You ran, and ran. Running away from them, running away from hell on earth. As you pushed through the brush, your face collected scratches from the thorns. You yelped from their sting. Immediately, you regretted your cry as you heard the voices of your pursuers discovering your location and the thundering roar of their heavy boots could be heard. You whimpered and began to back away into the thorny bushes; pushing through the stinging pain as their sharp edges dug into your hide.

You had hoped that your sharp shelter would discourage the men with guns. You crouched low to the ground, your breathing slowed and your black ears tilted back against your head as the men approached your hiding spot, observing the area.

"I don't see her!" Cried one man, out of breath.

"She's here! Just keep searching! Keep an eye out!" Said another man.

You watched through the small spaces in the bush as the men began to spread out, some checking the ground for your paw prints, while others checked the leaves for your spilled blood.

"Over here! I found blood!" Cried a man relatively close to your hide out.

"Good work! What about tracks?"

"They just stop suddenly sir. But the last sets of prints are deeper than the rest. I assume that she probably jumped into a bush somewhere."

Shit! These hunters were good. Now you were cornered in a confined space, and your only exit was blocked. Think! Think!

"Then she's definitely here!"

Dammit! This is bad!

"Start searching the bushes!" Barked a man.

"Shoot on sight!" Ordered another.

The men started searching the bushes closest to them, sticking the barrels of their rifles deep inside and searching for you. Suddenly a man approached your bush and stuck the front of his gun down, you quickly laid down and tried to maneuver out of its path, however, due to the numerous bullet wounds you had taken, and exhaustion setting in quickly with the falling rain, the rifle made contact with your hide and when the man felt resistance, he fired his weapon.

"Found her! She trapped herself in the thorny rose bushes!" Cried the man, encouraging his comrades to step forward.

Damn! The bullet didn't pass through. You could feel the led pellet lodge itself deep within your muscle tissue. This made the wound even more painful. You couldn't help but let out a whimper as you decided you were going to make a break for freedom.

The men heard a rustling as you crouched and let out a desperate growl. This caused hesitation in the men and as soon as they stopped moving...you launched yourself towards them. Fierce canines exposed and your (e/c) bright with determination. The men cried out as you came flying at them. You crashed into one of them, sending him falling backwards to the wet, muddy ground.

You wasted no time in dashing away, making leaps over fallen trees as the ground became slicker and slicker.

"After her! Don't let her get away!"

The men fired their weapons in your direction once again. Several bullets grazed your shoulders, however, with the adrenaline coursing through you, you felt nothing. Only the urge to survive. As you continued to run ever farther, you finally you found the path that led to the Bridge of Roses, which connected to your safe haven, The Island of the Black Rose.

You turned in that direction and headed toward the bridge. You heard your pursers cry out; "Don't let her cross the bridge!"

Finally, the bridge was in sight! A grassy bridge lined with beautiful roses! They were the most beautiful and most exotic in all the New World, you would never forget their scent or their brilliant myriad of colors.

"This is it!" you thought to yourself, "I'm home free!" You closed your eyes as you began to take in the roses scent...

BANG!

You felt another bullet slam into you. This time, the bullet was aimed at your heart, but instead it landed in your diaphragm; missing your lungs by mere inches.

"Alright! Our sniper did it!" cried the men as you tumbled to the ground, incapacitated.

Your eyes searched the above ledge and found the hidden sniper that you had failed to detect. How could his scent go unnoticed to you?!

Your attention was then drawn to the gathering crowd of men around your body. Your breathing began to slow to an almost non-existent breath. You felt the hotness of your own blood begin to pool around your form. You felt the coppery taste of it as well.

"AH! You killed her! She's no use to us dead!" Spat a man, obviously not taking notice to where the entry wound actually WAS. Stupid human.

"Now we'll have to find another she-wolf!"

"The master will not be pleased..." whined another. You felt yourself begin to loose consciousness.

"What do we do with this one?"

"Leave her for the crows."

And with that, the men left your near-lifeless body, they believed that you were destined to die. And as more and more of the world of the living began to fade away into darkness, the more you believed that. It was a cruel way to go, lying in a pool of your own blood, the crimson liquid staining the lush, green grass and the beauty of the roses. You were utterly disgusted with how your splattered blood soiled the pure beauty of the black rose that had blossomed across from you.

"Someone," you whined. "Help me."

Finally, you slipped away from the edge and felt yourself fall for eternity.

"Oy! Chopper! Did you hear that?" Usopp asked as the gun shots echoed through the forest.

"Yeah, it sounded like a rifle. Maybe someone is out hunting?" Chopper offered as he gathered herbs.

"I don't know...there were an awful lot of gun shots for someone to be hunting."

Chopper stopped his plucking and sniffed the air, "I smell blood...and fear."

"Do you think someone is being attacked?" Usopp asked

"I can hear someone's cry for help." Chopper said as his ears twitched in your direction.

"You mean an animal? 'Cuz I can't hear anyone calling."

"Yea, but it's not just an animal...it's something else...let's go Usopp!"

"Right!"

Chopper became his natural reindeer form and began to gallop across the forest, with Usopp on his back, towards the sound of your cry for help. As they neared closer, the smell of blood grew thicker and he began to notice a circle of crows gathering above you.

"There! Usopp!" Chopper cried out as they neared the bridge,

"It's a...wolf?" Usopp observed. "What strange coloring...I've never seen such bright colors on a wolf."

"We don't have time for that! Quick Usopp, get the transponder snail of out my pack and call for Zoro. We need muscle." Chopper rushed as he knelt at your side, pulling out medical supplies.

"Got it!" Usopp grabbed the Den Den Mushi and called for the crew, Usopp and Zoro had a brief discussion of their whereabouts before Franky cut in saying he'd accompany Zoro, seeing as how his lack of directional orientation would only waste whatever precious time you had.

Usopp hung up and returned to Chopper's side. He stared curiously at your unconscious form as Chopper began to pull out a small pile of lodged bullets.

You let out slight whimpers as Chopper operated on you, your animalistic sounds brought a pained look to Chopper's adorable face. Tears began to pour from his eyes.

"Oy! Chopper~! You ok?" Franky asked, coming into view with Zoro behind him.

Chopper wiped away his tears. "We need to get her out of here!" he said,

"Her?" Zoro asked, looking around, expecting to find a human.

"You mean the she-wolf?" Franky asked, pointing to you.

"Aye. She was attacked, hunted down. I don't know why, she slipped away before she could say more." Chopper said, holding out a small pile of bloodied bullets as evidence.

"Is she..?" Usopp asked. Swallowing hard.

"No, but she's close. That's why I need muscle to carry her back to the Sunny!"

"Then we have no time to waste!" Zoro said, approaching you and hoisting you up and into his arms.

While your rescuers were rushing back to their ship, another wolf was observing from a ledge above. A nasty scar running down his left eye. He howled as he noticed your departure, letting the entire island know of his anger.