Disclaimer: I Don't Own Wolf's Rain, But I do own my Characters and Ideas.

Prologue

Fire raged everywhere, burning anything and everything in its path.

Not even the white blossoms were spared from the racing inferno.

A howl calls forth from the flames; The Alpha is signaling to his pack to follow him. Obediently, they all follow their white furred leader. Only a single pup can see the path The Alpha is leading them down is one of suicide. He tries to tell the others, but who would listen to the worries of a single wolf pup when their lives are at risk? Glancing around, he sees an opening in the wall of flames. The pup once again tries to make them see, but they ignore him, and soon he is left alone. He quivers, he's never been truly alone before. He howls his fear, his worry that his pack will perish. Will no one listen to him? Because he is just a pup, would no one follow? Then, piercing through the roar of flames, he hears an answering call, one he knows better then his own; the beautiful howl of his dear litter-mate. She bounds toward him, even though she knows she is leaving the rest of her pack behind.

"I will always follow you, brother." She says, licking his ear.

They charge through the opening in the flames, the brother in the lead, and his sister always following right behind him. A sudden crack pierces the sound of the roaring flames, and the little she-wolf looks up to see a tree falling straight towards the two of them. "Kiba!" She barks in alarm. Kiba spins around just in time to see the giant burning tree fall, cutting him off from his sister. "Keshu! KESHU!" He cries out.

There is no response.

"No…" Kiba shakes his head and runs, runs from the flames, from his sister's lifeless form, crushed underneath the tree.

"Curse that Jagara! She burnt every flower to the ground!"

"All the Wolves are dead too!"

"Man, the boss ain't gonna be happy."

The voices of about a dozen humans pierced the silent, ash-filled air. A small she-wolf, her back legs crushed beneath a giant tree and the rest of her burned beyond recognition was the only one to hear them. She slowly blinked open her yellow eyes. Where was she? Why couldn't she feel her legs? What was going on?

"Speak of the devil himself," One of the men said as their Boss emerged from their aircraft.

"ATTENTION!" Another, presumably a captain of sorts called out. All of the men immediately stood up straight and saluted their leader. He was on the thinner side, had messy white hair, and wore a white lab coat over a yellow dress shirt and tan dress pants. A pair of glasses gave him the look of someone who found the world to be an interesting test subject.

"At ease." He said, waving a hand carelessly as he walked down the steps of the small aircraft they had arrived in. He stopped and surveyed the charred landscape. "It seems Jagara was very thorough in her 'cleansing' of the flowers and Wolves of this area." The Noble muttered to himself. "You've found nothing Captain?"

"Unfortunately, that is correct Lord Herveaux. " The captain said.

"Pity," Herveaux said. "We were so close to acquiring the specimen we needed. Ah well, I'll find another way to open Paradise. Let's go," he said, turning back to the ship."There's nothing for us h-"

A small whimper filled the air. Everyone turned towards the source, the little pup trapped beneath the tree. Herveaux's eyes widened and he ran to the place where the pup was trapped and knelt down in the ash, his hands shaking as he reached out to the poor she-wolf. Her fur was no longer white, where she had any, and she was burnt almost beyond recognition, but it was nothing his medical staff couldn't fix. Herveaux broke into a grin. Fate was finally smiling down on him.

"Get this thing off of her! And tell the medical team to be ready! We found our wolf!"

Cheering erupted from the assembled soldiers, elated that their search was at an end.

The pup winced at the sound, and whimpered in pain. Herveaux looked down at her and smiled gently. "Don't worry, little wolf. We'll have you all fixed up in no-time. I promise, we won't hurt you." After all, you're going to take us to paradise.

Childhood Scars

Chapter 1

"And just where is this merry little band of yours going?" Tsume asked almost mockingly.

"To Paradise." Kiba's voice was full of confidence, unwavering.

"Heh. You're kidding me. You're going with him because you believe that crap?" The gray wolf sneered at the others.

"I don't know," Toboe said meekly, "but if we stay here, we'll have to spend our lives in hiding, or worse! We just can't live with the humans anymore, and survive..."

Not even Tsume had an argument for that. The pup was right.

But that didn't mean he had to admit it.

"Look, I hate to interrupt," Hige said while he peered carefully out a window, "but a nasty stink is headed this way."

"We're surrounded." Tsume growled.

"Let me ask you something." Kiba said, seemingly ignoring the impending threat. "Why did you all come to this city?" No response. "It was because of the flower scent wasn't it? Well it's gone now. There's no reason to stay. "

"The flower has nothing to do with it." Tsume said arrogantly. "I'm here because I belong."

"I can see that. This city is a dump," The white wolf deadpanned.

"I still have a score to settle with you..." Growled the gray wolf as he advanced on Kiba, itching to pound his head into the ground.

"We don't have time for this!" Hige almost shouted in frustration.

Completely ignoring the Mexican wolf's plea, Tsume went right on trying to pick a fight. "The last time we met you something about how your pride wouldn't allow you to pass as human. Well, you look pretty human now, where'd your pride go?

"Nowhere. Nothing has changed."

"Do you have the slightest idea what leaving the city would mean?"

"Yeah."

"You'll just die!"

"Possibly. Everyone's gonna die, it's a natural part of life." Kiba said, tenor voice steady and calm, not bothered in the least by the dark aura the gray wolf was exuding. "But if life has no purpose you're dead already."

A bright light flashed into the hideout and gunshots rang through the air.

The time for discussion was up.

The wolves raced along a series of pipes, dodging bullets while they made a beeline for the edge of the city. One such lead projectile impacted the metal piping right beneath the boot of the already stumbling Toboe, causing him to slip off, only avoiding falling to his death by catching hold of a smaller pipe with one hand. He was not out of danger yet however, as he the lacked the strength pull himself up.

The sound of groaning metal caused Tsume to look back, and when he caught sight of the dangling pup, he was reminded of when a few nights ago, the same thing had happened to Gell, and he'd failed to save the boy. Without even the slightest hint of hesitation, he ran back and reached down to help Toboe up, the head of a gray wolf biting down on the runt's shoulder. The younger wolf's eyes widened, but unlike the human boy, he did not cry out, only let the older wolf pull him back onto the pipeline.

"Thank you." The small red wolf panted.

"Go on, hurry up!" Tsume growled, not acknowledging the runt's thanks or his own actions.

"You're really not coming with us?" Toboe asked as he held his shoulder.

Tsume was silent. He looked away, something, some reason in his eyes that the little red wolf couldn't understand.

The gunfire that had seemed to vanish during their brief exchange began again, this time with renewed vigor. The two wolves began running again, not letting anything touch them. The gray wolf jumped off the main pipe and onto a lower one, not missing a beat as he continued running.

"Tsume!" Toboe called out, his voice pleading with the older wolf to join them. His plea was met only with silence as Tsume continued to race along the piping.

The wolves, sans Tsume, finally managed to escape the gunshots, coming to a series of lichen covered stone walls, which presented no challenge to them as even Toboe was able to follow Kiba as he leapt atop them one after the other.

Once at the top however, the white wolf stopped and turned around, facing back the way they came as Hige and Toboe joined him.

"What the heck are you stopping for?" The Mexican wolf demanded. The brunette offered no response, but continued to stare back towards the way they came. After a brief moment, the tall, leather clad figure of the Gray wolf emerged, his expression a mixture of defiance and anger.

"Tsume!" Toboe exclaimed, his own face shining with joy. The gray wolf stopped and stared up at them, a defiant look in his golden eyes. He made eye contact with Kiba for a moment, before the white wolf turned and called out, "This way!" as he lead the small group of wolves to the very edge of the city.

Once they reached the edge of the last wall, they finally beheld the frozen wasteland outside the protective walls of the dome. Kiba was the first one to reach the edge, and he jumped without hesitation, closely followed by Hige. Toboe on the other hand, reached the edge and froze.

"Jump already!" Hige called impatiently.

"I was getting ready to, alright?" Toboe called back, voice quivering a bit as he saw the height of the jump.

"Move it." Tsume grouched just before he planted his foot on the runt's back and sent him over the edge and headfirst into the snow. A bullet made contact with the wall about a foot away from the gray wolf, yet he remained motionless as he looked out on the snow covered terrain, on the precipice of a new chapter in his life. The only thing holding him back? Going with the others would lead to them becoming a pack, forming bonds. Bonds that would inevitably shatter, leaving a gaping hole in his heart in their place again.

"Tsume what are you waiting for? Come on, jump!" Toboe called out as another bullet impacted the wall, this one closer to hitting its' mark. Kiba stared up at the older wolf, his azure eyes asking the question. Are you scared?

The gray wolf smirked. Yeah, you wish. Finally, he jumped. The four of them took off across the frozen wasteland, leaving the city behind.

To hell with this journey. Tsume thought. I was just, fed up with this stinking town. It was time to move on anyway.

The runt. The lazy wolf. The fighter. The leader. These four wolves would have never been seen together if the scent of lunar flower, and the promise of Paradise hadn't pulled them towards each other. They would have to face many challenges if they were to reach their destination. But for now, all they could do, was follow the scent of the flower, and hope for the best.

There is going to be a time skip in the next chapter, we are skipping straight to Episode 5, Fallen Wolves. This is where most of the action starts.

So, the stage is set. I hope to update in a week at most. If you're confused review and I will try to explain.

Thank you for reading!