Disclaimers on everything that I don't own.
By Winterwing3000
-Snippet 6
Ayame reached the small cave where Kouga and his three companions were currently living in. She waited until he noticed her scent, which he did and he called her in.
The red-head walked slowly over to the raven-haired warrior, who sat down on some of the furs, wounds already attended to. Sitting down across from him, her emerald eyes looked him over. "Are your wounds serious?"
"They're fine. Should heal by tomorrow night, the latest." Kouga brushed them off. After all, he has received worse.
"I see…," she breathed out deeply before looking straight at him. "Kouga, why? Why did you do that?"
"What?" the ookami prince feigned ignorance.
Sighing deeply, Ayame shook her head. "Kouga…"
"Look Ayame, I'm merely saving you from a marriage that won't give you any happiness. Isn't this what you wanted anyway? I'm filling up my end of the promise."
"No!" she exclaimed loudly, standing up abruptly; the echoes vibrated in the small den. Kouga gave her a rather annoyed look as her voice penetrated his sensitive ears.
She leant against the hard rock wall, mind in a jumble. "Well, maybe yes. This was probably what I have wanted, but it will be no different from me marrying Yuujin-sama at all."
He looked at her, cerulean eyes confused and frustrated. "How would it not be different? You love me, don't you? Isn't that good enough?"
She barked a laugh. "You still don't understand do you, Kouga? It wouldn't have mattered if I love you or not, I'm still a political marriage tool here. You don't love me, so what difference would that be from Yuujin and I? There was no point for you to challenge him at all."
"Is this what you're going on about? Being a political tool?" This time, he looked incredulously at her.
"What? I'm not? Because I certainly feel like one right now. You said it yourself, you don't love me at all. So I'm merely a wolf used in order for everyone to regain their peace, evolve their tribes and help breed for her mate. But you, you gain much more than I. You'll receive one of the greatest titles among the tribes, you'll receive a mate, you'll receive ultimate power over all, you'll receive a large addition to your own tribe and you'll also receive substitute. That's all I am, right? A substitute for your lost love." Her strong voice died into a whisper.
"Hah! I know now… you think that I'm still in love with Kagome, aren't you?" Kouga scoffed at her. "If you thought that, then you've got some serious rethinking to do, Ayame."
"What am I supposed to think? And what else do I need to think? Ginta and Hakkaku told me all of it, the last battle with that Naraku. After all these years, the final fight was long, devastating, but also successful. You have succeeded in your mission of vengeance and Naraku was defeated. But, ultimately, Kagome choose that hanyou, didn't she? That's why you came back here… you think that I can really accept you with open arms knowing that you were still so in love with her?"
"Perhaps I loved her once, maybe I did loose her to that half-blood mutt, but that wasn't the reason as to why I came here. I came here to have you as my mate, as I have promised your grandfather so many years ago. It was by my choice." He stated, his gaze now unwavering.
The wolf princess looked at him, and then let out a choking sob. Her mass of red hair shook from side to side. Tears crept out from her eyes. "Stop lying Kouga. Just stop it already. You don't have to keep playing games. I'm sick of them… so just stop, please…"
The white wolf sank to her knees, tears flowed in rivulets. Kouga remained quiet, unsure of what to do. So he waited, waiting for her to calm herself down.
It was a while before she stopped crying, leaving only hiccups and tear-stained cheeks. She wiped her face with the back of her hand, hiccupping every time she did so. She avoid his eyes by starring at the ceiling instead.
The tense silence ceased to lift itself as she continued to stare at the rocky ceiling and he starring straight at her. "I told you that you were free… why did you have to come back?" she said almost inaudibly. "Do you love to play these mind games with me? To confuse me and drive me insane before you're satisfied?"
"Even if a bird is set free, while treated with kindness, it will always come back to the kind giver." Kouga recited from a very old memory during his youth with his father. "Even though you've set me free of the obligation, it was my decision to pursue you as my mate. Maybe I might never forget Kagome, but her impact on me is slowly fading. I've realized that I could have and already had someone better by my side."
Ayame lowered her head with tired green eyes. He was not lying, his scent is still clean. But those words slowly penetrated her mind, bringing forth one final question.
"You've remembered the night of the rainbow moon, then?"
"I had when you first searched for me." he answered her truthfully. "I only sent you back to the mountains in order to forget me. Perhaps you could have been married to that black wolf, and lived a happy life without me. And then your love would slowly dissipate and would not linger on me should I had died during the battle with Naraku."
She looked out of the cave and into the darkening skies.
"Never."
"Kenpai!" everyone raised their cups of sake into the air and drank fully. The large bonfire crackled as the large prey from the hunting party earlier roasted. Wolves of every tribe were present till the day of the martial ceremony. They all chatted merrily, drinking and eating. The female wolves kept the fire going, refilling cups of sake and also enjoying themselves with the male wolves.
Kouga perched on a large boulder, his two comrades on both of his sides. He had some of the happiness and merriness seeped into him, but his eyes couldn't help but continue to wander, looking for the red head, only to find her missing. She practically disappeared right after their talk. Sighing, he looked into the supposedly starry sky, only to find dark, grey-black clouds, just waiting for the right time for the outlet of rainwater.
Some fresh air would definitely clear his sinuses and give him a chance to look for her. Muttering a few words of his departure to his friends, he hopped off into the night and away from the mountain wall. He jumped into the black covered forest, flying through the air as he ricocheted off every other limb of the tall, old trees surrounding the mountain of the white wolves.
The rain came down in the lightest, barely noticeable drizzle as Kouga leapt deeper into the woods. Passing by a stream in a clearing, his nose twitched at the watery scent, but looking down, he spotted a dark color flowing in the water. Descending, he landed at the bank of the stream and crouched down, plunging his hand into the coppered color fluid that had diffused into the water. Bringing it up to his nose, it smelt faintly like blood with a hint of lavender. His mind racked for the familiar scent's owner.
Never mind that, he'll figure out that later. Someone was seriously injured at the moment and it was most likely from upstream since the water was flowing with a thicker red.
As soon as he reached the base of the waterfall, he spotted smudges of blood stained on the boulders and patches of grass. However, they were all in such random places that it wasn't hard to tell what had happen. Footprints on the dirt were visible due to his night sight and he followed them right up to the wall of the cascade. Scaling it with his eyes, he ascended the rock wall without any problem with footing and managed to reach the top. The water flowed slower here than it was downstream, thus leaving certain scents lingering in the clean air.
Lavender and dead roses… why did those two scents bother him so much?
Cautiously, he treaded in the rain, trying to sort out the different smells from the rain, which was making it difficult for him to track down the two sources. Soon he started to hear faint noises of wolfish barks and battle cries. Straining his ears, he sorted out the direction of the sounds and turned left, into the woods once again and came to an unexpected scene.
Ayame laid on her side, a deep gash running up her left arm and a couple of scratches all over her legs. Her armor was ripped and claw marks were left on her breast plate. Her hair was left half hanging from her bun, the purple iris crushed on the muddy ground. Her eyes were half-lidded and breath came out ragged. She was also tenderly holding onto her right side, hidden from his view. Her katana was drawn from the saya, stabbed straight into the ground a couple feet from her, stained with crimson.
And then there was Iena, that female wolf from his tribe, starring down at Ayame, her hand holding out her own short sword. Her once sharp eyes were wide, pupils dilated with madness and rage. Her dirty gold hair was hanging limply over her shoulders, which framed her sharp face, making her pale and sickly looking. She bore a few wounds, the most noticeable one was the deep claw gashes on her abdomen and blade cuts on her upper arms. Her skirt was half shredded as well.
"AYAME!" Kouga shouted, sprinting toward his soon-to-be-mate. Both females looked his way and saw his approach. Iena quickly recovered from his presence and pounced at the vulnerable white wolf with her sword poised.
Ayame rolled away, receiving a nick on her shoulder, almost losing her head. Gashing her teeth, the brown she-wolf continued to stab madly at the white she-wolf. "Bitch! You stole him from me!"
"What the heck are you talking about!" Ayame retorted, bringing herself into a crouching position and swept her foot harshly under Iena's legs, which she avoided by leaping over the red-head's head. With that momentary distraction, Ayame dived for her sword, managing to grab the handle and yank it out before rolling away again to avoid the pointed sword coming down at her head.
"Him! Were you not satisfied with one leader! You whore!" Iena screamed, pointing her sword at Ayame's nose, starring straight past her and at Kouga, who stood under the shadows of a tree.
"Whore! You think I had a choice in this!" The princess said in angered disbelief, deflecting the sword and slammed her free fist into the mud, sending up a rain of razor leaves from beneath and surrounding Iena.
Despite the sharp natural weapons being used against her, the brown wolf gave no mind and charged right through, earning nicks and cuts, but her hand remained steady and right toward Ayame's weakening body armor.
"JUST DIE!" she screeched in insanity, just about ready to strike Ayame through the heart. Ayame let out a yelp and stood frozen in her place, eyes stained with fear.
Her heart beat erratically and her hands were trembling without control. Just as the tip reached her metal armor, she was shoved to the wet dirt ground with a great weight on her. But the weight disappeared just as fast and through her blurry eyes, she saw Iena being struck down, motionless on the mud puddles, her sword embedded into a tree. The steady drizzle turned into a heavier rain, coming down onto the earth mercilessly.
Thunder rolled into her ears and lightning sparked before her eyes, clearing her vision. A dark, tall shadow loomed over her and the light gave her a peek of the face. Sky blue eyes and hair, dark as a raven's wing. There was a minor bleeding scratch on his arm, but it was starting to heal itself.
Ayame struggled to sit up on her own, but received help from him as he hefted her into his arms, bridal style. She avoided looking into his eyes. "Why did you save me…?"
"Because I wanted to." He answered without a beat.
"Liar." She whispered as she faded into darkness.
The rain came in a downpour.
AN: I'm back and safe at home now! Sorry for the delay, but I was in France for a long month and I hope that this chapter makes it up for you. Comments and criticism are very much appreciated!
Aya and kogou fan, mysterious advisor, wolfcries, Bloodyvampire701, ShadowVixen, BeAuTiFuL MaSsAcRe, punkAmaya, kagura-ness, teppi, Indigo Eyes, angelgrl, narakuwolf, and sailor alpha! Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews for me. Anyway, after this, there'll be one more chapter and probably an epilogue. Have a happy reading!