Blue moon and Red Fire

Chapter 23: Trapped part 2

Day 4

Souta wasn't sure what time it was, he didn't know, he didn't care.

The boy simply laid there on his side in soft grass of the open fields, staring outward toward the horizon. He drew his knees up to his chest and held them tightly with his arms, shivering slightly, though not from the cold. '...' It was late, that's all he knew of the time, he just wished the moon would sink and day light would come.

He was weak, he was tired, he was sleepy, but he couldn't seem to lose consciousness, it amazed him that Houjo did. '...' His mind raced no matter how much he tried to clear it, blaring with a random mixture of faint voices, ideas, thought, like one chaotic song that constantly replayed itself despite his best attempts to will it away. It was something he was long used to, whenever something wasn't engaging his mind like a conversation or something else to focus on, this came about. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

It would have at lest been satisfied if that was it, but it wasn't. Then came the flashes of things, of people that roamed past him, quick glimpses of things that were gone before he could even lift his head and look completely, visions in the corner of his eye that were gone before he even knew it. He never liked it, seeing these people that weren't there, these ghost like forms. Tonight he wasn't afraid, uneasy, but not completely fearful. He'd talked to that strange boy, he'd touched him, this could no longer make him nearly as frightened as that did.

All of this gave Souta a horrifying thought.

He'd seen his father one time, who was of course long dead. What if he saw Inuyasha?...Souta grimaced and curled tighter into a ball, shaking his head. No! He wouldn't see Inuyasha! Inuyasha wasn't dead....But...what if he was?... Then it would just be a hallucination! It wouldn't be real... 'What if Inuyasha is dead?' Souta thought to himself, his eyes wide and his body trembling from tension. What if...What if...

“Souta? Are you still awake?”

Souta flinched at the sudden voice, but then eased, he didn't look back. “...Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I can't get to sleep.”

Houjo slipped his hands behind him and sat up right, slowly rubbing his eyes until the bright night sky became clear again. The older boy sighed, looking down at Souta helplessly. “What are you thinking about?”

“...” Souta didn't respond immediately, still staring outward blindly, as though he was anticipating something. He didn't know what he was waiting for, why he was hesitating, maybe he was waiting to see it again. Another glimpse of a person, a ghost that seemed to be just his imagination, maybe...he'd see Inuyasha after all. “At night, when I'm trying to go to sleep...even in the day time now...” He spoke distantly, as if to himself. Something inside of him decided to divulge all of this to Houjo as it had decided to tell Inuyasha. Houjo's presence was always comforting, he felt this profound trust in him.

“?” Houjo waited patiently, questioningly.

“I see things, people...like ghost or something.” He paused, then nodded to himself. “I didn't know what it was at first, I saw my dad once...”

Houjo scratched his head, he didn't quite understand what Souta meant at first, but he was starting to understand and he didn't know what to make of it. Souta's father was dead, he knew that.

“Then back at Kouga's den with Inuyasha I saw Kouga's whole pack.” Souta told him, still speaking in an oddly distant voice. Then he rolled over and looked up at Houjo with those same distant eyes, silently searching for answer that Houjo didn't have. “After that...when we went after Inuyasha and Kouga, I saw this boy that was in the pack, I saw him another time before that. He told me which way they went.”

“Are you...serious...?” Houjo looked at him with confusion. This sounded far fetched, but...so did the fact that Souta could sense jewel shards, so did the fact he was waring something around his neck with such power, the fact that Inuyasha and Kouga...everything...When Houjo thought about it all, he was overwhelmed and filled with a deep need to know and understand. He had to force himself not to think about it all, to just wait and take the answers as they came, because when he was overwhelmed with such things he didn't understand, in his inane human nature he became afraid. So...maybe Souta was telling the truth, maybe he could see these things, it shouldn't have surprised him, all considering.

Souta dropped his head and stared down at the ground solemnly. “I'm scared that I might...see Inuyasha.”

Houjo, as much as he hated seeing Souta like this, he felt a sense of relief that they'd reached something concrete, something he understood. “Souta, you don't have to worry about that, Inuyasha's alive.”

Souta's eyes shifted up to Houjo swiftly and fixed on him with a harsh glare. “Yeah right!” He shouted angrily, his voice broke with a weak sniffle and his eyes trembled. “You don't even believe that!” He'd seen the doubt in Houjo's motives, the listlessness in his eyes, the deadening numbness in his entire being. He knew, he could tell.

Houjo looked away with a sigh, and silence followed, only solidifying Souta's accusations. “That doesn't-”

“Don't lie to me!” Souta shouted, tears swelling in his eyes and his gaze locked intensely on the older boy. “Do you...Do you think they're alive?”

“Well...” Houjo looked down, wanting nothing more then to comfort Souta, and that's all. But...he couldn't seem to do that anymore, and it hurt, Houjo's heart sank and a depressing feeling hovered over him. He hated more then anything to see people like this... “The truth is...I don't know.”

“I knew it...” Souta drew farther into the ball, and sniffled, quickly wiping away the tears and biting back the sobs he tried desperately to hold back. His body trembled fully and he whimpered softly.

“But-” Houjo quickly added. “Inuyasha and Kouga are the strongest people I've ever seen, and when they work together, they're incredible. If anyone can survive, it's them.” He said.

There was a silence that settled between them shortly after that.

“So...you think they could have...really made it?” Souta asked with a desperate, timid hope.

Houjo just couldn't bring himself to say yes really and truly, everything told him no. But this wouldn't be over for him, he'd never realize it fully, he'd never feel it completely until he saw with his own eyes. That was why he was doing this. “They could have.”

Souta nodded slowly and rolled over again, staring off with averted eyes.

'Souta...' Houjo rested his hand on Souta's shoulder, “It's ok...”

“I know...we're gonna find them.” Souta said reflexively.

“You don't have to try and be strong...”

Souta slowly rolled over and looked up at Houjo with questioning eyes. “What?... No, I wanna be strong.” He didn't understand what Houjo was talking about, why did he say that?

“You don't have to try all the time...you can just be your self.” Houjo said.

Souta shook his head, he didn't under stand...but he felt the burn of tears become even stronger in his eyes, threatening to spill. “ No...I don't-”

Houjo lifted his hand and tilted his head back, staring at the stars and the moon casting silver light down over head. “It's ok...they're not going to suddenly die or come alive if you cry right here.”

Souta opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come, he could only stare helplessly... A small, whimpering sob slipped from his lips, and his body shook more then ever. Finally he stumbled up on to his knees and fell into Houjo, throwing his arms around the boy and sobbing into his chest.

Houjo fell on to his back from the sudden force, taking Souta with him. He was taken back at first, but he quickly ajusted He merely wrapped his arms around the boy and held him tightly, rubbing his back gently. “It's ok...”

It wasn't long before Souta fell asleep, and Houjo soon after.

! - ! - !

This was pitiful.

That thought rang in his head in haunting ghost that stalked him relentlessly, an echo that condemned him with each repetition.

He was pitiful.

Inuyasha pressed his forehead against the wall and stared down into the darkness, looking acknowledgedly at Kouga's arms still fixed tightly around his waist like a life line to someone a drift at sea. He could feel Kouga's face still burred in his back, and he could hear the youkai's slow breaths, and feel his chest rise and fall in sleep. Inuyasha, however, couldn't fall asleep if he tried, though he did find some semblance of peace in knowing that Kouga was alright. The fact that he derived such a feeling from Kouga's close proximity made him feel even more pitiful and loath himself even more for such a weakness. But he didn't care, nothing he did could make him feel any worse, so, for this moment, he allowed himself to take comfort from the wolf.

He was grateful to Kouga, in some horrible, embarrassing, shameful, awkward way, he'd made him feel better. And...he wasn't as opposed to this as he'd convinced himself, having said over and over to himself that he simply didn't have enough strength to keep him away. With Kouga close to him in this manner, he felt like he could protect him, from himself if nothing else. Every time he thought of Kouga he thought of that strange anger, he thought of startled look on his face, he thought of the sound of his howl.

Damn, he was embarrassed just thinking about it, he hated acknowledging, even if it was true things like that were better buried someplace in the back of his conscious where he didn't have to even take notice of it. '...' Inuyasha folded his arms and looked away with narrowed eyes, dammit! He couldn't even think of himself for Kouga, Damn wolf!

He was feeling better already.

! - ! - !
! - ! - !

Time droned on slowly and dully for Inuyasha and Kouga, minutes blurred into hours and the process continued until time was nothing more then long periods of light and darkness. Every time a phase of the light and dark day passed, the encroaching feeling of entrapment, of futility grew stronger and stronger.

Kouga stood, his back against Inuyasha's once again, with his mind racing, was more keenly aware of this then Inuyasha was, his mind focused tediously on every second of time in a compulsive agony. Houjo had used a word for this, though Kouga couldn't remember what he'd said...what was it? It was...It was...oh yeah, now he remembered, catastrophic. 'This is hell!' He growled to himself.

Kouga tilted his head back and stared upwards toward the hole and the bright sunlight that shined through it. Oh god, it was so far away... '?' No way, he had to be imagining it, that hole couldn't have been getting farther away... And these walls, they were so close, so close, and closer. Were these walls getting closer? Kouga pressed his hands against the firm sands, and his eyes widened. '!!' He couldn't breathe, he felt like he was suffocating. He coughed and gasped in deeply for air, clinching his fist tightly at his side and trying desperately to resist the urge to scream and claw his way out.

Inuyasha was silent, his arms folded and his eyes averted sorrowfully to the ground, an almost thoughtful expression on his face. “...” He wasn't even sure Kouga knew he was there anymore, or just wanted to ignore him. It was awkward to even look at him let alone speak to him, every time he opened his mouth to say something he thought about Kouga's close proximity and contact the night before. Inuyasha wanted to avoid him after that. Whenever I thought about him he felt in a queer way that Kouga was his enemy, for he knew how Inuyasha felt and his entire life everything he did had constantly based itself upon how well he concealed from everyone what he felt. He quickly became to nervous and embarrassed to mutter a comprehending word.

“Dammit!” Kouga bellowed in a loud, strained growl. He felt a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face and he flinched at the sudden feeling. The already small space seemed to tighten around him, he could have sworn he was being swallowed. What was this, this fear that defied all of his attempts to ignore and over come it. He shouldn't have felt like this! When ever he was confined like this, an ominous feeling of doom, that he was being swallowed and would never escape...Maybe...Kouga thought, maybe this is what Inuyasha felt like.

He felt demented, compulsive, he was trying to hold something back but his body was forcing it out like regurgitating a toxic substance. It something welled up inside of him, and no matter how hard he tried to bite it back, he couldn't stop himself from screaming.

Inuyasha flinched at the sudden sound, but stared at the ground passively, as quite and repressed as it was, it was still a horrible sound. Inuyasha's ears fell against his head and his heart sank in a feeling stronger then any guilt he'd ever felt. “I wonder...” He finally said, looking up at the warm sunlight that shined down from above in smooth rays. “That night the snow had finally stopped...”

Kouga bit down on his lip and looked back questioningly, it caught him off guard, hearing Inuyasha's voice that is. '?' He pressed his head against the sandy walls, wishing he could just bang his head against it, not just for the painful anxiety but for his own stupidity.

But to Kouga's surprise, Inuyasha didn't taunt him about how he was acting like before, he didn't even acknowledge it. “There were all these lights coming through the clouds, and you were there...” Inuyasha said, but he was distracted, even as he worried about Kouga a string of inauspicious thoughts and memories drifted into his mind. 'Souta...' He could see the boy so clearly in his mind...

“?” Kouga still didn't quite understand, why was Inuyasha bringing this up? “W...What?”

“I've never been able to figure out how you did that.” Inuyasha said, sill staring upward...'I always could count on you to listen to me Souta...I guess that's because I knew you'd always be too afraid...'

Kouga looked at him silently for a moment, and looked away again. “I-I don't know...”

“I bet.” Inuyasha replied discardingly. 'I should have known you'd go after me, I knew you always had it in you...just too bad you never knew.'

Kouga didn't think anything of it, until realized that he quite possibly could have just been insulted. '!!' He growled and looked back with narrowed eyes. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Heh, your dumber then you look.” Inuyasha could practically smell Souta's sent again where there had only been Kouga's, here the sound of his voice...why was he thinking of this now?
“Your one to talk!” Kouga retorted, folding his arms. “You stupid mutt.”

“What'd you call me you mangy wolf!” Inuyasha shouted back... So many thoughts ran though his mind, at such an odd time, why was he thinking like this. 'Strawberry...ice cream...'...Yeah, That would be good right now...of course he hadn't eaten anything in 4 days, anything would have been good...But for some reason, he wanted to smell that cool, sugary scent. The taste of it on Souta's skin...He could see that smile, it never took much to make Souta happy...'Dammit I should be thinking about getting out of here, not this.' He said to himself, and he should have been...

“That's your problem Inuyasha, too much mouth, not enough to back it up.” Kouga snorted. Soon enough the wolf had forgotten about his current state of claustrophobia, he had no thought of where he was. He was too focused on Inuyasha, on the conflict between them.

As consuming as augments with Kouga generally were, his mind still riffled unwittingly through thoughts and memories. Inuyasha had heard about something like this, he'd heard that people's lives flashed before their eyes when they were dying. That they saw a bright light before the passed away... Maybe this was what that was? The sunlight was as harsh to his eyes as a person who hadn't seen it in days, his body was no longer hot and pained, but growing cold with a dull ache. Even the heat from the sun's rays didn't have their normal affect. “Your one to talk about mouth Kouga! Your the one always saying stuff and running away!”

Was this it? Was he dying? It had never occurred to him that it could happen, not now at lest. His stomach churned and rumbled with pains of hunger and his throat was so dry it felt as if it would crack each time he spoke. It had been 4 days and his wounds still hadn't healed, and the sand made them sting so much that he was starting to become numb to them. He was too weak to do much of anything, he couldn't even lift his own body weight, even with all of that it still never occurred to him that he could be dying, he merely sat and waited, but for what he didn't know.

“Idiot!”

“Dumbass!”

! - ! - !
! - ! - !
Day 5

Houjo reached up and grabbed onto the edge of the well, with a grunt he slipped his elbow over and pulled his entire up in one, sloppy motion. And in the same as disorderly fashion he spilled onto the stony ground, gasping with tired breaths. “Souta?” He called out instinctively.

Souta jumped down beside Houjo, his body taunt, ready to burst with anxious energy. “I'm alright.” He looked around at the well house, still missing one wall, but to his surprise, no longer blockaded with snow. “Whoa... Look at this place... “

It wasn't until Houjo had hit the ground did he realize he landed water, higher then just a simple puddle. He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling, at the golden rays of sun that shined through the wooden boards. It was...warm? It *was* warm. Houjo planted his hands behind him and sat upright, the ground out side was visible in patches under soft, melting snow As he would imagine, such a large amount of snow melting left behind a considerable amount of water, a layer of it pooled over the ground between the patches and over every inch uninhabited by snow.

He could only stare in disbelief, “No way...” It was strange, it had been so cold before, and now it was so warm, the sun was shining, the sky was a peaceful blue and the clouds were a calm white. “What is with this weather?” Houjo climbed to his feet and wiped away the water clinging to the back of his neck. He'd never seen anything like it, but he'd never seen anything like that snow storm either.

Souta climbed up through the patches of snow, some larger then himself, and made his way toward the house, it seemed like so long since he'd been here. Much to his dismay the first thing he came across was the gaping hole where the living room window used to be, a steady trickle of water streaked in from the edges like a gutter on the edge of a curb, creating a wet mess inside. “Oh...crap...” He stared in awe and fright at what had transpired while he was gone, dry and harsh, tainted and influenced with uncertainty and fear. He wished he had time to clean this up, or at lest do something about the water coming in, but he didn't. They'd made it all the way here on their own, he felt as though the hard part was over and it was all down hill from here. The quicker he moved, the better.

Houjo crouched down beside Souta and admired the damage for himself, he sighed, rubbing the back of his head unsurely. He hadn't thought about this, he didn't think the snow would actually *melt*. The entire living room was flooded, and who knew what else. “Don't worry about it Souta, I'll help you clean it up when we get back.” He offered.

Souta nodded, “So...what are we coming to get?”

Houjo folded his arms and looked up thoughtfully, for this kind of task... “Some climbing equipment, stuff like that.”

“Where are we suppose to find that?”

“...” Houjo paused for a moment, where would they find...wait, he knew where they could find something like that, he was lucky enough to have relatives. “Just wait here, I'll be back.” Houjo said, before dropping his backpack and sword in front of Souta and taking off.

“Hey wait! What am I suppose to do until you get back?”

“Just wait!” Houjo called back.

! - ! - !
! - ! - !

Day 6

It was dark again. The only thing he knew of the time were the endless stretches of blinding light that shined on him overbearingly, intensely. Every time the dark came and went and light returned, it seemed the light came back stronger and brighter then ever. Stronger...definitely stronger. It became so bright that Inuyasha couldn't lift his head, where blue sky and golden sun once resided, it was now blocked by a flood of white light. Bright...definitely bright...really bright. Every time he looked up, his head began to hurt and a dizziness rose. Looking up...no...bad...no looking up.

“Hey...Hey Kouga...” Inuyasha called out blindly, his voice was slow and disoriented, something resembling drunkenness or coming sleep. He rested his back against the wall, being the only one who could move, facing Kouga's back. “Do you see a white light?” No...that's not what he meant...he meant...he meant when it was light...when it was light did he see....

Kouga clinched his eyes shut, taking deep, slow breathes. He hated this, he wanted to curl into a ball and scream as loudly as he could. He knew there was no way out for him, he was so weak he could hardly move but his muscles still twitched anxiously, wanting desperately to try. It was so hard...if he could have he would have already curled into a ball and waited out the rest of his existence, for this to end. But he was alright if he stayed calm, if he didn't think about or attempt to move around, and to his relief and thankfulness Inuyasha offered a means to keep him focused. By talking with him. “What the hell are you talking about?” Though, to Kouga's dismay, Inuyasha seemed be getting more and more erratic as time went on.

“...” Inuyasha shook his head and looked up at the patch of night sky visible to him. “Never mind.”

Kouga looked back over his shoulder at Inuyasha and studied him suspiciously. “You look like hell.” This time he wasn't trying to take a shot at Inuyasha, he didn't look well. He was pale, and his skin was damp with sweat, odd considering he hadn't had anything to drink in almost a week, where was all of this water coming from? There couldn't be much of it left... His eyes were half lidded, distant, and barely focused, lacking the energy, the hardness that they usually with held. Not to mention the effects of sleep deprivation.

“Tch, your one to talk.” Inuyasha retorted instinctively.

Kouga turned his head back to the wall and stared idle, thinking to himself, consciously trying to remain calm against the inane urge to panic. “...” As much as he hated to admit it, to even realize it, he was worried about Inuyasha, and for the most part he hated him for it. He hated the fact that this horrible worry made him think certain thoughts and feel sad and guilty among other things. 'Damn mutt.' He clinched his eyes shut and growled under his breath.

Inuyasha just stared at Kouga's back, an almost questioning look on his face. Then he looked away awkwardly, “How...how's your legs.” He never felt as unsure or as stupid as he felt when he asked questions like that, it wasn't something he was used too.

“...” Kouga didn't respond immediately, he sat, searching himself, and just like always, came up empty. “I don't know, I still can't feel anything.”

“Hn...” Inuyasha nodded and tilted his head back against the wall once more, eyes fixed toward the sky. He reached over and clinched the bicep of his lifeless left arm, it felt like nothing more then a cold, dead body that wasn't his, his feeling stopped at his shoulder and after that point it just weight pulling it down. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, every light was unusually bright, even the stars and the moon seemed to grow brighter. He squinted and looked away feeling a pulsing headache grow and a dizziness make his world blurry and disoriented.

“...” It came suddenly it seemed, Kouga pressed his entire upper body against the wall and buried his fingers into the sand, clinching fist fulls. It started with his breathing, it slowly became harder and harder, taking deeper and deeper inhales, but it felt as though he was gathering less and less air. 'No...no...' He felt it coming like rising tide waters slowly covering him, he felt fully his confinement and grew anxious, and deeply awkward in his position. He began even to feel uncomfortable in his own skin.

All of it seemed to be a fear of paralysis, of being stuck, trapped, of being unable to move. When his mind began to realize the extent his motion was restricted, Kouga began to feel a a strong sense of entrapment, helplessness, of that very paralysis. Every instinct screamed danger, as if he was bound and about to be struck with a lethal blow,he wanted to get out of this small space, but he couldn't, and all of the anxiousness, the feelings of fear, of danger, kept building and building... He felt like the air was being snatched from him, and the walls were closing in on him, '!!' “Ung....” Kouga panted, each breath making his dry throat hurt, squirming uncomfortably and pushing against the walls. “Fuck...”

Inuyasha hated watching this. Why, Why was Kouga like this? What had caused this space to be so unbearable to him? “K...Kouga...”

It was dark, it was so dark.... Kouga stared down into the darkness with trembling eyes, his heart beating so loudly that it sounded like rolling thunder in his ears. He couldn't hear himself think over it... the beating of his heart was so loud it sounded just like the pounding he heard that day.

'Goddammit no!' He shook his head and clinched harder into the sand walls, trying to fight away what he was seeing. Just keep thinking of other things...just keep... But he still saw it just as brightly in the darkness, the dark sky coated in black clouds heavy with rain, a firm surface against his back, he was laying down...and the strong wood above him lined with unknown metal he wasn't strong enough to break. The wood swung slowly towards him on creaking hinges like a closing door, blocking out more of the sky with darkness each second. “No! Damnit not again...” His squirming grew more and more desperate until he was only clawing, his body was moving on it's own, trying to escape of it's own accord while his mind was frozen on what he was seeing. “No...” He fought, but the wood and metal blocked out more and more of the dark sky until Kouga was left in darkness and all he heard was a slamming sound and he felt the hard door crush against his body, pressing him down in-between, pinning him there. He couldn't move...and then... “No!”
“Kouga!” Inuyasha shouted, and he saw Kouga flinch. Kouga froze tensely, and his body began to tremble...

“...” Kouga clinched his chest and panted heavily, fighting to catch his breath, trying desperately to reclaim himself...Maybe this....Maybe this is was like what Inuyasha went through...

Inuyasha stood there, his mouth hanging open with words that just wouldn't come, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say or how to say it. He lifted his hand and reached out as a questioning child would, blindly touching Kouga's back. As soon as he realized what he was doing he blushed and pulled back, angry with himself for feeling such a strong, urge to do so in the first place. But no matter how pride protested it, how embarrassed he was...he was worried, and no matter how he thought, nothing helpful would come out of his mouth. Dammit! What was he so afraid of? If Kouga could do it then, then so could he!

Inuyasha swallowed and nodded to himself surely. Flushed with embarrassment, he moved forward and grabbed on to Kouga, wrapping his arms around the wolf's torso in a firm, unsure embrace.

“...?” Kouga looked back in awe, confused at first. “I...I...-”

Inuyasha growled, his embarrassment growing even stronger when he felt Kouga's eyes fix on to him. Dammit! Why did Kouga have to make things harder by trying to talk? “You talk to much.”

Kouga hesitated for a moment, but eventually the he dropped his hands lifelessly to the side and the tenseness in his body slackened. “...” It seemed pointless at first, but...ironically, being held in the tight confinement of Inuyasha's embrace made this space more tolerable. '...'

! - ! - !
Houjo thrust his hand into his backpack, rummaging through the new contents that filled it until he felt a soft cloth near the bottom. He clinched it and drew out a roll of bandage.

He sat silently against a tree scattered in the mist of rolling plains, Kouga's sword resting against the tree trunk beside him and his shirt laid out neatly over a branch. “...Cold...” He mumbled to himself, pausing for a second to rub his arms, feeling the crisp chill of cool air on his bruised back, barely covered in bandages. Having gathered what equipment he could as fast as possible, he and Souta headed back down the well, only to have night quickly descend and forcing them to stop. Souta wasn't happy about stopping when they'd come so far, when their goal seemed so close. And Houjo, who'd felt unsure and passive from the start, had to admit he felt a similar anxiousness.

“...” Houjo reached up and slipped his fingers into the bandages that had wrapped around his forehead, already splotched with red where he'd been struck a few days ago. And began unwrapping them with quick pulls, cringing and hissing in pain as he finally tugged the last strand off of wound sticky with half dried blood. With a breath of relief he dropped the used bandages on the ground beside him and picked up the roll of fresh ones.

Were they...alive?

Houjo paused, clinching the bandages loosely in his fingers. It seemed from nowhere the question had come drifting into his mind, something he'd never asked, never even thought of, never contemplated seriously since it had happened. Sure he'd said things to Souta, but his words were instinctive at best, it was in his nature to comfort Souta.. “...” Houjo shook his head and began moving again, pressing the bandages against his forehead and wrapping them around his head . His hands moved mechanically, but his mind quickly became absent from his task.

Why...why did he just think about this all of a sudden?

Houjo closed his eyes and inhaled deeply... God, he could almost smell Kouga's scent again! He'd never experienced something like that, a scent that could make him feel so... 'K-Kouga...' Houjo froze again, completely lost in what he was doing. He felt it his throat choking up and his eyes burning, 'What's wrong with me...' Houjo quickly tapered off the rest of the bandages and began digging frantically into his backpack for another roll. If he was working, if he was doing something he wouldn't have to think of anything else but that.

What was this?

His body trembled, he felt like he was breaking down but he didn't know why? Houjo fell back against the tree and stared blankly, “Kouga...Kouga...”

“Houjo.”

'...' Houjo looked over his shoulder towards the voice and saw Souta peering timidly out from behind the tree. Houjo took a deep breath, regaining some semblance of himself that was momentarily lost. “Souta? I thought you were a sleep?”

“I...I couldn't sleep.” Souta admitted, his head down, his eyes averted, his voice shy. He slowly made his way out from behind the tree and sat down beside Houjo.

“Oh, I see...” Houjo quickly dropped his head and shifted his gaze to his chest, almost embarrassed for his previous action. Mechanically, he began the task of unraveling the bandages around his chest, tented broadly with pink across his back. 'Huh?' And as he tried for his third time to maintain his grip on one of the strands, he finally noticed that his fingers were still trembling. “...” He stared at his hands as if fixated, trying to steady himself.

Souta looked at Houjo questioningly, until he figured out what he was doing. “Are you alright Houjo?” Souta slowly reached out and placed his hand on Houjo's chest, his movements were unsure as he slipped his fingers underneath the bandages. When he saw no attempts to dissuade him, he began slowly pulling them off.

Houjo dropped his hands defeatedly to his side and allowed Souta continue, clinching his shaking hands into fist. A silence spanned out in between them, Houjo stared outward, wincing every so often when a strip of bandage was pulled from a sensitive spot. Souta didn't look up, his eyes were fixed on Houjo's chest, occasionally peeking over to the boy's back and observe the damage in a morbid curiosity as someone would slow down and watch the wreckage of a car accident.. “Does it still hurt?” Souta asked.

“A little.” Houjo admitted.

Souta pulled the last strip from Houjo's body and tossed it aside, watching it stream across the air to the ground below. With a soft shrug, Houjo handed him the next roll, feeling vulnerable for only sitting here, cool air blowing against the bruised flesh of his back, while Souta did a task he should have been able to do himself. He watched as the boy dutifully began wrapping it Houjo's torso. “...Thanks...” Houjo said gratefully.

Souta shook his head, keeping his eyes down. “Nah...I should be thanking you.” He said. He leaned forward, reaching his small arms around Houjo and just barely shifting the roll to his other hand and streaming it higher along Houjo's back. “I know you don't wanna do this, and I'm glad you-”

“Wait? You thought I didn't want to do this?” Houjo asked curiously.

“Well...yeah.” Souta leaned forward again, reaching out as far as his arms could extend, and streamed the roll over the last bit of the deep bruise that remained uncovered. “You seemed kinda...like you didn't want to be here.” Souta dropped his hands into his lap, looking occasionally over Houjo's chest as if to check if he'd missed something, then timidly down at the ground. “Your always all...I don't know, it's like your not even paying attention or something, your somewhere else...your...”

Dead. Houjo sighed to himself again, he had to admit he'd felt that way, he'd felt numb, lifeless, with the exception of when he was fighting. But he had no idea it projected so clearly on the outside. “No, that's not it at all.”

“Huh?...So...you did want to do this?” Souta asked, his eyes dull with an unassociative, hopeful questioning. He felt guilty, if Houjo didn't want to do this, he didn't want to make him, it was just that...he couldn't do this on his own. Souta's face quickly shifted into one of annoyment. “You don't have to tell me that if you don't mean it you know.”

“I'm not lying.” Houjo said, laughing softly. “I don't know what happened to them...I have to see it for my self.” Dispite what he may have seemed like, he still had hope, he still hand some part of him desperate to cling on. He had to find out, he felt frozen, he needed to know.

“...” Souta clinched his hands together anxiously, listening to the second silence that spanned out between them. It was all he thought about now, Inuyasha and Kouga... The closer he got to them, the more intense, the more frantic he felt, he had to get there, he had to. A deep energy willed him to move, but his body was weak from fatigue and strain. He just wanted too...He just wanted too

“It's ok.” Houjo rested his hand on Souta's shoulder and rubbed his back softly.

Souta lifted his head and looked at Houjo with a slow, lamenting look, then dropped his eyes and his head again. “...”

! - ! - !
! - ! - !

Final day

Inuyasha was confused.

Time had long since blended into a dizzying blur. Long, drawn out moments that lasted an eternity, stretching mindlessly to the next. For a time, the light was so bright it was unbearable, his head throbbed, the world spun in a vertiginous haze , and he quickly became dizzy. He was forced to keep his head down, staring blankly in to the shadows. Then came the darkness, even then the stars hurt his eyes.

But now...

The sky overhead was a dull gray that glowed seemly with some unknown light source, thick, black clouds like shadows swam across like mist looming over water. Inuyasha wouldn't have doubted the sky was a body of water if Kouga had told him right now, the rain was tremendous, as if an ocean was spilling out above their heads. It poured into the the hole they were trapped without opposition, making the already cold air unbearable.

Inuyasha pressed his head against the soggy wall, feeling the fast and hard drops of rain pound relentlessly against the back of his head, drenching his body to the bone. He watched the white cloud of his his breath drift out of his mouth and disappear in front of him. Feeling his body tremble from the cold, his fingers, toes, and ears already so cold they were hard and numb. 'Cold...'

Kouga stared upward at the sky as if watching his last fragments of hope drift away. Nothing hurt anymore, no more pain came from his body, everything a numb cold, feeling lifeless against each other. “...Inu...Inuyha....Inu....You still alive over there?” He called out, his voice shaky and weak.

Inuyasha was silent for a moment, before he finally turned his head and looked back over his shoulder at the wolf. “...Yeah.”

The rain was so loud it was deafening, Kouga could barely hear Inuyasha, he could barely hear himself think. “You feel that?”

“I don't feel anything.” Inuyasha replied honestly.

“I think...” Kouga paused, still staring upward at the source of the cold rain pounding on to his body. “I think we're sinking.” He could feel the sand shifting against his back, and if he could feel his legs he would have been sure it was even worse there.

“Tch...I'll bet.” Inuyasha wasn't surprised by anything anymore, he felt impartial to his fate, he didn't want to die, but he no longer cared if he lived. He just...didn't want to be cold anymore.

“You don't even care do you?” Kouga snorted.

“Do you?”

“...” Kouga opened his mouth to respond, but no words would come, only slow, sullen, thoughts. “Nah.” He lifted his arms and folded them across his chest, his moments were slow and jerky, his entire body felt stiff and he'd lost to ability to move certain places from the cold. Even in this position. He couldn't feel one arm against the other, just cold, lifeless weight.

Inuyasha took in another deep breath of the wet air and let out a violent shutter... Souta's smile...that curious look on Houjo's face...Kouga cooking....Inuyasha tried to stand up strait, watching a river of water and sand stream down from where his head had been. Then he looked up again, staring blankly at the sky. The gray and deep black began to swirl together into a blur...his eyes unfocused and he groaned weakly, God, his head throbbed so baldly, he felt dizzy, his world spun around him in a cold, hard, wet rush...

“Inu...Inuyasha!” Kouga flinched when he saw Inuyasha falling backwards towards him, quickly reaching up and catching him by the shoulders. His heart jumped and he felt an almost dormant twinge heat of pumping blood rushing through his body, his mind pensive with worry and confusion.”INu...!” His arms lacked the strength to hold Inuyasha and place let alone push him away, his muscles trembled and he tried persistently to hold him in place. But it wasn't long before Kouga's arms buckled and Inuyasha's cold, soaked body came falling against his chest. “Un!!”

'Damnit Inuyasha!' Kouga was forced to pause, stopping to catch his breath, and cough out the rain water he'd inhaled. Every moment he was keenly aware of the cold water pounding down on his body, the thunderous sound of it crashing into everything around him. He lifted his hand slowly and timidly wrapped his arms around Inuyasha's chest. “Inuyasha...Inuyasha...” He slapped his cheeks softly, shaking him delicately. “Come on Inuyasha...wake up...wake up...” He pleaded, become more and more worried, fear rising with each call that he didn't get a response too. “No way...Get up, your not leaving me down here, your not getting out of this that easy...” His words were angry but his voice was still pleading, his movements were desperate in it's sluggishness.

He shook him until he was too tired to move his arms, his hand pressed against Inuyasha's chest though Kouga was unaware how tightly, clinging on to the weak heart beat and the slow rise and fall of Inuyasha's chest, watching the thin white cloud of his breath pouring from his nose. No...He couldn't....He couldn't die here...not now...It couldn't be, Inuyasha...Inuyasha couldn't--

“C...Cold...” Inuyasha moaned in a weak, shivering voice. He didn't move, he didn't open his eyes, but still...

“Inuyasha.” Kouga clinched his eyes shut and smiled, he held Inuyasha with all of his strength, feeling an energy of relief swell up inside of him so strongly that for a moment he even forgot the cold. Kouga nearly smiled, he nearly laughed out loud. But he quickly remembered the cold when he tried to speak and his voice trembled so strongly that he had had to stop and catch his breath again. “You...You...Are you ok?”

“C...c-cold.” He called again, his words half dazed and frail.

“Yeah...I'm cold too.” Kouga agreed, more tolerant at this point to be speaking to Inuyasha at all. He thought about pushing Inuyasha off, but he no longer had the strength to lift Inuyasha's weight. Dispite the heavy numbness from cold, he was oddly light headed from hunger.

Inuyasha wasn't even aware that he'd fallen, only of the rain assaulting his face in cold pelts, Kouga's voice above him, and the feel of Kouga's hand against his chest... The scent of Kouga's cooking...Houjo's odd scent...Souta's scent...Souta...Souta...But now...all there was was Kouga, Kouga's scent. “Kouga...” He should have felt the pain in his left arm, but he didn't, it hung lifelessly at his side, and Inuyasha was no longer able to move it. When he noticed this, he knew that he should have been worried, but all he could think about was Kouga's scent. That scent, Kouga, the wolf was all he knew now, he'd become an anchor, a comfort, something that kept him sane, kept him from losing himself. He just needed to hold on...

Kouga couldn't describe how happy he was to hear Inuyasha's voice, so much so that he felt embarrassed just to respond. He stared up at the sky and the torrent of water coming down on them, unable to bare looking at Inuyasha at the moment for the position they were in, and knowing he was to weak to do anything about it. '“What?”

Kouga...Kouga...Inuyasha, in his cloudy mind, became focused in a sense on Kouga, his nose fixed on Kouga's cold, wet scent that hung around him, it was as sharp and crisp as as the cold on a dry winter night. With only Kouga to focus on, it wasn't long before he actually began to think about him. Kouga...this must have been horrible for him, it was cold, it we wet, and the space was tight, and they were sinking even farther. Inuyasha had realized this all before now, had contemplated Kouga's persevered misery, and had hated it that Kouga was in this all long before now. It was that now... “Why...” He was out of it enough to finally ask.

“What are you-”

“Why... What was it?” He asked.

“Your losing it Inuyasha...maybe you shouldn't talk anymore.” Kouga suggested, he surprised himself continually, with this worry, it wasn't until the timid, unsure words left his mouth did he fully realize why he was saying what he was saying, why he wanted the hanyou to conserve what little he had left...no way, he shook his head, this was just a temporary set back, Inuyasha wasn't dying...

“What happened to you...” Maybe...no, absolutely. It was an absolute certainty that had Inuyasha been clear headed, hadn't been half on the verge of hallucination, that he would have realized the danger of the questions he was asking. He would have realized how deeply he was intruding in Kouga, he would have known the aversion Kouga, and himself for that matter, had about opening up about matters like this. He would have realized what he was doing, how far he was extending himself into the open and how bad it was. “...To make you so afraid of being closed in.”

“Huh?” Kouga was caught off guard by Inuyasha, and he nearly flinched when he heard those words echo around inside his head. He felt embarrassed at first, then ashamed, as if Inuyasha had found some deeply hidden transgression, his pride quickly responded with defensive anger “W-What?! Dammit Inuyasha, what the hell do you mean afraid!?”

Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes to a half lidded stated, he squinted when he saw the light from the stars, burred by rain. His body felt heavy, and he could feel the water weighing him down. The cold was so strong that it felt as if his body was being squeezed by all sides from the freezing water. 'Too...bright...' He had to move, his head was hurting. “The light...dammit.” Inuyasha turned his head, but he could still feel it despite the cold it seemed to burn, his headache grew stronger and stronger with each moment.

“?” Kouga looked up, and could barely see anything at all. “What?”

“It...hurts.” Inuyasha lifted his arm over his eyes and tried to turn away, with no avail. Soon enough though, Kouga planted his arms on Inuyasha's shoulders and pulled him to the side. Inuyasha heedlessly complied, turning himself as best he could with slow, weak movements. Until finally, after minute or two, Inuyasha was facing the opposite direction. Weak and out of breath, Inuyasha fell lifelessly on to Kouga's chest again, pinning the wolf's back against the wall. But all he could think of their position was a gratefulness that he was no longer in the light. His fixation of the wolf only grew stronger, like a child, not thinking deeply enough to realize just how much he was asking from Kouga.

“So...what happened to you?” Maybe if his mind was clear, he would have realized he wasn't just asking a question, he was asking Kouga to open up and drop every defense he had against pain. He would have realized how much he normally would have hated asking something like this at all cost, questions like these were dangerous.

“Shut up! Nothing happened to me and I'm not afraid!” Kouga retorted resentfully, his body was tense and on edge, keenly aware that Inuyasha had all but collapsed up against him. To get this close was...

Inuyasha knew Kouga just about as well as he knew himself, the only way an aversion to something, such intense feeling could come to an otherwise fearless Kouga, was if something had happened. “Tell me...” Inuyasha lifted his head and looked up at Kouga, his eyes dazed and distant, almost looking right past the Youkai, but they were wanting, and curious.

Dammit, he couldn't just talk about a thing like that, especially not with Inuyasha of all people. Whom he fought and argued, who he'd yelled at and insulted, who he'd rebuffed at all cost rather then to appear weak in front of. He'd battled many others to establish the high standing, the reverence, the strength he had He'd nearly killed himself on occasions so that he wouldn't appear fallible before Inuyasha, trying so hard be strong it was hard to even accept help even when he needed it, he'd do almost anything to avoid admitting weakness, fault. Such things were an infringement on his pride, something regarded above all else, because with out that, he didn't have strength enough to stand against anything. And now Inuyasha, his enemy ...

Kouga stared at Inuyasha, searching for a reason why Inuyasha was so vexated on him, why he wouldn't just leave him alone. Why...why didn't he stop... Kouga grunted and looked away angrily, and silence followed. There was nothing but the sound of cold breaths and hard rain that pooled bellow them....Then...Kouga spoke. “I...it was a box...”

“?”

“I was just a pup...and it happened during a fight my father's tribe was in... “ Kouga started slowly, speaking as if he was reassessing his actions with each word, deciding if he should go on or not. “They were bigger and stronger, and I...didn't stand a chance....” Kouga looked up with a forlorn expression, examining the sky, feeling the freezing pin drops of water pelt his face. “It was raining really hard, and the river was flooding.” He said. “I was really out of it, I couldn't hardly even move. And...I remember falling really hard into this box or something, somebody threw me in. And all a saw...was the sky start to pull away, and there was this really loud sound when the lid shut. Then it was all just dark, and loud.”

Kouga paused, his eyes became less and less hard, fading into something so foreign that Inuyasha couldn't decipher it. “It was so small, I cramped into a ball and I couldn't really move, it was almost like I was parallelized.” No, it was worse, it was like being tied into a painful position, being able to sift and squirm barely, just enough to know it was possible, to be tormented with the thought of movement, only being stuck beyond that. “ I remember banging as hard as I could... The next thing I knew I was being tossed around every which way...I guess I ended up in the river some how...it hurt...I remember the noise was unbearable... I don't know how long I was in there, I was upside down when the water finally started seeping through, and I tried to find where it was coming from but I kept being thrown around...and...before I could do anything there was so much water that I couldn't breathe...”

Inuyasha stared up at him timidly, feeling Kouga's chest rise and fall with increasing rapidity against his, watching the clouds of white from his mouth become thicker and thicker. “What...happened?”

“...” Kouga was silent, his mouth hanging open as if to say something, but nothing would come out....

Inuyasha's entire body shivered violently from the cold, “Kouga...” He wisped, his voice trembling as strongly as his body was. Suddenly his eyes squinted and he winced with a hiss of pain, having absentmindedly lifted his head enough for his eyes to catch a sudden flash of lighting. He barely knew what he saw, but a flare of pain came quick and hard to head and he quickly buried his head back into Kouga's shoulder and out of the light, it burned. Then, like an explosion, thunder roared monstrously above them, loudly enough to cause a shaky ache in his ears.

“Are you...Ok?” Kouga asked again. He didn't get a response, his body was so cold he felt too frozen to move, he could barely feel anything besides a frozen hardness that slowly locked his fingers in place. He couldn't tell...he couldn't tell if Inuyasha was moving or not, he couldn't tell if he was still awake, or even if he was still... “Inu...Hey, Inu...Inuyasha.” He called out fearfully, quickly he lifted his arm and grabbed on to Inuyasha's shoulders and pushed, attempting to stand him up strait as best he could. But he failed miserably, only repelling him a few inches before the Hanyou came crashing back down on his chest. “Hey...Hey, Inu...come on, look at me, say something.” His shivering pleas grew more and more desperate, Kouga lifted his hands instead to Inuyasha's cheeks and lifted head, bringing them face to face.

Almost suddenly, Inuyasha stared up at him with needy eyes, his mouth hanging open softly... “Too...Cold...” He mumbled. His gazed fixed on Kouga's almost as if silently asking him to do something, to help.

Kouga, however, was hesitant, unsure, lost again. “Y..Y-yeah...” The rain pounded repeated onto his head with a taunting pounding, sliding down from his hair in cold streaks across his face. It tickled, pricking at his skin like an pinch, making him shutter involuntarily. Before he knew it, his arms were wrapped tightly around Inuyasha's back and he could feel a small, bare warmth between the two of them.

Inuyasha clinched him back, almost as if he'd sink through the ground he threw his right arm around Kouga and held him with every bit of his strength, coveting the small warmth it gave. 'Kouga.'

But still, Inuyasha stared up at Kouga with the same fearful, needy look, though, he didn't even know what he wanted. It was just...so...His eyes drifted sleepily closed and he fell forward through some unknown gravity drawing him towards Kouga. Maybe he was really falling, maybe it was his own weakness, maybe they were slipping, but before he knew it, he felt his lips pressing against Kouga's and he opened his eyes again, the golden orbs filled with confusion.

“?”
Kouga and Inuyasha stared at each other in the precarious contact, but Kouga was quickly lulled in to the Hanyou, for this moment he wanted to let himself be lost, to only.... Kouga's tongue slipped past Inuyasha's cold lips and made contact with his warm tongue. Inuyasha felt himself begin to react, his tongue moving hungrily with Kouga's, the warmth between their bodies, the heat growing. A soft whimper slipped from Inuyasha mouth, Kouga's ears twitched at the soft sound, and he clinched Kouga tighter.

It wasn't until Inuyasha was forced to pull back and reclaim his breath that either of them thought about what had just happen. Panting heavily, Inuyasha's eyes widened and he stared at Kouga with awe and fear, searching Kouga's trembling blue eyes with a scared questioning, frozen in a growing terror. “...” Kouga only stared back at him, his expression a complete reflexion of Inuyasha.

They...they... Inuyasha wanted to say something, but he felt even more like he wanted to shrink and disappear, he quickly looked away. He couldn't speak, no, that would just draw more attention to him. He felt Kouga's eyes avert, the sound of their chilled breathes, the proximity of the other who was congruently not reminding both of them constantly of each other's presence. Kouga felt a flush come to his cheeks, and a confused turmoil forming in his head, the embarrassment, the thought of what he did brought a shame even. If he could have, he probably...no, he was sure he would have run away if he could, and he desperately wished he could. That he could go somewhere completely alone, and scream at the top of his lungs, he wasn't angry, he was just...confused... What...what just happened? Why...Why couldn't he stop himself? He knew it was Inuyasha, and Inuyasha knew clearly that it was Kouga, and yet still...

Unfortunately,they were trapped together.


“...?” Inuyasha felt the lights grow brighter then ever...it was so bright...bright... “The...light...”

'?' Kouga reluctantly looked back at Inuyasha. “Inuyasha?”

“It's...” It grew bright and brighter until there was nothing but blinding light....then darkness.

! - ! - !
! - ! - !

Houjo let his bike fall to the ground with a splash of mud, with an anxious haste he and Souta bolted out of the cover of the forest's trees into the open. The ground shifted quickly from wet and muddy to hard and moist as the land migrated from the futile forest to the desolated wasteland where the earth ceased into a deep cliff and sands as far as the eye could see on the horizon below.

Houjo stopped abruptly,lifting an arm to his forehead to shield his eyes from the torrent of rain he'd steeped into his eyes. The forest, though dark, provided some cover, he hadn't had any idea it was this bad. “This...this just isn't normal...”

With each step Souta took puddles splashed high off of the ground, his body was quickly soaked by the cold water and he shuttered, watching his heavy breaths stream into the air in front of him in white clouds. '?' Souta halted, ungracefully as it might have been, when he realized Houjo had stopped, “Houjo! Come on!”

Though Souta may have missed it, Houjo was keenly aware of his surroundings. The rain was heavy and the ground was hard, it was almost like concrete in a sense, it barely absorbed any water at all. So it pooled, streaming towards the edge of the cliff as a river would meet it's end, just as the sand had last time he saw this place. “Alright, just take it easy...” He felt his stomach sink as he moved forward, fearing that the ground below had already flooded... “We can't just rush into this.” He had to speak loudly the roar of a million drops of rain hammering into the ground.

“That's why we went back to get the equipment!” Souta shouted anxiously, his body was taunt, warring off even the cold, feeling as he'd react to anything at this point.

Houjo wasn't as hasty, even now his mind was still thinking, thinking of things he never really wanted to think about. '...' He shook his head, scattering the tangled mess of hair, and forced himself to focus. “That edge is dangerous, it was crumbling before, and it's probably worse with the rain.” He said, kneeling down in the flooded waters and turning his backpack over, dumping out it's contents. :”So, we should probably tie a line to something more stable...” He said,

“Like what?” Souta asked.

Thankfully, Houjo already had such a place in mind and his eyes immediately averted to the half dead tree in the center of the hard ground, a reminder of what had been here before. He lifted a tightly rolled cable and dropped it into Souta's arms. “Here, go tie this to that tree, make sure it's tight.”

Souta nearly fell backwards when the heavy coil was suddenly thrust upon him, it was so tightly bound that it seemed endless. “Right.” Obediently he nodded and made his way over to the tree, quickly taking one lose end and running around the tree, twice. Nearly falling with his haste, Souta began binding the lose in to the rest of the thick rope and tying it...over, and over, until there were several knots. “Done!” He called out, giving it a sharp tug to make sure nothing would come lose.

Houjo gave the now soaked rope a tug of his own to make sure. “Good job...” He said. He moved quickly this time, tying the other end securely around himself.

There was a silence between them as Houjo did this, Souta merely stood and watched, the rain streaming over his body in rivers, matting his hair to the side of his face. He stared at Houjo, listing to the weather, the rain sounded like a thousand nails falling to the ground in a clatter. “Hey...what about me?”

“You should stay here, it's dangerous.” Houjo stared at the ground, his voice was timid and weak, unsure. He was afraid like he'd never been afraid before, not of the trip, or the off chance that the monster might show up....but...he was afraid of what he might see, or even, what he might not see.

“No way.” Souta shook his head. The boy took in a sharp breath as thunder rolled suddenly and aggressively through the dark skies, and lighting flashed in a quick flare of blinding light. “I want to go with you.”

“It's pretty high up.” Houjo said. He wasn't exactly afraid of heights but he felt uneasy thinking of it. “And all the water's gonna make it hard to get back up.”

“I don't care.” Souta said stubbornly. But honestly he did, he was afraid, even when the only thing he had to fear was falling he felt like there were countless dangerous that opposed him. Fear always gave birth to more fear inside of him, growing stronger and stronger until he was petrified. But he wasn't just afraid, he was anxious, worried, excited, all at the same time. He wanted to this, he wanted to be strong.

Houjo sighed to himself and knelt down in front of Souta, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It's too dangerous, I'm sorry.”

“But-”

Houjo shook his head. “I can't take you.” He said regretfully, there was a depressing crushing feeling in his heart when he saw the desperate, distressing expression on Souta's face. “Besides, you'd be more help up here then down there.”

“...”

“You see the rest of that rope? “ Houjo pointed to a end less mass cable half hidden in the first, Souta hadn't noticed that their were two, he nodded. “When I get down there, I'm gonna need to to wrap it around the tree and throw both ends down to me. I'm gonna tie it around Inuyasha and Kouga, then I'm gonna need you to pull as hard as you can, think you can do that?”

Souta looked away silently and nodded.

Houjo gave him a small pat on the back and stood up. “I'm counting on you.”

“Yeah...”

Taking in a deep breath of the wet air, Houjo walked towards the edge. He felt a noticeable current growing stronger and stronger the closer he came... Then stopped and looked down. “Oh man...” Water streamed down the side of the cliff, washing away bits and pieces of it every moment, what remained were wet and slippery, only made impossibly worse by the rain.

“Houjo...”

Houjo looked back over his shoulder, Souta was standing directly behind him, peeking over the edge timidly from behind his leg. “Yeah?”

He was silent for a moment, searching for the words that would say how worried he was about Inuyasha and Kouga, how hopeful he was that they were still alive, how thankful he was for Houjo, that he never would have survived with out him, and...that he wished he could do more. When he opened his mouth to speak, the only thing that came was “...Be careful.”

“I will.” Houjo nodded, giving Souta one last reaffirming glance, before he knelt down and began climbing down the side of the cliff.

Souta stood and watched helplessly, shuttering again from the cold rain that had all but frozen him.... “Inuyasha...”

! - ! - !
! - ! - !

Thats it, thats the end of this arc, next chapter the story returns to the present and it slows down a little.
Thanks or reading
~SDI
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