I think I'm doing better at cutting down the wait. I still kinda suck at updating regularly, but trust me it WILL always be eventually updated. I love my stories and like I said last chapter I am finishing this one.

Its look in a little like my less than 5 prediction was a LITTLE premature but the story is definitely winding down to the tail end here. so EXCITING!!!

Enjoy!

Oh and don't forget to review!


Panic was setting in as Tala paced back and forth in the narrow hold they had been thrown into. Her ears were pinned to her head and she was panting almost to the point of hyperventilating. They had just gotten free and here they were, captured again by Jagura's troops. This was definitely not good, not good at all.

Tsume was right all along, Tala was a terrible wolf. Kiba and the others wouldn't have let this happen. It was the second time in a row she had tried to protect Cheza and they had been captured anyway. To make things even worse Tala had abandoned Blue and Cher right in the middle of a fight where they were clearly out numbered. God only knows what happened to them, and Tala prayed they made it out alive. She would never forgive herself if they got killed because she left them there.

The wolf dog stopped when Cheza ran past her to the small window. She tilted her head to the side and watched the flower maiden stare blindly out the glass.

"What is she doing?" Hubb asked in a hushed tone.

Tala took a tentative step forward, her ears swinging to the front as her head tilted the other way. "I dunno…"

The half breed stopped just behind the pink haired girl. Through the window all she could see were clouds, but a feeling she couldn't quite describe came over her suddenly. Her head tilted yet again as her ears twitched. "…Toboe?"

She wasn't quite sure how she knew, but suddenly she was sure the boys were still alive and were coming for them. Kiba would stop at nothing to rescue Cheza, and Tala knew she had to do whatever she could in the mean time to keep the flower maiden safe.

Hubb wasn't sure what to think as he watched Tala and Cheza. He was still very confused about this whole thing. He had somehow gotten himself completely caught up in something he couldn't understand. The only thing he was sure of was that Cher had a connection to Cheza somehow, and the fact that Tala was involved as well was more than coincidence. It was if the universe itself was determined to get him wrapped up in this mess.

The former detective jumped slightly as he felt the air ship start to descend.

All three of them froze as the ship came to a stop, and Tala's ears started to twitch as footsteps thundered down the hall.

A low growl rumbled in Tala's throat as they stopped in front of the door. She snarled and snapped her teeth as the door opened and four soldiers filed in. Three stepped toward Cheza and Tala cutting them off from Hubb, while the fourth slammed the ex-cop into the wall and secured his hands behind his back.

"Hubb!" Tala shouted as she leapt at the closest soldier. She yelped as she was immediately knocked to the ground by the soldier's shield. The space they were in was just too tight to maneuver in, and she watched helplessly as Hubb was dragged out of sight.

The wolf dog got to her feet only to be knocked into the wall and pinned there as they carried Cheza away. She fought hard against the shield holding her to the wall, but she couldn't free herself. Then out of nowhere a noose on the end of a pole was slipped around her neck.

The soldier pinning her eased back as the one holding the catch pole tightened the noose. Tala reared up on her back legs and flailed her head back and forth trying to rid herself of the catch pole. The more she fought the tighter it became, until it began cutting into her skin and she decided to change tactics.

She took a moment to assess the catch pole. Getting the noose off was obviously not happening, and the pole part of the device was preventing her from gutting the soldier holding the rope that held it tight.

The flaw of the device then showed itself to Tala. It completely depended on how well the person on the other end could hold on.

Tala immediately threw all her weight backward and jerked the pole almost entirely out of the soldier's hands. She then ran around the soldier who had pinned her earlier, sweeping his feet out from under him with the pole. The force of that motion ripped the pole completely out of the other soldier's grip, and as she completed her circle the end flew up and hit the third soldier right in the face.

The soldier who had snared her in the catch pole was suddenly defenseless right before her, and without a second thought Tala lunged at him. Her teeth were stopped mere centimeters from his face when the fourth soldier had returned and snared her with a second catch pole. The momentum of her own attack was used against her as she slammed into the floor and was pinned there by the second stick.

Once the soldier recovered from his brush with death, he grabbed the first stick and the two dragged Tala out of the hold fighting, pulling, and twisting all the way.

Her screaming and snarling echoed down the hall of the airship, and she continued fighting her restraints.

------------------------------------

It wasn't long before Tala had completely exhausted herself fighting against the steel poles that held her. She allowed the soldiers to drag her along while she took in her surroundings and tried to memorize the route they had taken. The problem was every corridor they turned down looked just like the one before it.

Tala's ears perked forward at the sound of a scuffle up ahead. As they passed the next intersecting hall, Tala saw a group of soldiers and men shuffling down the hallway. The last two soldiers were carrying an unconscious Hubb between them.

Tala called out to him and again began struggling against the men holding her. The metal loops cut deeper into her neck, but she didn't feel it anymore. She just continued to rear up and thrash about as the soldiers struggled to drag her forward.

"ENOUGH!"

Tala froze as the woman's voice echoed through the room they had entered.

The woman in front of them was dressed in strange armor and a mask obscured part of her face. It struck Tala that this woman before her had to be Lady Jagura.

The noble walked toward them and looked over Tala with a judgmental gaze.

The malamute cross was frozen under Jagura's leering eyes. She flinched when the noble grabbed her under the chin and studied her for a few moments before she stood up with a disgusted scowl.

"It's just a half breed. This one isn't the wolf we are looking for. Dispose of her."

A few drops of blood from the gash on Tala's neck dripped onto the floor and without warning a machine in the corner buzzed as a screen flashed.

Jagura stopped and looked at the screen that had come to life before throwing a glance back to the wolf dog behind her.

"How strange…"

Tala backed up a few steps as the noble walked toward her. She didn't like the odd look that suddenly came across her face.

"Hook her into the machine… See what it does. There is something different about this one."