Hi guys! The next chapter, or episode if you will. Hane meets Toboe for the first time!

Freeze City

Hane shuffled through the streets, her hands shoved into her pockets and a scowl on her face. After the mishap with Tsume, the she-wolf had been trying to track down the other wolf she had scented. She had managed to follow it to near the center of the city, where she had found traces of the same blood, along with strands of white fur. After that, the scent had become so muddled with the stench of humans and machinery that she was barely able to track it to a large building. There, she had sworn she could smell lunar flowers as well, but had pushed it away. She must have been hallucinating, and anyway, she had bigger priorities.

The scent of the white wolf mingled with another wolf's at the entrance. Startled, Hane tried to continue to track them, but she gave up after it ended in the sewers. She may have been a wolf with an exceptional sense of smell, but the stink of sewers masked the scent too well.

So, here she was again, with no leads. Hane sighed. Maybe she was just unlucky. She continued to wander without aim, only pausing to snatch a hamburger from a street vendor, not feeling any guilt as she did so. She took to the back streets, eager to escape the prying eyes of humans who were looking to see if they could pickpocket something from her.

Hane turned round the corner, still musing about what she should do, and stopped dead. There, in front of her... A wolf. Or rather, a pup. The kid was scrawny, with reddish-brown fur and what appeared to be metal bracelets jangling around his front right paw- but what was shocking was the he wasn't disguising himself. And he was in front of a human.

Feeling a surge of fear, Hane backed up slowly until she was back around the corner, breathing hard. Peeking around, she saw black crows cawing to each other in disgust as they talked about how the pup should know better than to steal food from them as the girl handed the wolf a sausage. At first, the pup wouldn't eat, wary enough to suspect that it might not be good for him.

"Don't be afraid," The girl encouraged, giving him a gentle smile. "They're not poisoned or anything."

To demonstrate that she was telling the truth, she ate a bit of one of the sausage links before showing it to the pup again. "See, it's fine!"

Despite her original misgivings, Hane watched in approval as the wolf finally ate the sausage. It seemed like there were some good humans in this godforsaken world after all.

"Where'd you come from, little fella?" The girl mused. "If you wander around here too long, the dog-catchers will get you for sure!"

At her words, the pup let out a whine and licked her hand. Surprised, the girl stroked him gently as he nuzzled her fingers. "You sure are warm, aren't you, boy."

Hane grimaced. She was all for kindness, but she knew that it wasn't a good idea to mess with humans if you didn't know what you were doing. Come on, now. She prayed silently. Leave her alone, walk away...

"Leara!" A gruff voice called out. By the girl's startled movement, Hane guessed that the man was her father.

"Bye, now!" Leara said, stroking the youngster once more before turning and walking away. When the wolf made a move to follow her, she said in a firm tone, "No, stay! Sorry, boy, but even if you followed me home I couldn't keep you!"

Looking a little sad, the pup sat back on his haunches before tilting his head slightly. Hane let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Well, at least the kid wasn't completely stupid.

"Well that's funny, it's almost as if you can understand me..." Leara said, surprised.

Hane bit back her grin. If only you knew... She thought to herself.

"I'm sorry," The little girl said sadly before turning and racing back to her father. Once the truck had driven away, Hane stepped out from the shadows.

"You'll want to be careful, kid." She said airily. "It's not smart to walk around without disguising yourself."

The wolf snapped around, his hackles raised and his ears flat against his head in surprise and fear.

"Hey, hey! It's all good. The name's Hane." The she-wolf said cheerfully.

"Y-You're a wolf, like me!" The pup stammered out.

"Mhm. Trust me though, I was as clueless about there being others in the city as you were. What's your name?"

"Toboe..." The kid said, relaxing.

"Nice to meet you. Now, what are you doing running around looking like that?" Hane said, a hint of disapproval slipping into her voice.

Toboe tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you're walking around as a wolf, in plain daylight. Didn't your mother teach you it's not safe?"

Toboe's ears and tail drooped. "Um, I don't have a mother. I've lived with a human my whole life."

Hane felt her heart tighten in pity. Poor pup. "Well, where's your owner?"

"She's..." Unable to finish his sentence, Toboe sat back down again.

"Oh. Oh..." That would explain why the kid had been rooting around in a garbage dump. If there was no one to feed him or teach him how to hunt, he must have been struggling. "How long have you been on your own?"

"A few weeks." Toboe replied, the paw with the bracelets tracing patterns into the dust.

"Ah. Do you know how to pass off as a human?" Hane asked next. If he didn't know, she could always teach him before moving on.

"Yeah." In the next moment, a human boy of about fourteen, maybe a bit older, with amber eyes and the same rusty brown hair as the pup's fur stood in front of her. The bracelets were still around his wrist.

"Not bad." Hane said. "But you might want to steer clear of humans, kiddo. They're not all as nice as that Leara girl."

"You saw that?" To Hane's inner delight, a blush spread across Toboe's face.

"Mhm. But you've got to remember she's human." Hane replied carefully.

"I know that." Toboe scoffed.

"I'm just saying, you should be careful." The she-wolf warned.

Toboe shrugged at her response. "It's fine."

Hane sighed. It was obvious she wouldn't be able to convince the cub that it was a bad idea to mess around with humans. Turning around, she lifted a partially gloved hand in farewell. "See ya, kiddo."

"Wait, where are you going? You're just going to leave me here?!" Toboe called out, a sudden panic in his voice.

"If I see you around, I'll say hello. And if you meet any other wolves, keep me posted. Bye, Toboe." She said cheerfully.

"Uh... Bye?"

Hane didn't look back as she walked away, but inwardly, she resolved to keep an eye on the kid. Just... Check in on him every once in awhile. She didn't want him to do something stupid and get hurt.

Freeze City

Hane looked upwards at the 'sky' above her. She knew that the sunlight that the dome created was completely artificial, but that didn't mean the humans hadn't done a good job. The sun was just beginning to set, bathing the city in an orange glow. It had only been a day since she had met Toboe, but the she-wolf was feeling restless, and wondering if he was okay.

She had still been unable to track down the other two wolves she had scented, and had steered well clear of Tsume, although she had spotted him from afar every once in awhile. She had recently smelled him around here though, near the park, and despite everything, Hane knew she had to stick around if she wanted to check to see if Toboe was alright.

She was on one of the rooftops, her eyes searching for Toboe's slight form. She knew the key was to let her eyes wander, to pick up movement randomly instead of focusing on one area and risk missing something. She got distracted as a hawk flew up into the sky, wings beating strongly.

Someone's pet? She thought curiously. It was unusual to see birds of prey in domed cities.

As Hane watched, the bird suddenly dove, obviously having seen some prey. She thought about when she used to actually catch her own food instead of steal it. Of course, it was mostly because bison didn't stampede around Freeze City, but still.

She started as she heard a long, drawn-out howl come from the park place. She stood, feeling a river of ice crawl through her veins.

Toboe?! She thought wildly before leaping off the building and running in the direction she had heard the howl come from.

Ignoring the strange looks she got from the humans she raced past, she shouted out loudly, "Toboe?! Toboe!" She knew that she was overreacting, that she shouldn't care if the kid was in trouble or not, but her maternal instincts were kicking in, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

Hane skidded to a halt in front of the forest, her greenish yellow eyes widening in disbelief. There was Toboe, with the girl from before -Leara-, howling his head off! She looked shell-shocked, staring at him with wide eyes as she cradled a dead bird in her arms. With a start, Hane realized it was the hawk from before. She felt her heart sink into her feet.

Dammit kiddo, what did you do? She thought, tensing so that she could grab him and drag him away. But before she could move, a streak of black, tan and white came out of nowhere, grabbing Toboe by the scruff of his neck and disappearing almost as quickly.

Hane blinked once in shock. Tsume? Does he know Toboe?

Shaking herself once to snap herself out of it, she gave chase. She followed their scent all the way back to the tree where she had first met the angry gray wolf. She lingered underneath the shade of the tree, her hands wringing nervously. She wanted to check to see if Toboe was alright, but she also knew that the likelihood of Tsume trying to bite her head off was very high as well.

She hesitated in indecision for a few more moments, just as a bright, white light lit up the sky. She flinched, throwing her arm in front of her face as her sensitive eyes blinked shut. But that wasn't the worse part. A high-pitched scream echoed in her ears, a noise full of despair and agony and pain.

Revieeeew... Pleeeeeaaase?