A/N- Dear god there are so many reviews AGAIN! It just makes me want to jump around and do a jig or something
Okay, Review responses - - -
Shadow- five days from the fourth… hmm, hopefully that's ended by now then. Sorry about the slow uptake on things on my part, the ACT test is literally becoming my ball-and-chain in life at the moment. Here's the answers to ur brother's questions as you have requested:
1.Does kiba remember anything else from his past.
A- In the "other world" which I refered to as the world be a limbo of lost spirits that had lost their way in the mystic desert of sorts and had lost their lives or souls like Akira's parents or fell under the spell of the desert paralis plant like Kiba and Akira. Kiba didn't remember anything of his past like his friends or cheza in that world because his soul was captured completely by the spell. It was Akira's presence, who hadn't completely succumbed to the spell that dragged his soul back to remembering. As for his past as a pup, I don't see him reliving it too much in the future but he has not experienced any amnesia about that part of his life. I hope that explains it….
2. does kiba and akira make out again
A- Ofcourse they do. This wouldn't be a romantic story with out the heavy stuff implied. Lol, but from here on out, there's a lot of Adventure scenes that I'm trying to juggle with the touching ones between Akira and Kiba. I shall find a way though
3. dose or did kiba and akira gain a speacil abiliy or power from crossing between worlds if so is it dark or light power
A- as for the whole mystic power of good and evil and special ability, none that came from that spirit world episode. The general effect of that was the fact that Kiba met Akira's parents, Akira got closure, and expresses abnormalties in the fact that Akira didn't succomb to the spell. So in a way, Akira does have some special powers, but those are connected to the "red-moon" legend that will soon come to be in the following chapters.
Tigerjaw- Nice name and I'm proud that I can make this story so likeable for you.
fannyone325- Thank you always love compliments
freddbing323- I updated already! Lol
Furyguy- YES! Score for Jazz's goal!
ScaresofRemorse – I now know the city is truly called "Freeze City" and to tell you the truth, I had no idea until you brought it to the light to me. Sorry about that, but for the sake of the story, I'll just leave it be to "Free-city" in this story until I finish the actual plot of it. After I get it all worked out, then I'll go back and make the small fine tune ups such as that one. Thanks for pointing that out huggles)
Venom- Thou hast updated hope you enjoy
EmilyRuby- JazzXBlue was just a coincidence. They don't end up together, but they do form a kinship between one another.
Prettykitty67- Again, I have updated, enjoy
Wildcreature- More Kiba/Akira romance you say? Well then, let's bring out the big guns then
RedFang- Again, another cool nickname, where do you guys get this stuff? Nice name, and thanks for the compliment
-A/N- Okay it's just me again. Lol, I believe that's all the reviewers from Chapter 19 this time around. Sorry if I missed anybody. And I have a special treat for all:
Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!! Announcement!!
-Had to get your attention some how…
If you love the fic, please tell me what you guys like about the visual. I'm no director, but I have had a good reviewing on Youtube under the name "KuramaAlchemist". Anyways, I created a Song dedication to Lullaby for a stormy Night with the original song that inspired this creation. It's a KibaXAkira AMV at Youtube . com by KuramaAlchemist (Me) so if you'd like to see it, please don't hesitate to go and check it out. Hopefully this link below will take you directly to it the vid, but if not, someone tell me in a review and I'll remedy that—
"http : / www .you tube. com / watch ? v JDleCuhNPHs" with out the spaces,
End of Announcement, continue to the fic below and enjoy!!
Chapter 20 Call to the Brave
It was cold. The wind and the snow were letting up in the small town that lay in ruin from Jagura's troop's invasion. One of the many towns that had fallen to the mighty army under Jagura's control. A cattle truck waited as the survivors of the onslaught board its bed. It was one of many that were on their way to take the refugees to Jagura's Paradise where even people who once lived in the enemy domes were said to roam free and unabashed. A special squad of Jagura's troops even ran the trucks, showing sympathy to the people who surrendered willingly, unlike the soldiers that fought them.
An old man in a large trench coat and brown hat pulled his collar closer to his face to keep the wind off his neck. He hunched forward with the other men, women and children that huddled together in the fearful icy chill of the storm as it seemed to relax its angered howling wind for now. A small break in the powerful blizzard sure to come as the caravan was about to cross the land of the endless blizzard to Jagura's Paradise.
The men running the truck motioned for the passengers waiting to board and everyone crowded in, thankful that the small enclosed space at least offered some warmth when it was quickly being filled with humans with more than enough body heat to share. The old man was one of the last to board. He was about to step on up when a young voice called out.
"Wait!"
He looked back to see a sandy-blond young man with strange miss-matched eyes. Quent didn't much care about the odd coloring of the boys' eyes, but noticed that he was dragging in a limp in the snow as he hurried to the truck bed. He was clutching his side and his cloths seemed bloodstained.
"Just who are you, boy?" one of the soldiers asked accusingly.
"Not a spy are you?" another bit out untrusting.
"He's with me." Quent grumbled. Surprising himself even with his show of compassion to the lad, "My nephew got caught in the crossfire, you see" he quickly explained.
"All right then. Get him up. We need to get a move on to keep schedule." One of the soldiers nodded easily enough.
Quent held out a hand for the boy to grasp and together with the help of a few more passengers, hefted the injured boy into the covered bed of the truck while the soldiers closed the back and knotted the cover flap doors closed.
The truck rumbled to life and the journey began. One by one, the anxious travelers standing up chose to sit down in the bed and huddled next to one another, conversing with themselves. All anxious with what was happening. Many seemed nearly mad with what has been going on.
Quent and the boy exchanged no other words to one another other than a quick thank you from the boy after he was helped in and had his wounds checked on from a worried mother nearby with a gurgling child in her arms.
"Thank you miss, but I'll be fine" he said after the woman asked if he wanted her to stitch him up when she had helped dress a few of his wounds, "It looks worse than it really is. Right Uncle?"
Quent was taken aback slightly, but gruffed out a "Yeah" none the less.
"This is it… the end of everything" a lanky looking man next to Quent and the young man jittered nervously, biting his thumb, "Soon everything'll just disappear. Nothing will escape. None will survive. We're all going to die" he sounded half mad. It made even Quent sick to his stomach a bit.
"Will you shut your yammering? You haven't shut up about things we already know since an hour ago!" an irritated man hissed from across them as he rummaged through a sack he had stolen from a fallen soldier of Jagura's men. He pulled out a few valuables to inspect closer, "Ha, HA! This'll fetch a nice price." He held up a golden watch.
"Thieves have no need to breathe air" the young man mumbled under his breath, instantly having a dislike for the man across from them. Quent agreed whole heartedly.
"It'll never stop. There's nothing we can do" the man blubbered on.
"I said can it!" the irritated shifty eyed man barked. He pulled out something else at the bottom of the bag and grinned wickedly as if he just struck gold, "HA HAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled as he pulled out two silver necklaces with dog tags on them that had a green jewel in the middle, "This is the key to paradise! I can sell the extra for MILLIONS!"
"Not even money will matter anymore!" the other man blabbered.
"WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!" the man rummaging stood quickly, snatching the other blubbering man up by the collar and knocking the injured boy out of the way. The sandy-haired youth bit his lip in pain and there were gasps from the other frightened people of the truck as they watched on.
"Stop it! He's injured and that man is half mad!" Quent tried to appeal to the other man, but was met with a gun pointed at him. The others began to panic, but they were all too frightened to move.
"FUCK'N SHUT UP! JAGURA'S GONNA SAVE US! THEY SAY HER KEEP IS A CLOUD A DREAMS! PARADISE!" the man insisted, flaunting his gun threateningly at any who might oppose him.
"Paradise, huh? Ha ha hahaha-gulchst!" the man nearly choked in the now madder mans grip as he shoved the point of the gun pass his teeth in his mouth.
"I knew you had a big mouth to be spouting all that CRAP!" The mad man sneered.
Ironically, the man with a gun shoved in his mouth laughed as much as he could manically with the gun still half way shoved in his mouth, "It's all over, OVER!"
BANG!
The man fell dead where he stood, shocking the other people in the crowded truck. Blood quickly slicked the floor of the back of the truck. There was a hush of nervousness from the crowd and the young girl the mother had nestled next to her bawled in fear. Her mother too petrified to comfort her. The murderer tensed, probably shocked he had just killed a man. Quents wide eyes looked on in disbelief, but the boy next to him seemed to look numb.
"I… I told that guy to shut up…" the murderer hissed under his breath as if he couldn't control himself much longer, "I warned him to keep his mouth shut….. But he wouldn't listen!" he gritted his teeth as the small child continued to bawl, making him tense.
The boy's green and blue eyes focused on the man's hand where the small hand gun was being gripped. The guy was going into a panic!
"I told the guy to shut up…. To shut up…" the man repeated to himself. He suddenly whirled on the girl, gun at the ready and his face maddened, "JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Quent and the boy were on the move. The boy went for the gun, shoving it upward where the released bullet shot through the roof, startling the people on the truck. Quent went to grab the man to restrain him, but the man was surprised by the boy's sudden movement and lost his balance.
"NO!" Quent shouted as he tried to grab the man to pull him back. The tell-tail slipping sound from the man's boot sliding in the freshly spit blood was the madman's demise. Quent grabbed at him, missing only a fraction of the clothing- grasping on to the two chained dog tags the man had looted earlier. He and the boy watched helplessly as the man fell from the back of the truck. The gun going off once more as impact came on the man's body.
The people sat in silence, fearing what these other two men would do. Quent couldn't register what happened either, he seemed stunned as well, but the boy reacted quickly to calm them all.
"It's alright everyone, we're safe now." He said calmly and soothingly, "Does anyone else feel the need to get their anger, frustration, and or anxiety out while were at this?"
No one spoke.
"Very well then. It's late. We should all get some rest." He weakly sat back down, wincing as his wounds were strained.
Quent plopped next to him, seeing the boy look to the child that was still sobbing in fear. Her mother had now started to try and console her, but the child still cried out in fear.
"Hey there, what's your name?" the boy smiled.
The girl sniveled, caught off guard when the older good-looking boy smiled at her and asked her a question, "Silvia" she sniveled. Her big blue eyes looked up to him, searching for something that wouldn't scare her.
"That's a pretty name, Silvia. Mine's Jasper." He said gently. Everyone was thankful that she had calmed down.
"H-hello" she blushed, still sniveling her tears.
"Did those men scare you?" she nodded, "They were pretty scary weren't they." He sympathized as she nodded again and the tears started to well up again, "Aw, don't cry, Silvia. Don't cry." He soothed, "You're too cute to cry."
"But I'm scared of the soldiers and those bad men"
"Those bad men aren't here anymore. No one will hurt you. The soldiers are taking you and your family somewhere safe. There's no need to fear." he reassured her.
She nodded and turned to her mother when her mother nudged the girl to offer her some food. The woman mouthed a 'Thank you' to Jasper and he nodded back to her. He then turned to his stunned 'Uncle'.
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced," Jasper inquired with a light smile ever present to relax the mood.
"Quent" Quent said with out knowing it.
"Well, Uncle Quent, I'm Jasper." Jasper held out a hand. When Quent grasped it, he felt the inhuman aura to Jasper and his eyes widened. Jasper knew he knew his secrete and leaned in close, "And yes, Uncle, I know you're the wolf hunter, but I also know that you're searching for Blue." Quents eyes widened at the wolf, "Stay nice for now and we'll both search for her, old man. I promise no harm will come to you if you don't shoot me."
"Cant even do that much" Quent lightly smirked, "My guns busted."
"Do we have a deal?"
"Never thought I'd see the day that I'd make a deal with a devil of the wolf" Quent sighed, taking Jasper's offered hand to shake, "The world has gone crazy…. Really, REALLY crazy."
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Kiba looked down from the icy cliff he and the others stopped to catch their breath at. Down below, the ice bobbed and crushed against one another in the small currents of the water beneath them. The ice stretched on and on, making a daunting picture for the wolves.
"Wh-what is this?" Akira's eyes widened at all the ice. First sand and now ice!
"Is it the ocean?" Toboe awed.
"No. It's the sea of ice." Lauralai said. Her voice seemed very subdued and her body shook slightly from the cold and the nervousness.
"Sea of Ice?" Akira echoed, looking closer as the some of the ice flats smashed against one another. The sound made her ears fold downward, "We're not actually gonna cross this, are we?" she turned to Kiba who looked to Lauralai expectantly.
Lauralai shook her head, "There's no other way around it. This sea cuts through the continents that would be connected by a land bridge of ice in the winter."
"This isn't winter??" Hige gawked.
"No, it's late spring…. I think" Laura said a bit unsure.
"So that's it then" Tsume leaped down from the ledge and started walking across the ice that split and crackled around him. He carefully avoided the large cracks in the thick ice and stood on a flat that was larger than the rest to look back at the others watching from above, "We cross it."
Kiba followed with out a word with Hige and Heart at his tail. Akira chose to be the one to stay with the younger ones to make sure they got across alright. She urged them onward to follow the others.
Luralai landed swiftly on the ice and followed the older wolves with out too much a problem, but Toboe slipped on the slippery surface and his paw caught in the icy water. He yelped and drew back suddenly.
"ACK! That's COLD!"
"Well of course! You know there's water under the ice, right?" Hige teased.
"YEAH!" Toboe bit back a blush, "Of course I knew that!" he quickly followed Laura's example and leaped over the cracks of the ice to catch up then passed the others giddily, "Come on! It's not that cold! This feels great! Let's get going!" he called back to them.
The others watched dumbly as Akira, light on her feet as ever, approached and watched the young wolf dash off.
"Come on guys!" he called.
"Coming!" Laura called, bounding off across the ice to catch up. The adults shook their heads while Akira just smiled.
"What's with him? It's FREEZING" Hige groaned.
"He's such a pup" Tsume sighed.
Kiba started to trot after the youthful wolves, signaling the others to follow. Heart took her spot at Akira's side, "Let's just hope the pup's new found energy doesn't make him slip again."
"I WON'T SLIP AGAIN!" Toboe barked back.
Akira giggled at Hearts dumbfounded look.
As the day wore on, Kiba and the other elder wolves once again were leading the front with the younger wolves following and Akira taking up the rear. Kiba, Heart, Tsume and Hige all leaped over a large gap in the ice from one iceberg to another and waited for the others.
Once again, Lauralai sailed right over with out a second stop, clawing at the ice to make a quick stop on the other side and encouraged Toboe to follow.
Toboe looked down the trench the gapping split in the ice created all the way down to the black icy waters. He gulped intimidated by the height.
"Come on Runt" Hige called.
"I WAS GETTING READY TO!" Toboe bit back as he backed away determinedly from the gap to get a running start.
"Getting ready for what?" Hige looked to Heart and Tsume who just shook their heads.
Akira waited patiently as Toboe sprang to full speed and lunged with all his might across the gap. He used too much force however and was unable to stop himself from sliding as he landed and came to a crashing stop. All the wolves winced as they heard him running smack into something hard. Akira didn't miss a beat as she leaped over the gap and rushed over to the young wolf's side, Lauralai at her heels.
"Toboe?" she called.
"Toboe!" Lauralai gasped.
"I'm fine!" Toboe insisted, shooting back up to his feet. He plucked a dried up bone from his head, "A bird bone?" he looked around to see that he had crashed into a skeleton near the ice formation he ran into.
Hige plucked the bone from the young wolf to inspect it, "Hm… not a single sign of meat left on it" he sighed dejectedly as his stomach groaned.
"We'll find something in the town ahead. It shouldn't take too much longer" Kiba reassured knowingly.
"That means we need to get out of this icy hell quicker though." Tsume groused.
"And what ever consumed the meat off these bones doesn't look like something we'd wanna hang around." Heart said morbid as she looked around to spot larger bones of other animals not far off from the bird Toboe had slammed into.
"Then what are we doing here? Let's go!" Toboe shot forward once again.
Kiba looked back to Akira and changed his mind, "We can hold out a bit longer. This ice formation is sturdy and thicker than the rest. We should rest on it while we can. If one of us were to collapse while on the smaller unstable ones, we'd be done for."
"You're suggesting we spend the night here in this ice-land?" Tsume growled.
"There's plenty of bodies to snuggle up to." Heart objected him. Tsume rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me you're that afraid of sleeping on ice." She teased.
"Something just doesn't feel right here." Tsume insisted, looking around at the frozen ice drifts around the large iceberg they found.
"HEY!" Hige called, "TOBOE! COME BACK, WE'RE STAYING THE NIGHT HERE!"
"Really?!" Toboe called back, "Why?" he looked to where Kiba stood near the already napping red wolf and silently nodded his understanding, "She that tired?"
"Having your soul nearly stolen does that to you" Kiba said dryly as he looked down to Akira, "I don't think she's fully recovered from it yet."
"She does heal slower than usual" Hige reminded them.
"It shouldn't take but a night to get her strength back," Lauralai said optimistically, "There's not that much left of the sea. We'll easily cross it after tomorrow morning. By night fall, we'll reach Jagura's….Keep." she corrected herself.
"First good news in a while." Hige yawned. He cautiously made his way nearer to Akira, wary of Kiba incase the white wolf had a sting of possession towards another male getting too close to the female he had dubbed his. He carefully lay down at Akira's back in wolf form, curling up away from her, but leaned against her to share her warmth. Lauralai and Toboe followed, sleeping near Akira's tail while Heart and Tsume took up on the other side of Hige. Kiba settled himself next to Akira, resting his head on her own and closing his eyes. His ears ever alert for whatever danger may come to his pack while they rested in the icy wasteland of ice drifts.
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Kiba nudged Akira at his side to gently awaken her. He really hated to bring her out of her unconscious bliss of sleep, but they had to press on in the morning light. The others woke up easily enough, but Toboe hadn't slept well last night. He tried to stay up as long as he could to keep watch with Kiba. He had only fallen asleep an hour prior to when Kiba started rousing them awake again. The pup groaned annoyed when Hige nudged him to wake up. He rolled over to his other side to get away from Hige's prods.
"Come on, Runt, up and at 'em" Hige urged.
Toboe wasn't budging.
"He's such a pup" Tsume shook his head as Toboe groaned again and curled tighter when the rest of the pack besides he and Kiba tried to awaken the pup.
"I know something that'll get him up" Laura wagged her tail and trotted off to the water that peeked out of the ice in a small crack. She leaned down and filled her mouth with the icy water, stinging her sensitive teeth with the sudden change in temperature in her mouth. Full-cheeks of water, she smartly trotted back and squirted the ice water in her mouth at Toboe's face. That got him.
Toboe shot up in surprise. His eyes were wide awake from the sudden cold. He stood stock still on the ice, holding his breath. The others laughed at his shocked look.
"Well done, Laura" Heart patted the younger she-wolf's shoulder. Lauralai blushed and looked away when Toboe gawked at her.
"Now that we're all awake. We should get going" Kiba urged, "If we hurry, we'll have full bellies by lunch time in the next town."
"It's not that far, we can do it" Lauralai encouraged, following the white wolf's lead as he started off. The others simultaneously followed in the usual order with the pups and Akira at the back.
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Hub was locked in a cell at Jagura's keep. He had been separated from Cheza, but had seen her being taken to Jagura's personal wing of the Keep. He knew the noble was probably with her now and could only hope no harm came to such an innocent girl as Cheza. He had no ties to her, but Cher did, and he loved Cher, so he'd do anything in his power to ensure Cheza's safety. Even if it meant spending some alone time in a chilly cell in a noble's keep until he could find a way out of this.
'Besides, it's not all that bad. At least the soldiers leave you alone' he thought to himself looking at the concrete walls that surrounded him. He sneezed suddenly, "Now if only I didn't have such allergies." He groaned.
"Why does one who smells like you have allergies?" an old voice wisped to him. He could tell the female-rasped voice came from the cell next to him, but there was a concrete wall between them.
"My scent?" he sniffed at his arm, "You must mean Cheza."
"Che-za?"
"A Flower Maiden" he replied before thinking about it. Great, now they'd think he was locked up because he was a whack job!
"The flower?" the voice rang with hopeful recognition, "So it is true. Paradise is coming and is very real if she is here. Too bad it's a bit too late."
"What do you mean by that?" Hub asked cautiously.
The voice chuckled a bit in morbid fascination, "Don't fear. You're only human. They'll leave you well alone to rot in your cell. My kind were always hated by Jagura. She always sought us out,"
"What'd she do?" He was curious.
"Brought us here. We would wait day by day, wandering what would happen to us. And finally, the soldiers came and took us in ten's and then showed to the great hall of Jagura. There, we're massacred for her own pleasure of seeing us bleed." The voice was hallow, as if the pain had dulled and numbed over the morbid fact. He heard her sigh, "Such a lovely scent you have."
"Enough old one" a cold female voice commanded, "You speak of one who is traitorous and wicked"
"You would know everything there is to know about betrayal, wouldn't you, Diya. Hunting your own kind and following orders from a noble bitch-," Hub couldn't see, but he heard the anger and hate in both the feminine voices. The newer younger voice snarled and he heard the screech of a force hitting the bars of the next cell.
"I'd watch your tongue, hag, lest I tear it out!" the voice snapped.
"It would make sense that one of your blood would do something like this to the wolves." The old woman continued softer, "After all, in all the story books, the wolf is the demon and the fox is the cunning trickster doing the devils bidding"
"ENOUGH!" the voice sounded slightly pained, "You blubbering fool! Do you have a death wish to insult me like this?"
"I'll die with in the next few days regardless. If I go down with a few wounds inflicted upon you, I will find peace in paradise."
"There is no such thing as paradise any longer." The younger voice, Diya, said softer.
"There will always remain a paradise, Diya. No matter what you say or that bitch." The elder woman snapped heatedly.
Diya seemed taken aback. A figure came with in his line of sight as she distanced herself from the elder woman's cell. She had stunning silvery hair that was as long as a nobles, her eyes a pale green color. She wore a semi-armored suit- much like Jagura had worn from the pictures Hub had seen in the military files back in FreeCity. She had a familiar chain and crucifix pendent about her neck…
"You wolves think that anything done to your kind is for shamed!" she snapped back. He could tell she was lashing out not only at the other woman caged in a cell, but something deep with in her, "Your breed aren't the only ones who have fallen to the nobles, many of us had to cross breed just to survive! You chose to fight the nobles, my ancestors chose to ally with them, but we never double crossed the wolves!"
"Then what are you doing now!"
"Nothing of my free will!"
"LIAR!" the woman accused, "WHAT could POSSIBLY be holding your heart against half your own blood? Against CHEZA!"
Hub watched perplexed as the anger in Diya drained away slowly as the enraged woman in the next cell seemed to await the answer. All three simultaneously turned their heads toward the door that screeched open at the far end.
"Diya" a soldier called.
Diya turned toward them and lowered her head submissively, even the soldiers in the keep were a higher rank than her, but she was untouchable to them. She was considered Jagura's favorite 'pet'.
"Lady Jagura commands your presence in her chambers."
Diya nodded mechanically as the soldiers left. She started to follow, but hesitated, looking back at the older woman.
"Wolves are very prideful creatures that have a sense of duty above all else and the will to survive. Do they not?" she asked rhetorically as she looked away from the older woman whom had taken up sneering at her, "A wolf once told me that no matter what race you are, pride means nothing if your family is in danger."
"So she threatened your family? Held them here somewhere? Well too bad, girl, they're more or less dead by now with that witches appetite for blood" the old woman said harshly.
Diya shook her head and started walking, "That's the beauty of it, they're still out there coming here."
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The wolves pressed onward across the ice. Kiba plodding strongly in the lead, keeping a quick pace for the others to follow. Hige was at his flank with Heart not far behind and Lauralai at her side. Tsume kept to his own pace, but remained close to the other four. Toboe had begun to lag behind a good distance. He tiredly ran a few dozen meters back from the rest, Akira stayed near him dutifully so he wasn't alone and separated completely as she gently urged him onward. She noticed that he was nearing exhaustion, but he refused her offer to stop the others for him. He refused her mercy and continued to press onward. She was starting to worry.
Yet another gap in the ice came up. This one was so wide that they'd have to jump from small ice flat to small ice flat like rocks across a stream. Except these were no sturdy rocks, but slippery floating ice. The first five wolves followed Kiba's easy lead as he leapt gracefully from one flat to the next, barely disturbing the ice cold water beneath the flats. They turned and waited when each reached the other side no problem and waited Akira and Toboe. Lauralai whimpered guiltily when she realized how far back they had become. She felt like she should have stayed at Toboe's side, but she was so focused on staving off the cold and reaching the other side of the ice drifts that she didn't realize Toboe had slowed down from the others.
"Oi! Runt, you're draggin behind again!" Hige called out.
"I know, I-KNOW!" Toboe rasped irritated.
Hige took a sniff and baulked, "HEY! WHICH ONE OF YOU IS WOUNDED?" he called just as Akira and Toboe reached the bank of the gap the others had just crossed. Both looked to one another confused.
"Wounded?" Akira noticed the small wound on Toboe's left arm, "Toboe!" she gasped.
Toboe quickly covered the wound, "It's just a scratch, I'll be fine!" he insisted.
"Stop being so childish!" Akira admonished, "A wound is a wound and you should treat it like one! Let me look at that"
"NO!" Toboe pulled away childish.
"At least let her look at it when you get over here." Heart insisted.
Toboe groaned in defeat. Just what he wanted- another reason to be called a Child. Hige wasn't going to let him live this one down either since he was holding the rest of them up again.
"Let's just get this over with" he brushed off 'Maturely' and shakily leapt over to the first flat off the shore. He didn't land evenly and it wobbled the ice under him. He yelped, trying to ease the wobbling by spreading out his limbs all over it as best he could.
"Careful!" Heart called.
"Don't rush, Toboe" Akira said from behind him. He could hear her worry in her voice.
"I'm fine" he insisted a bit softer than before to placate her. He wasn't angry at her.
He leapt to another one and Akira hopped across to the one he was just on. For every leap he made, she hopped on to the flat he left. They reached a more solid ice burg in the middle just as Toboe lost his footing on its slanted surface. Akira quickly caught his arm before he touched the water, but a few drops of his blood dripped into the water below.
A chill ran up Akira's spine. She felt a deep tremor in the ice beneath her and a low rumble coming from the water. Her instincts roared at her to get to solid ground, but she wouldn't leave Toboe as he scrambled up the small, but slippery slope the iceberg had. She pulled him up from the water just as something very large and very powerful shout out of the water like a dolphin leaping up out of it. The beast roared as it flung its self to the side toward the small iceberg looking feeble in comparison to its massive size. Its sheer weight crushed the ice and sent the two startled wolves sputtering in the icy depths. Akira felt dizzy for a moment before she realized she was unbelievably cold and couldn't breathe. She noticed Toboe out of it not far off in the water next to her and swam for him to drag him to the surface she felt the current of the massive body that crushed the iceberg slam back into the water a little ways off. She panicked as she fought her and Toboe's way to the surface. Once she breached it, both she and Toboe gasped for air.
"GET OUT OF THE WATER!" Kiba barked. His blue eyes held an uncharacteristic fear and he was being held back from jumping in after Akira by Hige while Tsume rushed to get as close as possible to the two near-drowned wolves while still being safe on solid ice.
Akira nudged the sputtering Toboe toward Tsume so he'd get the hint. They were cut off from the massive beast from below as it cut in front of them and started to stalk them predatorily.
"Go back and get on any piece of ice you can find!" Akira shouted at Toboe.
"What about you?" Toboe yelped.
"I can swim," Akira shouted back.
A dark shadow from under the water began to gather around her and Toboe. All hair on Akira stood tall in alarm. Her orange eyes darted to Toboe- he was in the middle, the area the head- aka- the teeth- were!
"TOBOE, GET OUT OF HERE!" she screamed using all her strength she could muster as a wolf and gabbed the collar of Toboe's shirt, pitching him as hard as she could out of the water. Surprisingly, the young wolf sailed through the air and landed ungracefully in a heap on a sturdy ice flat a safe distance from immediate danger, groaning from the impact to the hard, cold biting ice.
"AKIRA!" Kiba cried out as the massive beast once again breached the surface, shooting its mammoth body into the air. He was able to get a good look at it as it flung Akira out of the water like a dolphin would with it's play toy, but this was no dolphin. It was a mammoth sized walrus! Its body covered in scares and wrinkles of fat all over its tough hide spoke of how many ageing years it must have spent surviving these unforgiving icy drifts.
Kiba's heart nearly stopped when he saw his beloved flying in the air above the massive walrus's head, just shy of getting too close to it's jaws that were 3 times the size of her- he had no doubt that this animal would swallow any of them whole if it had the chance and right now it had it's sights set on Akira!
Akira screamed as she got a close up view of the massive whiskery muzzle of the walrus and its larger-than-life and sharper-than-knife tusks. Her boot clad feet kicked out as she felt gravity pull her towards the offending jaws that snapped at her like a hungry shark below it's dangled treats. Her steel toe of the boots rammed right under its sensitive nose causing the beast to convulse instinctively. It lost its balance and rammed unexpectedly into the icy sea and once again hid in the dark depths. Akira plopped in the water after it. A mere pebble compared to the boulder that just splashed back in.
The others waited with baited breath for her to resurface. She burst to the surface with a lung-hearty gasp for air just off the ice where Toboe shivered in shock and cold at what was happening. The young wolf scrambled to reach her and help drag her out of the freezing water.
"We have to get to the others. It's trying to cut us off from the rest." Akira said.
"How?" Toboe whimpered as his teeth clattered. His honey gold eyes shifting nervously about the dark depths of the water, "It's faster than us in the water."
Hige peered left and right, trying to find a better cross way. A few meters down to the right, the ice lifted high of the water and had a small ice formation that had fallen from the rest laying between the two like a tree-fallen bridge.
"There!" he called pointing, "It can't reach you up there from the water!"
"Are you sure?" Laura whimpered.
"Better than trying to swim" Tsume replied, following Kiba who had bolted at the sight of the bridge. He was anxious to get Akira back to his side and to safety!
"This way, Akira! Over here!" Kiba called when he reached it, "Cross the ice!"
Akira and Toboe quickly followed, noticing the dark shadow of the walrus under the water following them, trying to judge what they were doing.
"Hurry, Toboe," Akira urged for good measure.
When they reached the ice 'bridge' they stared dauntingly at it. It was very…. Very skinny for a bridge.
"You've got to be kidding me" Toboe nearly squeaked with wide eyes.
"Just GO!" Akira nudged him forward to the bridge. Toboe slowly walked out on to it.
The walrus underneath seemed to catch on. It leaped into the air out of the water and snapped its massive jaws upward toward the bridge a few feet out of reach. Toboe could feel the air currents of its hot breath on his skin as it ruffled his hair. He cried out in fear and started to wobble.
"Don't look down!" Akira demanded him from behind him. He felt her warm hand on his shoulder and it calmed him somewhat. He realizes later how amazed he truly was at her focus. She didn't seem to be that fearful young she-wolf they had met before. She was being very brave and bold while they tried to escape the jaws of a walrus. It sounds silly to be running away from such a bumbily creature, but this particular one called for such a thing. Especially when it was trying to consume you with jaws 3 or 4 times your size in either human or wolf forms!
With her behind him all the way for swiftness and support, Toboe slowly made his way across the bridge. She let go of him so they could put some distance and spread out their initial weight a bit when they reached the middle so they didn't strain the ice bridge too much. Toboe nearly ran the rest of the way when the Walrus had snapped at him a third time and the tip of its muzzle lightly nudged the underside of the bridge. Once safely across, he turned around to see how Akira was doing. She had frozen in place about three fourths through. Her wide orange eyes glued to the predatory hungry in the blood shot black of the walrus as it leered up at her. She was getting goose bumps all over and her breathing started to come up short. Her heart pounded and palms felt clammy. Her left side of her body started to feel heavy and tingled a bit while her knees started to feel weaker and weaker….
Kiba's blue eyes widened – she was having a panic attack in the middle of the bridge! He started forward but Tsume held him back, "It's attacking the underside of the bridge to weaken the ice. If you go out now, you're both on the menu."
"She's in a panic attack!" Kiba snapped back at him.
"Try and snap her out of it" Hige suggested. His own voice laced with panic as well.
"She can't even hear the pups screaming at her or Heart's cries for her" Tsume pointed out.
Kiba had to try anyways. He stepped as close as he could to the bridge and called out loud enough for her to hear, but gentle enough that he knew she'd hear him, "Akira,"
Her orange eyes widened, but the pupils were still dilated in panic.
"Akira, it's me, Kiba, follow my voice as carefully as you can" he spoke soothingly, "follow my voice and please don't look down. Don't put any of your weight any where except for the solid ice you know you walk on."
Step by agonizing step, Akira slowly made her way across the ice bridge, still in a panicked state that she was barely recovering from. The only reason she was able to move is because somewhere deep inside her she knew she had to or she'd die. Adrenaline was what saved her this time as its chemical substance flowed through her nervous-stricken veins and putting a hold on the panic attack effects until she was to a safer ground. She followed the soothing sound of Kiba's deep voice as he led her closer to him. He could almost touch her when the unthinkable happened….
With a final thrust out of the water, the massive mammoth of a walrus surged out of the water and used it's full size to smash through the ice of the feeble bridge so high up, shattering it instantly. Akira could see the horror on Kiba's face as she slowly came out of her panic-driven haze. His beautiful blue eyes wide with fear and his normally pale skin was papery white. She felt the ice shatter right out from under her and looked up at Kiba in disbelief as she started to fall.
"Kiba?" she called.
"AKIRA!!"