Still don't own it.
This chapter seemed to take forever to write. Oh well.
Chapter 4: A New Home
We did not have much trouble adapting to our new home. To our surprise, it was much like our previous home. We were fearful at first. Not knowing where we were. Not knowing what was out there. We found a temporary shelter in a cave just off the beach. It was small, and we knew it could only serve as a short term den. We should have gathered our strength and started exploring our new environment at once, but we could not. We were still grieving. We were also frustrated. Not only were we denied the privilege of having Kikyu's body join with the earth, we could not have our passing ceremony. To honor the dead, we honor them by singing. The songs we sing are howled into the sky, a farewell gift. We did not need anybody to tell us this. It was instinct, as burned into our minds as how to kill prey would be. We were afraid. If we howled, what would come? We needed to gain our strength and recover from the void Kikyu's loss had opened in our hearts. But Naku could not fully recover. He and his brother were so close. It was impossible for him to fully be the same, happy wolf he had been before. He might have even wanted to join Kikyu, and leave this world. But we were wolfs. We were survivors. Because of safety reasons, when ever one of us left our den, all of us left. We had already lost one of our own, we were not about to loose another.
We found drinking water at a stream near our temporary den. We ate fish, and when ever we did we thought of Kikyu and the crocodile. When ever something shifted under the water, I had to fight the urge to scramble out of the water with my tails between my legs. Saria loved to walk up and down the beach. I knew she needed to do something, so I let her. But I was never more than ten feet from her, as was Naku. After around two weeks, we decided that we would leave and find a new home. We went on one last beach walk. As we walked, I noticed that Saria had stopped. She stood, fascinated by something in the sand. It was a pair of beautiful shells. I could see she wanted to have them, and she picked them up with her teeth. But after a minute she got distracted and dropped them. After five minutes of frantic searching, she was not able to find them. Disappointed, she returned to the cave for our last night in it. She did not notice that I had picked them up after she had dropped them. I used my tongue to push them to a corner of my enormous jaws. After being satisfied that hey would not come loose, I joined my brother and sister in sleep. I would give them to Saria when she most needed them.
At daylight we moved out. We traveled, taking in the new scenery. It was not very different then home. We spotted some familiar types of animals and some new ones. As dusk came we did not sleep. We had to keep moving. But we did need to eat. Naku and I quickly brought down a deer. Saria decided to hunt one of the new little creatures that jumped about. They were small, furry, and had ears that stood up straight. I now know that hey were rabbits, but at the time we called them hoppers. We had fun as Saria chased after one, scrambling about to get ahead of it. Eventually she caught it. We sat down and ate our meat. It felt so good to eat more than just fish. I felt the still warm blood of the deer trickle down my throat, and the taste of its tender muscles. After we were finished Saria and Naku played tug of war over a bone. I knew Saria did not actually like tug of war. But Naku and Kikyu had both played every night, and I knew she wanted to cheer him up. A part of me was sad that I had to be the leader of our group. I was essentially their mother now, as I cared for them and protected them. As I looked upon them, I could tell they were weary. Changing our plans, we found a clearing and my siblings lay down in it. I waited until they were asleep, and then I settled down next to them. I was not tired; I had a far greater endurance than they did. After an hour of guarding their sleeping bodies, I spotted a golden light glowing. Breaking my cardinal rule, I left Naku and Saria to follow the light. What I saw was a pool. It was large, and had a little island in the middle of it. I tentatively put one paw in the water and immediately I could tell that it was sacred. It was then that I looked up. I saw the Shishigami. It was in the process of turning into the nightwalker. It turned its head towards me and I saw that perpetual smile on his face. Then, briefly illuminated in his glow, I spotted a little outcropping of rock, hundreds of feet above me. It looked beautiful. The Forest Spirit had now given me another gift. A home.
I returned to my family and proceeded to watch over them. At daylight we moved out. Cautiously, we moved through huge boar tracks. We did our best to avoid the creators of those tracks. Indeed, for a long time we never saw any of them. After a day and night more of traveling we reached the den I had spotted. It was a beautiful cave, with an outcropping that reached high above the forest. I immediately knew this would be our new den. As my dear sister and brother curled up together inside the cave, I remained on watch. Lately, I had been having no sleep. I had stayed awake to protect my family, but exhaustion took hold of me. It was of no surprise to me that my eyelids started to droop, and my head started to lower. As I was barley asleep, I looked far out to the sea and saw something. But I was tired. It was probably nothing. Later I would curse myself for not taking a closer look. It was a black wolf, paddling his way to shore.
A black wolf...Also, Moro's new "den" is supposed to be the one on the movie. Please Review!