Chapter two
The Draco and the boy who cried Toboe
A noble male stood before a naked woman, who slept peacefully in the chair she was laid out on, her blonde hair spread out around
in a halo.
A smaller woman appeared at the doorway, and began to speak to the male.
One of the males questions was" The Flower Maiden? Has she awaken?"
"So it would seem."
The male reached out and stroked the woman's cheek softly with the back of his hand, whispering,
"Harmona...Very soon, you'll awaken as well, my love"
A flock of crows surrounded a pile of garbage protectively, eating their fill.
A young red wolf, with silver bangles around his right leg, walked forward, then dashed towards them, baring his fangs.
When he barked, one of the crows pecked him on his muzzle, making him whine. Two more joined the onslaught.
The wolf ran off and peeked around the corner fearfully, he then noticed a young girl and her father walking towards his vehicle.
The girl dropped a potato, as it rolled down the steps and stopped, the wolf walked up to it and sniffed it, opening his mouth to eat,
when he spotted the girl coming and backed away in fear.
The girl picked it up, then noticed the wolf, or dog to her, peeking it's head around the corner.
She then smiled softly and took out a few sausages.
"Here, why don't you try some of these? They taste better!" She encouraged, watching as he took slow steps towards her hand.
The wolf went to take a bite, when the caw of one of the crows made him flinch.
The girl stared at them in annoyance, before turning back to the 'dog'.
"Don't be afraid! Their not poisoned, see?" She bit into one of the sausages to prove it.
"See its fine!" She held it out to it again.
The young wolf sniffed then took a lick of the food, before pulling it out of her hand and eating the sausages.
"Where did you come from little fella? If you wander around here too long, the dog catchers will get you for sure." The girl explained, before blinking
in surprise as the 'dog' gave her hand licks as thanks, before leaning into her hand, whining softly.
"Sure are warm, aren't ya boy?" She murmured, til her father called out for her with a "Leara!"
"Bye now." She gave one last pet to the 'dog' before walking to her father.
The dog tried to follow her, but she just shook her head and said,"No. Stay. Sorry boy, but even if you followed me,
I couldn't keep you."
The 'dog' sat and tilted its head to the side in sad confusion.
"Well that's funny. It's almost like you can understand me...I'm sorry." Leara mumbled staring in surprise as the 'dog' stayed where it was, as she ran to her father, leaving the 'dog' behind to stare after her.
(Yesterday)
A male ran down the alleyways, looking back each time, til policeman cornered and tackled him to the ground. He had black hair with red streaks,
wearing a black T-shirt and black pants, a sort of black leather gauntlet starting from his wrist up to his elbow, while his combat boots scuffed the ground.
"I ain't the guy you want!" The male snarled, struggling under the hold of the men, til a bark caught both his and the policemen attention.
A black wolf stood in front of the alleyway, his golden eyes glaring at the policemen, a scar of three claw marks under it's left eye, as the men shouted out to go after it, as it ran back down the alleyway.
Neither of the groups of policemen noticed the man they had caught had vanished as well.
The black wolf limped down the road way, stopping a bit to take a few sips of water from a large puddle, when a paw poked him in his side, making him snarl and snap at whoever, only to blink in surprise.
It was a dark red wolf, though dark enough to look black, with a light pink scar under silver eyes, with a familiar looking leather gauntlet on the right leg.
"You." The black wolf said, standing up slowly, the other wolf smiling slightly.
"Yep! Name's Draco! Draco Stone!" The wolf yipped, poking the other with his paw again, making the golden eyes narrow in annoyance.
"That is really annoying..." The other muttered, backing away from the dark red wolf, who stepped forward again to poke him in the side.
"I know! But it's fun for me!" He barked, while the other bristled.
"I'd say you need to stop while you still have that leg attached to your body." He snarled, making the other blink, before narrowing his own eyes.
"Whose gonna remove it then? You look half-dead." The red wolf snarled, baring his fangs.
"I look better than I did earlier." The black wolf bared his fangs back at the other, snapping his jaws. "Now. .Again." He threatened.
The other stalked forward, and daringly, poking the black wolf in the side with a clawed paw, knocked back when he pushed him over, biting into his leg.
Draco snarled and sunk his fangs into the wolf's shoulder, making the black wolf squeeze his leg harder before slashing and pulling away, with the other spat out black fur and blood.
"You taste terrible..." Draco murmured, the other nodding in agreement.
"You taste like shit." The wolf growled, before going at him again, each meeting halfway in the air.
The black wolf knocked the red wolf back, showing his fangs as he snapped at his muzzle, til the red wolf kicked him off of him by digging his heel into one of his wounds.
Finally, the black wolf having enough, grabbed the wolf by his neck and held him down, growling for him to submit.
The red wolf struggled, whining to be released. When the black wolf finally did, the red wolf turned on his back and showed his belly.
The black wolf eyed him for a while in approval, then began walking off. Draco turned back over and watched him, til the other turned his head back and beckoned the other into following.
"I know you're more interested in what goes on outside this wretched city." The wolf said, as Draco walked beside him with a skip in his step.
"Of course! I want to be able to fight something big and dangerous, while helping a defenseless lady." He grinned mischievously, causing the other to chuckle.
"Teru..." The other stopped and stared at the black wolf in confusion. "My name...It's Teru..." The red wolf then blinked, as if realizing now, then grinned as he prance to beside him again.
"Now...how do you make yourself look human?..." Teru asked, making the other get a thinking face.
"I guess for some, if they see what they want in their minds, and wants it, then reach out for it! Or else just imagine how you would want to look to the humans and grab that image!"
The black wolf hummed as he began to think, seeing the reflection of instead of himself, it was a bright red-haired male with bright green eyes staring back at the wolf, reaching a hand out to him.
Teru put his muzzle into the water and, grabbing what appeared to be a sleeve and tugged hard.
He opened his eyes outside his mind, staring into wide silver eyes in confusion as Draco stared back at him in shock.
(Today!)
"Did you here? Someone saw a wolf in the city!" An old woman gossiped to a younger one, while her pug puppy snoozed beside her on his leash.
"What is this world coming? I mean..." The pug sniffed the air then sat up with a jolt, fear in his eyes as he saw who walked by in front of him. He hid behind his mistress's leg as, instead of humans, Kiba and Hige walked by as their true selves. "Couldn't it have been a large dog?"
Hot dogs being cooked nearby, Hige giving a few sniffs then walked off, running around the corner of an alleyway, with Kiba following shortly behind him.
"See? What did I tell ya? Humans pay us no mind." Hige said.
Hige sat on some stairs and threw a hot dog to Kiba, who grabbed the dog in the air and stared back in confusion til he saw Hige take his own dog out and take a bite.
Kiba then looked at the one in his hands and gave a small sniff with a frown, before taking a small bite and chewing slowly.
"This is awful." He mumbled, making the other chuckle.
"It's the best you can get around here. If I see a deer nearby, I'll be sure to catch it for ya." Hige, half-way done, then gave a smirk at the other.
"So...Kiba..."Hige began, getting the others attention. "Who is Teru?" He winked, smirking wider when he saw a small blush form on the white wolf's face.
"Teru is my everything." Kiba said simply, making the wolf sweat-drop. "I'll kinda need more than that to find him."
"Teru smells of a snowy pine forest and apples." Kiba took a sniff, as if smelling the scent. "He has fur as black as a crow's wing and eyes as golden as the Sun. When he stares at you..." Kiba closed his eyes,"It's like he can see into your soul..."
"Wow...You sound really hooked on this guy." Hige chuckled, making Kiba stare in confusion.
"Of course, he is my intended mate." Seeing Hige's confused face, Kiba went to explain, when they heard the yelling of humans.
"Huh. Looks like the Nobles are at it again." Hige commented. "Seems like they pick up one idiot after another."
"Where do the troops take them once they're caught?" Kiba asked.
"Well, the same place they took you, I guess." Hige nodded his head towards the tower they'd left last night, Kiba looking the same way.
"That's perfect." Kiba said only, making the Himalayan wolf stare at him in confusion.
"Huh?"
"I'll blend in and sneak inside." Kiba answered Hige's hidden question, making the wolf's eyes widen.
"What? Be we had to fool them just to get out." Hige complained, "That hot dog fried your brain."
"I'm going back in." Kiba pressed on.
Hige's face contorted into a frown, "Now wait a second, what the hell happened to Paradise?"
"Look. The scent is coming from somewhere inside that building. And as far as we can tell, the only way in is to get captured. You know what there, don't you?What they're hiding behind those walls?"
Kiba gave the other a knowing look.
"The beacon that will lead us to Paradise...besides I can't go to Paradise without Teru. We promised we'd go together."
Hige leaned back and closed his eyes with a snort.
"Well forget it. You'll never get close to Cheza." He commented, making the white wolf blink in confusion.
"Cheza?"
"The Flower Maiden that was created from Lunar Flowers. That's what they say anyway." Hige answered. "Listen, it's useless. They got that place locked down. Even I couldn't get as far as the Lab."
"So then why did you try to sneak in there?" Kiba asked suspiciously.
Hige cracked open an eye, "For a little excitement, I guess."
"Hige." Kiba said,"Don't you believe in Paradise too?"
"I'm not going." Hige stuck his nose in the air. "No way."
"Alright," Kiba agreed, before he began walking away,"See you around."
"Hey, Kiba!" Hige called out worriedly, watching as the other kept walking.
"Try to give a guy advice, and what does it get ya?" Hige sighed, leaning back,"See if I care."
Tsume sat on a ridge, legs up to his chest and arms crossed under his head.
The image of Gehl falling to his death, even when the black wolf saved him from more harm.
"They say the Nobles placed a bounty on every gang in the city."
"Is that so?" Tsume hummed, still staring off in the distance.
"Yeah. They've already started to round people up. And our stuff been kinda high profile lately. We figure we're next." One guy said.
"Maybe...It's time we moved on...There's a freight train pulling out at midnight. We can sneak on-"
"Our next raid is going to be tonight." Tsume cut him off. "Make the usual preparations."
"Why? So you can just sit back and watch?" One said cocky. "Gehl's dead because of you. You let him die."
"Sorry pal, but I ain't working with you anymore." He said, before grinning,"I wouldn't want to slow ya down, now would I?"
Tsume then turned back around, mumbling, "Suit yourself."
He stood up, "We'll meet up at midnight." Before walking off.
Leara slowly walked home with her groceries, not noticing the boy run in front of her.
He had short, auburn hair and honey eyes, wearing a red long-sleeved with the sleeves rolled up and green pants with combat boots, the same bangles hanging around his right wrist.
He peeked around the pillar the dashed forward to lean against another, trying to look casual, even when she walked by, not giving him a second thought.
He blinked in surprise and dashed after her, "Thanks a lot. For before."
"Huh?" She stared at him from the corner of her eye.
"For the sausages." He tried to explain.
She looked even more confused, so he tried again.
"Uh...remember back in the alley?" He tried once more,"Well, that was my dog you gave them to."
She blinked as if remembering and then grinned at him.
"That beautiful dog belongs to you?"
"Beautiful?" He blinked in surprise."Ah, yeah yeah! He's mine!"
"But how did you know about it?" She asked.
"Um I...I heard it from the lady at the store." He put his hands behind his head.
"Oh, what's the name anyway?" Leara asked, making the boy blink.
"Uh, the name?" The boy chuckled and then said,"The name's Toboe."
"Toboe?" Leara said, giggling."What a weird name!"
"You think so?" He chuckled, "Yeah I guess it is."
"My name is Leara." She said. "What's yours?"
"I just said, it's Toboe." The boy said again.
"I thought that was your dog's name?" Leara said confused.
"Uh..."Toboe tried to think of something quickly,"Well, we're alot alike, so I decided to name him after myself."
"Your pretty weird alright." Leara confirmed.
Toboe chuckled softly.
Tsume walked down an alleyway slowly, mulling over his thoughts.
He noticed the soldiers and the people they were carting away and stepped back, watching them slowly.
He tched as he noticed the white wolf from the other day step into the vehicle, walked back the way he came.
He walked right to where a boy crossed paths with him, making the boy gasp and froze as their eyes met.
"Your another one..." The boy said, "Just like me!"
"Move it kid." Tsume tried to walk past him, til he noticed who was at the end of the alley.
The half-breed that had been seen with the hunter, staring them down.
The boy turned back fearfully, seeing the hunter come down behind her drunkenly.
Noticing his dog stilled form, he asked, "Did you find something?"
Tsume jumped up to the building to escape, but the boy was still with fear.
The bottle fell from his hand, and he stalked forward, pulling out his gun and reloading it.
"Easy boy..." He said, noticing the wolf shake in fear."Well now, your not a boy."
Since he was drunk, he was seeing both the boy and a wolf, finally his vision settled on a wolf and he froze, pulling the gun up quickly and pointing it at the boy.
The boy shook in fear, then lowered his head and closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
Til Tsume jumped down from the building and knocked the gun out of the hunters hand.
The halfbreed tried to bite his leg but he step back to stand by the boy.
"Jump." He growled to the boy.
"Huh?" He said confused.
"Hurry!" He pressed on, throwing his hand out as if to clarify it.
"Eh?! I was getting ready to!" The leaped up, followed by Tsume and kept jumping til they reached the top and ran off.
"Eh..." The hunter watched them, then grabbed his hand and stared where Tsume scratched him, at the deep claw marks.
"Who the heck was that?" Toboe asked, looking back the way they came. "And what's up with his dog?"
"I have no idea..." Tsume answered softly.
"Hey, your Tsume, right?" Toboe asked curiously."This is a first for me. I've never met a wolf. I mean, other than myself."
"I heard rumors about you from the others though. They say you made friends with the humans and run wild with them."
"...You heard wrong." Tsume clarified,"I don't have friends."
"Ah. I'm Toboe!" The boy continued on, trying to be friendly."Thanks for the help back there."
Tsume looked at him from the corner of his eye behind his glasses.
"You know what," Toboe went on,"I've been living with humans my whole li-" "Just get lost, will ya?"
Tsume cut him off, causing the boy to blinked at him where he stood, looking at him over his shoulder.
"I'm getting pissed off..." Tsume said, "And it gets worse when I'm around idiots."
Tsume tched and walked off, leaving the younger wolf to stare after him in confusion.
He stared back to look, only to see that the wolf was gone.
Kiba sat in his cell, the doors to the outside opening up again.
Hige stepped through and eyed him with one of his eyes and a smirk.
"Yo!" He called out.
"Hige..." Kiba said in surprise, as the other wolf came to sit beside him. "What in the world are you doing in here?"
"Come on, we're friends now, aren't we?" Hige asked.
"Coming from you, that sounds kinda fishy..." Kiba said suspiciously.
"Hmph." Hige only grinned.
Toboe watched from afar, as Leara fed her pet hawk as it landed on her shoulder.
It flew off and Toboe went after it to catch it for her, jumping at it to try and catch it with his fangs bared when it caught it's meal.
It screeched in fear, til he took it down by it's wing and then accidentally killed it in the process.
Catching sight of the girl coming after it, Toboe called out with a "Leara!" and ran to her.
"Here. It's your bird." He gave her the carcass of the hawk.
Toboe saw her face and stared in confusion as her eyes began to shake.
He then reached out and poked the bird gently. "Hey...wake up!"
When it didn't move, Toboe frowned in confusion, as he realized why, and murmured,"Leara..."
"He's dead..." She mumbled, still staring in shock at the dead hawk. "My bird's dead."
"But...I didn't mean to kill him! I swear!" He said as he reached out for the girl, who stepped back in fear.
Toboe sank to his knees on the ground, shaking slightly.
"I knew it was yours...I just wanted to get it for you...I didn't think it would die..." Tears began to run down the boy's face as he stared at the girl, whose eyes began to widen as instead of the boy, in it's place was the 'beautiful dog' instead, howling mournfully.
Tsume pulled his glasses off when he heard the howl and turned to stare in it's direction, noticing the young wolf from before with a girl, and he gasped slightly.
He jumped down and ran to the young wolf and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, making hi yelp, as he dragged him off.
Toboe sat in the corner of Tsume's lair, legs drawn up to his chest as he stared off into nothing.
"I never met to kill anything..." He spoke softly,"Granny, she, I was all alone at the entrance to the dome. And she was so nice to me. She said I was so little that my eyes had barely opened. She gave these to me," He held up his bangles to show Tsume, who kept looking out the window.
"And we've lived together ever since."
"You mean she kept you as a pet." Tsume commented, "That human tamed you. You were nothing more than an obedient dog."
"I wasn't!" Toboe yelled out,"I...I only...wanted to protect her, but she still..."
"She still threw you out?" Tsume tried to finish.
"She still died..." Toboe finished. "She died." He hid his face in his arms.
"I...let her die..." He whimpered.
Footsteps sounded outside the door, making Tsume look up.
Going out, he saw it was one of his humans.
"Seto..." He acknowledged him, "No one is going to come..."He simply said. "Then why are you here?" Tsume asked. "I'm leaving after this."
"Tsume, your just to different from the rest of us." He said as he turn to leave.
Tsume stared after his retreating form.
Suddenly, a high pitch noise went off, making him stare up to see a Noble's airship going over.
Kiba's eyes snapped open as he too heard the sound.
"Did you feel that?" He asked Hige, waking the other.
"Feel what?" He asked sleepily.
"This isn't right." Kiba commented,"Something's gonna happen."
Hige sniffed the air,"I don't smell anything...except for the mildew."
"It's getting closer." Kiba murmured.
"So, you wanna break out of here?" Hige asked him.
"Yeah." They jumped to their feet, Kiba ready to pull apart the bar, when Hige tapped him to get his attention and produced a key from out of his hair.
As they ran down the corridors, the lights went off in the rooms, as a man in a cape and mask appeared in the doors.
Hige motioned for Kiba to wait as he checked around the corner, when a guard came around the corner just to check.
Only thing he noticed was on of the air vents ripped off and the ventilation opening, letting cool air through, yet he just kept walking away.
Cher ran into the room to check on Cheza, sighing in relief when she noticed she was fine.
"Everything's fine. The lab's power supply is independent from the main grid. "
"Yes. I know." Was the voice she heard instead of the lab workers.
Turning around, she came face to face with a man in a cape and mask.
"Cheza...is not vital to you..." He said, "Is that correct?" He asked.
"Hmph. Who are you?" Cher asked, staring him down while she reached around for something to defend herself with blindly.
"Every one is resting now." He said as he walked forward, "You look exhausted as well." He commented, coming to stand before her.
"So tired," He began unlatching the mask from the rest of it, slowly pulling it off, "You should rest awhile." Pulling the mask off fully, he stared at her with not two blue eyes, but one blue human eye and a golden wolf eye, which she saw last til she fell unconsciously.
"It's been a long time...Cheza." He said to the Flower Maiden, who finally woke up fully.
"You can sense my presence, can't you?" He asked her, "Though your eyes do not see me."
"There is nothing to fear, you are awake now, at last. " He swiped his hand forward, activating the globe holding Cheza in place, bubbles going to the top of the globe, the water slowly leaving the globe.
"We can finally set out on our journey."
The two wolves jumped out of the ventilation shaft, looking around for anybody.
"This way," Hige said, as they ran to the right to avoid anybody.
Til they saw a man walk out, holding the Flower Maiden bridal style, who stopped and stared at them through his mask.
He then stared up, as if noticing someone else, seeing a golden eyes along with a flash of black.
'Heh. It has certainly been a long time...since I've last seen you, Rekkuza.'
The flash of black then vanished along with a flash of red.
Whelp that's the end of this Chapter!
Tama&Taka: When will our turn come?
After Walker-Chan gets a chance! Which is next chapter! Draco vs. Walker, and 'Bad Fellow'