Growing Up the Wrong Way

Chapter One

Deep in the woods, two golden eyes watched carfully as a sudden flash of black raced past and into the trees. The figure crouched and raced after it knowing it wouldn't get away. It chased the black creature in silence hoping it wouldn't hear it. Suddenly the black creature stopped and looked behind him just in time to see a silver wolf tackle into him. They fell to the ground and fought with each other until the black wolf cried out, "Ouch! Okay! Okay! I get it! You won, jeez, nearly break my legs why don't you?" The silver wolf jumped up and smirked, "Its your own fault for not watching your back. I told you I'd be after you today, what didn't you get out of that?" The black wolf stepped forward into the moonlight letting the silver stripe, on each side of his body, glow, "I get what you said I just don't get you. Now come on Silver, you won I lost now we have to get back or else Uncle Sesshoumaru will have our heads." Silver nodded, "Alright, as long as you admit defeat I'm happy." She said as she started to follow the black wolf back toward their wolf pack's cave and clearing.

Inuyasha's ears perked up as the two young wolves walked quietly into the clearing. He sat up and yawned, he had been waiting for hours for them to return because if he didn't wait, Sesshoumaru would have and that can never be a good thing. "Well, bout time you two get back. Where were you anyways?" Silver sat down in front of her father and replied, "Down by the river near the Mountain Wolves' Territory." Inuyasha sighed, "I hate when you go down there. You can't trust those wolves, they never stay in their own territory."

"I thought you said that only wolves with dark hearts and minds did that. Are all Mountain Wolves like that?" The black wolf asked. Inuyasha shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I've only met a few Mountain Wolves and they weren't the nicest or the sincerest wolves I've ever met. Some might be good but you'll never know unless you're willing to let you guard down."

Silver sat up straight, "Never let your guard down, not for any wolf, not even one from your own pack." Inuyasha smiled and nodded approvingly, "Very good Silver. Now that's enough talk, let's get inside and get some sleep." They both nodded then followed their father into their den.

The den had grown very packed so they had to find a new cave and they did not too far away, a little way to the left of the other den. Inuyasha, Kagome, and their pups all shared that den while everyone else had the big, main den. Inuyasha walked past all the sleeping pups and laid down next to his mate who slept peacefully beside him on their patch of grass.

Silver walked to her patch and walked in a circle a few times then laid down only to get a questioning look from Kip (the black wolf if you hadn't guessed already), "Why do you do that? What difference does it make if you trample your bedding instead of just lying down?" Silver shrugged, "I don't know, I've just always done it. Now, I'm tired so leave me alone." Kip hmphed then muttered, "Fine be that way." Silver smirked, "I am that way." Then they both drifted into a deep slumber as Inuyasha smiled warmly at his pups then went to sleep as well.

THE NEXT MORNING

It was Miroku's turn to watch the pups today while the older wolves went out and hunted. Miroku sat outside in the middle of the clearing and faced the dens in boredom. He knew it was early and once they were totally awake he'd have his paws full but for now, he was just bored.

Just then, Semmi walked outside their den and sat down in silence. Miroku watched as Coda snuck up behind her and readied himself for a perfect pounce. He leapt at her but right when he was nearly on top of her she jumped aside causing him to fall flat on his face. She burst out laughing as he groaned and tried to get up, "Man! I was so close too." Semmi smirked, "Well looks like you're just gonna have to keep trying huh? Oh well, more fun for me!" Coda hmphed then looked away.

Speckles poked her head out of the other den and saw Coda and Semmi fighting, like normal. She nodded then went back into the den. Speck was still asleep as was Silver and Kip. Snowplow watched as she walked over to him and sat down beside him,

"Coda, and Semmi are awake and Rin is probably awake too but I didn't see her outside." She muttered. Snowplow nodded then stood up, "I think its time for me to get outside, I want to fight with Coda." Speckles smirked knowing Coda was gonna have his butt kicked. "Have fun." She whispered as he walked out of the cave.

Snowplow walked outside and toward Coda and Semmi as they fought with one another. He stopped suddenly when he realized they weren't the only ones outside. He turned and saw Miroku smiling over at his pups. He sighed with relief, as long as it was wasn't Sesshoumaru he'd be fine.

Astra had left once Rin was old enough to care for herself, she went back to her pack and promised she'd come back every once-in-awhile to check up on them. The pups didn't know her very well, she was just a wolf they saw when they were little. They didn't even know how evil she could be or that she was just as evil as Sesshoumaru.

Semmi stopped laughing at Coda once she noticed Snowplow sitting off to the side and watching with little interest. She blushed slightly for she had a crush on him when she knew she shouldn't but well she couldn't help it. She cleared her throat and walked over to him, "Uh hey Snowplow! Glad to see your awake." He nodded, "Yea, I've been awake but well I didn't want to interrupt your little fight."

Semmi lowered her head in embarassment then muttered, "I should've done better. I was acting childish." Snowplow smiled then pressed his muzzle to her cheek and muttered, "Its okay, we're still young. Its okay to act like pup every now and then." Semmi froze then blushed deeply until he pulled back.

Coda walked up to him and crouched down playfully, "Wanna fight? I wouldn't mind beating you at least once." Snowplow smirked, "Good luck with that, but if you really want to fight then I'll fight you. I'm just bored enough to give you a real fight." Coda smiled as Snowplow readied himself and crouched down as well. Coda leapt at him but Snowplow was too quick and easily side-stepped him causing him to fall to the ground and jump up and run at him. Snowplow turned and clawed Coda in the side which set him flying. Semmi smirked and commented, "Another win for Snowplow and zero still for Coda. Too bad."

Coda slowly got up and panted heavily, not showing any signs that he wanted to continue fighting. "Ok...you win." He sighed as he fell over onto his side. Snowplow smirked while Miroku did the same. He got up and slowly padded over to them, "Morning pups." They all looked up at him replied, "Morning."

Semmi jumped up happily and ran over and licked her father's muzzle, "Morning Dad." Miroku chuckled and rubbed his muzzle on the top of her head. Coda yawned and asked while scratching his head with his hind leg, "So when are the others gonna get up?" Miroku shrugged, "When they feel like it I suppose, but the others will be coming back soon so they better be up before then or else Sesshoumaru will be ticked."

The pups shuddered which made Miroku chuckle again knowing how much they hated him. Suddenly a small vioce came from the cave behind them, "The others are awake." Everyone turned to see Rin sitting behind them causing them all to smile nervously, 'What a strange pup. No wonder she's Sesshoumaru's daughter.' Miroku thought.

Like she said, the others were indeed awake. Speckles ran out of the cave with Speck hot on her heels, "Come on!" She shouted at him happily. Kip walked out of the cave and over to the others and sat down beside them, "They never change do they? Always the same morning routine." Everyone nodded in reply. Silver laid down at the entrance to their cave and yawned sleepily, she wasn't ready to be woken up yet but Kip had insisted on it.

Deek lumbered out of the cave lazily and fell down with a sigh of relief, "I think I'll take another nap." He muttered. Semmi glared at him and walked over to his side and whispered in his ear, "Not unless you want Sesshoumaru to find you." His eyes popped open very quickly at that, he hadn't that of that himself. He yawned and sat up slowly, "Fine...but I'm going to bed early." Semmi hmphed, "Like that's new, your never change. I can't believe your my brother!"

Miroku stepped in between then and snapped, "That's enough you two! Its too early in the morning for your bickering! Now let's just wait a few minutes, the others will be back shortly." They both lowered their heads in shame and muttered, "Yes father."

The twins skidded to a stop beside the group and began to pant, "Hey everyone, good morning." Said Speck the best he could. Rin narrowed her eyes a bit at she glanced at all of Inuyasha and Kagome's pups, 'Why? What is it about them that makes father so unhappy? Why is he always picking on them? I don't understand.' She thought unhappily.

ONE HOUR LATER

The rest of the adults walked into the clearing each carrying a large piece of deer meat in their mouths. "Yay! Food!" Coda exclaimed happily. Miroku walked over to Sango and took some of the meat from her. Although she couldn't talk with her mouth ful her eyes shown with thanks towards her mate. They all dropped the meat in between the two caves and backed off so the pups and Tai could get the first pickings (Tai is the alpha male after all).

Silver waited until everyone else had gotten some food before getting up and walking over to the food pile. She took a small amount and walked over to Kip and sat down and began eating. Kip glanced over at her but didn't say anything although he knew something was wrong. He shrugged it off and went back to eating hoping she'd return to her normal self.

Like always, Coda was the first one done, followed closely behind by Sesshoumaru and Rin. "Great catch guys!" Coda complimented. Rumiko laughed, "Oh no my dear. This time of year is always full of wild life. For at least a few months we'll all be well fed." Coda looked pleased with that, as well as everyone else.

Sesshoumaru nodded to Rin then they both stood up, "I'm going to take Rin hunting. Not for anything big though, we have no need for that." Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku all looked at each other in confusion. They knew that Rin was still a bit young for actual hunting and even though each of the pups have killed something at one point by themselves they weren't sure it was alright for Sesshoumaru to plan this by himself.

Rumiko and Tai nodded, "Alright. Have fun Rin!" Rumiko commented. Rin shuffled her feet nervously while Tai added, "Be carfeul though, the you-know-whats are out this time of the year now as well and there are a lot of them too." Sesshoumaru nodded then replied, "We'll be fine. Come along Rin." He turned and walked toward the woods with Rin after him.

"Um are you sure that Rin is old enough for training?" Inuyasha asked, not really sure if it was his place to question his brother's motives or not. Tai shrugged, "Sesshoumaru has been bugging me about that for quite awhile now. I figure if he believes that Rin is ready then who are we to stop them." Inuyasha nodded although he still wasn't 100 sure Rin could handle the dangers of the forest at her age.

Kagome got up and licked her lips, "Well, how about we scout the territory boundaries? Who wants to go this time?" "I will." Snowplow offered. Semmi jumped up, "Oh I want to!" Miroku shook his head, "Not today young lady. You're staying here, you can go tomorrow." "No fair." She muttered sitting back down but not before she recieved a reassuring smirk from Snowplow which caused her to blush once again.

Inuyasha looked at all the pups and noticed one pup in particular. "How about you Silver? You haven't been on patrol in awhile." Silver looked up at him and replied, "Um...I...uh-" "Oh come on Silver! Dad's right, you haven't left the clearing for patrol in along time." Kip interrupted. Silver stared him with a blank expression then sighed, "Alright I'll go. But this is one time thing only."

Kagome smiled, "Good! Alright then. We'll leave shortly." Silver glared at Kip who just scooted away a little, "Look, its for your own good Silver. Something's bugging you so I figured instead of asking you about it why not just get you to forget about it. Just go and have a good time. For everyone's sake." Silver stiffened then smiled slightly, "Alright." She walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Thank you Kip but you shouldn't worry about. You don't have to anyways." Kip nodded then replied, "But I do Silver, I can't help it."

Kagome walked into the middle of the clearing and said loudly, "Ok! Snowplow! Silver! Let's go!" Inuyasha ran up to her and licked her muzzle and said, "Be careful, there's so many things that could go wrong." Kagome smiled lovingly and replied, "Don't worry, I can handle myself. Plus I have two pups that have very strong and brave blood running through their veins thanks to a certain wolf I know." Inuyasha smiled then pressed his nose to her's, causing Kagome to kiss him back.

"Ok! Enough with the PDA!" Snowplow commented loudly causing them to break apart. Silver made a gaging sound and added, "Yeah, talk about gross." Inuyasha laughed and backed away, "Well have fun. Try to be back before dark or I'll come looking for you." Kagome nodded, "Alright. Come on then. Let's go check out those boundaries." Snowplow nodded then followed his mother into the woods with Silver right behind him. "...Be safe..." Inuyasha whispered as a gust of wind blew through the woods taking his words along with it.