Author's Note; Forgive the repetitiveness of this, I'm sure you all might be tired of new characters, mainly She-wolves, but I will enlighten you and say none of my characters fall in love with the guys. In fact, they may or may not meet up with them; it is entirely up to what you want and the flow of inspiration.  I am open to ideas if you wish to give them, and I will tell you right now that I laugh at flames. Constructive Criticism is fine, and I just love Reviews. I hope you like these characters, and I do hope my spelling and grammar isn't all that bad. Ciao! Adios! Ja ne! And Bye-bye! Have a good read y'all and please tell me what you think!

P.S.; Kiba, Toboe, Tsume, and Hige do not belong to me. Neither do any other characters in the show that I have not mentioned just yet. However, Chiku and Lashou are mine, if you copy them I will report you, buster! Have fun, and please review and have a nice day -

Wolf Song

Chapter 1: Chiku Running and Lashou of the Song

Can one quite describe wolves, those present-day myths that supposedly exist in our world today? Few have seen these nomadic, ever wandering creatures. And some of those that have then devote their lives to finding them, hunting them, or ultimately killing them. But why? Some rambling lunatics say words like 'lunar flower' and 'Paradise' or 'evil' and 'blood thirsty'.

Of course, wolves have always had a bad reputation. A long time ago, when this planet was alive and warm, full of life, wolves were pushed near extinction. They were believed to be monsters that'd do anything to kill, bloodthirsty criminals who lusted only for blood. But tell me, who's the real monster? The wolves who only kill to survive...or the humans who persecute them mercilessly and kill them with glee? The tender wolves of which the human society is based upon, with all its hierarchy and nurturing.... or the humans who so treasure the death of all wolves and take a great deal of happiness from seeing the great, wild, fire in a wolf's eyes die? Who are the monsters, wolves or men?

You are probably wondering how I could be talking like this, especially in the form I am in now, the young woman who dwells in an ever-present cloud of shadow and mystery. The human who forces smiles on her face day after day.

Well, to tell the truth, it's because I am not always this way, thank goodness. But I've learned the hard way that one such as myself is not welcome in the city when in true form. So now, this horrible, ugly, sorry excuse of a shell is my only way of blending in.

It's not hard though, people tend to stay away from me either way. They stay away from all wolves that harbor in superficial shells like my own, like we've got the plague or something. That's why it is always hard to find food and work. But I've come across very few of my wolf kind. In fact, I've come across only my family and one other. That one other was a wolf that soon died from grief; I did not pity him for he had lost his pride a long time ago.

You are probably wondering who I am, now that I've clued you in on little bits and pieces of my existence. But, I cannot say exactly, not in this form and definitely not now. But I will do my best. I am the freedom of running-even though I'm not very fast or very lean, I am the spirit that cannot be held down, the entity that cannot be deterred, I am the one who does not dwell in cages, I am the one who looks for a cure to my ailment caused by these horrid humans, I am the screaming wind, the pounding of my feet, the silvery wolf that can rarely be found by those who seek her. I am full of riddles, I am full of song, I am full of spirit, I am Chiku Running.

Before me I have seen my older sister fall prey to humans and perish, my younger sister die of the sickness that I now hold in my lungs as well, and my mother die of grief and starvation. My father I do not know and do not care for, there are things about him that should not be spoken of right now, it is too evil and too lacking in pride. The thing I hold most dear is the only other wolf I know, Lashou. She is the spirit of the song, and as you can most likely guess, her singing is beautiful if you listen. She sings of all our history, our past, our present, and…hopefully, she will sing of our future.

I would be lying if I said I did not love Lashou. She is what drives me on most days, that, and the promise of seeing another friend of mine and my family in Paradise.  Ah, Paradise… the key to my life. I will die if I don't get there, and I don't lie. Human smoke has poisoned my lungs, and the only cure is Paradise and its clean air and beautiful lunar flowers. Those flowers, they dance away from my grasp as I try to pull them into memory. Their sweet smell, their grace as they blow in the wind, and the sight of those endless fields. The laughter of friends and family as they gleefully play in those flowers…

Of course, I was just a pup then, with my eyes barely open. Even then those sounds and sights were blurry. It was my first time out of the den, but I'll always remember that day. It was the happiest and worst time of my life. For late into the night, the hunters came. My mother, my sisters, my father, Lashou, and myself were taken that night. We had been foraging, learning new skills. Lashou had accompanied us because her own family, the highest in rank, were enjoying themselves after so much confinement on her mother's part. She had been the only one to survive her litter anyway, so it was only fitting. My brothers escaped, luckily, and the humans never found Paradise.

From then on, I guess my life had been downhill. We escaped the butcher only to fall prey to the city. My father… he disappeared, intoxicated by this new life. We were left alone, and from then on people started leaving me…

Lashou will never leave me. Never. I'll never let anything happen to her. I swore to her the day my childhood sped on by, leaving me without a trace to where it had gone, that I would always help her and keep her safe. Likewise, she made a promise that was just like mine. We survived, from then on, only by lies and deceit; a world of which I never wish I'd known of.

In that aspect, I guess that is why I find myself here, in this stinking place, gathering what little we own. The inhalers I stole from the doctor's to prolong my life, the medicine we might need for sickness, bandages, necessities in general, space blankets for additional warmth, food that wouldn't expire, matches to light torches and fires if need be, and a compass; even though we wont need it. All of this and whatever Lashou could squeeze in were human things that might aid us if the need ever crossed us. Also, the precious compressed lunar flower my mother gave to me, locks of my mother and sisters' hair, older sister's favorite human necklace, little sister's favorite human-made doll, my own stuffed animal I received from mother when I was but a pup; a wolf-dog lacking marble eyes (I had chewed them out a long time ago), Lashou's bag of trinkets she's strived for, and my families' ashes to scatter in Paradise. Yes, all these things might be useless to most, but they are treasures to us. Not all will make it to Paradise, but we'll try.

I guess, judging from what I have packed into the backpack Lashou made that even in wolf form we can carry, we are in-between. I know a lot in human terms, but in all that knowledge I still know nothing of what exactly we are doing. All I can do or hope to do, I guess, is turn my nose to the wind and smell the flowers and let my wolfish instincts take over.

How do I know this? you might ask. I know this because I knew it from the beginning, I just didn't act on it until the night the flowers' sweet scent enticed me to follow. Follow what? Follow the path that I am now destined to follow.

TBC

Author's Note; Remember, Review or send me a piece of Constructive Criticism! Flames will me mocked and laughed at and used to warm my freezing little feet -