Chapter II
"Shit!"
Hige dodged a bullet that nearly shot his head off. The gang, minus Toboe, ran as fast as they could while Quent Yaiden, the ex-sheriff of Kyrios, continued to shoot at them. They were heading towards the Forest of Death, and somehow, the hunter was able to track them down without his dog present.
"You damn wolves!" he shouted. "You're not getting away from me this time!"
Tsume and Hige were almost in at the forest. Kiba and Cheza, however, were having a lot more trouble trying to dodge Quent's bullets. Cheza was a slow runner, so it was hard for Kiba to run any faster because he was holding her hand. Suddenly, Cheza tripped, releasing Kiba's hand, an opportune moment for Quent to make the perfect shot.
"Cheza!" Kiba ran in front of her, blocking the shot that would've ended Cheza's life.
"Kiba!" Cheza said distraught. Kiba grabbed Cheza and ran, ignoring the pain he felt in his shoulder. No more bullets came their way, which was an extremely good sign. They could leave without anymore impediments.
As soon as they were in the forest, Hige and Tsume ran up to them. "Whoa, Kiba. What happened? Did you get hit?" Hige asked.
Kiba glared at him. "What the hell do you think?"
"It was this one's fault," Cheza said in despair, bowing her head down in shame.
Kiba's expression turned soft. "No, Cheza. It's not your fault." She looked up at him and gave him a warm smile. He returned it before he once again took on a solemn expression. "We need to get out of here."
"What about Toboe? We can't just leave him. If he tries to come to the forest alone, he'll be dead for sure."
"Porky's right," Tsume said. "Someone needs to go back out there and—" A howl interrupted him.
"It's Toboe!" Hige exclaimed.
The howl came again, followed by another one.
"And he's not alone," Tsume stated. He frowned when he heard the other howl. It was much higher pitch than Toboe's. What perplexed him was how familiar the bay sounded, but he couldn't describe it. They continued to listen as the sounds came closer. "Toboe must've found someone to help him, and they're heading this way."
"Alright then. Let's go." Kiba walked off before anyone could say anything. Cheza followed. Tsume and Hige exchanged skeptical glances before following the other two. They were both thinking the same thing:
Who was with Toboe, and would he survive?
Toboe, Tsuki, and Tora hid in a crevice at the side of the formation that stood before the Forest of Death. From where he was standing, Tora could see the one of the hunters he mentioned earlier. Before today, he didn't think the hunters were still roaming; wolves were supposed to be extinct, after all, so there was no need to hunt for them. But this hunter was different. He looked like a crazy old man who had nothing better to do with his time. He could smell the alcohol off his breath from where he stood.
"It's that old man," Toboe said, peeking over the older wolf's shoulder. "The one who's been hunting us this whole time."
"Why does he hunt wolves?" Tora asked curiously.
Toboe shrugged. "He just hates wolves for some reason. He's usually with his dog. I wonder where it went."
At the moment, the old man was busy reloading his gun. There was no place where they could pass through safely, only open space. They had no other choice but to run. All they needed was a distraction.
"On my command," Tora said to the pups. "You two run into the forest."
"What about—?"
"It won't be long until he's ready to shoot at anything that moves through this path," he said. "So you two will have to run for it while I distract him. I'll follow as soon as you two get there first."
"Alright." Toboe agreed with his plan. He couldn't think of anything else safer, and Tora was older than him; he probably knew this place better than anyone else.
Tsuki, however, opposed the idea. She clung to the pale man's arm, fearing that she may never see him again. "Tsuki, it'll be fine," Tora assured the girl. He detached his arm from her tight grip and put a hand on top of her head. "You need to help Toboe get across. I promise I'll be right behind you two." Tsuki still didn't like it, but she didn't defy him. Then Tora left to fulfill his plan.
The two watched as Tora transformed into a wolf, black as night. That was when Toboe could finally see both of his eyes. The right was blue, but it looked unusual in his wolf form. The left eye, the one that he couldn't see under his bangs, was yellow and looked more suitable on his face. It was a wolf's eye. That was why he hid it so well when he was human, Toboe thought.
When the black wolf ran out into the open field, Tsuki grabbed Toboe's wrist and ran in the other direction. Meanwhile, as Tora was trying to distract Quent, the crazy old man was going psychotic. He could see the wolf's eyes, the ones that invaded his mind each day, reminding him of his family's demise. He only had one thought on his mind:
All wolves must die.
As the black wolf jumped at him, he swung his gun and nearly struck his head, but the wolf was able to dodge it. The wolf lunged at him again, but this time, Quent was able to hit his jaw. Tora flew back, disoriented. He hit the side of the formation and yelped in pain.
Tsuki stopped when she heard the yelp. Concerned, Toboe grasped the hand on his wrist with his other hand. "Tsuki, we have to keep going." He had also heard Tora, but he knew they couldn't go back. There was nothing they could do to help him but do as he asked of them. And then he heard the click. "Get down!"
Toboe pushed Tsuki down, avoiding a bullet that nearly spiraled into his head. As he sat up, he realized that his face was very close to Tsuki's. He was right on top of her, in fact, and the close proximity made the pup blush. He quickly regained focus again and tried to help her up, but not before they quickly went back down.
"Die, you demons!" Quent shouted as he continued to shoot at them.
Toboe grabbed Tsuki and they ran as fast as they could. The stunned black wolf swiftly got up from his lying position and bit Quent's arm. The old man cried out in pain but it didn't slacken the grip he had on his gun. He brandished his weapon at Tora's head, and once again, the wolf dodged it. When he saw that Tsuki and Toboe were nowhere in sight, he took it as his cue to leave.
As Tora turned to run, a bullet flew past him, grazing his forearm. "You're not escaping me that easily, wolf," Quent spat with venom in his tone. He was determined to kill any wolves in his grasp. The other two had already escaped thanks to the black one, so now he had to pay.
Tora could see this man was not going to quit until he was dead, so, ignoring his callous wound, he jumped off the precipace and ran fast as his injuries allowed him. Bullets continued to whiz past him as he ran and soon disappeared behind the trees. A holler echoed through the forest, reverberating in wolves' ears, and it wasn't long before the black wolf found his younger companions. The sound of bullets firing in the distance continued obstinately.
"He's pretty angry," Toboe said.
"There isn't anything pretty about a mad man," Tora murmured. He grimaced as he held his injured arm. Tsuki walked over to him and took his arm, but the older man quickly pulled it back gently. "I'm alright, Tsuki. It's just a graze. Don't waste your energy worrying about me." Turning to Toboe, he said, "We still need to find your friends before it's too late."
"Where could they be?"
"They're probably deep in the forest. It'll be difficult to find them."
"There's a fresh scent," Tsuki informed them. "I smell flowers straight ahead."
Tora took a whiff of the air. Sure enough, he caught the Flower Maiden's scent. Toboe could also smell it along with the scent of the other wolves, but Cheza's scent overlapped theirs. "Lead the way, Tsuki."
The young girl nodded and led the two into the Forest of Death to find Toboe's wandering friends.
The band of wolves continued to travel through the Forest of Death, and so far, they had made little progress. And without Toboe's youthful and seemingly perpetual positivity, the mood was very solemn. Not to mention Hige's griping was starting to get on their nerves.
"Man this place is depressing," Hige whined. "I thought forests were supposed to be… more alive, you know?"
"It's the Forest of Death, idiot," Tsume said.
"And it's the very reason humans can't follow us here," Kiba added.
"Well, we don't have to rely on compasses or whatever, but shouldn't there at least be some animals? You know, like a rabbit or a fox?"
"Don't start getting hungry on us, porky. Not when the rest of us are suffering, too."
"Sue me, alright?" Hige sighed. This would've been more entertaining if Toboe was here acting his goofy self. That brat better find us soon.
"We'll probably come across a town once we're through this forest," Kiba said as a matter of fact. "Just hang in there until then."
"If we make it out of here alive, that is."
Hige glared at Tsume. He was such a Debby Downer. "Whatever." He stepped forward and then quickly staggered back when a skull rolled in front of him. Suddenly, a giant beetle flew out of the skull. "Whoa!" He had never seen a bug so massive before.
It continued to fly irately around the group until Tsume reached out and grabbed it. "I've never seen a bug like this," he observed. Then he put it in Hige's face. "Here." Hige gawked at the thing, disgusted. "You're hungry, aren't you? Chow down."
"Why the hell should I?"
"Because you have the strongest stomach. Now eat it."
"I ain't your taster! And how come you're giving me orders? You're not our leader or anything, right?" He looked out to Kiba, who merely stared back impassively. "Hey, I know! Let's give it to Cheza!" He snatched the bug from Tsume's grasp and put it in the Flower Maiden's face. "I bet you're hungry, right?"
Kiba immediately sliced it down, and it crashed into a pile of bug guts. "Cheza does not eat bugs!"
"Well then, what the hell should we feed her?"
"This one doesn't eat anything," Cheza said.
"Not a thing?"
"Now that you mention it, I've never seen her eat," susurrated Tsume.
"This one drinks and basks."
"Basks in what?" Kiba asked.
Cheza looked up, and the wolves followed her gaze. They saw nothing but the thick, gnarled branches of the barren trees that covered up the sky. "But not here." Then they understood.
"Sunlight," Kiba answered their thoughts.
Hige nodded. "Makes sense; she is a flower."
"Do you think she'll be able to continue without sunlight or water?" Tsume asked.
"I don't know." Kiba looked at Cheza as she continued to stare at the nonexistent sky. She looked so fragile now, her hands raised to the sky as if begging for that sunshine she so craved. Who knew how long she would last in this barren wasteland? "We better not stay and find out. Hige, try to find us an exit."
"Got it!" Hige sniffed around, but it was pointless. He couldn't get a whiff of anything. Suddenly, he heard a flap. "A bird!"
"What?" Kiba looked up. He also heard the noise, but he wasn't as sure as Hige that it was a creature at all.
Tsume scoffed, having heard nothing. "It's the Forest of Death. You must be seeing things."
"No! I'm sure I heard the flapping of wings above us. It was from an owl, which means… we've got meat!"
"Hold on!" Tsume grabbed his shoulder before he could go anywhere. "If you really saw an owl, don't you think it could be useful for something else besides food?"
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"It could lead us to water." Kiba looked at Cheza for a moment and she smiled. "Lead us to the owl."
With a newfound bounce in his step, Hige ran in the direction he heard the owl and the others followed his lead.
Cher Degré, a scientist from Freeze City, woke up from her deep slumber to find that she had been kidnapped by Darcia III. Now, in full awareness, she was briefly informed by the Noble about something she had devoted her life to: Cheza, the Flower Maiden. She had extraordinary gifts that the young scientist could not discover herself all those months she had analyzed her. Now, she had stumbled upon a new scientific discovery.
She had never seen something so complex, at least not as complex as Cheza. In front of her was a screen showing her two figures. One was an outline of Cheza, showing the intricate system of roots in her body. The other was an outline similar to the maiden's form and inside her outline silhouette were green roots similar to the ones inside Cheza's body, only they looked thicker and more elaborate. Cher assumed they were veins and the complementary outline on the screen was a human—until she saw the contour transform into a wolf outline. Behind them was information—files and updates about the figures on the screen before her.
"So much data…" the young scientist murmured, incredulous. "What is this?"
Darcia III came up from behind Cher, completely unfazed by the diagram shown before them. "It's another one of my family's creations. It was developed by my younger brother. She was created in a similar way Cheza was blossomed. We call her Lupa."
"Lupa?" Cher quickly turned her attention to the Noble and turned it back to the screen.
"Yes. Now you see, you only know the slightest fraction about Cheza."
Cher scrutinized the wolf silhouette thoughtfully. When she saw Cheza in the forest, she seemed very attached to the wolves. Was it true? Was Cheza part of something bigger? "Is what was written in The Book of the Moon the truth?" she thought aloud.
"Tell me," Darcia said, "do you believe what you've read?"
Cher looked at the man firmly. "I've seen them… I've seen wolves. They were running together by Cheza's side."
"Hm… I see." Darcia's eyes did not move from the screen as he listened to the woman.
"I'm sure of it now." Her gaze fell elsewhere as she continued to reminisce about her discoveries the day before. "They were the same wolves who turned up in the city—the same ones who first appeared when Cheza… awakened. But I don't understand what they or that"—she pointed at the wolf outline that abruptly changed into back a human—"have to do with Cheza."
"They will be the key to Paradise."
Cher looked at the man, dubious. "To Paradise?"
Darcia did not reply. His attention was on the screen, which was now beeping nonstop. The two figures on the screen—Cheza's form and the now humanoid figure adjacent to her—were coming closer together.
"What's happening?"
Darcia was still silent. He simply turned his head to the woman, a sinister smile curling on his lips.
"This is taking forever," Toboe whined. "How much longer?"
"We haven't been in the Forest of Death for long, so quit your griping," Tora scolded. "Tsuki knows where she's going. Your friends appear to be lost. This forest will do that to anybody, even if they are wolves."
Toboe shivered. The thought of losing his friends in this barren wasteland was mortifying. "Will they be okay?"
"I don't know. I think your friends will be fine, but Cheza will not last long without any natural resources."
That made Toboe's worries heighten. Cheza was a delicate flower; with no water or sunlight, she could wither away. How would they get to Paradise without her? They needed to get there together, and losing Cheza would be worse than losing the key to Paradise.
"We must hurry," Tsuki said. She quickened her pace each second. She was suddenly in her wolf form, running so fast her companions could barely keep up.
"Something must have happened to Cheza," Tora said. "Come on!"
"Oh no! Cheza!"
The two male wolves soon caught up to Tsuki, who was now in front of a cave. "They went in there," the she-wolf said.
"In there?" Toboe squeaked. "How do you know?" He could barely smell anything, not even Cheza.
To answer his question, Tsuki pointed up at the trees where an owl was perched, staring at them with its beady blue eyes.
"Who is that?" Toboe asked.
"A friend." Tora nodded at the owl, who returned the gesture. "That owl is one of the Guardians; he's the only one who knows how to navigate through the forest. He leads wanderers astray and only helps those who are worthy of leaving with their lives."
Suddenly, the owl spoke, his eerie words sending shivers up Toboe's spine: "The answer lies within the darkness. The answer lies within confined spaces. Only those who bravely enter will be rewarded…" At the end of his soliloquy the owl flew off, leaving the trio to ruminate.
"I guess we're worthy."
"Was that a riddle? What's it mean?"
"It means this cave is the only way out. If they followed the owl, your friends should be in there. Let's not waste any more time."
As they ventured into the cave, Toboe caught the scent of flowers once again. The scent was stronger than before, and it grew more intense they trudged further inside. The cave was creepier inside than out and everywhere he stepped there were bones. Some of the skeletons looked like birds—specifically owls. "So many…"
"Toboe, hurry up!" The shout jolted the pup out of his reverie, and as he focused again on the path he realized that he stopped. Tora and Tsuki were much further ahead, so much so that he couldn't even see them anymore. Thankful they couldn't see his embarrassed expression, he ran to catch up to new his companions.
A few paces later, the black wolf grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a thick stalagmite. Toboe fell back on the ground. "Ow! Why'd y—?"
"Shh!" He looked to his left to see Tsuki hiding behind another stalagmite. He wondered why they had to be so quiet.
"Tora, what—"
He held a finger to his lips, once again silencing the pup. After another moment of silence, Tora muttered, "Maggots."
"What?"
Instead of answering him, the older wolf gesture his head to the side, imploring Toboe to take a look. Peeking over the side, Toboe saw exactly what Tora was talking about. Giant squishy, worm-like creatures were attacking his friends, and from the frustrated howls and whimpers, it sounded like Kiba and the gang were losing. He couldn't see Cheza in sight, so he assumed Kiba must have kept her somewhere safe while he and the other dealt with this new threat. "Why are we just sitting here? They're in trouble!" Toboe ran out from behind the crooked pillar and into the fray to help his friends.
Meanwhile, Kiba, Tsume, and Hige fought off the bugs that were trying to eat Cheza. Cheza was safely put at a higher elevation so the bugs couldn't get to her. As they fought, the band of bugs multiplied. Each kill they made, more went after them.
"Damn, they won't stop coming!" Hige cried.
"Don't quit yet, porky!" Tsume hollered.
Suddenly, a howl broke out and the wolves stopped a moment to see a familiar russet wolf pup joining them. "Toboe!"
"Glad you could finally join the party, runt," Hige said.
"Where were you?" Tsume demanded irascibly.
"It's a long story."
The reunited gang joined each other side-by-side and faced the hoard of ravenous larvae. "Are wolves gonna lose to a bunch of bugs?" Tsume said with a smirk on his face.
"Though I must admit we both like to hang around flowers," Toboe stated.
Hige grunted. "Nicely said, runt."
"Here they come," Kiba said. Soon, the four of them were wolves once again, fighting off the bug menace and tearing them to pieces.
Meanwhile, Cheza, in her tired form, struggled to watch over at her wolf cohorts as they fought the bugs that continued to attack them. She smiled when she saw Toboe again, but it soon faded when she saw another bug jump on him. He quickly threw it to the ground and squashed into green slime. The gore and blood was making her uncomfortable. They had to leave before it was too late.
Cheza struggled to get up and was shortly stopped by hand grasping her arm. Though the hand was coarse, its touch was gentle on her fair skin. "Don't be alarmed, Cheza. It's me," a voice spoke. "Don't worry. We're going to take you to the water."
With her blurry vision she could only distinguish two obscure characters: a man, the one who spoke to her, and a girl. She felt a peculiar aura from that girl, like the one she felt in the shoddy town. She didn't know why, but she knew she could trust them.
As he lifted her up from the ground, Cheza heard someone else speaking to her.
Food…
Bugs…
Hungry…
"That way," she said, pointing in the direction she heard the voices. "This one hears something…" Her head fell back limply as she fell into unconsciousness.
Tora glanced at the benumbed Flower Maiden in his arms before turning to Tsuki. He nodded and Tsuki led him in the direction Cheza had pointed to. They ricocheted off the cave walls to avoid the battle below.
Kiba stopped fighting for a moment when he saw the two wolves in the air. He sensed Cheza's scent leaving the cave with them. He snarled at the wolves, which caught his friends' attention. "They're taking Cheza away!"
The group looked up to see Cheza being carried by a black wolf alongside a younger gray wolf, and Toboe gasped, recognizing his new companions running off with the Flower Maiden. The sting of betrayal bit him in the chest, but it quickly dissipated when he realized that Cheza was in no danger. She would have called for their help if that were the case. But the question remained: where were they taking her?
"Let's go!" The older wolves slashed their way through the remaining bugs, racing after the wolves who stole their flowers.
Toboe struggled to go after his friends, lacerated and weak. Thankfully, they left a clear path for him, so there were no more bugs to deal with. But that was least of his concern at the moment. Kiba and the others didn't know about Tora and Tsuki; they weren't aware they were allies. His could barely keep up, but he had to continue. He had to help his new friends, before it was too late.