The light at the end of the tunnel was starting to show. It's air was too stuffy for me & I could barely breathe in it. Last nights event still haunted every fiber of my mind however I did my best to block it out. Kiba still had a few cuts on his wolf body from last night. He got those protecting me. My fur & wolf tail swing as I walk. My wolf ears pointed forward so I could hear what was in front of me. My wolf tongue hung out of my jaws from running so much through this tunnel. It felt like an eternity before we finally reached the end of the tunnel.
The sun was out & it instantly warmed my wolf body. My wolf eyes cast to the others to see a gold tint on their fur. From the demeanor on their wolf faces, they were tired so I suggested that we take a few minute break. As we rested, I noticed Kiba wasn't with the rest of us. I turn my wolf head to look where he was & drop my wolf ears. Something seemed to be bothering him. I lift myself up to my paws and walk over to him. My wolf eyes didn't peel from him. "Kiba, are you okay?" I ask him as I approach him. I sit down next to him, my wolf tail curled slightly beside me & my wolf ears laid back slightly. He turns his wolf head to look at me, his golden wolf eyes giving off a melancholy gaze. I couldn't help but scoot closer to him & nuzzle him by letting my wolf head rub underneath his chin.
"Please tell me what's going on..." I tell him softly. He nuzzles me back gently. "I'm sorry... it's just that... you being hurt by that pack has haunted me." he tells me truthfully. The second he tells me this, it was in my head. I squeezed my wolf eyes shut in a attempt to block it out. "When I heard you cry out for me... I knew you were in trouble... When I saw them nearly..." he grits his wolf teeth in anger, "The anger in me brewed & I wanted to make them feel the pain you were going through only 10x's worse..." He heard them clear as day. It's no wonder he got there as fast as he could. He's the best brother I could ever ask for.
"It's alright, Kiba... I'm happy that you were there to save me." I say, feeling the PTSD set in. Looking at male wolves for me won't ever be the same... "It's not okay, Luna. Those wolves hurt you. I saw what they were doing. They needed to feel the pain you went through." he seethed. "I know. I know you do. But can we just forget about it...?" I mention. I knew exactly what he was feeling. He wanted vengence for what they did. However, there was only one of him. He had been outnumbered. Hatred, grieve, & detest was all he could see there. But he got a beating as a result. "Thank you... for saving me Kiba..." I whisper, nuzzling him. "I will be here for you sister..." he responds, to which he nuzzles. I can't ask for a better brother...
After a while, we all walked through the forest in human form. Kiba & I led the others through it. Tsume was behind us with Hige & Toboe. The trail we were going down is all I focused on right now, my arms slightly swinging with each step I took. Somehow, a strange feeling was growing inside of me & my instincts were telling me to follow it. Toboe & Hige were having a dispute behind us. They were talking of how there should be more animals around but due to us being here, there wouldn't be none around. "You two want to give us a clue here?" Tsume stoically asks. "Sure." I respond vaguely. "Where are we going to exactly?" the grey wolf wonders. "Paradise." Kiba responds. Tsume sighs at the answer. "What in the hell is guiding you there?" he asks, a bit irritable. "It's instinct, Tsume." I respond without looking at him.
We stop for one moment. "Here we go again. Not that I'm whining or anything, but I wish it felt like we were getting closer to it." Hige states, sort of whining about this journey. He really has to stop with his complaining & pull his head out of his own ass. We don't have time for that. Suddenly, the sound of an airborne noble ship flies overhead. It's high pitched sound making all of us look up at the sky. "That noise!" Tsume exclaims. "It's a noble's airship!" Hige whispered quietly. "Jeez, that sound is annoying!" Toboe groans, covering both of his ears. I can believe it from the way he's talking. Just after he said that, a massive shockwave sends us to lose our balance.
"What's going on?!" Toboe exclaimed. Then, a strange urgent feeling coursed through me, telling me I had to find out what it is. "Kiba, can you feel that?" I whisper to Kiba. We gaze at each other for one moment. "She's there..." he responds to me. We then begin to walk to where the feeling was coming from, not even acknowledging the others. "Hey! That has nothing to do with us! Stay out of it!" Tsume scolds. I didn't pay attention to his words & kept on walking. "We can feel her..." Kiba whispers. "Feel what?" Hige asks. "We don't know... but it's so familiar." I nonchalantly respond. Agitation grew in me because they couldn't feel what Kiba & I were feeling. "Do you guys seriously not feel that?!" Kiba growls at them. With that, he & I take off in a full sprint to the mountain in front of us. My hair blew behind me as I ran and I pump my arms to help me run faster.
Something bright in the sky catches my attention and I stared up at it. It was like a star only... it wasn't. "The flower maiden..." Kiba whispers. "Wait for us guys!" Toboe calls out. We weren't stopping for them to catch up. The mountain eventually came face to face with us. The rocky facade made me see that it would be a tough opponent to climb. Even though the rocks poked my palms in climbing it, I stayed impervious to it. I was beginning to get a headache from continuously looking up to see where I was going. Kiba was a couple of steps ahead of me. "The scent's faint but it's definitely there." Hige said from below us. He's not wrong. The flower maiden is definitely over this mountain. She has to be.
"Hey, Kiba, Luna!" Toboe called. I looked down at him when I got to a small ledge wide enough for me to stand on, my right hand pressed to the wall. "There's a funny feeling in my chest. Is that what you guys are feeling?!" he asks us, to which we nod. I gaze up at my brother & he urges us to keep moving up. When we do make it, Kiba leans down and grabs my hands to help me up over it. I'm glad to be on solid ground at last. "Thanks." I say, getting him to nod. Toboe climbs up next, rolling over to his side clearly exhausted from the climb. I didn't feel tired in the slightest. When Hige & Tsume get up here, I tell them we needed to keep going. Her presence is near.
The more we walked on, the faster my heart was beating like it was a drum. "Wow, my chest is fluttering wildly. I feel so warm & tingly inside." Toboe breathes. From behind me, I could hear Hige humming happily. His enthusiasm made smile. I don't know why. "This is the cool feeling you have before pouncing on a lovely girl." Hige coolly says, getting me to smile. "Don't let your guard down. Although there's a shiver up my spine too." Tsume points out. The end of the forest drew near & it led us to a sparkling lake with a makeshift waterfall. The field was full of flowers. They were beautiful to say the least.
Then, my mouth hangs open & my eyes widen at the next thing my eyes catch. Kiba gasps at this. I froze in my spot as I come to realize that it was... the flower maiden sitting by the sparkling lake. She sat on a flat rock with her feet dipped in the water while looking down. She had short pink hair with red eyes, iris's & all. She looks at us with a gentle smile on her face. Toboe & Hige gasp at this in surprise. "It's- It's-" Hige stammered. "My heart skipped a beat!" Toboe exclaimed in shock. "Who is that?" Tsume wonders. I was unable to tear my eyes from her. Kiba then takes my hand and we slowly begin to walk down to her. I tuned out Tsume when he tried to stop us. I was too attracted to Cheza. She stands up as the two of us approach her in the cool water.
"Cheza..." we said in sync before we stand in our wolf forms. In seeing us, she smiles and kneels down to our height. She then runs her fingers through our fur. Her touch made me shut my wolf eyes & lower my wolf ears from how wonderful it felt. Never have I ever felt this touch before in my life... She then hugs the both of us, holding us close to her. "We meet... at last..." she spoke in the most sweetest tone of voice I've ever heard. Feeling her hug us like this never felt so good...
Afterward, we all went through the forest in human form. Kiba & I hold Cheza's hands while we walked. It boggles my mind that we finally found her. I can't be anymore happy to have her by our side. We crossed a metallic bridge that hung over a river that ran under it by a veranda which was covered in vines. Cheza then leads us to an old building that was nothing more than ruins. "This one has been waiting here for you both. This one was born for this reason." she speaks. I turn my attention to her with a smile. Her voice sooths me greatly. We come down to another corridor & I looked down it. The ceilig had large holes in it so some of the sunlight shone down.
She lets go of our hands and begins to run down it. "Everybody! This one's home!" she says enthusiastically before slowing to a stop. Nothing was there but ruins. Concern floods through me when she stopped abruptly & I couldn't help but walk to her with Kiba close behind me. From what I saw, her expression dropped to a saddened one. "Oh... there's no one here anymore. They all... withered & died..." she said forlorn. She sinks down to her knees and wraps her arms around them without looking away from the corridor. She is bothered with the fact she's the last flower alive. "This one... is the only one left." she says melancholy. I walk to her and kneel down to her eye level. "You're with us now Cheza. You're no longer alone." I assure her with a short smile. She gazes at me with those red eyes of hers.
The sound of rapid gunfire ruined the moment and I shot up to my feet. I spin around to see both Hige & Toboe dash into the room we were in. Tsume was close behind. "Kiba, Luna! We're in serious trouble; human's are everywhere!" Hige shouts in a panic. "We're surrounded!" Toboe cries out. Tsume looks at Cheza with an angered stare. Kiba grew protective of her & stood in front of her as did I. "It wasn't her Tsume!" Kiba growls. He's not going to touch her. "She screwed with our noses!" Tsume snarls. This pisses me off and I growl at him. The sound of Cheza walking away from us made me turn to her direction. A magnetic force was pulling me to where she is going & Kiba followed close.
"Where are you two going?!" Tsume scolds. "Didn't you guys hear me?!" Hige calls out. However, we ignored them & kept on walking. She was leading us to somewhere and I had to find out what it is. "Kiba, Luna wait for me!" Toboe calls after us. Kiba & Cheza were holding hands. Even though I didn't hold Cheza's hand, I stayed close to them. Out of my peripheral vision, the sight of a human point his gun at Cheza made me take action. I lunge at them with my wolf teeth replacing the human teeth I had and snarled wolf like. Before he could shoot, I sink my wolf fangs deep into the human's neck, killing him instantly. Blood launched out of his neck. Another was about to do the same but Kiba took care of him. All this gunfire had us hide behind a secured stone to keep us protected from the airborne bullets.
"What do we do?!" Toboe yelps. The gunfire then stopped which gave us the opportunity to see Tsume & Hige on the other side. Tsume had his knife out in his right hand and Hige was wiping his hands to show that they did a good job of killing the rest of the soldiers for us. Kiba & I met both wolves down a couple of flights of rubble. "Guys, we're in huge trouble. Those soldiers got every end blocked off!" Hige tells us, a slightly panicked look on his face. Tsume's face had a stoic one with a hard stare. "Isn't there something we can do?" I question. "If we leave her here, there's a better chance of us getting out of here in one piece." Tsume suggested, pissing me off. That's not the answer I was hoping for. "Forget it!" Kiba spats at the grey wolf for suggesting that. My heart was hammering against my chest.
"Guys!" Toboe called, making us look back to his direction to see him waving us over to another corridor. I urge them to follow the pups lead down that corridor. Once we got down there, Cheza was standing the furthest from us. "This way." she says, running down a pathway. I was the first to start following her with Kiba behind me. "What the hell?!" Hige breathes as the hallway led us to a dead end. Oh great. "It's no use! We're trapped!" Toboe exclaimed. "Surrendering is always an option." Hige sighs. What the hell kind of plan is that?! He's out of his mind! I twist my head in his direction & clench my fists. "I'm just kidding!" he shouts because of us giving him a tough glare. I roll my eyes at him before I gaze at Cheza to see her placing her right hand on some tree roots, giving it a faint glow.
The roots opened wide enough for us to fit through. It was our only way out of here. My instincts told me to go through there because of the soldiers coming our way. "This way guys!" I urge before running towards the exit with my brother behind me. Hige & Toboe followed close. "Tsume, let's go!" Toboe calls out for Tsume. Once we were all in, the hole closed behind us so that no one would suspect that 5 wolves took off with the flower maiden here. The important thing is that we got Cheza now & we can get to Paradise without too much hassle.
