Mutt: Yes! I've gotten around to makng a Wolf's Rain story! I love the show and I've had this idea in my head for a loooong time. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain.

Crowds, groups, insignificant cliques. People walked by me without even a second glance. Faces, scents, bodies, sounds. I was melding in with this sea of flesh and cloth I could no time in a millions years ever become truly a part of, and I never wanted to. Their listless, petty eyes of no understanding went unnoticed of me because of the way I looked now, fooling them. If they could see me for what I truly was, all expressions would change to malice and hate. Humans always feared and attacked what they did not understand. Moreover, a wolf in hiding was something they definitely did not understand.

For most of my life, as a wolf, I have lived in this horrible city of drugs, gangs, and death. The officers have tried in vain to keep the corruption off the streets, but more men are lost than actual civilians saved. I live on my own in this hellhole as my pack had long since passed on and left me alone in this place with no one but myself to rely on. Never once did I hold a grudge against them for doing so. After all, it was partially my fault they had ended up they way they did. Inevitably landing me in the position I was in today.

So, for now, I have been waiting impatiently for my chance to somehow rise from this corrupted city of filthy humans and death. Keeping myself hidden by taking the form of their ideal "perfect" figure was sickening enough, and I often felt like vomiting at the sight of myself in any puddle on the sidewalk or dirty window of some store. My teenaged figure often drew the attention of many hookers or gang thugs looking for a good time, only to, in the end; wind up with my fangs sinking into their necks.

This is how life is for me in this city with no name and all fear. Fighting, hiding, and self-loathing. My chances for escape always seem so farfetched as my pup figure wouldn't last two minutes out in the barren wasteland of the unknown. What I needed was a pack, protection, but I hadn't seen another wolf since my last pack. For all I knew, I could have been the last wolf alive.

Depressing thoughts, yes, but maybe they were the truth. Nowadays, any dreams were tarnished and tossed aside. All you had to do was look up at the smog-filled, dark skies and all hope seemed lost. Humans had really screwed up this world they seemed to think is theirs, and we wolves and other creatures have to take the hit for their dumb mistakes.

So life continues with these sometimes mindless, sex-driven, and highly god-complexed fools in their struggle to survive. All the while, not even knowing I was here, a wolf, a symbol they believed to be nothing but evil, lived on their supposedly pristine streets.

"Idiots." I looked over the city again with a heavy sigh. "They just don't get that they're driving themselves into the dust. Oh well." Standing stiffly, I stretched to get any kinks out, cracking my spine pleasingly. It was probably about midnight and I did nothing but sit on top of this building all-day and brood. Well, it was my favorite spot. This building was the center of attention and was the tallest of them all. Sticking my hands in my pockets, I faced the city. "Guess I better head out."

"Hey, what the hell are you doing up here?" a voice from behind me caused my ears to perk. Looking over my shoulder slightly, I saw three guys. Dressed in their usual red jackets, I knew they were the residential gang and I was more than aware that I was sitting atop their turf. "How many times we gotta tell you, dumb-ass, we own this rooftop?"

Turning to face them, I held up my hands limply as I smirked slightly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Call me dumb, I guess. I just like it here."

The three of them faced each other, astonished looks on their misshapen faces of annual beatings. "This guy is some joker."

"Should we teach 'im a lesson, Boss?"

Boss, as they called him, looked at me with a smug sneer. "Sure, why not. Haven't killed anybody for about a week now."

"A week? Really? Wow, you have been holding back." I grinned. "Good for you." Boss's expression changed comically as his two followers looked between him and me with confused expressions of their own. Humans were so easy to fluster.

"Just take funny boy out. I'm tired of him already." He waved to them idly and they made their slow tread toward me. The two of them pulled out a handgun, waving it at me as if to scare me.

Boss stood by the stairwell door with a self-righteous smirk on his homely face. "Say your prayers, funny boy."

Smirking myself, I lowered my head slightly and mumbled, "Humans really are dumb."

"What's that?"

Narrowing my eyes, I sharpened my smirk and looked back up slightly. My bangs hung over my right eye as I repeated, "I said, humans really are dumb."

The two thugs were about three feet from me now, as they seemed to hesitate. "This guy is nuts, Boss."

"Just take care of him. I'm tired of hearing his stupid nonsense." They advanced on me, guns ready, their boss too much of a coward to face me himself. I just watched as they ran at me, the edge of the building at my back. They thought they had the advantage. How wrong they were.

Lunging at them, I brought my jaws down on the shoulder of the first thug and bit down as hard as I could. His bones were like weak twigs under the pressure of my fangs and I couldn't help but smile in delight at the sound of them snapping. The guy dropped immediately to his knees and seemed to be in such a state of shock that he didn't even cry out in pain. It wasn't until I let go and had my eyes set on the next guy that he finally opened his mouth to scream.

The second guy raised his gun to shoot me, but I ducked under him and attacked his side. My claws and teeth tearing into cloth and skin, spurting blood onto my face and fur. He was on his back in a heartbeat while screaming bloody murder as I decided to let go. Beneath him, glimmering with an almost sickly pleasing gleam was a growing puddle of his blood. Turning the guy's coat an even redder red. Oh the irony.

"Wha-wha-wha what the hell are you?" Boss stammered as he tripped on his own feet, landing back on his butt. His eyes were wide in fear as he listened to the horrible cries of agony from his followers. "A demon?"

Stepping out of the bloody puddle of his fallen lackey, I put up my human illusion again. Switching from wolf to human, yes, I must have seemed like a demon in the eyes of a human. "How about you leave me alone now," I began to casually wipe the blood from my lips. "I'm growing tired of your scent." Baring my fangs, I tried to make my message clear. He wasn't even able to get to his feet as he fell over himself to get to the door. With a horrified scream, he got the door opened and fell down the stairs. I listened with a limp smile at his pained grunts as he rolled painfully down the steps.

Hurting and killing wasn't something I really wanted to make of myself. No. I never wanted in the beginning to cause harm of any kind to anyone. In this place, you are expected to do so to survive, and I deserved to live too. Wolf or not. If someone tries to cause trouble, talking your way out of it just didn't work. You had to hurt someone. Sometimes you had to murder. This, I have done too many times.

Looking around at the mess I made, I sighed again. "I was about to leave anyways you stupid idiots."

"You're….you're a… monster." The guy whose shoulder I had destroyed looked at me with malice-filled eyes.

I stared at him. "I was just sitting up here minding my own business. You started this whole thing and threatened my life. Who's the monster here?" Okay, maybe it was me, but I wasn't the only one. With that, I stuck my hands back in my pockets, turned toward the door, and whistled as I made my causal way down to the stairs. The night was still young and I was hungry. I did not feed on humans and I never will. That would tarnish the good wolf name. "Huh? Hey, you're still here." I couldn't help but smile when I saw Boss at the end of the hall cowering next to the door.

He looked at me fearfully as he clutched his right leg. It looked broken. "Stay away from me!" Whistling still, I walked over to him. "I said stay away!" He pulled a gun on me so I stopped. "You killed my two greatest men. Bastard!" His hand was shaking violently as he tried to keep me in the line of fire. Taking a step forward, he gasped. "Don't! I'll shoot you!" I was right in front of him. "DON'T!"

"You should see one of your petty doctors for that leg."

"Huh?" He looked up at me. I was holding the door open.

Stepping through the door, I didn't even spare the time to look back at him. "If it means anything, there's one guy still alive up there. Night." Waving an idle hand over my shoulder, I left the whimpering man in the hallway. Just because he was stupid didn't mean I had to kill him.

"Now, where to eat?" Once out on the street, I looked around. There were quite a few people still out-and-about. Most were teenage boys scurrying around with their friends, either looking for something to steal or scavenge. A few elderly were still out, but not by choice really. The failing economy around here left many people without homes to call their own. "Oh well, not my problem."

"Did ya hear? They're bringing in a military van in the morning. Food and stuff." A few boys, gang member wannabes, huddled around a burning garbage can. All with eager faces glowing in the flames.

Another grinned. "If we can pull off a heist from the thing, we'd be eating good for weeks."

"Eating good for weeks!" They all chorused in. I just walked away from them. A military van meant nothing but dark omens for a wolf like myself. My stomach growled so I dropped in at the place I usually did.

"Hey there Mutt, been some time. Where ya been?" Layla grinned and waved from behind the counter.

Sighing, I walked over and sat down on one of the stools. "Why do you always have to call me that?" She didn't know I was a wolf, but she insisted on calling me Mutt.

She grinned, putting down a glass mug. "What am I supposed to call you if you won't give me your name?" Playing with a strand of my hair, her grin sharpened into a smirk. "Plus, with this long, shaggy, white hair of yours, you sure look like a mutt to me." I just sighed.

Humans were nonsense, confusing creatures and I chose not to hang around them, but for some reason Layla had been a bit different from the usual gaggle of nimrods. "You're so weird," was my only response.

"You're the weird one," she giggled. A half-drunken man ordering another drink drew her attention from me. When she came back to me, she leaned against the counter. "I shouldn't even be letting you in here because of your age." Her short, red, spiky hair glowed somewhat in the dim, orange light of the bar.

"But you do anyway. Now come on, I'm hungry." Scavenging garbage cans and feeding off road kill died out of me a long time ago when I found out people ate in these places. Only problem was, I had none of their currency to pay for the food, but Layla pitied me I guess. You know, just another pathetic strike to my ego.

Right before she could even get off the counter, some guy came busting through the door. "Bring me your best liquor!" It was some old fart dressed in a ratty, old brown trench coat. He stumbled a bit as he made his way to the stool beside me then sat down. "Come on! I haven't got all day!"

"No shit, it's night," I scoffed at him under my breath without even looking at him. His whole attire smelled nothing of old booze. Disgusting.

"Here Mutt." Layla laid a plate down under my nose then turned to the old man and asked, "What kind do you want? We have a large variety."

"Why do you have a whelp in here?" Of course, he was talking about me. Whelp meant kid I guessed. "What kind of bar you runnin' here?"

"We're the best in town, and he's just here for food. Now, what do you want?" Her tone remained steady and a bit calm, but she wasn't about to take crap from anyone. Maybe that's why I liked hanging around here. She didn't back down like some other human.

Finally, the old man sighed, his horrible breath making me gag on my food. "Something hard and strong." He sounded almost defeated, devoid of anything lively and strong. If the guy was looking for Layla's strongest stuff, then this guy must really want to forget something. Layla must have been thinking the same thing because she gave the guy an almost sympathetic look before grabbing the bottle and a glass. "No glass. Just give me the bottle." She gave him the bottle and not even a second had passed before he pressed the thing to his lips and chugged nearly half of it.

Stupid alcoholic. I eyed the man slightly as I ate. It wasn't the fact that he was a drunk that was making my fur stand on end. He, for some reason, seemed to be a threat. I could smell it. It was under the booze and dreadful body odor. A low growl almost rumbled in my throat as I realized the scent. Wolf blood.

"Damn wooooolves!" he shouted suddenly after taking another swig. All of my attention was on the man just then. My alarms were going off, full blare. "I chasssssed them in here, to yer city. Dam' things runnin'. Taking the forms of humans!"

"Stupid drunk." A few people leered at the man. Some didn't appreciate the way he was talking and what he was talking about.

Layla looked at the man. "Wolves are extinct, old man. Have been for a long time now."

"That's what they want you to believe!" He threw the bottle at the wall right next to Layla. She screamed as it shattered into shrapnel shards.

"Hey!" I was on my feet in a second, pulling down on the guy's shoulder. "What's your problem?!" So what if I stood at about five foot, seven? Scrawny for human stature, but I was a wolf! If he tried messing with anyone, I would take him no problem!

He swung back in his seat from my tug and his eyes lingered on me with unfocused precision. After a minute, his eyes widened and he literally threw himself back from my grasp. "Heathen! You're a wolf!" The whole bar quieted as the man jumped back off his stool and glared at me. Outside, I could clearly hear the rabid barking of a very large dog. "You people let a wolf in here without even knowing it!"

I stood my ground, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. "What are you talking about old man? You've had way too much to drink." There was no way he knew I was a wolf. My disguise was perfect! Wasn't it? It fooled everyone else.

"Get out of here now," Layla snapped, glaring at him. "You're no longer welcomed here. Get out!" She pointed to me. "He is a boy! A human!"

"Shut up woman!" The guy reached behind his shoulder and pulled out a large weapon. A shotgun! How had I not noticed? The scent was very distinct! Damn alcohol! "That boy," he said darkly, pointing the thing at me, "is no boy." People screamed, things broke, bodies stampeded for the door, but I was frozen solid. The things that were going on around me didn't faze me whatsoever. It was just the old man and me. "Die!" He pulled the trigger, bullets flew, and I snapped out of my shock just in time to avoid two bullets zooming for my skull.

Leaping onto the counter, I snarled at the man. "What have I ever done to you?" Unexpectedly, I had dropped my illusion by accident. Spark of adrenaline did it, and it was just then that I noticed Layla on the ground staring up at me. Her eyes were wide with fear, her mouth opened slightly in a silent scream. I could read her expression all too well.

You demon. You monster!

Was I really something to be so despised?

My attention on her was drawn short as another round was fired on me. I evaded to the right, knocking over plates and bottles on my way. My footing was jumpy as I slipped on alcohol and plates of food. I was running out of counter to run on. The room was too small and people were swarming me!

"Kill the wolf!" They were trying to corner me as I leaped onto a few tables. It cracked and snapped in half under my weight and I went tumbling for the floor. Things were whipping by too fast for me to have any coherent thought. Many threw things at me, forks, spoons, knives, bottles. "Kill it! Kill the wolf!" Things hit me at a bombarding rate, but I soon realized the people weren't my biggest problem at the moment.

"Get him Blue!" the old man shouted at the top of his lungs. Crashing through the window was a huge black dog! Its blue eyes were targeted on me as it barked and snarled, running at me with intent to kill.

I yelped and lunged for the far corner, trying to get away from it all. With my jaws open, I snapped down at anyone who tried touching me. This caused a big hole to form in the mob so I took my chance and ran for the broken window. I'm gonna make it! Another shot exploded in my ears just as I leaped for the window. Almost immediately, a white-hot, searing pain ignited in my hind leg and shock flowed up my body. My landing was nowhere near perfect as I hit the ground on my side and rolled a few times before trying to stand again. The landing only ignited the flames in my leg.

"Get the wolf!" People spilled from the building, intent to kill in their eyes.

With a scream raking at my closed throat, I stood and ran down the streets. I tried with all my might to keep my illusion up, trying not to draw anyone else's attention. All the while, I was trying to ignore the immense pain in my leg. I have to get off the streets. Where's my hiding spot? I ran down an alleyway, searching for it. The people were right behind me, cursing and shouting along with the big dog's horrible barking.

"Hey! Up here!" someone called to me from above.

Stopping, I looked up and saw some kid standing at the edge of the building. Who is that? I tried to keep any to all pressure off my leg.

The kid waved to me, calling again, "Come on! They'll get you if you don't get up here!"

I couldn't focus, I couldn't think, and there was no way I was about to trust some stranger right off the bat! "Forget you!" With pain burning at my leg, I sprinted off down the almost cobble-stone like ground. My paws splashed in puddles, glass and rocks. Not much of problem under my powerful padded feet, but with the fear creeping at me from the farthest crevices of my mind, anything was spooking or hurting me. Only once I saw the green street sign would I calm down.

"He went down this way!"

There it is! The glowing green sign was just at the end of the alleyway so I couldn't help but feel at least a bit of hope rising in my chest.

"Are you some kind of dumb?" a gruff voice shouted at me from above.

I was caught off-guard as another shot from the old man got me, shooting right through my right shoulder. The pain was so quick that I had barely noticed it, but it soon flared up in burning agony as I stumbled and fell. Shit! Trying to stand again, my injured leg was useless as my right forearm numbed instantly. What am I-… What am I going to do now? Looking back, I saw the crowd of people getting closer. The big, dark dog ahead of them all, its razor sharp teeth bared. I was numb. I was frozen. I was dead.

To my surprise, three guys dropped down in front of me. Two of them went at the people in front of us while the other grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and carried me off. "Stupid runt! Why didn't you come with us before when Toboe was calling you?" He then hoisted me up and started carrying me over his shoulder. I didn't bother to struggle, there was no way I could. My eyes were open in a mix of shock and amazement. "What?" He looked at me.

"You're a wolf," my voice sounded pathetically small.

"Yeah? So are you. Who cares?" His sharp yellow eyes then faced forward again as he lunged upward. After a few side-jumps on the buildings, we landed on the roof and it didn't take long for me to notice another boy on the roof with us. It was the boy from before.

Everything was happening too fast and I was just too tired. "Wake me when the world ends." With consciousness barely clinging to my mind, I finally allowed myself to slip into the void of nothingness.