A/N: This is rewritten story I made some time ago after having watched the movie last year. There may be some errors here and there cause i never did do a final proofread:P Anyways I do not own Wolf Children, the movie belongs to its respective creators and studio. Read and enjoy:))
=.=.=.=.=.==.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
Plip-plip-plit-plit.
The sound of sporadic raindrops started to accumulate in mass as the sky continued to darken in shade. The once green lushes of leaves turned to grey as the forest was consumed under the daunting clouds' shadow. In the thicket of trees, a flash of yellow could be seen darting about.
Plip-Plip-Plip-Plip-Zaaatzzz
The fat drops merged to form a force of downpour of water as the winds began to pick up in speed, tugging the branches along with it. A large boom echoing into the far away mountains soon accompanied the dreary scene. The little boy, not more than six years of age came to a frightened stop and wrapped his palms over his ears, feeling the deep rumble of the clap.
He was alone.
Alone within the forest.
Alone and lost within the forest.
As the thunder gradually rolled into the mask of the heavy rain splatters, the little boy slowly raised his head. He scrunched up his small shoulders and pulled his yellow raincoat's hood tighter around his soaked face. It did not matter whether or not he was shielded under the thicket of trees, in the cold and merciless rain, the shower comes down harder, getting painful, hitting the light body with unnecessary force.
The boy continued to run, running for his dear life, searching, searching for a shelter for him to hide from the intimidating rain. His blue rubber boots were caked in mud and his hands laden with multiple scratches, as he kept on hulling himself up the uneven wet earth ground.
Alas in the distance was a large maple tree. The boy's weary eyes lit up for an instance as he approached the timber. The sound of exhausted panting and wheezing was lost in the cacophony of the downpour as the boy collapsed into the safety of the covered leaf crown. He laid there, unmoving as he harshly breathed in and out through his mouth to catch his breath. Slowly, the boy reopened his eyelids to stare up at the wonder of water trickles escaping through the mass of dense maple leaves. They fell onto the leaf-littered ground with a soft splatter that blended in with the sound of nature. Under the shelter of the big tree that protected him from the ruthless lashing of the massive rainfall, the young vulnerable boy felt relieved and secure.
He closed his eyes once more and turned to his side, facing the roots that grew from the bottom of the trunk and contorted along the soil. All of a sudden, a wave of conflicting emotion washed against the boy's chest as he pulled himself into a fetal position. He cried out aloud into the discord of rain and rumbling thunder in the distance.
He missed the comfort of his mother and the cheerful smile of his grandmother who were waiting back home for him. He was angry, angry with himself for disobeying his mother's words and curiously venturing into the forest beyond the backyard of his grandmother's house. And finally, he was afraid, very afraid that he may become forever lost in the maze of the sea of trees.
The boy continued to bawl himself to the point of fatigue, before long succumbing to the power of lassitude. As his puffy eyelids drooped to a close, he failed to hear the faraway howl of an animal that echoed in the distance.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
"Oka-chan! Is it true that a wolf god lives in the forest behind oba-chan's house?"
"Oiya, did your grandma tell you again the story of the mountain's wolf guardian?"
"Hai~!"
The young boy jumped around his mother excitedly as he pulled her hand towards his tatami mattress.
"Tell me that story again for my bedtime story!"
His mother, bemused at her son's antics quickly set him into the covers of his blanket before lying on her side overlooking his snugged figure.
"Well, I guess we can tell the story again…" She paused, taking a look at the window that showed the profile of the forest mountain in the background.
"…Oka-san?" The boy curiously stared up at his mother.
"?!" The young mother was startled out of her daze. She promptly looked down again to meet the gaze of the boy.
"Gomen, Koichi-chan, oka-chan will tell you the story now" His mother reassuringly smiled and tucked a piece of stray maroon hair behind her ear.
"It was many years ago in the summer of 19XX, in a college like many others your grandmother met him…"
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
Plit-plit-plit-
As the day rolled by, the rain eventually began to lift only to give way to the oncoming darkness of the approaching night. The chirping of crickets coming out of hiding could be heard echoing in the distance as the woods continued to cool in the wake of the dissipated rain.
The young boy, Koichi was still fast asleep in the bedding of fallen leaves beneath the maple tree. Exposed, unguarded and unconscious, the child was oblivious to the sound of shuffling bushes coming from the back of the tree.
Crack! Crack!
The noise of snapping could be picked up as something, advancing towards the tree, stepped on the fallen branches scattered along the forest ground. A pair of golden eyes reflected by the streaks moonlight emerging from the gaps of clearing clouds stared down at the yellow bundle huddled against the exposed tree roots. Slowly, a dark paw reached out towards the sleeping boy…
'Grrrr…'
The paw immediately retreated as the black bear looked up to meet the ferocious amber eyes of the mountain guardian. The bear instantly knew that he should not have messed with a cogent force such as the wolf before him, especially when the wolf was staking his protection over the human child in an unambiguous manner. With his ears and tail tucked down in submission, the bear swiftly edged back into the cover of the woods in defeat, never to be seen or heard from again.
The blue furred wolf looked on into the direction of where the bear backed off, making sure that the animal would never come back again.
"..mm…oka-chan…"
Koichi stirred in his sleep, unaware of the scene played beforehand. The mountain guardian glanced down at the curled up boy and pawed his way towards the sleeping mass. Stopping at his feet, the wolf lowered his head to give the boy a slight sniff. A dark snout was nudged into his back in effort to give the boy a waking up.
One poke…two pokes…
The boy failed arouse from his deep sleep, let alone respond to the wolf's action. A mental sigh was made and the wolf backed away from him. Only the wind surrounding the great tree could be felt as the chirping of crickets came to a halt. Should Koichi have opened his eyes then, he would have captured the scene of nature coalescing with man. In the many years since the mountain guardian had willfully accepted his role of protector of the forest from his predecessor master, he had never again returned back into his human form. But only for tonight, and for tonight only he would break his oath for the sake of delivering his nephew into the arms of safety.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
At the base of the forest, despite it being well into the night, a cluster of activity was unfolding. The news of Hana's grandchild gone missing had already reached the ears of each and every villager. Every single resident, be it the local midwife to the town mayor and even the neighboring village's small police force unit was dispatched and combing the area worriedly for the signs of an active and bubbly six-year-old boy.
"Koichi-kun! Where are you?" An elderly lady, Hana's fellow gardening neighbor cupped her calloused hands around her lips and yelled into the woods.
Another companion, the local mart storeowner pushed his way into the first layer of vegetation, hoping to get better access into search zone.
"Koichi-kun! Please respond! Your mother is worried sick for you!" The middle aged man had the sinking feeling that his cries would go unheard, but nevertheless continued to preserver in his search for the boy.
"KOICHI-KUN!"
Throughout the entire the village, the same call was repeated over and over again without rest.
Back at a large traditional housing residence, Koichi's grandmother, Hana was giving a statement to the police officer on the description of her missing dear grandson.
"Yes officer, he is about a 110cm tall and wearing a yellow raincoat with blue rain boots the last I saw him. I have his picture on me, you may use it for reference to help you with the search." Hana quickly handed over a Polaroid picture of her and her young grandchild, taken a little over a year ago during their holiday in Hokkaido.
The officer gave her an encouraging nod, giving his thanks as he received the photo to be clipped onto his report. He got onto the police car and with the crunching of asphalt; the vehicle rolled off the driveway and sped off to rejoin the main search force at the townhouse.
Hana gave a weary sigh as she turned around to be greeted with the sight of her daughter, head buried into her tightly squeezed hands, sitting despairingly at the veranda.
Carefully, she approached her despondent daughter, wanting to give her a reassuring hug.
"I knew it oka-san." Yuki croaked before her mother could even sit beside her. "I knew I should not have taken my eyes off him for even a minute when I went to answer my business call. It's my entire fault. I don't deserve to be a mother."
Hana was alarmed at her daughter's guilt-ridden statement. She had taken the toll upon herself to be blamed for the fact that Koichi had gotten missing. The awkward silence paused on. "Now my dear, you mustn't blame yourself for this incident. I too am at fault for not keeping an eye on him went he wanted to explore the backyard." Hana tried to reason with her daughter. True, she was also feeling the culpability of not watching her grandson closely enough especially when she had let her guard down in the security of her own home. The veins of concern was exposed on the surface of her forehead, she too was distraught at the thought of Koichi never returning.
"Leave it to the officers, they know what they are doing and even when all means have failed I'm sure your broth-"
"DON'T EVER MENTION HIM AGAIN!" Yuki burst out giving her mother a glare rimmed with tears. "He left you all alone, abandoning his precious mother, his home, his humanity for the sake of an old fox! I will never accept him as a relative of mine!"
"Yuki…you know that's not the reason why-"
"Leave it!" Yuki huffed in a distressed manner; she glanced back up into the full moon now entirely uncovered from the clouds. "At this rate Koichi will never be found, I will go look for him myself." Yuki pulled herself off the wooden platform.
Surprised at her daughter's movement, Hana immediately recovered and latched her hand around Yuki's arm to stop her. "Don't. You do not know these woods well enough to navigate yourself through with ease. What if you lose your way?"
"Then I'll just leave it to my wolf side!" Speaking agitatedly, Yuki tried to transform into her wolf persona, a feat she had not done in over a decade of living in the city. Hana watched helplessly as her daughter sprouted a pair of furry ears and grew a tail, she knew that once her headstrong daughter had decided on something she will never take her resolve back.
'Awoooooo'
A howl, not too far off in the distance split the night air in half. Yuki ceased her transformation, leaving only her wolf ears on to pick up on the location of where the familiar howl had resonated. In the hush of the cool night, her ears pricked up on the sound of approaching footsteps treading lightly on grass.
It was coming from the backyard!
Yuki rushed to the back gardens of the house with Hana following closely behind.
Before the fence, she came to halt, warning her mother to stay behind her. The crunching of the turf was increasing in noise. Yuki cautiously began to approach the shadowed tree line; ears still intent on picking up any other signs of blatant danger aimed at her or her mother.
She narrowed her eyes when they came to rest on an approaching silhouette wrapped in the darkness. As the figure continued to approach, Yuki bared her sharpened fangs at the oncoming threat. Just as when she was fully well set on launching her offensive attack on the trespasser, the shadowed profile came to a stop at the very edge of the forest.
Quietude insured as Yuki suddenly picked up the scent of two, not one known scents.
"It's been a while Mother, Yuki." A low hoarse voice reverberated from the darkness.
"It can't be…Ame…" Hana trailed off, grasping her aged hand over her shirt where her heart should be.
The figure stepped into the moonlight to reveal a young man with disheveled midnight blue hair. He was dressed simply in a pair of faintly tattered pair of jeans and a dirty white sweatshirt that was clearly many times too large a size for his lithe frame. He wore no shoes, letting his unconfined feet explore the moist earth beneath. As he looked up to meet the shocked gapes of his mother and sister, his unkempt hair parted to reveal a set of warm brown eyes with a tinge of amber.
"Ame, you came back." Hana held back a chocked sob, resisting the urge to break down and collapse from the myriad of emotions going through her petite frame.
Her brother's sudden appearance did not faze Yuki one bit, with her attention broken, she let her eyes wonder onto the bundle her brother was carrying with prudent care. He let his arms fall back away from his body to disclose the content of his load.
The face of a young sleeping boy not more than six years of age met with the soft moonlight. Yuki gasped out loud when she discovered that it was Koichi, her son that Ame was holding. Despite being relieved that her son was found, she moved front with vigilance, eyeing her brother with her keen sense of alertness. Ame payed no heed to his sister being on maximum guard around him and began to approach her.
It was a long drawn process; Yuki warily took her son from the embrace of the lanky man and settled him into the safety of her bosom. Slowly but surely, she retreated back away from Ame, her eyes never once leaving his built. "Ame…" She glanced back to be received with the face of a strong willed woman that had inevitably succumbed to the draw of broken emotions. Taken aback, she reluctantly let her mother approach her son.
The touching reunion between mother and son was accompanied by a firm hug as Hana, on the verge of caving in from consolation, gripped onto her son's grown up body.
Whatever her mother muttered with hiccups to Ame during their touching reunion, Yuki took no notice of. Instead she was fully keen on giving her hundred and ten attention on inspecting Koichi for injuries. Notwithstanding the few cuts and bruises on his arms and legs, she was assuaged that her son did not harbor any forms of major wounds. Looking down on him, she was astonished at the fact that Koichi was dry in the cloth bundle in spite of him missing his raincoat. She raised her eyes to view the scene of Ame returning a comforting pat on her mother's back as he tried to sooth her. Frustrated, she bit her lower lip at her helplessness. Not only did he managed to find Koichi, he also looked after for his well-being too, ridding the young boy of his wet coat and swathing him in the security of a dry mantle, making sure the child did not yield to the peril of hyperthermia.
Her son quivered in his exhausted sleep and Yuki clutched her child tenderly towards her body. Closing her eyelids, she nestled her face into her son's soft hair, breathing in the dearest scent of her young son.
=.=.=.=.=.=
Flashback...
"Catch me if you can!" Yuki squealed in delight as she bounded forward through the fluffy white snow.
Her brother dizzy with exhilaration panted furiously as he ploughed his way forward to catch up with his sister. "Wait…Wait for me!"
The melody of giggles continued to yonder ahead and soon he found himself left far behind. Knowing that he was just going to waste more futile energy, he slowed down to catch his breath.
'Pip-Peep-Pip!"
Ame snapped his head up in attention. His concentration was drawn towards the presence of a common quail dowsing itself in the fresh water lake beneath the overhanging snow cornice. Crouching into a stalking position, the young hunter instinctively eyed his prey with anticipation.
With a leap that soared over the running water, the bird could only utter a silent squawk before its neck was ruthlessly crushed in the fangs of the wolf pup.
Bagging the now dead prize in his jaws, Ame gave a triumphant toss of his head before spinning around to vault back onto the snow covered ground...
?!
Instead steadily of pushing off the rock, Ame's paw slipped off the ice-covered stone and he unexpectedly found himself plunging back first into the dark uninviting freezing waters below. The extreme shock and sudden cold left Ame in a stupor as he valiantly struggled to keep his head afloat the violent flowing water. As he panicked and he opened his mouth to gasp for air, swashes of glacial aqua came clogging down his windpipe.
The more he fought the current, the more he felt his numbed body losing its strength to the nerve piercing waters. Soon he felt himself becoming deprived off all control over his cold paralyzed frame. His leaden and fatigue body, unmoving begun to sink from beneath the running surface.
As his vision started to cloud, he watched the glistening of weak sunlight scintillating across the water with desolation, wondering if it was the end of his time. His heavy eyelids begun to drop…
...oka-san….
A burst of tawny fur came shooting through the water and Ame weakly felt his scarf get roughly pulled around his neck. In a daze, he was promptly hulled with considerable strength onto the snow bed.
The sounds of coughing and spluttering filled the air as Hana worriedly rushed to her soaked children's side. She came to a crumble before her young son lying in a supine position and immediately grasped his wheezing body to her chest in distress. She buried her head into Ame's drenched hair, crying out in relief.
Beyond the emotional scene, Yuki sat panting in the cold as she continued to shiver from the aftermath of diving nose deep into the river after her drowning brother. She could only watch on her mother and brother motionlessly on the thawing moist ground.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
"Please do take care of yourself…" She heard the mumbled voice of her mother followed by a rustle in the wind. Yuki's eyes snapped back open as she drew Koichi to her lips, giving him a motherly kiss on his forehead. Glancing up, all she saw was her mother left alone standing in a field of wild grass illuminated by the gentle moonlight. Afar at the tree line, she saw her brother standing and staring straight at her.
Hazel eyes met umber eyes and a series of unspoken yet understandable messages were passed and exchanged between the distant yet bonded siblings.
"Thank you…" She breathed, as she watched her brother turn and fade back into the shadows never to be seen from again. Even with the animosity Yuki still bored at her brother's selfish decision, she could not deny the fact that he had given his support in a time of anguish within the family.
Even without words, the fathomable bond between family could never be broken, especially if it were within a wolf's ménage. Yuki sighed and closed her eyes as a warm evening breeze greeted her in the face.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
Far in the distance, the sound of crickets chirping could be heard all around as a howl resonated in the moonlit forest gloom. Beyond the concatenation of trees and scuttling of nocturnal animal paws, there hung a little yellow raincoat on the branch of an aged massive maple tree weaving in the cool twilight breeze as it waited to dry and to be collected again by the passing mountain guardian.
=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=.=
fin.