His pride, maybe, but that obviously went without saying. Nothing felt like it was broken, the mud that was trapping him had successfully broken his fall and prevented any serious injuries.Â
Not for the first time, Kiba thought about how Tsume was more suited to a leadership position than he was. Hige and Toboe didnât seem to have any issue with following Kiba, but it wasnât like he had any experience with leading a pack. Tsumeâs pack may very well have been made up of humans, but at least heâd known how to lead them, how to take charge and come up with a plan, how to listen and not let his emotions get the best of him, most of the time. With Kiba calling the shots, it felt more and more like the blind leading the blind.
Case in point, the hole he had fallen into.
âIâm fine.â He stretched one arm above his head, feeling the wall of the hole above him. He couldnât feel the top, unfortunately, so it wouldnât be as easy as simply pulling himself out. âIâm going to try to climb out.â Kiba pulled one foot free of the mud, grimacing as the sodden earth sucked at his foot, as though it was trying to keep him trapped, stuck at the bottom of the hole forever.
If you had told Tsume even two months ago that he would be happily working with four other wolves, he wouldâve either looked at you like you were speaking a language he didnât understand or, and this one was far more likely, socked you in the mouth so hard you would taste your own blood. youâd think, being what he was, that being with other wolves would feel more natural to Tsume than the pack of humans he had been running with before he met Kiba...but that really wasnât the case. He was more used to being with the humans. Besides, being with other wolves made him think of before...and he didnât really like to think about his existence before Freeze City.
It hurt, if he was being honest, even if he was only being honest with himself.
When Kiba said he was going to try to climb out, Tsume was jolted out of his thoughts and back to the present. âDonât do that, you idiot, youâre going to kill yourself.â He said. âThere has to be something around here I can toss down for you to grab. Just give me a second.â
He may not always get along with Kiba or agree with his decisions, but that didnât mean he wanted to leave him stranded there or watch him get hurt or worse. âHold on, I think I see something.â He got up and walked away from the hole, walking over to a box, where something that definitely looked like rope was. From visual view alone, there didnât seem to be much of it, but it was the best they had.
So he picked it up and carried it back over.