The moon was hidden by the gray clouds overhead in the dark of the night. It was barred from laying witness to the family of wolves that traversed through the pouring rain.

A hand rested against the top of a younger wolf as her eyes arose from their distant stare at the wet grass underneath them.

"Is everything alright, dear?"

The younger wolf immediately met with the voice's owner, giving a forced smile.

"Yeah. We have to be. Right?"

A small frown appeared and formed into a grin just a swiftly as it had appeared. Lightning crackled the sky and a roar of thunder followed.

"It's okay to not be. As long as we keep moving forward. We can talk about your worries later. How's that?"

The small wolf nodded and continued her stare to her side.

A brief moment passed before the young wolf's ears perked up again.

"You want to know something?" the adult wolf asked.

"Yeah?"

"I truly believe you and your brothers are much braver than me. You are all are the reason I'm able to keep going. You're all much stronger than you think yourselves to be. Whenever your doubts creep in, just remember that. Even when I'm gone. Okay, Margot?"

"Okay, mother...thanks."

The howls of the Newton Wolves echoed throughout the night as the drizzle rained lightly upon Knox and Piercer. Rainclouds had snuck in while they were preoccupied with looting science books and it didn't help that they blocked out most of the moon's light. Well, at least for Knox. Piercer's night vision had proved vital for him once again.

"Just keep following my voice. We'll be outta this in no time." Piercer told his partner as they dashed through the forest and whizzed past the multiple trees that greeted them through it.

Despite Knox's long-withstanding experience with surviving on the surface, the human was beginning to lose his quarrel with the worries that longed to enter him.

'What if we don't make it back?' Knox relayed through his mind as the bitterness slowly took effect. 'What if they catch us? What if they do to us like those wolves did to Kassie and Bradley-'

Knox stopped himself internally. Gritting his teeth, he frowned and his feet pounded the grassy terrain below him and a much faster rate, surpassing Piercer as he picked up the pace.

"We're getting closer, prey!" one of the Newton Wolves called out, which Knox recognized to be Bad Billions.

And Bad Billions was right.

Knox and Piercer snuck a quick glance behind them to find the wolves gaining closer and more ambitious in their hunt for their targets. Even as they bobbed and weaved around the trees, the Newton Wolves continued to find themselves ahead in the race for their blood.

Piercer's eyes scanned the ground with lightning speed and took every second to gather the straightest sticks he could find. He found himself missing a few but gathering enough as he pulled his bow from around his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Knox asked with bated breath as the Archerat stuck all but one stick in his quiver pouch. Piercer drew the stick against the bowstring and aimed behind him.

"Doing what I do best." Piercer replied as he gathered a full breath of air and focused. He narrowed his eyes and wavered his bow around at the congregation of pursuing wolves until he felt his heart flutter. Then he let the stick cut through the rain.

Piercer smiled deviously as he heard a yelp cry out behind him. He readied another one and continued his creative attempts to slow their chasers down but frowned as his makeshift arrows were eventually spent. A couple of wolves had recoiled and fell behind to hold their eyes and snouts in pain, but this only made the remaining bunch much more angrier than before. Their prey was fighting back, and they didn't like that. Not one bit.

"You're only delaying the inevitable! Just give yourselves up and we'll be sure to be easy on one of you. Scarlemange wants humans alive, so if you don't struggle we'll be sure to send you packaged nice and ready!" Good Billions shouted out behind them.

"I think I'll pass!" Knox replied as he store Piercer in the eyes. "Piercer, we won't lose them. Their too fast. Listen to me. There's no time. I need you to escape and lose them through the trees. You're good at that, and there's no way they'll get to you. I can draw-"

Piercer immediately shot down the idea. "We're not separating again! The Megabunny that chased us before? That was on me! I caused that! And I promised Kara I would bring you-"

"Piercer!" Knox said sharply, his expression hardened into that of extreme seriousness. "Please. Trust me. I am going to get out of it." The human's expression softened with a wide smile. "Once I lose them, I'll circle back around. We'll find each other again before you know it."

Piercer remained wide-eyed until he turned back to find the Newton Wolves dangerously close. He re-met sights on his friend before he nodded. Knox hurriedly took off his book bag and tossed it to the rat mute and gestured him off. "Keep it safe until we meet again. That's two things I can't wait to get back."

Piercer clenched his eyes shut before opening them abruptly, turning towards a nearby tree and dashing up the trunk, disappearing into the leaves. A few wolves stopped at the base and surrounded it as the remaining few continued their bid to stop Knox.

Now he had to play his own part.

"Ha! Big mistake leaving your archer behind! Keep running and we might have to rake a few claws against some human skin. Just a little. Cause you're really starting to piss us all off!" Bad Billions said as he began to laugh viciously.

Knox panicked as the howls and growls grew in much closer. They were now practically on his heels. He had to think fast. He would not get caught. Not after everything. His eyes scanned around until he found something that gave him a slight glimmer of hope. Even through the darkness, a long, thick branch stuck out not far in front of him. He had only moments to act before he passed by it. He slid against the muddy ground and gripped it with one hand before immediately slinging it behind him.

Bad Billions was leading the forefront and never had the time to fully react.

An sharp shout escaped the co-alpha as he collided with the remaining wolves behind him. They all collapsed into a heap, leaving Knox time to escape their eyes. If he continued running, they would eventually tire him out.

He had to hide. Taking mental notes from their previous encounter, he remembered that covering himself with mud would throw off his scent trail, but he had no time. Now approaching a plethora of overgrown bushes, he mentally swore as he dived into them and held his breath. His hand was clasped tightly around his nose and mouth as he awaited for their approach.

"Brother, you shouldn't continue. I can take it from-" Good Billions was cut off by his brother as he watched him stumble forward with a bloodied hand against his left eye.

"No...no, I can practically feel him. He's around here somewhere." Bad Billions said through clenched canines as he lifted his snout to the branches and leaves above as the rain grew a bit more aggressive. He removed his hand from his eye and revealed a cut that traversed across it, leaving it clenched closed not fully by choice.

A sudden rage overtook the partially-blinded Newton Wolf as he bellowed out his fury. "Come on out you f-cking insect! I know you're still around, and if you don't reveal yourself I'll make you feel real pain...and I'll-"

Bad Billions paused himself. One of his ears twitched back and fourth.

And then his smile began to slowly form once again.

Bad Billions looked to his brother and nodded his head in a particular direction. Good billions got the memo as he watched his brother walk beside the various nearby bushes.

"Since we already know you're close, I'll humor you with some wordplay..." Bad Billions offered with a chuckle. "Tell me what you think."

Knox watched in a frozen posture as the the co-alpha walked along the group of large bushes not far from him. He ripped open the first one as he began his taunt.

"The chances of escape are one and one million, so why attempt it in the presence of the Billions?" He started, pulling open another bush.

He turned and tried one adjacent to him.

"Scream, run, hide, attack...the Newton Wolves will never cease to be right on your back!" Bad Billions finished with a snarl as he tore apart the bushes extremely close to where he resided.

"So far from home, but not far from us. We'll find you afraid, that you can surely trust." Bad Billions added as he growled, digging his hands through a bush directly next to where Knox was hiding.

Good Billions watched on, visibly pleased by the theatrics.

"Ooh, ooh! Not bad, brother! Rarely hear you rhyme far outside of the realm of science."

Knox pulled his knife and gripped it tight, ready for what would soon come next. He already knew the Billions were screwing around. Bad Billions had finally stopped in front of his place of temporary asylum.

Bad Billions leaned in close to the bush, revealing his teeth with a wide grin.

"Come on out, pal. I swear I'll use just one claw. One claw against that eye of yours to repay what you di-oh sh-t!"

Bad Billions flinched back at the right moment as Knox's knife swished out of the bushes and across where his neck one resided. Knox burrowed through the other side of the bushes and quickly found a steep drop awaiting him.

"Enough of this!" a voice called angrily out of sight.

Everything happened faster than Knox had time for. A Newton wolf came barreling through the bushes and straight into Knox, effectively sending them both over the hidden cliff. The pain of contacting hard against the side of the rock cliff hadn't yet fully registered.

Everything spiraled until they were both submerged into the depths of the water below.

Knox was the first to re-emerge.

He gasped for air as he began swimming for nearby land. The lighting now decorating the sky above didn't help matters. A down-pouring of rain accompanied it as the brewing storm grew worse. He had the Newton Wolf that tackled him on his mind but no time to check if it was still after him. He just needed to get away as fast as possible. The human pulled himself out of the water and just before his last leg left, something gripped it from below.

Knox let out a surprised shout as he watched the Newton Wolf's head finally emerge with a unfriendly grin plastered on it's face.

The heterochromatic eyes gave it's identity away.

"Let go, furball!" Knox yelled as he desperately kicked away the wolf's grip on him. He managed get to both feet and made a break for it. It was only then he realized he had lost his knife in the chaos after grabbing at his knife sheath to find nothing was there.

"Get back here, punk! I didn't get my fur drenched for nothing!" Nova called out behind him. The Newton Wolf found herself out of the water, but as her left leg met the ground, she immediately collapsed. Nova let out a howl of pain as she came to a startling revelation.

Her ankle was dislocated in the fall.

Knox ignored the frustrated demands and continued to put foot to ground. He was unaware of how tired he really was and his side ached horribly. However, it wasn't the pain that made him stop in place.

It was the shaking of the ground and an ear-piercing screech. The human turned around in an instant.

In front of the helpless wolf was a very long, orange and pink mute worm that had shot out of the body of water. And it had teeth. Lots of them. The Newton Wolf was no longer prioritized with Knox. Her eyes went wide with fear and froze at the monstrous sight, stuck in apprehension on whether limping away or staying still was the better option.

Knox grit his teeth and turned away, eying his guaranteed escape through the underpass of what was a concrete bridge. But a memory shot straight through his thoughts and stopped him once again.

"Knox..." Lute store him straight into the eyes. "We need to be alive to save Kara. Of course we do...but doing the right thing shouldn't be a thing of the past. No matter what. She would've done the same thing."

Knox sighed exhaustively.

"Damn you, conscious!" Knox exclaimed as he looked around desperately in his mind for a plan.

He chastised himself for putting himself in jeopardy for someone clearly had no qualms with biting his face off if given the chance and reason. But the guilt wasn't worth it. Even if he was clearly not in the blame with just leaving all together. His brain lit up as he caught eyes on a rusted sign leaning close by. He gripped it with both hands and pulled at it, falling to the ground with it in hand at the unexpected ease.

The mute worm raised it's head at the vulnerable Newton Wolf and readied to strike as the wolf growled with her teeth bared and eyes narrowed in defiance. Nova apparently accepted her fate, but not without spite.

"Hey, wormhead!"

The call brought the attention of both the bloodthirsty worm and mute wolf towards Knox. He threw up the middle fingers of both hands proudly at the towering worm as he smiled widely.

"Come get some, jerkweed! You're not the first large snake I've dealt with!" Knox taunted before picking the long sign pole up and backing up as the worm pondered it's target. Having made up it's mind, the worm opened it jaws and screeched as it shot towards Knox's position. The human cursed under his breath and disappeared behind the bushes once again.

He peeked through to find the worm getting closer. He took in a deep breath and drew the pole sign back. Just as it's head stuck through the leafy bush, Knox swung it with all his might. The flat end of the sign landed with a mighty and audible smack against the drooling worms face, sending it twirling back and briefly stunned.

Nova watched on in disbelief as the human emerged from cover and swung the sign a second and third time, sending the worm into a maddening, disorientated rage. Knox wasn't fast enough to evade the tail end of the worm as it sent him flying back into the water with a splash. The mute worm followed him under.

A great thrashing ensued and the Newton Wolf watched on in agonizing tension, wondering what would become of her when the hungry and disturbed worm came back when it was done.

But the unexpected happened.

The worm's head shot back out of the water and thrashed about as it swam away down the river, shrieking in pain as it disappeared further down the stream. Knox broke through to the surface and gasped for more air.

"Victory! Sweet, stupid victory!" the human exclaimed to the sky. His newly-found knife was held high above him.

He climbed out of the deep stream for the second time and stood above the Newton Wolf.

"Heh, you really threw away escape, risked death and fought off a giant mute worm just so you could get dibs on me yourself? You must be insane." the wolf told him with a pained chuckle. Her eyes shifted quickly to the blade in the human's hand and back to his eyes. "Well? Get it over with. I'm not one for theatrics, worm hunter."

Knox smiled incredulously through the pouring rain. "That's "really " all you got out of that?" He instead re-sheathed the knife and held out a helping hand to the Newton Wolf. "I'm just doing the right thing. I could, so I did. And your leg is obviously injured..."

Knox looked to find a small cave nearby.

"I'll just take you to that cave over there. Then you'll never see me again...hopefully. Your angry science friends should find you here shortly. It's just a gesture towards the idea that maybe humans and mutes don't need to always try and kill each other. My friends help to remind me of that."

The Newton Wolf scoffed lowly and store deeply at the human before slowly giving out her hand. Knox reached to meet it, but the wolf suddenly shot forward with her jaws opened wide.

Knox panicked as the mute wolf's teeth clamped around his right arm. A sheering pain shot through it and caused him to shout out as he fell with the Newton Wolf to the wet ground.

"Stop!" Knox told her. The wolf responded by biting down harder, breaking the skin.

"Please! Don't do this! You don't have to!" Knox relayed again, trying to keep his cool.

The Newton Wolf's heterochromatic eyes seemed to shimmer before she finally resolved to let go.

Knox breathed heavily and got to his feet.

"Oow!?" the human expressed as he gripped his arm and glared at the conflicted wolf.

"Why in the hell would you believe such a stupid concept!?" the mute wolf yelled, attempting to stand, but failing to bring her hurt leg to cooperate. She instead fell onto her back and growled. "You're a naïve surface dweller and nothing more. I mean how can you be so stupid to trust me after you watched our pack alphas murder that weasel right in front of you!?"

The words hit a deep chord in Knox's heart. She did have a point. But then he remembered why he saved her in the first place. He lowered his head and clenched his fist.

"I wasn't always like this." Knox started gloomily. "In fact, I was the opposite. For a long time, I didn't trust mutes as far as I could run without stopping. But..." Knox looked the mute wolf square in the eyes with solid resolve once more. "The people I've met along the way shaped me into a better person. The world can't always be like this, but if we don't stick our necks out to try then it'll remain the same bitter place it is now."

Knox extended his hurting arm and offered his hand for the second time. He paused to say one final thing.

"This is bigger than us."

Nova was left with a choice to make again. She frowned deeply in the rain as the human's unwavering hand remained suspended for her to take. Her pupils contracted as lighting struck close by.

She took his hand.

Knock brung her arm around his shoulder and lead her to the cave. After laying her gently against the rocky wall inside, he backed up.

"I seriously wish I would stop having 'wolf', 'falling' and 'water' come together all the time." Knox joked to himself, leaving Nova confused for what he meant.

"What's you're name again? Isn't it Nova? I mean, I get it...supernova...the whole science getup..." Knox stopped speaking as the Newton Wolf glowered at him. "I'm going to go check something real quick."

The human made sure there were no unwelcome inhabitants hiding within the small confines.

"You should be fine. Just tell your friends we're not worth it. We'll be long gone by the time you all recuperate yourselves. Take care, I guess." Knox stretched out his arm and blew out air through his lips as he made way to leave the cave.

"You keep trying to save people and eventually it's all going to come crashing down on you." Nova told Knox, making him stop just outside of safety from the rain.

The human turned around with an acknowledging grin.

"Yeah. I know. But it's all part of the weight of living." he replied before turning back and disappearing out of sight.

The rain didn't seem to want to let up.

In fact, it was getting much worse. The rain fell from the sky like liquid bullets as she waited in the darkness of the cave. Luckily for her, she wouldn't have to for any longer.

"Nova? Nova, can you hear me? It's us!"

Nova's ears perked as he aimed to stand herself up, but declined herself the unnecessary hassle of further worsening her leg.

"I'm in here! Look for a cave opening!" Nova screamed back as loud as she could.

The outside rain was loud, but a mute wolf's hearing was not to be underestimated. Nova's heart leaped with relief and relaxed to the sight of Good Billions hastening inside of the cave. A breath of closure left his mouth as he hurried to her side.

"It's just my leg. It's not broken...just dislocated, I think." Nova told him as her co-alpha lifted her up, careful not to hurt her further.

"Did you catch where the human went?" Good Billions looked into Nova's eyes with a focused look. She knew he cared for her completely, but the hungry look of desprativity for an answer didn't fly past her.

"No...no I just had enough energy to get here. He was gone before I could really tell."

Good Billions continued his gaze into her eyes.

"Alright. Let's get you back to the observatory." Good Billions inched her forth as they neared the cave exit.

"Oh...and Nova?"

The Newton Wolf looked to her co-alpha, already aware of her sin.

"Yes?"

Good Billions looked at her through his wet glasses and gave her a smile. And not the straightforward and friendly kind.

"Do refrain from such rash actions again, unless it is ordered of your alphas. Understand?"

Nova shuttered inside at the worded discipline, but she hid it behind a simple nod.

"Yes sir."

Knox muttered grouchily as he attempted to climb the wet and grassy incline to reach the road that resided just above him. His bitten arm didn't help speed the process up much, but he still managed to make his way to the top.

An arm suddenly reached over the side as a familiar friend made his presence known.

Piercer had an outstretched hand out to Knox as he smiled.

"Welcome back, my friend."

Knox smiled back and took it gratefully.

Kara and Lute watched on as Devland swung Knox's katana back and fourth in slow motions before checking his watch.

"It's 11:52 till midnight. Not much time left." Devland said with a obnoxiously simplistic tone of voice.

Lute tapped his foot against the wet ground as he rolled his eyes up to the retreating storm clouds above him.
"Yeah...we know that already."

Devland's smug grin quickly morphed away as a shout from the front gate's guard rang out.

"The human and the archer rat are back!" the squirrel mute shouted down at Devland.

Kara exhaled a chuckle, running for the gate with Lute following behind. Devland grinded his teeth and slowly walked after them.

The gate opened and Kara wasted no time hugging Knox and giving Piercer a noogie against the top of his head.

"I knew you could both do it!"

"Let's not rush to emotional conclusions." Devland walked past Kara and Lute before stopping in front of the two returnees.

"Do you have-"

"Here ya go." Knox happily interrupted, already digging inside his dampened book bag and handing him the science book. "Of Stars And Things. I'm sure it's a great read, but I was too busy trying to live to read it."

Devland took his time studying the cover and flipping through the pages before slowly looking back up.

Knox stepped up and looked him straight into his eyes.

"Now...my sword? I missed it dearly." he asked of him, refusing to hide the expression of pure victory that he gave off.

Devland pulled the katana's edge out of the ground and re-sheathed it, slowly handing it to him.

Knox gripped the scabbard and took the blade back out, kissing the steel blade lovingly.

"I missed you, baby."

The reunited group's eyes were now all on Devland as he stood in silence.

"You can tour us around tomorrow morning. I'm super exhausted." Piercer said, breaking the silence and walking past Devland before looking back. "Kara, mind showing me to the nearest towel? I'm just as wet as the ground is right now."

Kara laughed and guided him forth. "Yeah...you look like a dark-gray, wet doormat."

Devland waved a hand weakly at the large gate.

"Isn't this what you worked for? Why are you still out here? Please...do enjoy your stay." he said to Knox, lacking any genuine excitement.

Knox didn't hesitate to comply with the earned invitation. His heart burned brightly on the inside.

He re-strapped the katana around his shoulder and walked through the large gated community doors into a whole other world of it's own.

A world they had fought hand and claw to find.