We were finally out of that run down mossy area and supposedly out of danger for the time being. It was dark out and I knew that we would be harder to see by those small devices that the nobles were using to detect any strange behaviour or anything out of the ordinary really. So we were careful enough to avoid them. We did have to be extra careful considering we have Cheza with us and the last thing we need right now is to get caught. When we could, we hid behind some debris to stay inconspicuous.
Once they were completely out of the picture, we would move quietly. Cheza was behind us, basically bounding down the rocky ledges. When I looked back at her, she was a couple feet behind us. She seemed calm about going down these rocky ledges and from what I saw she had a calm expression on her face with her arms spread out a little bit to help her keep her balance I can only presume. We got to the bottom of the mountain and I turn to face Cheza with one foot on a small ledge in front of me. Toboe yelped sharply and jolted forward because Cheza had one one foot hanging off the ledge. I too freaked a bit and was about to jump to get her away from there. But then, Cheza turned in our direction and bounded our way down to us. It calmed our nerves. "Whoo… she can tell?" Toboe wondered curiously. Hige turned his head to look back at the pup with his hands in his hoodie pockets, giving a smug glance.
"Well, she's a flower right?" the tan wolf asked lazily. Toboe looked at him with slightly widened eyes. "Yeah but how?" he questioned seeming perplexed. "With her antennae I guess." Hige shrugged. "She doesn't have them!" Toboe countered, his eyebrows furrowed. "We may not see them but they're probably invisible." Hige answers smugly. Toboe and I looked over at Cheza, who was standing by us with her hands behind her back. Her demeanor gave off a relaxing, calm exterior. "Do you guys think… she's on edge around us? If so then… why would she be?" Toboe wondered quietly. I twist my lips and looked down at my feet for a moment. It was honestly tough to figure that out. I didn't know what to think. "It's because you're all on edge around her." Kiba answered, getting us to look at him. "I'd have to agree with you there. I mean, who the hell wouldn't be on edge?" I stated, crossing my arms. That was partly true since I don't exactly know if I should feel at all comfortable at all with her around us despite me protecting her before.
"Luna is right. That maiden is not a human or a wolf. Not even a flower also. How're we supposed to trust something like that?" Tsume growls, looking back at us with a cold stare. Kiba looked back at him with that same stare as if he was offended at what the grey wolf presumed. Things got quiet for some time and I couldn't help but think just how much Tsume didn't trust Cheza. And he wasn't concealing it either. He made it very clear.
We continued our way down into the forested area and some of the moonlight penetrated through the thick trees of this walkway. Kiba took the lead with Cheza beside him. Tsume was ahead of me, Hige, and Toboe. "Are we really taking her with us?" Tsume asks. "Yeah." Kiba vaguely answered. "It doesn't seem like the smartest idea. She's better off staying here." Tsume answered in an annoyed scoff. "Well, I don't see what all the fuss is about. I can't be the only one who thinks it'll be nice to have the scent of lunar flowers around. Plus, leaving her here would be mean." Toboe answered, abstaining for Cheza to stay with us. "Right. She's better staying here with us than with those nobles. And I'd have to agree with Toboe on the flower part." I chime in, giving the pup a nudge. "Won't that make her nothing but a danger to us?" Tsume quoted, getting us to stop. All I did was roll my eyes and I sigh in disbelief. Now she's a danger to us? That's great.
Kiba glanced back at him with an angered stare, his eyebrows furrowed. "If she stinks up the place with her scent, our location is as good as gone in a matter of minutes." the grey wolf continued, hands on his hips. "Our noses are stronger than a humans nose." Kiba simply says. But Tsume wasn't buying what Kiba was saying. Kiba is right on one point. A wolf's nose is much stronger than a humans. So they wouldn't be able to smell the lunar flowers. "But my eyes say she's trouble. What good is she to us?" Tsume growled. Kiba turned completely around to face Tsume and looked as if he was ready to spring at him at any given moment. "Cheza's more important to us than anything else! And if you're a wolf, Tsume then you should know this!" Kiba growled, clenching his fists. All I did was shake my head at this and turn around to have my back to them. This didn't go unnoticed.
Toboe walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. My head turns towards him. He looked so worried about me. "Are you okay, Luna? You look upset." Toboe asked. I put part of my bangs over my ear so that my nicked ear was revealed. I look away from him a moment and at the my feet. "Yeah… it's just Tsume's not getting it. I do understand his point about Cheza being made from a noble as she's hard to trust but… she's better off staying with us than with us. I mean… I don't fully know if she's truly gonna get us to paradise... " I say, rubbing both arms. "Oh, don't worry Luna. I know we'll get there. Now that we have her, we'll surely get there. And plus having the scent of flowers will be nice. Don't you think?" Toboe assured, giving me a warm smile. His words got me to grin. He wasn't wrong about that. The scent of flowers will override the stink of the nobles. So that's a nice touch it would seem.
Just then, a sudden sweet sound filled the air. Almost like… singing. Toboe and I turned around in a soft gasp. Cheza was slightly looking up at the sky with her eyes closed. She was facing the moon as she begun to sing. It was as if it was a lullaby of some sort. The second it hit my ears, a sudden heaviness began to weigh down on my shoulders. With each passing second, I grew more sleepier and sleepier. Dots covered my vision and I stumbled back into a tree. "Wha… what is happening? Why… do I… feel so tired…?" I groan, sliding down onto the ground. It was as if that weight was pushing me down. I then fall onto my right side; my body was touching the cool ground below us. Turns out, I wasn't the only one feeling this way. "Damn it, Luna! Toboe, don't fall asleep!" Tsume scolded, struggling to stay awake. Before I was able to respond, the darkness took me. I was out cold.
Dreams began to fill my head. One in particular was that I was back in my old pack. I was running through the fields with my two siblings, Samara, and Aaron, who had been killed. I felt the cool wind run through my black wolf fur. I remember of when my grandmother Mahika and my grandfather Zeus talking to us about the wonders of paradise. Ever since that bitch took everything from me, I forgot about it and refused to even go there because it would only remind me of my family's death. I surely miss them… I wish they were still here.
When morning came, I found myself in something warm once again. I found that my wolf head was laying on… Tsume's wolf foreleg. I was even pressed up next to him so that our wolf fur touched. I end up jumping back in shock so that my wolf hind legs were underneath me and my left wolf fore paw was hanging in the air slightly. My wolf ears was lowered some. Cheza looked up at me with a smile. "Good morning Luna." Cheza sweetly said with a smile. My golden wolf eyes gaze over at the flower maiden and feel myself calm down, setting my left wolf fore paw down on the ground gently. "Morning Cheza." I reply, my tone saddened. "Did you have sweet dreams?" she asks me. My wolf ears raise and my wolf head raise a bit. "Y-Yeah. I did." I fibbed, knowing that it wouldn't get by her. She looked at me forlornly. "Do you miss your family, Luna? This one can feel your sadness." she tells me, her hand on her chest. My wolf head lowered all the way along with my wolf ears. "Yes I do… I miss them so much…" I say, sounding like I was on the verge of tears. She ushered me to come over to her.
I stood up on all four wolf paws and slowly walk to her. Once I approached her, her hand came up and touched me on my wolf head, the feeling of her fantastical touch once again soothed me, getting my wolf ears to lower and my wolf eyes to close. Her fingers ran through my wolf fur. "It is alright… they'll always be will be with you… even when you don't see them. They'll always be in your heart." she told me, stroking my black wolf fur. I whimpered at her words and tilted my wolf head to the right. Her words never felt more reassuring. As much as I did miss my family so much, I knew that she was right. They're still with me even if I can't see them.
After a few more hours, Hige, Toboe, and I had gone into town to get a couple of things. Kiba too came with us but for a different reason. He was trying to find a path out of here so that we would leave this place. I really did want to get out of here. The three of us split up to find us something for the pack and Cheza. As I moved through town, I couldn't help but think about… why I once again woke up snuggling with Tsume again? Why does that keep happening? Surely I moved in my sleep but it could also mean something else. But… I couldn't possibly be falling for him? Could I? No… it's not possible. He wouldn't want me to. Frankly, I highly doubt that he'd ever fall for a she-wolf such as myself.
I ended up finding us some food to hold us over for the time being. We all decided to meet up at the edge of town so no humans wouldn't suspect our 'odd' behaviour. They think we're one of them and for the most part while we're here, we have no choice. I waited for Hige and Toboe with the sack of food in my hands as I leaned against the cracked wall with one leg propped up against it. It only took about half an hour before Toboe showed up, carrying what I can only assume to be a fur coat or something like that. "Where'd you get that thing?" I questioned, pushing myself off of the wall with the food cradled in my arms. "From the market. You think Cheza will like it?" Toboe said with a smile and he held it out. I eye it up and down and kind of frowned because I have a feeling Cheza won't like it very much.
"You sure about that, Toboe? I don't think she'll-" I started but he interrupted me. "We never know unless we try. Let's not doubt it." he said, draping it over his shoulder. At that, I give him a warming smile to assure him. "You know what, you're right. I shouldn't judge it. Maybe Hige will be the same." I say, adjusting the partly heavy bag of food. Toboe nodded at what I said and we continued on our way down the alleyway. We moved at a normal walking pace so we didn't draw attention to ourselves. We couldn't let the humans know that two wolves were walking in their eyesight.
After a few minutes, we had found Hige not to far off from us. He was carrying some light pink boots in his arms. He then focuses his eyes on what Toboe's holding. "What the hell is that thing?" he questioned, his eyebrows furrowed. I look from him to Toboe, who once again held it out. "Just in case she might be cold." Toboe informed. "What're you talking about? Cold's got nothing to do with it. At Luna brought something worth our while." Hige pointed out, looking at the bag of food that I had. "Well, you're no better Hige. What will shoes do to benefit Cheza?" I questioned. Hige raised his head and closed his eyes smugly. "I feel it'll help her delicate feet." he replied. Toboe and I gave him the same unsurprised expression. Should've known he'd be a suck up.
"Hmmm. Even if she's a flower?" Toboe questioned. Before either of us could say anything else, something in the corner of my eye got me to look behind us. I saw the form of an old lady with long white hair hanging over her shoulders, sunglasses covering her eyes, and a dark maroon shawl over her shoulders. She was standing in a close alleyway about a few feet from us. "Guys, let's get out of here." I say, feeling unnerved by this woman's presence. The red wolf and the tan wolf look in my direction and we started casually walking back to where the others were. Something about this lady just didn't sit right with me and I wanted to be as far from her as possible.
After a bit, neither of us could shake off the feeling that we were being watched. It sent shivers up my spine. "I can't be the only one that feels like we're being watched, right?" I said, my voice on edge as I looked around. "No… I feel it too." Hige said also on edge. "I heard something from the cats here. They said there's a ghost around here." Toboe said, lowering his voice. My eyes widen a bit at that. "A ghost?" Hige and I say in sync. I glance behind me to see that same woman that I saw earlier. Shivers ran up my spine at seeing her and I look ahead to avoid eye contact. "Did you guys see that?" Hige asked us. "Y-Yeah. Is that the… ghost?" Toboe quivered, his shoulders hunched over a bit. "Whatever it is, I'm not sticking around to see." I say anxiously, gripping onto the sack of food. The three of us started to speed our pace because this lady's starting to creep us the hell out.
After a couple of minutes, our jogging gradually turned to running. We made two corners and stopped to catch our breath. We were all hunched over and we breathed heavily. It didn't take long we were sent running again because we saw her again. "Ahh!" Toboe yelled, his eyes widened. "Run!" Hige urged, taking the lead. "You don't have to tell me twice!" I exclaim, running ahead of them. We continued to run and didn't stop until we make it back to where Tsume, Kiba, and Cheza were waiting on us. Tsume was leaning against a single wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
We stop and start to catch our breaths. "Wow! That was rough!" Hige pants. "We're back!" Toboe beams. "You three sure took a while." Kiba said, noting of how long we took. "Sorry about that. But we did find a few things. Here." I say, tossing the food to him, which he catches easily. I walk past Hige and Toboe to go next to Cheza, who was sitting on the tree stump with her hands in her lap. I end up sitting beside her on her right side.
"What the hell do you plan to do with that?" Tsume questions, taking note of what Toboe was holding. "What do you think? It's a present, silly." Toboe smiled, bringing over the fur coat and placing it over Cheza's shoulders. Toboe steps back and waits for a reaction from her. It didn't take long because her eyes dropped to her knees in disappointment. "I guess I was right. She doesn't exactly fancy it." I say, shrugging my shoulders at the saddened pup. He was so sure that Cheza would like it. He was proven wrong with this one.
"It sure looks like it." Kiba comments. "Told you so. Even Luna saw it would be a fail. Besides, these are way better." Hige smugly says, bringing the shoes over to her. I just roll my eyes at that. Once he set the shoes down in front of her feet, I first thought she would react the same way she did with Toboe's 'gift'. She gazes down at them for a moment before slipping them on her feet. They were a perfect fit. She stands up without an issue and begins to dance around in them while giggling happily. Hearing her giggle couldn't be any more sweet because that reminded me of when I played with my siblings at a young age.
Hige was happy with the fact that Cheza liked these boots rather than that fur cloak. Just then, the giggling ceased. It got us to look in her direction. I instantly jump up at the sight and stand in a fighting stance. It was that same lady that Hige, Toboe, and I saw earlier. I thought we outran her! We gasped at the sight of her. "Who are you?" Kiba asked directly. The lady dismisses his straightforward question and started sauntering her way over to Cheza. Kiba got in front of Cheza and blocked her from the old lady's view. She stops and grins at us that gave me a weird feeling. "You five. You are wolves." she presumed, getting me to jolt back in a short gasp. How did she know what we were?
"Old lady, what's your name?" Kiba inquired. At Kiba's question, she slowly removes her sunglasses. When she opens her eyes, I swear I felt a cold chill run up my spine. Her eyes were exactly like Cheza's… all red. "Old lady, tell us who you are." Kiba demanded. "The Hanabito is what we were called." the old lady answered, her voice rough as if she hasn't talked in a while. "This one can tell from your scent. But you're not like this one?" Cheza calmly asked her. "You're a perfect creation. You're not like me." the Hanabito explains. I furrow my eyebrow because it didn't make sense to me. How is Cheza a perfect creation? Hige has told me she was made from the nobles but… we some more explaining from this old flower lady.
Suddenly, the stench of those damn soldiers hit my nose and it caused me to perk up. "Guys. They're coming." I warn, my voice on edge. "She's right, we can't stay here." Tsume agreed with me. The others listened to our warning and we all booked it from that small area. The old lady was leading us through a narrow grove to avoid attention from the oncoming soldiers. Us wolves bounded off the trees as we followed the flower lady until we reached a seemingly hollowed tree that had a single wooden door and the tree was covered in vines that made it blend in with the rest of the grove.
She held open the door for us and we all went in one by one. Toboe was the last to go in as I was in front of him. Once we were all inside, she shut the door behind us and we waited for the soldiers to pass us. We remain quiet as the sound of the heavy metal that rattled on their bodies grew louder and louder. It was an agonizing few minutes before they moved on, not suspecting 5 wolves and two flowers in hiding.
The old lady allowed Cheza to sit in her chair while the rest of us stood around her. We wolves were in wolf form. Kiba stood next to her with his wolf head raised as well as his wolf ears. Tsume was sitting down with his wolf head partially raised and his wolf ears lowered. Hige also sat down with his wolf head raised and his wolf ears raised. Toboe was sitting down with his wolf ears partially raised while his wolf head was raised. I sat down in between Tsume and Hige with my wolf head raised and my wolf ears raised. My golden wolf eyes were focused on the old flower. She was telling us about how she's the last of her kind after witnessing the other ones wither and die.
At this, my wolf head lowers and I closed my wolf eyes and tried to repress the memories of losing my family. But after a minute, I reopened them but did not lift my wolf head. All we could do was listen to what this lady had to say. She then said that we couldn't take Cheza with us. This set Kiba off because he bared his wolf fangs at the old lady. "Why can't we?!" Kiba growled. He didn't want to leave Cheza here with this old lady. Honestly, I'm not so sure if we should take her. Tsume sure as hell doesn't want anything to do with her because of his Mr. Tough Guy streak he's got going. Hige and Toboe would be more accepting to her. "It'll lead to destruction!" the old lady spats at him. "You can't be serious!" Kiba growled, his wolf hackles rising a bit. "I'm not talking to you!" she spats again, getting him to calm down. He hides his wolf fangs and sits down with his wolf head and wolf ears raised up all the way. The old lady begins to speak again.
"I give off the faintest scent of the flower. It'll die of eventually." she spoke as if nothing happened. "What should this one do?" Cheza wondered, putting her hand to her chest. "You have the ability to sustain the life of a hanabito. You must stay here." the old lady answered softly. Kiba sprung up and raised his wolf tail to show some dominance. "Cheza, don't listen to her!" he said, turning his wolf head towards her. His wolf eyes were focused on her for a moment. "Wolf. Just what do you plan to accomplish by taking this girl with you?" the old lady stated, looking at Kiba. The white wolf looks at the old lady with a stumped look. "We're going to Paradise." Cheza answered confidently. Hearing that made my wolf head raise. So we're going there after all and she would help us lead the way.
Then, Tsume's wolf ears raise and he stands to his wolf paws. He looks out of the window that was above us. "Everyone stay quiet." he softly growled, slightly baring his wolf fangs. We all look out of the window in human form. "Luna, there's that woman we saw in Freeze City." Hige whispers. I look out of the window so that only my eyes were visible above the window. And just like Hige said, that blonde haired lady was standing outside of this place. "Yeah, he's right." I said as soon as I saw her. That's a possible sign that they might've found us. "Let's go." Kiba said directly. We had to leave and we had to do it now.
And with that, we all leave the old flower lady to deal with this woman. Kiba and Cheza hid behind the tree while the rest of us were hiding in the tree. We waited for about 5 minutes before the four of us jump down from the tree and landed by her in a circle formation. I stood in between Toboe and Tsume so that I was at her side. Needless to say, she was startled by our startled presence. She jumped back and yelled out of shock. "You-You kids! Who are you?! Tell me what's going on!" she demands. Neither of us answer her. Kiba stepped out from behind the tree with Cheza holding his hand. This got this human's attention and she turned to face them. "Cheza!" she called in seeing her. Kiba gives the woman a long cold stare for the better part of a few seconds before he jumps into the air with Cheza behind him. He lands on a ledge in his wolf form and looked down at her with a soft glance.
The rest of us stand in wolf form as well. I keep my wolf ears raised all the way along with my wolf head. I didn't show that I was a threat to her and neither did the others. She first looked at Kiba with a look of shock and it transferred to the rest of us. She obviously hasn't seen wolves in the flesh before. When we turned back to human form, we bolted out of there without a second thought. We couldn't hang around there anymore because I have seen the soldiers that were with her the last time we saw them.
The six of us make our way into town so we were out of the humans eyesight. Once we make it to the heart of it, we stopped to take a breather. I panted heavily while bent over. I rested my hands on my knees to hold myself up. "She's crying…" Cheza said, getting me to look up. Cheza stood in front of us with her head lowered. "You mean the old lady?" Kiba asked. It was that obvious. We all exchange glances for a moment. Did that mean she was going to wither like the other flowers?
"Kiba, can this one stay with you?" she asked, turning to the white wolf. "Cheza, you have to stay with us." Kiba answers. She turns to me next with a look of sadness on her face. "Luna?" she said. I simply smiled at her. "Of course, Cheza." I answer wholeheartedly. Of course I wanted her to come with us. I don't have the heart to deny that. She turned to Hige with that same expression. "Hige?" she said. The tan wolf simply chuckled lightly this and gave her a genuine smile. "Sure! When you're on a journey the more the merrier!" Hige agreed happily. She turned to Toboe, who was leaning against a wall. "Toboe?" she said, who got him to grin lightly with a happy chuckle. She then turned to Tsume, who had his hand on his hip. I was thinking that he would say no but his answer surprised me fierce.
He sighs and looks to the ground with his eyes shut. "Fine you can tag along. If it gets us to where we're going I can put up with you." Tsume answered with a inkling of annoyance in his voice. That didn't matter because as long as all of us agreed with taking Cheza, that is what mattered. Even though I didn't particularly believe in Paradise as much as Kiba does, I'm happy to have Cheza with us.
Afterwards, we ended up going back into town to find a place to settle down for the night to keep us separated from the humans. Kiba got Cheza a pink long poncho that had a hoodie so that Cheza could be well hidden from the humans. We'd figure out a plan to get the hell out of here but we're staying the night. Hopefully we wouldn't have to get ourselves caught.