The Wolf and the Kitsune

Author's Notes: Let's open up the mailbag…

Runa Wanderer: I hope you read eventually… and I agree with you- Toboe is such a lil cutie!!

FoxylilRaven: Thanks for the insight. ;)

Julia: I know- I didn't realize it looked so awkward until the grammar corrector pointed it out (for the record, folks, Mine (meaning the name of my character) is pronounced "Mee-Nay").

FoxDemon: Kitsunes are cool, aren't they? Another favorite anime character of mine is Shippo from InuYasha. He's so adorable!

Incarnate: Thanks for the encouragement. J

AlutheraBadFaith: Thanks much! I really should contact you…

Ovni: So… did I do a good job or not? I'm confused… well, thanks for the review anyway.

KyoLover44: Thanks!

CuteLittleSarah: I'll do my best. J

DeadLillies: See above comment.

SharkGirl: See above comment(s).

Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I hope I can continue to provide some good Wolf's Rain fanfic, but for now it's just this story. Enjoy!

A few days had passed since the wolves first encountered the fox. They were long past Kitsune Path, and were continuing on to a gathering of cliffs and hillsides.

Toboe lagged behind as usual. It wasn't because he was tired, though; since he met Mine, he had been more observant of his surroundings. Somehow, he knew she was there, and yet there was no sign of her anywhere.

Suddenly, a rustling in the nearby bushes alerted the young wolf. He stopped for a moment, curiously eyeing the bush, and out popped a small cream-colored fox. She blinked with her huge blue eyes before dashing back into the brush.

As Toboe went on walking, he pondered what he had just seen. Was that Mine? He wondered. She sure looks a little different than her human form… but those eyes… how come they remind me of her?

A pair of dainty hands grabbed Toboe by the shoulders and dragged him back. "Hey there," a familiar voice chimed. "Did you miss me?"

Chuckling nervously, Toboe eased himself out of the fox's grasp. "I guess," he replied, continuing after the rest of the pack. "How come you've been hiding, Mine?"

Mine shrugged. "I guess I wanna stay away from that gray wolf in your pack," she admitted. "He's not as agile as I am, but when he attacks he comes down hard."

A small smile crossed Toboe's face. "That's Tsume for you," he remarked. "He was my first wolf friend, even before I met Kiba and Hige. He's rough around the edges, I know, but beyond that he's very protective of us."

It was then that Mine realized something. "Oh, I need to tell you something," she said. "The place you're coming up to is called Falcon's Ridge; it's unstable, so don't make any loud noises or provoke heavy movements."

The thought of danger caught Toboe's attention. Wouldn't have Kiba or Tsume told them this earlier? "How do you know that?" he inquired.

"Take it from someone who knows," Mine responded. "I've heard dozens of stories about how foxes have used Falcon's Ridge to take care of hunters; as soon as the gun goes off, the fox dodges all the falling rocks and gets to safety… though the same can't be said for the hunter…"

Yet again, Hige interrupted the conversation. "Toboe!" he called out.

Quickly, Toboe looked over to Hige, waving his hand in the air. He turned around and saw that Mine had once again disappeared. Oh well, he thought, running up to Hige and the others. At least I know to be careful…

Once Toboe had caught up with the rest of the pack, Hige gave the young wolf a sidelong glance. "What's going on back there?" he queried.

Toboe looked around; Kiba and Cheza were focused on their route, and Tsume didn't seem to be paying attention to much of anything. "I saw Mine again," he whispered to the sandy wolf.

Hige grinned. "So, your little girlfriend really is following you," he teased. "I gotta admit- she's a persistent one."

Dismissing the comment, Toboe went on. "There's more," he informed. "She said we were coming up to a place called Falcon's Ridge, and it's supposed to be unstable."

"Relax, would you?" Hige groaned. "Cheza wouldn't deliberately lead us into danger. Besides, how can you be sure Mine's not misleading you?"

That thought had not occurred to young Toboe. He's right, he thought. Cheza is always looking out for us; she wouldn't lead us anywhere where we might be in danger… come to think of it, why is Mine following us? It's not like she has to, and foxes are supposed to have their own route to Paradise, so why is she?

Then, something caught Toboe's eye. The pack was coming to a fork in the road; one route lead up the hill into a wooded area, and the other route winded along the cliff-side wall.

Cheza looked at both routes carefully. She started going up the hill route, and suddenly she stopped halfway up. After a moment or two, she turned around and headed for the ridge.

Curious, Kiba went up the hill for a closer look. He slipped quietly into the woods, hoping that no one saw him.

The sandy and brown wolves approached the gray wolf. "What's going on?" Toboe asked.

Tsume made no gesture; he kept his gaze towards the wooded hill. "Something's wrong," he commented. "Cheza started going in one direction, but she changed her mind and went the other way. Kiba went in to see what Cheza was worried about."

Toboe wrung his hands together nervously. I don't like where this is going…

After a while, the white wolf returned to his pack. "Humans," he reported. "Dozens of them. It looks like a campsite."

Of course, Tsume saw no problem with this. "So, we guise ourselves as humans and sneak through," he reasoned. "Simple."

"Not so," Kiba remarked. "There's more than one campsite up there, and they'll be all over the woods. We would be risking our cover to walk among them- even if none of them figure out what we are, there's bound to be one who knows what Cheza is."

Suddenly, Toboe felt very sick to his stomach. Oh no, he wondered. He's gonna want us to go around the campsite… and, that means…

Hige sighed heavily. "We're gonna use the ridge path, aren't we?" he guessed.

Tsume nodded. "It doesn't look like we have much of a choice," he muttered.

Cheza was the first to start down the path. She tiptoed along as Kiba followed her steadily. Tsume was close behind, followed by Hige. As usual, Toboe crawled along, only this time with good reason. I'm not gonna panic, he told himself, I'm not gonna panic… just don't make any loud noises or cause an earth quake and we'll be fine… I'm not gonna panic…

It didn't take long for the others to notice Toboe's anxiety. Cheza always kept an eye on where she was going, but she would often turn her head back to check on him and see that he was okay. Kiba reacted to Cheza's worry, and would occasionally give him a sidelong look. Tsume was just getting tired of his jittery nervousness when there seemed to be nothing wrong in the first place. Even Hige couldn't help but be concerned, though he already knew why the young wolf was acting that way.

Finally, Hige leaned over and touched Toboe's shoulder. "Relax, you'll be fine," he assured. "Besides, I bet Mine was just trying to scare you."

Toboe considered that thought for a moment. Now he wasn't entirely sure what to think- was Mine actually trying to help, or was she just taunting him? He couldn't be sure either way, which made things all the more difficult.

A few rocks fell from the cliffs above. The sudden noise frightened Toboe, making him cry out and grip the cliff-wall tighter.

With a heavy sigh, Tsume turned around and glared at the young wolf. "Alright," he growled, "what's going on?"

The sandy wolf shook his head. "Toboe's just nervous because that kitsune came back and warned him about this pathway," he explained. "I say it's a trick- kitsunes are always troublesome, and Cheza would never lead us into danger."

Kiba glanced at the other three wolves out of the corner of his eye. "We had two options," he reminded. "While this was the safer of the two, we ought to be careful here. We're on unstable ground."

Of course, Tsume was struck by something else. "You mean to tell me that the kitsune is still following us??" he snapped. "I thought I chased her off the last time!" He paused, glaring at Toboe. "The next time I see her, I'll be sure to take care of her personally."

Sighing, Kiba gestured onward. "Let's get moving," he suggested.

Everyone complied and went onward. Toboe was still grasping the cliff wall, but edged his way along and made sure to keep up.

Tsume growled in irritation. That pup is getting on my nerves, he thought, and that kitsune is really testing my patience…

Another couple of rocks fell. Frightened, Toboe instead grabbed onto Hige, hoping the sandy wolf would offer him some form of protection… which, certainly, was not the case. "Hey!" Hige shouted, attempting to pry the young wolf off. "What do you think you're doing?? Get off me, runt!"

Angered, Tsume stopped. He picked up one of the fallen rocks and scanned the cliffs above. "There you are," he murmured, throwing the stone towards the higher cliffs.

"Tsume, no!" Toboe screamed.

A loud yelp soon followed, along with the rustling of overgrown bushes. "Just as I thought," Tsume growled. "That kitsune is trying to drive you mad with fear." He glared at Toboe. "Just act natural, Toboe, and we'll all be fine."

At that moment, Kiba turned to them. "We're near the end of the ridge!" he informed. "Come on- let's hurry!"

As the wolves made their way along the cliffside, more rocks began to fall… more than usual. In fact, the flow of stones and small rocks became very steady.

Cheza gasped; she could not see the rocks, but she was certain of the outcome. "We must hurry," she warned. "The cliffs are collapsing!"

Unnerved, the wolves glanced behind them. Larger rocks began to fall, breaking off chunks of the path they were using.

Kiba scowled. "Run!" he cried.

Quickly, the wolves and the girl ran for safety to the other side. Kiba and Cheza managed to get there first, followed closely by Tsume.

However, a huge boulder fell between Hige and Toboe, separating the young wolf from the rest of the pathway. "Hige!" Toboe yelped. "Help!"

Hige spun around. "Jump, Toboe!" he shouted.

Toboe stood there among the falling rocks, paralyzed by fear. "I'm too scared!" he whined.

"You have to!" Hige implored. "It's the only way!"

Worried for his friend, Kiba took a few steps back into the avalanche. "Hige, hurry!" he yelled.

Hesitant, Hige turned his head back and forth, between Kiba and Toboe. He couldn't just leave the poor runt, but he couldn't just stand there either! What could he do?

Suddenly, a familiar figure descended from the cliffs. She grabbed Toboe by the underarms and thrust him onto her back; she then sped past the falling rocks and made it to the other side.

Once Hige trotted over to the others, narrowly escaping the last of the avalanche boulders, the rest of the wolves managed to get a good look at Toboe's savior.

The young wolf gasped in surprise. "Mine?" he inquired.

Mine smiled. "Are you okay, Toboe?" she asked. "Those rocks gave you a nasty shock, I bet."

Defensive, Tsume stepped forward. "You again," he growled. "You are following us, aren't you??"

Smiling, Mine placed Toboe on the ground and jumped up. "Yup," she answered, "and there's not a darn thing you can do about that!"

Tsume tensed up, prepared to attack. "I can think of a few ways," he threatened.

However, Kiba interfered at that moment. "Why are you following us?" he questioned, asking for a better answer this time. "We're wolves, and you're a kitsune. You have your own route to Paradise."

The kitsune sighed. "Look, just let me tag along," she pleaded. "I can help you out with stuff- I'm very good at distracting humans. You could have gone through that campsite if you had let me come with in the first place!"

"We have enough help around here," Tsume snapped. "Go on, get lost. You're nothing but trouble; in case you didn't notice, that avalanche was your fault."

Looking for mercy, Mine approached Cheza. "Please, can I come?" she inquired.

For a moment, Cheza was silent. She wasn't sure of what to think about the kitsune. She seemed friendly enough; she was willing to help, and she did save Toboe…

Cheza turned to Kiba. "This one thinks that she should come along," she responded, glancing at Mine. "This one can tell that she is good."

Frustrated, Tsume groaned and shook his head. "For the love of…" he muttered under his breath.

Excited, Mine picked up Toboe and hugged him. "Oh, this is great!" she cheered. "It's gonna be so much fun with you guys! I can't wait!!"

Kiba smiled a little. "Right," he murmured. "Let's go."

Soon enough, the newly-formed group traveled onward. Kiba and Cheza were still up ahead, but now Tsume was sure to keep a close eye on Toboe and Mine. She may have been a member of the pack now, but as far as he was concerned, she was still a sneaky kitsune.

Toboe felt a bit unnerved as well- since they started, Mine was following him closer than ever. "I can't wait to spend some more time with you, Toboe," she chimed. "We're gonna have so much fun together." She smiled brightly, clutching onto his arm.

Hige chuckled. "Don't you two look cute," he remarked. "Maybe I should jump ahead and leave you two lovebirds alone."

As Hige ran ahead, Toboe gave Mine an awkward sidelong look. She smiled again, holding his arm tighter.

Uneasy, Toboe shook his arm free and ran after Hige. "Wait for me!" he cried.

Mine sighed heavily. "Relax, would ya?" she shouted, following Toboe. "I was just playing around!"

End of Part II

Part III in Progress…

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PS- well, it's official! Mine is a member of the pack! Lemme know what you think, and don't worry- there will be more. J