A/N: This Rain I do not own, even after fifty chapters. It's probably for the best, as I am really not that great at action scenes and tend to be a bit of a Robert Jordan when it comes to minor characters: why hello shiny plot digressions... Ahem, back to three of our primary hero- er, protag- well, let's just leave it at main characters. The island pack subplot ties back to Blue, Tsume, and Kiba eventually, we swears. Thanks to Words without for the beta!

Right, also, concerning the song from Chapter 48: any resemblances between this fic and a certain R-rated series on MediaMiner in which the Wolf's Rain pack and the Bebop crew star in a dramatic, rather twisted yaoi version of Zoolander are entirely coincidental, I'm sure. Same goes for this fic and the standard set-up for Blue/Tsume matchups... or Blue/Kiba... or Tsume/Kiba... No comment. But looky, "Fated Rain!" - www. fanfiction. net/s/2120902/1/Fated_Rain - It's The Utterly Screwed Up T/T Relationship of Doom(TM) done right! (Yeah, Warg loves her some twisted relationships, but she is an optimist after all. I highly doubt "Blues" will ever get that dark, even if I ever manage something M-worthy.)


I awoke to the feel of wind rushing over my face and the steady click and whirr of railroad cars over the track. It was freezing out here, although there was a slight warmth to my left. "Morning, Sunshine," a familiar but highly unwelcome voice greeted me. Tsume sat facing the rear of the train we were perched on, arms wrapped around his legs and his rattail whipping fitfully about his face in the wind.

I glared up at him, reaching for the switchblade, then my pistol. Both were gone. "You try to manhandle me again, and I'll break every bone in your arms, starting with your wrists."

Tsume smiled indulgently as if I were a vaguely amusing dog that had just learned a not-particularly-clever trick, like barking madly on command. "Aren't we feeling original today?"

Whatever. I wasn't in any mood to play nice. "Every. Single. Bone, Tsume. And I've seen Hige's textbooks. I know where they're all located."

"Fair enough." The yellow-eyed wolf in human form almost looked apologetic. For all of two seconds. "Just so you know, this was all his idea. I hate dealing with captives. It never ends well." The white-blond touched his back again where I'd stabbed him.

"So you've made a hobby of kidnapping people?" I sat up, then turned and scooted even with my brother's rouge boyfriend when the wind resistance tore the water from my eyes. At least facing backwards, I could see something, although I had not yet gotten a hint of Kiba's location. I wouldn't let Tsume out of my sight, at least.

He shrugged carelessly, never meeting my eyes, although it could simply be because of the wind. "I'm not proud of everything I've done, but I wouldn't say that's a habit of mine." Pressing his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, Tsume glanced over his shoulder as if to look for the wolf currently out of sight, but hardly out of my mind.

"How about this friend of yours? Does she get a lot of willing 'patients' for her Collars?" The unseen white canine asked.

"It does seem funny that you only bring it up after you're brought to pack territory," Tsume agreed.

What could I say? I really didn't know. I'd been too young to have much of an opinion at the time, however grateful I might be to have a Collar implanted now. "Wolves don't exactly reveal themselves openly. Why would anyone publicly advertise a cure to a disease that doesn't exist?"

"It's not a disease," Kiba snapped back at me.

"Do I look sick to you?" Tsume snarled almost at the same instant. The platinum-blond had pulled out a knife, but this was not his favorite spiked knuckle blade dangling from his fingers. It was my own switchblade, cleaned and sharpened, and Tsume did not hold it as if he was preparing to return it. "Get it through your head: we're not going for that."

"So just where are you going? Paradise?" My fingers clawed restlessly at the corroding metal beneath us. Just let him try to take a stab at me. Maybe he was faster, maybe he was stronger, maybe he had backup and my weapons and a better clue as to where we were - I had none; the conifer-dominated wilderness we passed through could have been miles from any civilization, for all I knew - but I had a lower center of gravity, and on the roof of a speeding train, losing his balance could be all it would take to get him killed, even if he took me down with him.

"We're all going there," the white wolf corrected me more gently this time. His tone was still firm, his belief unwavering. "Hige and Toboe will catch up."

"Yeah, and then they're going to kill us," Tsume snorted halfheartedly, letting his natural unalloyed cynicism shine through. He palmed my knife, letting it vanish back up his black leather sleeve. The dark-skinned man glanced at me once more from the corner of his shades, noticing the way my hands shook in a mix of chilliness and anger. I was not scared. Not of this punk. I could still smell the blood on him and Kiba from where I'd wounded them. "You can't feel your fur with a Collar, can you?"

I adjusted the scarf around my neck, tucking it into my coat so it wouldn't whip into my face. "You're right about one thing at least, Tsume."

*