Disclaimer: I do not own Wolf's Rain

Chapter 7: Blast from the Past

Toboe was wandering in the forest, his emotions in a whirlwind. Shock, misery, disbelief, amazement and loneliness. He had never been alone in his life for this long.

'I never imagined I would be able to come this far' He thought to himself, looking around the forest glumly, 'I guess I never thought I would set out on a journey'

He kept trudging through the forest and when the trees started thinning, he was greeted with the sight of a monstrous city. He wandered around the city, awed at the sheer size of it. He noticed that everybody seemed sad and hungry, like him. Children's faces peered out from behind their mothers to look at them, their childish faces pinched and pale.

Toboe started looking for food and started his way through the maze-like streets until he found some crows eating at some meat. He hid around a corner and snarled at the crows. The crows pecked at his muzzle, making him whine and back up into a cat. The cat hissed at him and he dashed behind some crates.

He pricked his ears and turned around, seeing a young girl with violet coloured eyes. She smiled softly at him and held out some sausages from her grocery bag.

"Here, try some of these. They taste better" She said.

Toboe whined and backed further into the crates, unsure what to do.

"Come on you can have them. You're hungry aren't ya?" Toboe slowly came forward and sniffed the sausages cautiously.

"They're not poisonous or anything" She took a bite of the end and chewed, "See it's fine"

Toboe sniffed them again and pulled them away from her hand, devouring them in a few quick bites.

"Where'd you come from little fella? If you stay around here for too long, the dog catchers will get you for sure"

She gasped in surprise when Toboe licked her hand and patted him, giggling softly when he nuzzled into her hand.

"You sure are warm" She whispered.

"Leara!" A man shouted and the girl got up, giving Toboe one last pat. Toboe started following her but stopped when she told him she couldn't keep him.

He sat and tilted his head.

"That's funny, it's like you can understand me" She mumbled before running up the stairs.

Toboe simply sat there, desperately hoping he would see Leara again.

Toboe's wish came true. Leara was walking down the street with another bag of groceries. Toboe leaned against a wall in his human form, waiting for Leara to pass him.

"Hey I wanted to say thanks for the sausages. You remember back in the alleyway? Well that was my dog" Toboe stuttered out.

"That beautiful dog belongs to you?" She asked him excitedly.

"Beautiful? Yeah, yeah he's mine"

"But how'd you know about it?"

"Oh uh…I heard it from the lady at the store" Toboe explained hurriedly. That was close.

"What's his name anyway?"

"His name? Oh its Toboe"

"Toboe? What a weird name" She laughed.

"You think so? Yeah, I guess it is"

"My name is Leara. What's yours?"

"I just told you. It's Toboe" Toboe replied carelessly.

"I thought that was your dog's name?" Leara asked, confused.

"Oh we're a lot alike so I named him after myself"

"You're pretty weird all right"

Toboe laughed. At least she believed him. Maybe he wouldn't be alone anymore?

Leara left and he followed her and spotted her at her window, her bird flying away. Toboe chased after it and caught it. He returned it back to Leara and when the bird didn't move, he realized he had killed it when he tried to catch it.

"I knew it was yours, I just wanted to….I didn't think it would die" He whispered, tears in his eyes. Leara simply stared at him, lost for words.

Her eyes widened in shock when he morphed into his original form and started howling in pure misery.

All of a sudden a hand grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, causing him to help in surprise. It was Tsume, the one that had saved him from that guy that tried to shoot him. Tsume dragged him back into an empty house and started scolding him and making fun of how Toboe wanted to go back to Leara.

Toboe sat in the corner his thoughts so preoccupied with thinking about Leara and Granny that he didn't notice that somebody was hugging him. He looked down in shock and saw a young woman, hugging him and smiling at him gently. Toboe still stared at her in shock but eventually hugged the woman back, grateful for the comfort and warmth it brought.

"Bri what the hell are you doing?" Toboe heard Tsume ask gruffly.

"What the hell does it look like I'm doing? I'm comforting the damn kid. God knows what you said to him, you jerk" The woman snapped back at him and started ruffling Toboe's hair. He sighed happily, Granny used to do the to him all the time. He felt his eyelids starting to droop.

"This is too sappy for me, I'm gonna go check on the gang" Tsume said and that was the last thing Toboe heard before he fell asleep.

He dreamt about his time with Granny, how she raised him and cared for him and how she fed him delicious food. He remembered the days when he would sit next to her feet in front of the fire as she knitted and he remembered the day when she died.

Toboe had been overly-excited and when he saw Granny he had jumped on her, oblivious to her protests and wheezing breath. When he calmed down, he had noticed that she wasn't breathing. He had left Granny's house in a daze and he started in a random direction, hoping that it had all been a bad dream.

He dreamt about his short time with Leara as well. She was the second human to show him kindness and he had scared her away. He hated himself a bit for that but he was sadder that he had chased her away. They would have been good friends.

Toboe woke up afterwards, noticing that it was still dark inside. Tsume was sitting at the windowsill and the woman had fallen asleep, one hand still placed on Toboe's head. He gently moved away from her, careful not to disturb her.

For some reason, Toboe found himself talking to Tsume about his life with Granny. He told Tsume how Granny had found him and looked after him.

"You mean she kept you as a pet. That human tamed you and you were no more than an obedient dog"

"I wasn't! I only…wanted to protect her but she still…" Toboe raised his voice before lowering it.

"She still threw you out?"

"She still…died. She died. I let her die" Toboe whispered, crying.

Tsume said nothing in return and silence filled the air.

Tsume got up after a while and started talking to some human. Toboe didn't catch anything, wallowing in guilt and misery.

Tsume came back in and picked the woman up, moving her into a different room shaking his head at her. Toboe looked at him in confusion but Tsume didn't look at him and instead stood in front of the window.

Suddenly a sharp screeching noise filled the air and Toboe clapped his hands to his ears in pain. Tsume looked unaffected by the sound. "Can't you hear it?" Toboe exclaimed over the noise.

"Shut up Toboe! Just be quiet!" Tsume barked at him when Toboe started yelling in pain.

The noise stopped and daybreak quickly came. Tsume brought back a box of supplies and handed Toboe a hamburger. The woman still wasn't awake and Toboe could heard Tsume muttering about her under his breath.

"You heard that sound didn't you? And it must have made you sad. So stop lying and just be honest with yourself" Toboe muttered darkly at him.

"Fine whatever, if you wanna go see that girl then go" Tsume snapped, "It's not like I care what happens to you"

"So why did you save me then? If you didn't care then you should have just left me or pretended not to recognise me. I mean, I'm not your friend or anything"

"You're right, you're nor my friend"

"Yeah I forgot, you're only friends with humans. It's easier that way isn't it? Coz no human is ever gonna be as strong as you and they'll do whatever you tell them too" Toboe grumbled.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You have no idea what it takes to survive in this city, how dangerous it is. Nothing. Go on, let's see how well you do on your own. Beat it!" Tsume growled at him, throwing his hamburger on the ground in front of Toboe.

Toboe got up and walked out the door.

"Hey I'm sorry, I'm sorry I ever got mixed up with a kid like you" Tsume said, sitting back on the windowsill.

Toboe went back to the place where he had gotten bullied by the crows and scared them off, snapping up the meat angrily. 'What does he know? I'm fine by myself' he thought angrily.

Suddenly he heard something metallic and whipped his head around, slightly scared as the pothole moved and he heard voices.

A head popped out from beneath the pot hole and looked around.

"Uh oh must have taken a wrong turn. Huh? Hey hey, it's one of our own" The head said, looking at Toboe. He had shaggy light brown hair with amber eyes and a collar loosely hanging around his neck.

"Move it will you?" A voice came from below and suddenly the man was pushed up and another man replaced him. This one had black hair and blue eyes.

"That's the last time I trust your nose" The blue-eyed man told the other one.

"Well, anyone's nose would go numb after a night in that stink hole" The man retorted.

"You guys? No way you're…" Toboe trailed off, shocked at the sight of the two men.

The blue-eyed one looked at him and then looked behind Toboe. Toboe turned his head and saw Leara standing there. She started shaking when he looked at her.

"Leara, don't be scared I won't do anything. I just…wanted to see you again. I'm so sorry, about your bird" Toboe whispered to her, still in his original form.

"Daddy? Daddy? Daddy? DADDY?!" Leara screamed, "Come quick it's the wolf! The wolf is here"

The two men ran off and Toboe followed them into a dead end, holes in the walls.

"Stay calm, stay calm, stay calm" Toboe chanted to himself, morphing into his human form.

Leara appeared at the end and gasped when she saw Toboe.

"Why Leara? Why'd you scream like that?"

"No stay away" She shook her head, taking a step back, "There's something wrong with you, you're not normal, how can anybody ever trust you?"

"Leara please, I only showed you so you could trust me"

"No don't come any closer"

"Why? Didn't you come here to catch me?" Toboe muttered, putting his hand on her arm.

"No!" Leara shook his hand off and fell backwards.

"C'mon" The brown-haired man had his head out a pipe. Toboe looked at Leara one more time then followed the man through the pipe.

The three were running along the sewers.

"I told you how much I hate smelly places" The brown-haired man whined, "Runt, what's eating you?

"I'm not a runt" Toboe snapped, "My name's Toboe"

"That's cool, well I'm Hige and this here is Kiba" The brown haired man told him.

"Where are we going?" Toboe asked.

"Where do you think? To the exit of course"

"We're leaving town" Kiba said, walking ahead.

"Leaving town? Where else are you going to go?"

"To Paradise" Kiba replied.

Toboe stopped, thinking.

"Hey guys, do you know Tsume?" He blurted out.

"Tsume?"

"Nah never heard of him" Hige replied.

"Is he the one with the scar on his chest?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah that's Tsume alright!" Toboe exclaimed

"Okay, what about him?"

"He's one of us so I thought he might wanna leave too" Toboe murmured.

"Well I don't know is he hiding out some place?" Hige asked.

"I don't know" Toboe replied, "We got split up"

"Sorry pal but it's too late to go back for him now, so like is he a friend of yours?"

"No he's not! He's not my friend.." Toboe muttered.

"So? Ditch him already" Hige told him with a wave of his hand, "Shake a leg runt"

"That's Toboe"

"Wait" Kiba said, causing the two to look at him. Kiba started going up the ladder.

They walked through a door and spotted somebody sitting on the ground.

"What a crap heap, why'd you bring us here?" Hige asked, oblivious to the man sitting on the windowsill before them.

"Tsume?" Toboe exclaimed.

"You!" He snapped.

"Hey, is this him?" Hige asked, looking at Toboe and Tsume.

"I could smell the blood from your wound, all the way from here to town" Kiba said, staring at Tsume intently.

"And you're gonna nurse me back to health?" Tsume snapped, "Well I don't need your help"

Kiba looked like he was going to reply but was interrupted by somebody opening the door and running towards Tsume. It was that woman from before. She slapped Tsume on the back of the head and started scolding him.

"Hey pup can you move that brick from behind you and chuck me what's inside. Never knew I would need it now…thanks to a certain old man that can't stay put!"

Toboe moved the brick and passed the first aid kit to the woman. She started removing a small bottle of vodka and some bandages.

"I'm not an old man! You should watch your tongue shorty" Tsume snapped at her, causing her to hit him on the back of his head again.

"Don't snap at me jerk face. I'm the one that's healing you" She snapped at him and held the vodka bottle threateningly. "Stay still now Tsume or I'll pour this whole bottle into your wound"

She poured some into the wound and looked slightly satisfied at Tsume's wince. Hige started coughing, covering up his snickers.

"So…why are you guys here? I didn't think I would see you in human form Whitey. Why the sudden change?" The woman asked as she wrapped up Tsume's cut.

"My name isn't Whitey, it's Kiba. Plus someone told me that having pride doesn't count much if I'm dead" Kiba replied.

"Damn straight. Now Tsume, where did you run off to? And why do you smell like the wolf hunter and like one of the gang members?"

Toboe started tuning out a bit but Hige's voice snapped him back to reality.

"I hate to interrupt but a nasty stink is coming this way"

"We're surrounded" Came Tsume's curt voice.

"Let me ask you something, why did you guys come to this city? It was because of the flower scent wasn't it? Well it's gone now. There's no reason to stay" Kiba said, his voice strong and almost wistful.

"The flower has nothing to do with it. Me and Bri because we belong" Tsume snapped at Kiba, staring out the window.

"I can see that, this city is a dump"

Toboe could see Tsume bristling in anger at Kiba's comment. "I still have a score to settle with you" And with those words he took a step forward.

Hige groaned in exasperation, "We don't have time for this" and the woman ('was her name Bri?) made a move to pull Tsume back, her hand wavering in the air.

The two didn't make the slightest inclination that they were hearing Hige. "Do you have the slightest idea what leaving the city would mean? You'll just die" Tsume said, his eyes narrowing at Kiba.

"Tsume calm down." Bri spluttered out but they continued to ignore her.

"Possibly. Everyone's gonna die, it's a natural part of life. But if life has no purpose, you're dead already" Kiba replied, not taking his eyes of Tsume's.

Toboe could feel the thick tension in the air, weighing on their shoulders and making him gulp to get rid of the lump that had formed in his throat.

Suddenly a light bright filled the room from the ground and shots were being fired. They all sprinted of the room and onto the pipes that connected the building to other buildings.

They were running fast, dodging bullets that were aimed at them, leaving the bullets to hit the pipes. Suddenly, Toboe's foot slid of the side of the pipe and he fell with a shocked yell, holding onto a thin strip of metal that ran along the sides of the pipe.

"Tsume!"

Tsume looked back and ran towards him, grabbing Toboe's shoulder in his wolf form. Toboe didn't flinch and let himself get hauled up.

"Go on hurry up!" Tsume barked at him.

"You're really not coming with us?" Toboe asked him sadly. Tsume hesitated slightly before giving a firm nod.

Shots started whizzing past them and they ran, Tsume standing next to Bri while Toboe kept running with the others.

Kiba stopped and stood, staring at the tunnel which they had just run out of.

"What?" Hige asked.

Kiba kept staring and suddenly Tsume and Bri came running out.

"Tsume!" Toboe exclaimed, happy that the wolf was going to be joining them. Bri came over to him and smiled.

"I never did tell you my name did I? It's Bri" She said cheerfully and Toboe was relieved that he had been calling her by the right name. She ruffled his hair and Toboe smiled wider, although it was a touch sad since Granny used to do that to him.

"Mine's Toboe"

"This way" Kiba called and the others followed him. Bullets were being fired at their backs as they ran and jumped off the huge gate. Kiba jumped first, followed by Hige but Toboe stopped. 'I don't know if I'm prepared for this, I'm travelling with strangers" He thought, slightly panicking.

"Move it!" Came Tsume's voice from behind him and suddenly he was kicked off the ledge, "I was getting ready to!" He cried back as he fell into the snow.

"Tsume! Don't be so rude" Toboe heard Bri's voice from above followed by her laugh. She jumped as well and now they were waiting for Tsume.

"Are you scared?" Kiba asked softly but his voice drifted towards Tsume.

Toboe knew that Tsume had his eyes narrowed as he said, "Yeah, you wish" And he jumped off the ledge, running alongside the others.

Toboe gave the city one last glance. He was ready to move on, to be with his own kind. He smiled and ran with the others, feeling the happiest he had ever felt since Granny passed away.

Chapter 7! Yay!

So this didn't cover much I know but I just wanted this out as soon as possible so I can finish the other chapters and get back to the story. The next chapter will be from Hige's POV and will start from when they leave to the end of his flashbacks and Hubb's will be the whole story so far from his point of view so that will be pretty long.

Anyway, sorry for any mistakes and I really hope you guys like this and leave me a review!

-Black :)