Wolf's Rain is copyright to BONES/ Nobumoto Keiko; Nikki belongs to me.
**side note (so as not to have my readers confused on who's speaking, wolf or human):
'talk' - wolf speech
"talk" - human speech
City of Howls - Part One
"That is not a dog. Pull it out." His low voice spooked the men gathered around the old tree, nodding his head slightly in a wordless order for them to do as he instructed.
She cocked her head to one side, the scent of a stranger wolf assailing her keen nose, making her vaguely wonder what kind of fool this wolf was to have wandered into their territory.
Faster than lightning it seemed, a streak of white leaped at the man that stuck his arm inside the holed-out tree with a resounding brief bark, sharp fangs tearing his throat open like a hot knife, making those gathered blanch in shock and horror.
The second man fired arrows at the lone wolf from the silver crossbow he wielded, going down the same way his friend had, blood flying.
This wolf was making it very hard for her to maintain her guise.
Her fur bristled up her spine as she stared at the bloody maw of the white canine, blue eyes looking at his gold eyes that had turned to slits out of anger; she followed his heated stare and bristled slightly when realizing that he wasn't staring at just anyone, but her brother.
The alpha of this pack.
His fangs threatened to come out in the snide smirk that formed on his lips. "Interesting." He growled.
"Tsume," she began quietly in warning, watching him back away slowly before turning to book it for the stairs that led to the high tower near their hideout.
With a loud growl, the lone wolf flew after him.
"Fuck," she hissed, growling and bolting after the two males at top speed, dropping her guise once she was out of sight of the humans, her true form elated to be free of the binds as she ran on four instead of two legs after the white and gray wolves.
She skidded to a halt at the top of the steps to see her brother facing off against the stranger before said loner flew at him with a short bark, both males glancing off each other and then rebounding to strike again, a mixture of gray and white fur flying in the air.
A sharp tugging feeling in her heart made her cringe and upper lip curl in surprise; her silver eyes widened slightly. This feeling… What is it? She thought.
The sound of his knife leaving the confines of his pants jerked her out of her swimming thoughts, as he rammed a foot into the white wolf's gut and knocked him away, knife glinting bleak sunlight off the sharp blade.
She growled under her breath and flew in, punting the white wolf away from her brother and standing between the two males. 'Enough, both of you!' She snarled, baring her teeth at the stranger as every hair on her body lifted, tail in the air like a black flag.
"What in hell are you doing?" He snapped behind her, flashing a fang in annoyance as he glared between her and the cocky male he'd punted away.
She ignored him, glaring at the stranger through narrowed silver orbs. 'You're a stranger in our pack's territory. I suggest you leave before you regret it.' She warned coldly.
The white wolf returned the glare through narrowed gold eyes. 'And if I don't? Just because you're a female, I won't go easy on you.' He growled.
Her lips parted in a sneering laugh. 'Just because you're injured, I won't go easy on you either.' She had to admit he was indeed handsome; even though he was roughed up and wounded, he probably looked very appealing beneath the exterior layer of dirt and scratches.
The sound of rushing footsteps coming up the tower steps halted the loner before he could spout a rebuttal, the trio of wolves' ears perking.
"Get moving, now, before they see you." Her brother ordered behind her.
She made to open her mouth and protest before seeing the hard scowl he had on his brow; shoulders slumping, she exhaled and turned to nose his right cheek gently. 'Don't let them catch you.' She urged quietly, turning again to abandon him and follow the stranger down the opposite end of the tower.
::::::oOo:::::::
He looked down at his reflection in the old pond's water, at the scruffy exterior of his white fur and his tired gold eyes that stared up at him unblinking.
'You really should have that leg looked at.' A sigh sounded behind him.
The loner whirled around with a growl, staring into the silver eyes of that female that had chased him off the tower; he eyed the sleek frame of her body, the jet black fur that covered her body built for speed rather than strength, the silver orbs that stared at him blankly, the lone blue crescent mark that stood out amidst the dark pelt of her body.
His lip curled in a slight snarl. 'What's it matter to you?' He rebutted stiffly.
Her lips parted again in a laugh, a calm light entering her silver stare. 'In case you haven't noticed, I am a female. Usually females tend to notice more than males.' She replied patiently, lips forming into a small smile.
Another sigh escaped her as her form shifted before his eyes into that of a human woman with jet black hair, a pretty face, and sky colored eyes. The smile had shifted into a smirk. "Or is this not enough evidence?" She wondered, gesturing to her obviously-apparent small bust and curved hips, both he noted were concealed beneath a black tank top and faded black jeans, scuffed combat boots covering her feet from the elements.
The white wolf growled under his breath, slightly disgruntled at both admitting defeat plus her quick shifting skill, turning to limp his way down a side alley.
With a reflexive scowl, she followed him until she was at his side, hands sliding into the pockets of her jacket. "You got balls to pick a fight with my brother. Most guys don't contemplate getting into it with him." She praised absently.
He lifted one gold eye up at her. 'Why are you following me?' He asked.
"It's kind of a bad idea to walk around here in fur. Besides, you seem interesting… and a badass." She shrugged aimlessly.
'Thanks, I think. I don't care what people think of me; humans always fear our kind.' He returned the shrug as best he could.
She smirked again. "No shit, there. Sorry for my brother, by the way; he's kind of… well, he's an ass the majority of the time." She apologized.
He cocked a furry brow at hearing the apology coming from her. 'So I noticed. Has he always been like that?' He dared ask.
"Regrettably. He means well, y'know, when he's not pissy." She offered with a quiet laugh. "But enough of that, sorry again for the shitty intro. My name's Nikki." She smiled sheepishly.
'Kiba.' He nodded, continuing to walk; she kept up easily, boot heels clicking on the ground.
She smiled again. "Your name sounds pretty cool. So then, tough guy, why the hell did you come to this shithole town anyway? Obviously not to pick fights with my brother." She half-joked.
'Definitely not for that reason. I came here because I…' He began to explain.
The loud sound of a gun's trigger clicking behind them made both wolves freeze.
Shit!
Both of them stared at the sight of the grisly-looking old man in a trench coat wielding a shotgun, a midnight-black dog at his side with blue eyes glowering at the two targets.
Her lip curled to flash fangs as the dog barked and sprinted forward at the white wolf baring his teeth; her hand hadn't even pulled out her switchblade before the shot was fired and her walking companion was cut down with a bullet to the shoulder.
"Fuck," she hissed, perking up as the dog rounded on her; she turned to sprint away, reluctant to leave him behind even though she was being chased by a hunter's mutt.
The dog made to grab for her right heel before she twisted about and kicked the dog's lower chin sharply with her left toe; it yelped and fell back, giving her enough time to book it and leap onto the nearest low-sitting roof.
She panted when she finally got high enough and far enough from the dog, looking at the gray cityscape as police sirens rang shrilly below, preferably in the marketplace where she'd left the loner.
Stowing her weapon back into the pocket of her jacket, she followed the resounding wails of the police cars back to their "nest".
I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought, her hands fisting slightly in the pockets of her jacket as she stared the length of the stairwell leading to the front doors of the police department's building.
With a shallow sigh, she took a step forward, beginning the trek to the front doors of the place she knew her brother would never walk through unless caught by the dogs that had taken her newfound friend.
"So the crazy gene didn't skip you, then." A voice said behind her, making her pause; she looked over her shoulder at hearing the familiar light tone, lifting a thin brow.
A pudgy tan wolf with amber eyes wearing a black collar around his neck that seemed to be a bit tight looked at her, tilting his head to one side.
She exhaled in slight relief at seeing her friend present, pulling herself back from seeing what he hid beneath the exterior disguise of a wiry-haired boy with garnet eyes and a calm smile. "Hige, what the hell're you doing here?" She wondered dryly, letting him come up the stairs to stop at her side.
"I was about to ask you the same thing! Finally got fed up with your brother and decided to turn him in or what?" He guessed, having mirrored her and placed his hands in the pockets of his yellow hoodie.
"Close, but not yet. A friend of mine was arrested and I came to spring him." She explained, continuing to walk.
He followed quickly until he was flanking her again. "A friend, huh? Well damn, shame ya said it was a dude, I was kinda hoping it'd be some poor damsel." He pouted playfully.
She chuckled softly and punched his arm in scolding, smirking at the sore look he sent her. "You're such a ham! Sheesh, can't hit on me, so you try and scam on some poor girl… Typical." She sighed.
"Shut up, I do what I please." He sniffed, earning another chuckle, sliding his eyes closed; he opened one garnet eye at her a moment later. "So, back to your friend, is he… y'know?" He dropped his voice to sound quiet.
She nodded. "Yep. Best to get him out now before the fuckers who run this place try and use him as a lab-rat." She shuddered at the thought, bristling beneath her human skin. "You coming with or did you just come to bullshit me again?" She asked.
He sighed and slipped one arm free to throw it around her shoulders, squeezing. "Neh, a bit of both, princess. 'Sides, I didn't come just to bullshit ya again; something smelled interesting and running into you while sniffing it out was just coincidental." He admitted.
"Well good! Glad to hear. That means you're backup in case we get into any trouble." She smiled widely, shrugging his arm off to drag him with her by the collar around his neck.
"E-eh, Nikki!" Hige whined.
Nikki laughed quietly.
::::::::oOo:::::::::
It was relatively easy for both wolves to slip into the back halls of the building unnoticed; people that saw them just guessed they were part of the cleaning crew.
Using his ever-sharp nose, Hige located the room they were keeping the loner in and poked his head in to see there was noone there; he sighed and glanced back at his friend. "Coast clear."
"Good," Nikki slipped past him into the room before he followed, the door closing behind their entrance.
He paused short of following her once seeing the large steel cage at the center of the room, watching her crouch before the front of it, noting the sleeping white wolf inside the contraption. "So that's your guy, then." He guessed, coming forward to stand behind her with his hands in his hoodie pockets again.
She nodded, using a hand to reach inside the cage, middle and index finger slipping past the bars to trace along the smoothed fur of the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, this is him." She replied quietly.
Rousing at hearing her familiar voice, the wolf opened a gold eye stiffly; blinking back the well-needed rest, both gold eyes opened to see the same black she-wolf from earlier sitting on the opposite side of his cage's bars, her silver eyes elated and calm at the same time, her ears twitching when she saw his eyes open and her head tilt to one side curiously. 'You came back.' He guessed quietly.
She huffed softly and smiled. 'Isn't it natural for a wolf to see to it that one of her own doesn't get turned into a test subject?' She returned.
His lips split into a slight smirk. 'Got me there. Of course you're probably nuts to have come to this place. It reeks of human.' His nose wrinkled slightly at the thought.
'I can barely stand the stink either, that's why I came to get you out.' She explained.
"Man, you really did screw up." The tan wolf noted more to himself behind her, reminding her that she hadn't come alone. "I've seen one of our own get caught before, but never this bad!"
He turned a gold eye up at him, seeing the pudgy tan wolf beneath the guise of a wiry-haired boy with garnet eyes. 'I can get out of here whenever I feel like it, y'know.' He quipped dryly.
He refrained from rolling his eyes, coming to crouch next to her. "Ah-huh, so why're you still in there?" He wondered.
'No reason, I just needed to find a place to rest for a bit. That's all.' He replied.
He laughed quietly and smiled. "The name's Hige, nice to meet you." He introduced.
He watched her shift back, appreciating the curved hips of her human guise before looking at the tan wolf again. 'So why're you in here, anyway?' He asked.
"No reason, really; smelled something interesting going to go down and I just followed my nose. The princess here was going to spring you so I just joined up with her." He shrugged. "And besides, I got nowhere else to go."
He nodded slightly in understanding. 'That's not your true form; why do you hide yourself?' He pointed out, lifting a brow.
"So I don't end up where you are." He laughed a little. "These people are terrified of us, so, y'know, if we look like them they pretty much leave us alone." He explained calmly.
His lip curled back with a soft growl. 'Living a lie: just so you can die miserably in this city?'
He shrugged despite the growls coming from the loner. "Gotta do what you can to survive, neh? Keep lookin' like that and you'll be back in no time; it draws too much attention." He remarked.
'Have you given up your pride as a wolf?' He straightened a little out of frustration, lip curled to reveal his fangs.
She scowled reprovingly and looked to the bars of his cage.
He blinked before calming and smiling slightly. "You're a strange one, all right. But pride doesn't count for much if you're dead." He stated, seeing the frustration leave his furred face and be changed out for surprise and realization.
She smiled a little.
The shrill and loud noise of sirens going off made the trio blink in slight surprise; both Hige and Nikki backed slightly when a loud growl came from the trapped Kiba as said wolf started working on the bars of his cage, strong teeth bending them just enough for his body to slip out.
Paradise.
That word had been haunting her ever since she was a cub, a word her mother used to tell her bedtime stories with, the word relating to a place that all wolves had to look for. A word that related to a heaven they were going to when they died.
Sometimes she wondered if her parents were there, if her entire pack was there, waiting for her and Tsume to join them.
She sighed and settled back into the rusted barrel, looking up at the domed night sky.
Paradise sure sounded better than this shithole town...
"Can't sleep?" His quiet voice stirred her from her thoughts.
She glanced at him to see he had opened an eye from sleeping near the snoring Hige, the glacier-green eye looking at her curiously; her shoulders slumped and she huffed. "How'd ya guess?" She wondered, lowering her stare to look out at the darkened cityscape around her, as she heard him shuffle to sit with her on the ledge.
He ran a hand through the wild brown hair on his head, shrugging. "Instinct. As well as the fact that I get that too, sometimes." He explained.
She nodded, pulling her knees to her chest out of habit and hugging them absently. "Is your leg better?" She asked.
"Yeah, it was just a scratch." He shrugged. "Why did you come back for me? I'd have thought your brother wouldn't want his kid sister hanging around someone like me… Or was what you said back at that place for real?" He returned, looking at her.
Her cheeks colored a little; she smiled wryly and released her knees of one hand to scritch the back of her head. "Tsume may be my brother but he doesn't tell me what to do. Noone tells me what to do; I do what I please, I just stick around because without him I wouldn't have survived as long as I have in this shithole. And to answer your question, even though you're not pack, you are my friend; I don't run out on my friends. Even though you're pretty capable of taking care of yourself, I wanted to help." She looked at him with a kind light in her blue eyes that sort of threw him off before he regained his senses.
Kiba nodded, inwardly noting that her black hair was longer than he'd first thought it was, draping to a few inches beneath the shoulder. "Either way, thanks for doing what you did. Of course I still think you're nuts to want to help out someone you barely met…" He mused with a look up at the domed moon.
Nikki rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder rather hard, jerking his stare down.
"Ow, hey! The hell was that for?" He griped, rubbing his arm gingerly and scowling.
She smirked at him. "Just my way of telling you 'you're welcome'. That comment about being nuts was uncalled for, though." She sighed airily.
Kiba deadpanned. "Crap, didja have to hit so hard…?" He grumbled, looking away.
Nikki giggled softly, smiling. "Don't be such a pussy. Some tough guy," she teased.
He pouted slightly, earning another giggle, softening at seeing that he had gotten her to drop her defenses at last. "Nutcase." He chided.
"Softie." She quipped with a smirk.
well, was chapter one executed well? drop a review and let me know~ ;'D
**answer to reviews (i'm gonna make sure i do my best to keep this up for future chapters, just to let you know):
to Musical Teardrops - thanks for your praise, i'll do my best! ;')