of the stream before carefully dropping her into the chilly water.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome sputtered as she gathered her feet beneath her. Standing, the water came up to her chest. Swiping water from her eyes, she looked up at the smirking man standing over her. Tucking her head to hide the evil smile, she wrapped her arms around her body and shivered, looking miserable. Taking pity on the girl, Inuyasha reached out a hand to help her out of the water. Taking his hand, Kagome pulled him in before scrambling out of his reach.
The two proceeded to have a splashing and ducking contest, eventually everyone was sopping wet and shivering. Laughing, they chased each other back to the camp site, only to disappear to put on dry clothing. Soon, everyone was back and gathered around the now roaring campfire, drying their hair and telling embarrassing stories.
Later that night, everyone headed to bed. The day turned out to be a good one despite the morning's incident, and they were all exhausted.
Laying almost asleep, Ayame heard a low growl. Thinking she was imagining things, she rolled over, only to hear it again. "Hey, guys, are you awake?"
"Sort of. What's wrong?" Kagome sat up and looked at Ayame.
"I thought I heard something growl just now." Kagome stared at her friend. She was about to say something when they heard another growl quite clearly. Kagome was a little confused but Ayame had made her own conclusions. "BEAR! BEAR!"
Sango sat upright. "What? What's wrong?" Outside, the girls could hear the guys asking if everything was okay.
"I heard a bear! It's here in the camp," Ayame called out. The guys grabbed their flashlights and searched the camp, looking for any sign of a four-footed intruder. Ayame sat huddled in her sleeping bag wile Sango blinked sleepily. Kagome looked thoughtful.
Another growl sounded close by and Ayame started to cry, certain that they'd all be eaten. Kagome started to laugh. The two girls looked at her in confusion.
"Guys, there's nothing out there. There was never a bear." The tent flap opened and showed the concerned faces of the three young men.
"What was it then?" asked Ayame.
Kagome laughed and tossed a granola bar at Sango. "It was Sango's tummy growling." Everyone sweat dropped. Sango looked sheepish.
"I'm sorry guys. I guess I didn't eat enough at dinner." The guys laughed and bid the girls good night before returning to their tent. Ayame muttered an apology before hiding her red face in her bag. Sango finished her granola bar and fell back to sleep. Kagome lay chuckling a while longer before she too succumbed to sleep.
TBC
A/N: The bear story and the growling stomach actually happened to a couple of friends of mine. We still laugh about it years later. As always, Read, Enjoy and Review. Thank-you.