Escape- a Koga-Kagome Story

Chapter 3: Meeting the Girls of the Pack

Kagome awoke in a bundle of furs and warmth. She was confused for only a moment before the memories- and the guilt- came back to her and she looked down in shame. Kagome felt a wet and warm sensation on her cheek and she turned to find the source. Big, confused brown eyes looked back at her, and a furry face met her own, a wet nose poking at hers. She jumped back with a yelp, seeing that the visitor was nothing more than a brown and black dog. Wait…dogs don't have a much fur or rugged features…this was a wolf. Kagome suddenly became wary, moving very slowly. The wolf seemed to laugh at her wariness and trotted to her, plopping on his belly and laying his head on her knees.

I guess he's a softie, or a pup then. She thought in relief as she cautiously stroked it's ears. The wolf seemed to purr as she felt it's growling vibrate through her skin and massage her leg muscles. She found herself smiling softly and petting the wolf a bit harder. "I see you've met my personal pet: Mitsuri. She's just a pup." Kouga's sudden voice made her jump. She? I guess that's why the wolf was so friendly, at least I got the pup thing right. Kagome thought. "I see…she's very sweet." Kagome answered, remembering that she was with Kouga and most likely at his den. "I was wondering when you'd wake up nemuri-hime-san*. You must've been pretty tired to sleep a whole day and a half!" Kouga jeered. Kagome blushed at being called a 'Sleeping Beauty' before catching the rest of what was said.

"A day and a half? I guess so…" she replied, slightly shocked. Kouga waved it off before pulling Kagome to her feet. "Come on, Utsukushii. I want you to actually meet my clan." Kouga said, smirking when she blushed again at being called beautiful. He liked it when she was flattered and embarrassed, it brought out a more innocent and cute side to her- not that she wasn't always innocent and cute in his eyes. Mitsuri followed in pace with Kouga at his free side, howling to attract the attention of the clan. Kagome sweat dropped. There were quite a lot of people than she remembered there were. "Yūgata everyone. You all remember Kagome-chan. She is the remarkable ningen who helped to defeat the Birds of Paradise! As of yesterday, she has decided to take her quest into all of our hands! I want you all to be acquainted with her, I want Kagome to be able to pick each of you out, in time. Tonight, we celebrate her arrival!" he announced, and the wolves cheered with him.

Kouga leaned over and whispered in her ear: "Start with the women first, they're easier to recognize and aren't as…rowdy as the men." He advised, chuckling when her face flamed yet again once she caught the double meaning. He left to join the men in the hunt- they would obviously need food for the 'celebration' later. Mitsuri tugged at Kagome's skirt before trotting off towards a hidden tunnel Kagome never noticed before. Suddenly she was blinded by sunlight, and strained her eyes to see a beautiful spring and meadow, a string of small waterfalls in the back ground and a few dozen women and children frolicking in the meadow and large flowers. Kagome was awestruck, gaping at the unexpected beauty she had come across. "OH WOW! This…is the most…I can't describe it!" Kagome breathed, dropping to her knees and laying in the soft grass.

A little girl tumbled from the tall flowers and grass to peer straight into Kagome's eyes. They gazed at each other, a stunning lilac meeting russet brown with green specks. "Hello there." Kagome smiled, turning over to face the girl the right way up. Said girl sat up and bowed slightly. "Hello! You must be the woman Kouga-sama talks about. I see he hasn't lied about your beauty!" she replied back politely, giggling. "I guess so. Who are you?" Kagome asked. Natsuko, after Kouga-sama's mother. We were both born in the summer!" She answered. Kagome took a moment to look over the child. She had stunning lilac eyes with golden swirls, and shining, tousled red hair that was pulled into a messy bun, a few blades of grass sticking out from playing in the fields. Her small tail was the same color as her hair, swaying in the grass. She was truly a beautiful child like her name described. "My name is Kagome, though I'm sure you know that already." Kagome said, plucking a few sticks from her own hair.

"Come on, Kagome-hime! Let's go meet the others!" Natsuko said, standing up and pulling Kagome with her. Natsuko's a strong girl, too. Kagome thought as she was dragged through the grass by the small child that couldn't be a year past 5 or 6 in human years. Kagome was brought to a picnic, where more children and women were, some eating, some resting, and some chatting. "Okaa-san! Kagome-hime is here!" Natsuko called. Everyone looked up and smiled sweetly at Kagome, who waved. "Um…hello everyone." Kagome shyly greeted. "Hello Kagome-hime! Why don't you sit and talk with us?" A woman who looked like an older Natsuko- except for her hair, which was an ebony black instead of the orange she had- invited. Natsuko beamed. "Ok Oka!" she chirped. Kagome walked with the child to the center to the picnic, sitting on her legs and clasping her hands in the center of her lap.

"I'm Natsuko's Oka, Sayuri." She greeted. Kagome nodded. A young teenager probably around the age of 13 or 14 walked up and sat to the left of Sayuri. "Heya, hime-sama! I'm Tomoko, and I help tend to the pups!" she greeted. Kagome nodded again and readjusted to hear all the names. So far there were Natsuko, her mother Sayuri, and the nurse Tomoko. After them there were Soro- the garden tender, Yori the chef maiden, Yukiko- which was Kouga's sister, to Kagome's surprise- Usagi who was like the vet for the pets. After that bunch were the rest of the children. Aside from Natsuko and Tomoko, there were the twins Akemi and the only male child Junichi, Ayano, and Izumi. Kagome loved the children, often playing their games before resting to talk with the pregnant women: Hoshi- who was expecting twins as well, Kasumi- who just became pregnant, and Bunko- who was going to give birth in about a month or so.

After the sun had set, Mitsuki leaned onto Kagome, yipping and tugging her to her feet. "What is it girl?" Kagome asked. "She's saying Kouga-sama and the hunting party are back, meaning it's time to get cooking for the feast!" Usagi answered. "You can understand wolf talk?" Kagome asked in awe. "We all can, and once we teach you ookami and Inu-youkai language- which is basically the same- then you will as well." Bunko told her. "Cool, well let's get cooking!" Kagome declared walking with the children and women to the main den, taking a right to find a full force kitchen, the men placing their catches of deer, wild boar and a bucket load of fish and beef on the tables. "Wow…that's a lot of meat." Kagome said. Yori walked over to a cabinet to pull out bags full of vegetables of boxes of seasoning. "Yep, it takes a lot to feed the bottomless pit known as a man's stomach. Kouga-sama especially! Boy, if we had more food and if he didn't constantly exercise he'd be as fat as one of the pigs!" she joked, pouting.

Kagome laughed as well, and pulled her hair back with a ribbon borrowed from Sayuri. "Ok, let's do this." She breathed as she cleansed her hands. The girls spread out to different stations and began preparing, Kagome working on gutting and skinning the meat with Yukiko.

END OF CHAPTER 3! WHOO, THIS WAS LONG! ANYWAYS I HOPED U ALL LIKED SO REVIEW PLEASE AND TELL ME!

~Kagome-chan345