Disclaimer: This story is based on "Inuyasha," copyrighted by Rumiko Takahashi. No infringement of copyright intended or implied.
Ayame's Choice
Ayame kept her arms folded, standing perfectly still, though what she really wanted to do was to pace back and forth, growling at the entire, stupid situation. Bad enough that Koga had taken off yet again, supposedly for hunting, though she doubted it. Plenty of younger wolves were prone to wanderlust, especially if it weren't obvious that they would be able to fight their way to a decent position within the pack. But, when they did return to the pack, after a period of wandering, they were supposed to stay put! Especially the pack leader, doubly-so when his mate was pregnant!
And now, this. Ayame watched, scowling, as Hakkaku devoured strips of meat and tossed back bowls of water. She waited impatiently for him to finish and to reach a state where maybe he might make sense. He'd been barely coherent, when he'd been tripped to fall at her feet, his smell clearly marking his exhaustion and dehydration. If she understood his babbling, he had left Ginta alone to the mercies of a human boy and a nekomata, and had subsequently outrun his four-footed companions. Just what kind of a fool was he?
His hunger and thirst apparently assuaged, the wooden bowl slipped from his fingers. Ayame gave his thigh a nudge with her foot. "Don't go to sleep yet, white-hair," she growled. "Explain why you're here, and Ginta is somewhere out there surrounded by not-wolves. And no story-telling!"
He looked up, blinking tired, sleepy eyes, his mohawk limp, with strands of hair clinging to his skull. "Inuyasha's pack—the taijiya Sango and the nekomaka Kirara. Umm... you know them?"
"We've met," she said, curtly.
He nodded. "We were patrolling; found a Bird of Paradise, dead, but with the blood of a youkai cat on its claws. We searched, and found Kirara, hurt badly. Sango's younger brother, Kohaku, was with her. Since, um, since Kirara is pack-friend, we went searching for those healing herbs you made us learn about. She got better, we left. Then, a couple of days ago, Kohaku, um, he asked whether he, uh, train with the wolf youkai to increase his ability to fight youkai. We, uh, well, we knew we couldn't make that decision, and Kohaku offered to help patrol with Kirara, so, well, we agreed, I'd come back and tell Koga, and he could make the decision."
Her eyes narrowed. "You think we should help a taijiya get better at killing youkai. Like wolf youkai."
Hakkaku cringed. "No! Kohaku said he wouldn't use his skills against the wolves, he just wants to get better fighting youkai that are threatening humans."
And wolves were not a threat? She did not express the thought aloud.
This was not good. The decimated tribe would be decades recovering. They didn't need a taijiya knowing more about how to take them out. However, there were whispers and rumors about humans who could kill from a distance, without sacred arrows, with something that stank horribly and smelled of fire and metal. If this taijiya knew such things...
"Very well," she said abruptly. She rattled off a handful of names, several younger pack-members, male and female both, and one of the elders whom her grandfather had trusted. "You're with me. I'm going to go talk to this boy. Kemur, you're in charge until either Koga or I get back."
She ignored the uproar. Yes, she was pregnant, but not that much, and no, she didn't care what Koga might think. Whether he was off hunting, or trying some way to assuage his hurt pride that he hadn't been involved in the final destruction of Naraku, she didn't at that moment care. Her future cubs were the ones that were going to need protection.
And she would decide how best to protect them.
Author's Note: This was written for the prompt "Wanderlust," for the Inuyasha FanFiction: A Drabble Community. It was originally posted on May 21, 2012. It won the contest. (8/22/2012)