Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain!

Chapter Two:

Tsume had no idea why he didn't tell anyone about where he thought someone was watching from. It was just one of those things he was unsure about, and there weren't many of those. In a way, Kiba was right. Maybe they shouldn't stick around. He didn't know if whom-ever was watching them would attack or not. Besides, they needed to catch up with Jagara's troops in order to rescue Cheza.

As they continued through the forest, the occasional bird chirped. Kiba knew that comforting sound wouldn't be around much longer because night was settling in. He knew instinctively that they would have to find some place to stop and rest for the night, preferably outside of this dense forest. Kiba felt that since Tsume mentioned the feeling of being watched, they might just need to make a quick escape. He had no idea whether the thing watching them was friendly or hostile. But just to make sure they weren't being followed anymore, he occasionally glanced at the surrounding trees while walking. Kiba didn't know this, but Tsume was doing the exact same thing in the rear. Soon, Blue caught on to Kiba and Tsume's wariness as well. Toboe and Hige quit playing in the snow as they were walking and followed suit.

Blue approached Kiba from the left and whispered cautiously, "Kiba, we really should try to find some place to crash for the night. I think Toboe's getting tired, as well as Hige, even though they won't admit it."

"Why are you whispering?" Kiba asked.

Blue didn't know how to respond to this. She remained silent for a minute before continuing, "You're looking at the trees as if they had ears and were eavesdropping on us."

"I just can't shake the feeling of being followed, now that Tsume mentioned it."

"Can we rest?" Toboe's voice piped up from behind, "I'm getting kind of tired."

"Soon, Toboe. We'll rest soon." Kiba responded, but he didn't bother to turn around and look at Toboe.

"I never thought I'd say this but, Kiba's right, Toboe," Tsume said as he caught up to the smaller chestnut wolf, "It might be better if we sleep outside of this forest. Especially if we're being followed."

At this, Toboe promptly sat right where he was, which startled Tsume, "I can't go any farther! And even if I could, I wouldn't want to!" he whined.

To Kiba's annoyance, Hige joined sides with Toboe, "I'm tired and hungry! Can't we please stop!"

Kiba, Blue, and Tsume turned to face the complaining two-some. Blue spoke up, "They're right, Kiba. We really do need to eat and sleep."

Kiba sighed and said, "I suppose we can stop and get something to eat… But that doesn't mean we're going to sleep in this place," He glanced warily at the trees, "We're just getting something to eat and that's it." Tsume growled lightly at this decision before moving a little away from the others.

LATER…

After dinner, Toboe and Hige were successful in getting Kiba to concede to finding a place in the forest to crash for the night. In Tsume's opinion, Kiba was getting soft. As of right now, Tsume was on his own doing just that. No, not being soft, that wasn't in his nature. He was looking for suitable place big enough for five wolves to spend the night. Kiba was also doing this as well in some other area of the forest. They had left Blue in charge of looking after Hige and Toboe while they were gone.

Kiba had decided to go west. Tsume, on the other hand, had gone east. Kiba didn't like the idea of spending the night in this forest. Kiba had noticed that Tsume hadn't been very happy with the decision to spend the night here either. This was strange, considering the fact that they hardly ever agreed on anything.

Right now, he was searching for suitable place for the clan to spend the night. So far, Kiba had only passed through a few clearings. Other than that, there was nothing special in this forest except for trees, trees, and more trees. Oh yeah, and snow, and lots of it. Suddenly, Kiba encountered a cave. He sniffed the air in the area to check for any other animals living near or in the cave. He approached the opening cautiously. On the way there, Kiba didn't notice any other footprints in the surrounding area.

'Perhaps this place is safe… so far…' he thought. Kiba peered around the side of the cave and saw nothing but darkness. 'I can't see anything from out here. I guess I'll have to invite myself in…' he cautiously placed one paw into the cave, 'If any sort of predator lived in here, I would have been attacked already.' Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kiba was relieved to find no animal inside. To most of his knowledge, no animal had lived in here for a while. None of the scents he picked up inside were very fresh. In fact, most of them appeared to be just about diminished in the cold temperatures of the forest. 'Probably more than five wolves could fit inside this cave.' He thought, 'I better go call the others.' With this decision made, Kiba exited the cave.

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I was returning to my cave after catching my evening meal, a white rabbit. I had decided that the intruders were not bothersome enough to watch. I did not think that they would be a threat to me at least if I just stayed away from them.

I picked up the rabbit carcass in my mouth and started off to the west, towards my cave. I had just reached the first line of trees around the clearing, when a slight breeze carried a scent to my nose. It wasn't just the smell of death from my recently kill, it was…

I couldn't quite make out what it was but I started forward cautiously, quietly, and quickly towards my cave. As I moved the rabbit's blood dripped down onto the pure white snow from the wound I had made on its back in order to carry it.

As I neared the vicinity of the cave, the strange scent became heavier in the air. It also became a little more familiar… though I had no idea why… I rounded the first turn. The dead rabbit dropped from my mouth in surprise. The gray wolf I had seen earlier was right in front of me.