Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, so don't even ask.

A/N: I have to apologize. Again. If my chapters were longer I might have had an adequate excuse as to the amount of time I take. But alas, I have neither. It is simply my laziness shining brighter than any inspiration I may have. I think to myself 'I really need to finish the next chapter. My readers are going to want to decapitate me.' But then I think 'Oh, I'll do it tomorrow. I have time.' Only I never do it. If I ever take so long again, I want you to send me angry reviews or pm's telling me to hurry my sorry ass up.

Note: This is completely AU. You should know this. So don't start flaming me with bullshit about the time-line, because I'm completely screwing it over in this chapter.

Winter Moon

Chapter Five

Aoshi

I nosed the ground again. It was frustrating how hard snow made it to sniff out old scents. We would need to look for tracks. Fortune was on our side in that there had been no snowfall at all since dawn. I lifted my muzzle and breathed in the scents of the forest. If Makimachi had rubbed against anything at all, there should be a trace of her left. Hopefully it would be enough to lead us to her.

I growled softly. The trees had started to thin out slightly, meaning that there would be more snow. It would make it easier to spot Makimachi's paw-prints, but it would also make it even more difficult to scent her out.

It also meant that we were nearing the western border. I gave the order to cross it immediately. If a patrol from the neighboring pack met with us, we would explain our urgency and ask if they had noticed Makimachi. I was not going to wait for a meeting between leaders. I was going to find Makimachi, bring her back, and go to sleep. I would punish her for her actions afterward.

Sano padded quietly beside me, his dark brown fur shining softly in the afternoon sun. After a few minutes he finally broke the silence. "Do you think it wise to cross the border?" he asked, a seriousness in his voice that was rarely heard. "I've heard tales from some of the lone wolves that cross through our territory. They say that the pack that lives there is vicious, murdering any that dare enter. The one pack that tried to extend into that piece of land was never heard from again!"

My eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you trying to say, Sanosuke?"

"What are the odds that Misao is going to be alive when we find her, Aoshi? It would be idiotic to cross that border! And even if she is alive, what if she doesn't want to come back? Or we could be wasting our time. She's probably just in one of her moods. She'll get over it and come back eventually…"

I whipped around and bit him sharply on the shoulder. "Are you so foolish to believe such stories, Sanosuke? That is all they are; stories! And Makimachi is stubborn as a badger. She's not going to come back until I go and apologize to her face, and you know it. You will not question my decision again."

We walked on in silence. By the time we had reached the border, my temper had receded a bit. The sharp scent of the markers made me want to sneeze, but instead I calmly stepped forward, placing a single paw on unknown territory. I hesitated only slightly before resuming my quick pace, padding sharply onto the land before me. I turned to look back at my pack. They had yet to set paw over the border. I barked loudly, gaining their attention. They still hesitated, but they eventually made it over the border. Did they all believe in the tales the lone wolves told? I would have to fix that. No such pack could possibly be that powerful.

Curiosity made me sniff the marker again. Why did it smell so familiar? I was almost positive that I had smelled that scent before, but I couldn't place it. I pushed it to the back of my mind. I did not need something else frustrating me today.

I never noticed the shared glance between Chou and Sojiro.

Misao

I can't honestly remember ever being so cold before. Or so furious. The term 'seeing red' had a whole new meaning to me; because there was red in my vision, and I wanted to kill it.

"HIMURA! THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE MOST IDIOTIC THING I HAVE EVER DONE! I'M FREEZING! I'M GOING TO GET SICK AND FREAKING DIE! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO COLD AND WET IN MY LIFE! I. LOOK. LIKE. A. RAT!"

I did. I looked like a waterlogged rat, and I could swear on my life that icicles were starting to form where the water was dripping off of my fur. Of course I never took the time to consider that it wasn't cold enough for that.

He laughed. Of all the things I had considered him doing, laughing wasn't one of them. It was too much for my temper to take. I was about to start screaming at him again when he stepped right up against me and licked me on the muzzle. I froze. I was so shocked that I am, to this day, surprised that I didn't keel over. He kept going, grooming and straightening my fur by licking the excess water off of it. It made me feel warmer.

It took me a moment to remember that this was only the level of intimacy of pack-mate to pack-mate. I began to groom his crimson fur, only to pause again. Did this mean that he considered me a part of his pack? Or was he just helping to dry me off? Either way, I felt something. I felt like I belonged more than I ever have in Shinamori's pack. I knew then, that I would never be able to leave. If Kenshin had accepted me into part of his almost non-existent pack, then this is where I would stay. If he was still only helping me temporarily… I didn't know what I would do. I was no loner. And now that I felt I truly belonged somewhere, with my new-found freedom and my Kenshin… I would never give up this feeling. I wouldn't trade it for the world. This would be my home.

Sojiro

I shared a worried glance with Chou. If I stepped onto this territory, my life was forfeit. He had made that clear long ago, when my pack leader had gone mad: When His pack Alpha had fallen, He had taken his place, and He had ruthlessly slaughtered Shishio-sama. Many of the Ten had fallen. There had been only three survivors. Myself, Chou, and Anji. I did not know where Anji was, but I suspected that he was wandering as a loner, as he was prone to do in his early days as a member of the Juppongatana.

Shishio-sama should have taken the warning from the Miburo seriously. The Ishin-Shishi were not to be trifled with. Coming from a Miburo, one of the strongest packs of the time, the warning was indeed serious. But Shishio had been convinced that the Miburo were trying to prevent him from getting stronger; his territory larger. That was his first mistake.

His last was killing Katsura Kogoro. By doing that, he had invoked the wrath of Battosai the Manslayer. The only wolf who dared to cross teeth with the feared bang-sticks of the two-legged race.

It was a short battle, and one that was clearly not in our favor. The smarter of us ran. Those too prideful to turn tail were slaughtered. The three that had run, myself included, hadn't even made it past the scent-marks before a victory howl had reached our ears.

Don't get me wrong, our pack was indeed powerful. The Ishin-Shishi were not without losses. But we were outnumbered and had no Manslayer of our own to aid us.

After a few moons of wandering, Chou, Anji and I had gone our separate ways. I kept my ears clear for news of other survivors, but when I finally heard of the Ishin-Shishi, it was not news I wanted to hear.

There had been few of the Ishin-Shishi left alive, but none of the Juppongatana had made it. The only consolation was news I came across moons later. The Battosai had been abandoned by his pack, which feared that He had gone mad as Shishio-sama. They were afraid of the bloodlust they had seen that night. They were afraid that He would kill them in cold blood. So they left. They abandoned their territory to the Battosai, and never returned.

I found Aoshi-sama's pack not long after that. Chou had been living with them for quite some time before I had arrived, and managed to convince Aoshi-sama to allow me as a pack-mate. Our wanderings had probably distorted the actual amount of distance we had traveled to something larger than it actually was, for I never considered us to be so close to the Battosai's territory. To this day I will never know how I missed it.

I realized that Aoshi-sama was barking at us. He was telling us to hurry. Megumi, Kaoru, and Sano crossed the border with only slight hesitation, but they did not know what Chou and I did. We shared another glance. Slowly, carefully, we set paw on the familiar, terrifying land. I did not want to die, but neither would I betray my leader. If Battosai found us, so be it. I would not cower away, only to learn of the deaths of my comrades. I would not abandon them to the same fates as my former pack-mates.

I would fight to the death for my home, my pack.

A/N: Okay. Sorry that wasn't nearly as long as I planned. Sorry I took so long getting this chapter out. And sorry, sorry, sorry, that I am a freaking lazy procrastinator. It makes me feel really selfish to ask for reviews, but I will still ask. Please review? Please?

Anyway, there was a little about the past of Kenshin, but what about Tomoe? And Enishi? Where exactly are Kenshin and Misao headed? Find out… later. (I can't promise all the answers in the next chapter. Then there would be less of a plot.)