Unyielding
Summary: Paradise was never opened. The ground is littered with the corpses of his pack. And Toboe is alone as he howls. AU, One-shot
After the incident, darkness would be his constant friend.
It is from darkness that he wakes, half-dead in Pops' arms. It is in darkness that he staggers around, calling for his friends. It is darkness that he falls into when he finally gives into his gaping exhaustion.
And it is the chasm of dark loneliness that he is pulled into as soon as he wakes, even as he awakens surrounded by withered Lunar Flowers.
At first, he doesn't accept it.
He doesn't believe it; he doesn't want to. His friends were not dead. They wouldn't have abandoned him to fend for himself.
They would have never left him alone.
He begins to search the endless plains, and he wouldn't stop for years to come.
It is three years later that he does finally stop.
He can feel the hopelessness clawing at his insides, and curls into a foetal position. In his heart, he knows they are dead.
And a large part of his soul has died with them.
Above, the moon watches over him like a silent vigil.
The Book of the Moon was wrong. There is no paradise.
He sees the book, half-buried in the snow, and pads over to it. The cover has faded; the pages yellowed.
For some reason, there are the pictures of Lunar Flowers on the last couple of pages.
He feels a flare of uncharacteristic loathing and hatred. The search for Paradise was futile after all! What was the point if everyone dies in the end?
He tears the book into rough pieces with him teeth. He takes out all his grief and anger on it, and, afterwards, there is hardly anything left.
He sits back, staring at the ripped pages, and suddenly feels emptier than ever.
He howls once, louder than he has ever howled before. It carries across the plains like a blaring shriek, and even the echoes linger for more than a minute.
Within the sound, there is despair and an aching loneliness, calling for anyone to come.
The howl dies out, and no one answers.
He settles down in a cave, weary, and mentally and emotionally exhausted.
He's so tired, and just wants to let go.
His pack is gone, and he is alone, longing to join them.
He is just a young pup, and feels centuries old.
"Jeez, Toboe! We've been searching for you for ages!" said a voice indignantly. Hige…
His head jerks up, and he yelps happily at the familiar faces surrounding him.
"I'm glad you're alright, Toboe." Kiba…
"Stupid runt." Tsume…
He laughs with joy, because, finally, he wasn't alone anymore.
"You guys…"
In reality, a mass of brown fur gradually gets colder and colder.
A few paces away from it, a Lunar Flower blooms.
And, in another world, four wolves run into Paradise together.
A/N: Damn, I'm so depressed, haha~ Please leave a review~ ;)