AN: Sorry for the EXTREMELY extended vacation. I've been outrageously sick, busy, and lazy. Not necessarily in that order. I'm sorry if any of the readers missed it. ^^;
(Demyx POV)
Panting heavily, I struggled to keep up, but steadily fell behind. Axel ran not too far ahead, and Saix ran practically abreast to Xemnas. Groaning, I pushed myself a bit harder, gaining a little ground on the older wolves. I started to fall behind rapidly though, but Saix seemed to have noticed my distress. He edged closer to Xemnas and spoke into his ear, at least it appeared that way, and we ground to a halt. I collapsed heavily on my side, taking deep slow breaths.
Saix loomed over me, an exasperated look on his face. "You okay, pup?" he growled lowly, nudging me with one large paw.
I groaned, then jacked myself into a sitting position, reaching up with my hind leg and scratching my ear before looking flatly at Saix. "I'm fine. And my name's not Pup! It's Demyx. Demyx Toboe..." I grumbled in annoyance, ears going flat as I whined in displeasure.
Axel snickered and sauntered over to where Saix and I rested, smacking me in the face with his spiky red tail. "Whatever, kid. You done catchin' yer breath? Can we go? Or you tired still? I wanna get a move on so we can find something to eat. I'm starving," Axel moaned, ears and hair spikes drooping noticably.
Biting back a sharp retort, I growled and pinned my own ears back, but stood and stretched, prepping to take off again. "Okay, I'm ready. I'm getting hungry, too..." I murmured softly, tail sweeping slowly.
Xemnas gave us a cursory glance, then charged forward again. I sprang after in pursuit, Saix dashing alongside as Axel swept forward until he was just behind the white wolf. This was going to be a looooong trip.
~*GUESSWHAT?*~
(Axel POV)
I loped easily along behind Xemnas, sniffing the air occasionally with a hopeful expression. After a good couple hours of swiftly traversing the relatively flat, barren landscape a scent carried across the wind to my nose. My ears perked and I licked my chops. "Hey guys, I smell food," I barked loud enough for everyone to hear, before veering away from the course and heading for a group of hills.
I could hear two sets of paws peel away to follow me, then the more hesitant turning of what I assumed to be Xemnas. They followed me for a few leagues, before I led them to the crest of a hill, where the carcass of some deer-like animal lay. It looked a little old, but was still relatively fresh, so I started to dig in eagerly. After all, who knew when we would eat next?
Xemnas and Saix stopped on either side of the carcass, burying their muzzles in the stringy flesh and tearing quietly at the meat, but Demyx hung back, lip curled in disdain. "Is that even good to eat?" he asked curiously, a hint of disgust showing on his face.
I paused in the middle of a large bite, swallowing the chunk before giving him an exasperated look. "Look, kid. This is what we got. If you want something better, by all means, go look for it. You most likely won't find nothin', so either eat now, or starve till we find more," I said simply, taking another bite and leaving the conversation to die.
Demyx bristled at being called a kid, but stepped forward anyways, and joined us in the frugal meal we hastily ripped through. I was thankful of my red coat, since it hid the color of blood on my muzzle and paws, though the color shown starkly on the blue, white, and blonde pelts of my comrades. After a few minutes of rapid snapping and swallowing, the carcass was no more than a huddle of tooth-scarred bones. I sighed in content, though I was still hungry, and looked to Xemnas. The other two imitated my look toward our undisputed leader, and the white wolf took the hint, turning and leading us further into the quiet wasteland of snow and the occasional hill.
~*(DIDYAGUESS?)*~
(Saix POV)
I kept quiet for the remainder of our jaunt across the barren tundra, occasionally looking back at the smallest of our impromptu pack. Demyx seemed to struggle to keep up, and I notified Xemnas of this on occasion though he barely registered my comments half the time. I spent a good deal of time running close to the younger wolf, ensuring he did not fall behind.
Axel seemed rather bored of the whole thing, though he continued to run easily enough. He wasn't much older than Demyx, but treated the younger as if he were no more than a cub, causing the blonde to become distressed, which hardly helped matters. He would occasionally call some snide remark over his shoulder to Demyx, causing the pup to bristle and try to speed up and catch Axel. His endeavors never succeeded, but he tried.
We ran on for several days and nights, rarely halting unless Xemnas himself felt the need to rest. I didn't question his decisions, though the youngest two seemed rather exhausted. I decided to ask him about it on one of our rests, while traveling through a graveyard from a war. I glanced around at the eerie skeletons of tanks and other machines as I stood beside Xemnas. "Xemnas," I began quietly, glancing at the taller wolf sideways,"why do you run so hard? Axel and Demyx have difficulty keeping up at times. Can we not take it easy so that we may be fresh in case we run into trouble?"
The white wolf stiffened, turning toward me with an angry expression. "No!" he hissed through his teeth, "We can't take it easy! We have to find Namine! Only she can help us find Paradise! Don't question my judgement!"
I pinned my ears back and scowled at him in return. "If you're going to be like that, I see no reason to stay with this pack."
With that, I turned away and loped off, weaving through the littered maze of metal, glass, and stone. I felt Demyx' eyes on my back, though I steeled myself to continue on my way. I continued for a good while, faltering slightly after stepping on an odd lump that clicked eerily. I thought nothing of it however, and continued on my way, oblivious to the slowly awakening machine behind me.
~*(CMONREALLY?ISITTHATHARDTOGUESS?)*~
(Demyx POV)
I watched Saix run off, feeling extremely uncomfortable now that it was just me and the other two. "Should-shouldn't we go after him?" I whined softly, looking pleadingly at Axel and Xemnas.
The older wolves paid me no heed, though Xemnas commented before taking off. "He went off on his own. It's his own problem now."
I watched Axel follow Xemnas quietly, before turning and following Saix' footprints through the dust and into the heart of the skree. I soon lost his tracks after a small hole in the ground, amd this prompted me to take my human form and climb to the top of a mishappen tower, string hopefully across the ravaged land before me. "SAAAAAAAAAAAIX!" I howled, pausing and listening expectantly for a response of some sort, though none came back.
I waited a moment and called again, crying plainitively to the blue wolf, who continued to not answer. I listened hard for any sound, though nothing reached my ears save the soft sounds of whirring and clicking in the distance. I sighed and looked around again, before howling one last time. "SAAAAAAIIIIIX!"
~*(YOUGUESSEDIT!PAGEBREAK!)*~
(3rd person POV)
The metallic behemoth stirred to life, its hibernation of decades disturbed by the unwitting paws of two wolves. It did not know who had awakened it, nor would it care, being nothing more than a killing machine built by humans to fight a war that was over. It rose from the crumbling ground around it, looking like an ungainly steel bug. It swept the area with a small camera, pausing and looking up as it heard strange howls from above. The heat signature of a person showed on its screens, and a rifle popped out of a crusty chamber, taking aim at the small figure. Another howl sounded from the lone sillouhette, and the war machine fired.
The figure fell, and did not rise.
A/N: OOOO! Cliffy~! No worries. I'm getting to work on the next chapter, so pleeeeeeeease forgive my absence? I'll give you a cookie? :D Or your own story...? D: (Also had to go back and actually write the fifth chapter, upon realizing I had mislabeled this and cut out a massive portion of PLOT)