Wolf's Rain is copyright to BONES/ Nobumoto Keiko; Nikki belongs to me.

**side note (so as not to have my readers confused on who's speaking, wolf or human):

'talk' - wolf speech

"talk" - human speech

Crimson Snow Under the Moon - Opening

He looked at her as she had fallen back to walking at his side, scowling ahead into the billowing wind with silver eyes. 'Surprised you aren't up at the front,' he mused, perking her ears.

She shrugged. 'I felt like walking with you. Besides, I've been getting this weird feeling, lately. Ever since we left that dust bowl.' She narrowed her eyes against the wind.

The wind howled softly around their pack as they trekked against the flurries that danced around them and nipped at their faces.

'Like what?' He turned a gold eye on her.

'Like something bad is gonna go down. I felt it that same day, the night of the full moon… When she was taken.' A bristle rippled down her spine as her lip curled at the memory. 'I hate feeling this way.' She admitted softly.

Tsume huffed. 'Well why didn't you tell him?' He asked, looking at her with both gold eyes, indicating Kiba.

'Because he's got enough on his mind. He's hell-bent on getting her back, and I feel the same. I just… I don't want anything to happen, not to you, the others, or to him. Least of all to him.' Nikki answered, looking away.

'I guess you're right. But no matter what, you know I'm not letting anything happen to you.' He scowled sternly at her, slightly surprising his kid sister.

'Tsume…' She quieted and nodded slowly, smiling a little. 'Y'know, even though you don't show it, you're a teddy-bear.' She mused gently, perking his ears.

He growled quietly and made a face, ignoring the snicker. 'Don't ruin the moment, dummy…'

"Kiba!" Both siblings blinked once when hearing the tan wolf's call, looking back to see him trudging through the snow and gripping his shoulder to grab the white wolf's attention. "You're going too fast! Let's take a break." He declared over the howling wind, staring into his green eyes.

The wind whipped at his brown hair as he turned away. "We don't have time for that," he dismissed.

"Would you use your head for once!?" Hige barked exasperatedly, making his friend turn to scowl at his garnet eyes that stared him down. "We've got two girls and a little kid with us!" He reminded.

Blue rolled her eyes and sighed. "I can hear you, ya know." She hollered blandly from the back. "Don't worry about me, I can keep going. Isn't that right, Nikki?" She looked to her fellow female.

"Blue's right, we're just fine. Quit worrying so much, Romeo." Nikki chimed patiently as she stepped away from her brother's side to rejoin her mate out of loyalty, taking his hand.

Tsume huffed. "You do realize he's the one who wants to take a break, right?" He asked dryly.

"I do not! I just…" Hige defended weakly before scowling at the snow.

Amber locked on green. "But he's not wrong. At this rate, none of us will make it." He glanced away to an outcropping hundreds of yards away in the howling wind. "We can take shelter in those rocks to ride out the storm." He added, scowling stubbornly at their young leader.

"Nikki," he looked at his mate, green eyes not missing the slight shiver that rolled down her arms, gauging her opinion.

She nodded. "I agree with Tsume. We'll rest just for a little bit." She met his green eyes and smiled slightly. "Okay?"

Slightly reluctant to listen to his pack's whines, Kiba nodded once. "Fine."

::::::::xXx::::::::

"The sun will be up soon; we should rest until then." He pointed out, looking down at the black she-wolf that had huddled up to his side to keep herself warm, looking up at her mate that stood like a sentinel at the mouth of the outcropping.

The tan wolf looked up hopefully. "What do you say, Kiba? The storm will blow itself out by morning."

"It already has." He stated quietly, slightly baffling the black, brown, and tan wolves; his mate opened an eye and lifted a brow. He looked back at his packmates. "Come on, it'll be fine." He assured them.

"Well none of us will be fine!" Tsume snarled impatiently, glaring up at him when their eyes locked and held; he broke the stare to look at his sister. "Use your head for once in your life, will ya? What you do with your life is your business, but drag my baby sister into your own personal shitstorm and you're a dead man. If you're off to your death, don't drag her with you." He returned his glare to the one that marred his handsome face, his lip curling.

Kiba glared at him and looked away. "What she does is her choice, remember?" He turned his scowl to the storm. "Do what you want, I'm going. Whether you come or not is up to you, Nikki." He added.

Blue huffed quietly, "look, I can handle it." She straightened to her feet.

"Yeah, me too!" Toboe echoed as he stood with her.

"No." Hige growled, making the duo look at him; he glared over at his friend. "I'm not going anywhere until morning."

Kiba scowled again and looked out at the cold wind. "I understand."

"I'm going with you." Nikki shrugged away from her brother's side, nimbly hopping to her feet and meeting his green eyes with a stubborn look on her brow. "Cheza is my responsibility too, and I'd be a coward to leave her side now." She moved away from the wall to go to his side loyally.

He nodded and smiled faintly. "Let's go." He leaped out into the snowy air.

"You're insane, y'know that?" Tsume growled behind her as she made to follow, perking her ears.

The wind whipped at her hair as she tilted her head back to smile wryly at his narrowed amber eyes. "Guess I really am your kid sister. See you at the keep." Nikki replied, turning to leap into the snowy darkness.

Paws hitting the cold ground, she looked forward to see he had waited on her, his white pelt making him almost blend in with the swirling snow, amber eyes looking to her as she made her way to his side.

"Are you sure about coming with me?" Kiba asked when she came to his left, walking on despite his concerned question as she kept up.

She huffed and fisted a hand in his jacket, pulling him back as she paused; he blinked once before she leaned up to crush her lips against his, a hand grasping the loose collar of his white shirt.

He groaned softly, feeling as if it had been centuries since he'd kissed her, digging his fingers into the small of her back and holding her close as he reciprocated and smiled against her lips.

"You made me a promise, long ago, to take me to Paradise. A wise, sometimes-moronic, fearless wolf once said that wolves mate for life." Nikki whispered, pulling away in his arms to look up at him.

Kiba's eyes softened before he smiled again, squeezing her waist. "And I intend to keep that promise. Come on, let's move." He kissed her again before releasing her to bound forward into the snow on four paws; she smiled and followed until they ran side-by-side into the howling wind that bit at their faces and paws.

A happy light brightened her face. "Kiba, Nikki!" Cheza beamed as she started running to the chosen duo.

Nikki smiled in relief at seeing her unscathed, perking her ears as a flash of black moved behind her, coming fast. "Cheza, look out!" She barked alertly, watching the flash shift into the form of that noble, as he yanked her off the floor by the back of her neck, making her cry out in pain and surprise.

"Cheza!" Kiba exclaimed.

A lone blue eye and a gold wolf's eye glared at the duo, gauging their responses, before he tossed her against a black pole that stuck up from the floor: her scream of pain was enough to make her blood sing.

Kiba bolted forward, lunging at his neck; a glint of metal shined behind the noble as his right hand reached back for something.

The sound of metal hitting flesh rang out as both wolf and noble glanced off each other, one landing near the far wall and the other landing mere yards away from the black wolf.

A thin cut appeared on the right cheek of the wolf's face as a likewise-thin cut appeared on the left cheek of the noble's face when both glowered at each other.

"So, wolf, you've come for revenge." Darcia growled.

A thundering snarl exploded from her throat as she hurtled forward with her fangs bared and claws drawn, aimed for the supposedly-distracted man's throat.

He grabbed a fistful of her black pelt, making the she-wolf growl, before tossing her aside roughly.

Kiba bared his teeth angrily as the noble turned his full attention to the furious chosen wolf glowering at him.

'And here I thought you fuckers didn't know how to fight…' Low growling sounded from the corner he'd thrown the she-wolf in, making him glance over at her to see her steadily getting to her feet, fangs bared in the curled-lip sneer she wore, her tail lifting into the air like a flag.

Darcia sneered back. "You stupid mongrel, you don't know when to give up, do you?" He snarled softly.

'Neither of us do!' Kiba flew at him from the side, throwing him off balance minutely before meeting the sharp side of his sword with his side; he bounced away to land on his paws, blood staining his white fur.

A glint of black appeared out of the corner of his eye as she hurtled into him, slamming him into the wall with her switchblade's blade aimed at his throat, her lip curled back to reveal her sharpened teeth as her blue eyes had shifted to silver, a feral light in her pretty face that reminded him just what kind of wolf she was.

With a sharp stab, he shoved her away by hitting her gut with the hilt of his sword, sending her back to dig her heels into the floor and halt next to her mate's slightly battered form.

'You will not hurt either Nikki or Cheza.' Kiba snarled coldly.

Darcia glowered from one wolf to the other. "I don't really care about your damn whore. But Cheza is a different matter: she was a being that we created, the mere embodiment of a Lunar Flower. Why do you both desire so desperately for her?"

"Neither one of us know who you nobles are, or what you're up to… and, frankly, we don't give a rat's ass about your history and all that shit. Cheza is all that matters to us: she's going to show us the way to Paradise." Nikki spat a thin wad of blood at his feet and smirked grimly.

Lip curling into a snarl, he growled, "you damn wolves. All of this first began with your wretched breed." He lunged at the duo.

Kiba flew forward at him with a slight nod for her to stay back, the sword glancing off him again.

Nikki glared and fought a cringe each time he was hit, her hands curling and uncurling at her sides before she gritted her teeth and flew in, her right boot's heel connecting with the man's left jaw when he delivered a nasty cut to the wolf's left hip, knocking him away from her mate.

'I told you to stay back.' He growled at her side as she lifted her tail and glowered at the noble that rubbed his jaw gingerly, spitting out a wad of blood.

'Shut up,' she growled back before leaping at him, missing when he ducked her oncoming hurtle and bouncing off his head with the balls of her feet, twisting to launch her fangs into his left wrist and bite down hard.

Darcia snarled in pain and tried to knock the she-wolf off, gritting his teeth as blood flew and her teeth remained locked around his forearm. "You damned whore!" He swung the sword down on her.

A yelp of pain fled her jaws as the sword's blade ripped into her right shoulderblade, forcing her to lose her grip on his arm; he kicked her in the jaw, making her cry out, sending her flying.

Kiba ran to her side as she opened an eye slowly, stiffly, skidding to a halt when she shakily sat up, blood staining the jet black color of her fur and dripping onto the floor beneath her paws; he nosed her cheek with a soft growl, earning a quiet whine in response as she nodded slightly to confirm that she was all right.

"It's because of you: you and your kind stole everything from me. And in return, you gave me a curse, and grief, and suffering… And my left eye, transformed into one like yours, is the price I paid for being cursed by Paradise. And now, the only thing that surrounds me is despair." He lowered the sharp tip of the sword's blade and aimed it at the girl's unguarded throat.

'Don't! Please, no!' Nikki barked a plea, growling as she shakily got to her feet to stand at his side.

Kiba growled, 'What is it: what do you want?'

"Have you found it yet… have you found Paradise?"

'We will… no matter what!'

"And what do you expect to find there?"

'A future.'

"'A future'?"

'Not hope, or despair, just a future… nothing more.'

Darcia looked heavenward with saddened eyes. "I no longer have any need… for a future."
The chosen duo tensed and glowered at him.

A gunshot rang out, echoing about the hall.

Both wolves leaped out of the way to narrowly dodge the shot, the white wolf standing protectively infront of the wounded black wolf, loud growls escaping their fanged mouths as they glared at the grizzled old hunter.

The human duo that had accompanied the old man skidded to a halt short of the scene, the woman from before looking at the unconscious girl on the floor.

He reloaded the gun, preparing to fire once more. "It's over, wolves." The nose of his shotgun shook in anticipation.

Kiba snarled lowly as he shifted his weight to fully protect his mate, bristling madly.

"No, don't!" A voice exclaimed before a blur of midnight dove between the gun and wolf, surprising the trio when recognizing it was the hybrid with blue eyes.

"Blue?" Nikki breathed in surprise.

"Kiba!"

"Nikki!"

Kiba glanced away to see their pack had come, the oldest of the trio's amber eyes shifting from him to his baby sister that held onto her torn shoulder gingerly, her eyes on the half-breed.

He owed her one.

"My lord Darcia!" One of the human females barked alertly before a loud crash sounded as a wide red laser shot down through the ceiling, dividing the room in half.

"Cheza!" He barked before another laser hit.

Both chosen wolves dropped back to avoid getting into the blast zone, landing gingerly on more solid floor.

"Blue!" Hige exclaimed alertly.

"Let's go!" Tsume ordered as he lifted his sister into his arms and turned to lead the pack out of the hall.

"Kiba, hurry!" Nikki exclaimed, watching him turn to sprint after her brother's lead as Hige and Toboe followed.

::::::::xXx::::::::

The ships were leaving into the clouded sky overhead.
God he was an idiot!

"Kiba!" The girl cried as she was lifted into one of the baskets.

She sprinted as fast as she could after him, ignoring the pain that wracked her shoulders, particularly her injured right shoulderblade, grunting softly in exertion. "Kiba!" She shouted as she followed him onto the snowy ground, gritting her teeth and watching him leap at one of the baskets to attack some of the soldiers retreating before being thrown down, landing on his feet and hitting the ground running.

"Kiba!" She cried, making to pick up the pace and get closer before a pair of strong arms hooked around her waist from behind, lifting her off the ground as she squirmed and snarled angrily, desperately trying to get to him.

"Enough, Nikki!" He shouted over her loud curses and even louder snarls, ignoring her claws digging into his arms.

He was getting farther and farther away.

"KIBA!" Nikki screamed into the hollow cold air.

is this story drawn to a close? will Nikki never see Kiba again? THINK AGAIN. lol nah but srsly.. more drama to come up so look forward to it. drop a review if y'want! thanks~