Wolf's Rain, at least in my mind, ended without enough closure. So, in an attempt to find that closure, I decided to write a fanfiction. This is my first time, being as I prefer my own characters (it's much harder for me to write someone else's), but I feel it is worth it. Advanced critique is encouraged..

This is a bit of a side project, so I cannot promise how often I'll be able to update. I'll try my best to make it as often as possible, however.

If the characters belonged to me, this would not be here.

1

Those Who Search

Paradise? Cheza? If this is paradise, then where are you?

The rain fell in dull gray sheets, pattering softly on the sidewalk. Kiba stood underneath the protective awning of a storefront, leaning against the window as he stared out at the steady traffic. People with multicolored umbrellas wandered down the sidewalks and weaved among the cars, intent on their business. Some laughed and talked, others were quiet or sullen.

The smell of smog filled his nostrils, but for once, it did not bother him. There was something else here, the scent of lunar flowers. Indeed, that scent seemed to fill everything, as if it vibrated in the very fabric of that world. Kiba closed his eyes, inhaling deeper of that beloved scent. He wanted to howl out, both in joy and from the loneliness that still pierced his heart.

Where are you, Cheza? he asked. And where are they? Did they not make it? Am I the only one who found this world? And what of my dream?

He had fallen in the snow, finally unable to walk anymore. His entire body had gone numb, so that he no longer felt the pain from his bloody wounds. As he had laid there wondering why he still continued even after everything had been lost, he had heard a strange voice whispering to his mind. He could not comprehend the words however, but they filled him with an incredible warmth, and as his life seeped from his torn body, he dreamt, of birds and forests, flowers and lakes, clear air, and more than that, a future filled with peace and joy, free from the bondage of a dying world and the burden that lay on the white wolf.

And now here he was, in this strange city, staring out into the rain, loneliness in the depth of his heart, lurking underneath the greater sense of peace that lingered over him.

"Can this be . . . ." he wondered aloud, "paradise?"

A passerby with a green umbrella glanced at him, but said nothing. Kiba watched the man until he disappeared among the crowd.

So there are still humans, he mused. But isn't this supposed to be a continuous cycle? Am I here again to find paradise for this world?

There was nothing, no stirring in his heart, no quickening of breath, no deepening realization of the need. There was simply peace.

Kiba frowned.

The door to the bar jangled as it was pushed open, disrupting for a moment the conversation of those inside. A young, brown-haired man in a jacket and woman with dark hair and a neat, trim blue suit walked in. The young man sniffed at the air, then a gleam entered his eye.

"I'd say this is it. Blue?"

The woman glanced at him, then turned her gaze deliberately toward the far end of the bar. A white-haired young man dressed in leather and bearing a strange, star-shaped scar on his chest sat in the last booth, his back to them.

"Him?" Hige inquired.

"He matches the description provided by the informant," Blue replied.

"Alright," he remarked. "Let's do this."

Blue gave Hige a nod, and started toward the man in leather.

He glanced up as she approached, curiosity flickering in his eyes as he leaned back in his seat, regarding her solemnly. Blue gave a faint smile, taking the seat across from him. The curiosity was replaced by wariness, and the white-haired man's grip on his beer glass tightened almost imperceptibly.

"Can we talk?" Blue inquired.

The man's gold eyes narrowed, "I don't know. Can we?" he replied dispassionately.

"We won't take up too much of your time," Hige slipped into the booth beside Blue, sliding her a drink.

She picked it up, taking a deliberate sip before she replaced it on the table.

"Two of you?" the white-haired man asked gruffly.

Hige smiled, taking a long drink, "Not a very friendly fellow, are you? No wonder you're back here all alone."

"I don't need anyone."

Hige shrugged, "That doesn't bother us. However, we'd like to ask you a few questions."

"I'm not in the mood."

Hige leaned forward, "Have you heard about the killings?"

"Killings?" the scarred man sounded like he was sneering, though his eyes bore no hint of humor. "I came here to drink, not talk about killings."

"There's been a rash of murders committed by the local gangs lately," Hige explained nonchalantly.

"And why does that concern me with two strangers?"

Hige shrugged, "You own a curiosity shop downtown, right?"

The man just glared at them.

"Right," Hige took another drink. "We traced a few 'items' to you. Apparently they were bought from your shop by gang members."

"If you have these items you must have the members," the man replied curtly. "I don't see why you need to involve me."

"The items were guns," Blue interjected.

A dangerous light entered the man's eyes, "I am not responsible for what is done with what I sell."

Hige took a slow breath, leaning back in his seat.

"Innocent people died. That doesn't bother you?" Blue inquired.

The man stood abruptly, "If that is all you want to ask me about, then we are finished."

Before either could speak, he turned around, stalking toward the door.

"Sir, wait!" Hige called out, but the door banged shut, the bells on it jangling for a moment before the noise faded into the dull buzz of conversation and the music which droned softly in the background.

"He was apprehensive," Blue said quietly.

"That guy?" Hige inquired. "He seemed more pissed to me."

"Surely he knew he was selling to gang members," Blue continued, standing. "He may even work for them."

Hige groaned, "Didn't even let us stay for a drink."

"We can't let him get away," Blue remarked firmly.

"Lead on," Hige replied.

The rain pattered against the ground, and somewhere distant, thunder rumbled. It was a soothing sound, promising danger in its voice, and Tsume felt his mood almost begin to lighten. The he heard the bar door open behind him and the hurried footsteps of the two strangers. Tsume cursed in his mind.

His red motorcycle was parked a few meters away, glistening in the rain, and he leaped on it, pulling on his helmet and gunning the ignition. He swerved into the street, speeding through the rain. It pounded against his helmet and soaked his clothing and skin, at once both chilling and invigorating. There was a keen scent of freshness on it that almost reminded him of flowers.

This could have been a very good day, Tsume contemplated as he turned a corner, speeding down another street. His eyes narrowed, Those fools. I thought I warned them not to let those weapons be traced back to me. They are going to hear about this one.

There was a faint prick of conscious in the back of his mind, in the form of the woman's cold words 'Innocent people died. That doesn't bother you?', but he shoved it away as quickly as it came.

I'm not responsible for what they do with those guns, he thought heatedly. How'd they find me? Didn't Lebowski assure me this wouldn't come back on me?

He must have sold me out, Tsume felt his anger rising. I should have known better than to trust that man . . . . than to trust anyone.

A red light flickered in his vision, and Tsume pressed hard on his brake, halting a meter from the cross traffic. He lowered his foot to the ground to balance, then the light turned green, and he drove onward.

A faint sensation prickled in the back of his mind, and he glanced behind him, to see nothing but the city, and its assortment of people and cars, all shaded gray by the falling rain. Bewildered, Tsume turned his attention back to the road in front of him. The sensation remained, uneasily lurking just out of reach, as if he had forgotten something important. A strange rippling feeling swept across his arms, a feeling like fur, then he suddenly coughed.

The motorcycle jerked slightly as he regained his balance, but the coughing did not stop. His eyes narrowed in irritation and surprise at the amount of pain in his lungs, then he felt another sensation prickling at his mind, a familiar scent.

Tsume glanced quickly around. A few meters behind him, the two strangers from the bar stood on the sidewalk, watching him. Tsume yanked his motorcycle hard left, into the first side street that presented itself. The traffic was halted for a light, but Tsume accelerated, weaving expertly through the stopped cars. Several honked at him.

The cross traffic was both steady and fast, but Tsume did not feel like stopping. He swerved up onto the sidewalk, nearly missing several pedestrians before he merged into the fast-paced traffic to more angry honks. Tsume grit his teeth, ignoring them as he sped onward. He turned into another street a moment later, only to see the two strangers leap down from a rooftop into his path.

"We weren't finished," the brown-haired one remarked.

Tsume glanced between them. He said not a word.

"The fact that you would run so quickly indicates that you have something to hide," the one called Blue commented after a moment.

"Hide?" Tsume growled. "I don't need to hide. I just have better things to do."

"Better things can wait," Hige answered, taking a step toward him.

Tsume pressed hard on the accelerator, swerving his bike around hard, when the coughing suddenly returned. He lost his balance, and the motorcycle went spinning out of control, slamming him into the side of a building.

Blue and Hige stared at him, concern on their faces, but he only shoved the heavy machine away from his body, standing jerkily, a glare etched into his hard face. He coughed again, blood spitting from his mouth this time, then he righted his motorcycle. Just as he was about to mount it again, another cough tore itself from his lungs, and he fell against the shiny red machine, his muscles refusing to work.

"Are you alright?" Blue dashed toward him, reaching out a hand to help him up.

"Don't touch me!" Tsume snapped. He regained control that instant, and righted the motorcycle, jumping onto it. He started it, and jerked it around, sending it speeding away from the two.

"Wait!" Hige called after him. "We still need to talk!"

Tsume increased his speed, nearly losing his balance again as he shot around a corner, his tires screeching. The fact brought a faint thrill, but it was lost in the anger boiling inside him and the lingering sense that he desperately needed to remember something. He coughed again.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, This is the longest I've ever had a cold. What's it been, two months since this started? And it just gets worse.

Tsume steeled himself against it, forcibly losing himself in the sounds of the city around him and in the rumble of the engine beneath him. The thrill it all normally brought was absent however, replaced by a dull ache, for what, he did not know.

Tsume glanced up into the rain, and was surprised to see the moon hanging over the tops of the nearby skyscrapers, blurry from the clouds. Even so, it held him strangely riveted, and without realizing it, he slowed to halt, staring up at the pale sphere.

"Pretty, isn't it?"

Tsume jolted at the voice, turning sharply toward it.

Hige was drilling him with an even gaze as he chomped down on a hotdog.

Tsume just stared at him, "How . . . ?"

"We move quickly," Blue answered the unfinished question as she stepped up beside her companion.

"Want one?" Hige held out the hot dog. "They're very good."

Tsume's eyes narrowed. "I don't need anything from you," he barked, about to accelerate again, when Hige suddenly grabbed on of his handlebars.

"Let go," Tsume said, his tight voice entirely level.

"We just want to talk," Hige replied.

"If you keep running, we might have to use a little force," Blue added.

"A mistake," Tsume informed them, glancing once more toward the moon, then he jerked his handlebar free from Hige's grip. "Do yourselves a favor and scram."

Blue gave Hige a slight nod, and the chubby young man leaped into the air. Startled, Tsume glanced back just as Hige landed on the motorcycle behind him. Tires screeched loudly as Tsume strove to keep the bike upright from the sudden weight. An instant later, something inside him changed.

A sound like a growl pulled itself from his throat, and he twisted around, swiping his hand at the brown-haired stranger. Hige let out a sudden yelp, falling backward off the motorcycle, four bloody wounds torn through his bulky blue jacket. Tsume just stared at him, unable to comprehend what had happened, much less the sudden power flooding his veins.

A loud screeching noise split his ears, followed by a panicked honking. Tsume whirled around, just in time to jerk his motorcycle out of the path of an oncoming car. Cursing himself, Tsume moved back into his lane, accelerating as he sped away. His hair stood on end a moment later, and Tsume glanced backwards, as the report of a gunshot reached his ears. Involuntarily, he swerved his motorcycle, barely missing the shot.

Tranquilizer, he realized as the projectile whizzed by his ear. They want me alive.

Not going to happen, Tsume told himself firmly, increasing his speed as he swerved in front of a large van.

Another gunshot sounded, followed by a dull thump. Tsume glanced backward, then up, just as Blue sprang down from the van. He started to pull away, but she hit him forcefully in the middle, bowling him off his bike and onto the sidewalk. His bike went skidding into a parked car to a chorus of angry honks, followed by the blaring of the vehicle's alarm.

A growl rumbling in his throat, Tsume latched his hands onto the woman's arms, and threw her from him. She slammed into a tree, but stood abruptly, her eyes burning.

"I said scram," Tsume panted. His voice sounded odd, deeper, gruffer, and more powerful.

"Can't do that, sorry," Hige's voice replied.

Whirling around, Tsume was greeted by a punch to the face. He staggered backward, his cheek smarting, but it only served to rouse the strange, feral spirit within him, and he leaped toward his opponent, hands held like claws and lips lifted in a snarl.

Darkness flitted through his mind, and for an instant, Tsume could not see or feel.

The next instant, he sprawled on the sidewalk, gasping against the painful coughing that assaulted his lungs. He could feel Hige standing over him, and he staggered to his feet, meeting the young man's gaze wildly for an instant, then he turned, dashing along the rain-soaked street.

"Follow him!" he heard Blue shouting.

The anger Tsume had once felt at them was gone, replaced with a determination fueled by anxiety. The tranquilizer gun fired again, but Tsume leaped into the air, grabbing onto the edge of a building and hoisting himself onto the roof. He kept running, leaping across the alley to the next building. Streets were beginning to look decidedly familiar.

Downtown, he realized. Not just downtown . . . gang territory.

The thought sparked an idea in him, and barely bothering to consider it, Tsume acted. He could still feel the two behind him with an eerie acuteness, and he leaped across several more alleys before he jumped down into the streets.

He ran a short way before he felt other presences around him, and Tsume halted, ducking into the nearest alley. He waited there, his gold eyes gleaming in the semidarkness and the rain, then he heard the faint thumps as Blue and Hige dropped into the street beyond.

He held his breath, listening to the sounds around him. For a moment, there was nothing save the pattering of the rain, then he heard footsteps gathering from around them.

"You two look a little lost," a sharp, heavily accented voice remarked.

"And who are you to say that?" Hige demanded, his tone uncharacteristically hostile.

"The fact that you have to ask that says you need to be told," the first speaker announced acridly.

Tsume took a deep breath, stepping away from the wall. He crouched in the alley for a moment, listening to the echoing footsteps of the gang members, then he leaped. He caught the edge of the roof with his hands and hoisted himself over it, breaking out into a silent run.

Gunshots rang out in the street behind him, but he did not look back. As he neared the far edge of the building, his eyes again were drawn to the moon and he slowed to a halt, captivated again by the pale sphere. He felt his heart pounding wildly, and his breathing was fast as he inhaled of the city air. There was a potent scent on it, exotic and beautiful in its subtlety. The scent reminded him of the moon and of a sense he had lost a long time ago.

Guilt at what he had just done stabbed through him, and not understanding his own actions, Tsume turned around, dashing back toward the gunshots, only one thought in his mind.

"Hige!" Blue shouted, leaping toward her fallen comrade.

"Blue, wait-!" Hige started to shout, when another gunshot rang out.

Blue staggered, taking the shot in her leg, but she managed to stumble to Hige's side.

"Get out of here!" Hige snapped at her, pulling himself up from the ground. Sweat was pouring down his face, mingling with the blood from the blow he had taken.

"Not without you," Blue countered angrily.

She hoisted himself to his feet, then whirled around, blocking the punch one of the gang members threw at her. Baring her teeth, she twisted his arm savagely, throwing him to the ground. She forgot him that moment, as another gang member attacked her. He too fell to the pavement, bloodied, then Hige called out in warning. Blue turned toward him, as another gunshot sounded. She tensed, but no pain came.

A fierce howl split the air, and the next moment a blur of gray and black slammed into the gunman even as he tried to fire at it, knocking him to the ground, bloodied. Another gunman whirled around, shooting, but the blur was faster. With a scream, the second man was thrown aside, jagged wounds in his chest.

Blue heard the click of a gun being cocked, and she was suddenly loosed from the invisible bonds which had held her. She turned, dashing at the gang member who held his rifle trained on the newcomer. She kicked the weapon from his hands, then slammed the side of her hand into his face, sending him to the ground.

Scooping the gun into her hands, she whirled around, only to see that none of the gang members remained standing. Hige stood off to her side, panting as he favored his wounds, and in the middle of the fallen men, Tsume crouched, his chest heaving and his golden eyes blazing with a chilling ferocity. A broad knife was clutched in his hand, and his other arm was bleeding from a gunshot wound.

"Y-You?" Hige stammered.

Tsume glanced between them. Surprise seemed to flit through his eyes, and he straightened. He stared at them blankly for a moment, then his eyes narrowed and he clicked his tongue against his teeth, turning away from them.

"Do you now believe that I had nothing to do with your killings?" he asked gruffly.

"Our killings?" Hige exclaimed.

Blue stepped forward, "You helped us?"

Tsume did not reply.

"Why?" she inquired.

The leather-clad man only snorted, then he jumped, landing atop the nearest building. He wavered there for a moment, then leaped out of sight.

Hige turned to Blue, "Do we follow?"

She stared back at him, unable to think of a reply, then the wail of sirens reached her ears. She closed her eyes briefly.

"Apparently someone heard."

Hige frowned in agreement, "I suppose we should hang around and explain things, eh, Blue?"

She sighed, "They'll want one."

Hige's eyes narrowed, but he did not speak aloud what both of them were thinking. Why did he come back . . . after he led us here? Why'd he help us?

Hige reached up, scratching the back of his neck, He smelled kind of familiar.