"Tsume, your always so modist." Harper woofed grogily. He brought back some dead thing and said he found it and didn't feel like eating. She was just waking up from the cold nightfall, and every one but Kiba seemed unprerared.

     Tsume didn't know how to fight back. That was somthing that always rubbed his fur backwards about her. She could always say somthing that you couldn't make a comback with. He did what he could think of and growled.

      "Harper." Cheza's faint voice called.

    Harper folded her ears. She turned around and looked at her. Cheza heald her hand out to her, waiting for the grey female to come.

    Harper blinked, knowing if she didn't come, Kiba would be steamed. She padded over reluctently, and sniffed her hand. Cheza lightly reached out and stroked her ears veguly.

     Harper's hackls raised a little and she got wide-eyed. She had never been toutched by a human in such a positive way. It was always being hit or struck. She never trusted them.

      This was new. Totaly new. She flicked her ear after a few soft strokes and turned away. Not facing anyone, and sat down. Her hackles and eyes remained the same, and she hunched over. It was so weird to be toutched by such soft and caring arms.

       The groupe, even Tsume, looked at her, sighlently. Harper's slow and smooth movments were also new. She was always fast and put-together. They wached her just sit there, shocked by how gentle Cheza was.

        Kiba knew if they remaned like that, Harper wouldn't return nicly. He looked at the others, catching Tsume quickly refocas to the kill he had found like he didn't want to be caught, and said in his mellow, strong voice.

   "C'mon, might as well eat while we can."

   Harper looked back and slowly but surly walked back and ate, quickly she finished and sat away from the groupe, and cassualy joined by Toboe.

Soon after the groupe finished, they were back to the same directionless running. Kiba led, Harper keeping a easy second, Toboe lagging to stay behind her, and Tsume in back. Cheza remained on Kiba's back.

   Harper lagged back again, and talked to Toboe.

"Back to running, I suppose." She said

"Yeah." Toboe thought for a bit. "What's so weird about her?"

 Harper looked at him blankly, but keeping an eye on where she was going.

"Cheza. You acted so..differant."

Harper growled. "Is there a problom with that?"

Toboe remained sighlent and continued to run. Harper sped ahead to where she was running beside Kiba. It was clear Harper didn't want to have that noticed.

Tsume breathed shortly out at this. She was so weird. After a minute, he pondered weather or not he should even care about what she did. Since when was it his job to note down all her actions? He skipped a step in his run and flailed, skidding into a snow heap.

 The wolves turned and looked at him, well, where they thought he was. Quickly Kiba let Cheza off his back, and started to dig. Quick movments of his paws started a hole in it with out any visual effort. Toboe joined in, and Harper wached.

  Smoothly, she walked around and scraped out a chunk of ice with her paws. Tsume's black nose appered. She barked and walked away. She knew Tsume, and he would probbly bite her and wressle her to let off the steam of emberassment from falling into a snow heap like that.

   Kiba and Toboe continued the digging as Hige lopped around, Barking exitedly. He was told to stay by Cheza, but what wolf could be more hyper than him at a time like this?
 

   Harper sat and wached mockingly as Tsume finaly shook off all the snow from his pelt. The others didn't metion it, they knew he had a temper that was worse that Harper's.

   She snickered as Toboe sat beside here. "Nice move there, Icey-ears!" She howled. He still had a chunk of ice sticking to his left ear tip.

   Tsume walked forward quickly, his pace advancing into a run. He bared his teeth as Toboe blew for cover from the fight about to happen. Leaping up, Tsume growled as Harper leapt up and took is attack with full force.

    She clamped her jaws on his vein. The side of his neck became coated in crimson blood. Tsume bit onto Harper's scruff, splattering more blood on the white snow. She only bit down harder, and Tsume relentlessly swung his head, tearing flesh out of his bite.

     As they landed, a horrible crack echoed through the ice. Harper whimpered shortly and loudly, letting go of Tsume's shoulder. Tsume sunk his fangs further in before removing them and turning to stalk away in fury.

     Kiba growled, but didn't retaliate. He moved towards Harper slowly. She hadden't gotten up, and she looked pretty beat. She was alive, but it was an injury that wouldn't heal quickly. She sniffed and looked up, blood was scattered in pools around her.

      Her pupils were dialated as she looked around. She flattened her ears and set her head down. Slowly, her caunchansness slipped away.

Toboe looked at her, fear was engulfing the small wolf's body. "Harper?" He whispered so lightly, not even Kiba picked it up.

 He slowly toutched her with his paw, the silder bands around it made a pitiful noise.

 "She isn't dead, is she?" Hige asked, ears tilded outward.

"No." Kiba's flat word meat she could have been.

Toboe and Hige looked at Kiba, they stood behind Harper, looking into her injury. a chunk of bone was showing, and the raw flesh was quickly freezing.

 Cheza walked stiffly over, and placed a hand on her. The blood didn't stain the cloth over her hand like blood would normaly do, putting slight releif into Kiba's yellow eyes.

 She quietly sang, Harper flinched, even in unconchancness, and eased into deeper sleep. With a flash, and somthing the wolves didn't quite catch, Cheza lifted her hand and Harper's wound was no longer visable.

  Toboe tilted his heat innosently, and Hige just stared. Tsume had finnaly come back, and lurked in the snow hills. He wouldn't show his face untill the next morning. He was afraid that he might bite someone even worse.

 Toboe looked up to Kiba. "I..I suppose we're staying here for the night, then?" He said, his head still tilted.

Kiba nodded.

Hige looked at Toboe. "Yeah, sure, let's just leave her behind and hope she doesn't die so she can risk dieing again finding us." He said sarcasticly.

Toboe ignored the comment, then curled up, the fur on his back barly toutching the fur on Harper's side, and closed his eyes. Hige dug out a small divvet in the ice to sleep in a few yards away from Toboe and Harper, and Tsume dug out a hole quietly in the snow mound, still hiding. Kiba wached them all, and let himself into slumber, Cheza toutching his ear.

Tsume was the last to fall into full sleep. He wached sighlently, only the top of his head visable in the night, and let his yellow eyes take in the scene.

Toboe was un aware of Tsume, he didn't even know the grey male was lurking so close. He was certen that no one was waching, no one awake, and slowly groomed the injury Harper reseived.

Even though the wound it's self had healed, blood still covered the females thick fur. He glanced around once more, looking right through Tsume as if nothing was there.

Tsume ducked quickly, if he caught Toboe, well, that just...just wouldn't be...right. Tsume flicked an ear before looking up, startled at what he saw.

Toboe was licking softly at the blood-matted fur on Harper's back. He had his eyes closed half-way in contentment, and was no longer barley toutching Harper's fur, he was full on leaning on her, almost as if he was protecting her from the cold.

Toboe pulled out a chunk of dried blood from Harper's hackles, his white, soft fangs. Slowly but strongly he managed to get it out, only a few grey hairs inside of it.

He shook his head gently, flicking the mass off his teeth. He looked back softly, by now, Tsume was sure that he was un aware that he was doing that, and suddenly his eyes came to fullness as he realized that he had opened up her wound again. He licked softly at it again, only to pull his head back and pretend to be asleep as Harper flinched and turned around, her back now facing Toboe. Her amber gold eyes were slightly open, and Tsume knew she was awake, but not agknowlaging Toboe's continues consern.

Tsume folded his ears and pulled back his lips in a grimmice. It discusted him to see a wolf deeply care for another, yet, he just couldn't pull his eyes away from the scene. It was so...familiar to see that. And even worse to know what it felt like to be cared for like that.

Before the shooting and banishment of his old pack, he had gotten deeply hurt, and the freinds he had, the wolves of the whole pack cared for him, each taking a turn whole-heartedly to care for and wach him, asisting him for every thing he needed, everything he disired.

Tsume wished so badly he could trust like that. But they would suspect somthing, know somthing was wrong if he acted like that. He gritted his teeth a little and sunk down a little. He could wach no longer.

Slowly Tsume fell into slumber, such a soft, comphorting dream, back with the old family, but then everything went wrong, just like how it did. Every detail. Hot, white pain sunk into his chest, and Tsume lifted his head quickly. Had he really thought of that again?

He looked up from his spot, the aroura's still out, and wached the other's again. Hige was still the same ploofy furball, curled into a mount of tan yellow fur.

Toboe was