Way of the Wolf

Chapter 5 Memory Road

When I finally awoke, I found myself lying on the grassy hill of a meadow. Below me at the base of the hill was a dirt path. I look around, wondering now if last night had been a dream that resulted me in sleepwalking here. I slump back, only to find my hands slump on Wanderer who lies next to me, still asleep. I move to the side a bit, then examine the hand that Hagishi had grabbed. His teeth marks were clearly visible. The wolf youkai were fighting for the freedom of me and Wanderer. And Sakebi tried to frame me! That's why the wolves were protecting me, they knew I was innocent, and they weren't going to let the innocent get involved.
Wanderer stirs, and I turn to her and frown. What part of "No" didn't she understand? I begin to mumble words at her idiocy when she awakes, her hair unkempt and frizzy from the tornado ride. I knew that the wolves had capabilities of wind control, but I had never seen them in action. But pushing that aside, I glare at Wanderer, then begin to admonish her.
"What part of "No" didn't you get?" I asked, my voice snappish and grouchy. Wanderer mumbles something, crawling towards me. She kneels before me in a way, her bottom lowering down to the grass. Then she slumps on the ground, asleep once more. I sigh harshly, looking around for a place to shelter. I grab my double edged sword from the grass and slide it into my sheath, then proceed to hoist Wanderer's sleeping frame onto my back. She mumbles in her sleep, sighing and soft little snores emitting from her. I look at her, slightly mollified that she was having a fantastic sleep, whilst I was left to carry her to shelter. But I can't stop a smile spreading on my face and she hiccups in her sleep too. She is pretty cute when she is sleeping, I'll give her that much.
After an hour or so of walking down the path, she awakens.
"Ashiato..." She yawns like a little puppy, and snuggles deeper into my back. I wonder if she is still partially asleep, and turn to see her eyes still closed. Red embarrassment flushes my face. I thought she was still awake? Doing that to me nonetheless. Off course, Wanderer and I were friends. Nothing more. The she leans over my shoulder her eyes suddenly wide and alert.
"Ashiato, where are we going?" I gesture with one hand still holding her on, and the other pointing towards the mountains far of.
"We are going away from the youkai village. I don't remember mountains ever being near where we were-" I stop as Wanderer begins to tremble, in fear. I stop to the side and set her down slowly, where she continues to quiver, eyes still trained on the mountains.
"What?" I ask crossly, but when I see how truly scared she is, I kneel next to her. She looks up at me,fear and betrayal in her eyes. And the look that she is remembering something. I stroke her head softly, not sure of what else I could do. She grabs my arm, and whispers urgently.
"We can't go there!!! How did the wolves get us this far? It should've taken months to get here," she looks around wildly as though something would emerge from thin air, "I haven't disturbed anything yet, good, good, if we leave now, it may not be too late..." I roughly turn her face towards me, and she looks frightened. The only thing she has disturbed is my conscience, then I realise what she is saying. I look around, only just realising what a lovely place this is. This was the path, that Wanderer had taken, forced to take, to leave her family.
'And that mountain,' I think to myself, slightly enraged now, 'is the mountain where they forever will be held captive.'
I look back at Wanderer, who seems to be bursting with tears. Suddenly she drops to the grass, moaning, holding her head. I place my hand on her forehead, to feel it burning up. A fever. I panicked, I didn't know anything about human illnesses, let alone how to treat them.
"It's ok." I say to Wanderer, the panic in my voice obvious. I frantically look around for any source of water, I at least knew I had to cool her down a bit. Then I heard voices behind me, mumbling softly. I turn to see a man and woman, looking at me with astonished looks on their faces. They seem to be stuck with the decision of fleeing or watching the events take place.
"You are humans, right? Not fox or snake demons?" I yell at them, hope in my heart. They look at each other cautiously, then nod. My heart warms with thanks, and I call again,
"Can you help my friend? She is human, and she has a fever!" Immediately, the man and woman race over and kneel beside Wanderer. They proceed to grab clothes and herbs from their valises and whisper things to one another that are so quiet and discreet, even my wolf ears can't pick them up. The man turns to look at me in surprise.
"What's a mountain wolf doing so far from Runa Mountain?" I felt sure I hadn't heard him right.
"Mountain Wolf?" I ask, my astonishment equivalent to his. He raises his eyebrows and turns back to Wanderer but continues to speak,
"We heard a tale that long ago, the mountain wolf youkai and forest wolf youkai fought and separated. But to think that the younger generation was never told of their long lost relations is tragic." Many things swirled in my brain. One, Wanderer had lived near Mountain wolf Youkai, two, why hadn't Sakebi ever told me about the Mountain wolves, or the others? Then the woman spoke, with a sense of urgency in it, turning to face me from her kneeling position on the ground.
"We need to get her to our hut for a proper treatment!" That's when Wanderer stirred, she mumbled something, and we all leaned in to listen.
"What is it Wanderer?" I demand, kneeling next to her, brushing her brown hair away so that I can look into her hazel eyes.
"I remember..." She whispers to me. I feel perplexed, but I nod as if I understand. She turns her head to gaze up at her "doctors" and whispers again,
"The memories are returning, memories of this road and hardships." Suddenly the man and woman smile and lean towards her, sadness in their eyes and tears threatening to spill down their cheeks.
"Kirahana, Eito, is that you?" Whispers Wanderer, tears pouring down her face. The woman smiles and kisses Wanderer on her burning forehead.
"Yes, it is us, little sister."