A/N: And here we go! enjoy!

Chapter 16: Chief Runs with Horses

Ryooshi groaned and stirred, but when she breathed in, she inhaled something fine that tickled her nose. She sneezed, her head shaking, violently as it rose from her paws and she breathed out, her nostrils flaring to rid her sniffer of the tickly invader. She glanced around and realized she was in almost complete darkness save for one shaft of light coming from the between the top of the cave and the pile of…sand?!

"Holy crap!" she yelped, shooting to her feet and looking to the place where Kiba had been lying across from her.

She saw his rump sticking out from the pile of sand left by the sand storm that had obviously died away. She hurried toward the sand and started digging rapidly where Kiba's head should have been, but he didn't move. Glancing at his tail she could think of no other way to see if he still lived. She chomped down on his tail and was immediately relieved when a muffled yelp came from under the pile of sand and his hind legs stood instantly. Ryooshi stepped back as Kiba pulled himself from the loose sand around him and shook the sand from his fur, sneezing as he did.

"Sorry about that," she quickly said when he looked at her.

"It's alright," he coughed, seeing the necessity and logic behind it, but curling his tail into him to lick it soothingly anyway. Looking around he glanced at the shaft of light then back at Ryooshi. "We have to get to the others. Start digging."

Ryooshi nodded and the two started digging at the pile of sand, making the hole bigger and bigger until the little cave was almost completely full of sand and the hole was big enough for them to squeeze through. Kiba ordered Ryooshi to go first, which she did, and once outside she stood on top of the layer of sand left by the storm, glancing around in the setting sun's light at where the caves the others had run into should have been.

"They're buried!" she panicked as Kiba crawled from the hole she emerged from.

"You dig out Tsume and Toboe," Kiba ordered, calmly. "I'll get Hige and Blue."

The two ran to the caves their friends were located and started digging. Ryooshi could feel her heart thudding in her chest in panic. If they were buried alive, was hers and Kiba's digging futile? Did they even stand a chance at getting to their friends in time if they weren't dead already?

"Toboe!" Ryooshi called, her panic taking over. "Tsume! Say something, one of you! Make a sound or something! Let me know you're alive!"

She sucked wind when she heard a small whimper beyond the little hole she'd been digging at that was slowly getting bigger and bigger. She began digging even faster.

"Toboe!" she called, recognizing the pitch and tone of the whimper. "Hang on! I'm digging as fast as I can!"

She heard Kiba calling to Hige and Blue as he dug at their cave as well, and heard Hige call back faintly that they were alright, but she didn't stop digging. Even though she now knew Toboe was alive, she hadn't heard even a sarcastic remark from Tsume, and it frightened her.

A nose suddenly came out of the hole she'd been digging at, and soon, Toboe's head followed, then his body. Ryooshi stepped back to let him crawl out of the hole and he shook the sand from his coat with a sneeze.

"Tsume's still buried!" Toboe said, turning to where Ryooshi had been digging as he explained, "He'd been sitting right at the entrance when we fell asleep and I scooted a little further into the cave."

Ryooshi instantly started digging with him, ignoring the sound of sneezing from Hige and Blue behind her. She noticed Kiba jump to Toboe's other side and start digging, then Blue came up next to her with Hige on the other side of Kiba. They all dug until Ryooshi uncovered the tip of an ear.

"Tsume!" she shouted at it, hoping he didn't have enough sand in his ear to drown her out. She continued digging with the others until the ear was uncovered and she shouted at him again, all still digging.

Toboe shoved Ryooshi out of the way and leaned into the hole they'd made to bite down on the ear. A muffled growl of surprised anger came from the pile of sand and it exploded, as the others stepped back. Tsume stood out of the hole and shook himself of the loose sand in his fur then growled at them, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

"Which one of you bit me?!" he snarled as they all returned to their human forms.

"How else were we supposed to figure out if you dead or alive?!" Ryooshi shot back, not allowing Toboe to reply. "Did you not notice that you were buried alive?!"

Tsume growled still, turning to Ryooshi and snarling, "So it was you!"

"I didn't say that," Ryooshi snapped. "I said there was no other way to get your tail moving!"

"We should have ditched you at the gates to the city!" Tsume barked. "You think you're my alpha now that you've bitten my ear?!"

"I didn't do it," she insisted. "But it's nice to know that's what you think."

"Screw you!" Tsume snarled.

"Enough," Kiba called calmly, making the two freeze and turn to him. "We should get going. It's already sunset, and we might need to find food now that we're rested."

"Why don't we just make a meal out of the mutt here?" Tsume wondered, nodding at Ryooshi who glared at him.

"I'm very gamey," she shot back.

"In more ways than one," Tsume retorted, walking past her.

"You wanna go, asshole?!" she barked, making him stop and turn to her.

"No, I want you to go," he replied.

"Knock it off already!" Hige intervened, irritably. "You guys are worse than a couple of puppies fighting over a chew toy!"

"Come on," Kiba called, heading down the canyon trail. "The trail ends up ahead and leads into a little more desert. We might find some food."

"Wouldn't anything edible have run away to hide from the storm?" Blue wondered as the pack started walking down the trail as well, Ryooshi and Tsume exchanging a few dirty looks as he walked away from her.

"There might be vultures looking for dead bodies left by the storm," Kiba replied. "We'll either eat the meat they find or eat them."

"Now that's gamey meat," Hige smirked, jokingly.

"It's better than nothing," Toboe reminded him, then turned to Ryooshi as they trailed toward the back of the pack. He saw her long expression as she stared at Tsume's back and he nudged her, gently making her look at him in wonder as he said, "Don't let him get to you, Ryooshi. He's always irritable when he hasn't eaten in a while."

"Yeah, well---"

"You smell that?" Hige suddenly inquired of the group, and they all stopped to look at him.

"Smell what?" Blue wondered.

"Something cooking," he grinned, hungrily and they all frowned at him, then turned to sniffing the air.

"Do you hear that?" Toboe suddenly asked them and they frowned at him this time.

"What are you guys picking up that---?"

Ryooshi cut herself off when she also caught a scent and a sound in the air. She frowned, her ears perking as Toboe's had, sniffing the air as Hige was doing and the others tried to smell and hear what they were.

"I smell it," Ryooshi murmured, making everyone look at her in wonder at her tone of awe. "And I hear it." She looked ahead of them on the trail and saw a dark, thin cloud rising from the ground in the sunset colors of red, orange and pink. "This way!"

She shot off down the trail, followed by the rest calling after her to wait for them. She knew exactly what was at the end of that canyon, but she never guessed it would be so close to the city. Then again, they'd covered a good distance since they'd left the city.

"Where the hell is she taking us?!" Tsume snarled, still following the rest of them as they followed Ryooshi down the trail. "And what the hell did you guys---?!"

"I hear it!" Blue reported, taking the words right from Tsume's mouth as he realized he could smell it too. She did it again when she said, "I can hear it too! It sounds light drums and smells like---!"

"Meat," Tsume growled, hungrily. "The mutt pulled through, apparently."

"Chief!" Ryooshi called, a grin over her features, lighting up her face. "Chief!"

"Who?" Hige asked Kiba, but he only shook his head as they kept running after her.

The drums suddenly stopped as they reached the end of the trail and stopped, panting to catch their breath. Ryooshi grinned at the village of people they could still clearly see, even in the failing light, a few yards away from the end of the canyon. Ryooshi grinned, even though out of breath, but when she stepped toward the people around the fire, the men picked up spears from the ground and lifted them toward the pack.

"Whoa, what the heck---?!" Hige asked, his hands shooting into the air in surrender. "Tell them we come in peace, Ryooshi!"

"They speak English," Ryooshi replied, raising her arms up as well in surrender then telling the men as she walked toward them, "I'm a friend of your Chief's. These are my friends…" She gestured to her pack behind her. "We need shelter. Please just tell Chief---"

"You're lying!" one of the men said, poking the head of his spear gently into her stomach as she came close enough and she stopped. "Our Chief would never become friends with the white man! They treat us like we are outcasts in our own country!"

"Well, it's a good thing for you, we're not white men," Ryooshi replied and slowly moved to lift her necklace up for all to see. "He gave this to me for saving his son, Runs With Horses. If he's here, he can vouch for that. My name is Ryooshi."

The man in front of her suddenly lowered his spear, his eyes wide, his jaw slack and shock and awe as he breathed, "Ryooshi." He turned to the other people and called, "Our Chief's savior!"

The others all murmured in awe and Ryooshi lowered her necklace as she frowned at the man and asked, "What do you mean your Chief's savior? I saved his son."

The man's face became long as he turned back to her and asked, "You did not know?"

"Know what?" Ryooshi asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Our former Chief, Mighty Hawk has gone to join the Great Spirits," the man replied, his head bowed either in sorrow, respect, or both.

Ryooshi's eyes widened and her heart sank as she realized he meant that Mighty Hawk had died. She looked back at the man and asked, "Then, your Chief now is Runs with Horses?"

The man nodded mutely and Ryooshi frowned in thought. He had been fifteen when she had rescued him from drowning in a river where they were camped two years ago, which means he would now be seventeen or eighteen and he was already a chief!

"He is a young chief," the man explained, seeming to read her expression, "but he is wise, and reasonable, as his father, the Great Mighty Hawk was."

"I'm sure he is," Ryooshi smiled then glanced back at the pack of wolves behind her, still standing at the entrance to the trail before saying, "My friends that have come with me are wolves, like me. We need shelter from the white man who is hunting us. May I speak to Chief Runs with Horses to ask him if they may stay with me?"

"Of course," the man replied, then gestured toward one of the tents beyond the fire and entreated, "This way."

Ryooshi followed the man toward the tent but turned to the pack and mouthed that they stay there.

"What is she doing?" Tsume couldn't help but wonder as they watched her enter the tent.

"She's probably speaking to the chief about us," Kiba theorized.

"Man, that food looks good," Hige groaned, rubbing his stomach and licking his lips as he eyed the huge piece of meat on a spit over the fire.

"Quit doing that," Toboe nearly whined, smacking Hige's hand from his stomach. "You're making me hungrier!"

"How long do you think her talk with the chief will take?" Blue asked Kiba in general, but not being able to help her stomach from churning with hunger at seeing the meat as well.

"She'll probably get us shooed away so she can live comfortably," Tsume retorted. "She's not fighting for us in there, she's fighting for herself."

"Ryooshi's not like that, Tsume, and you know it," Toboe snapped.

"You're too trusting, runt," he shot back.

Ryooshi stepped into the tent the man had led her to but didn't go in himself. She stood on one side of a small fire illuminating the space, a man with long, black hair wearing brown leather from shirt to shoes and a huge crown of feathers over his head sat on the other side of the fire. She instantly recognized the deep brown eyes and handsome features of the boy she knew two years ago that was quickly thrust into manhood.

"Chief Runs with Horses," Ryooshi nodded, respectfully.

"Huntress Wolf," the man smiled, nostalgically then gestured that she sit, which she did. "Many moons ago, my father made a promise to you in exchange for saving my life. I am happy to fulfill this promise for you."

"I heard about your father just now," Ryooshi told him. "I'm, so sorry."

"I do not regret that my father has gone to the Great Spirits," Chief Runs with Horses replied. "Now, he may watch over all whom he cares for when they depart from my sight. Even you, he watched over for a year. He would not allow the savior of his son to go on unguided."

"I'm grateful," Ryooshi nodded with a small smile then got to the point. "Chief Runs with Horses, I seek shelter in your village from the white man. They are hunting me and my friends, whom I brought with me. May they also stay in your village? I do not wish to take advantage of your hospitality, but they have nowhere else to go. The city beyond the canyon is overrun by Wolf Hunters."

"It is unfortunate that this is your reason for returning, but I'm happy you're here, nonetheless," Chief Runs with Horses replied. "Of course, your friends may stay here. You know that your kind are always welcome here."

"Thank you, Chief Runs with Horses," Ryooshi replied, bowing her head respectfully. "For a chief so young, you are wise, as one of your men told me. I'll tell my friends it's alright for them to come closer. They're standing at the edge of the canyon trail."

"Please, let them eat as well," Chief Runs with Horses entreated. "The storm sent the animals into hiding. I'm sure you haven't had anything to eat for some time. They may join the people in celebrating our prosperous hunt beyond the sand."

"Thank you again, Chief," Ryooshi smiled, gratefully as she stood. "I promise, we won't stay more than a month. I wouldn't want to impose on your generosity."

"There is no imposition," Chief Runs with Horses insisted. "Stay as long as is necessary. We welcome the company of mighty hunters such as you."

"Y-Yes," she smiled, hesitantly. "Thank you again. Excuse me."

She hurried from the tent and faced the pack now sitting at the edge of the canyon trail and once she'd caught their attention she beckoned them toward her. They stood and hurried to her as she met them half-way.

"Alright," she whispered. "He's letting you stay. It's the Chief's son, Runs with Horses who's Chief now, but he's still letting us stay."

"For how long?" Kiba wondered.

"As long as we want," Ryooshi replied. "He's repaying me for saving his life. He said to go ahead and have at the food."

"Awesome!" Hige grinned, still eyeing the meat on the spit that one of the men was cutting pieces off of.

"Try not to make a pig of yourself, porky," Tsume snapped. "You'll get us kicked out."

"I doubt it, but try to restrain yourself anyway," Ryooshi agreed as they started to walk toward the fire and Chief Runs with Horses emerged from his tent.

"Everyone," he called as the wolves reached the radius of the village and stopped. "These wolves are taking shelter here from the white man. Treat them kindly, for the green-eyed she-wolf is my savior, Ryooshi."

The crowd of Indians gave out cheers and calls at their Chief's word as Ryooshi led the wolves toward him.

"Chief Runs with Horses," she began. "These are my friends: Kiba, Tsume, Hige Toboe and Blue."

"It is an honor to meet the friends of the Huntress Wolf," Chief Runs with Horses replied. "Please, take food and drink and rest. You must be exhausted from your journey and your escape from the sand storm."

"Food," Hige called hungrily, heading for the meat to pull off a piece for himself as Blue hurried after him.

"Hige, don't be rude!" she called, hurrying after him and Ryooshi only shook her head in hopelessness.

Chief Runs with Horses suddenly gestured to someone, catching Ryooshi's, Kiba's, Tsume's and Toboe's attention. Two squaws came toward Ryooshi and took her arms firmly in their hands, making her yelp slightly in surprise and glance between them.

"Um, Chief---?"

"You remember our tradition to the new comers speakers, don't you, Ryooshi?" Runs with Horses asked with a surprisingly mischievous smirk over his lips.

"No!" Ryooshi yelped, now trying to struggle against the squaws. "Don't make me---! No! Runs With Horses! Kiba! Toboe! Help me!"

"What are they gonna do to her?" Tsume wondered with a sadistic smile of his.

"In a few moments, you will see," Chief Runs with Horses replied and walked away to celebrate the hunt with his people as the three wolves frowned at each other.

A/N: hee hee. oh, i'm horrible aren't I?
Ryooshi: YES! YOU ARE!
Tsume: don't be such a pup, mutt.
Ryooshi: easy for YOU to freakin' say! you'r not the one who has to---!
Me: (slaps hand over Ryooshi's mouth) shut up! you'll give it away! uh...reviews?