That night,Shisa slept outside because she didn't want to be bothered with the two brick heads (as she described them).

Nex and Tobu couldn't fall asleep because their minds were still focused on what happened.

_________________________________

Tobu sighed. "Look,Nex. Why do you always have to be such A jerk to your sister? I thought you loved her."

"That's none of your business!" He shouted. "Anyways,why were you hanging around her in the first place?!"

"She came to me. I was just by the river,trying to take A snooze."

Nex sighed and put on paw to his forehead. "I don't understand. Why dosen't she listen to me?"

"Well,i'm not surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"The reason why she doesn't listen is because your too obsessed with her."

"What do you mean?"

"Your too protective of her. You never let her enjoy anything."

"That's because there's danger lurking around every corner of this forest. She could be attacked and killed by anything that comes her way."

Tobu looked at him with an "I can't believe you" expression. "You've got to be kidding. Most of the animals that live in this forest are harmless. The only thing you'd have to worry about are hunters."

"What? There are hunters in these woods?"

"Only when it's wolf season."

Nex sighed. "That's A relief."

"Which is this season." Tobu finished.

"Oh no!" Nex gasped. "I've got to plan something to keep Shisa safe. I'll tell her to be in when the sun sets,restrict her from going out of my sight,and if that dosen't work,i'll tie her to A tree with A rope or maybe......"

"Do you hear yourself?!" Tobu shouted to him. "One mention of something dangerous and you talk about tying her to A tree?!"

"Yes. She won't listen to me,so that's the best thing to do."

Tobu sighed. "You just don't get it,do you?"

"Get what?"

"Tell me something:Is Shisa your sister or your pet?"

"What are you talking about? She's not my pet."

"Then,why are you treating her like one?"

Nex gasped in shock. He turned his head to the right,seeing Shisa sleeping outside. "I..........I.......I never thought of that before."

"Brothers are supposed to be kind to their younger sisters,not treating them like that." Tobu explained. "I know you want to keep her safe,but what your doing is not helping her grow into A mature wolf."

"But,...........if I don't do that.........then,...what if....."

"Forget about 'What if?'! You've got to learn that that's how the world works. Keeping her under your rules forever is not going to change that."

Nex closed his eyes. "I know that,but.........I don't know what else to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Well,..." He began as he sat up. "Our parents' death really scared me and........I didn't want Shisa to suffer the same thing. Plus,...........I don't how any other way of how I can take care of her."

Tobu thought for A moment. "Tell me:When was the last time you two played together?"

Nex tried to remember. "I don't know. Maybe..........sometime before our parents' death."

"Well,there's the solution! Maybe if you two played more often together,you can keep her safe while both of you are having A great time."

Nex brightened A bit. "Yeah. That's A great idea! I wonder why I didn't think of that before?"

"I guess your parents' death took over your emotions and made you forget your responsibility as A good brother."

Nex looked at Tobu and smiled. "You know,for A wolf I just met,.............your not so bad."

"And for A psychotic,over-the-wall protective,brother......................your pretty cool."

"Finally!" A joyful voice shouted.

Both of them turned to the direction of the voice and saw it came from Shisa.

She ran up to them. "It's about time you guys got along!"

"Wait A minute." Tobu said. "Were you listening to our conversation?"

She nodded. "I heard every word."

She went to her brother and licked his left cheek. "Does this mean you won't put me under those rules?"

Nex nodded with A smile. "Thanks to Tobu,I finally realized that I can't hold on to you forever. From this point on,i'll try to stop being overprotective and make sure your happy."

She nuzzled him. "Thank you. That's all I really wanted from you."

She went to Tobu and nuzzled him as well. "Thank you for talking to my brother. You have my gratitude."

"You're............welcome............" Tobu said,feeling A bit warm.

"Well,good night." Shisa went to the back of the den and layed down.

For some reason,Tobu couldn't stop smiling. "Wow........" He whispered.

"So,......." Nex said. "When will the hunters be here?"

"What hunters?"

"The hunters you said that were coming for wolf season."

Tobu chuckled nervously. "Well,.......you see......about wolf season..............I made that up."

"What?!"

"The truth is I only said that,so I could see how you would react to it."

Nex frowned. "If I wasn't injured,I would smack you right now."

"Frightening." Tobu,sarcastically,said.

Nex laughed A bit and went to sleep.

Tobu stared at the moon from the outside. "I wonder..........."