key: 'wolf speech' / "human speech"


NAIL III


"Come on, Nik, Kiba even made me save one for ya…" Hige tried to get her to eat the last rat they had caught earlier when fleeing into the sewers.

Nikki wrinkled her nose, "Thanks but no thanks. And anyway, you know you just want to eat it." She rolled her eyes at the pudgy wolf's slight pout before he gobbled up the last rat. She rubbed her knuckles gingerly as her thoughts drifted again to their encounter. "The flower scent is gone now, you know… Though that noble creeped the hell out of me." She mused.

Kiba huffed, "he knew we were wolves the second he looked at us."

"So why're we still moping around; let's go look for Paradise." Hige suggested if only to dispel the melancholic mood both wolves seemed to share.

"There has to be another way for us to get to Paradise, there must be." Nikki said thoughtfully.

"You were there, weren't you? That was our only way. Cheza is the Beacon that'll lead us to Paradise." Kiba countered as he looked at her.

Hige wondered if he was this deep a thinker all the time. "That freak said a lot of crazy stuff, didn't he? If you're thinking of going after him, you're out of your mind. He's a noble if I've ever seen one." He commented.

Kiba raised a brow in mild confusion, "'A noble'?"

"They're the lowest of the low among humans, yet they're also the most powerful. That's as far as I know anyway… Hige's got a point, though." Nikki explained as she scritched the back of her head.

"Maybe hanging around me as much as you have has made ya soft, princess…" Hige jested only to duck the rat tail she tossed at him with a growl in her throat, waving it off. "Anyway, just let it go, will you?" He suggested to the white wolf before stifling a yawn and lying on his side to await sleep.

Nikki rubbed her temples as it seemed only seconds before the tan wolf was snoring, and she exhaled. "The world must be coming to an end if I actually agreed with Hige…" She thought aloud.

"You felt it too, then." Kiba mused quietly, earning a look from her and he elaborated, "you felt her pain and sadness. I know you did."

Nikki bristled slightly at being under scrutiny from him and she quieted. "I didn't feel the earth move when I tackled you, so don't get your hopes up…"

"Nikki." He ground out in exasperation.

"… And if I say I felt it, then what?" She returned in an uncharacteristically small voice, making his ears twitch.

He refrained from pointing out that he was right after all, and he looked at the smelly water that streamed past their shelter to the rest of the sewer. "Then you understand more than what you've seen and heard about Paradise, and Cheza." He answered in an equally quiet tone.

She caught his pensive tone and ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe that's it, or maybe you threw me a bit too hard into that damn vent…" She mumbled.

"You're too bullheaded for something like that to dent that skull of yours." Kiba remarked wryly, moving his arm when she sought to slug him again. "Cute." He smiled innocently at her disgruntled look.

Her lower lip jutted out and she huffed as she curtly looked away, blowing strands of hair from her cheek. A pocket of silence fell between them before she commented in a soft voice, "It still doesn't explain the… nightmare I had, before we met her."

His ears twitched again and he looked at her to find she was looking elsewhere, particularly on the scuffs on her combat boots; his eyes tightened for a second. "What was it about?" He asked.

She relaxed against the wall and aimlessly kicked her feet. "My –rather, mine and Tsume's—pack was cut down years ago when we were still little. Some noble sent his men to 'cleanse' the forest of any wolves that night… Tsume and I were the only survivors." She explained in a still-soft voice.

Kiba's brow crinkled into a frown as he listened to her and momentarily took his own past into consideration, finding with surprise that maybe he had more in common with Tsume than he thought.

And with her.

Nikki huffed slightly at the memory, tucking one ankle behind the other, "Guess I knew then that this world was already shot to hell and would only continue to get shittier." She mused.

"Is that why you think about Paradise…?" Kiba wondered aloud, earning a glance from her.

She considered it before nodding. "Mum always told me that it was a beautiful place, flowers everywhere and that it would be peaceful… There was nothing like death and fear and sadness in Paradise. Maybe I've always felt I would go look for it one day when I was old enough. Guess it really is just a pup's dream after all…" She chuckled slightly.

"Only if you think it is." He calmly interrupted and made her look at him with slight surprise in her eyes. Their gazes met and he saw once again that childlike need to find the truth in her eyes, and he would admit he liked to see her brighten up at the very thought of Paradise. Maybe that's how he could come to befriend her. "If you think Paradise is more than what you've been led to think, than what your brother believes, then come with me." He would take her to Paradise… He didn't know how long it would take or how dangerous it would get, but he did know that they would find Paradise together.

"Kiba…" She looked away for a moment as heat crept into her cheeks at staring at him, giving a soft sigh in a measure of resignation to her emotions and what fate had dragged her into, and she looked up at him with determined eyes. "Together?" She asked.

He acknowledged the determined look that stole into her pretty face and brightened her eyes; his own eyes softened a bit and he nodded. "Together."

A particularly loud snore came from the sleeping tan wolf near them.

Both friends looked at each other for a moment before they shared a quiet chuckle.

::::x x::::

This place positively reeked and she hoped to the moon that the coast was clear above.

"Can you see anything…?" He asked from beneath their lookout.

She covered her mouth with the folded collar of her coat and seriously contemplated shoving both of them out of the damn manhole, cops or not…

"Nope, not much… Hey look, it's one of ours…!" He said chirpily as if there weren't two slowly suffocating wolves under him.

That's it
.

Kiba gave an involuntary yelp when being sharply headbutted in the rear which made him shove Hige out of the manhole and out into the open. "Oi!" He grumbled before looking at the one who had headbutted him as she scrambled out to take a refreshing intake of air, and he scowled at her. "What the hell was that for? That hurt!" He scolded.

"You try being the bottom man inside a damn sewer, then talk to me!" Nikki retorted as she made a flippant gesture to the manhole they had been shoved out of, straightening to her feet as both males gathered themselves.

Kiba pinched the bridge of his nose to refrain from dragging their little spat into an argument, shaking his head and looking away to see a set of wide gold eyes looked at them in bewilderment.

Nikki followed his line of sight and blinked before registering the brown wolf only feet away from them; he looked to be a pup from what she could tell, scrawny at best, and his big gold eyes held something like shock and awe and bewilderment as they ogled their odd trio. Her gaze softened slightly at meeting another wolf, much less a pup.

'Y-you guys are… no way!' The pup managed to get out.

Kiba caught the softened look on her face disappear as she looked past the new wolf and he followed her gaze to see a girl had walked in on them, if her shocked expression didn't speak enough volumes.

'Leara!' The pup said when hearing the girl come into the alley, turning to face her. His ears lowered in shame and he added, 'I'm sorry for what happened, about your bird…'

"She doesn't understand you, pup…" Nikki started to say when the girl screamed for her father, making the four wolves wince.

Kiba groaned a little at their luck and turned back to the sewage pipes, grabbing her hand in his and being the first to leave the scene, hearing her slight yelp and Hige as he shortly followed them with the pup at their heels.

"Where's the pup?" Nikki asked when she and Kiba had scrambled into one of the bigger pipes and dropped into a higher part of the sewers, looking at Hige when he joined them seconds later.

Hige started to answer when a slight yelp sounded from the pipe he'd entered through and the brown pup landed before them in a slight heap.

The pup rubbed his head gingerly with a hand as he had taken the guise of a teenager with brown hair and gold eyes that cracked open before he looked up at the trio with him in slight relief. "S-sorry about that…" He apologized meekly.

Nikki slightly shook her head and offered a hand of aid to him, letting him take her hand before she helped him up. "We've had worse. That could've been handled a bit smoother though, y'know." She nodded.

The pup offered a weak chuckle before slightly perking up when the white wolf started off down the sewers, the tan wolf following and the black wolf turned to follow their leave.

She looked at him, "Don't wanna stay here all day do you?" She asked, smiling lightly when the pup gave a slight shake of the head and trotted after them until he walked at her heels. "So, you got a name?" She wondered of their newest addition.

"E-eh, oh yeah! I'm Toboe." The pup answered with a slightly sheepish rub of his neck, smiling at the older wolf.

She nodded, "Good name. I'm Nikki, the fluffy pudge is Hige, and the perpetually distant jerk is Kiba." She introduced with a serene smile back at the pup who chuckled at her tags.

"'Fluffy pudge'!" Hige echoed with a hurt sniff.

"'Perpetually distant jerk'…?" Kiba deadpanned, scowling slightly at her over his shoulder, "Then don't mind her, she's perpetually impossible." He said to the pup.

"Shut it, wonder boy!" Nikki snapped irritably, glaring daggers at his back when he faced forward again.

Toboe failed to cover up another laugh at the odd couple's antics, looking at their supposed leader at the helm as he asked, "So where're you guys headed?"

"Where do you think, runt? The exit!" Hige huffed lightly, ignoring the pup's pout at his new nickname.

Nikki whacked the back of his head on reflex, "He means that we're leaving town."

"Then where're you going?" Toboe wondered.

"To Paradise." Kiba informed calmly from the front as if that were the easiest answer in the world.

"'Paradise'…" Toboe paused then, causing Nikki and Hige to also stop and look at him, and he asked them, "Hey, do you guys know Tsume?"

"'Tsume'?" Kiba echoed thoughtfully.

Nikki sighed slightly, "Regrettably."

"Why'd you ask?" Hige wondered.

"The wolf with the scar on his chest?" Kiba clarified for the pup.

"Yeah, that's him, all right!" Toboe brightened up at that, throwing the she-wolf off for a second.

She'd never met anyone who thought so highly of her brother before…

"Okay, what about him?" Kiba asked as he looked back at the youngest.

Toboe's bright expression faltered and he glanced down at his boots, "W-well I figured that if we're leaving, maybe he'd wanna come along too…" He answered.

Nikki started to answer when noting Kiba's attention was drawn to something on the cement landing under one manhole feet away as he crouched to examine that something, and she shrugged past Hige who had turned to the pup to step up to the white wolf's side. Her ears twitched as she caught whiff of her brother's blood, and while it was faint, she could tell it wasn't too long he had been down there. She looked up at the world above and beyond the manhole and growled slightly in frustration with her sibling. "Geez, onii-san…" She muttered.

"He can't be far off." Kiba mused as he looked up at her.

"I know where he is." Nikki replied with a slight nod, letting him stand to his feet before she led the way further into the sewers with her brother's scent in her nose, distantly hearing Kiba at her heels as they went.

::::x x::::

His arm still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as earlier… His ears twitched as he heard voices approaching the door of the run-down complex he'd hidden himself in, and he hopped to his feet in preparation to fight or run.

"… What a crapheap, why would he hide out in here of all places?" The tan wolf scoffed as the door opened so the four wolves piled in with the white wolf in the lead.

"You?" The gray wolf began in surprise.

"Tsume!" The black wolf beamed at seeing him present, embracing her brother who reflexively hugged back, before she stepped away a little to smack his chest with a hand. "You moron!" She scolded.

Tsume winced at her gesture and rubbed his chest gingerly, "I missed you too… Where in hell have you been? I caught your scent at the police station…" He asked.

"It's a long story…" Nikki replied with a slightly sheepish glance elsewhere.

"We could smell the blood from your wound all the way from town." Kiba chose that inconvenient moment to open his mouth; he ignored the sharp glance from the lone she-wolf as his gaze was set on her brother.

Tsume's nose wrinkled at seeing the white wolf again, huffing, "And what about it? Don't intend to nurse me back to health, do you? I don't need you, especially since you're sniffing after my baby sister!" He said bitingly.

Nikki's cheeks colored as Kiba's face also colored behind her and she shook her head to scowl at her brother, "Tsume, that's not what happened, Kiba and I didn't do anything…" She began patiently.

"And you, I can't turn my back for one damn second without catching wind of you getting in trouble. You're not a puppy anymore, Nikki, you know how things go." Tsume turned to scold her, scowling at her exasperated look.

"Look, Tsume, we're all leaving the city, and I really think you should come with us…" Toboe interrupted before an argument could ensue between the siblings.

Tsume shot a mild look at the pup before acknowledging the tan wolf near him and he looked at the white and black wolves as he asked sardonically, "So where is this merry band going?"

"To Paradise." Kiba answered calmly, not missing the sharp glance extended to the she-wolf at his side.

"You're kidding, you actually believe in that crap?" Tsume snorted slightly in disbelief, adding flippantly, "I wouldn't put it past you to brainwash those two, but my sister? That's pretty low even for you." He glared at the white wolf again.

"For God's sake…" Nikki began.

Toboe put in again, "If we stay here, we'll have to spend the rest of our lives in hiding or worse! We just can't live with humans anymore and survive." His face darkened as he thought of that girl.

Hige piped up from standing near the windows, "I hate to interrupt but we've got company."

Nikki glanced out past him at the patch of grassy earth littered with police and her nose wrinkled, "Idiotic humans." She muttered.

"Let me ask you guys something: why did you come to this city in the first place? It was because of the flower scent wasn't it…? Well the scent is gone now, so there's no reason to stay." Kiba asked of the room at large, noting only the she-wolf glanced at him when he looked to the four wolves present.

Tsume gave an indifferent scoff, "The flower scent has nothing to do with it. I'm here because I belong, and so is she." He shot a look at his sister when she scowled.

"I can see that, this city is a dump. But your sister is different… She wants to go to Paradise, and she's coming with me." Kiba retorted flatly.

"I've still got a score to settle with you…" Tsume growled out as he glowered at the younger male, taking a step closer to him despite the exasperated comment from the tan wolf and the forehead-slap the black wolf exhibited in the background. "The last time we met you mentioned something about how your pride wouldn't let you pass for a human. You look damn-well human to me… Where'd you pride go?" He asked coolly.

"Nowhere, because nothing's changed." Kiba answered flatly.

Tsume bristled slightly at the thought of his sister purposefully putting herself in whatever dangers the wild had for her, and he asked him, "Do you have the slightest idea of what'll happen if you leave the city? You'll die." He never showed it openly, but he did care about his baby sister, and he would be damned if some hotshot brainwashed her into getting killed out there.

"Possibly… Death is a natural part of life, but if your life has no purpose, then you're already dead." Kiba stated.

Whatever Tsume sought to retort next was silenced when bright lights from the police below shone in on the room and made the five wolves recognize their time was up.

The five then found themselves racing to the nearest and temporarily-safest exit before a sea of bullets rained on them from their pursuers when they reached the long pipework that led from the ruined part of the city to the outskirts.

A bullet whizzed past her ear and she slightly winced at nearly being shot, looking over her shoulder at the lower pipes to see her brother drop back to help the pup from having slipped off the pipe, and she smiled slightly before picking up the pace as she ran at the white wolf's heels.

With relief on most if not all the five's part, they at last reached the outskirts and the high wall that steeply dropped onto a lower shelf of concrete.

Nikki looked down as Hige and Kiba had dropped first and she looked back at the city, ignoring the caterwauling of the sirens that were so close as the chilled winds played with her hair, and she huffed.

It was starting to feel like a cage anyway… And she hated cages.

The she-wolf hopped off the ledge to land nimbly in a crouch near the two wolves, straightening to smile wryly at them. She looked up when a yelp came from the pup as said wolf dropped to land unceremoniously on his rear near her; she rolled her eyes at her brother's forcefulness and looked up at him as he lingered on the ledge. "Tsume, hurry up!" She called.

"Are you scared?" Kiba asked the gray wolf as the winds calmed slightly around them.

Tsume smirked ruefully at the younger male's jab, looking down at his sister who looked up at him with hopeful blue eyes, and he huffed. "You wish." He hopped over the ledge.


an: what's up guys, no new views and stuff? ouch.. anyway, not much else to put so later.