Howling at the Moon

Chapter 15.

'A Winters Storm in Summer'

Silence followed suit once she stopped thrashing. Clouds consumed the once sunny afternoon, and a cold chill spread through the air. The temperature was plummeting to unfathomable levels for being the summer. The frost that the wolves dreaded every year seemed to be returning, the harsh winter they had suffered this year was showing itself again.

Being demons the cold usually wasn't a bother for them. They could withstand almost any freezing temperature, but this cold was different, it seeped right in to their bones. The once warm wind blew through them delivering an icy blast. The frost that had appeared to be the start of the unusual weather now spread to the lining of trees.

Summer beetles and insects where falling dead off the trunks as the frost inched up the bark. Leaves that had been swaying in the breeze froze solid and stood still. Breath exhaled by the surrounding observers could be seen clearly.

"What's going on here?" An older voice crackled out, it was the healer. She wore a bushy fur coat around her top half in order to shield her from the furious cold winds. Her gray hair was tied up into a messy bun while strands fell by either side of her face. She was horribly wrinkled due to her old age, and her eyes were small and beady. Her lips were tinted black with some sort of goop and her nails where long and cracked. They to seemed to be black.

"Such a fierce blizzard at a strange time..." Her old voice held meaning and a strange guteral accent. Her jet black eyes narrowed in on the scene. Kagome was lying in the middle of it all. She scoffed, of course it was the human brat that caused this. She didn't have a problem with her mortality, it was the trouble she brought with her that irked the old healer. To be honest she was surprised she wasn't sent to her more often. The human was hardy she'd give her that.

But this magic, she had never seen it before. Her mind went straight to affinities, not once has there been this kind. There had been other different types, branching off of the basic ones. Just recently in the past fifty years a girl was born with a very unique earth affinity. Instead of making the earth move she could bring life into it. The girl merly had to place her hands on the ground and focus her energy into that one spot to make a plant grow. She was also able to make fruit grow on trees that did not seem to blossom.

She was truly an accett unfortunately jealousy still reigned in the world of affinities. The girl had been killed off before she could master her element. Some say other earth wolves killed her in a foolish attempt to gain her ability.

The old wolf shook her head in pity. Stupidity was something humans did not covet alone.

She groaned and shifted a bone cane in her hand as she walked towards the unconsious girl. Giving Kouga a good smack on the noggin to move she sat down and placed her hand on Kagome's forehead. It was like placing your hand on snow.

Unpleasant as it was she still kept her hand there and muttered to herself. A yellow glow appeared from her finger tips and soon disipated when her words stopped.

Kagome's eyes shot open and she sat straight up. She glanced around and blinked a couple of times. Her mind felt fuzzy and her body was exhausted. Her eyes locked with kouga. Fear was present in them, what was going on? When she spoke out she noticed the foggy breath come from her mouth.

"What's going on?"

The others looked around nervously at one another. Kouga was the first to speak up.

"Kagome, do you feel alright? Are you cold?" She shook her head.

"I'm alright...why is everyone looking at me like that?"

True they had been staring at her intently ever since she came to. She swallowed hard and looked at her hand. It had an icy blue sheen on it. She gasped and ripped it from the frosty earth. Using her other hand she wrapped it around her wrist and stared at her palm with wide eyes.

"What the...?" It didn't feel cold at all but it looked as if someone had stuck her hand in a freezer over night.

"It appears you have an affinity child and an odd one at that." The old woman's crackly voice spoke words that made no sense to Kagome.

How could she, a human of no demon blood possibly have an affinity. Only strong wolves were grantid that honor.

"That's... impossible." It was hard to accept the truth but seeing the damage she had done to the grass and life around her it was impossible to deny.

"If I froze everything then why aren't you guys hurt? Why frost?"

The healer smiled her brown teeth showing, this would probably mean the death for the troublesome girl.

"Some elite wolves have special abilities with elements. They surpass all others and are gifted with unheard of affinities." She clicked her tongue and grabbed Kagome's hand.

"My guess would be you have the second level of the water affinity. But be that as it may you are highly uneducated in this subject. Everybody happens to be in the dark about it. If you are not careful you could end up hurting many innocent people."

The healer paused and eyed Kagome's hand.

"As to why you did not harm us while on your rampage, I do not know."

"Second... level?" Kagome repeated dumbfounded. She looked up at the gray sky her eyes wide with fear. All of this was because of her. Ever since she came to the tribe nothing but trouble had come of it. Was she ever going to get out of this vicious cycle? And now she could hurt so many people, that was the opposite of what she wanted to do.

"How do I stop ..." Kagome waved her hand around to try and add emphasis to the mess she had made. Unfortunately the small gesture sent a blast of ice into the sky. It swirled around beautifully before disintigrating.

"... this." She finished in complete shock. How on earth had she managed to do that? Part of her feared it but the other was completely entranced by what she could do.

"First of all, no sudden movements." The healers voice was hard and angered. "You could kill someone with that!"

She grabbed the fur off of her back and shredded part of it with her blackened claw. With the pieces she tore off she started roughly wrapping Kagome's hands together.

"You will do nothing until your cursed affinity wears off. It has to, sooner or later. In the mean time your hands will stay bound."

Kouga held back a growl. He knew this was for the best, even though he hated it.

"We were headed to the west tomorrow, maybe they have answers." Kouga offered the healer some input.

The healer scoffed at the idea. She never liked water affinities, they always seemed in love with themselves. She had once visited the western wolf tribes and vowed never to go back. The pompus rain makers were to much for her nerves

"Unlikely. This sort of thing doesn't happen often." The woman adjusted her torn fur and looked back to Kagome.

"My name is Toami, in case you were wondering and until this storm dies down you won't be able to go anywhere." Already flakes of snow came fluttering down.

"It's best we get inside for now, my body isn't what it used to be."

Hiroko helped her up and started walking back to the den. She looked over she shoulder and Kouga gave a nod of thanks.

He watched until they safely made it in and then let out a loud howl.

Everyone but Kagome seemed to understand what that meant. The tribe seemed to stop what they were doing and started to head back into the den.

"Lets go Kagome..." He grabbed her bound hands and lifted her up with ease. As they were walking back to the den each step Kagome took a small amount of ice appeared beneath her feet. Kouga noticed this and lifted her into the air bridal style.

"Don't let the healer see that... she might want to bind those to." He chuckled light heartedly.

To be honest he was downright scared, not just for her but for his pack. Things were already bad as is, this could just topple everything they've worked so hard on over. Once they managed to get everybody inside Kouga carried her towards the fire at the center of the room and seated her next to it.

"Maybe the warmth will keep it at bay." He said.

She nodded and starred into the fire. All they could do is hope that her affinity would somehow calm down.

As time ticked on the storm seemed to get worse. Finally when cubs started to complain Kouga ordered some of the lower ranking wolves to seal the entarence.

Sitting by the fire seemed to help, she had removed the bindings to check her hands. They seemed normal, and she stopped spreading frost where ever she walked or sat. Needless to say Kouga was more than relieved. Now if only the storm would go away things would be perfect. Grabbing two bowls he walked over to the feeding area and got himself and Kagome some food. He walked back to were she was sitting and handed her the bits of good meat he managed to find.

"I never saw you eat... so I figured you'd be hungry." She managed a small nod and took the bowl from his hand.

She smiled when she saw the meat. Of course it was meat, they were wolves after all. She'd have to show them how to grow their own vegetables later.

The two sat in silence while the pack seemed to be all to chatty today. It was apparent that Kagome's new ability was a good thing. Some were saying that it would be a good addition to the tribe. Others of course were not as enthused, the storm was their main worry.

"What if I never learn how to control it... What if I end up hurting someone?" Her voice was shaky and her eyes began to tear up. Even though she kept her head low Kouga could tell just by her scent and the mark that she was upset.

"You will, we all have to. You're not the only one who has had problems with their affinity. You should see a fire wolf have a tantrum, that's something to see." He laughed and pulled her close. Even though the fire had helped she was still unusually cold.

"Just one step at a time." He kissed the top of her head and she leaned into him.

A/N: Yes Yes I know its short but I plan on updating frequently. You guys deserve it! I hope you find this chapter interesting. Please don't forget to review it really keeps my spirits up and it drives me to write more. Thank you thank you!