The Call
~ Kitty
Chapter 7: Not past, but through
…
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn."
― John Muir, The Mountains of California
Sunlight filtered hazy and diffused into the small, still space. Bodies shifted, lungs heaved. It was hot and stuffy in that little fabric shelter. And just outside, the trees creaked and murmured to each other against a constant breeze while birdsong filled the air. Enclosed in the small tent, one could imagine a caterpillar as it peers through its translucent, hazy cocoon and wonders what was happening in the outside world while it slept, snuggled and cozy in its own little private safe place. Eventually, groaning, a shape rose from the mussed bed of fluffy down sleeping bags. The figure heaved a great long breath, smelling the pitchy scent of the evergreens surrounding them, sharp and sappy, and then he shifted, listening to her breathing in the quiet early morning.
Kagome had kicked off her covering at some time in the night, her tent acting like a mini greenhouse as the sun grew stronger in the sky. Her hair was splayed out around her head, framing her face which was lax from sleep. Soft and intimate, something prodded gently inside his heart as he took in the details of her prone, sleeping form. Her chest rose and fell in time with her deep, even breathing and he found himself inhaling and sighing along with her. A flash of skin at her midriff peeked out at him where her shirt had bunched up and he couldn't help but crack a soft smile at the endearing, vulnerable image, even as a hand reach out to tug the shirt back into place. She shifted, turning her head to face him and sighing, leaving her lips ajar and drawing his attention. It was a bit too much for the lonely mountain hermit first thing in the morning, and he decided to make his exit.
Kagome cracked open bleary, sleepy eyes as Inuyasha shook the sides of the tent on his departure.
"Inuyasha?" She called softly into the empty tent. The gentle noises of the forest, soft chirping and the distant pounding of the waterfall, answered her. She heard a crunching around the tent and glanced around to catch his shadow as he moved around, before suddenly crouching down. Curiously, Kagome unzipped her side of the tent to poke her head out.
"Inuyasha?" She whispered, unconsciously aware, somehow, that she should keep her voice hushed. His back was to her but he turned, a sparkle in his eye as he raised a finger to his lips before shifting to give her an unbroken view, pointing. He shuffled backward toward her, surprisingly silent on the pine needle carpet of the forest floor.
"On the rock," he told her quietly, "By that tree."
Kagome squinted, unable to pick out what they were looking at until her eyes spotted movement. No more than a ripple in the moss, a flash of rusty red raced through a patch of sunlight. Easily the most graceful, fluid creature she'd ever seen, the tiny, bright eyed weasel popped back into view a few seconds later, peering out at them from behind an old spruce stump. Russet with a splash of brilliant white down its neck and belly, its fur gleamed with the shine of a healthy, voracious predator. It tilted its small, pointed head as it examined them. The dark, beady eyes had a depth and intelligence in them and Kagome felt profoundly like she was meeting eyes with an alien mind. The whiskers on its little muzzle twitched. And then it blinked, and faster than Kagome could have thought possible, the weasel vanished into the patchy shadows and low growing ferns. She discovered that she'd been holding her breath and heaved a sigh before turning bright, excited eyes to Inuyasha.
"Wow," she breathed. His expression was very different from hers, a quieter, more pensive appreciation of witnessing the elusive forest creature rather than her open, wide eyed wonder. But his eyes smiled when they turned to her, even if the rest of his face barely changed in expression.
"It was so cute!" She said, puckering her eyebrows, "and it looked so soft!"
Her fingers wiggled as she imagined the softness of ermine fur. Inuyasha's smile spread further across his face as he watched her thrill over their latest wildlife encounter.
"Heh, it'd bite off all your fingers before you get close enough to touch it," he said.
Kagome looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "That little thing?" She asked, incredulous.
"Weasels are vicious little fuckers," he shrugged.
"Aww," she exclaimed, "with an adorable face like that?"
Snort. "That's the face of a killer."
She didn't look convinced and narrowed her eyes playfully to convey her doubts, before breaking the silence with a giggle. There was always such a brightness in her face and when she laughed, a tickle of warmth started in his gut and reached gentle tendrils up to his heart. When her giggles petered out, they continued to smile dumbly at each other for a quiet, spellbound moment. Then he shifted, coughed, and cracked a shy smile.
"Mornin'," he said quietly.
"Morning," she responded, "Sleep ok? I didn't kick did I?"
The smile he was sporting turned lopsided as a smirk crossed his features. "Nah," he said, "But you did snore."
"I do not!"
"Heh," he huffed, eyes cocked in mock accusation. Then he fixed her in place with a sly grin, rooting her to her spot, suddenly breathless. "Yah did last night."
That look he gave her could slay a female heart, and before she could recover her breath to formulate a retort, he'd turned back around and moved to the center of camp to get coffee and breakfast started.
Kagome ducked back into the tent, a hand pressed to her chest to quell her pulse. 'Maybe that's why he's a hermit,' she thought to herself, 'Girls must drop like flies when he looks at them like that…'
She sighed and shook her head and proceeded to dress for the day. Their packrafts were being flown in that day and considering the heat of the morning, Kagome chose on a minimal outfit, deciding to risk her skin in the ever present sun. With the expectation of a day in the river, she eagerly pulled on a pair of shorts, then stepped out to enjoy the feel of the sun's radiance on her bare legs.
It's a glorious thing, to step out into a conifer forest in the early morning light. Tinged with a golden hue, the light filtered down to the floor in patches, creating a wonderland of contrast between the brightly illuminated and the dark mysterious. Dust floated and glittered in the sun rays like fairy dust. It was magical. The greens of the trees were deep and rich, while the moss on the ground was bright and vibrant. Pushing up from carpet of needles, little colorful flowers dotted the forest floor, eagerly drinking up the golden light. The ground was soft and sank when she stepped out onto it. It was a young forest, with trees that Kagome could wrap her arms around and still touch the other side. But here and there an ancient spirit loomed overhead, imperious and powerful, somehow demanding silent reverence from her as she gazed up at the majestic monuments.
There was a soft thump and a snap behind her, and she turned to find Inuyasha, steaming mug in his hands, held out in obvious offering. It was his mug and she smiled to accept the hot coffee, gratefully taking a sip and letting the dark bitterness wash over her tongue.
"Thanks," she said quietly. He nodded in response, preserving the peaceful morning atmosphere and together they absorbed the harmony in the forest around them.
It was not to last long, however, as the signs of life began to emerge from the second tent and eventually, Miroku tumbled out, shouting a bright and chirpy 'halloooooo!' Kagome giggled when Inuyasha beside her groaned, his shoulders slumping, before turning and glaring at the raucous young man.
"Oooh, coffee!" Miroku exclaimed eagerly, holding out his hands for the mug in Kagome's hands. Inuyasha quickly reclaimed his cup, glaring at Miroku.
"Make yer own," he grumbled. Miroku pouted.
"But sharing is caring!"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes, groaning before retorting, "Fuck off…"
He stomped off, checking on the rehydrating pouches of breakfast. Miroku turned to Kagome, giving her a sad puppy dog look that made her laugh outright.
"Why did you get to have his coffee?" He whined with a pout. Kagome only shrugged, turning her attention to another dark head tumbling out of the second tent. Sango had apparently decided to fully embrace the mountain hermit code for communication and voicelessly reached for the currently steaming cup of coffee in Inuyasha's hand. When rebuked, she shrugged, grunted, and proceeded to dig into her bear bin for her own packet of instant wakefulness powder.
"Morning Sango," Kagome said brightly.
Grunt.
"Sango! Not you too!"
Grunt.
"Stop it, Inuyasha," Kagome complained, "Let's at least evolve to the point of language."
For the second time that morning, his smirk left her breathless and incapable of retorting. Then he grunted again. For lack of a better response, she stuck her tongue out at him and felt a thrill when he chuckled in response.
Coffee and breakfast was an efficient, although conversationless affair and Sango needed at least two cups after the day before in order to warm up the gears in her brain.
"Ok," she said, "Where's this lake we're meeting the bushplane at?"
The four of them peered down at the laminated map, a bright red dot indicating their current estimated location. Inuyasha pointed a confident hand along the route he wanted to take.
"Wouldn't it be easier here?" Miroku protested, gesturing down closer to the edge of the lake, "It's way flatter."
"And wetter," Inuyasha argued, "You want to slog through more bog?"
"Nope!" Kagome piped up, clearly willing to do everything necessary to avoid the swamp. Her socks from the previous day were still damp and she was unwilling to risk her back up pair for the sake of dry feet. Sango agreed as well.
"Let's go Inuyasha's way, Miroku," she said to her fiancé. Miroku huffed a sigh before relenting.
"Fine…, but we don't really need to get moving until later in the morning right?"
Grunt.
"Is that a yes?"
Grunt.
"I hate you…"
"Why don't we head there early," Sango suggested, "It looks like there's a beach down there, we can go for a dip while we wait."
Miroku groaned, unwilling to tear down camp and toil through the bushes and terrain. Kagome was more than eager, excited by the prospect of a bath in the lake. The sun was a bright, cheery orb in the sky and it brightened her spirits as though the day before had been nothing but a dark, stormy dream.
With the arctic summer sun came arctic summer heat, and arctic summer mosquitos. The recent rain lead to a bloom of the buzzing, blood sucking insects and Kagome felt that every time she paused to swipe her hand over her sweating brow, her arm came back littered with the corpses of the little insects that had drowned in her sweat. She was a veritable walking fly paper trap for the little buggers and she was both disgusted and ever so slightly pleased that she could so effortlessly kill so many of them. She made it a point to generously spray herself with insect repellent and bit her lips whenever her sweat brought the stinging fluid to her eyes.
It was the thought of the cool, pristine lake they slowly descended down to that kept her going. Slowly, very slowly, the sparkling blue waters of that beautiful puddle in the middle of the mountains came into view. It was a well established lake and was a popular fishing spot and soon, joy of joys, they stumbled upon a packed, well defined trail that led them down to a soft, gravel beach.
The lake was a rippling, sparkling reflection of the cheerful blue sky rimmed with dark green foliage. By the time their feet first crunched on the gravel beach, the sun had risen high in the sky and the breeze was warm as it danced along their skin. Kagome wasted no time, immediately dropping her pack and making for the cool, blue water, discarding her boots and socks in a little trail behind her. Sango was a half step behind and the girls giggled and teased each other, sending water droplets flying. It was a vision and Inuyasha swallowed hard from a suddenly dry mouth.
"I love the beach," Miroku said beside Inuyasha, "The sand, the water, the girls…"
"Argh, get off!"
Shoving his friend off his shoulder, Inuyasha dropped his pack to the ground with a heavy crunch, trying to turn his attention to checking his gear and adjusting straps. It was an irresistible force of gravity that kept pulling his eyes toward the sparkling water and the figures dancing amongst the glitter. She was radiant, a smile spread from ear to ear and despite her short stature, he legs seemed miles long as they romped and waded in the lake. He swallowed hard again.
Hurry up and wait apparently applied to the backcountry as well and the hours crawled by as the group waited for their resupply plane.
"What do we do if they don't show up?" He glanced over at the sound of her voice. She'd tired of the water quickly, and was now situated on the beach, her raven hair loose and drying in the breeze. It fell over her shoulders as she leaned over her journal, betraying coy glimpses of her neck in between the locks. Paintbrush in hand, she adopted a serene, mysterious expression as she applied color to paper. He craned his neck curiously, wondering what she was painting in that little black notebook in her lap. In response to her question, he grunted.
"Ah, of course," she said sarcastically, making a face, "Why didn't I think of that?"
"If they don't show, I guess we wait for tomorrow," Sango said behind her. She was sprawled out in her swimsuit, absorbing as much of the summer warmth as she could in the wake of the cold stormy day before. A short distance away, Miroku was engaged in his favorite activity, ogling his fiancé. Kagome glanced at him before cracking a sly smile and turning back to her lap, exchanging her brush for a pen.
"I'm near the end of my food," Kagome said, "If the plane doesn't show tomorrow, I'm officially screwed."
Grunt.
Turning to face him, Kagome arched a cynical eyebrow.
"What," she said, playful mischief sparkling in her eyes, "Are you going to hunt for us if we run out of food?"
Grunt.
"Neanderthal."
And they fell into an easy companionable silence for a time, and there was something perfect and touching about that slow, sunny morning. They were surrounded by mountains, over one of which they'd crossed just the day before and the slopes were a lush and rich deep green. The water lapped lazily against the gravel beach, icy cold water warmed by the every present summer sun. The breeze was gentle and mischievous and played with their clothes and tugged at their hair. Songbirds sang, the occasional fish flipped and flopped as their dark, slender shapes patrolled the water's surface for insects, and the group of two-leggeds folded into that world of harmony easily, innately. Clean air and sunshine, the only two requirements of happiness, was theirs in abundance. At some point in the day, Sango and Miroku vanished together and then it was just the two of them on the peaceful little beach.
"What're you doodling in that thing?"
Kagome looked up abruptly, the look on her face almost akin to guilt. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Nothing…," she said unconvincingly, "Just the mountains and stuff."
He suddenly felt coltish, playful, and it brought him to his feet to peer over her shoulder.
As he approached, she was a flurry of activity, frantically flipping pages until the journal fell open to a colorful, picturesque, and totally innocent scene of a mountain valley.
"Huh, you're actually not bad," he remarked, earnestly impressed by the quick sketch and the detail she'd been able to include. The centerpiece of the composition was the fiery, bold mountain peak in stunning golden highlights from just a couple days before.
"Gee, thanks."
He leaned over her shoulder to flip the page over, his thick, heavy braid landing with a plop against her back. Inuyasha huffed a chuckle, catching sight of her spot on depiction of Miroku's stupid, ogling expression from earlier that morning and his eyes glazed thoughtfully at her rough sketch of the weasel they'd spied even earlier that day. Her drawings were as lively as she was, with a warmth and a love of life that was somehow conveyed in a way beyond words and he found himself leaning in more as he flipped yet another page.
Suddenly he was met with a stone faced, stern expression that he recognized immediately and it was like a jolt down his back to see his own visage staring up from the page. At first glance, his expression was cold and his eyebrows drew together while something in his stomach sank to think that this was how she saw him. But as he frowned down at his own face longer, more details seemed to emerge. She'd captured his eyes with a shocking realism and if he stared hard enough, he swore he detected a plea in the lines and shading of his eyes. Kagome coughed beside him, feeling her cheeks glow hot as she nervously waited for commentary on her sketch of him.
"Nice." Was all he said. He straightened back up and she tried to sigh discreetly in relief. She was a bit worried, nervous over how his expression closed off as he studied the sketch, but before she could ask, he changed the subject.
"That should go at the bottom of the dry bag when we get into the packrafts," he said, "We're guaranteed to flip in the next couple days."
"If we get those rafts at all…," Kagome cut in. Inuyasha scoffed at her concern, his face relaxing again.
"They'll come," he said confidently, "They may be late, but they'll come."
And with perfect timing, as no more than a soft, distant hum, the first sign of humanity in six days appeared over the horizon. Inuyasha detected it first, standing and whipping his head in the direction of Bettles, eyes sharp and searching. Kagome also stood, taking her cue from Inuyasha and scanning the skies in the direction of his gaze. The faint, subtle hum grew into a low, distinct grumble and then a growl and then a fuzzy dot in the distance sharpened into wings and then she was staring at a small rotary plane with a proud red stripe painted along its fuselage. The bubble of relief popped inside of her and she was laughing and giggling as she stood to wave.
"Stop waving!" He chastised her, "That's an emergency signal. You can wave with one arm, not two."
"Oh… Whoops."
The bush plane flew in low, circling over their heads as it scoped out its landing. Sango and Miroku came crashing through the foliage behind them and the grumble of the plane reverberated through her chest as it swooped over them. Then it banked heavily, curving back around, and like a swan, gracefully descended to a long, gliding stop on the lake.
…
"Alright, that's the lot of it!" Fred said as a way of farewell before swinging himself back into the large metal bird. Four heads turned to watch as the little growling plane put-put-puttered to one end of the lake, and then with a grunt and a grumble, it began careening down the length of the water, the lift from its wings gradually pulling it up into the air. For the second time, Kagome watched the little hardworking piece of machinery disappear into the sky and she was struck with the same feeling of dissonance, knowing that that little plane was their last chance to bail from this venture, and now it was time to face the unnegotiable might of nature. She pursed her lips, gripping the journal she held tight to her chest, then took a long deep breath before turning to her companions.
Miroku was complaining loudly as Inuyasha lashed one of the deflated packrafts to Sango's pack.
"Deal with it," Inuyasha countered, "You're the one who brought too much shit!"
The ponytailed young man grumbled, acquiescing and reluctantly hefted the overstuffed drysack, testing its weight and wondering how on earth he was going to strap it onto his pack. Kagome also had a resupply, and happily sifted through her renewed stash of food and snacks, cheerfully cracking open a beer.
"Ahh, the taste of civilization!"
Snort.
"You know you want one," she joked, holding out a can toward him. The sun was high and hot and he rolled his eyes as he stepped up to accept the offering.
"How many of those did you bring?" He asked, eyeing her bulging sack with mild apprehension.
"Just enough for everyone to have three each day."
He blinked at her while his brain scrambled to performe the computations.
"Seventy two fucking beers?!"
She looked up at him with an openly confused expression.
"Well," she said, shrugging, "We're gonna have plenty of capacity in the rafts, right?"
"And you're just gonna carry it all on your back at the portages?"
She had the nerve to grin sheepishly.
"Well, Sango and I thought you guys could just make two trips?"
"Fucking hell!" Inuyasha groaned.
"Well…," she pressed, deflating just a little, "The portages aren't that long, right?"
And then a little gem. An expression he never graced her with before. A comical mixture of exasperation and humor left a strange, lopsided, half smile half grimace on his face and she beamed up at him with an audacious wink. Sighing, he raked an annoyed hand through his bangs before shaking his head and grabbing her sack.
"You're carrying the raft," he said, nudging the roll of laminated nylon with his foot. Then, he turned to the rest, "Pack up folks, let's get to the river."
"We're not inflating them now?" Kagome asked, frowning.
"Outflow's too narrow," he answered, "We're huffing it to the river."
Kagome now sported the same look of regret Miroku wore just moments ago, watching him stalk off with her heavy sack and she hurriedly moved to shove the bundled up packraft into the straps of her pack and shuffled to catch up. They backtracked up their original approach to the lake until they were well above the marshy tussocks and bobbing cottongrass. The refreshing dip in the lake was now just a memory and a sheen of sweat once again rolled off her cheeks and dripped from her chin. Some carried their life jackets, but Kagome made the mistake of wearing hers and the extra layer was unbearable in the heat and toil. It was late into the afternoon when the troupe finally managed to reach the river and by then, everyone eagerly dipped into Kagome's beer stash for a thirst quencher. They decided to have an early dinner before tackling the river and it was when the sun was beginning to sag low in the sky and behind a few scattered clouds when they finally began the struggle of inflating the packrafts.
"How the hell is this thing supposed to work?"
Kagome fumbled with the bizarre device, it's flapping, neon colored fabric tangling upon itself. Sango and Miroku were experiencing similar levels of frustration as they held up the manual inflating contraption.
Inuyasha examined the threaded spout at one end, matching it to the packraft nozzle.
"I guess this thing goes here…," he mumbled, screwing the parts together while Kagome struggled to keep the fabric straight. It gradually became clear how the pumping was going to happen and Sango glanced dubiously over at their progress.
"This is gonna take forever…," she said, a concerned frown painted across her face.
"Then we're wasting time," Inuyasha answered her, taking the fabric ends from Kagome and holding the balloon like design open. Twisting the open end into his fist, he squeezed the captured air into the raft and reopened the balloon. It did look like a futile exercise and Kagome hovered over his shoulder nervously, more convinced than ever that they were doomed to be stranded there forever. Miroku tried to be creative with the fillbag, attempting to utilize the breeze to push more air into the raft with each pump.
It took a significant amount of struggling and finagling before visible progress was made. The rafts were simple structures, made of sturdy thick nylon and laminated with polyurethane and really were just kayak shaped inner tubes with a bottom to hold passengers. It was a real jigsaw problem trying to tie down their packs and Inuyasha grumbled over their set up, wishing he'd simply brought his own kayak rather than deal with the rental.
The feeder river they were on was shallow, with the rafts bottoming out if they bore any more weight than just their supplies. The water tumbled and tripped over smooth gravel beds and the boats simply shimmied over top of the stones rather than any form of buoyant floating. Strange, hollow noises erupted from the giant, resonant hulls and the water made gentle slap-slap sounds as it pushed and prodded them while river rocks scraped and clawed at the bottoms. And so, an odd procession was witnessed traveling down river, two colorful sets of rafts being pushed and pulled downstream attached to a towline, like dogs on a leash. And it was rough going, pebbles and stones shifting and slipping beneath their feet. Kagome winced as a particularly jagged rock struck the bony part of her ankle. That was going to bruise. With the sun so low and the river so cold, she was very quickly drenched to nearly the same degree as the day before and began shivering as she struggled to help Inuyasha heave and tug at the boat. After another tumble into the shallow, frigid river, firm, rough hands grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Just get to shore!" Inuyasha ordered, taking the tow line from her.
"It's ok," she insisted, "I'm fine, I can help."
"You're turning blue," he said firmly, brushing her away, "Get to shore."
He had to admit, he felt a bit of regret sending her away, the pout in her face clearly conveying how disheartened she was by his dismissal. But then, he'd never seen seen someone bounce back quite to brightly as she could. Trudging along the river tugging the unwieldy, bumbling raft behind him, he spied her drenched, raggedy figure hopping up the bank a little further on. She was bouncing from one foot to the next, and at first, he assumed she was trying to keep warm. Then she brought her hands to her mouth and began shouting at them.
"You got this guys!"
Sango and Miroku looked up startled. Sango immediately broke out into a grin, re-energized and gave the stubborn boat another tug. Inuyasha continued to frown at her in confusion. She laughed at him and continued shouting.
"Let's go Inu, let's go!"
Inuyasha groaned and tipped his head back, even as Sango and Miroku both picked up on her cheering and whooped and shouted in response before turning back to their raft. Inuyasha brought his head back upright and sent her the most exasperated expression he could manage, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. She stuck out her tongue at him and continued shouting, jumping up and down and waving her arms. It served a dual purpose, keeping the mood light and upbeat, while also keeping her warm. And thus, an otherwise dreary trudge downriver turned into a dilapidated parade until they all finally decided they were exhausted enough for one day.
…
Camp that night was full of fire and smoke. The river had taken a lot out of everyone and none more so than Kagome. Eventually, the feeling of uselessness weaseled its way into her mind and, ignoring Inuyasha's protests, she waded back into the river to do her part, tugging and slipping with the rest of them and now she huddled by the fire, shivering violently in her sodden clothes. The cold had a funny way of trickling into your skin. If she stayed still, her nerves could be fooled into thinking that she was warming up, but just a little shift of an arm, or a little drop of water from her hair would remind her of the heat she was losing in her wet clothes and the tremors would start renewed. Finally Inuyasha stood over her, his flannel lined jacket in hand, hauling her up by the arm.
"You gotta change," he ordered, "I'll take Miroku over there. Now strip and dry off!"
It was a humorous exchange and Sango giggled to herself as she followed Inuyasha's advice before helping her friend. Miroku was complaining loudly about being dragged away from the fire but couldn't escape Inuyasha firm grip and resigned himself to the ordeal of setting up camp away from their burning heat source while the girls changed.
"Never thought I'd hear Inuyasha tell a girl to strip," his ears overhead Sango say. A blush began to burn hot under his cheeks.
"Guess I just have that effect on people," he heard Kagome respond.
"On this person especially…"
Miroku was staring at him with a broad, toothy grin and Inuyasha couldn't bear it anymore, punching Miroku hard in the shoulder to remove his smirk.
"What gives, man?" Miroku complained, punching him back.
"Shut up!"
Miroku waggled his eyebrows mockingly. "I didn't say anything."
And then because he had no real sense of self preservation, his grin returned. "Wish I got you telling Kagome to strip on video!"
"Shut. Up."
Returning to the fire treated him to a view he wasn't entirely prepared for. With their drenched clothes hung out over the rocks near the fire, Sango and Kagome stood together chatting, warming themselves and waiting for their stove to boil water. Kagome had very little to actually change into without digging into the very bottom of their shared dry sack and so she stood bare legged by the fire, his oversized jacket devouring her small frame and her hair tumbled over the collar, leaving little dark stains where the water began to seep into the fabric. The fire cast its orange, yellow hues over her skin and highlighted her hair. It popped and crackled and the glowing thrown embers danced beside her, giving her an almost mystical aura. She seemed quite content to stand there, pushing up the collar into her cheeks so that they bunched up under her eyes. And when she smiled to welcome them back to the fire, hot tea steaming in her hands, it was a bizarre, bittersweet kind of twinge that ran through his heart, to feel this soothingly peaceful, yet knowing how delicate and temporary it was.
A/N: google: noatak sketchbook robin peterson artist in residence. we flipped through it at the Gates of the Arctic visitor center at Bettles. It's absolutely beautiful and I imagine Kagome to have a similar looking sketchbook by the end of their trip :)