Wolf's Blood

They'd chased her to the edge of the forest; the human men with their foul guns. Chased her with their dogs that had forgotten their pride, barking at her heels as she thundered across the snow-covered landscape, leaving deep footprints in her wake. Now she stood on the edge of a cliff, with a long drop down into a canyon below her. She could see a wide river snaking its way across the floor of the canyon, disappearing into the distance and around a bend, yet she could see no safe way of getting down from the cliff. The men had her surrounded.

"Spread out! Don't let the wolf get past you!" a voice rang out, and Koharu spun around, sinking down low to the ground and fixing her amber eyes onto the moving shapes that were in the trees. Her Autumn-red fur was standing on end, and she could feel a tremor run through her body as the barking and snarling dogs pulled at their leashes to get at her.

Koharu had been living a quiet life, drifting from one city to the other, and yet this northern city that seemed to be forever covered in snow had proved to be the most hostile yet. In most of the other cities, if she had been spotted in her true form, the humans had simply shrugged at just another stray dog wandering the streets. But the humans here had not been so easily fooled, and now they were determined to put an end to her, just like they had with so many of her kind in the past. Wolves had supposedly been extinct for well over two hundred years, yet those few humans who moved within the right circles knew that there were still wolves in the world – scattered, lonely beasts, and occasionally small, ragged packs. Nothing like they used to be.

"It's got no where left to run now," the leader of the men said with a horrible grin as he cocked his gun. "This one's mine," he added with a leer, looking down the barrel of his gun at the rusty red coloured animal that stood before him, snarling low in its throat. He'd be damned before he'd let a dangerous creature like the one before him continue to roam around his city.

Koharu couldn't run; she had nowhere to go, anyway. When the rifle exploded, she jumped at the sound just before a searing pain shot through her body, sending her flying backwards. She let out a pain-filled howl as she was knocked off of the cliff, and as she fell she heard the human man curse. At least he wouldn't be parading her corpse around the city like he had no doubt wanted to.

The surface of the river – that had looked so far below before – came up and smacked into her all too fast, knocking what little air she had left out of her lungs. The freezing water paralysed her, and it was with a great amount of effort that she managed to get her head back above the water. Her front left leg wouldn't move at all, and every time she tried a pain greater than any she had ever felt before tore through her chest. A bullet was lodged within her flesh, and the metallic smell of blood reached her sensitive nose. She was losing focus fast, and even though the freezing water was slowly her blood down, it was also numbing her senses and turning every movement into a sluggish effort of will.

Kicking her feet, she gasped in as much air as she could and tried to gauge how far away the shore was. It didn't look that far, and she wondered if she could make it before she drowned. Struggling with her failing body, Koharu kicked towards the shore, when she noticed that someone was watching her – a human man, yet he couldn't be one of the city men that had chased her. There was no way that they could have gotten down the cliff so fast.

Taking a chance, Koharu used what little focus she had left to alter her appearance, creating a human mask to hide her wolf body. With her left arm still dead, she used her right to propel herself higher out of the water, locking eyes with the man on shore.

"Help!" she cried out before she felt herself going under yet again. As she struggled closer, she was relieved to soon feel the rocky riverbed underneath her feet, and soon she heard the splashing of the man as he ran towards her. A strong pair of arms grabbed her, and Koharu cried out in pain when her wounded shoulder was moved.

"It's alright, I've got you," the man said, and Koharu realised that he was more of an older adolescent than a man. He dragged her onto her feet, yet the freezing water had numbed her completely, making her legs useless. The smell of blood still filled her nose, yet now the scent of the young man was also there.

Setting her down near a fire in his makeshift camp, Koharu looked up at the young man who had saved her, and frowned. His clear blue eyes were looking at her in obvious concern, and his dark brown hair fell in a messy mane to his shoulders. His jeans were now wet, and as she lay there, he took off his brown jacket, revealing a white shirt underneath. Draping the jacket over her shivering body, Koharu breathed in his scent once again, giving a slight smile as she finally worked out why he seemed so familiar to her. She wondered if he himself even realised the truth?

The last thing the young man in question had been expecting that day was the sound of a gunshot ricocheting around the canyon that he was camping in. And he certainly hadn't been expecting to find a young woman desperately trying to stay afloat within the river. He wondered what had happened to her. Obviously, she had been shot; the evidence was overwhelming. But why?

She was shivering violently, and he frowned as he noticed the blood that was seeping through his jacket. The wound was deep, and he didn't know what he could do to help her, or even if she was going to make it at all. She was beautiful though – rusty red hair, reminiscent of the colour of autumn leaves. Her eyes were a sparkling green, and her skin a flawless cream complexion. Her body was lithe, yet he had felt hard muscle underneath her skin when he had carried her ashore. But more than that, when he looked at her, he felt a sense of recognition that he couldn't place.

"Y-you've got t-the e-eyes of a w-w-wolf," Koharu stammered, and the blue eyes in question widened at this. She smiled, reaching out to touch his hand. "I c-can sense it in y-you."

"Wolves are extinct," the young man replied, yet Koharu shook her head as a shudder caused her body to spasm. The heat of the fire was reaching her, slowly, yet she knew it would be of little use.

"N-no they're not. There are s-still a f-few left," she explained as he held her hand, and she smiled up at him. "Then there are t-those like you," she started, relived that her words were getting easier to say. "Those who were once wolves, but have simply f-forgotten."

"How could I have forgotten that?" the young man asked, not entirely in disbelief. He had often felt like his life wasn't complete, yet no matter what he did he never seemed to be able to fill the void that was in his heart.

The girl smiled, somewhat sadly. "It's easy to do. We were all wolves once – the first children of Earth – yet we hid amongst the humans, and soon we forgot how to change back; forgot our true forms. That's what I was told, anyway," she said, almost wistfully, before those sparkling green eyes locked with his. "But I can sense it within you; the wolf is strong. You could go back, if you wanted."

"Who are you?" the young man asked in a quiet voice that was filled with wonder and unasked questions.

The girl laughed; an agonising sound that ended in a whimper of pain. Her skin was losing its colour, and even as he watched, her eyes seemed to be losing some of their focus. His jacket was heavy with blood, and it was staining the snow a vivid red. He could feel tears in his eyes as he watched her struggle to speak again, and something within his heart felt like it was breaking.

"I'm just a wolf who longs for Paradise," she finally replied, before she smiled and closed her eyes, letting out a long rush of air.

All was silent for several heartbeats, before the young man gave a gasp and fell backwards slightly as the girl before him changed. The human disguise seemed to melt away, revealing the canine form of a wolf underneath his jacket. Her fur was the same colour that her human hair had been, and he tentatively reached out a hand to touch that rust red coat.

Her body was already cold, but mostly due to the freezing water. Yet even as he searched, he could find no trace of a heartbeat, and shaking slightly, he sat back on his heels and stared in disbelief. And then his blue eyes saw his hands. They were dyed red with blood – wolf's blood.

It was like a floodgate had been opened within his mind, and before he could collect himself, he was bombarded by images and emotions. He remembered travelling to the nearby city, injured from a hunter, just like the female wolf before him had been. He remembered being captured, and meeting other wolves. He remembered travelling across the land on a journey that was more important to him than his own life. No, the journey had been his life, and the girl that had smelled like a Lunar Flower had been at the centre of his world. And then he remember the battle and the smell of blood – the spilled blood of his friends, his pack. He remembered that he had been desperately fighting for something, and as he stared at the blood on his hands, he finally remembered.

"Paradise," he mumbled as his hands shook, and he balled them into fists. Closing his eyes, he felt a sense of anger rise within him. "What was it all for?" he spat. The world was still a rotten place, yet he had fought so hard to fix that. They all had, and where had it got them in the end?

Opening his eyes, the young man felt the void that was within his heart fill as he finally realised who Kiba truly was. Kiba was a wolf, just like the dead girl before him, and yet, when the world had been reborn, he had forgotten his true nature. Several tears splattered onto his blood-soaked jacket as a gentle wind ruffled the fur of the dead wolf, and a sense of unbearable loss overcame him. Kiba hadn't even known her name, and yet she had given him so much that he could never repay her for. With the smell of wolf's blood filling his nose, Kiba felt a shuddering sob rack his body, as something within him snapped.

Somewhere within the city, a young boy was chasing his hat as it was blown away by the wind, a set of metal bracelets clinking on his arm as he ran. Somewhere else, a young man in a yellow jacket was stealing hotdogs from a distracted vendor, and he smirked in triumph as he jogged away down the street. A moment later, a woman with dark hair and deep blue eyes – who had been doing the distracting – joined him, sharing in the haul. And somewhere else still, a man with white hair and leather clothes was performing routine maintenance on his motorbike, kicking it in annoyance as it refused to start.

They didn't know each other, and yet they had all travelled to the same northern city, with its blanket of snow and its remote location. And even though the din of the city drowned out most of the distant noises, all four stopped what they were doing as the sound of an anguished howl on the wind reached their ears, stirring within them forgotten emotions, and awakening a part of their souls. Somewhere out in the wilderness, all four of them instantly knew that a white wolf was waiting for them to join him once again.

The End

Author's Note – This is just a little post-series drabble that I've been meaning to write for about three years now. It's inspired by the song 'Run, Wolf Warrior' that was in the anime (look it up, awesome song!), and hearing it again tonight, I finally decided to finish this.

I always liked the idea of humans being wolves that had forgotten their true nature, and were stuck in human form. It got me thinking that, since we see Kiba and the gang as humans at the very end, they would fall under this category. If crazy Darcia could go back to being a wolf, then surely our favourite pack could do so as well, right? The character of Koharu was just the catalyst for this event, which is why she had to die (A cookie goes to anyone who can work out why I called her Koharu).

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, as it's my first ever Wolf's Rain fic. Please review and let me know what you think!