Untitled by Kittyling The moon was full. Dangling in opalescent brilliance against the backdrop of night, stars accenting it and wisps of cloud occasionally drifting lazily across its surface, the satellite of this ruined earth was something beautiful to behold. Each member of the pack could feel it, smell it--wished they could taste it, scoop it right out of the sky and hold it in their hands, basking in its radiance. There was no point in hiding those feelings, really, for they all knew what a full moon meant. Energy a-plenty--certainly more than enough to keep them going through the night. At least, that was what Kiba had said initially. It was past midnight, and they all needed sleep; their regular sleeping patterns as wolves had pretty much been disrupted after setting off on their journey, no longer hunting at dawn and dusk and sleeping through the day but hunting when food was available, sleeping as they became too weary to move on and only for an hour or two at a time. It was exhausting, particularly hard on the youngest member of the pack, though he didn't like to show it. Toboe was still little more than a cub, perhaps passing as a louvart at best, and he was very much a pup in his naivete and mannerisms. Kiba tended to ignore this, Hige treated him as a younger brother, and Tsume...Tsume didn't know how he felt. It was annoying at first, having the chibi tagging along after him as though they were family, wide doe eyes regarding him with admiration and something Tsume didn't really want to put a name to. Perhaps he'd grown into the role after time, though; he often found himself growing angry at Kiba for continuing on at such a rapid pace when Toboe fell behind, quick to point out his frustration to the self-appointed alpha and receiving only cold stares and terse replies to his attempts at reason. Or maybe he did it to spite their leader--and it was hard to use that term in conjunction to the golden-eyed wolf--for he certainly didn't like him. Tolerate him, maybe. Like him, no. Which lead him to wonder why on earth he'd even agreed to this impossible mission, but on a night like this...that question was a little easier to answer. They'd stopped to rest at a cave, the usual spot for when they were on this sort of terrain. Caves were good protection against the elements, the snow and wind and cold kept mostly at bay at least until they set off again. Kiba, Hige, and Toboe had fallen asleep, curled up in wolf form in separate spots towards the back of the cave, the fur of their winter coats thick and warm and very comfortable in this sort of weather. Tsume, however, was awake. The wolf sat outside the cave, staring up at the moon, a feeling of anticipation welling up in his chest as it always did when the moon reached this stage; it was intoxicating, making him want to howl with all his might, race a thousand miles into the snowy wilderness, wanting some way to sate this hunger he felt. As it was, he pawed restlessly at the snow-covered ground, allowing a small whine of impatience as he examined his surroundings. ...And he nearly jumped when he felt a tentative nuzzle at his back, turning to see the russet-brown pup of their pack sitting just behind him and looking at him curiously. Tsume shifted forward slightly, away from Toboe, reverting to human form as the boy stretched, lazily copying his actions. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" Tsume asked gruffly, eyeing the brown-eyed boy in front of him critically. Sitting in the snow was much less comfortable in the tight leather of his alternate form, and he sat up straighter, the ice cold prickle of newly-melted water against the stretch of exposed skin between his shirt and pants making him wince. Toboe smiled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "I woke up and felt that you were awake too, Tsume," the pup explained, "And I can't go back to sleep the way things are tonight." This last part was added dreamily, the youth turning his gaze up to the heavens and sighing happily at the sight of the moon. Tsume grunted, shifting again so that he was no longer facing the pup and the cave but the moon again instead, Toboe following suit and moving to sit next to the older wolf, hugging his knees to his chest. The two sat in a fairly companiable silence for a few moments, before Toboe spoke again. "Isn't it great, Tsume?" He stretched, leaning back against the rock surrounding the mouth of the cave and continuing to gaze up at the moon. "I feel like I could do anything right now. I always feel so...so excited when there's a full moon. I could probably catch an entire herd of deer right now!" he babbled. "What about you, Tsume?" At that question, the older wolf turned to regard his packmate contemplatively. Toboe looked...different in this light, the moon giving a pale silver sheen to his features, soft, creamy skin seeming to glow in it, chesnut-brown hair a shade lighter than normal. And when Toboe turned to mirror that gaze, Tsume realized that the pup wasn't really a pup anymore, but caught somewhere between that stage and adulthood. Just how long had they been traveling together for there to be such a difference? Or perhaps it had been there all along, and Tsume just hadn't realized it until now. "Tsume?" He was staring, and amber eyes regarded him with curiosity, the silver-haired wolf quickly averting his gaze to something other than Toboe. That, unfortunately, caught the doe-eyed boy's attention more than simply holding the gaze would have, and he nudged cautiously at Tsume's arm. "Ne, Tsume, you didn't answer my question." After a few moments, Tsume finally turned again to look at him, studying the boy in silence. There was some...instinct pressing at the back of his mind, the current atmosphere making him light-headed. Maybe the presence of the full moon wasn't allowing him to think straight. Maybe the bitter cold was making his nerve ends more sensitive, some feeling sparking at the edge of his senses and giving him the need to fulfill some odd desire... He was leaning down despite himself, a callused hand tracing the lines of the pup's face before coming to rest on his shoulder. Tsume let himself go to the instinct, the desire, whatever the hell it was he was feeling just now. Toboe didn't say anything, or do anything, other than keep tentative eye contact. And before he could think about what he was doing, Tsume was kissing him. It wasn't particularly soft, or romantic, or anything like Grandmother had told Toboe in the fairytales. Tsume's lips were chapped and dry against his own, insistent and a little fierce as the older wolf drew the boy in closer to him, the heat of Toboe's young, lean body accompanied by the heat of some other feeling nearly driving him mad already. He was drunk, he decided, tipsy from the incredibly energy the full moon had decided to grant him and needing an outlet, but he'd never thought the pup would suffice as one. Or maybe it was something else entirely, encouraged by the moon but not completely reliant upon it. He wanted to think it was the former, but some insistent part of his mind was telling him it was the latter. Toboe whimpered slightly, clumsily returning the kiss and parting his lips at the flick of Tsume's tongue against them, the same tongue plunging into his mouth and playing against his own. It was odd how such simple actions affected him so, but the boy knew better than to attribute all of these feelings to the radiance of the moon. This was a different type of radiance, a warmth that could only be generated from...well, Tsume. While Toboe wasn't overly bright, he did know that he wouldn't have felt the same way about these actions had it been Hige or Kiba. No, it was only Tsume. Tsume... ...was pulling back now, both hands gripping Toboe's shoulders a little more tightly than necessary and staring down almost bewilderedly at the pup, as though he'd initiated the kiss, chest rising and falling lightly and the hot puffs of his breath just barely visible against the cold air. Neither said anything, both too caught up in the lingering sparks of the sensation of touch, minds reeling in an attempt to come up with an explanation for what had just happened. to be continued... return to splash page