The wolves ran through the snow for what felt like hours when they stopped in front of a large castle surrounded by a tall metal fence. The tall stone walls of the castle looked cold and unforgiving. The windows were small and made of stained glass, keeping the inside of the castle a mystery to those outside of the castle walls. There were no visible lights on inside of the castle as the wolves began to search for a way in through the gate.
Toboe sniffed the air and looked in through the gate. "Shizu is in there, I can smell her." Toboe was growing more worried about Shizu as the time passed. Shizu had become part of the family and Toboe would be saddened if anyone of his family members were harmed.
Tsume let out a quiet growl. "What are we waiting for then, let's break down this gate and get her out of there." Tsume glared at the castle, growing more impatient waiting for the others to think of a plan.
"We do not want any attention..." Kiba warned as he brushed some snow away from the bottom of the fence. "We'll dig our way through..."
"Great idea!" Toboe quickly began to dig through the soft powdery snow and eventually through the cold dirt.
The three other wolves soon followed suit and began to dig quietly through the dirt and soon dug their ways under the fence and onto the other side. Kiba looked around and saw that no one was around.
"This place seems like a ghost town." Hige bluntly pointed out.
"Come on, we're wasting time." Kiba began to run through the yard of the castle and stopped in front of the door.
"Lets break this down." Tsume growled, growing more impatient.
"Yea, I don't see any other way in." Hige added.
Kiba nodded and the four wolves slowly stepped away from the door. They knew if they worked together that they would be able to get the door down.
"Be prepared to fight the moment we get inside." Kiba warned the wolves as he then nodded, the four wolves ran fast at the door throwing their bodies powerfully at the door but instead of feeling the hard metal of the door they felt nothing. The door had been opened at the same moment that they had attempted to break down the door.
The wolves picked themselves off the floor and looked around but did not see anyone or even smell a human presence around. They were standing in a small alcove inside the castle. It was fairly dark with just a single candle sitting on an end table providing just a small source of light for the room. The floor was dark marble with a long red carpet that extended through the alcove and down the long dark hallway as far as the wolves could see. A single stained glass window stood across the end table where the candle silently shone.
"How did the door open?" Toboe looked over at the door.
"Must have been a switch or something..." Hige shrugged.
"Let's go." Tsume began to walk as the others followed. Tsume sniffed the air and followed the scent of Shizu that flowed through the air. Every few feet a candle hung to provide a small source of light. The deeper the wolves traveled through the dark halls of the castle, the stronger Shizu's scent became. The pack stopped as the hall separated into two different directions.
"I-I can't tell which direction Shizu's smell is coming from." Toboe looked down each hallway.
"They must be using something to keep us from figuring out which way she is..." Hige growled.
"Hige, you and I will go to the left, Tsume and Toboe talk the right. Howl if you need help or find Shizu." Kiba ordered as he and Hige ran down the left hall.
"Let's go runt." Tsume spoke coldly as he and Toboe quickly began to run through the dark halls of the castle. Tsume let his nose guide him through the hall, down every turn and curve he ran without a single his vision all he could see was Shizu. Her eyes, her pure black fur, her tone frame, the fire that hid behind her eyes, he could see it all. He shook the vision from his mind and once again focused on the hallway in front of him, carefully listening to make sure Toboe was not far behind.
"Keep up runt." Tsume spoke quietly as he continued to run.
Toboe kept running closely behind Tsume. He found it strange that there were no humans in sight. He began to worry that they could possibly be running into a trap.
Tsume and Toboe came to a stop as they reached a tall wooden door with a single metal handle. It looked old and faintly worn down over the years, then again, so did the rest of the castle.
"I smell a human on the other side of this door." Toboe sniffed the air. "I smell Shizu too!"
"Shush, do you want them to hear us?" Tsume snapped.
"How should we get in?" Toboe spoke, lowering his voice.
Tsume began to think, not sure how they could get in without getting caught. He was snapped from his thoughts by a sudden loud yelp from the other side of the door. The sound was soon followed by the smell of fresh blood...