Chapter 2:

-Kiba-

Kiba's wounds were terrible; knives and fang marks dug deeply into his flesh. His white fur had been long since covered in dirt, grime and mud. Hunting the flower smell had kept him busy and unable to clean himself up. The dirt in Kiba's fur intermingled with stain of blood. Blood that tracked behind him as he staggered back into the city. Snow crunched beneath his paws; a wonderful sensation that became marred by the cold concrete of the city.

Whatever that gray wolf was doing packing up with humans was beyond Kiba's concern. It did bother him, but he pushed his instincts aside in favor of his flower search. The flower smell was here, he could feel it, and a few wounds and pools of blood weren't going to stop him. Neither was a lone wolf and his pack of thieves.

Kiba pushed forward through the city, retracing his steps and getting himself back on track.

The flower smell is somewhere in this city; he kept telling himself as if simply willing it would allow Paradise to appear. Something was telling him not to leave and that whatever he needed to find would be here.

Kiba didn't know how long he'd been walking. The city was large and not at all easy for him to navigate. His steps were starting to feel weighted, as if he was physically drudging through the concrete he was walking on. Humans walked past him, moving on with their lives while keeping a respectable distance. Kiba was grateful for that, he'd had enough of humans to last him a life time.

The moon was high up in the sky by the time he stopped. With all the effort Kiba put in walking and his blood loss, he found that he had to stop. Having traveled from city to city on his quest, Kiba was very much aware of the inter-workings of humans. As he slunk down into an abandoned alleyway all he could hope for was that alleys were the abandoned places he'd observed them as. And after all, even if they weren't, no one would mess with an injured man bleeding on the ground. Or at least Kiba hoped no one would.

-Hige-

A night of hunting rabbits had successfully tired Hige out. He walked back home with a satchel full of rabbits and his head held high. Especially because, in this cold and snow, catching prey was nearly impossible. Prey was scarce. A couple rabbits seeking refuge from the blizzards, the occasional stupid young deer. So he held his bag close at his side and with a growling stomach, navigated through the city.

He could smell blood and anger in the streets (more so than usual). Something wasn't right today.

Hige always considered himself a wolf with a good sense of smell. He could smell the difference between human blood and rabbit blood. What he smelled in the alley way where the back entrance to the butcher shop wasn't either of those things. What Hige smelled was wolf blood.

His nose twitched at the sudden invasion. Another wolf was here, Hige thought as he turned the corner.

What he saw nearly made him drop his satchel of rabbits on the ground. A white wolf sat on the ground, bloodied and cut. Hige's stomach turned; he felt nauseous but he hadn't eaten anything to throw up.

His body tensed. Was this the work of one of the nobles who he'd heard so many stories about? Why did the first wolf he'd ever met have to be murdered in the streets?

Hige let a few minutes' pass, silently mourning his fallen brother, before heading inside. He threw the satchel onto the table and went in search of food. Sure, he could eat the rabbits as they were but the old butcher hated when he did that. He paid Hige sometimes even though Hige ate a lot of the meat and slept near the warm fire of the house. Hige was a great hunter though, even when food was scarce and the air was practically frozen, a wolf could always find something to eat.

"Hige, there's a man out there" the old butcher shouted to Hige as he came inside the house.

Hige didn't know how it worked but humans couldn't tell wolves were wolves normally. That fact seemed to be true for the white wolf as well, not that it'd done him any good.

Hige frowned "yeah but he's-" he struggled to finish his sentence, finding that seeing another wolf dead was harder for him than he thought it would be "-he's dead."

"No, he isn't" the butcher shouted, nearly knocking all the grief out of Hige. "Are you blind, he's breathing and trying to stand up."

The old man went back out the door muttering to himself; "kids these days getting themselves hurt over nothing."

Hige ran out the door to help the white wolf.

The wolf's breathing was heavy and strained. He'd propped himself up against the wall and was trying to walk. Hige ran over next to him and leaned into him for support.

"I'm fine" the wolf spoke in a groggy tone.

"No, you're not" Hige insisted calmly. "Stop moving around" he added firmly "you'll hurt yourself… more than you already have I think."

The white wolf sighed and stopped struggling. Hige managed to get him into the house and watched as he slunk down the ground. The wolf eyed Hige suspiciously as he started to treat his wounds.

Hige sighed in relief. "I'm Hige" he said not able to stop himself from grinning. "I've never met another wolf before."

The white wolf's yellow eyes narrowed and it dawned on Hige that he shouldn't be talking so loudly; especially here, and about wolves.

It's a shame he isn't a girl though, he thought before whispering;

"How'd you get so injured?"

"Bandits" the white wolf spoke quietly "there was another wolf and he-"

"Really" Hige shouted, cutting the white wolf off "that's great-"

"Really though" Hige continued, "this is awesome" he nodded to himself "maybe we can all get together sometime and-"

"No" the wolf interrupted him. He frowned "no. Sorry, but I really have to be going." He struggled to stand up. "Thank you for the bandages though."

Hige sighed, this wasn't going nearly as well as he wanted it to. "Where are you in such a hurry too anyway," he asked, wondering if she should stop him or not."

"I have to find Paradise" the white wolf replied, strain noticeable in his voice. Hige wouldn't have to stop him though; the white wolf fell back on the floor and passed out, asleep.

Thank you for reading! I put the PoV of the characters at the top for easier reading. Kiba and Hige meet! Kiba x Hige isn't really a pairing I think about often but they work well together. If you liked this fan fiction then please subscribe, comment and favorite this story.

Have a nice day!