"So how in the hell do you think we'll manage to come across the other wolves whose parents were the original paradise wolves? It's impossible. You know what? I'm really starting to wonder why I even agreed to try and follow up with your stupid plan."
"Oh, shut up. Admit it, you want to follow through with his just as much as I do. I'm sure you want to meet Kiba's pup, don't you? And what about your sister?"
Tsuki's teeth grit and he looked away sharply, "Sukai's gone, and that's that."
"You aren't very optimistic."
"Oh, I'm aware."
Ravyn rolled her eyes and turned away, leaning up against a gnarled trunk of an old oak tree. Although the grey wolf had allowed her to stay in the territory, as well as tell him her plan to try and get the rest of the Paradise Wolves back, she knew he didn't trust her whatsoever. She didn't blame him, however; she was the daughter of one of the most dangerous wolves ever known, and she had served him in his Army as a Guard for a short period of time as well.
Ravyn shifted in the tangled roots of the large trunk, trying to get comfortable. It was nearly midnight, and she was exhausted. She didn't want to sleep in one of the dens in Paradise, it didn't feel right. Instead, she settled down in a deep dip in the earth, the soil eroded away from heavy rain and wind. Tsuki nodded to the sleek black wolf curtly before standing up and passing her.
Ravyn watched him cross the clearing and leap onto on of the boulders. It was the second-largest boulder in the clearing, beside it was the largest. It's smooth, hard surface was now covered in a thin layer of sand and grit. Two massive pawmarks were engraved in the hard stone- Kiba's pawprints.
She sighed and set her head on her paws, her eyelids fluttering as she fought to keep them open. Finally, she became too tired and shut her eyes calmly, refraining from sighing. It felt good to know she wouldn't have to get up at dawn, to patrol a territory, to hunt for hours on end, to train some of the younger wolves. To kill. Darcia's Army was brutal, and she didn't understand why any of the wolves in his pack even wanted to serve him. They didn't get anything out of it, except maybe a place to live.
Then again, some wolves are just born cold-hearted and bloodthirsty, right?
Ravyn woke up with a start, leaping to her paws. The overwhelming scent of blood hit her like a brick to the muzzle, nearly making her stumble. She blinked her eyes furiously, trying to get her vision to clear. When it did, her eyes widened.
Three wolves. All were familliar to her. Tsuki was in the middle of it all, fighting off two other male wolves, whose scent could only be from Darcia's Army. She recognized the musculer, lean build of the charcoal black and tan colored male wolf as Volcom, one of the most cunning, feared wolves in Darcia's Army. The other wolf, who was black from head to toe, was...
Oh no.
"Razhia!" she snarled, and within seconds she had rammed into him and pinned him firmly to the ground. Her brother's yellow and golden eyes flashed up at her in irritation, and he leapt up and flung her off of him. Ravyn skid slightly across the ground, but managed to stay upright. Volcom, who had let Tsuki up in suprise, whipped around to face Ravyn, his lips curled back to reveal sharp white teeth.
"You!" he snarled, taking a step towards Ravyn. He bled lightly from his left ear, "Your a traitor to the Army! We should just kill you now!"
Razhia glanced at Volcom sharply, before turning to face his sister again. His shoulders were squared and his hackles had risen, but he didn't move a muscle. Ravyn narrowed her eyes, wondering what he was going to do. She expected for both Volcom and Razhia to lunge at her at once, but the black wolf merely turned to Volcom, muttered something, and turned away and raced out of Paradise's territory, casting Tsuki and Ravyn glares as they left.
Tsuki whipped around to face her almost immediantly. A growl rumbled deep in his throat, and Ravyn couldn't help but flinch slightly. Tsuki began to speak, "Before you came here, I never had a problem with those bastards attacking me," he snapped. Ravyn ducked her head.
"But it can't be my fault! They didn't even know I was here!"
"Liar! I bet this was all set-up!"
"Dammit, your so stubborn! You wouldn't see the truth if It came up and bit you in the ass!"
*****
Naoki shifted on the cold, hard metallic floors of the steel cage. His sides ached, and he felt the stiffness of dried blood on the back of his neck. He lifted his head slightly, only to stiffen.
It hurt. Alot.
He almost jumped when he felt fur brush along either of his sides, and his head whipped around to see two familliar wolf pups. The smoky black pelt of Kaya, and the white and silver pelt of Taini. Kaya was still unconcious, splayed out on her side. Taini, however, was sitting up, his frosty blue eyes glowing in anger, though behind that was raw fear.
Naoki didn't move, fearing that if he did, he'd only hurt himself even more. Instead, the sturdy black pup shuffled to the back of the cage and very carefully set his head down, closing his eyes. Then, suddenly forgetting about the pain, the blood, the cage he was in, he shot up, letting out a high-pitched bark of anger. Where was the rest of the pack? Ayasha? Sanyue? Taini glared at him in alarm, silently willing him to be quiet, but Naoki took no notice of his look, and prowled forward to the front of the cage, peering out. He was set in a cage, which was inside another larger cage. Looking out the bars, he saw a few men sitting at a wooden table, discussing things among themselves loudly.
"So, gentlemen," came one voice, rough with age, "What should we do with the youngsters? Kill 'em? I mean, we could always skin them for their pelts, 'm intrested in the white male. The black male has a nice one as well."
A younger man, looking to be a teenager, shook his head, a cigarette firmly in his lips, "I say we use them for fighting. We'd get alot of money out of that. Forget the white one and the lighter black one, I say we use the oldest for that. You see how strong he is for his age? He'll rip another mutt's throat out without using his full force."
"I agree," the rough-voiced man said, leaning back in his chair. His pale brown eyes narrowed, "But I don't want to get rid of the others. They could be of some use, too. We could always breed the female with another wolf and use her puppies as well."
"Mhm." the other men agreed solemnly, and they left it at that. Without another word, one of the men got up and walked over to the cage. The door was opened to his cage, and a hand reached in. Kaya whimpered, Taini growled, and Naoki snarled. Taini and Kaya pressed themselves to the back of the cage, away from the man's reach. Naoki was about to do the same, when a firm, cold hand grabbed him by his scruff and dragged him out.
Grabbed him right where he had already been injured. Great.
He was thrown to the floor, where he hit his muzzle off the hard cement. He flinched slightly, but managed to stand on all four paws. A small amount of blood trickled from around his muzzle and nose, but the human's didn't seem to care. They stared at him, examined him, and Naoki was left to wonder what they were going to do to him.
"'Okay," the rough-voiced guy finally murmured, standing up again from his chair, coming towards him. Naoki stepped back quickly. "We'll use this one as a fightin' dog. He'll need some training, but I'll look after that. He's young, but older than the others, and alot stronger too. Within a month, he'll already have a craving for the kill." He laughed- one of those cold, stupid laughs that are supposed to sound "evil", but they just end up sounding cheesy and fake.
Over the next few months, Naoki was trained brutally. When he didn't do something he was told, or atleast didn't do something properally, he'd get a fierce beating that usually left him bruised and battered, and only made him more unwilling to do as he was told. Most of the time he didn't anyways, strictly refusing to become subject to the humans, for his pride just wouldn't allow it.
Taini was used for fighting as well, though after awhile he finally gave in and just did what he was supposed to do, mercilessly slaughtering other canines, whether they were purebred dogs or other wolves. Kaya, however, was killed only four months after she had been kidnapped by the humans with Naoki and Taini by another female fighter by the name of Kovo. He had heard she had been kidnapped as well, but didn't hear much about her.
Both Naoki and Taini had grown quite a bit- Naoki was quite big for his age, but as well as being musculer and strong, he was lean and quick. His pelt was blacker than ebony, and his eyes burned like bright flames. Taini was slightly smaller, more slender, though his small size was an advantage- he was extremely swift, with amazing reflexes.
Naoki was pushed into one of the rings one day, a steel-wired muzzle around his jaws, making him unable to do so much as open his mouth. When he was released into the ring, the muzzle was torn off, and the small door in which he came was shut quickly. His lip curled in frustration, and he turned to face the wolf he was up against. In front of him stood a slender female wolf with a sleek blue-grey pelt, the tips of each strand of hair tipped with silver. Her dark blue eyes were narrowed directly at Naoki, and his hackles raised.
Kovo, the wolf who had slaughtered Kaya.
He immediantly lunged forward, his fangs sinking into the soft flesh of Kovo's neck. The female let out a startled growl, which was cut short when Naoki's forepaws flew up and hit her harshly in the muzzle. His eyes narrowed in satisfaction as the sharp, metallic taste of warm blood seeped into his parted jaws. The large black wolf finally let go, knocking into Kovo's shoulder and knocking her over. She was in a bad posistion when he was down. He reared up on his back legs and brought his full weight down on his opponent, pinning her down. However, Kovo quickly reared up and shot forward, her teeth grazing his throat, though Naoki managed to flip underneath her, jump up, and send her sprawling to the ground. Quickly, he spun around and clamped his jaws around her neck, biting down hard. However, he didn't bring himself to use the full force of his jaws, which would've snapped her neck and likely killed her. Instead, he shook his head back and forth violently, his serrated teeth cutting into her flesh. Feeling her flinch under his grip, he let go and stepped back, his maw drenched with her blood. His fiery amber eyes narrowed at the now weakened female.
This was the wolf who killed Kaya?
"Alright, let's round 'em up!" howled a human standing at the edge of the ring. The human's screeched suddenly irritated him, and he spun around once more, his jaws snapping furiously at the human and his teeth leaving marks on the thin glass that seperated them. The man, alarmed, stepped back quickly. Naoki smirked and stepped back, turning away sharply.
"You."
He turned around, ears pinned to the back of his head. Kovo had gotten to her paws, her dark blue gaze locked on Naoki. Her silvery fur was ruffled slightly as she sat on her haunches and adressed him.
"I'm not the bad guy, you know. I'm here for the same reason that you are. I was kidnapped from my pack by the humans as well, and I'm now being forced into killing other innocent wolves," her gaze hardened suddenly, and her jaw tightened, "I don't care who I kill anymore. Whether it's you, your friends, or anyone else in his hell-hole. I'll do anything to get out of here."
"I doubt you'll get out of here by killing as many wolves as you can for the men."
"It's worth a shot."
Naoki scoffed, "Either way, you damn moron, you won't be killing me anytime soon. I actually thought you were going to be a challenge to fight, considering the fact you murdered my friend, who was in fact pretty strong. I was wrong, though. You're lucky I didn't kill you."
Kovo glared at Naoki slightly, her jaws parted to say something. She didn't get the chance, however, for a man came up behind her with some sort of contraption that was a steel pole with a loop on the end. She quickly wound it around her neck and pulled her backwards, dragging her out of the ring and back into the clearing where they kept the canines in cages.
Naoki was soon taken back to his enclosure as well, which he shared with his former packmate, Taini. The lean silver and white wolf was gnawing on an old bone, his pearly white teeth glinting as he bit at it furiously. Naoki passed him calmly and sat down in the corner, setting his head on his paws. He let out a sigh, feeling the back of his head sting slightly from the minor wound Kovo had given him. Taini pricked his ears at Naoki and stood up, bounding over to him.
"So, who'd you fight against?" he asked anxiously, "Whoever it was, they obviously were weak. You don't even have a scrape on ya. Was it a female? Ooh! I bet it was, what she look like?! Not an ol' Mexican Wolf, I hope?"
Naoki raised an eyebrow up at the slightly younger male. If there ever was a wolf who couldn't take a damn thing in life seriously, this was him.
"Umph. Female. She was terrible. So pathetic I didn't want to hurt her."
"Was she good-looking?"
"Shut up, Taini."
(A/N: This chapter is boring as hell. xD next Chapter there will be ALOT more action, especially in Paradise, for there's another wolf coming into the scene. PLEASE REVIEW! YOU MUST!)
-- B L U E Y
