Chapter 2: The Journey
When I woke up, I felt more than a little cold on my feet. I felt nice and warm on my sides, I figured I must be under a blanket, but when I tried to make it move down, all that was there was colder air than my feet. I shot my arm back down, just now noticing a slight ounce of pain, and in sudden remembrance, I wondered why it couldn't be more. As my hand came back down I noticed a nice, cuddly, warm, and most definitely furry object in front of me. I sat up slowly, reluctantly as the deathly cold air whooshed around me; I saw walls of stone and rock all around me. I wondered where in the world I was until a soft voice spoke behind me. "You're lighter than you look" He said. I turned around and Kiba was leaning against the wall, a slight grin on his face. "He hasn't left you side just in case your wondering." I looked down to where he bobbed his head and found a big dog… a wolf was snuggled up next to me, keeping me warm. His fur was a light tan, and on his front right leg, 4 bracelets marked him as Toboe.
I wanted to lie back down, but suddenly, during Toboe's sleep, he whined and quickly stuck his head in my lap, restricting my movement. "Toboe…Kiba…Hige" I said, looking over at the sleeping, slightly darker brown than Toboe, wolf that slept comfortably about 1 foot away. I knew one was missing and I had a pretty good feeling that he wasn't going to be anywhere near where I was. "Is…Tsume ok?" I asked, concerned though Tsume probably didn't care. Kiba nodded toward where the opening of the cave was, and there, a large gray wolf sat, guarding our hide away. "I thought you guys left" I asked, instinctively stroking Toboe's face.
Kiba sighed. "Let's just say our youngest member smelt blood that he never wanted to smell again" He said, staring at my shoulder.
"Oh…that." I said, a little taken. Had he honestly smelled my blood while they were leaving town? It was so weird. I felt so attached to this boy, though we hadn't shared more than a day together. "Sorry. It was, kind of an accident." I sighed, remembering the old fart that had shot me. My biggest fear now was that I had made Toboe uncomfortable by bleeding. That was the last thing I wanted to do.
Hige now moved around, waking up. "Hey, you're up. How's your shoulder?" He asked, munching on some food.
I smiled sweetly. "No biggie. After all, I guess if you guys hadn't come I would have been bleeding to death huh?" I laughed, getting a chuckle from Hige, stiffness from Tsume, and little reaction at all from Kiba.
Kiba stood and stretched. "You will have to forgive us" He said, and I turned my head to the side, wondering what he meant. He looked down at me, "We are kind of forcing you on our journey now. It seems Toboe would never leave your side, and we all want Toboe with us so…" He cut off, and I instantly saw where this was going.
I sighed, and I think Kiba took it as a bad thing. "You don't have to worry Kiba, I always wanted out of that city. So it isn't like I won't enjoy it, but… really, what about you guys. I know having a girl along for a ride like this can't be fun, but… having a non-wolf girl, just… let me know what I can do to help" I said, feeling pointedly useless.
For the first time since I woke up, Tsume stood, resumed his human formed, and got upset. "Kiba your being stupid, letting her tag along. You know the only way to do that is if she rides one of us. She won't ride porky, no one would ride something as hard as your ass, Toboe probably doesn't have the strength and there is no way she is riding on me" He half yelled at Kiba, who, despite the yelling, stood there quietly, contemplating I guess.
He cleared his throat, a sure sign he had an idea, or I hope so. "So what? I'm positive Toboe has more than enough strength, plus, I think he would want to be the one who carried her anyway." He discharged Tsume's complaint.
"Fine" He sniffed. "What about food? We can go for days even weeks without eating. Think she will be so lucky?" He stuck his nose up at Kiba. "Try to turn that one down" He huffed and Kiba smiled.
This boy had more devious plots than I ever had. "She can manage, I'm pretty sure your used to not eating right Luna?" He asked, calling me by my first name. I nodded dumbly. The only thing I could do was wonder why he wanted me to come so much, I could always tell Toboe I didn't want to go, and I didn't want to stay, and I knew he knew that… so why? "See" Kiba said, "She is perfectly fine with it Tsume. So if you're so worried about food, go find some. It isn't like we'll be moving. Toboe seems to be enjoying his pillow so I think we are just fine here."
Tsume spat at him. "Fine, but don't come running to me when that old man finds you and shots you." His head whipped around at me. "I'll get you something to eat princess" He taunted as his wolf form came back out and he ran out of the cave.
I couldn't fathom it. They ran so fast, I really shouldn't be going, this wasn't my journey…but for Toboe… I would go anywhere. It was at that moment a high pitched noise rang through the air. The screaming sound didn't stop, and I was beginning to get angry. I hated loud noises, this was too much. I saw Kiba and my heart turned cold, Kiba was down on the ground, holding his head painfully, not being able to scream. "KIBA" I yelled, looking at Hige who was in just as much pain and suffering. My whole body went numb when I went to look at Toboe, who was, somehow still peacefully sleeping on my lap. How? How could he sleep through such a hideous noise? Hige rolled over heavily, now close enough to touch. My instincts took over and I placed my hand on his shuddering shoulder. And surprisingly, as soon as I placed my hand on his shoulder, he stopped shuddering and quickly glanced at me.
"Is it still ringing to you?" He asked, terror mixed with surprise flooded his still pained, but recovering face and I nodded. He thought for a moment, as little of Kiba's screaming time as he could before he removed my hands only to cringe in fear again. Within a blink of an eye, he had grabbed my right shoulder, sending pain vibrating through me. "Kiba" He panted, as he stretched his other arm and grabbed Kiba, who, even though touched by a friend still cringed, his body slowly draining of color. "Touch him" Hige ordered me, and though he couldn't hear the ringing, I most surely could. I moved my painful arm over to Kiba's draining body, hoping to help. As soon as I had indeed touched him, his cringing stopped and he blinked at me wearily.
His face was still sullen from the pain, but a strange happiness had taken place in the fact that no more pain existed. "Can you… hear it?" He asked me and I shook my head in response. "Amazing" he said looking at my hand, calmly placed on his arm.
"Yeah" Hige said, "As soon as she touched me the noise, the feeling of pain, it all stopped, but when she had let go…" He drifted off, not wanting to finish. I noticed the noise had disappeared.
"Umm" I muttered, surprised by the grip their hand. Hige was now hanging on for dear life to my arm, making the pulsing harder, more painful, while I could see, Kiba was somewhat in different. He didn't seem to mind the whole touching thing, but he only held onto my wrist lightly. Toboe, however, was a different story all together. He had wrapped both his paws over my legs, pulling himself closer to me and creating scrape marks through my pants, though I didn't really mind. He wined from some kind of dream and I grunted in my mind. Two men grabbing onto the most painful part of me right now and a dreamy one, dreaming away, scraping up my legs. I half laughed, drawing their attention more. "The noise stopped" I said between breaths. "So, you can stop smashing me" I said and they realized at once they were grabbing the part of my body still in pain from the shot. Hige gave me an apologetic cry and I smiled. "It's ok Hige" I said, looking down at the light-tan wolf napping happily on my lap. "Should we go now? I don't think we should stay here" I told them, hoping I hadn't stepped out of line. Kiba nodded.
Hige stood and I looked down at Toboe. "Hey, sleepy head" I said, placing a hand on his head lightly. "Time to get up" I told him. Toboe's eyes opened slightly and he stood, still standing on me. "Hey" I said, through my teeth in a smile, "You're on me Toboe" I said, and his long face quickly looked down and he turned into his human form, his brown eyes dancing as he helped me up.
His clothes were considerably cleaner now, something I hadn't thought of a wolf worrying about. "Sorry" He rubbed the back of his brown head. Smiling he looked around to Hige and Kiba, "Where is Tsume?" He asked looking around.
Kiba walked swiftly towards the entrance. "Coming" He said as Tsume walked in, human form. He and Kiba exchanged a glance and Tsume nodded.
He swiftly walked over to me and Toboe, and glared at me. "Let's go" He said, turning into his wolf form and dashing out the cave.
"Aww" Hige complained. "Don't worry about him Luna. He is just being weird" Hige smiled as he looked at Kiba who nodded him out.
"Toboe" Kiba looked at us. "Can you give her a ride?" And Toboe's face lighted up delighted.
He bounced around happily. "OF COURSE" He smiled, forming his wolf and nudging me on.
I looked at Kiba who gave me a reassuring nod. I got on Toboe carefully, not wanting to be too heavy or hurt him accidently. Toboe seemed perfectly fine when he and Kiba took off out of the cave. The wind rushed past my face, whipping me, but not freezing me at all. Toboe's body warmth was more than enough for comfort to me. I looked around as quickly as I could, leaning down close to Toboe's ear. The landscape skated by, trees frozen over with snow, grass completely invisible. They sky itself was worth the trip. Stars littered the sky and I realized, the moon was more lovely than ever now, fully glowing and closer than ever. "Thank you" I said into his ear. I had a sneaky suspicion that Toboe had done more than his share of convincing to get Kiba, Hige, and Tsume either somewhat ok with me going, or more elated than I was. Toboe seemed to take this as a speed boost and instantly caught up with the pack, when Tsume and Kiba's head whipped towards us; they stopped barking to each other and looked at me, Tsume with a confused and upset face. They raced on, passing yards of green and fields of blue water. When the water past, we always took breaks, for them to rest, and for me to cook. After all, I felt useless just riding on Toboe. Hige always took two or three shares of the food and always partook in the somewhat swimming party we had. Toboe and I always rode together, I had a feeling about his feelings towards me, and if he ever wanted to talk about them, I would more than happily listen. It was about 3 weeks after we had left my hometown. They had all stopped at a cave, mostly resting and munching on the food I made. It was this day, that Tsume and I would make a connection.
He had always refused to eat any food I made, always went off to find his own. Which I wasn't upset with, I could see he was not very fond of me. It was the day I made a stew from a deer they had found and he sat outside on a hill. Toboe and Kiba and even Hige had eaten less and less each time he had refused to eat, and I finally had enough. "You guys eat, I know he is hungry" I said with a smile. By now, all three of them had gotten to know me well enough to know when I set my mind to something I would do it. "It isn't like he will hurt me" I said to Toboe, who had gotten up to come with. I smiled and walked outside to the gray, stone, wolf statue of Tsume. "Please?" I pleaded. "You need to eat; you're even skinnier than before, which is saying something Tsume. They are all worried about you too you know" He grunted in his wolf form before he turned around.
He growled and I could tell that was an I don't care what you think growl. That sent me over the edge, and I knew the three guys would be cringing in the cave when they heard this. "Listen to me grumpy" I said, quoting a line from a story book. "I've had just about enough of this. You don't have to eat my food, but at least show them you're eating. You think they are happy and dandy not knowing for sure whether you've eaten. I know you think they are your friends, I know that more than anyone. However, they are still worried, which is affecting them, so you should pull your big dumb, scarred butt out of your mouth and at least go eat the meat I didn't touch." I huffed and he stopped and turned, his face soured. "Don't look at me like this Tsume, all I'm doing is saying the truth, whether or not you choose to accept it is your choice, but they are my friends to, and your causing them pain" I huffed again, and this one seemed to take him by surprise. He shifted to his human form, choosing to tower over me in a form similar to mine.
He shook his head lightly, his white hair bouncing around. "It isn't that human" He said.
But I stopped him. "You don't have to use my name, or even acknowledge my existence just tell me you'll eat something so they stop suffering too" I told him, and he looked down, now realizing his mistake.
He looked at me with wide eyes, frozen. I saw his gaze travel behind me and turned around to stare into a large purple cape. A man stood, between me and freedom, and I felt a large, rough hand grab me from behind and pull me back. Tsume had put himself in front of me, blocking this new guy from me. "Darcia" He growled, which made the man turn around. His purple cape flowed behind him, his bright red, and black armor shone in the now dying sunlight, his right eye covered by some sort of patch. He grinned, his one eye slightly covered by hair. He took a step towards us, and Tsume growled, sending one of his hands to encircle me behind him.
Darcia smiled. "So the stories are true. There is one with neutralization powers. I guess I've found it, so wolf" He said, somewhat differently "I suggest you hand her over, or she might get more than a little hurt" He said, the corners of his mouth turning upward in devilish way. When he did, my whole body froze; the movement around me became slow and sluggish. I saw Darcia lunged for Tsume, who transformed and jumped up on Darica. Darcia pulled out a sword and began slicing and dicing at Tsume. My breath caught and my feet were frozen to the ground. I saw Tsume flung to the side, out into the now blizzarding field. Darcia seemed to grunt when he walked towards my frozen form. His sword was still out and all I could do was stare blindly into the space Tsume had been flung. Darcia was now feet from me, the cave was too far away, Tsume was gone, but hopefully safe and I was about to become some trophy for some demented weird guy. I froze harsher when Darica's hand grabbed my left shoulder he pulled me into his hard armor. The armor itself was colder than the air, and the air itself was rushed from my body. I felt like we were somehow moving up, the ground beneath my feet disappeared and with a sudden movement we were in a long hallway of some sort of ship, the ringing returning to my ears. This Darcia person put me in a chair and left me there. He pushed some sort of button and threw a large, gray wolf into a cage.
My consciousness snapped back and I blinked realizing Tsume's broken and battered body. "TSUME" I yelled as I tried to stand up, I realized my feet were grounded to the chair by shackles, the same as my wrists. "What do you want bastard?" I asked angrily, struggling.
I noticed he laughed a bit, locking the big cage and he sat down in front of some giant sized windows in a giant sized, red-backed chair. This inside of this place was filled with different gadgets and objects I would have never known of. The only thing I could think of, was that he was a noble, this noble named Darcia. Darcia ignited something and I instantly recognized the sound of this being a large ship. The sound not only startled me, but instantly woke Tsume. He lunged and growled towards me. I wanted nothing more than to go over and break him out, but the stupid chains blocked my escape. Darcia made the ship lurch forward, sending me flying back into my chair, slamming my head on the metal seat. I cringed as I felt a dribble of blood drop down. Tsume barked loudly at Darcia, who only laughed in answer. I looked over at Tsume, noticing a weak point in the bars, an area with scratches that could easily have been broken. Tsume shot his face toward me, when I bobbed my head in the direction he needed to go it only took him seconds to find the weak spot, and quickly and quietly he broke through the box, not catching the attention of Darcia. Tsume bounded over to me and quietly broke the chains on me. I hugged his neck, to happy to notice Darcia standing up and walking toward us. Tsume nudged me onto his back, and despite the absolute fear I should have been feeling, the happiness that Tsume finally accepted me, if even a little, was so much to make a single tear began to form. I shook it away and glared at the approaching roach of a noble.
Darcia raised an eyebrow at me when he saw my hand fly down to Tsume's neck fur, making him immune to any damage Darcia could cause. "So" He muttered, "You formed a bond, even though you spite humans" He grinned his smug grin as he stepped forward. "Though a human and wolf can never truly bond, a mutual relationship is easy to make, and to break" he said, lunging forward, charging us. His black glove caught my neck, and he easily knocked Tsume back into a wall, a horrible crunch came from deep within Tsume. He cringed as he slumped to the floor, unmoving.
My blood froze as his unmoving body gave up its hunt for Darcia. Darcia himself smiled, his face transferring from Tsume's body, to my struggling body. His hand crunched as he balled his fist. "I didn't want to do this" He seemed to sigh, as his hand flew back, preparing to punch me out like a light. A loud crunch stopped him still. His head turned slowly as Tsume, now in his human form, backed away slightly, his knuckles bruised but unscarred compared to Darcia's now gushing hand. For some reason, seeing his blood dripping to the floor furiously made me try to shake my head, the mere sight horrifying. Tsume pulled Darcia back, slamming him into a wall, breaking his grip on my neck just in time to grab me. Darcia stumbled back up, panicking as he saw Tsume, who grinned next to the open door to the outside, the ground miles down. I was too woozy to notice the slight smile Tsume gave me as he hugged me close and jumped out the window. A curse was the last thing I heard from the bastard.
We fell swiftly toward the ground, the air rushing out of me, I felt Tsume's warm skin shift into a furry landscape as he turned wolf again. That was beginning to get annoying, it would be nice to be awake during one of their transformations. He shifted me to his back, me barley being able to keep balance as we landed hard on the ground. When we landed, the ground hit with such a thud, even I felt the pain. Tsume grunted and fell over to the ground, me right along with him. As I passed out, I held him firmly in my hands, refusing to let him get away with getting himself hurt for me, oh was he going to have a firm talking from me, not to mention a deep thank you.
Faster and faster I ran. Four figures ran after me, soaked in a crimson liquid. The smell around me was peaceful as if nothing had just happened, as if my life had not suddenly been in turmoil. I stumbled over the corpse of her, my best friend. Why was this happening? A loud howl sounded far behind me, large, shrill, and almost proud to be in pain. It took no more than a few seconds for another, dejected, desperate howl to pierce my ears. My heart lifted off the ground as I only ran, unable to do much else, another piercing howl sounded, sending shivers down my spine. Finally, the worst sound to me possible, a howl, so alone, so sad sounded. I felt my heart jump from my very being. A sharp stab pierced my chest and I fell to the ground, gasping, fighting for my own breath to take place. A sharp object kicked me in my stomach forcing me over. I fell to the ground and a sharp, very sharp long sword was slugged through me, in an instant I felt life sprout from my chest, and a very handsome, bloody face leaned in close to mine, his breath on my face. His body went limp and my very being shattered. "T…Toboe?" I muttered, horrified at the suddenly surrounding bodies around me. Large gray wolf with a scar "T…Tsume no" I muttered, through the pain, a large white wolf, covered in blood spots, forcing its way up. "K…Kiba?" I muttered louder and my gaze traveled to the dark brown wolf huddled with an almost black, but dark brown wolf, both bleeding immensely. "Hige" I cried.
Shooting up faster than the bullet that pierced my shoulder I hit my head on some cave wall. My hand flew to my head and I fell backward. "Oh damn" I said, landing on the floor, a surprisingly soft surface. I heard a soft giggle and immediately looked up. Toboe smiled sweetly at me, his hand next to the place where I had been laying. I glanced around, my fears of losing this new family of mine were easily cleansed when I saw Kiba, Hige, and even a worried Tsume. They all stared at me intently as if I had something to explain. "What?" I asked, confused.
Hige gave me a glance, "What the hell were you dreaming about, us freaking cooking up a feast?" Hige asked. Typical, I sighed, Hige always had food on the mind, I knew someone who could fix that, but she had long since left my side.
Kiba gave him a light shove, "It sounded like a bad nightmare" He said, glancing at me, not nice, but not cruel, I was a little nervous. What could I have said while asleep? Was it that bad that I had to get these scrutinizing stares from them.
Tsume grunted, stood and walked over to me and Toboe, glaring down. He bent down, level with Toboe and me now. "Welcome…back" He stuttered, and my mouth dropped open. That was the last thing I expect, to have Tsume of all people be nice to me. But I took it, however small, I was just happy to have less fighting. He put his large, scared hand on my forehead. "Still have a fever, I'll get you something to eat… I'm sorry" He said, looking down as if he were… sorry. I couldn't believe my ears and apparently neither could Toboe, Hige, or Kiba. They all gasped my reaction.
"Whoa" I said. "What? You're sorry? Why?" I asked, generally confused, had I blanked on remembering something again?
He sighed and patted my head. "Just, not being able to get to you faster" He gave me a disappointed look, which quickly traveled to Toboe. Now I had clicked the pieces together. The only sense I could see Toboe seeing was that either Tsume had attacked me, but since he was so battered and bruised I was sure Toboe quickly discounted that one. The other being exactly what happened, I got kidnapped and shit happened. I sighed patting the ground.
"Silly" I said smiling sweetly, "You saved me, that's more than I could ever want" I said, "I find it amazing just how well you fought, like you had fought him way before" I laughed and Tsume grinned.
"Go back to sleep" He said, standing. "Kiba, there is a town here right? We can carry her there for an inn. We will be fine then" He suggested and Kiba nodded, taking in Tsume's reaction as well. Then as Toboe transformed, my eyes closed again as I was placed back onto Toboe's warm back, his deep breathing and steady heart beat more than enough to put me straight to sleep.
The next morning was more confusing than ever. Toboe wasn't next to me, like every other chilly morning that I had woke up in. My hand habitually reached for the soft, and recognizably warm fur that usually encircled me during sleep, but came up short. My eyes opened wearily as I searched for Toboe. My mind exploded when I saw the enormous room that surrounded me. I had lay in a soft, blue colored bed. It's sheet were made of satin and felt irrevocably soft against my skin. I wanted to snuggle into them, but more than three quarters of my consciousness told me to find Toboe. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed to the left. As I pulled the sheets off in mid turn, I noticed I wore a nice, silky, blue night gown. I looked around the room, noticing my long, still abnormally blue hair, now tied into a bouncy pony tail, and wondered what nut house I fell into. A dresser, taller than me, stood directly across from my sleeping spot, its handles were carved beautifully from some kind of ancient looking wood. The top of the dresser was a hard, straight line, with multiple mini-containers, for jewelry and such. Next to that was an extravagant window, I felt like I could fit two or three of those dressers through it. I got up and saw some blue slippers next to the bed. My mind instantly told me this seemed suspicious, but I quickly put them on when I felt the cold, hard floors, the only bad thing in this princess like room. I skidded over to the enormous door, some strange markings on the door only barley distracted me from my hunt of my new friends.
When I opened the doors, a long hallway greeted me, doors continuing down a long line to both my left and my right. When I tried to run down the hallway, a strong pair of arms grabbed a hold of me. My memory of the ship scene told me this had to be Darcia and I instantly turned in this person's arms, looking for a weak point. But a gentle, firm face meet mine, and his dark eyes pierced mine and his restricting arms loosened. "How are you feeling?" Kiba asked, his eyes not showing emotion.
I blinked a few times. Had that really happened? I was just ready to kill him, did I really think that towards Kiba? Of course, I had to remind myself that I was just a little nuts. "Umm, fine, really. Just kind of… unnerved about being in clothes I don't really remember falling asleep in. And of course the fact that your grip seems to be tightening now" I half shrugged and he grunted in surprise, quickly letting me go.
"Sorry" He mumbled as he fell back against the wall, reclining. "So how did you sleep?" His left eyebrow rose slightly.
My mind jumped from cryo-stasis as I answered. "Ok. But where are we? And who changed me?" I asked, a little nervous at the ladder of the question.
He shrugged. "They employee I guess changed you, but don't worry, I'm pretty sure she didn't do anything to you" He shrugged again. "And Toboe is one room down that way" He said nodding towards my left. I sighed, knowing he was safe made me feel a lot more at ease now. "Hige is down there" He moved to his right, "And Tsume is just out for a bit" He said.
I gave him a stare. "What about you? Weren't you tired at all?"I asked, surprised that he wasn't tired from all the running we had been doing. Them being wolves, they rarely stopped for a break, and I had usually fallen asleep on Toboe's back, his moving shoulder blades never annoying me.
He looked at me for a slight second. "Not really." He said, trying to push it off.
A door opened a few rooms down from us and Tsume walked through, his back somewhat hunched over. When his eyes landed on me, I saw his back straighten ever so slightly. "Your… up" he had said to me. I noticed a few scars decorated his healing arms and cringed mentally at them, knowing they were mostly my fault.
I smiled lightly. "Yeah, sorry I was out all night" I sighed. "How have you been?" I asked, concerned at his arms, knowing he was fine didn't ease me in the slightest.
He gave Kiba a surprised look. "You didn't tell her yet?" Tsume asked and Kiba shrugged. "I see" He said, turning towards me, "You see" He shrugged at Kiba, "His hard ass has been waiting outside your door for you to wake up since you passed out." He gave me a sullen look. "Which was about a week ago" He said and my eyes went wide.
A week? No way I could have been out that long. Wouldn't I have died of hunger before now? I was so confused I stumbled back slightly, catching the slight motion Tsume stopped himself from trying to catch me. I didn't understand how I had been alive right now. It all seemed so surreal I couldn't fathom it. "Wait" I tried to push out, waving my hands in front of my face. "A week? That isn't possible" I tried to reason out the joke they must have been pushing on me.
Kiba sighed at Tsume and looked me in the eyes. That look he was giving me made me mentally mad and scared and freaked out all together at the same time. I really didn't like that look lately. "You might go talk with Toboe" He told me sternly, sounding more like an order than a friendly suggestion. "He was up with you until about 12 hours ago. He practically hit the floor the moment his eyes close" He said, stopping Tsume from trying to make him back down. "He was too worried about you to care about his own health." He said, almost ridiculing me. I winced at his voice, the hard, sour edge didn't match Kiba at all, and I glanced at Toboe's door.
I smiled weakly. "Thanks" I mumbled. "I'll go talk to him right now. It's bad enough to know that I ride him every day and now I know that I've made him faint from exhaustion" I said, my anger starting to seep out. Tsume smiled and passed by Kiba who looked hurt at my words and patted me harshly on the head.
"Give him a break" He whispered, "He's been up 12 hours longer than Toboe" Tsume said as he passed me, and I could swear I heard some sort of remorse in his voice as he said his farewell and walked into, what I could guess was his room.
I looked at Kiba. "Kiba" I said, "I'm sorry. It must be hard having me along for the ride" I sighed. "Can you forgive me for that? I really am sorry, I don't mean to be a burden" I said, tears spilling out slowly, I didn't want him to feel like he had blamed me.
His hand placed itself gently on my head. "I'm sorry too, I know it isn't fun having moody animals around you all the time" he sighed his own, rubbing my hair out of my pony-tail.
I blinked my tears away. "Either way, go get some sleep, you deserve that" I told him, shoving him away. "And… thank you" I said, hiding a smile, him doing the same. He walked into another room, which I guess was his and I walked to Toboe's.
When I entered the room, I noticed it was much smaller than mine, and not nearly as grand. He had maybe one, small dresser to use, made from simple, common wood. The window was about half my size in every way. I saw a little lump on the small, wooden bed in front of me. A horrible shade of green covered the sleeping angel. I walked over quietly to him and saw him sleeping peacefully. I placed my hand along his forehead, and sat gently on the bed. "I'm so sorry Toboe" I said, brushing his hair from his angelic face. I noticed sleep lines under his eyes and cringed even more. Without warning, his head shot onto my lap and his hands curled greedily around my waist, not letting me move at all. With a surprised look on my face I calmed myself into stillness and waited for him to settle, which he soon did. I saw his sleeping form and couldn't help it, I started humming a small tune that my real mother had sung to me. The animal department head was my step-mother, but was nice none-the-less. The tune was soft, and matched each syllable swiftly. Toboe snuggled deeper into sleep the further into the tune I got. Eventually I had put my self to sleep, hang hands cradling his head and lay across his side. I felt like he was a little brother to me right now, though my feelings were deeper for him than that. My head hand dropped and my hair had flung out of its pony-tail, the long, blanket of hair now covered my back and flowed gently around us both, settling on my shoulders and just about Toboe's back. My hair ignored my ears and fell around my face, and the warm feeling of Toboe on my lap, and the warmth my hair generated made a quick fix for a sleep potion.
The movement from the door to the room made me flinch slightly, waking myself up. I saw Toboe, a bigger smile on his face than before he fell asleep, lay looking up at me and smiling. "You fell asleep again" He said, slight exhaustion in his voice.
I laughed lightly as Hige walked through the door. "We ready for food yet?" He asked eagerly. Toboe shot up like a bullet.
His mouth instantly started watering as he gazed at me. Wait I thought were they waiting for my reaction? I thought hesitantly. I smiled, not wanting to keep them. "Nope, we never eat again Hige" I joked with him. His face fell.
His entire face started looking sad and dejected as he asked, "Really?".
A quick wack upside the head snapped him out of his trance. "Stupid porky" Tsume hissed. "Don't you know a joke when you hear one? Or has the hunger gone to your head?" Tsume said, quite annoyed with something.
I vaguely wandered what was wrong before I heard Hige complain "Oh get over your self. I'm hungry. What am I supposed to do about that but eat?" He instantly shot back and I quickly stifled a laugh, this was probably not the best time to be laughing.
Toboe got off the bed and put a restraining hand on Tsume's shoulder. "Tsume" He said, almost sadly, "Come on, don't fight. We are all just a bit hungry Tsume" He said, trying to reason out the anger Tsume obviously harbored right now.
Tsume sighed heavily before shrugging away from Toboe. "Fine" He said, "But porky misses our next meal" He said, looking at me. "Any idea what were having? We are setting out in a few minutes so get ready, I guess we'll eat before we leave" Tsume sighed.
My eyes kind of rolled back a little at Tsume's question. I felt somewhat in shock. Was he actually going to eat my food? Shocker to me I guessed. I nodded in reply "Whatever you guys catch I can cook" I said, holding my non-existent biceps.
Kiba walked in the room and spoke quickly. "I suggest we eat later, I think it best if we leave right now" He said, closing the door behind him.
"Why?" I asked, getting strange looks from Tsume and Kiba. "What are you guys hiding?" I asked, "I don't exactly have wolf-like sense" I exaggerated.
Kiba sighed and looked at me. "Darcia's troops have surrounded this place, the only to get away unnoticed is through a window about this high" He pointed towards the small window that we would all more than have to squeeze through.
I instantly understood why in the world he didn't want to tell me. Of course I would harbor anger towards one who hurt Tsume. If he had hurt any other of them, I think I probably would have snapped. "Right" I said standing up, my silky dress now, quite wrinkled. Toboe looked at me up and down.
He spun on his heels towards the window, looking out at the rain, then back at me. "She will catch her death of cold" Toboe said worriedly.
Constantly worrying over me was getting quite unwelcome now. "Listen" I said, "I happen to love rain Toboe" I said, smiling reassuringly "So don't worry about me, I enjoy it probably much more than you guys do" I laughed, and Toboe sighed, but Hige laughed along with me. Then the idea hit me. I felt like I was hitting it off with Toboe, though it probably wouldn't last, Hige reminded me of my best friend Morganna, who had left my side quite a while ago to go to some forsaken city on the edge of the world. She and Hige would be a match made in heaven. Toboe was about to shift forms when Kiba's hand caught his shoulder.
He looked at Toboe, than to me. "Let me take her this time, concentrate on running" Kiba said.
Toboe pouted. "Come on, stop treating me like a kid, I can run with her" He sniffed at him.
Kiba shook his head. "Since she is the only one here who isn't as fast as us than she should run with the one who runs fastest alone, therefore everyone will be at the general pace." Kiba explained. "I don't doubt you" Kiba reassured, "And if we should hear that noise again, get as close to her as possible and keep running" Kiba instructed, and I took visible notice of each one of them moving closer.
Toboe sighed deeply. "Alright" He agreed, a sad, unhappy look. "But be careful ok?" He asked, and Kiba grinned lightly.
"Come on" Tsume sighed annoyed. "They are inching closer, and I really don't like his smell" He indicated Darcia.
They all, for the first time, changed in front of me. Toboe's calm, collected, angelic face grew long, and snouted. His big, brown eyes turned smaller, more slanted. His two legs, bent at odd angels and his hands formed two more legs, that turned to paws. And out of his cute little but, came a tail, long, brown and fluffy. And finally his clothes seemed to melt into his skin as they formed his own brown fur, then his ears turned, sharp, but soft. I didn't pay attention to the others, in fact, I didn't even realize they had changed until Kiba nudged me in my arm.
I looked down and his white fur brushed against my silk dress. I hopped on him, now completely used to hopping up and down off of them. He grunted to the others when Tsume jumped through the tiny window. He leaped out first, followed by Hige, and as Kiba went to jump through, I ducked down close to his fur, it almost feeling like a soft field of daisies against my face. We were through in an instant and as we soared down the multi-story opening, I felt as if we were flying through the air. As we landed, Kiba turned slightly towards where Toboe landed, to make sure he was ok, and so that I would be reassured.
They hadn't been kidding when they said that we were surrounded. Hundreds of soldiers surrounded us on all sides, pointing large guns at us. We began to run faster and faster. One solider shot his gun, but strangely no bullet pierced anyone, instead, a long, piercing, high-pitched sound filled my ears. I shut my eyes and held out my hands. Instantly I felt the fur of Hige, Tsume and Toboe fill up my arms. All cringing stopped, and I clearly heard a large sound of shock when, I only suppose, the solider that fired was scared stupidly. I was happy that they at least weren't hearing this sound. It made me want to lash out, I had to grind my teeth and close my fists to keep from screaming. I could feel my pupils dilating, and whatever meager anger I had towards anything was screaming at me to lash out at anything, even my nearby friends.
It took us about 2 hours until Kiba decided it was safe to stop, it was only about 30 minutes before that, and I had finally stopped hearing that stupid ringing noise. We stopped in a cave, and I was more than happy to not hear any ringing noise in my ears. Kiba set me down and they all formed back into humans. Tsume went out to check the cave entrance, Hige sat down like he hadn't eaten, Toboe ran over to a spot and more than quickly made a fire and Kiba stared at me, his gave slowly moving to me, and then to the others before he took a seat and looked deep in concentration.
I felt a little out of place. Everyone seemed to have something to do except for me. I wanted to walk out of the cave, just walk a little on my own, but just from the feel of the atmosphere around me, making one move towards that entrance meant everyone would be on alert. Of course, the first one to actually speak was Toboe, thankfully he never held anger or hatred in a major scale in his voice. "So, what were those soldiers?" He asked, not to anyone in particular, but just asked.
"How should we know?" Hige asked, worn out. "It's not like we can go back for an interview" He said, sighing once again.
"Just shut up" Tsume said, quite loudly from his spotter's position at the entrance of the cave. "All of you" He said, clearly annoyed.
"Why should we?" Hige shot up, getting ready to fight Tsume who was instantly ready to fight back.
They both took fighting positions and were lunging at each other. "Stop, please?" Toboe pleaded to them, but to no avail.
I'm unsure of what happened after that, the progress was slow, almost as if in a trance. A shred of Hige's skin was torn off and my mind was sent into a frenzy. I could almost smell the blood. But while holding my head I noticed another smell, one much more horrid than the putrid blood I could smell. The smell was so clear, almost as if someone was right there. I did my best to push past the smell of blood and focus on this other smell. I noticed that it lead close to the bleeding, fighting dopes. "Guys" I said quietly. No one but Toboe had heard, but I was fed up with not being heart. "GUYS" I yelled, catching the angered Kiba, furious Tsume and annoyed Hige. Toboe looked me in the face. "Stop for a second idiots" I told them. My anger grew and for some reason I wanted to hit all of them, but I forced the words through my clenched teeth. "Sniff idiot" I told Tsume, who clearly could have smelled it.
With a rough movement he thrust his nose in the air and was instantly quelled. "I smell… something evil" He said in a daze, his view dashing to me.
Hige was still to shaken up, "Smell what? There isn't anything to smell besides your stupid, stringy ass" He insulted, but Tsume pushed him off.
Tsume slapped him to prove he honestly was holding back earlier. "Smell dumb ass" He said and Hige hiked his noise, catching his own proof of the smell. By now Kiba, Tsume and Hige were on their heels, Toboe and I stood next to each other, I didn't know how well I could do alone, but I felt, with Toboe there I would be unstoppable.
Slowly, the one we had all been expecting walked from the shadows of the cave. Darcia stood grinning. "So close if not for your shield" He grinned at me. So now what? Was I an object now instead of a person. "No matter though, paradise will only open for those who deserve it, which is not any of you" He grinned, and instantly all four of my friends had turned into growling, ready-to-fight to-the-death wolves. My heart froze as I saw Darcia remove his patched eye. Kiba turned and barked something at me, but I felt my limbs go numb as soon as his patch was off. In an instant I was on the closest rock, straining just to stand straight. My vision blurred and my eyelids had become largely heavy. I wanted to collapse right there, just fall asleep, but a snap in my mind made me stay awake. How could I sleep in la-la land? I had to stay awake. But more than anything, the one thing that kept me awake was the grunting and squealing from my friends. My eyes were just open enough to see Darcia tear through Hige, causing a huge slice in him, Kiba was next who received a sharp face-slap, sending him flying against the wall, then was Tsume, I thought he would be better but Darcia quickly stabbed him with a long sword. Then came the one I regretted most by just letting him go, Toboe stood between me and Darcia, a determined look on his face. Darcia grinned. "Stupid mutt" He said, pulling out a revolver and aiming it at Toboe.
That was the line for me. I felt anger rise through me, heating my whole body. My legs became fire as I felt more pressure exceed them. My back arched and I felt my whole body crumple into a stance where I was on my hands and knees. My hands felt so hot that I thought they were melting. Screaming, however was the last thing on my list of things to do. My head burned and pulsed with anger as I felt it lean down somewhat. I looked up at Darcia, I thought I was lower than before, but none of that, I could clearly see the muscles flex on his hand as he was about to shot, and quicker than ever I ran up to his hand, sinking my weak teeth into his arm. His surprised cry of pain was good to hear, but I still had urgent business to do, my friends were in terrible pain, Toboe had been threatened and I was sick and tired of this man destroying my chances at happiness. I sunk my teeth further into him, firmly tasting blood in my mouth. I ignored it until I was flung into the wall. A sharp pain filled my whole body and I fell to the floor. I saw his angered expression as he back away and disappeared. I looked up and wanted to laugh hard when he had run away. I saw Toboe walk up to me in his wolf form with stunned eyes. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but for some reason no words would come out. Toboe phased back and he stood a good 2 feet higher than me. I was confused now, wasn't I taller than him by an inch or two? He bent down as if to pet an animal and looked at me. "Luna" He said, "Your…. a wolf" He told me simply.
My face turned upside down, along with the logical part of me. "What do you mean?" I asked, hearing my voice, becoming slightly more relaxed. He cocked his head to the side.
He phased back to a wolf, only increasing my curiosity. Now I was confused, he didn't have to phase back and forth for me. See? He asked, his mouth unmoving, or his snout unmoving, but I clearly heard his soft voice.
I couldn't understand what was happening, so I walked over to a shallow puddle of water that was hidden in the corner. I looked down and saw a sky-blue colored wolf, with soft blue eyes and pointy blue ears staring at me. What the? I asked, more confused than ever, since when were there blue wolves? I wandered.
Toboe nudged me. You're a wolf Luna, isn't that cool? He asked, his face piping up like a kid with a fresh batch of candy to eat. His face dropped slightly though as he registered my face.
Cool? I asked him wordlessly, How did I get like this? Will I ever turn back? If I do will I at least be in cloths? And what about them? I asked, more questions forming in my minds than was possible.
Toboe turned harshly towards our fallen friends. Over half the pack lay on the ground, totally hurt. My mind was racing as I bounded over to Kiba. I felt like I had only taken a step, but I had crossed an entire cave in one step. What would running feel like? I wondered. That was going to be a great part of this thing at least, but the worst was my heightened senses, while they were good, right now I felt like I could see every blood cell dripping from Kiba's wound. It seemed a lava flow of blood poured out without stopping. I saw each and every breath he took, and noticed it got more shallow the more it progressed. I wanted to run, but the only thing I could think to do was to touch Kiba, my only hope was that somehow, like with the noise, I could take away their pain, make it mine, there fore giving them a breather.
I stuck my long, blue nose down at his battered face. As soon as I had touched his face, I felt mine catch fire. The heat of the movement of air killed my senses, lying down seemed like heaven right now. But I forced myself away from him and saw miraculously, the wound from Darcia healing in an instant. His eyes shot open, his very eyelid movement caught my new eyes. His fur bristled as he shot himself up and started growling at me. I back slowly right into Toboe who stood in front of me. Kiba he told him soundlessly she's fine. It's Luna He said, nudging towards me.
Without a second thought, Kiba trusted Toboe's word. So we were right. You are one He said, looking at my form, though we weren't expecting blue he said.
WE? Toboe and I asked breathlessly. We both stared at each other for a moment, and if it had been for no fur I could swear I was blushing like an apple.
Kiba sighed, his head bending slightly. Yes, Tsume and I sensed you could have been one of us and as he informed us of this, he turned his head towards Tsume and Hige, his face freezing.
Remember that occurrence just a moment ago I padded up to him, the pain still increasing as I approached Tsume. Don't worry I told him, I think I know what to do I said, not wanting to welcome the pain but I put my face near his stab wound anyway. The instant my nose touched his stab wound, I felt as if something had been plunged into me, but I received no more smell of Tsume's blood leaking out, which was what brought me a little relief.
His eyes flew open to, and upon seeing me, who he must have thought was some weird dog getting to personal, he flew up and landed a foot away from Kiba, who stood defensively in front of him. Tsume he barked, We were right Tsume, that is Luna he said, and this appeared to quell Tsume, who still gave me a look, his mind flickering to the stab wound and the now healing wound.
Of course I felt more than a stab wound, but I wasn't about to leave Hige out of the healing process. I walked over to him, a little dizzy from my own pain, and leaned my nose into his tear in his side. His blood sent new shivers down my spine. I had seen too much blood today, but hopefully this would be the last of it. As I leaned into his slice wound I noticed that it quickly healed as well, and on my leg, right above the bone, appeared the ever faithful pain again.
Hige stood up and flexed himself, making sure of no pain. He seemed dandy until he saw a blue wolf staring at him, cringing slightly. Who the hell are you? He asked, and I counted until I saw Kiba, Toboe, and even Tsume walk up and explain it to him, and for some reason very slowly. Hige laughed when they were done, Can't wait to see you once you change back he hinted, his laughter getting a little more annoying.
Kiba stared at me. Do you know how to change back? He asked curiously.
I shook my head laughing like a wolf. I've never exactly been a wolf ya know? I said, noticing how concerned they all looked.
Toboe giggled, Just kinda imagine you are human again He told me smiling.
I nodded and imagined my own self, making sure to put myself in the silk night-dress I had on. In a second, I noticed I was standing tall again, and to my relief I felt cloths flutter around me.
Toboe was next to me, his face smiling, and Kiba, Tsume and Hige all became humans once again. "Maybe we should head out now" Tsume said, noticing the build up of snow. "Princess can run on her own now right?" Tsume asked, I had grown quite accustomed to my nickname of princess.
Kiba shook his head, "We should take her somewhere where she can get some practice in at being a wolf" He told Tsume firmly, a strange look on his face that somewhat reminded me of laughter, but not in a polite way.
Toboe stepped forward cautiously. "I can still carry her I hope" He said, the look of please-don't-let-me-feel-useless spread out miraculously on his face.
As Toboe pleaded Kiba sighed, "Ok, but run swiftly, I don't want to bet on Darcia's troops coming back".
Tsume added his own comment "Plus she may have a limit on those healing powers of hers" He said, and instantly in my head I knew he was right, after all, when I had taken away the ringing noise from them, I only heard it intensify. The same with their pain, while they got off scott-free, I wasn't as lucky, but I wasn't really bothered by that.
Toboe nodded, and within minutes, my, newly call-able, pack was ready to go. For the first time since Morganna had left me, I felt like I had a home again.
We quickly piled up and leapt out of our hiding spot. I was so accustomed to feeling the sharp, cold, piercing wind in my face. Though now it seemed like daggers flew towards me. I could only base this added sense on the fact that now I knew I was a wolf, maybe my senses sharpened a little. I looked up at the gray sky. As fast as we were moving, I felt the urge to simply hop off Toboe, and go for my own run. Looking at the sky made me feel a little more free, as I saw the large, gray, puffy clouds flash pass us, I wished desperately for Morganna to see this. She would have loved knowing I was a wolf, and would probably never stop teasing me about it. I sighed and looked on ahead of Toboe, who was now, almost caught up with Kiba. Apparently he seemed much more energetic today.
It was at the moment of looking forward that I saw a large lump off to our right. "Hey guys" I yelled out, and all four halted to a stop, looking at me like I stopped a famous roller coaster. "Doesn't that lump over there look like dog?" I asked, and Tsume's eyes clearly rolled. I sighed, hopping off Toboe, "Fine then, I just wanna see so just give me a minute" I said, turning around, trying desperately to ignore Tsume's growl sounds. I approached the lump, the rest of the pack following swiftly behind me, and when I got close enough to the lump I bent down and gasped, drawing the complete attention of the wolves around me. I instantly recognized the heart-shaped pendant that looked of sapphire with an emerald sphere in the center. My breath caught and the only words I could form while awe-stricken at the dark brown, almost black, purple eyed, dog. "Morganna?" I asked, horrified.