| [Oct. 22nd, 2017|09:58 pm] |
Kurenai looked, too, and saw the rent in the sky close as if it had never been. The warm yellow sun glimmered down the horizon. There was nothing to indicate whether this truly was another world, or whether they'd returned to their own in the wolf gods' cruel idea of one last joke.
Saishou sniffed her way along the tree branch, and the dark hackles rose along her spine. Yori growled.
"This place stinks of tanuki," Pakkun said, crouching low.
Ryouma closed his eyes, like a prayer, and tipped his head back against his tree.
Kurenai dropped from her branch down to Raidou's. Saishou and Yori followed her: the silver dog graceful despite her bulk, the old one favoring one paw. Pakkun grudgingly made room for them.
Raidou was big and solid and whole, sweat drying on his shoulders and leaf-scratches reddening on his cheeks. He had his ANBU armor in hand, somehow, the punctured chestplate drooping from the loosened straps. Regular round holes pockmarked his black tank in a vicious march across his torso. He blinked down at his armor, and looked up again at Kurenai.
"We should stop," she told him, and momentarily hated herself for the change in his expression. "Tousaki's having an acute stress reaction. He may pick himself up, but he'll get worse later if you push him now. You need food and rest. And we don't have the faintest idea where we are. If we blunder off now—"
"You're right." He dragged a hand through sweat-soaked hair, shoving it back from his brow. Then he straightened his spine and rolled his shoulders back, a man settling into a marathon when he'd been trying to run a sprint. He said, louder, "Hatake."
Kakashi landed on their branch with barely a whisper of chakra. "Taichou?"
"Find us a safe place to camp. We're taking a rest."
Kakashi's brows flicked up. The tomoe in his Sharingan eye still spun slowly, a hypnotic danger to anyone who stared too long. "But—"
"That's an order."
Kakashi's jaw clamped tight under the clinging black mask. He darted a glance back at Ryouma, motionless in his tree. He looked at Raidou's torn shirt, and then at Kurenai. He dipped his chin. "Taichou."
A soft whistle, muffled through the mask. Pakkun, Saishou, and Yori dropped with Kakashi to the forest floor and vanished into the trees. Kin curled tighter on Ryouma's lap, her fringed tail beating softly against his legs.
Kurenai let her breath out. One problem down. They only seemed insurmountable if you tried to tackle them all together.
"Tousaki next," Raidou said. He folded a comforting hand over the blade of her shoulder. "You wrangle the dog. I'll get him out of the tree."
He'd almost certainly given her the easier task. Kurenai passed him a wry, grateful smile, and leapt for Ryouma's tree.
The dog looked up as they landed. Ryouma lifted his head, too, blinking hard. There was loose golden fur stuck to his cheek, where he'd pressed against Kin's side, but his eyes were a little clearer now. The chalky pallor was fading. He scrubbed a hand over his face, and looked at Raidou. "Doing okay, Taichou?"
"Nope," Raidou said easily. "Look at this. Ripped my shirt and didn't even give me a cool scar. Now we know where Hatake gets his manners."
Ryouma tripped over a laugh, looked startled. "He's never been that cranky." He rubbed a hand down Kin's side, and she turned and licked his face. He scratched under her chin. "Where'd he go?"
"Scouting," Kurenai said. She crouched, holding out a hand to the dog. Kin glanced at her, turned back to Ryouma, and leaned her ears into his hand.
He was looking down, though, into the murky depths of the forest floor. He swallowed. "Guess we better get moving." |
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