Old Yurikos cackling voice could be heard throughout the cavern as she told ancient tales of the gods to the members of his tribe.
They all circled around her as they sat on furs and tree trunks, glowing eyes focused on the withering old shaman before them.
She sat upon a pile of furs of her own next to the dancing flames within the firepit, her wrinkled old hands dramatically lifting into the air as she told a part of the story to the on looking eyes.
She was telling one of many tales of Fuzen, god of mischief and how he tricked a evil human warlord. Fuzen disguised himself as a beautiful human maiden and tricked the warlord into falling in love with him. On their wedding day Fuzen revealed his true self and ate the warlord along with the rest of his clan.
The gasps coming from the dozens of pups that sat close to Yuriko reached Kogas pointed ears as he sat upon his throne.
He sat slouched, an arm resting upon the armrest of the throne while his head lazily sat in his hand. His other hand occupied a cup of whiskey, the brown liquid swirling around within it.
He wasn't that interested in the story, he heard it hundreds of times before in the past. What he was interested in was a human priestess...
His cerulean eyes scanned the gathering before him searching her out until they landed on her delicate form.
There she sat on a pile of furs surrounded by his packmates. He could see that old wolf, Uruno snuggled up against her body.
He watched as the old geezers tail swished happily as she rubbed him behind his ears, his tongue sometimes reaching up to lick her creamy white hands causing her to giggle.
Koga didnt want to admit it, but he was some what jealous of the attention Uruno was getting from her...
With his eyes still on the girl, his emotions started to switch from slight jealousy to sadness.
Tomorrow morning he would be taking her back to her village now that storms had cleared up.
He some how convinced her to stay one more night; saying that it would be safer to travel during the morning hours then at night.
In all honesty it didn't matter when they traveled, that was just an excuse he used for his own selfish reasons.
He inhaled a deep breath of air; picking up the scents of his tribe, the burning fire wood within the fire pit, the smell of the mountain and ever so soft calming fragrance of lavender and vanilla.
He'll miss that... her scent.
That enticing smell will eventually disappear from inside the tunnels of his mountain overtime. He will also no longer hear her laugh bouncing off the cave walls or see that pretty shade of pink that dusted her cheeks when she blushed when she saw him.
When will I see her again?
His eyebrows furrowed at his next dreaded thought.
...What if I never see her again?
A shot of pain shot through his heart and he didn't understand why.
Taking one last glance at the human girl, he chugged down the rest of his whiskey.
Throwing the now empty cup to the side the king stood up ftom his throne and started making his way towards the tunnels.
With curious wide eyes, Hakkaku called out, "Where are you going?"
The general started to lift himself up from where he sat next to the throne, getting ready to follow his king.
"I need some air."
"Want me to accompany you?"
"No, I want to be alone." Koga said as he walked off.
His pointed ears twitched with annoyance when he picked up the whispers between Hakaku and Ginta discussing how their Kings behavior immediately changed once the rain had stopped and the sun came out...
He groaned.
Do I make it that obvious that I'm upset with her departure tomorrow?
Koga brought his one hand up to his head, fingertips rubbing his temples trying to calm the slowly developing headache that was starting to form.
What is wrong wrong with me? Why am I this affected by her leaving?
The wolf king was so deep into his thoughts he didn't notice a pair of sandled feet following him from behind, until he felt a pair of slim arms encircle his arm tightly.
"Koga, where are you going?"
He jumped slightly in surprise, eyes wide looking down at the miko clutching his arm.
He was taken back by how a mere human girl managed to sneak up on him without hearing her... he must have been so absorbed in his own thoughts to not have noticed her approaching him.
The pups of his tribe would have been seething with jealousy that she, a mere human, managed to sneak up on him when they have failed countless times.
( Koga: 1,327 - Pups: 0 - Kagome:1 )
"I was going to get some air..."
"Are you about to go to your secret place then?" She asked with a warm smile on her lips.
"Heh, yeah. I was thinking about it."
He looked down at Kagome still wrapped around his arm. Her hazel eyes that were dusted with sparkling flecks of peridots looked up at him. "Do you want to join me?"
"You don't mind?"
"Of course I don't, Kagome." He simply said as he took her hand within his and lead the way through the torch lit tunnels.
When they reached the small entrance to the secret room, the moons beams were bright enough to shine through the opening highlighting the furs and silks that laid out before it.
The simple glowing light was enough for Kagome to see and maneuver through the unlit room making her way to the edge of the bed near the opening, the same spot where they had fallen asleep a few nights ago.
"Kagome, come here." Koga said softly, as he walked past her to the small cavern opening. He pulled the shrubbery back revealing a ledge that protruded out from the mountain side, "We can sit out here so we can have a better view of the stars."
As soon as he mentioned stars, the mikos face lit up with excitment.
She quickly walked past the shrubbery that Koga pulled back for her, making her way to the edge of ledge.
He watched as she sat down, her sandled feet dangling over edge, swaying back and forth.
Letting go of the shrubbery he made his way to her, taking a seat next to her, his bare feet dangling alongside hers.
"You were right, Koga. The scenery is much better when it isn't raining."
Kogas eyes scanned the magical view before him, "Heh, I told you."
They weren't at the highest point in his mountain, but high enough where they could look down upon at the thousands of darkened forest trees that covered countless miles of land. Their branches slightly swayed against the late summers breeze while the moon, with her warm milky glow beamed down upon the forest, illuminating the dancing trees.
The sky itself was dusted with all the stars tonight, not even a cloud dared to cover up such beauty.
"It's so beautiful out here." The miko said next to him.
"Mmhmm," he hummed as azure eyes glanced down at her, quickly taking notice on how her creamy white skin seemed to glow underneath the moon beams. Her raven hair cascaded in waves and braids to her hips, decorated with silver beads that seemed to sparkle just like the stars above him in the darkened sky.
"You're hair, it looks nice."
Surprised hazel eyes widened as she turned her head to face the wolf king. A light blush crept on her cheeks, "Y-you like it?" She questioned softly.
His eyes glimmered when he saw that blush appear on her creamy white skin along with hearing the pace of her heart beat quicken.
With a smirk he said, "Yeah, it suites you."
A warm smile graced her lips as she turned away from him, small hands bringing up a lock of her hair. Her fingers gently rubbing over the braids and small glowing beads placed within the folds.
"Thank you, I really like it too... I'm going to really miss Tomoe and the women of your tribe fussing over my hair every morning. I'm sure before I leave tomortow they'll want to put my hair into a new elaborate style." she said sadly.
He felt his chest tighten at her words.
Facing away from the human girl, not wanting her to see the sadness in his eyes, he asked quietly, "Are you excited to return to your village tomorrow?"
"Yes, I can't wait to see everyone." She said.
The tightness of his chest got surprisingly tighter...
"And, also no..." she said softly, causing Koga to quickly turn his head to face her once again.
"I'm going to miss everyone here." She began, finger tips gliding over the beads in her hair, "I made so many new friends and everyone was so kind to me... I really enjoyed my stay here these last few days."
"You can always come and visit whenever you want, Kagome. I know everyone is going to miss you once you leave."
"Everyone?"
"Yeah, everyone."
"Even you?" Kagome questioned softly.
He felt the tips of his ears turn red along with his cheeks. His now motionless tail that once laid upon the stoney ledge, lifted up, dark brown hair standing up in attention.
"O-of course I would." He stuttered, as a clumsy hand ran through his dark hair nervously, "which is why I want you to come visit when you can."
"Will you come visit me?" Warm curious hazel eyes glanced up at nervous azure ones.
"V-visit you? at the village?"
She nodded, "If you have time."
Oh, I definitely will make time.
"Yes, I will come and visit you, Kagome."
She beamed up at him, smile spreading from ear to ear as hazel eyes sparkled, causing Kogas blush to deepen.
"Promise?"
"...Yeah, I promise."
"You better not break your promise then." She simply said, as she looked up at the nights sky with a smile still gracing her lips.
Koga bashfully turned away from her, hoping that she didn't notice his redden face. "Don't worry I won't..."
They were quiet for a while just enjoying eachother company as they both stared up at the nights sky.
Koga could feel the late summers breeze brush against his face, while the aroma of lavender and vanilla danced around him.
I'm really going to miss this...
"Their really bright tonight... the stars."
The King eyes glanced from one twinkling star to the other. "Yeah, they are."
"Look Koga! It's the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper!" Kagome said ecstatically, her pointer finger pointing up to the sky, "Do you see it?"
Kogas eyebrows furrowed as his eyes tried to search for what the miko was pointing to. "Northern Dipper?"
"Oh! I'm sorry you probably don't know what it is." Kagome scooted closer to Koga, their shoulders touching, her face inches from his.
He could feel his heart pound widely within his chest and the heat once again return to cheeks.
Nervous eyes watched as she pointed once again up at the stars, "Look, there's seven stars right there that form a spoon. The three right there is the handle and the other four circle around for the body. Do you see it, Koga?"
"Oh... yeah..." he said, his eyes anxiously dashing from the cluster of stars to the girl sitting next to him. "It's a big spoon..."
"Mhhmmm. Back home, no matter how hard it was to see the stars in Tokyo, these would always twinkle through the darkness." She said, a small smile on her lips.
"To-k-yo? Is that the name of your village?" Koga asked curiously.
He's known Kagome for years, but never knew what village she came from. He only knew that the village she now resided in wasn't the one she was born in.
I wonder why she never went back to her village... Is it because of that mutt?
"Oh yeah... that's the name of my... village. It's really far away from here..."
Koga could easily pick up the sadness in her voice.
"Kag-"
"Koga, do you see any constellations in the sky?" She interrupted, her hazel eyes looking up into the ocean of stars.
"Oh, uh let me see.." He looked up at the sky, eyes immediately going to a well known cluster of stars that every wolf demon knew. Pointing a clawed finger into the sky he began, "There, look Kagome. Remember I told you about Takeshi, god of war and valor? There he his. Those four stars are his body, then the three stars is his arm holding his spear that consists of those four stars."
"I see it!" She said with excitment as her eyes sparkled as bright as the stars above them. "Is Hina up there with him?"
"Oh, well no, she isn't"
"What? Why?"
"The stars are created from Moon Mothers tears. Everytime one of her children left her and the moon, she cried because she missed them. Overtime some of the stars she created formed into constellations of her children; showing her children that she always thought of them, leaving a permanent mark in the sky. Hina, wasn't a child she created, she's from the Earth."
"What about Chiruka?" Kagome asked softly.
"Chiruka? How do you know about Chiruka?" Koga asked as his curious eyes glanced down at the human girl next to him. He knew he wasn't the one who told her about the goddess of death...
"Oh, Lady Yuriko told me about her... about how she was orginally betrothed to Takeshi..."
Ugh, that old hag would tell Kagome about that scorned goddess...
With a aggravated sigh he said, "She never returned to the Moon either so Moon Mothers tears did create a cluster of stars of her, but her stars don't appear till the beginning of the winter season. Takeshi and Chiruka are never together in the sky because they weren't meant to be together."
Koga glanced down at the girl next to him, noticing her chewing on her bottom lip. "What's wrong, Kagome?"
"I just... feel bad for her."
"Why?"
"She loved Takeshi and he left her for Hina... breaking her heart. I mean, don't you feel a little bad for her?"
Koga sighed heavily, "I guess, but Takeshi didn't love her the same way she did in return. In all honesty, I would have probably did the same thing if I was in his position..."
Kagome turned her head to face him, curiousity etched into her hazel eyes, "Takeshi hurt Chiruka and gave up everything on the Moon to be with Hina. You're saying you would do the same?"
Koga turned his head, azure eyes slightly widening when he noticed just how close his face was to the enchanting priestess. He watched as that beautiful blush highlighted her creamy white cheeks again, hazel eyes sparkling up at him with surprise, red glossy lips slightly parted before him. Her mouth watering scent surrounded him, driving his inner beast with want.
He leaned into her slightly, his lips just millimeters away from her own. He could hear the pounding of her heart beat wildly within her breasts. The light puff of air leaving her parted plump lips brushed his skin sending shivers down his spine.
With a whisper he said, "I'd give up absolutely everything to be with the person I loved."