A/N: In the real world, Warg doesn't own them, just a copy of the manga and of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. You know who Blue's paraphrasing.

Thanks again to my reviewers! Now, the good news: no chapters between here and Chapter 61 are under 600 words, most are over a thousand, and the number of publicly revealed wolves is just about to go up. The only potential bad news is that I'm cutting into my buffer of pre-written chapters. I'm probably not going to be out until March, at the curent rate, but fast, long, and high-quality updates: pick any two.

Funny you should ask about Granny... While she's also a little more involved in the prequel, "Shots in Paradise," there's a flashback featuring her coming up soon. A bit of Tsume's motivation is revealed this chapter, and Toboe gets his chance to try to work it out next chapter. Let's just say that the Sedaris quote from "When You are Engulfed in Flames" is not merely there in Chapter 43 as an uke/seme parody...


I'd give my captors this much: they weren't the type for inane conversation. The three of us rode in silence through several fleeting miles of forest, allowing me to stew. I tried not to let it ruffle me.

I saw no specific change in scenery when I heard Kiba's weight shift behind me, followed by a soft grunt as he moved to the edge of the roof. "You're not even thinking about it." Tsume had moved from my side to catch the white wolf before he could leap from the speeding train.

"It's just up ahead, Tsume. Hurry, or we'll pass it by." Kiba's voice held no concern for his own safety.

"What? Paradise?" I asked, turning to get a look at them. My brother's boyfriend had grabbed the white wolf by the scruff, his body low against the roof. The hand was probably mostly for my benefit.

Golden eyes stared resolutely into mine. "Hurry," Kiba repeated. Then the pale wolf twisted out of Tsume's grip and leapt into space.

I felt my eyes grow wide. "He's insane," I murmured, clutching the fast-moving metal beneath me.

"Yeah." Tsume swung his legs off the side, practically daring an overhanging branch to take out his shins. "You need a hand?"

"You don't mean to –" the last part of my sentence was swallowed as something jerked my arm and I felt my stomach in my throat. I barely heard Tsume's command to roll before I made impact, knocking the wind from me. I tumbled through what felt like half a mile of sharp pine needles and fallen branches on permafrost-hard ground before a tree trunk brought me to a sudden, equally hard stop.

I should be dead. I knew I was bruised, and I tasted blood from my lip and my arm where I'd pulled it over my head to try to support my neck. "Ow," I attempted. I was still breathing, for better or for worse. "Shit. Ow."

A familiar insistent dark hand pulled me into a sitting position. "If you start whining on me, I'm going to find that Collar and rip it out of you." I socked him in the side of his mouth, but my heart wasn't in it. Tsume staggered slightly, but remained standing before me, arms crossed in impatience and teeth barely refraining from an annoyed snarl. "It's slowing you down, Blue. And given the choice, if I really have to have someone's complaining ass thrown over my shoulder the whole trip, whose do you think I'd prefer?"

"Toboe's, I would have thought." I rubbed my stinging knuckles and wriggled my toes, considering that I really should have checked myself for broken limbs before punching Tsume. They hurt, but I didn't think anything was broken, at least. How, I had no idea.

"Yeah," Tsume said dryly, running his tongue across his teeth and rubbing his jaw. "The runt doesn't hit so hard."

"So why did you bring me and not him?" I locked my arms around my bent knees, trying to look for open wounds now that I'd checked the internal injuries. There was nothing serious, anyway.

"Besides the fact that you were the one with the gun pointed at my pack and my runt and I didn't have time to pull him safely away from the humans without giving you all the free shots you wanted?" he asked in return, lightly smacking the side of my head when I lowered my eyes. "Hey. My face is up here." Tsume refused to let me brood. "This isn't going to be an easy trip, Blue. You and I can clear out a little bit of the trouble before our boys come up along the path." The white-blond looked away, as if trying to find Kiba. "I'm about to be an uncle, and I remember what it's like… trying to bring kids to paradise. Even teenagers." From the softening, distracted tone of his voice, Tsume was not entirely speaking from the role of a guardian. He appeared to reconsider that last part from something in my movement and hastily added, "And you make one smart remark about Toboe and me concerning that, and I will hit you. I want to take him there, Blue. I just want it to be by a sure road."

I stood and considered the quiet forest around us. The train had long since sped on down the tracks. "Explain to me how I'm supposed to make jumping off a moving passenger car any easier."

Tsume gave me a toothy grin. "You and Hige act as the landing platform." He ran before I could take another swing at him, a gray shadow disappearing into the trees.

*