CHAPTER ONE: The Wolf of Sin

This is a story about Tsume after he was banished from his pack and before he came to Freeze city. Tsume isn't yet the anti-social loner he is in the series and still doesn't know any swear words… but not for long. This is my frst fic so I hope you enjoy! ;)

Over the endless barren horizon, a grey dog ran. The red moon above stared it down with its eyes of greatness, and the stars pierced it with the sharpest daggers. The dog ran on, and on, and on. It stopped not once in its long run. What is its story?


Tsume could feel his blood on his paws- his own blood dripping from the wound in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to be rid of it and go back to the way things used to be; when he still had his friends, his parents, his aunties, his siblings, his girl… but it was all ashes.

The wolf's heavy breathing was increasing and he had unknowingly begun to lag. Tsume's vision began to blur but he took no notice. I'm already running blindly! This won't be any dif- he stopped when he heard something in the distance. A high-frequency beeping which blotted out all other sounds and confused his muddled brain even more. When he looked up, he saw a black ship in the sky through his blurry eyes. It was too much to comprehend. The last thing he remembered before he fell to the snow-covered ground was the beeping, the black ship, the rancid smell, and blood.


When Tsume woke, he found himself lying in a pool of his own blood. He felt tired and wary, as though he could not manage another day. This was it. He had no other alternative. The wounded wolf breathed in, and summoning up all his strength, he howled.

"Ah-wruuuuuuuuuu~!" "A-wruu!" "A-wruu!" The howl echoed across the mountains and the rocks. If he were lucky, someone would come and help. If he were not, he'd either die in his own blood or with a bullet to his neck.

Either way, I deserve it. This wound, it is a mark of my sin against my pack. I am an outcast.

Tsume resisted the urge to sleep. He was fully aware that if he did he may never open his eyes again. He stayed in his fetal position in an attempt to keep the warmth in his body. His watering eyes were on the red moon, the goddess of beauty and power, the goddess of wolves, for she gave his father and his father before the strength to live on. Tsume became entranced by the moon. His body and mind felt even weaker but also… lighter. He was a feather swayed in the wind. A bloody feather. Before he knew it, the grey wolf had fallen asleep once again.


Lapa laughed at Klik's joke. "Haha! I suppose that is what hunting a caribou would be like!" She looked over at Tsume, who was also laughing

"Oh, Tsume, you know how funny you look when you laugh!" she giggled. Tsume put on a macho face. "Well, dearie, you look funny when you try!" Lapa was his girl, and he was her boy. Klik suddenly stopped laughing. He glanced over at where the older wolves were gathered. Some of them were also pricking their ears up, the alpha pair included. Cody, a friend of Tsume's ran up to the alpha pair and whispered something which made them snarl.

"The Hunters are here!" they howled at their pack. "If we work together, we can overcome this!"

The pack erupted into a dismayed beast but it was too late. A bullet whizzed past Tsume and hit the tree behind him. He gasped and looked at Lapa, who was cowering on her paws.

"Come on, Lapa! We have to go!" he hissed. When he looked across to Klik, all he found was a dead black body with blood pouring from its stomach. He gasped at the sight, but it only made him want to hurry even more. "Come on, Lapa!" he said again. Lapa stood up and followed him when he ran to the nearest exit out of pack camp.

"Tsume…" he heard someone say behind him. When he turned, he saw Lapa- and then he saw blood. Lapa too had been killed. Like a maddened eagle, he closed his eyes and ran forth as fast as he could. Images of his packmates' bloody bodies lingered in his mind and blinded him in his haste, sending him to a collision course with the alpha male.

"Tsume, you traitor!" he howled, and tossed his head back to deliver a lethal blow to the chest. It hit Tsume with such impact that he was tossed in the air several meters backward. Tsume landed on his side. When he looked back up at his alpha's eyes, all he saw was hatred.


Tsume literally jumped when he woke, which of course didn't help to staunch his blood.

"Ahhh!" yelled an unfamiliar voice. Tsume froze. Who screamed? Who else was here other than him? And now he came to think of it, why was he in an underground snow cave? His eyes didn't seem to see anything but blurry images like before. He noticed a large hulk of ice right next to him.

"Wh…Who are you?" he asked weakly. Because he was in wolf form, the words did not come out of his mouth, but rather his mind.

"I'm your elder, young'n. Now shut up and lay still," replied a gruff old voice. Tsume had never heard such a deep voice come from a wolf. He figured it must be very big.

"I'm Tsum…" "What did I say about shutting up?" growled the gruff old voice again. This time Tsume did silence himself. He felt the older wolf put something onto his chest, and only then he remembered why he'd howled for help. Although every one of his instincts screeched for him to run away, he forced himself to remain calm. When the older wolf finished, it said, "Now. What happened to leave you in such a state?" Tsume was surprised. He expected a question like 'Who are you?' first.

"Um… well… my alpha did this when I tried to run away from my pack. We were attacked by the Hunters." He stammered. The older wolf was silent for a moment.

"Wolves… curious creatures…" it muttered. Tsume suddenly sat up rigid. He could feel a snarl curving at the end of his lips.

"If you are no wolf, why did you say you were my elder?" he asked boldly. Upon closer inspection, the big chunk of ice next to him didn't smell like ice or wolf.

"I'm your elder 'cause I'm older than you! And wiser," snapped the gruff old voice again. Tsume was lost for words. The gruff old voice didn't seem to feel like discussing the subject any further because it started lecturing him.

"…Why did you run all the way from where ever you were to here! You could have died! Do you have any idea how fast infection spreads? And what your blood has attracted! Grah! Foolish cub! Or pup, or whatever you wolves call your young…" It bellowed. Tsume blinked up at the large ranting figure and tilted his head. This seemed to soften the older 'wolf.'

"I'm a polar bear. The last of my race." It said. "Call me Hurgem, or Auntie, whatever you think fits." For the first time, Tsume's eyes lost some of their blurriness. When he looked at the polar bear's face, he saw a wide smile stretched across its large muzzle.

"Yes, Auntie." He said. It didn't feel right to call such an ancient creature by its proper name. "I'm Tsume."

"Tsume… Claw… you wolves have funny names indeed," chuckled Auntie. For the first time in a while, Tsume smiled. He smiled a big enough smile to match Auntie.

When Tsume closed his eyes, he knew he'd wake to a good day for the first time since his sin. Auntie would protect him, and he'd protect her. What's more, he would wake to a beautiful cloudless night.