The First Night [Merodi/Ookami]

[Aiko]

Night had fallen on Koga’s territory. Well, it almost had, anyway. It was closing in, like a predator closes in on its prey. And the night would come to eat away at the day, until all that was left was the bloody entrails of the sun. Right at this moment, said sun was fighting a losing battle, slipping down into the great abyss beyond the horizon and staining the sky with its blood.

Koga liked this time of day. The fresh reminder of the battlefield glowed in his sapphire eyes, and he had even paused in his running to admire the silent conflict. As the wind met him, warm with the last traces of the sun’s heat, his long ponytail flapped behind him like a dark banner, and he stood tall and proud, staring off into the sunset. More than anything, he looked like the cunning, feral animal that was the wolf in him, and all of the ferocity in his gaze and stance were reminders that he was the demon wolf, a creature of true strength and pride.

Now Koga lifted his face to the wind and breathed deeply. Suddenly, he frowned fiercely, looking angrier than he really felt. There was none of that rank odor that he was searching for, none of that bitter stench that he craved, if only to make it disappear. Naraku’s presence was missing. Though the wolf demon reflected that it was good he couldn’t scent the ugly bastard from his territory, for it meant he wasn’t nearby, but he also realized that meant he and his company might have to travel far from this land to find him.

Speaking of which, where was his company? Turning, Koga raced towards an outcropping of rock and scrambled up its rough flank. At its crest he crouched, electric eyes wide as he scanned his territory for the deer demon, the wolf demon, and the wolf half-demon. Although he had only met this company earlier that day, he felt that he should wait for them. After all, weren’t they to be assisting him on his quest for Naraku? Feh. Slowpokes. Thus was the fleet-footed demon’s thought as he scanned the earth for them.

From his perch on the stone, crouching like some gargoyle, Koga looked like an ancient sentinel, as though he had crouched on that rock for ages, guarding the way to and from his lands.

OOC: You guys want me to make this open?

[Lord Sesshomaru]

After a while of running at full speed, Merodi had lost all adrenaline. It was drained out of her, sucked out of her as she ran. She tried her best not to pant too hard. Koga-sama made it look so easy! How could he do it?! He was just a normal wolf demon, and shika yokai could out run them most of the time. But Koga-sama was different. Soon, it seemed that he was nothing more then a blur miles in front of them. And then she could no longer see him.

Merodi began to panick. What if he got angry because they were so slow?! What if he thought that they had stopped on purpose or something?! Of course, it was hard to think on such things when running at top speed. Her legs began to feel like jello, and the more she lept, the more she felt tired.

Merodi's attention turned to the sky as she noticed that the day was coming to it's end. She smiled. Maybe he would stop now. She hoped that they didn't have to travel through the night as well. She needed to eat...and to drink for that matter. Dying of dehydration was something that the young shika didn't like to think about.

Soon, she came to the area where Koga had waited for them. Merodi looked around the area, checking each rock before her eyes fell on Koga. "Koga-sama!" she gasped out, almost choking on her voice and soon enough, she stopped too soon, and the momentum made her lose her balance, and she found her face planted in the dirt.

Oh, how humiliating! Right in front of Koga-sama too! Shika's were not supposed to be clumsy! She let a painful groan before pushing herself off the ground until she was in a sitting position. She smiled nervously up at Koga, then turned her head to watch of Ookami would be coming.

((nah, three people in a thread is hard enough to keep up with -_-))

[ookami]

Akki was next to catch up with the two. He came trailing in behind Merodi, and glanced at the two with waitful eyes. Then he turned, looking out into the night to await his companion. Where was she, anyway?

Well, she was of course, the last in the line. The hanyou could feel her heart beating irregularly, which probably wasn't healthy. But she forced herself to continue, she wouldn't give the other wolf demon any reason to berate her because of her hanyou heritage. Her eyes, without really noticing it, glanced to the sky, to the moon. Her hands clenched, the moon would be a sliver tonight. When it was such, well, she would have to hope her new companions fell asleep early...if they slept at all.

She finally caught up to them, and stood herself straight and tall. Despite the fact that she fell like falling to the ground, and felt like she desperatly needed a respitory machine, she would not let the others see this. She crossed her arms, and glanced with narrowed eyes at Koga, as though daring him to say something about her speed. "Whats the pause for?" She asked, blinking. Mind as well act as if she wasn't tired.

[Aiko]

Geez, was the only thing this hanyou capable of being ungrateful? Here he was, nice enough to wait for the three other demons to catch up with him, and all the half-demon could do was whine, “What’s the pause for?” For now, Merodi was forgotten (the wolf demon wasn’t sure whether to feel irritated or amused by her klutziness), so Koga turned his full, annoyed attention on Ookami. And who was she fooling? A wolf’s ears are fine-tuned; he could hear her rapid heartbeat from within her chest. Keeping up was apparently not a piece of cake for her (not that he expected it to be).

“If you don’t want me to stop, then you should learn to keep up!” he barked, sounding like some pompous general, but with that usual hint of boyish impatience just beneath the surface. Crossing his arms and getting up from his crouch, Koga looked like the strangest mixture of a boy and a man, half-illuminated by that bloody light of a dying sun. After standing there a moment longer, he hopped down, landing a few feet away from Merodi. Now this wolf demon knew how to land lightly and gracefully as a feline, but right now he chose to slam his feet into the ground, breaking even a few stones that had the misfortune of being beneath his feet.

Momentarily ignoring the other two demons, Koga stalked right up to the half-demon, purposefully getting right up in her face. He’d done the same thing to Merodi, but this time he looked a lot more intimidating, his nose centimeters from Ookami’s. Eyes narrowed, he growled, “You invited yourself along, you know. If you’ve got a problem with me, get lost!” Satisfied that he’d gotten his point across, he turned pointedly away, hands balled into ready fists at his sides. Now he wandered over to the deer demon.

Bending down by her side, he asked, “Well? Do you mind that we’ve stopped?” Koga’s voice still carried his usual voice, but even though it was still a fierce tone, it was considerably gentler than his snarl to the half-demon. Perhaps because of her more obedient, compliant attitude, quite unlike that rebellious Ookami, he liked her better. At least she wasn’t trying to assert her authority on another person’s territory.

Once again, Koga was taking a complaint to a higher level.

OOC: I sure like to ramble, don't I?

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Soon, Akki had joined with the other two. Instead of getting off the ground, and save herself anymore humiliation, she continued to sit there, waiting for the presence of her friend Ookami to appear. And when she did, a happy smile came across her face. She didn't even notice her small fluffy tail doing a quick little wag. Her happiness was taken away, and replaced with curiosity and confusion on what Ookami said. She spoke as if she wasn't tired. Though Merodi could easily hear Ookami's beating heart, she didn't pay attention to it. And instead showed her awe to the hanyou that seemed to have not been tired at all. Even when she, Merodi, was tired. Amazing.

Merodi's attention turned to Koga as he yelled at Ookami from his perch on the rock. She didn't know if she should be awed by his appearance as he stood, or be fearful. If she had been awed, it was replaced with a sudden fear as Koga jumped down from his perch, and landed a few feet away from her. And though it was a pretty good distance, Merodi could not help but jump in fright. Her ears pulled back to avoid the echoing of his landing.

Merodi eyed Koga with every step as he walked in front of Ookami, and got right in front of her face. She shuddered, knowing what it was like to be on the receiving end. And glad that she was not. She thought what he said was a bit uncalled for, but she didn't voice such opinions. Her thoughts were cut short when Koga suddenly came to her side. Her eyes widened in surprise, for she had been too deep in thought to notice him until he was squatting beside her.

"I am glad that we stopped, Koga-sama." she smiled, though it was a bit nervous. She frowned, before stuttering out. "C-could we camp now?" she found herself getting herself ready for the worst. For all she knew, he wouldn't want to camp. She would do anything to camp now. Traveling at night seemed a bit unsettling to the shika yokai.

((I like your ramblings))

[ookami]

Ookami kept her feet squared, and eyes narrowed, even as the other wolf demon stepped up to her. It was a bit unnerving, his teeth were very sharp, yet she kept her ground. The whole reason for her words had been her pride, something difficult to let go of. However, she didn't retort, just turned her had and crossed her arms. And she listened as the wolf demon walked off, going to Merodi's side. Heh. Whats got his tail in a knot? She asked herself, although she refrained from saying it outloud. It did, however, cheer her up a bit.

"Yikes, relax. Sorry, didn't mean it. Its fine that we stopped, really." She said, forcing a bit of cheerfulness into her voice. She really hadn't meant to force such a reaction from the youkai. Sure, she had expected something, but not an outright explosion. She vagualy figured that this guy was like a timebomb...very tense and ready to go at any second.

Ookami went to her wolf companion's side, grabbing a bit of his scruff in her hand. Her other hand unknowingly fingered the shard she kept upon the thick, crimson chain around her neck. She glanced at Merodi, eyes narrowed slightly. She hoped the shika was feeling ok. She didn't like the way she stuttered in the presence of Koga. Especially since Ookami was sure the other wolf relished in the fact.

"C'mon Merodi." Ookami said, walking in front of her friend and holding out a hand, giving Koga a slightly pointed look. It wasn't smug, nor was it calling him out, it was more of a silent beg. Truth be told, she thought Merodi's idea was an excellent one. Although, of course, she wouldn't say this out loud. Not if her life depended on it.

If Koga decided to go on, well, then she would go on too. She was going to be a bit more careful from now on, and at least try to stay on Koga's good side. But still, she wouldn't let her pride down for anything. Not even this stubborn wolf youkai.

[Aiko]

“Yeah, fine,” growled Koga, a grudging note in his voice. He would have gladly said so to the deer demon, but now the half-demon was trying to take charge again… again! How many times was she going to threaten his authority in one night? But then again, there was that veiled pleading look she had thrown him, which made the wolf demon a little uncertain. It was almost as though she would have actually listened to him if he decided to charge on. Well, here’s a news flash: a good leader takes care of his own.

It did seem as though Ookami was looking out for the welfare of her companion from before she had met Koga, which just confused the wolf demon more. Maybe it was just him she had a problem with. Well, if that was the case, she could always leave! He wasn’t stopping her, no matter how falsely-cheerful she was. Nevertheless, she was confusing him, and he needed to get away from them. Getting some firewood would be a good excuse.

Azure eyes narrowed, Koga spun around wordlessly and marched off, head held high and hands still balled into fists. As soon as he was out of site of his other companions, he broke off into a run and headed towards the forest. Now, with no groupies to hold him back, he was tearing across an open stretch of land at top speed, reveling in the strength in his legs. His mind was lost in the thoughtless rhythm of one foot in front of the other, the reassuring feel of solid ground beneath him, stoic and unchanging. Before he reached the tree line, he was loping along almost faster than many could see, slowing only as he reached those bark-covered columns and slipped beneath the leaf-strewn canopy.

Here, beneath the arching boughs, Koga relaxed. Unlike what some would do, he did not use the calm to think about his problems. Rather, he focused on finding firewood, and bent down on the forest floor, scooping up brittle branch after brittle branch, each ranging from the size of a pencil to the size of a broom. His hands rubbed against the different barks, some smooth and sliding easily under his skin and others rough and snagging at his fingers. The reassurance of their solidity calmed him, though he did not relax so much to smile.

As he wandered farther into the woodland, he spotted it: the perfect branch. It was dry and smooth, with little twigs that would provide kindling while the main part of it would be the fuel. Yes, it was the perfect branch for firewood. But as Koga reached down to snag it, he felt something pinch his finger. Glancing down, he saw a spindly-legged speck scuttling from his hand back onto the branch, until it escaped out of sight. Spider, he thought, and examined his index finger. There was a pair of tiny holes on his fingertip, and the wolf demon grimaced. At least it was an ordinary spider, not a demon or anything.

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Merodi easily took the hand that Ookami lowered to her. Pushing herself off the ground with a small grunt, she began to swat some dirt off her clothes and knees. And then she turned her attention to Koga. Waiting for his answer. Would he allow them to camp or not? A happy, and slightly relieved smile came across her face as Koga answered with a yes. Though he was being rather grumpy, Merodi ignored it easy enough. Able to see the true meanings in his word.

Though, she frowned when Koga turned and left. She wished to follow him, and had actually taken a step before stopping herself. Ah, no. If he didn't want to be followed, then he would be angry with her. He just wanted to be alone, but for some reason Merodi wanted to stay close to Koga-sama.

Very confusing for her.

Merodi took advantage of Koga's disapearance to skip away from Ookami and Akki. Maybe she could get some grazing in before he returned! Since he seemed to not like it so much. She smiled, her happiness returning as she looked around for a good patch to feed on. All the while humming the newest song given to her in her dreams. Rather a depressing, and deep song, but she liked it nonetheless.

Soon, she found her patch, and sat down beside it. Tearing up a few blades she nibbled on it like a cracker. She looked up at Ookami, who was a few feet away, and smiled at her. Humming and eating at the same time...or, pausing after every few swallows.

[ookami]

Ookami let go of Merodi's hand as the shika youkai stood to her feet, and nodded slightly. She, too, felt relief at the other wolf's words. They were going to pause for the night, excellent. And yet then, suddenly, the other wolf was gone. Ookami blinked, and frowned, yet stayed quiet. Instead of speaking, she mearly shook her head and threw up her arms. She had a feeling this would be a very long journey...er...search. Or whatever it was.

As Merodi wandered off, sat down, and began to eat, Ookami felt a slight rumble from her midsection. It had been a while since she had last eaten, and it had been naught but a rabbit. Which, of course, she had shared with Akki. Ookami absentmindedly scratched at her stomach, thinking. It was probably best to wait for Koga to return, but she was severly hungry, now that she gave it some thought. And she didn't want to eat in front of Merodi, that had been established.

So, she looked down at her first companion, the wolf Akki, and nodded slightly. "Merodi!" She called, moving her eyes to focus on her newfound friend. "I'm going to go hunt a bit, while Koga's off doing whatever he's doing. Akki is going to stay, though, so he'll be here if you need anything. I won't be far." She said, trying to look out for her timid friend, as always. Although, it seemed that Merodi was changing...if only by the smallest bit. Prehaps it was Ookami, or Koga, or Akki, or the combination of the three. Ah, well, no use thinking about it now.

With a small wave, Ookami set off into the forest, in a different direction and at a much slower pase then Koga had. Her mind wandered away from her friend and companions, and onto what sounded like a good meal. She crossed her arms as she thought, the decision harder then she would have guessed. However, it was probably just her way of focusing her mind away from things she didn't want to think about.

"Lesee...rabbit is always good, but I doubt theres a whole lot around here, and besides, I already had that today. Hm. What sounds good..." She paused, her eyes lighting on a small squirrel nibbling at its own dinner on the ground. She grinned, and stopped, eyes dancing. "Squirrel." She muttered to herself, crouching down as she examined it. She pulled out her other trusty companion, her sword Flameberg, and held its point out. With her foot, she kicked away a rock.

And as the squirrel dashed up the nearest tree, Ookami lunged, stopping it with the point of her sword.

Once it was down and in her hands, she began to strip it of its fur. It never was very good.

[Aiko]

Koga had finished collecting firewood, so he scooped up the bundle in his strong arms and walked quickly out of the forest. The spider bit was like a prickling annoyance at the tip of his finger, so, shifting the branches under his opposite arm, he reached up and stuck the bitten fingertip in his mouth, a habit that really didn’t do as much as one would think when they saw how much people did this. When he reached the edge of the forest, he took off, still sucking at the little bitten area.

Because he was running at top speed back towards his companions, some of the twigs flew from his grasp and left a trail of branches in his wake, though his feet kicked half of them away, all the while snapping them into splinters. Still, he was able to hold on to the majority of the fruits of his labor, and by the time he saw Merodi sitting beside a grassy patch of earth, he still had a reasonable amount, or at least enough to make a decent fire. And so, he slowed down from that dusty blur that anyone would have seen and skidded to a halt, wincing as gravel flew up to smack him on the legs, and finally stopped completely.

Of course, it would be just the deer demon’s luck to be hardly a foot from where he managed to halt, and that his upper body bent forward slightly so he loomed over her unintentionally. Then again, his look wasn’t quite so angry or irritated, so perhaps she wouldn’t be too frightened.

Though his voice was muffled by the finger he had stuffed into his mouth, he asked, “Where’s that other one?” by which he meant Ookami. Not waiting for an answer, Koga lifted an eyebrow, staring at how the other demon was apparently eating grass. To any wolf, this would seem strange, though he knew that it could only be natural. She was a shika, after all. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how actually appetizing plants were.

But he didn’t waste much thought on pondering the flavors of grass. Koga tossed down the bundle of branches beside Merodi and plopped down on the ground next to her, finally taking the bitten finger away from his mouth. He contemplated it a few moments with a disdainful look, holding it up to see it better in the last vestiges of bloody light, then snorted. He’d dealt with much worse than a little spider bite before.

Turning to the deer demon, he asked, “You got anything on you to start a fire with?”

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Merodi continued to nibbled on the grass as Ookami spoke to her about going to hunt. Ugh, the thought made her stomach churn...but she was trying her best to get used to the idea. She smiled at her friend, yelling out an 'okay' before Ookami left. She felt sorry for anything that Ookami chose as her meal. Merodi shuddered before continuing to nibble on her food, feeling rather lonely...since, well, she was alone.

Except for Akki, but she was still trying to get used to the wolf. He truly was the image of a shika's nightmares....

Not wanting to silence any longer, she began to sing the song that she had been humming a little while ago. Though, as the first line of lyrics left her lips, she stopped short when hearing someone running top speed toward her. The grass she had picked fell from her hands, and she let out a yelp of fright as the gust of wind turned out to be...

Koga-sama! But even so, his proximity, and the way he towared over her sent shivers down her spine, and she just stared up at him, wide-eyed for a few seconds before she forced herself to calm. Swallowing down her heart that had leapt into her throat. And when he spoke, it helped her calm down.

"She went...hunting." she answered to his question. Which she suspected was toward Ookami. Merodi looked up at him curiously since he had his finger in his mouth. She wondered what happened, but decided not to pry. As he sat down beside her, she held back the urge to scoot a bit a ways. Finding that would be a bit rude; and she knew she had to overcome this fear she had. So, she forced herself to stay where she was.

Occupying herself by nibbling on the grass she had dropped before, she looked up at him apologetically with his question. "Gomen...I do not..." Merodi had never used fire before. She wouldn't have anything on her for that. She wasn't a big fan of fire, and she never needed it. She found that starting a fire brought attention to herself. Never thinking of needing light at night time.

Though, if she had some light, it might have helped her with that anxiety complex of hers...

[ookami]

Once the small squirrel was stripped of its disgusting fur, Ookami began to eat. She didn't bother with cooking it, somethings were just better raw anyway. It was tough, and not too good, but as soon as it was gone, she felt a bit better. She'd be able to go a little while, with just that, before she had to eat again. And so, figuring that the other wolf demon had to be back by now, she stood to her feet, dusted herself off, and headed back towards the make-shift camp.

As she approached, she vagualy heard Koga's last words, and then Merodi's apologizing reply. This made Ookami just a bit angry. She wished that her new friend would stop all the apolgizing, especially to the other wolf demon. Despite his obvious temper, and bossiness for that matter, there was no reason to fear him. At least, this is how Ookami thought. To her, Koga was none other then another companion, despite his rank as leader of the local tribe. Neither she nor Merodi were in the tribe, so to Ookami, Koga was in no way there leader as well.

"Were all equals." She growled slightly to herself, stopping in her tracks. Her anger had suddenly reached out, she wasn't quite sure why, but she knew she had to tone it down. Its not like Koga had commanded that Merodi apologize so much. As a matter of fact, it probably bothered him as well. This made Ookami a little calmer, and she finally walked out into the camp.

"Never fear, your savior is here!" She said, a large grin spanning her face. She strode between her two friends, to the pile of sticks that Koga had obviously collected while he had been out. She leaned down, bending her knees, and grabbed on of the sticks. She then held the end, and in a moment a spark of flame was surronding it. This she put back into the pile, and watched as it quickly spread.

"There. Happy?" She said, glancing at Koga, still grinning.

[Aiko]

Well, that was an interesting trick. Koga eyed the newborn fire suspiciously for a moment, his light gaze shifting from Ookami to the flames and back again. Finally, he picked up one of the stray twigs that had fallen from his hands before and prodded the young blaze. Bursting into flame, the twig began to glow cherry-red and grew hot in the wolf demon’s hand. Quickly he dropped it into the fire, satisfied, but winced. A troublesome spark had flown up out of the fire and singed his fingertip, and it would be just his luck that it was his bitten one.

It seemed that Ookami was not just half wolf demon. Either that, or she had some rather intriguing talents. But where had she picked these up? That had been what aroused his suspicion, and his sudden wondering if she was in some way connected towards that loathsome beast Naraku. However, he now detected the scent of fire demon mingling with that of wolf, and the fire was real enough that he suspected no trickery from there. But you see, the only other that Koga knew of to manipulate an element was that wind witch Kagura.

But now, the pain in his fingertip was distracting him. A big, strong demon like himself wasn’t one to worry over such tiny nuisances, but with nothing else to distract him, Koga couldn’t help but noticing how the burn throbbed in that sensitive area of skin, and how the bite of spider and fire became one. He held it up to the firelight, for the reddish glow of the sun was growing fainter by the heartbeat, and examined the charred, abused flesh for a moment. Returning it to his mouth, he suddenly wondered what Merodi and Ookami would think of him if he was worrying about a little pesky wound.

Bah! he thought stubbornly. Let them think what they want. Nevertheless, he took the fingertip away from his mouth and, with an attempt at discreteness, he clenched that hand into a fist so neither of his companions would see the little trouble he was having with his finger. As if to challenge them to question him about it, he glared fiercely around at them, then crossed his arms defiantly. Of course, if one of the others hadn’t seen what had happened before, it would look rather… odd.

OOC: Bah myself... I'm tired. T.T

[Lord Sesshomaru]

Merodi watched as Ookami came back from hunting. And only for a second she wondered what she had hunted. It passed with a small shudder. The young shika watched curiously as Ookami grabbed a stick and it burst into flames. Startled, Merodi let out a small yelp. Though, immediately she felt humiliated that she had been so startled. The shika's communicated through loud bellows, not yelps and squeaks.

Merodi calmed herself, watching the flames for a moment, her attention was diverted elsewhere when Koga began to pick at the flames with the stick. She watched, concerned and curious when he inspected his finger and brought it back into his mouth. Was there something wrong with his finger? Had he burned himself? Or was it a splinter? She felt worry and concern for Koga.

Though, as she continued to watch him, it seemed that concern was the last thing he wanted. And when his glare went around to everyone in the group, and fell on her, she looked away, seeming as if her mouth had been glued shut. No, it would not be a good idea to be concerned.

Merodi sighed, bringing her legs up to hug against her chest, resting her chin on her knees. She was content with her little group. And as she watched the fire, losing herself as the flames danced, she began to hum lightly the song that had been stuck in her head all day. This was the first night she would have with her new group.

Including with Koga-sama. He seemed so prideful and stubborn. Also seemed rather normal for a wolf. Merodi seemed the complete opposite.

[ookami]

It would have taken somebody with a great amount of subility to glance at the hanyou, without her noticing. And, unfortunatly, at the moment that was not what Koga possessed. It was painfully obvious, his odd suspicion. However, instead of overreacting, as she would have liked to, Ookami simply moved her gaze right back onto the wolf demon. "I'm only quarter wolf." She said lightly, her only explanation.

But if there had been any bitterness in her look, it faded quickly, and she leaned back, stretching. The hanyou also didn't miss it when the other wolf burned himself, and she couldn't help but chuckle. However, she said nothing for this either. He obviously didn't want any comments on it, so she would give none. Instead, she reached up with one hand to absentmindedly scratch Akki on the scruff.

"Hungry?" She muttered, reaching into her pocket, where she had stored a small strip of meat. Hoping her hand was out of the sight of her shika friend, Ookami tossed the meat into Akki's mouth. The wolf snapped it, and it was soon gone. Yawning slightly, Ookami returned to a sitting position. However, she she did, her thick, crimson chain slipped, and fell from her shirt, the shining shard becoming painfully visible.

With a slight, almost unaudible gasp, she grabbed it, and stuffed it quickly away. Akki looked at her curiously, as though questioning her unwillingness to allow her object to be seen. She answered not, but quickly scratched his ears, as though to hide her clumsiness.