Yep, this took forever to write. But there's good news to cancel out the bad. This is the longest chapter yet! :D I hope you guys enjoy it. (Seriously, though. It's LONG.)

Kouga sat recoiled in the shadows of the cave walls. He remained still, allowing the subsiding aches in his arms to run their course uninterrupted. In the wide circle of bright color at the chamber's exit a stern figure observed the sunlight pouring down on the dry rock. He firmly rotated an object between his fingers as he watched the motionless scene just outside of their personal abode. Among the territory of the wolf-demons, this cave was the finest of them, although not the largest. It was, as Kouga's father had said when they first came, a place meant for the one who leads. In this place, a similar scene had reiterated itself with Kouga having less of his youth each time it passed. Each time he wanted so silently to be in another place, but the foreboding shape of his upset father fixed at the exit always kept him still. The fury could boil over again if he made a sound to express his pain. Another fist could fall if his father smelled the salt of a single tear from him. He had learned to avoid every possible path that could give him another bruise and to dedicate each waking moment to his preserved stillness. Stillness was the only choice that was safe, or only safer.

He nearly flinched as a sudden noise of irritancy came from his father. Once again, he was standing there and allowing his frustration to slowly recede, contemplating what he was to do next. Whatever went through the mind of this man was a mystery to Kouga and his next actions were no exception. The small, round piece of metal between his father's fingers was something that never left the security of his neck. With a strong string that looped through one of the four holes in the edges, the heirloom was constantly under his watchful eye and any being who dared to bring a finger too close would surely lose it. It was an alien scene unfolding in front of young Kouga when his father lifted the strand over his head and removed the precious object from his neck. After an admiring look was cast upon the shimmering treasure in his palm, his father's stern face soon resumed its normal behavior. Leaving the sunlight, he closed in on his son and knelt in front of him. Even in the shadows, gold light seemed to pool inside the engraved edges of the metal lying safely in his hand. Kouga's young, icy eyes only stared down at the emblem. Staring was the only thing he was ever able to do to it. He could feel the stare of his father locked onto him while he sat against the rock wall, wondering why the open hand had stretched so close to him.

With a grimace that mixed with some form of pride, his father showed him the small medallion. "Do you know what this is, Kouga?"

Kouga had no other answer than what he had seen and thought of the object. He didn't even know if it had a name; all he knew was the height of its importance to the one who possessed it so closely. A small shake of the head was all he could provide.

He knelt low to the level of his son's down-cast eyes. "This emblem is for my hand only… and yours. When I hold it, I lead. This pack recognizes me as their alpha." He explained with a newfound sense of tranquility. Explaining the meaning of the emblem seemed to rid his father's voice of the tense undertone. When Kouga looked into his dark eyes, they were not so angry as before. One of his fingers circled the fine edge as he spoke. "This has been in the hands of every demon who ever led the tribe for the last five-thousand years. Any soul who touches it without my word has chosen to challenge me and, in the end, the pack itself." He continued to explain.

With his finger lifting away, Kouga's father made a small movement and held the shimmering emblem out to him. Kouga silently brought his aching arm up to let it fall into his palm. The metal seemed like it reflected the bright light from outside no matter what angle is was tilted at. For a while, the young cub had a reason to keep his attention on something else. His father watched while the metal turned between the movements of Kouga's palm.

"One day, Kouga, this will be yours as it is mine. You will protect it as I do today." His father's voice came, almost attempting to be gentle.

With the white light from ahead defining the depressions and extrusions, Kouga's young pupils could detect a worn message in the tarnished metal. Though the engravings and lines that formed the design were of remarkable grace, they were indeed scarred with the weather of many, many years. The symbols on each side of the coin, laid lonely in the center and surrounded by the four holes, were so weakened by those ages that Kouga may not have even seen them if it was darker.

A fond grin formed in the line of his father's mouth, a rare sight that made Kouga feel unwary. "Isn't it beautiful?" he commented while he watched the light meandering across the lines. "Great demons have held this, Kouga. Don't you understand? Powerful figures who shed their blood in the name of the wolf tribe." He spoke proudly. It was likely to be a simple trick of his mind, but the moment that Kouga heard those words, he swore that he saw a faint hint of brown spattered across one of the sides. He tried to look for it again, but the shadows made it too difficult. A hard sigh was heard from the one speaking to him, "Someday you will have the honor to walk among them, but I won't be there to guide you. I want to be proud the day that this passes to your hand, not afraid." As the statement ended, he rose up to his feet with a small grunt. Looking out at the brightly lit scene just at the mouth of the cave, Kouga witnessed his frustration creep back into the noise of his breath. "Don't you understand?" he repeated with frost in his tone.

The young wolf lowered his head and gazed down at the medallion. "I understand." He murmured, hoping it would satisfy.

He folded his arms upon hearing his son's response. Turning his shady eyes back to Kouga, the lack of confidence was easily apparent. "Do you?" He said coldly. Kouga tried not to look away while his father crossed the distance between them. He cast a shadow over his son, giving him a stern look. "Then why do you continue to disappoint me?"

"I'm sorry…"

"I will not allow this pack to fall, Kouga, especially not at the hands of my own son. Too many weak leaders have led us to chaos." He declared firmly, the lines on his face growing deeper.

The statement sent many images through the cub's head, each as ambiguous as the last. The way that he heard it in such a tone made him feel as though he could shiver. "Chaos?" He inquired, the word being so unfamiliar to him.

His father had returned to facing the outside; he never looked back as he explained. "Cowards, Kouga, weak demons who couldn't understand the value of sacrifice. To bear this power is to accept a leader's destiny. For the love of his pack, he must live and if it has to be so… he must die." The last phrase came out faintly. For a long moment, his father didn't say anything more, he only stared out at the sunlit rocks. Kouga let his eyes fall back to the design of the emblem between his fingertips. The symbols on each side looked nothing like anything he had seen. They weren't like the ones he was learning about, they were different. Quietly, his father uncrossed his arms and allowed them to rest at his sides. "I only hope to have such an honor myself one day." He said with a vacancy of his usual tone.

Kouga found one of the better-defined lines of the symbols and felt it beneath the tip of his finger. A swish of white light swiveled around the edges as he tilted the medallion. "…Does it always end like that?" he asked, but soon wondered if he had spoken loud enough to be heard.

"For the greatest of our leaders, yes." His father replied calmly.

The young wolf-prince delicately angled the circle of metal until the sunlight began to fill as much of the surface as possible. The shades of the engraved lines nearly formed a completely black and white image. He continued to try, but the brown stain seemed to have vanished. Looking carefully at the designs of both sides, Kouga found no trace of familiarity in them. "What do these symbols mean?" he asked.

"…That knowledge, sadly, has been lost." His father answered, taking a few steps until he was once again exposed to the circle of sunlight being cast in through the entrance.

Kouga was somewhat disappointed to hear such a reply. "No one knows?"

"No living creature." He reassured before stepping back into the shade of their home. "Their meaning isn't important, Kouga, what matters is the heirloom itself." He continued to explain while he faced his son and approached him from the bright entrance. Once more, he reached the cave wall where Kouga rested and knelt in front of him with a hand that asked for the emblem. Without a second word, Kouga placed it into his father's palm and watched him carefully return it to the safety of his neck. Looking down at the medallion against his thumb, Kouga watched the changes in his father's thoughtful expression. "This has survived the test of thousands of years. It represents the greatness of all who have come before you and me. As long as a leader of true blood holds it, our tribe lives." With that final note, he tucked the emblem back into his chest plate where it could no longer be seen. "That is what truly matters, Kouga."

He rose up and gave his son one last short look. Then, he faced away and proceeded toward the deeper parts of the cave, most likely to retire for the day. "You can go now." He finished without a second glance.

Kouga waited until his father disappeared around the curve of the rock wall. At last, he was able to leave, massaging the darkening spots on his arms. Thankfully, bruises were all he had to deal with this time.

_________

When Kouga was finally content with the relief provided by the water, he decided to return to the cave. Truth be told, it was hardly a cave at all. The place that Inuyasha had so hastily searched for was little more than a deep dent in a steep slope of rock. It was only deep enough to keep them both away from the rain that had been falling days before. He returned as silently as he could, seeing that the hanyou was slumbering so deeply when he came. In fact, as he walked into their space, there wasn't the slightest sign of Inuyasha detecting him. Seeing him sleep so deeply was a new sight for Kouga. Taking a guess, the wolf realized that Inuyasha probably hadn't closed his eyes once for multiple days. When he laid down in a reasonably comfortable place, it was everything that he had hoped it would be. He could peacefully curl up against the cave wall and listen to the sound of the hanyou's breathing, like he used to before all of this happened. Memories of his bed back in the human village returned, watching the shadow cast on his window, seeing Inuyasha's feet drift, and seeing the leaves fall whenever he stirred. He would have wanted to stay awake longer and enjoy these memories with more time, but his eyes were still terribly sore and his muscles were still feeble. It wasn't long before he found himself out of reality and in the lawless darkness of his dreams.

Flashes of irritating light were what came next. He wasn't sure where they had come from. Something suddenly cut them off and then vanished, making it all suddenly blaze across his face and bother his eyes. For that one little moment, he was awake. He saw a short image of the daylight shining across the outside, but quickly fell back to sleep. In the way that sleep was, he didn't know how long it was until something else came and woke him up again. A soft breeze touched his nose and carried the strong scent of smoke into his nostrils. It wasn't truly an annoying smell in such a slight amount, but the other odor that came with it was what convinced him to open one of his eyes to the sun. He could smell the distinct scent of fish, the first thing he had ever learned how to detect. Kouga's curiosity was enough to get him on his knees, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Just over the lip of the cave and at the bottom of the slope, he saw a small fire crackling.

Inuyasha was absently poking at the little flames with a stick. Kouga immediately noticed that the top of the hanyou's red clothing was missing, leaving him in his white undershirt. That quickly led him to realize that the haori was no longer on Inuyasha, but himself. The wolf hadn't been able to put his ruined chest plate back on and had little choice but to return in nothing but his hip-wrap. He wasn't sure when or why Inuyasha had chosen to place it on him, but it was a pleasant piece of attire. The fabric seemed so ordinary, yet it managed to keep him warmer than his original fur appendages. Also, of course, it was covered in the hanyou's smell, which was something that Kouga was glad to welcome. The scent even managed to distract him from the underlying essence that stained the fabric in so many places. He could still detect the subtle odor of blood just underneath the smell he wanted to focus on. Normally, he could do so, but every few moments, it served as a grim reminder.

The moment that the wolf exited the shadows, Inuyasha looked up from the bottom of the rocky slope. As quickly as the half-demon took notice of Kouga's presence, his eyes darted back to the fire in front of him. The scorched tip of his stick wandered around the flames and four shapes jutting out of the campfire.

"Sleep well?" The hanyou asked absently while he nudged one of the fish with his tool. Kouga could easily see his pupils flicking in other directions while he let his stick drift thoughtlessly.

Making note of the weary outline around Inuyasha's eyes, the wolf strolled down to meet him beside the fire. "Could ask you the same thing." He commented. Four well-cooked fish were deduced as the source of what Kouga had picked up with his nose.

The wolf carefully sat across from him, staying out of the billowing trail of grey smoke that pointed in the wind's direction. He quietly watched as the end of Inuyasha's stick was scorched black and began to reduce to thin flakes of ash falling into the wood.

He received a quizzical look from the half-demon after many more moments of inaction. Inuyasha set his stick down and gestured to the prepared meal. "Go ahead. They're ready." He urged.

Kouga looked back down to one of the fish and reached for the stick it had been stuck to. "Thanks." He murmured while he briefly examined the state of his food. It was clear by the way things looked that Inuyasha had plenty of experience with feeding himself. Yet, just as he was about to take his first bite, the wolf noticed no movement from the one across the fire. The hanyou's hands stayed empty and tucked into their sleeves while he repeatedly scanned their surroundings. The fish lowered in Kouga's hand. "What about you?" he inquired.

"Already had mine." Inuyasha answered, still with a wandering mind.

Kouga took a second look at the four fish of considerable size jutting up in a row. The thought was a surprise to him. "This is all for me?"

The half-demon returned his quick attention. "Just eat. You haven't had anything for days. I know you're starving." He stated, which, humorously, was followed by an audible growl from Kouga's stomach.

For the first time in perhaps an entire week, Kouga felt a short laugh. "Can't argue with that." He concurred before taking a large bite out of his first fish.

As the wolf-demon ate, he had to deal with the continuous shifts in the wind that seemed to enjoy blowing smoke directly into his face. For the most part, Inuyasha was fortunate enough not to move more than once or twice. Each time Kouga had to move and keep eating, he wondered if there was something special about where Inuyasha had chosen to sit that was keeping the smoke blowing away from him almost every time. Each new place that was far enough across from him lasted for annoyingly short times. In the midst of changing his place across the campfire more than six times, he finished the first two fish and started on a third. Since he had experienced the effects of the sting, all he felt was thirsty, but eating was strangely making him realize just how hungry he really was. By the time that the third fish was chewed and swallowed, he was glad to have a forth one waiting for him.

A stronger breeze paid a visit and once again sent Kouga to his feet to find another spot. As the wind began to bend in a different direction, Inuyasha was forced to move as well. Somehow, circling the campfire, they met on the same side. A short, awkward look was exchanged before the half-demon decided to find a place on the opposite side again. Kouga settled farther away from the fire this time, hoping he would find refuge from the relentless fumes. He realized how fast he must have been eating when he felt a strain in his throat while it worked. Granting himself a break, he lowered the rest of his meal and looked back to the absent-minded creature across from him. Inuyasha had found a particular direction that he was staring in. In addition to that, the wolf saw the hanyou's nose wrinkle while he searched the nearby trees for something Kouga was uncertain of.

"What is it?" He asked, watching how diligently Inuyasha was surveying the scenery. Nothing about the location appeared abnormal to Kouga, but it was clear that something had caught the hanyou's attention.

He blinked a few times while his yellow eyes continued to meander. "I think I recognize this place…" Inuyasha responded thoughtfully. "I noticed it when I was going back last night. The stream looked familiar."

Kouga took a moment of his own to absorb their surroundings more carefully. There wasn't one thing that seemed recognizable to him. In truth, he no longer had the foggiest clue where they both were. Inuyasha appeared to know better. "Where are we, then?" he questioned while he smelled for things other than trees, fire, and fish. No scent seemed out of place either.

Inuyasha faced the fire and picked up his blackened stick. "I don't know for sure. It's just a feeling." He elaborated, making slow circles in the orange heat.

Kouga picked up his final, half-eaten fish and slid another bite off with his teeth. "When do you think you were here?" he resumed once he finished swallowing.

"A long time ago."

"How long?"

"A long time ago." Inuyasha specified, his eyes now falling on one of the tree trunks that had an irregular shape. Kouga finished his last full serving and started to clean the bones. Once the sight of a stripped row of ribs satisfied him, he laid the last stick with the others by the campfire. It was likely that he would still be hungry even after such a generous meal, but he certainly wasn't going to be starving anymore.

"Thanks." He added sincerely without drawing Inuyasha's attention. The hanyou's gaze was focused elsewhere, the same direction he had been eying before. In a delayed response, he gave a short nod to acknowledge the wolf's gratitude.

Still taken with what was farther into the woods, he got on his feet. For a while, his head drifted between directions that could be taken. Inuyasha crossed his arms and started to walk. "I'm going to take a look." He declared.

Kouga stared as he proceeded away from the campfire. "Is it a long walk?" He called to him.

The half-demon's irises conducted a brief examination of Kouga. Even after several days of healing, just at the rim of his own red clothing, he could still see the mark left by the stinger and while Kouga was about and walking, it was obvious that he wasn't brimming with energy. "You still need rest." He advised to the wolf.

"Unless we're scaling a cliff, I can handle it." Kouga returned confidently as he stood on both legs. It looked like an effort to prove his statement.

The hanyou looked over him one more time. "If you're up to it." He said, resuming his walk toward the trees.

"If I can go."

Inuyasha heard and continued along. "I didn't say you couldn't go."

Kouga trailed after him, pleased for the chance to use his legs after such a long period. The muscles felt weakened, but capable. Inuyasha wasn't insisting on dashing like he normally did or leaping between the trees. A calm stroll like this one was easy for the wolf and rather enjoyable, even though it was wordless most of the way. Inuyasha would occasionally look in one direction or the other, shifting his eyes between different parts of the path they walked. Like before, he was looking for a familiar landmark that connected to his memories.

As they made their path through the forest, Kouga tried to think of several things he could use to start a conversation. But probably because of yesterday's events, every idea was eventually thrown away. The minutes of silence continued to pile up between them with each step. The slight ambience of the forest and rhythm of their footsteps reiterated again and again. Kouga began to follow Inuyasha's momentary glances at random objects. One was just a tree, the other was just a rock, they were all things that seemed perfectly ordinary to the wolf, but obviously were more to the other. Still, sometimes Inuyasha seemed to slow down for certain things, he even stopped to take a longer look at a fallen trunk they came across. The shape of the wood laid across the mossy ground was odd. The tree seemed crooked and misshapen. From the roots that had been torn out of the ground, the trunk bent and twisted to meet the pile of broken branches at the other end. Inuyasha knelt near the tree's uprooted base and stared curiously at the bark. With one hand, he began to examine the rough surface. Kouga observed his actions without question. He had a feeling that simply watching would explain what the hanyou was looking for.

"By the way, thanks for this." He said while Inuyasha felt for a specific place in the bark, pushing aside the mess of misplaced leaves and twigs while he fingered the surface. Kouga fiddled with the red fabric. "I didn't think it was this warm."

The half-demon gave him a humored look. "It makes you look weird."

He added before going back to search along the fallen trunk.

"Red's your color, not mine." The wolf replied, trying to imagine the way he must have looked in his current outfit. He heard a tiny laugh from the hanyou that confirmed his appreciation. Shortly after, he stopped upon pushing one of the twigs aside.

Kouga stepped up behind and saw that Inuyasha had found a thin row of three lines cut into the bark. The carving was too straight and precise to be the work of an animal. Other than that note, there was nothing else the wolf could make of it. All it looked like was a simple markings left by some human who happened to be carrying a blade. Inuyasha registered the sight and moved on, stepping over the tree and changing his direction slightly.

"So where are we going anyway?" Kouga inquired while he caught up.

"I still don't know." The half-demon said back to him with simple manner. Following his discovery, there wasn't anymore stopping or slowing down and the hanyou's path became noticeably more direct.

Again, Kouga decided to exercise his patience, for all it was worth. Something about the mark on the tree had set Inuyasha's course. It was unexpected to say the least, that they would be looking for something particular in such a place. When he first walked out into the morning light and caught the scent of the meal that was now in his stomach, everything around him just looked like the wilderness. The way Inuyasha treaded the ground in such a straight line was changing that perception. The walk continued for a long time. He knew that many minutes had gone by, but it soon began to feel like they were approaching an hour. His wandering mind had gotten so distracted with whatever they could be heading toward that he abandoned the previous efforts of trying to stir up some form of talking between them. They passed through several clearings, more trees laying across the ground and rotting away, there was even one that looked like it had been cut down. Inuyasha only gave it a glance without ever even stopping. Each detail that stood out was a landmark to the half-demon, guiding him to a place that Kouga would not have noticed on his own.

A number of additional minutes passed and they came upon a twisting line of clear water wandering through the woods in a shallow depression. It was an oddly silent stream no wider than a meter. Inuyasha halted just at the rim of the reflective water and started to carefully follow along the side. As he did so, his eyes shifted attentively across the long trail of pebbles with the stream flowing over them. It wasn't long before he stopped again, just as the stream began to take a sharp turn away from them. Kouga saw a number of oddly shaped, dark objects laying between the rocks. Looking closer, he realized that they were all wooden planks carelessly scattered in the water's flow. At first, he believed it to be some kind of dam, but the pairs of posts on each side of the low water changed his mind. It didn't make sense to him, though. The planks undoubtedly looked like the remains of a wooden bridge, but the stream wasn't even high enough to cover someone's feet. So why build one here?

Inuyasha set one foot in the cold water and continued to examine the different shapes of rotting wood. Kouga waded with him in the stream, looking at the same thing. "How long is a long time?" he remembered the half-demon's exact words.

Inuyasha scratched his head. "I don't really remember." He answered honestly. "What's making you so chatty all of the sudden?"

Kouga hadn't heard the last sentence. Instead of looking at the planks, Inuyasha noticed the wolf's attention had fallen up ahead just at the top of the gradual slope that cradled the stream. Just beyond the obscurant trunks was a damp, flat surface of wood. It was easily recognizable as they crossed the wet rocks and came to the other side. In the midst of the trees was the sagging shape of a wooden shack. Many of the boards had fallen to the ground and exposed the interior. There was only room for one person inside, but that person must have left this home a lifetime ago. Moss had permeated the surface of the wood and the darkened material seemed damp enough to fall apart if it were touched.

Inuyasha stepped up to it. He stood still in front of the decaying structure for several moments. Hesitantly, his fingers wandered above the bloated wood and nearly came in contact with it.

The hanyou's hand fell away. "It's this way." He said softly back to the watchful wolf-demon.

In a slower pace, he continued past the old walls of the shack with Kouga close behind him. The wolf took one last look at the sorrowful assortment of wood and followed. The foliage thickened just as the shack was left behind them and Inuyasha eventually needed to use his hands to get through the leaves. Kouga did the same, keeping a close eye on his silver hair to make sure he wouldn't get lost.

"How far?" He called while trying to get a particularly stubborn cluster of branches out of his way.

Inuyasha stopped for a second while the wolf caught up. "Not far." He said.

After trailing through many more thick branches, one of which gave Kouga a firm smack in the nose, the sunlight could be seen showing clearly between the array of dark greens. Then, finally, Inuyasha shoved through the last layer of leaves and exposed them both to the full light again. Kouga joined him on the other side shortly after. The forest grew thin in the distance, the trees more scare, until they finally gave way to the open space ahead. In that space was a rather unexpected sight.

Bearing great similarity to the condition of the shack they had happened upon, a scattered number of human structures were drooping out where the forest cleared. The size was comparable to the village where Inuyasha's companions resided. But this place was only similar in a small number of ways. A lonely wind passed silently through the windows of the empty, wooden homes. Even the soft sound of their breathing felt quieter as Inuyasha drifted in a straight line toward the lifeless scene. He reached the edge of the shadows and stopped. His gaze wandered between the spaces that showed the rest of the village just behind. The screens of each window had flaked away and left nothing but a shadowy view into the other side. The unforgiving procedure of time had pressed down on the roofs, reducing many of them to neglected slopes of wood riddled with dark holes. The light that crept in through those openings made the texture discolored and dusty. Even the moss looked like it wanted to avoid this place. The buildings were dry and devoid of green. Inuyasha's dim pupils took the sight in, but as the reality of what was before them both traveled through his impenetrable thoughts, there was no reaction to be seen.

The ground made a rough noise under Kouga's feet as he approached the silent half-demon. "You've been here?"

His only answer was a slow, forward stretch of the foot. Inuyasha strode wordlessly toward the rows of decrepit buildings. Kouga followed him and watched. He passed through the shadow between two walls, one dark and simple, the other with a cluttered windowsill. The hanyou's hand traced softly on the edge of the wood as he proceeded. The sunlight opened again to the dry road that passed through the village. Kouga came close behind and stared down the long stretch of dirt that divided the decaying structures in half. Every single shack, home, hut, and doorframe was lifeless from the closest of them to the ones lying all the way down on the other side. By Inuyasha's side, the wolf passed one empty doorway after another. Soft rays of dusty light penetrated each house with ease. Few of them were with all four walls and many no longer held their roofs up. Supporting posts meant to stand straight were bent beneath the weight of what was above. Each structure was fragile and deformed by all of the ages that had been endured here. All human memories of this place were gone. Even the stories must have been dead after such a great extent of years. To all but the silver-haired figure that walked straight down the path in the middle, this place no longer existed. The only memories that survived were the ones that clung to Inuyasha.

They reached an empty trench that cut through the middle of the village and trailed off into the distant forest. The vestiges of two bridges that used to branch across were now collapsed at the bottom. Inuyasha stared down into it, still making no more noise than anything else around them. A pile of old boards in the rough skeleton of a rowboat laid half-buried at the deepest point. The half-demon's head turned to the dark door of one of the houses. Kouga saw a few lonely items scattered on the floor inside, but nothing that made this place more understandable. He faced the dry river again and noticed Inuyasha's movements. He slowly lingered down the slanted dirt into the desolate trench and back up again to the opposite slope. Kouga continued to follow.

On the other side was only a short number of old homes. All were small and with no more space than for two rooms. They stood like tombstones in a jagged semicircle, nearly overtaken by the forest that was gradually closing in on this place. Here, young trees and even some vines had crossed into the old territory of the humans who once occupied this place. Planks had been loosened with ivy growing between the cracks. Kouga even saw a narrow tree merged with the wall of one of the houses, the branches clung to the twisted roof. Inuyasha ignored it all as he crept straight into the shade and passed the last houses. From this point, it seemed that they had reached the full extent of the village and that nothing was ahead but more forest. The half-demon knew something different. In the same, sure-headed way he had been taking his steps since the beginning of this unexpected search, he made his way into the trees. There wasn't even a path through them, but somehow, Kouga was surprised with the sight of another structure not far from the edge of the village. Just past a few more trees he saw an arrangement of rotting walls hidden in the shade. A dampened roof sagged at the top of it, nearly prepared to give way. There were two windows to be seen, but no doorframe.

The house was just beyond the sight of the village, for a reason that Kouga hadn't guessed. Inuyasha stared at it in total stillness. He stared at it as if he wanted it to stare back at him. The wolf could easily have said that no emotion was to be detected as he watched the hanyou's face, but it wasn't true. Somewhere deep, there was more than what he was seeing. Inuyasha knew this place.

A tree trunk grew out of the ground close to the house's footprint. Green branches extended just above the roof in a fashion that almost looked protective and something else stood just beside the roots. Inch by inch, Inuyasha moved toward a single, tall rock placed at the trunk under the shielding of the branches. It was not an ordinary, rough-textured stone. The rock was white and oval-shaped. Its position was unlikely to be an accident of nature, the way it stood up so straight. The half-demon's steps grew slow on his gradual approach. The seconds passed and he settled for a place only a foot's length away from it. The wolf's blue eyes remained on Inuyasha the entire time he looked down on the beautiful stone. Just seeing the how perfect the shape was and how bright the tone, Kouga could see that someone had gone to great trouble to find it and place it there.

One small step was all it took for the wolf to notice the scent. It was a smell he had learned to detect very late in his life and it was still one that he always had to strain his senses to even be certain of. But as he drew in a long drag of the air, he was sure of it. Mixed in with the common smell of soil was another element. It was neither pleasant nor ghastly, but it was present. It was the unique, faint scent of a burial ground.

"It's a grave…" Kouga concluded out loud, ending the many minutes of silence that had transpired. The hanyou appeared not to hear him, not even making the slightest move. His only action minutes later was giving the soil around the stone a very slight stroke. He raised his hand and massaged his temple for a while, then took to his feet again. Inuyasha faced away. He passed Kouga with eyes fallen to the ground. There was no sound from him.

Kouga's eyes followed the silver-haired creature as he meandered slowly around the dampened house. He wandered over ever inch of the simple structure, between the darkened board that composed it and across the planes of decomposing material. He drifted around to the other side with Kouga not far behind. The hanyou stared into the abandoned space. One of the walls had completely fallen apart, reduced to nothing more than a few spongy fragments of wood on the ground. The nails that once held the wall in place protruded in crooked rows around the opening. They had nothing to hold onto anymore and only served as muted markings of what once was. Inuyasha's dusky eyes never shifted from what was inside. Kouga saw that the doorframe of the house had been faced in the opposite direction of the village. The entrance to this home hid shyly behind the trees and the walls in front of it, not wanting to be seen or entered. All of these things that the wolf-prince noticed made no sense. The way this house hid from the rest of the world made no sense.

The damp wood didn't even creek when Inuyasha took a step inside. He gazed at the mossy floor and the numerous scraps of decaying material that littered it. There were two other rooms from where he was standing. Through the doorframe of one of them the wolf-demon saw a wide slab of wood collapsed onto the floor. Torn and tattered fabric was layered over it with stains of dirt that overtook the original white color. The window just above that object that was once a bed was filled with the overgrowing leaves just beyond the rotten wall that defined what was once someone's room. Inuyasha's quiet stare had fallen on the wall opposite to the door. A short table made of crude wood laid broken on the floor. All four legs had given into time's relentless ways and fallen. The tabletop was stacked on top of them and nearly split in half. Kouga saw several patches of moss creeping out from the splinters in the surface. But in the midst of the broken legs was a number of water-stained books scattered all around and on top of the ruined surface. Some of them were buried under the table's rubble, others could easily be picked up. Yet, they looked so fragile that the thought of touching them without the bindings coming apart was hard to believe.

A breeze arrived from between the trees and entered the vulnerable space. The sound that the wind stirred up caught Kouga's attention. He was surprised to find that it came from something that resembled paper tacked to the wall. While it was the only shred of paper that was left on that wall, the wolf noted nearly ten more small nails that used to hold other scraps. There were a few dark smears visible on the one piece that was left, but nothing that Kouga could manage to read. He looked again at Inuyasha, who was still staring down at the scatter of wrecked books. Hesitantly, the hanyou knelt and reached for one that was trapped underneath the fallen tabletop. The spine of the book bent as soon as the dog tried to pull it out. Instead, Inuyasha chose a different one that had reached a resting place only a few inches away.

He held the decomposed object in his hands gently. Dark mold spots were speckled all across the weathered cover. The badly loosened pile of pages between the bindings looked yellow and bloated in a few places. The entire book itself was in an irregular shape, distorted by the moisture of so many years. Inuyasha stood and traced the blank cover thoughtfully with his eyes.

He opened it. The pages fell out.

The resulting flutter of stained paper that came cascading out made a strangely small amount of noise as, one by one, the pages came to rest on the ground at Inuyasha's feet. In their downward fall's trail was a light cloud of dust that slid out from the now empty book-binding and only a few of the smeared pages still hung onto the spine. Somehow, the reaction Inuyasha received seemed to upset him, even though it hardly showed on his face. His head lowered and he grimaced at the scraps of paper that had collected all around his feet. Kouga watched from the outside. The few remaining pages still had writing on them. The half-demon traced each blur and smear that distorted the lines. Almost nothing was legible to Kouga and much of what he saw looked only like a repetition of the same characters over and over. As gently as the hanyou could attempt, he let one finger hover over the repetitive lines. His claw followed each row of varying smears all the way to the bottom of the page. But just when the tip of his nail brushed the surface of the paper, another two pages detached and fell to the ground. He weakly swatted at one in an effort to catch it, but it simply fluttered away on the air and landed without a sound.

For a brief second, the hanyou held his pose. Then, he suddenly sounded a growl. He angrily threw the empty binding down in a harsh thrust. The damp spine separated from the cover when it impacted. All of the book's fragments laid in a disorderly circle around the lone half-demon while the sudden emergence of fury vented from him. His hands shook, his face looked ready to explode into rage. But that expression lasted for so brief a moment that Kouga wondered if he ever actually saw it. Out of nowhere, Inuyasha caved against the fragile wall, eliciting an obvious creak from it. His head sunk, silver hair following along and shrouding whatever emotions that were present on his face now.

Kouga took one step closer. "Inuyasha?"

The word reached the half-demon's white ear. Immediately, the fisted hand that Inuyasha leaned on pounded the feeble wood. Dust quickly fell from the rafters that loosely held the roof up. Inuyasha hit the wall again.

And again and again…

Soon the fit of anger escalated and the hanyou was slamming his fist every second. Like he meant to do it, the weak nails that held the wall together came loose. The lone shred of paper that remained there finally broke away from the nail the held it. Inuyasha struck the wall three more times and Kouga began to hear the wood splinter. The splinters did not take long to begin flying. Eventually Inuyasha resorted to his claws. He began to tear and assault the decayed material until numerous planks had been ripped away from their nails. A hole of faint light opened in the wall, but Inuyasha didn't stop there. Now with both hands, he franticly yanked every component of the wall, twisted pounded, pulled, and tore until the hole became even bigger. Even then, the half-demon kept on taking out his spontaneous rage against the helpless planks. His arms flailed wildly at every intact place he could find. Then, at last, he lost his balance and fell straight through the wide hole he made, taking several more boards with him as he went. The spongy wood clunked to the dirt with Inuyasha's knees. It was then, it appeared, that the hanyou had satisfied himself. Kouga had been watching the entire display. The whole time, he was at a loss of ideas. Anything that could make sense of what he was seeing rested with Inuyasha only.

He darted around to the freshly wrecked wall and looked straight at the hanyou. He hadn't bothered to stand. The wolf cautiously lowered next to him and listened to the soft sound of his panting. "Inuyasha… where are we?"

His face stayed hidden to Kouga. "…I thought there'd be people here." A thought escaped his mouth. With sorrowful, yellow eyes, he stared across the distance between them and the makeshift gravestone. "I grew up in this village."

The words fit so perfectly that Kouga was surprised not to have considered it. But with that statement, everything that had passed his sight for the last hour came together in harmony with the knowledge. With that sudden harmony, understanding was soon to follow. The wolf gazed toward the white oval of rock as well.

"Who is it?" he asked softly.

Inuyasha's eyes fell closed. "…It's my mother." He answered in a clear voice. The hand that held him up gradually loosened and the fingers embraced the moist soil beneath. "…she was teaching me to write."

A flourish of emotions passed through the wolf-prince. Some of those feeling he knew words for, while other could never hope to be defined with a name. Never did he see Inuyasha as he was looking at him now, on his knees with such open grief visible in his face. Unexpectedly, it brought back memories of that night by the bonfire. Yet, this time, he could feel a different response when he carefully wrapped his arm around Inuyasha's shoulders.

The pace of the wolf's heart elevated. The movement that Inuyasha made was barely a tiny shift, but it was a shift that went deeper into Kouga's embrace. He could hear the pants reduce to the normal rhythm of the half-demon's breath. The muscles lost their tension and Inuyasha allowed his eyes to rest as the wolf held him. So with a little more confidence, Kouga added his other arm. His chest rested against the hanyou's back, he could feel the soothing aura riding into his lungs with every breath. In that short moment, at least for Kouga, all of the misery and pain that had been survived in the last week was forgotten.

Inuyasha gently tried to stand. "You can let go now, Kouga." He murmured.

The moment ended and the wolf-demon removed his arms from him. "Sorry." He added.

The hanyou brushed off the apology with a slight wave of the hand. He made several short looks between the different spots of his old home. He faced the house, the stone, the shacks lying just past the numerous trees, and returned to the wall he had torn to pieces. For a while, he almost looked amused at what he had done in his fit of anger.

He took a deep sigh. Kouga awaited his next move patiently. "Would you do something for me?" he said to the wolf.

That sort of question always excited Kouga's curiosity. "Sure."

Inuyasha felt the splintered edge of the opening he made. "Can you go back and tell them I'm alright?"

The wolf joined him at the broken wall, giving him a quizzical look. "You going somewhere?"

The dog rubbed his neck and waited a short spell before explaining. He rested his hand and said "I just need some time by myself."

The answer was almost a whisper. Kouga returned a stare, facing him with a number of questionable thoughts. "How long?" He questioned further.

"I don't know…" Inuyasha said honestly. "Could be a while…"

The look he received from Kouga was just like the face he wore last night. There was a serious question locked in the wolf-demon's dark pupils that asked itself without a single sound.

Inuyasha faced him with a gaze to give strength to his answer. "I made you a promise. I'm going to keep it." He solemnly vowed to the wolf.

There was no palpable certainty for Kouga, but with careful consideration of Inuyasha's words, something gave him the confidence to rely on them. He drew a deep breath and nodded slightly. "Okay."

"Thanks." The corner of the hanyou's mouth curved in appreciation. He stepped away from the numerous walls and extended a respectful hand. His eyes met Kouga's and a peaceful look passed between them. "See you, wolf." He said, echoing their past form of "conversation".

Kouga shook his hand and felt another grin crack his face. To Inuyasha it must have felt like an ordinary farewell, but their hands barely moved at all as they joined for those few seconds.

Their fingers parted. Inuyasha turned away and began to walk. His long sweep of silvery hair rippled behind him as he maneuvered around the varying obstacles of the woods. He was just about to leave Kouga's sight when he called out to him,

"Inuyasha." The wolf addressed while he caught up. "One last thing." He said. The half-demon stopped and returned his attention to the one following behind. Kouga approached in a cautious set of steps. He summoned the courage to ask his question. "…Is there any chance at all?"

Inuyasha cocked an eyebrow upon hearing it. "For what?" he inquired.

"…Something between us." The wolf answered, looking straight at him with serious eyes.

"Kouga—"

"Be honest." The wolf cut him off before he could reply. "Please."

Inuyasha huffed softly through his nose. "Like I said…" He began to clarify, coming a little closer to Kouga. "I need to be alone right now." The hanyou finished.

With that, he walked off into the forest and disappeared. Kouga took one last glance at the pale stone under the tree before slowly wandering off and beginning on his own path.

_________

Kouga held the paw firm in his hands while his eyes hunted the item of question. He hadn't expected that finding a thorn could take so long. Silver waited patiently until the wolf-cub found what he was looking for just between two of the pads. Carefully, he eased the sharp irritant out with his fingertips. It turned out to be quite long for something as common as a thorn, perhaps even scary. Kouga nearly thought he saw blood at the tip before Silver's paw slipped out of his hand.

The wolf gently rocked his paw back and forth before letting it rest on the ground again with his three others. "Thank you, Kouga." He said warmly. "It must be nice to have fingers."

"Is it bleeding?" The cub expressed his worry as he tossed the thorn away.

"I'll be fine." Silver's rough voice replied while they continued on their way through the thin shade of the trees.

The only forest in the wolf-demon territory was at the lowest grounds. Everything higher was guaranteed to be nothing but cliffs and rock. With the majority of tribe members busy with other matters, it wasn't a place where many would roam, especially with the recent conclusion of the hunting season. Kouga walked on his two feet beside Silver's four paws doing little else but listening to the birds and taking short looks at the foliage. Years longer than most wolf-demons, Kouga carried a fascination with this different setting. Silver had grown to expect a lack of words from him, but never absolute silence. Furthermore, the dark spots on his arms weren't difficult to spot. Indeed, they stood out as though they were fresh.

"You're very quiet today, Kouga." The grayish wolf observed out loud as young Kouga was watching a pair of birds scurry through the air to another tree.

He took notice to Silver's words with a simple reply. "I guess…"

They both entered the sunlight again as the canopy opened up and revealed the cliffs. Silver carefully watched Kouga's face as they walked. He had been doing so since they had crossed paths and what he observed was a cause for grief. Suddenly, one of his ears twitched when a new noise appeared in the environment. The sound of rushing water was nearby. He took a second look down at his paws and was reminded of how speckled in dirt they had become from the hunting he had been doing before.

Through the next series of thin trees, he saw the water winking with light between the twigs. "Ah, perfect." He said fondly and went pattering toward the conveniently discovered location. Kouga watched him bound off into the trees, quickly understanding where the wolf was heading when he saw the same thing. He didn't run after him. He decided to keep savoring the pleasant scenery until he caught up. Silver never would stray far from him anyway, not when they would spend time together.

After strolling through a short distance, he came upon a series of rock formations that bent up against the cliffs. Many streams of clear water droned their noise as they cascaded over the shapes of the different types of stone. From the highest part of the waterfall, they all seemed to origin from one place, split into smaller streams as they trailed downward, and finally met in the pool at the bottom. Just as he arrived, the wolf-cub spotted Silver leaping onto one of the rocks and bending himself under the falls, letting the cool water pour across his fur. The old wolf enjoyed the sensation for a minute, then climbed back down to the edge of the pool. A little splash came as he made his landing in the shallow water. Kouga watched the water drip from his wet coat, then a pale mist scattered all around Silver as he thoroughly shook his body dry.

"Silver?" He felt a few drops spray across his skin.

"Yes?" The wolf's eyes faced him casually while he approached.

His mannerisms dwindled. "…Father showed me something a few days ago." Kouga began while Silver provided the full focus of his canine eyes. "You know, that thing he wears around his neck all the time?"

The wolf shifted a paw thoughtfully. "Hm." He made a small sound and approached the soft border of the shallow pool. A few ripples grew in the surface as he lapped up a small drink. "I thought he would have waited until you were older." Silver mused once he was finished.

The answer was precisely what Kouga had expected. If any creature in the tribe possessed the knowledge, it was Silver. He walked beside him along the edge of the water, which stretched out to a stream that trailed away from the clearing. "…There were these two symbols, one on each side…" he explained, making a motion with his fingers to imagine the object.

"And you want to know what they mean?" Silver guessed prematurely. He spoke his reply in such a blithely manner. Kouga was left behind in his bewilderment while the elderly wolf continued. "I suppose he told you that no one in the pack knows anymore, but you're right, Kouga." He said calmly upon noticing that he was moving ahead. "You're instincts serve you well."

The cub's brow rose slightly. "So you know, then?"

He gave a nod. "I do."

Curiosity riddled the young wolf-demon's face. Of course, he asked the obvious. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Silver didn't answer immediately. For a while, consideration crossed his grey and silver face. But instead of disappointing Kouga, he decided to provide what was being asked for. He resumed his pace and gestured for the cub to accompany him. "The first symbol most directly stands for power, strength, control, the ability to change the fates." He described gradually while Kouga patiently listened. The stream itself seemed to hush while the truth was uncovered. Silver's head bobbed while he searched his mind. "…I can't think of a word that fits the other one." He commented. "Mostly it represents loyalty, but not just to your leader. It's meaning more closely follows the image of honor itself." He watched the water gently glide over the underlying rocks while he spoke. "It's rather… complicated."

His eye shifted to Kouga. "But no leader of this tribe for the last few millennia has needed an emblem to tell them what to value, least of all those two things."

"But why keep it secret?" The boy asked him, puzzled.

"I didn't say it was a secret…" Silver responded, his head drifting downward. "Perhaps I hope that one day the meaning of those symbols will change." His final note came quietly.

Kouga noticed the wolf's paws slowing down while they wandered away from the stream. "Why?" He continued to question him. "Are power and loyalty so bad?"

He was momentarily distracted by an ache in his paw. He stopped to flex the joint a few times. "…Not always." A soft pop was heard and Silver winced in his throat.

Quickly, Kouga found himself concerned. "Are you alright?" He joined Silver on his knees and watched him try to wear the aches away.

"Just these bones." The elder wolf-demon assured him while he kept stretching his paw.

"We can rest if you want."

Relief showed on his canine face. "Thank you, Kouga."

They found a patch of soft grass a short distance from the trickling creek. Silver settled down in the shade with young Kouga beside him. They relaxed and watched the leaves falling from the branches. Many of them were hinted with a tone of autumn that was just beginning to appear. The two enjoyed the sight of the water passing by for a while and Silver rested his nose in the grass.

"Not long after that emblem was made, our tribe began to fall apart." The story began. "It was just around the time when wolf-demons began taking the shape of men. We became scattered and divided." The elder reminisced to the cub next to him. He stared intently at the passing stream. The specks of light on the water could be seen flickering gently in his dark eyes. "But then, one of the first pack leaders of your kind rediscovered it." He finished, feeding the other's noticeable curiosity. "He brought us back together again."

Little Kouga huddled up to his knees. "Is that what made it so important?" He thought out loud.

"Quite right." Silver answered, adjusting the position of his wet nose. He let it rise up and took in the various compositions of the air. His nostrils flared when a most distinct smell crossed his mind. The name inadvertently slipped out.

"Fish…"

"What?"

"Can't you smell them, Kouga?" The wolf said with a surprised look.

Kouga suddenly appeared shy when he heard the question. "Silver… I don't know how to do that…" He excused. "Someone said I was still too young for it."

A little chuckle came from him. He let his nose rest back in the pleasant grass and said "Whoever that 'someone' is, I think he's wrong, Kouga."

The young wolf rubbed his neck and remembered his last attempt. "But we all tried. Me, Ginta, Hakkaku, all of us did and we couldn't do it." He recalled how disappointed his friends had been that day.

"It's not so easy to learn without help, you know." Silver looked back at him with a very confident tone. Kouga couldn't have hoped to have such faith. But Silver was perfectly willing to begin and made a motion with his head to a place closer to the stream. "Here, have a seat over there." He urged him.

Kouga was anything but convinced. Still, Silver's hopeful face couldn't be refused and he got on his feet and moved to the place that had been pointed out.

"It will be easier if you relax first. Just focus on your breathing." The wolf instructed him while Kouga settled cross-legged on the patch of soil.

He glanced hesitantly over the scene in front of him. He murmured an "…alright." and started to put his thoughts into each following breath of air. He let a deep one in and gradually back out like he was preparing for a game.

"Close your eyes." Silver advised from behind, to which Kouga uncertainly obeyed. He shut his eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest around him. He heard an insect buzzing close by. Many different pitches of songbirds were present, but nothing entered his nose as strongly as the other senses. He heard Silver's calm voice again. "Very, deep, Kouga." He reminded him.

He exhaled as slowly as he was able until the next breath was complete.

"Good." The wolf praised him. "Now take a long breath through the nose."

He didn't see Kouga open an eye while he listened to the instructions. They only made so much sense to him and, so far, it wasn't so different from the last time he tried to hone his senses. Even so, he did as he was told and focused the air through his nostrils.

"All through the nose, don't use your mouth." Silver pointed out while he tried to pick something up.

He was disappointed when the effort yielded no results. His hopes had almost been stimulated when something tickled his senses, but it vanished before he could even find out if it was real. Kouga glanced over his shoulder at the wolf sitting not far behind, still unconvinced. But so much like the ways of this creature, he received a confident look and heard his voice again.

"Try again."

Kouga scoffed a little bit and turned back around. Just as before, he closed his eyes, absorbed the ambience of the sounds, and began to breathe.

"Let it in slowly this time, as slow as you can." His firm, certain tone came from behind.

Like he was told, the wolf cub drew the air in slowly. He felt the coolness of it brush the wall of his nose and create a slight tingle. Sadly, everything still smelled the same. Everything still smelled like nothing.

He looked back to him again, discouraged. "Silver, I'm too little for this…"

The wolf stayed where he was. "Try again." He repeated comfortingly. "Imagine what you're looking for, Kouga."

He drooped, but registered the advice in his head. Kouga resumed his posture and let his eyes slip shut. The first sounds reached his ears and spoke their names. The birds sang as they always did, the water continued to rush. He shut his mouth and let all of the air out to prepare for the next breath. A soft breeze ruffled his dark hair and tickled the tip of his nose. The leaves in the trees sung a soft rustle when it arrived. He could put a label on every noise. The water rolled across the pebbles, the leaves detached from their branches, the air whistled as it was softly divided in half when the leaves fell. They came down in numerous forms of sound. Some twirled as they fell, others wandered in a rather straight course. A small tap could be heard each time one touched the shifting creek and was swept away in the current. Kouga began to draw the air in. There was nothing.

He knew what Silver would say if he asked. So he closed his eyes once more and began the process again. The senses informed him of the environment all around him. He remembered the final piece of advice given to him. The smell of fish was easy when they were close to him, but the stream was at a considerable distance. He pictured the sensation of it, recognizable smell that hung around it. His last fish was weeks ago, but the smell was not a challenge to remember. He let the air in. This time, he sought to make it move through the nose as slow as possible. The cool touch of it circled his nostrils, entered, and slowly passed along. It reached the deepest part and made itself known all along the inside. Kouga kept trying to imagine the smell. He imagined it so well it almost felt like it was really there. But when the next cycle of air passed completely, he wasn't so sure it had been real.

One more time, he repeated the steps. The countless noises were everywhere. Thousands upon thousands of different leaves and rocks composed his world. In between them was the wood, the waters, the creatures that roam with him. Then, just when he was nearly finished, he held the air in place while it hovered in his nose. He allowed it to remain still. Then, in a moment that was so sudden it was almost shocking, the smell was there. It was real too.

Kouga opened his eyes in wonder. He sniffed the air again and, to his amazement, he detected the smell a second time. Silver didn't have to see very much to know his success.

"There, see?" he said gladly to Kouga.

In his efforts, the wolf cub hadn't realized he had been holding his breath. "Wow…" he whispered to himself.

Silver returned to his paws and came up from behind. He showed happiness on his face when looking down on Kouga. "Keep going." He urged him.

The youth let his eyes close again. He gave several more slow, steady sniffs of the air. Disappointment returned to him. "I think I lost it." He said with a frown.

The old wolf stretched and sat back down next to him. He closed his eyes and sniffed. "There's more than fish. Do you know what else I can smell?" He said, sniffing again. Kouga waited for him to explain exactly what he meant. For a few moments, the wolf just let the rich variety into his highly attuned nose. "I can smell the stream too, the moss on the rocks." He listed fondly. "…The trees, the soil…" He added with another whiff of the air. "…There's a rabbit close by."

Kouga raised an eyebrow. "You can smell the water?"

Silver nodded. "Everything has a scent, Kouga." He explained. "You learn to recognize it like the faces on different people."

For some unknown reason, Kouga suddenly imagined the wolf in his position, however long ago that was. "You remember when you first learned?" He pulled from his curious thoughts.

Silver gave a small laugh. "Oh, no. That was very long time ago." He stretched out his paws and scanned over the scenery. He gave Kouga another look and gestured with his snout. "Keep trying. Find something else."

An eager smile dawned on the cub's face. He quickly nodded and went back to trying to focus his senses. Silver watched and waited patiently while he worked. The seconds went by with nothing but Kouga's careful, steady inhalations. The wolf could tell when something was detected by the way the cub's nostrils perked at certain times. The scent of fish was an easy one, but the others wouldn't be an equally simple task. But he knew that it would cost some time before anything else happened. With Kouga perfectly willing to keep trying, the old wolf-demon was content with waiting. His own experienced senses told him what was happening beyond their eyesight. He could hear the rustle of the shrubs nearby, but it was unlikely that Kouga could. Then, in a wonderful stroke of luck, they were visited by another breeze. It was the perfect opportunity for an idea that Silver had been considering. He felt even more curious if it could truly come to fruition when Kouga did indeed seem to detect something.

"Kouga…" He carefully addressed him. "Can you tell me where the rabbit is?"

The young wolf hesitated for a moment. He drew a very deep sniff of the air. "…Closer." He said softly. Then, his eyes opened when the sound reached his ears as well. "A lot closer."

The rustling grew apparent on the other side of the stream. Kouga watched practically wide-eyed when the bushes shook and a brightly-colored rabbit came scurrying straight out. The little creature winkled its nose for a second, then darted straight back toward the shrubs and disappeared in a rustle of leaves. Kouga could hear Silver's impressed laugh when it happened.

"I think you have a talent for this." He proudly commented.

A huge grin lit young Kouga's face. "I didn't know I could do that!"

He laid his head back to rest between his outstretched paws. "Well, I'm sure you can expect many more surprises."

Kouga beamed down at him. "Thanks so much, Silver."

"Don't thank me." He contradicted. "All I did was give you a push."

The wolf cub smiled toward where the rabbit had been seen across the water. "I thought it would be harder than that." He said, hugging his knees.

Silver shifted to a more comfortable position. "That was hard, Kouga. At least it will seem that way once you get better." He winced again when one of his legs complained over his movement. "Ah… these bones…" The old canine grunted.

Kouga looked over the wolf's coarse, grey brushes of fur. He didn't know why, but he sometimes tried to find color in it. The other wolves in the pack all had the same brown color, but Silver completely lacked any trace of that shade. In spite of that fact, sometimes the light would touch him just right and it truly did seem that long ago he was not so different from them in appearance.

The youth looked over him a second time. "Silver, how old are you?"

"I try not to think of it." The wolf joked.

The answer was a small disappointment. It was one that often crossed Kouga's mind but never manifested as audible words. "So you don't know?" He pushed again.

The wolf exhaled deeply. "If I thought about it, I could guess." His eyes slowly shut, almost like he was drowsy. "You see, in the age that I was born, no one bothered to count the years. I never even heard the word until I was full-grown." Silver explained, thinking about the question as he did so. He spent a few seconds considering an answer before saying anything else. "But if I had to wager a guess… I would say seven or eight-thousand years." He stated casually.

Kouga's eyes went wider. "Really?" He questioned, practically startled by the answer he got.

Silver thoughtfully tilted his head. "It wouldn't surprise me."

Kouga hadn't realized that he was almost back on his knees. "…Woah…" He droned to himself as he settled back down. He asked another hesitant question. "You think that I could live that long?"

"I'm almost certain you could." Silver replied while he propped himself up again to speak more directly. "But surviving the chaos of that many years isn't an easy task. Have you ever seen a demon die of old age, Kouga?"

The wolf cub thought hard, but no names came to mind. He shook his head.

"Have you ever even heard of one?"

"Never."

Silver's nose pointed low. "It's easy to understand the reason for that, such a dangerous world, after all."

"…Is that why there aren't others like you anymore?" Kouga wondered with his words.

He shook his head softly. "That isn't entirely true." His eyes followed a pair of leaves curling down toward the stream. "I remember when there were more demons like me than you could count." He recollected. "Now counting them would be easy." Kouga nearly thought he heard a touch of sadness. "But there are other wolf-demons like me. Although the last one I met who had the gift of speech was nearly two-hundred years ago."

Kouga tried to imagine the concept. The mere idea of it was enough to make his mood fade. "Do you ever get… lonely?" he asked.

Silver's nose lowered. A long sigh left him while he thought of the appropriate answer. His eyes turned to Kouga. "My form is a rare one, it's true…" he acknowledged and went back to watching the stream flow. Another leaf could be seen falling from the branches. "…but I'm not alone." He said.

The answer wasn't enough to warm the youth back up. He silently waited for Silver to continue.

The old wolf looked down at his paws and spoke. "We don't share the same shape, Kouga, but I see you as my family." He reasoned with a newfound spark of pleasantry. He looked on as three more leaves meandered about on their weightless fall. "As long as that remains true, I'll never be alone." Silver finalized.

Kouga felt a soft smile again. "You're smart, Silver."

"No." He corrected as he laid back down and rested his tired head. "Just old." He went back to resting his eyes. "Now, would you mind a question of my own?"

The young wolf embraced the idea without saying a thing. His gaze was enough for Silver to detect his acceptance.

"Why do you think your father showed you that emblem in the first place?" he gently asked Kouga.

The change was instantaneous. "I don't really know." He replied, massaging his shoulder. The movement brought Silver's attention back to the fading bruise that remained on the youth's arm. Kouga's eyes fell to the ground. "I did something… he got real mad…"

The silvery wolf brought his head back up and gave him a quiet stare. "Kouga…" he spoke gently. "Do you trust me?"

He quickly nodded. "…Yes."

He saw the cub's expression slowly fade. His underlying distress was brought into plain sight. "If I can help, then you only need to tell me." Silver calmly informed him.

"I'm sorry, Silver…" Kouga said under his breath. An ordinary demon would not have heard it. The boy visibly tightened as he spoke. "You told me it wasn't safe…"

The wolf quickly recalled what the other was referring to. The confession that followed was in his mind before it was in Kouga's voice.

His head sunk. "I went to the river. I just wanted to see it." The bleak tone in his words was not guilt, precisely, but something similar.

He inched closer to the young prince and urged him onward. "You ran into something?"

Kouga shook his head. "I met someone." He corrected. After a long period of forcing the memories out, everything quickly fell back into place for the young wolf. "But he was different. He had these… yellow eyes. I think he was a little younger." He haltingly described to the other.

Silver listened intently for the rest of what needed to be said. Kouga remained wordless for quite some time. Eventually, the canine nudged him on with a question. "What was his name?"

He swallowed nervously. "Nareji." Kouga answered with fragile tone. The next phrase took a minute to compose, but there was truth to be heard in the way it was said. "He was nice…" The youth recalled, his fondness buried beneath the regret. "He didn't want to cross the river, so I did." His hand went up to his neck and started to massage. "He was kind of scared at first, but he was fun to be with."

Kouga halted again. Each time the story was picked up again, it didn't seem to last long. There were few words that Silver could provide to help him finish. All he was capable of depending on was whatever came to mind. "…That must have been a long walk." The wolf commented.

Kouga fingered his lip and stared off into space. "He never told me what he was."

Realization dawned on the wolf. With the details set, the rest of the scenario ran doubtlessly in his head. The idea of what transpired saddened him, but he saw no other conclusion that sufficed.

He sighed. "You asked… didn't you?"

He nodded weakly and confirmed. "Father found out…" His thoughts wandered through the unfortunate pieces of memory. "…He was so mad."

The canine tried to keep the upsetting image out of his head. Sadly, it was a truth that no mental barrier was powerful enough to block. His eyes fell on the young boy and sympathized. "I'm sorry, Kouga."

In slow motions, the youth rubbed his forehead. Another specific set of words crossed his mind and came slipping out before he could catch them. He gave Silver a questioning stare. "Why is he my enemy?"

The grey canine traced the familiar word back to where it must have originated. "…Is that what you really think?" he asked, encouraging Kouga to reconsider.

His eyes drifted downward. "I thought he was my friend…"

Silver exhaled through his nose for a moment. At last, he found something to offer to the cub beside him. "Let me be clear about this. Whatever happens, don't forget." He began, eliciting young Kouga's returned gaze. The wolf spoke in comfort. "Your feelings will never lie to you, Kouga, nor are they ever false." He carefully laid down. "But sometimes… people are capable of those things."

Momentarily, the distress on the youth's brow grew deeper. "…You think Nareji was lying?" he asked almost fearfully.

Silver's head lowered in a slow shake. "Not him." He completed.

A bleak sigh left Kouga's lips. "I just… wish I could have said goodbye to him…" the sentence gradually reduced to a murmur.

Silver took a moment to consider what he had just heard. His attention returned to the one beside him. "I told you that you should stay here, where you're safe." He recounted their previous conversation. "I still stand by what I said, but that doesn't mean that I can't cross the river for you."

The sorrowed expression changed to bewilderment looking Silver right in the eyes. Kouga wondered if he was drawing the correct meaning of what his friend had told him.

Silver's definite gaze did not change against the other's questioning look. "I offered you my help, Kouga. I will give it if I can." He declared.

The onset of gratitude quickly blended with a secondary layer of feelings concerning the subject. "You don't have to do that, Silver…" Kouga told him.

He brushed the comment away. "Think nothing of it." He said.

"Would you really do that?" A change took place and newfound hope filled the boy's eyes.

Silver simply returned a nod. "What did he look like?" he questioned, supporting his certainty.

The wolf cub smiled at the thought. He carefully pictured the boy and looked for the proper words to match him. "…Well, he had eyes that were this yellow color…" he listed the features as adequately as he could. "…and short, black hair, but it sort of shimmered when the sun hit it right." The most interesting of details came back to him last.

The wolf acknowledged his understanding. "Your age?"

"Almost."

"And his name again?"

"Nareji. It was Nareji." Kouga easily drew from his memory. "He said he spends most of his time by the river."

"Finding him shouldn't be a challenge." Silver assured him confidently. "But, Kouga, there is one thing I need to ask of you." He added to the statement.

He looked at the wolf with curious eyes. "What's that?"

A sudden seriousness emerged in Silver's tone. "See to it that no one knows about this. I may be gone for a few days and if anyone asks, make up a story."

Kouga didn't fully understand what Silver was asking. "Why?" he inquired.

"I can hunt and drink for myself, but I'm no warrior." The wolf explained himself. He took a short glance back to the water. "Your father doesn't see much value in me and I don't want to give him a reason to be upset." He finished.

Worry crept into Kouga's expression. "Are you sure you want to?"

The wolf bowed his head. "Of course, as long as you can do what I said."

His apparent certainty was enough to reassure the young wolf-prince. He gave a hesitant nod and said "Alright."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear from you." The canine warmly noted.

Kouga leaned in and gave him a tight hug. "…Thanks, Silver. Thank you so much." He said into the softness of his fur.

The elderly wolf felt himself chuckle. "You're quite welcome."

That's all for now. Remember to review if you want me to feel loved. ;) Praise, likes, dislikes, constructive criticism, whatever. Any of them are great to read. Love you guys!