I'm so sorry this has taken so long! I had messed up this chapter a few months ago and then just didn't want to type anymore. But now I hope this chapter will make you all hate me a little less.

Sorry about the unavailable picture in the last chapter. If you want to see it, just e-mail me or ask for it in your review and I'll send it to you.

Wolf's Rain © BONES
Fae, Kai, all other OCs © Redmoonfae

Enjoy!

Damn this tunnel is long…

Fae panted lightly as they continued running. They had already stopped to rest once and that must have been hours ago. It was impossible to tell time in a dark tunnel. They hadn't had a single whiff of fresh air since they had first climbed down with Zali. Hige had started complaining about his stomach before their rest and Toboe was just tired. Tsume kept going without complaint, as did Kiba. Fae was uneasy about this. After his beating he shouldn't just keep going like this. She mentally sighed, annoyed. She glanced to her left for about the hundredth time where Hige ran. Kai still lay on his wide back, comfortably snoozing. Fae had tried to get him to come back to her or Toboe at least but he had refused, saying he was far too comfortable.

Whatever. His own damn fault if he was eaten.

She then glanced to her right to see Toboe lagging a little behind, panting hard. Fae rolled her eyes but slowed down for him, just enough so that he could run abreast with her.

"Hey guys, how much longer?" Toboe whined, ears falling back in fatigue.

"Yeah, how much further? I'm starvinnggg!" Hige chimed in.

"It can't be much further." Kiba said without looking back.

"Would you both quit complaining for once?" Tsume growled.

Both Toboe and Hige stopped whining but muttered to themselves. Fae kept silent and kept running steadily ahead. She didn't know how much more time passed. At some point during that time, Hige had sped up and was ahead of her now, head in the air and nose twitching. Fae was in a daze, running automatically now while she took a mental snooze. Suddenly Hige came to a stop. Fae yelped as she leapt to the side just in time, skidding in the hard dirt of the tunnel. She was about to snap at him when he spoke.

"Hey! You smell that? Fresh air!" Hige cried excitedly.

Kiba and Tsume also came to a stop up ahead. Both their noses were also now in the air and scenting for the alleged fresh air. Fae lifted her maw tentatively, sniffing softly. She thought she might smell it…but she couldn't be sure, it was so faint.

'This way!" Hige started running off in the direction they had already been going.

The other wolves followed him, trusting his nose to find the way out. They ran for a while longer before Hige slowed. His nose wuffled at the air nosily. Finally he trotted over to the left side of the tunnel and sniffed at the wall for a while there. Before everyone lost their temper, Hige yipped in joy.

"Its right here! The smell is coming from right here!" Hige began to dig at the wall with his big paws, throwing clumps of dirt over at everyone.

"Not that I'm doubting your huge nose, but that's a wall, porky." Tsume said sarcastically.

"Yeah Hige, how could fresh air be coming from the wall…?" Toboe muttered, cocking his head to the side.

"You're telling me you can't smell that??" Hige scoffed disbelievingly.

"Our noses aren't as fat as yours." Fae yawned, getting agitated now.

Kiba stayed silent, still scenting the air. He walked over to where Hige dug and smelt around there. "He's right. It's really soft, but its fresh air." he confirmed.

The other three stared bewildered as Kiba also began to dig at the wall. Toboe hurried over after a moment and dug excitedly. Fae followed more sedately, digging slowly before speeding up when she could also smell the freshness. Tsume grumbled before lending his claws as well.

No one knew how long they dug for, it felt like a while. They had made a very large half circle dent in the wall, a large pile of dirt forming behind them. Toboe was becoming tired and his digging slowed. Hige's stomach was grumbling loudly and his digging slowed with every noise. Fae, Tsume, and Kiba kept digging, either from believing they were close to their goal or they were just persistent. Fae growled as they dug more and more and there seemed to be no end. Her lips curled back in a snarl as she lifted her paw and swiped angrily at the earth. She blinked back tears as sunlight streamed through the hole right into her face. She closed her eyes and shook her head, pawing at her face.

"Damn! I'm blind." She growled angrily.

Tsume smirked, silently laughing. "Well atleast we'll be able to see the outside thanks to your sacrifice." He drawled sarcastically.

Fae snarled and swiped at him half heartedly, eyes still shut in pain. When she did finally open them, she could only see green spots and darkness, barely able to make out the outline of her companions. She could hear atleast. She heard the guys digging at the hole she made, making it bigger and bigger. She blinked a few times until her vision was returned to normal, then she helped with the digging once more. After a while they sat back and took a rest, all five completely caked in dirt and mud. The hole was much larger now, but still too small for them.

Kai, who had been lying sedately off to the side now stood and stretched. He trotted up the dirt slope up to the hole and leapt through. Hige stared disbelieving at the hole where the small fox had just been.

"What the-did he just-what!? We do all the work and he just runs off!? I knew I should've eaten him…" Hige was grumbling annoyed, but stopped when Fae snarled dangerously.

"Don't be jealous you'll have to stay down here for a few more days until its finally big enough for you to get through." Fae shrugged with a smirk.

"Of course you'd stick up for him-hey!" Hige growled when he registered the insult. He was about to go after her when Toboe stepped in between them.

"Hey! C'mon guys, don't fight. We're all just tired and hungry…" He tried to reason.

"Toboe, see if you can fit through now. You can dig from the outside while we dig in here." Kiba said before anyone else spoke.

Toboe looked up at Kiba then the hole. "Um…isn't Fae smaller…?" he asked shakily. Being on the other side, alone, in a place they'd never been, didn't really appeal to him.

"Nope." Hige smirked.

Fae snapped at his maw and Hige jumped back. He snorted and pawed at his delicate nose.

"Get goin' runt. We don't wanna die in here." Tsume growled.

Toboe gulped before walking uncertainly to the hole. He stuck his front paws through then his head. He dug into the dirt with his claws, pulling himself with his front paws and pushing with his back. He wiggled for a while before he was finally through, the hole slightly bigger from his thrashing. He grinned wolfily before he looked around. He stood in a big, empty plain, yellow grass sprouting everywhere. Toboe's ears perked up, listening for any sound. He gulped before turning back toward the hole. He started digging fervently to the side of the hole, making it wider.

Fae and the three remaining boys started digging once more. It was easier now with more space for them to fit in. It wasn't long before the hole was big enough for Fae. She stuck her front paws and head out, pulling and pushing like Toboe had done. She heard Hige mutter something behind her and snicker. She growled, lifting her back paw and smacking him squarely in the jaw. She knew she had hit him when he yelped, going into an angry tangent. She was finally out in the dimming sunlight. She yawned and stretched, shaking off some dirt.

"Long time no see." Fae said to Toboe.

Toboe grinned, silently laughing. They got to work digging once more. It was getting darker when the hole was big enough for Tsume and Kiba. They all worked to get it bigger for Hige, making it take longer then was necessary as a joke. Finally, when it was completely dark outside, Hige was out. Fae looked up at the sky with a frown on her face.

"Geeze, if we didn't have to get you out, we could've had some fun in the sun…" Fae said with a mock sigh, rubbing her arms.

Hige snorted and rolled his eyes, glaring at her back. He yelped when he felt something climb up his back and jump onto his shoulder. "Gaah!! What the!?" he whirled around to see what it was; not realizing Kai was propped up on his shoulder. When he stopped moving, Kai leapt from his shoulder into Fae's arms.

"Hey, there you are. Where did you go?" Fae asked suspiciously.

"There is a storm coming. I found shelter big enough for all of you." He replied. He leapt out of her arms and began trotting off in a seemingly random direction.

"Shelter? In this place? Hmph." Tsume shook his head pessimistically.

"Oh shut it. If he says he found something he did." Fae sighed, following after Kai. She looked up at the sky worriedly. She hated storms.

Kiba and Toboe followed after her then were followed by Hige and Tsume. They walked for what seemed like forever. The heavens opened up before they made it to any kind of shelter; all five were soaked in seconds. Fae growled and pushed sopping hair out of her face.

"Yo, we anywhere near the shelter?" she snapped at Kai. He didn't respond but went faster.

It was miserable going. The field turned into mud in minutes, huge puddles forming everywhere. Low rumbling shook the sky, the wind picked up violently. The tall grass turned into wips, lashing at the pack's faces and bodies ceaselessly. The roaring of the wind made an eerie chorus for the melody of the pounding rain. Fae pushed against the wind and grabbed Kai up, just taking his directions now.

"Real reliable he is..." Tsume growled eyes half shut against the wind.

"Shut it. He says we're almost there." Fae snapped back at him. She tried to keep her voice from shaking, glancing up at the sky every now and then.

"You know, I'm gettin' real tired of your attitude." Tsume snarled slowly.

Fae turned towards him with her lips curled back and wolf's teeth showing. "If you're so damn tired, do something about it, X man." Fae barked.

"Sounds damn good to me." Tsume sneered taking a few steps closer to her.

"H-hey guys! Cut it out! We're all just hungry and tired. When we get to the shelter we'll get dry and rest and-" Toboe's words fell on deaf ears as Fae and Tsume started circling each other.

Hige stood behind Toboe and hit him not so lightly on the head. "Don't bother kid. Those two have been itching for a fight since day one. This should be good. Personally, I'm voting Fae kicks his ass." Hige said with a wide smirk.

Toboe looked up at him disbelievingly. "B-but they're both get hurt! Kiba! Can't you stop them?" Toboe whined, looking over at Kiba with pleading eyes.

Kiba watched the two circle with a crease between his brows. "Even if I stopped them now, they'd still fight eventually. It's better for them to get it out now." He finally said slowly, thinking about his words.

Just as the two were able to go at it, a bolt of lightning struck down only yards away from them. The noise was enough to shatter the ear drums of a human, let alone a wolf. All five wolves faltered at the noise, grabbing at their ears and grimacing. The very air seemed to rattle with the sound. Finally, the noise died out and the five wolves slowly began to regain their senses. Then another bolt struck down. Toboe yelped and fell to the ground on his knees, scratching at his ears.

"Enough. We need to leave. Now." Kiba commanded after the noise was beginning to die away.

Tsume and Fae glared at each other but both relented, silently agreeing to continue the fight another time. Kai leapt down from a rock he had been waiting on and nipped at Fae's ankle. She looked down and nodded, picking him up and heading at a fast jog to where he directed. The boys followed quickly, dodging deep puddles and shuddering every time a bolt struck close by.

After what seemed like hours they entered a forest and now had to dodge trees. No one took notice of landmarks or animal signs, they ran heedlessly, leaping and twisting to avoid rocks and trees. Finally Kai gave the halt. Fae looked around, confused. Finally Kai leapt down from her arms and trotted over to what seemed to be an overgrown clump of bushes and weeds. But the little fox darted into the thicket. Fae carefully went over and pushed the branches away with her maw. Her tail wagged faintly as she ducked inside the den like structure.

"Where the hell did she go?" Hige asked in an incredulous manner.

"You can't be that stupid." Tsume said shaking his head with a sigh.

"It's a den! I hope its dry…" Toboe said as he hurried into the thicket.

"I don't care if a rabid badgers in there. I just want to be out of this rain!" Hige hurried into the den, squeezing himself in.

Kiba waited for Tsume to go in before he did himself, aiming to put himself at the mouth of the den to keep watch for anything. But Tsume shook his head and snorted.

"I wanna be as far away from that bitch as I can." He said with a growl.

Kiba nodded and went into the den, followed shortly by Tsume who stayed close to the entrance.

The inside of the den was more than a little uncomfortable to fit five wolves and a fox into. As the other boys had come in, Toboe had been forced to lay his front legs over Fae's back and Hige was equally forced to rest his head on Toboe's back. Kiba and Tsume were able to keep their pride as Tsume lay very close to the entrance, enough so he could stick his head and let the overhanging dirt roof and branches keep him dry. Kiba was himself tucked up against Hige's side, but not uncomfortably so.

It was warm atleast.

"This is the foxe's idea of a good place to sleep? Geeze…this sucks." Hige muttered, shifting around and shuffling everyone.

"Then you and your fat ass can get out and we'll all be more comfortable." Fae snapped angrily. It was uncomfortable having Toboe lying on top of her, and not just because he was all bones and sharp angles.

"No need to be so testy.." Hige muttered, snorting and laying his head on Toboe's back dejectedly. The roof was too low for him to keep his head raised.

"Please guys…let's not fight for once. This place is too small…" Toboe mumbled. He kept shifting his upper weight on Fae's back, digging his bony shoulder in her spine. He kept muttering "sorry" and "opps.."

Fae fought to keep her temper. She decided to just close her eyes and lay her head down on the cool dirt of the den, each exhalation stirring up fur and dirt. She picked her head up again and then sniffed at the ground some more. She was about to voice her concern when Kiba beat her to it.

"Fae, is Kai sure this den is unoccupied?" he asked, looking at her in the darkness, yellow eyes glowing.

Kai yawned and shook himself where he lay between Fae's paws. "Yes yes, its fine. The inhabitant has visited here in a while." He yawned widely with a fox yip and rolled himself over, falling asleep very quickly.

"We should move out when the rain dies down." Kiba said after a moment of thought. He looked to the entrance where Tsume lay sullenly, seemingly asleep. He finally lowered his head to the earth and let his eyes shut, sides heaving in and out in sleep.

Hige had also fallen asleep, snoring lightly. Toboe was still shifting himself on Fae before he finally seemed comfortable. He lay mostly over her shoulders; paws draped over her other side and rested his head on his legs.

"Night." He said with a jaw cracking yawn.

Fae made no reply but knew he was already asleep anyway. She sighed and lay her head back down, careful not to lay her head on Kai. She sighed deeply and finally let her eyelids flutter shut in much needed sleep.

888888888888888888888888888888

Fae awoke with a start to sound of vicious hissing and snarling. She suddenly felt much more claustrophobic. Her eyes snapped open to see that Tsume had backed up deeper into the den, pushing Kiba back into Hige and Hige into herself and Toboe.

"What the hell!?" Hige snapped awake, trying to stand and banging his head on the roof.

"Fucking badger!" Tsume snarled. He growled loudly and snapped at the other creature, the badger, that was hissing and growling. Finally he bulldozed his way through, taking the badger with him.

Kiba was quick to follow, zipping out of the den like a blur. Hige made no move, still too sleep dazed, trapping Fae and Toboe in as well. Fae growled and pushed hard against Toboe into Hige.

"Move! Movemovemove!!" she yelled angrily.

Finally Hige belly crawled out of the den, squeezing into the open. Fae jostled Toboe out who still had not moved and hurried out of the den and was surprised by what she saw. Kiba and Tsume were on either side of a massive badger. Fae hadn't seen many, but she knew they never usually got that big.

It was whipping back and forth to snap at Kiba and Tsume in turn. Hige stood off to the side, licking his chops hungrily.

As the badger whirled on Tsume, Kiba leapt in and grabbed it by the neck, lifting it off the ground just barely and slamming it back to the ground. The badger ceased moving, its neck broken, its face forever frozen in a vicious scowl.

Hige yipped happily and hurried over to the new meal. Fae stepped in his Fae and curled her lip back. Hige backed away with his ears down dejectedly. He knew it was Kiba's right to eat first, but he was soo hungry he couldn't help himself.

Kiba bit into the badger, making the scent of blood and food permeate the air as Toboe came out of the den, eyes bugging out of his head at the food. Tsume began to eat, followed by Fae, Hige, and then Toboe joined in. The badger was exactly a meal for five hungry wolves, but it was good enough. Fae licked her chops contentedly, the pangs of hunger subdued for now atleast.

Hige finished his last morsal and sighed. "Man, I wish that had been a deer or something…" he said wistfully.

"I'm just glad we finally got to eat." Toboe said cheerfully licking his chops.

"We should split up and see if we can find anything else to eat before he head out again." Kiba said, looking into the woods.

The others all agreed and they headed out. Hige, Tsume, and Kiba all went separate ways, but Toboe tagged along with Fae.

They walked through the forest quietly, paws making little crunching noises on the leaves. The wind jostled the leaves gently, but other than the small 'clinkclink' of Toboe's bracelets, there was no other sound.

Fae kept her eyes pealed for any movement and her ears flickered back and forth to catch any noise. Toboe did the same, or more like tried to do the same. He became distracted very easily, running to chase some smell or hurrying off to examine something more closely. After he accidently spooked out some quail and failed to catch one, Fae had had enough.

"What do you think your doing? We're trying to find food, not alert everything in the woods wolves are here!" she growled.

Toboe walked slowly back to her, ears back in embarrassment. When he came close enough, Fae wacked him on the side with her paw.

"I'm sorry…it's just…I've never been in a forest before." He muttered, scratching at the ground.

Fae blinked at him disbelievingly. "Really? Your not joking? Wow…"

Toboe nodded and they both continued walking forward. "Granny found me outside the entrance to the city I lived in. After…she died…I just stayed in the city. I've never seen so many trees so close together!" he perked up and his tail wagged, finding new excitement in the trees, the moss, and the leaves.

Fae listened to him talk, nodding to herself. Kai lay on her back, lending his own eyes and ears to finding a meal. He fidgeted and stood, leaping off her back and darting into the bushes. Fae glanced to where he ran off but otherwise paid no mind to him.

"So where did you used to live Fae? I mean, besides the city." Toboe asked, looking over at her.

Fae's step faltered for a second but she continued walking. "I…used to live in a forest like this one. But the trees were much bigger and more…alive." She started, looking up at the trees with their semi dead branches and crooked trunks. It was eerie to say the least.

"Wow…if you lived in such a nice place, why did you move to the city?" Toboe asked with a cocked head.

Fae's head drooped at the memory. "Well…my pack-"

"Get ready!"

Both Fae and Toboe stopped and looked in the direction Kai's shout had come from. Suddenly three plump pheasants ran through the brush in panic. Fae stared for a moment before with a snarl she leapt into a chase after one of the birds. Toboe blinked and made a bark like noise before running after another bird.

Toboe had never really hunted before aside from fighting off crows to eat garbage. The thrill of the hunt was exhilarating. He ran fast, claws digging into the dirt of the ground. He had eyes only for the prey which darted and flapped in drunken zig zags. Twice he had almost caught it before it had changed its direction. Toboe didn't even notice that as he ran the forest was thining out dramatically.

Suddenly, the pheasant seemed to trip for a second. Toboe lunged out of instinct and grabbed the bird in his mouth. He had missed the neck, but had a firm grip on his left side. He skidded to a stop, kicking up dirt and other debris. The bird squawked and made other horrible dying noises and Toboe playfully shook the bird in his mouth. Finally the bird stopped fighting and drooped.

Toboe let the bird drop to the ground carefully, tongue and lips working to get out feathers stuck in his teeth. He panted happily, looking down at his prey. He lifted his head and howled, unable to keep it in.

After a few moments fae trotted onto the scene with two birds in her mouth. Kai trotted beside her, play nipping at the dead birds. She dropped her birds next to Toboe's and sat down. She pawed at Toboe's head and gave a wolfy grin.

"I didn't think you had it in you." Fae said in an appraising voice.

"Hey! I can hunt too." He looked down to see the three birds and his ears drooped. "Aw…you caught two." He mumbled sadly.

Fae rolled her eyes and nudged one of the birds. "It was nothing. This one was just dumb and the other's leg was messed up." She said. She was only telling half the truth, but she didn't want him to feel bad about only getting one of the birds.

Toboe nodded, mood lifted somewhat, when his stomach grumbled. He looked at his own bird with hungry eyes, licking his lips.

Fae looked at him and then glanced over her shoulder, ears perked. She turned to face forward and picked up Toboe's bird and dragged it off a little ways away. "C'mon. You earned this one. Chow down. And if the guys give you any crap about it I'll swap them in the faces." She said with a wolf smirk.

Toboe smiled and trotted over to where Fae had brought the pheasants. He bit into it, making funny faces when his face became full of feathers. Fae barked a laugh. Toboe licked his newly bloodied chops and nudged the pheasant over to Fae with his nose.

"You eat and Kai eat too. This bird's fat!" he said, grinning happily.

"Thought you'd never offer." Fae said with mock sadness.

Fae, Toboe, and Kai devoured the bird within minutes, leaving only the bones and feathers. Many, many feathers.

Fae snorted at the feathers stuck all around her maw. One tickled her nose and she sneezed loudly, shaking her head afterwards. Toboe laughed loudly at this until Fae swatted him in the nose.

"C'mon, lets find a stream or something to wash these off in." Fae said, shaking her head again to try and dislodge some feathers. She trotted over and grabbed one of the other pheasants and Toboe grabbed the other. Kai leapt onto Fae's back and curled up to sleep.

The two wolves padded through the now sparse forest, scenting the air for water. Fae stopped when she smelt something familiar.

"Stop. I smell humans." She said lowly.

Toboe stopped in mid step and then walked backwards. He smelt at the air too until he caught the scent. "I wonder if there's a city around here…" he said to himself.

"Well, just to be safe…" Fae walked forward slowly, holding the pheasant in her hand. She moved her hair with the other hand to hide Kai better from view. Toboe walked slowly behind her, combat boots making clunking noises on the dirt. Finally they came to a place where the forest opened up completely onto what looked like cliff walls. But the walls weren't made of walls at all; they were buildings. Very run down and right on the cliff race, probably built into the cliff itself.

They walked slowly and carefully, peering around at the buildings. Fae lifted her head to scent the air better when she smelt something else besides humans. The reached forward and grabbed Toboe's arm, and flung him back just as bullets rained down on them. She put her arms up to try and block some of them. Toboe lay on the ground behind her dazed, covering his face.

"Run!" Fae yelled. She reached back and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him to the right. He took off in that direction as Fae took off in the other.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Hige, Tsume, and Kiba stopped as they heard faint gunshots coming from the same direction as Hige's howl. They had all found at least something to eat but only Kiba had found something else to bring along with him for the rest of them; a fairly large gopher was between his jowls. Hige had been eyeing it since they had all caught up with each other. But now Kiba put the rodent down and looked in the direction the shots had come from.

"We have to hurry." He said.

They took off running toward the sound, dodging trees and rocks just as they had when they first entered the forest.

"Gaah…leave it to Toboe to get shot at in the middle of the woods…" Hige groaned, shaking his head.

"Heh…stupid pup." Tsume muttered.

They ran until the forest began to thing out. Kiba stopped them and walked around the semi clearing. He knelt down to look at a mass of feather and bones laying on the ground.

"Toboe and Fae were here. They must have kept going in that direction." Kiba said as he stood and looked toward the opposite side of the clearing. "Let's go."

With that, they were off again. It wasn't much longer until they came to the mass of cliff buildings.

"What can you smell Hige?" Kiba asked. They all smelt the humans, but Hige's nose was the best at picking out separate scents.

"Those two were defiantly here. And look…there's some blood on the ground." Hige knelt down and looked at the blood, nose twitching. His eyes opened wide and he stood quickly. "I smell gunpowder!"

Just as he said this, the humans hiding in the buildings opened fire on the three wolves.

"Shi-" Tsume took off in a random direction, as did Hige and Kiba. They all heard a human shout, "OUTSIDERS, GO HOME!"

888888888888888888888888888888888888

Fae sat with her back against a wall. She panted hard, peeking around the corner to see some humans running by, but thankfully they took no notice of her. He sighed, closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall. After a moment she leaned forward and moved her hand that was clutching her side. Blood socked through her tank top and through her other shirt. She grimaced and pulled her shirt up, examining the wound. She sighed in relief when she saw it just bled a lot, that it wasn't a horrible wound that had struck a vital organ.

Ok…this is good. Damage assessed. Now…where the hell did Toboe go!?

She growled and hit the heel of her palm to her forehead. She was such an idiot. She had meant to run in the same direction as she had pushed Toboe into, but she had panicked and run in the complete opposite direction. Great. Now I'll have to explain to the others why I left with a Toboe and coming back one short. Grr…

She opened her eyes and looked down to see Kai licking at her wound.

"Quit it. It's nothing but a scratch." She grumbled. But her attempts to push him off ended in failure so she relented. She looked over the rest of her body to see scrapes and scratches, and only one semi serious injury to her leg. But the blood was already caught it and she felt minimal pain when she probed and moved it.

Taking a breath, she stood, grabbing Kai as she went up. She held him in her arms and she quietly limped out of her hiding spot. She had to find Toboe and then get the hell out of this crazy place. What kind of people just opened fire and whatever they saw!? Fae grumbled to herself as she walked.

"It's an outsider!!"

Fae's head whipped in the direction the sound had come from. Two humans were running towards her, guns in hand.

"Oh fuc-" Fae took off in the other direction, leaping out of the way of bullets. After a bullet skimmed her arm she snarled and decided she had had enough. She crouched down and shot up, strong leg muscles propelling her up at an angle. She hit the wall, twisted, and jumped to the building across from it, going back and forth between the buildings until she reached the roof. She stopped for a breath before taking off over the roof tops.

She ran as fast as she could for the one of the walls of, what she could now see was a valley like place with the buildings around the circle and in the middle of the basin. Her leg throbbed now as she ran, but she just bit her lip and kept running. Finally she came to real rock and began to leap from rock to rock until she reached the top of the cliff.

She stopped once she was up, placing Kai down and falling into a sitting position.

"What the hell did you two do to piss them off so much?"

Fae jumped when she heard that familiar, cocky voice. She looked up to see Tsume standing away from the ledge, hands in pockets with a scowl on his face.

Fae ignored his question, standing up as unwobbly as she could. She glared over at Tsume and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are the others down there two?" she asked shortly.

Tsume shrugged and looked down at the village. "Hell if I know. Idiots all took off in different directions."

Fae whirled around to the village when she heard guns going off in rapid succession. Her hands clenched into fists as she walked over to the edge and peered down, looking for a way down or something.

"You can't seriously be thinking of going back down there?" Tsume drawled.

Fae glanced back at him and glared. "What the hell else would I do? Those three are down there getting shot at, we have to help."

"Tch. What's this 'we?' I'm not going down back down there." Tsume said plainly.

Fae looked back at him disbelievingly. "Your seriously just going to leave them down there? And do NOTHING?" she was getting riled up at his carelessness.

"Why should I go down there? It's their own faults for running off. Now it's they're problems getting out." He shrugged and turned to start walking away. "It's your own hide if you want to get 'rescue them.'" He said mockingly.

Fae snarled and ran at him. Tsume turned on her, expecting a wolf to be attacking him. Instead, Fae stopped in front of him and slapped him hard across the face. Tsume stood in a daze, a red hand mark appearing on his cheek. When he registered what she had done he grabbed her by the upper arms and squeezed hard, shaking her too.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he snarled, glaring death down on her.

Fae glared back at him steadily. "You disgust me. You would leave your own pack to their deaths so you could escape with your hide." She said in a dangerous growl.

Tsume looked at her stunned, mind racing back to before he had lived in the city, using the humans…

He snapped back and dug sharp nails into her arms. "How DARE you call me a coward!?" he roared. He was itching to punch her arrogant face in.

"I'm call 'em how I see 'em." She said with 'heh.' "Now let go of me. You can run off with your tail between your legs if you want, but I have to go help my pack."

Tsume glared down at her for a moment longer, grip tightening. Fae tried hard to keep the pain off of her face. Kai stood to the side, hissing and growling angrily, his entire body puffed up. Finally, Tsume dropped his grip on her, making her fall to the ground. Fae stood slowly and dusted herself off. Kai ran to her and leapt onto her back and around her neck, still hissing at Tsume.

"Do what you want, bitch. Not my problem if you're ripped apart by bullets." He turned away with a growl, storming off into the forest.

Fae watched him go, green eyes alight with anger. When she could no longer see him she ran to the edge of the cliff and leapt off, hopping and skipping her way down the cliff side.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Fae had been running through the village for a while when she heard gunshots. She ran in that direction, coming to a stop when she saw three humans standing in the entrance to an alleyway with guns pointed at something standing in the back.

"The outsider is stealing our food"

"Thief! Kill the Thief!"

"They've come to take our food and poison us!"

"Fellas fellas…let's be rational for a second, huh? I'm not stealing just…umm…eheh…well.."

Fae rolled her eyes when she recognized the voice. Hige. Of course.

The humans weren't listening in any case. They brought their guns to their shoulder and aimed. Hige gulped, looking up at the smooth walls of the alley way then down at the food in his arms. Just when he thought he was a goner, he heard one of the men shout, and then topple over.

He looked to see one of the humans lying on his face in the alley way, groaning. The other two had turned to the new attacker. Hige's face broke into a huge grin when he saw Fae. Before the two other humans could fire, Fae darted in and pinched the nerve between their collar bone and neck. Both men toppled over.

Fae sighed and wiped her hands on her pants. Then she glared at Hige standing in the alleyway. "You were trying to steal food? What the hell is the matter with you!? Gaaah…" she shook her head and walked into the alley way.

"Hehe, you make it sound as though I stole some candy from a baby. This food was just laying on someones table and I jus-gaah!" he was cut off as Fae grabbed the collar around his neck and tugged him out of the alley.

As they passed the collapsed humans Hige whistled in approval. "You'll have to teach me how to do that someday…or maybe you can gimme a demonstration of your 'magic fingers' right now…" he said suggestively with a wide grin.

Fae scowled in disgust. The pulled down on his collar hard, forcing him to fall to the ground. "Would you stop joking around for once? We need to find Toboe and Kiba." She growled, letting go of his collar.

Hige coughed and rubbed his neck as he stood up. "Huh? What about Tsume?" he asked.

"I could care less about what happened to him." She spit angrily.

Hige put up his hands in a placating manner. "Ok ok, relax. I'll go look for the squirt and you go find Kiba. We'll find them faster split up." He said, turning serious. Fae nodded and they ran in different directions.

888888888888888888888888888888888888

Fae ran through the city, nose scenting the air for any sign of Kiba. She finally picked up a very small amount and ran in that direction, his scent getting stronger. She was surprised to find that it led up and out of the basin. She stopped running so feverishly when she found blood dotting the roots and leaves on the ground. She followed the blood until she came to a vast opening. In the middle was a wide, smooth lake. The moon shone brightly onto its surface, illuminating the whole place.

She headed over to the water and looked at her reflection. She saw herself as human; green eyes, dark brown hair, ripped and bloodied clothes. But inside her human reflection was her true self staring back at her. She continued staring at the surface, transfixed. She had never seen double reflections on any kind of surface. The spell was broken when small ripples made her image waver. She looked over to see Kiba lying as a human on the water, staring up at the sky. Her surprise turned to anger. The nerve of him to lay there while she was running her ass off to find him.

He damn well better be dying…

She walked over to him and crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at him. As she got closer to realize his eyes were actually closed. When she stood over him he opened his eyes and looked into hers.

He sat up then, holding his side. He stayed bent over and made no move to talk. Fae was about to start yelling when he said, "Can you smell that?" He looked up at the sky, eyes searching for something.

Fae looked up as well. She tested the air, searching for something that he could smell and she apparently could not. She could smell something but it was extremely faint and almost alien to her…but very familiar at the same time.

"Look…I'm not following you. But we really need to get out of here. We still haven't found Toboe, Hige's looking for him. And Tsume…I don't know where he is."

Kiba nodded slowly and made to stand.

Just then, a screeching noise filled the air. Fae grimaced, hand going to her head. She glared into the sky. "Damn noble air ships…" she growled angrily. She looked over to see Kiba was now standing and staring entranced in the direction the screech was coming from.

Then an explosion wracked the air. The earth rumbled and Fae had to fight to keep her balance. A red dome appeared on the surface of the forest and exploded as well. Fae searched the sky and saw the noble airship doing intricate maneuvers through the sky, trying to avoid the lasers of a much larger airship. More and more lasers were missing and striking the ground, causing huge explosions and earth quakes. Fae stumbled and started to run back to the village. She turned back to see Kiba walking to the middle of the lake, watching the airship.

"Kiba! We have to get the others and get out of here!!" she yelled back at him. He paid no attention to her, transfixed by the airships. The explosions were getting closer and closer to where they were.

Fae looked to him and then to the relative safety of the village. She clenched her jaw and sprinted back to where Kiba was standing. She grabbed onto his arm, which seemed to wake him up at least.

He looked down at her and tried to yank his arm back. "Don't you smell that? Sense that?" he demanded. Fae did sense something. It was a tickle in the back of her mind that tried to make her forget about everything else and try and find the source.

But then she remembered Toboe and Hige and how they were still in the village, being pursued by the humans and now the new danger of the explosions. Kiba tried to get his arm back again.

Fae held on tighter and pulled him in the direction of the village. "Kiba. I can feel it. But…but right now the pack needs us; you most importantly. They could be killed if we don't hurry. We have to get them and get out. Don't you understand??" she pleaded. She looked determinedly into his eyes, trying to get him to understand. "Pack. First." She gritted said between gritted teeth.

Kiba's eyes finally lost most of their cloudyness. He took one last long look up at the sky and the fighting airships. He took a breath and looked away. "Right."

Fae smiled to herself and began running toward the village, still holding tightly to Kiba's arm in case he decided to run back to the lake.

Kiba ran with Fae and knew it was the right thing to do. It felt right and it was right. But…he could still sense it…the Flower Maiden…she was in the sky in that airship and he knew it. He knew he had to get to the Flower Maiden. He knew it like he knew he was a wolf. But he also knew he had a duty to his pack. He looked at the back of Fae's head as they ran and smiled very small. Thanks to her he hadn't made a huge mistake. He moved his eyes back to facing forward and ran to the village and his pack. They both leapt off the cliff, picking their way quickly down the slope.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Toboe stood against the wall of a small house, a young human girl, Tia, standing in front of him, clutching to her a chest a pot with a very precious lunar flower in it. She had found him when he had been separated from Fae and taken him to her home. He had found out she was all alone, her mother had died long ago and now she took care of the last lunar flower in the village. But the flower had never bloomed.

He had told her that there were other towns other than her own and given her hope that one day her flower would bloom. It had made him happy when she had smiled. He had even told her how the Paradise they were looking for was covered in blooming lunar flowers. When he had voiced that he wanted to see her flower bloom she had even invited him to stay with her. He had been so happy…a home, a good friend, and a lunar flower. But…then he had thought of Fae and the rest of the pack and knew he couldn't stay…

And now they were back to the present. Some of the village people had come to Tia's home and broken down the door demanding 'the outsider.' Before they could shoot Tia had stepped in front of them and was acting as a human shield.

"Tia…did you forget our village's rules?"
"Your mother died from disease because she let an outsider in! Do you want that to happen to you?"

The humans were trying to convince her to step away from him, but she would not. She stood her ground and looked sad. Toboe didn't like that the other humans were making her sad by talking about her mother. Toboe put his ahdn on her shoulder and smiled at her. "Hey. I'll be alright. Don't worry 'bout me, k?" he said with a goofy grin.

"B-but Toboe…they'll shoot you…" Tia said eyes wide and scared.

"I'll be alright. And someday, I'm sure we'll meet again. And then you can show me how beautiful your flower became!" he said happily.

He gently pushed her aside and stood before the humans. He gulped but stood his ground. He wasn't going to let them hurt Tia because of him. The men took aim and Toboe closed his eyes tightly. Just then he heard one of the men yell and fall over. Then the other yell and also collapse. Toboe opened his eyes and gasped in surprise.

"Tsume!"

Tsume stood in the doorway, one hand on his hip and scowling at Toboe. "You know how damn long I've been looking for you runt?" he drawled, shaking his head. "More trouble than you're worth…"

Toboe ignored his harsh words and smiled hugely. "Tsume! Man am I glad to see you! Have you Fae and the others?" he asked, becoming worried.

"Tch. Yeah, I saw her. Haven't seen the others though." He snorted and turned away. "You coming runt? I don't feel like being shot."

Toboe smiled and turned back to Tia. "This is my friend Tsume. He and the rest of my friends are all going to Paradise." He explained.

"Toboe…could I…come with you…?" Tia asked quietly. She clutched the flower to her chest protectively. "I'd love to see it…"

Toboe frowned sadly. "I'm sorry Tia…but I don't think you can. Our journey will be very treacherous…" he said looking down at the ground.

Tia gulped and looked down, but nodded. "I understand…but…I hope I can see you again someday." She said, lifted her head back up and smiling.

Toboe smiled back. "Yeah. I'm sure we'll meet up again someday."

"Look, I don't want to break up such a touching moment, but more humans are coming. We need to leave." Tsume called into the room.

"I'm going to find my own paradise, Toboe. A Paradise for myself and my flower. And then maybe one day it will bloom. Thank you for giving me the courage to leave this place." Tia said through tears and a smile.

Toboe smiled back, tears welling up in his eyes. "Yeah." He said simply.

"You should go quickly. Your friends are waiting for you."
With that, Toboe nodded and ran out the door, Tsume running ahead of him. He promised himself he would see Tia again…someday.

88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Hige stood in the middle of the street, looking around and turning in circles. He held onto his head with one hand as another explosion wracked the earth.

"Damn…that airship is really screwing me up…." He mumbled.

He yelped as his collar was tugged hard. He whipped around to see Tsume and Toboe running off toward the forest.

"Try and keep up, porky." Tsume shouted back.

"H-hey! Wait up! Gaahh…" Hige took off after the two, stumbling as another explosion hit.

The three of them ran through the village, Tsume leading them back to where he had last seen Fae on the cliff, toward the giant, still, lake. As he ran he caught sight of the last two wolves in their pack. Fae and Kiba were running toward them, Fae's hand locked around Kiba's wrist. As they came in full sight of eachother, Fae let go of Kiba and ran toward them.

"Hey! Glad you're all alive." She said with a crooked grin. She glanced up at Tsume who was in turn glaring down at her.

"Haha, yeah. Thanks to Tsume, I'm not full of holes. Hehe." Toboe said with a goofy grin, rubbing the back of his neck.

Fae glanced back up at Tsume and smirked. He scowled at her and looked away.

"C'mon. We have to get out of here." KIba said after a moment. The others nodded and followed him in the direction he and Fae has just come from. He was heading back toward the lake. The explosions had become few and far between and were fading in to the distance. He knew the Flower Maiden was being taken further and further away. He gritted his teeth and kept running. They hit the cliff and leapt up it to the top. There they stopped and looked out over the lake.

"We'll head in that direction." Kiba said with finality. His eyes were glued to where the noble ship had flown off to. He would follow it wherever it went. He took off at a run, and the others took off after him. He led them to the Flower Maiden.

8888888888888888888888888888888888

Woo hoo! Update! I'm so sorry it took so long. I just didn't know what to write for this chapter. For those who had read the manga, you may recognize this. I'm just mixing it up a bit.

If you have ANY questions, please ask. I'll be more than happy to answer you. So, please review and or critique. I need to know if this story is good or not!

Until next time!