(Luna, Tsume, Kiba, Hige, Toboe)

A few days flew by as the wolves moved through the snow. There was a fresh blanket of white snow on the ground. Luna and Tsume's legs were doing much better therefore, they were fine now.

Kiba, took the lead yet again, almost blending in with the snow that surrounded them. Luna ran on Tsume's right side and fell back a few steps. Toboe was in the back. Hige was on Tsume's left side.

Then, they all decided to rest on a plain, white ice sheet for a little while to regain their energy. Luna was leaned forward with one knee bent up so she could have an armrest while her other arm rested in her lap.

Tsume was laying on his back with his arms behind his head and his legs crossed. Toboe and Kiba both had their legs crossed as they sat up. Hige was leaned back but his arms were used to hold him up and his legs were stretched out in front of him.

"I had a dream that we all reached Paradise! Oh, it was so amazing! There all these red and blue flowers blooming as far as the eye could see! And you know what, they were all lunar flowers!" Toboe tells them, a bright smile on his face.

"Um, Toboe, not to oppose what you're saying but, have you ever seen a lunar flower before?" Luna asked the red wolf. Toboe's smile faded a bit and he looked down. "No… not really." he answered, "But Granny was there too! She cooked for us, took care of us, and made us all kinds of delicious food. And it was like a party and we were treated like guests with music playing and everything!"

"Wow, sounds like a city coffee shop to me." Hige says. "Looks like you'll be happy being someone's pet even in Paradise." Tsume scoffed, very much opposed to Toboe's way of life. Luna only rolled her eyes at the grey wolf.

"But it's true! It was amazing! It made me think it was actually Paradise. It's hard to describe though…" Toboe said, looking back down. "Well, you can't expect much with your brain." Hige shrugs, closing his eyes. "You're one to talk, Mr. Bottomless Pit." Luna sarcastically says, getting a slight embarrassed reaction from Hige.

"C'mon, cut me some slack! Not even Kiba has told me what Paradise is really like so how am I supposed to know?" Toboe replied, his eyes locked onto Kiba. Kiba had a small smirk on his face and a few loose strands of hair dangling by his eyes.

Kiba had lived with the lunar flowers, but for only a short time. "What color are they? Can you tell me that?" Toboe asked, having a doubtful look on his face.

After a while, the pack had moved out again and put many more miles behind them. The snow started to gently fall, creating a new blanket on the ground. The wind also picked up a little bit.

They had made it up a snowy hill and looked down at what was below. The four older wolves stood atop it while Toboe ran to catch up with them. "What is it?" the red wolf asked, catching up.

Luna stood between Hige and Tsume. Toboe stops in between Tsume and Kiba and looks down below. In closer inspection, there was a bridge below them that had a set of train tracks that seemed to disappear halfway due to the strong winds. There was a partially frozen ocean below it.

"The ocean." Kiba said.

They walked on the bridge, the wind had grown a little bit more stronger. It made it harder for them to see. The icy wind hit their faces as they walked on the allegedly out of commission bridge.

Then, the sweet smell of lunar flowers filled Kiba's nose. He stopped walking and stared straight ahead of them with his eyes slightly narrowed. "The scent is faint. But it's lunar flowers alright." he tells them.

"Guys, this is it! Paradise is right up ahead! I know it!" Toboe said, sprinting ahead of the pack excitedly. Luna started to sprint behind him. Kiba followed suit, then Hige, then Tsume. Luna was a bit skeptical about Paradise being that idyllic to find. She remembered Hige telling her that the flower maiden leading them there.

When they made it to the source of the scent, they had arrived to a desolate island that looked so run down that it wasn't worth the ground it sat on. Kiba's eyes slightly widened when he saw it; it could be the entry way to Paradise.

They find a way inside of the city, which wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. The foul stench which arose from inside made Luna cringe a little bit. She had been in cities that didn't smell as bad as this.

Hige smelled the air and frowned from disappointment. "You smell flowers huh? Well, the only thing I smell is old, rancid oil." Hige said, still frowning. Toboe jumped down and ended up slipping; falling on his ass.

Luna jumped down before Tsume did, putting her hands in her jacket pockets. Tsume hooked his thumbs in his leather pants pockets and walked ahead, not waiting for the others. Luna followed behind him. Kiba walked forward with Hige and Toboe behind him.

From up above, the people who lived in this city saw the five newcomers walking through the city and immediately hid behind their curtains and looked down at them subtly. "Wow, do you think that they're afraid of us?" Toboe asked, noticing the people hiding. "Not used to visitors, that's for sure." Hige added.

"Be happy that they don't have guns ready to kill us if we so much as breathe." Luna says, looking back at the red wolf and the dun mexican wolf. They walked on through the town in silence for the next few minutes. "Man, what a shitty city. This is some Paradise." Tsume scoffs at how dingy and rough looking this town looked.

There wasn't any sign of life as far as they could see, or so they thought. They came across a secluded area in an alleyway with a lit fire barrel in the middle of it. Surrounding it were about 7 more wolves. There was only one she-wolf out of the six male wolves.

The alpha had a large scar running down his cheek. He had shaggy, light brown hair, dark fair skin. He wore a grey shirt, with a black and red coat, and dark grey pants. He looked back at the newcomers with a cold, hateful stare.

Luna's eyes widened a bit when she saw one of the wolves. She had seen him before and hoped she'd never see them again. One of the wolves she recognized had dark, grey hair and brown eyes. His skin was pale. He wore a small, orange cap atop his head, a grey shirt with a brown vest over it and dark jeans.

His wolf form was sandy grey with a lighter shade on his face, over his eyes, his neck, and his under belly. Luna and that wolf only glared at each other, making it clear that they recognized each other.

"Where are you five from?" the alpha questioned. "A city to the North." Kiba answered him. "Why're you here?" the alpha asked, keeping his eyes on them. "Just passing through. You don't really expect business from us, do you?" Tsume said sheepishly.

Tsume wasn't even looking at the alpha as he spoke to him. "Where are you five heading to?" the leader asked. "To Paradise! That's where!" Toboe answered, his hands on his hips. Those wolves started to laugh hysterically at the pack of misfits.

"Kiba, why're they laughing?" Toboe asked, looking at Kiba with an offended look. Kiba kept looking at them with narrowed eyes. "Because they don't know about Paradise." Kiba replied.

Luna rolled her eyes at their laughter; seeing it as unnecessary to do that. That pack's laughter ceased, their looks of hatred on their faces yet again. "We know all about it." the leader says. Luna was the only one who wasn't surprised about them being wolves unlike the rest of them.

Kiba narrowed his eyes to closely inspect them. The alpha was the darkest wolf in the pack unlike the rest of them. They all had sandy grey fur with dull yellow eyes.

They look back at the pack of rogues in their human forms; the one with the orange hat glaring at Luna, making it very obvious that he had met her once before. "It's nothing but a dumb legend." another said directly towards Kiba. "What makes you say that?" Kiba asked, his voice in a stoic toned voice.

"It's because we tried going there but it was all a myth." the one with the orange hat said, still looking at Luna. "Trust us. You five will find out soon enough. Now why don't you do us a favor and scram. Don't you five have someplace to be?" the leader said demandingly. Without another word, we start to make our way from there.

"Wait a minute, why doesn't the black she-wolf there stay? Surely she'd want to stay with a pack that is competent. Surely she won't oppose this time." the wolf with the orange hat said, getting them to stop. Luna felt shivers run up her spine; she had heard the same dialogue before. She knew what their intentions were; just like last time she saw them.

Needless to say, Kiba, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe were equally appalled by this abysmal request. Luna felt sick to her stomach but she couldn't show them weakness. The way he was staring at Luna, she knew what his intentions were.

"No. Don't take me for an idiot. Staying with your pack would be very idiotic. Besides, you're nothing but a bunch of down and out strays. So why don't you do me a favor and leave me alone before the audience gets pissed off." Luna spat at him, getting a surprised reaction from the other four.

They start to walk away again. "Damn. She's just as frigid and stubborn as I remember. Looks like your daddy isn't here to protect that sweet ass anymore. So I say, come back before things get ugly." that wolf stated. Luna instantly stopped walking when she heard every single word come out of that bastard's mouth.

Luna felt her anger start to bubble over at the very mention of her father. Hige's eyes widened by Luna's enraged reaction. "Oh crap." he said, backing away before he got hurt. Toboe tried his best to calm Luna down but she pushed the red wolf away.

She turned around and stormed her way back to the wolf who bad mouthed her. "Ugly? You shut your fucking mouth, I'll show you ugly!" Luna spat, swinging her fist at him. Her fist connected with the left side of his face, making him stumble back a couple of feet.

That wolf growled at Luna, feeling a trickle of blood on his lip. "You little bitch!" he shouted, grabbing Luna by her jacket with a hard grab. He raised his fist in the air and stared at Luna with a look of rage, his teeth bared.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" he snarled. "You're such a chicken shit! You couldn't fight me before!" Luna snarled, not giving in to this wolf's threatening gesture. Just as she was about to get punched, Tsume had swiftly caught that wolf's arm with a tight grip.

"You hit her and you'll have to deal with me." Tsume said in a growl, holding that wolf's wrist. That wolf let her go and Tsume pushed Luna behind him a bit too roughly. The other wolf scoffed at Tsume's heroism and looked passed him. "Fine. We didn't need her anyway. But if I see her again, her ass is mine." that wolf said, shooting daggers at Luna with his eyes.

"Moss, that's enough!" the leader said, pushing Moss back from Tsume and Luna. He then looked back at the two younger wolves. "You two best get the hell out of here. Now." he said to them. Luna didn't say a word and moved away from Moss. Tsume followed after.

The five wolves walked through another part of town in silence. Luna kept both of her hands in her pockets while she walked behind Tsume. She didn't have any regrets on punching Moss in the face; not one ounce of regret she had.

It wasn't the first time that she had fought Moss; she had met him a long time ago and their encounter didn't go so well. That encounter showed that she'd have to fight for not only herself but for her pack as well no matter how dire a situation is. "Damn, Luna. That was cool how you punched that guy. How'd you know him?" Hige asked her.

He watched every second of Luna sticking up for herself like that. "It's a long story that we don't need to talk about. Besides, I was defending myself." Luna answered, still looking down. "That was insane how he grabbed you like that!" Toboe said, feeling a tad bit shook up.

"Just drop it, okay?" Luna vaguely said, not wanting to talk about that fight anymore. "Those guys are a damn joke. All they did was give me the brush off." Tsume grumbled, not acknowledging that he saved Luna from Moss. "Yeah right. You're not exactly one to talk." Hige said, looking at the darkening sky.

"What'd you say?!" Tsume snapped at him, a pissed off look on his face. Hige jumped back at Tsume's aggressive reaction. "I… I mean, in a couple of years we could be like those guys. That's what I meant." Hige stuttered, holding up his hands as if to surrender.

Luna only rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt to protect himself. Toboe looked down at the ground, an uneasy look on his face. "This city is… scary. It doesn't feel right. There may be a lot of wolves that live here but… it's really cold here." Toboe said, glancing down still.

Luna rubbed the back of her neck. Toboe does have a point there; he wasn't the only one feeling on edge. "Yeah, you're right. The sooner we leave this place, the better off we'll be. Besides, I don't want to see that wolf again." Luna said, wanting to leave this city behind. After that encounter, she wanted nothing more of this place.

"And where do you guys think we should go?" Kiba says, getting the other four wolves to look at him, "Just think, with all the wolves that live here, they might be hiding something. Let's stay and find out what it is." All Luna did was glare at the white wolf for a minute. It would seem that he didn't listen to what they were saying about Paradise being a myth.

All that there was was the faint scent of the lunar flowers. Nothing more, nothing less. Tsume scoffed at Kiba, finding it annoying that Kiba wanted to stay here in this dingy city. He then walked ahead of the pack with Luna behind him, hands in her pockets.

The pack kept walking through the outskirts of the city. They had stopped and rested on the ledge of the city. Everyone didn't say a single word to one another.

Luna sat between Tsume and Toboe with her legs hanging over the edge as she stared up at the moon. Then, the disruptive sound of Hige's stomach broke the ambient silence. Luna sighed and closed her eyes, finding it annoying that the peaceful silence had been broken.

"Oh, who was that?" he asked, acting as if it wasn't his. Luna, Kiba, and Toboe glance at the dun mexican wolf simultaneously with a furrowed brow. When Hige saw them staring at him, he blushed with embarrassment.

"Oh, it's me." he said with a chuckle. They didn't find it funny that he'd pin that growl on someone else. Then, Tsume and Luna's stomachs made a small growl. "Oh, but it was Tsume and Luna that time." Hige said, glancing over at an irritated Tsume, who had a frown on his face.

Tsume grunted and looked away from the others. Luna rolled her eyes and looked back up at the gibbous moon that hovered over the dark and dirty city without saying a word. Neither of them cared about food at the moment; it was the last thing on their minds.

"Man, how do those guys go days living here without anything to eat? Standing around a bunch of trash all day doing nothing?" Hige asked but it only fell on deaf ears. "I can't walk another step." Toboe whined, feeling his feet ache. "Well, then we should find a place to sleep." Hige replies.

Luna, not wanting to hear any more of this, pushes herself up to her feet and walks away from them with her hands in her pockets. Tsume waited a second before getting up to go follow her. "Hey, where the hell are you two going?" Hige called out but they paid no mind to him.

Soon, Kiba stood up and walked with his hands in his jacket pockets. Toboe followed behind them. "Oh, wait up!" Hige whined as he runs to catch up with them.

The pack ended up finding an old graveyard that just screamed 'haunted' within five minutes. The tension and the atmosphere was palpable, making shivers run up Luna's and Toboe's spines. The only sound was the wind blowing softly, adding to the creepiness.

"This'll be a good place to sleep." Tsume said, not thinking twice. Luna tried to keep her facade as straight and unfazed as possible but it was more difficult than she thought. "Well, looks like we can forget food." Hige commented. Toboe was hunched over a bit because of him feeling unsettled. "This place is giving me the willies." he said nervously.

They all then walk through the graveyard with Tsume leading the brigade. The further they walked in it, the louder the sound of rustling could be heard a few feet ahead. "Guys, I keep hearing something weird." Toboe whined, feeling shivers run up his spine.

"Dammit, would you stop being scared of everything?" Tsume growled, looking back at Toboe. Not about 30 seconds later, a black figure suddenly shot out of the hole, scaring Toboe, Hige, and Luna. "AGH!" they all screamed as they fell back.

When they got a better look, they all were relieved to see that the figure was just an elderly wolf sitting in a hole. He was a light grey wolf with dull yellow eyes. His tongue was hanging out lazily.

"Oh…" they sighed. "Hey Gramps, what're you doing?! You scared the hell out of us!" Hige exclaimed, looking at the elderly wolf with an annoyed look. Gramps stood in the hole in his human form.

"Oh, I was only digging a hole for myself." Gramps said in a weakened voice. Luna's eyes widened slightly at this and said, "A… hole for yourself? Are you digging a grave?" Luna asked, knowing that Gramps's days were numbered.

"Well, young she-wolf, when you hit my age, you begin to see when your time is approaching." Gramps replied to Luna calmly. Tsume crossed his arms and said, "Well, you might want to dig faster then." Luna elbowed Tsume in the ribs and glared back at him, showing that she didn't like what he said. He glanced back at her but didn't say anything.

"Hey, mister, do you know if there were lunar flowers here?" Kiba asked the old man. That question made the old wolf brighten up with joy and he gasped with excitement. "The flower bed had gone on forever!" he exclaimed, spreading his arms out.

Kiba let out a surprised gasp, knowing his nose wasn't tricking him before. "Long ago, they inhabited all over this island. But, one day they were all dug up and now there's not a single petal left." Gramps said, his excited tone dropping to a more saddened one. "Long time ago, huh?" Hige said, still on the ground after being scared.

"Hey, can you tell us what color they were?" Toboe asked, standing on his knees. "What color? Well, let's see." Gramps said, looking up for a moment. He then points up towards the moon.

"The color of the moon, of course!" he says. Luna glanced up at the moon for a moment, not sure if the old man was going senile or if we was telling the truth. She didn't utter a single word.

"Have you found Paradise? Have you been there before?" Tsume asked. "Oh, every wolf goes in search for it. I, myself, have tried to find it at least once." Gramps said. Luna couldn't have been the only one to have not searched for Paradise, she didn't see any point in doing so.

It was the one thing that usually kept a wolf going for days on end. Most of them give up like that wolf pack's leader had. Now they live the rest of their lives in this filthy city.

"Is there a way of getting there?" Kiba asked. The old man then crawled out of the hole. He led the five wolves to an old tunnel that was boarded up, indicating that it's been out of commission for a long time.

"That's the entrance over there." Gramps said, pointing to the tunnel. When the scent hit the wolves' noses, it was like running into a brick wall. It made Hige and Luna cringe because of how bad it smelled.

"Ugh, that reeks! Smells like death warmed over!" Hige exclaimed, covering his nose with his arm. "I was kinda hoping it'd be a nicer place." Toboe said in disappointment. "Yeah, this is unlike anything that I've smelled before." Luna said, covering her nose with her hand as well.

Kiba intensely stares at the tunnel, seemingly attracted by it. He starts to walk towards it absentmindedly. As he walked by Gramps, the old man warned him, "I wouldn't." Kiba then stops walking.

"There have been young wolves who went down there however, not one of them made it back alive. They sought refuge in this old town, eking out living here like the rest of us." Gramps continued, glancing down at the ground. "Okay, old man." the familiar voice of that alpha from before said. The pack turned to look behind them.

Luna's eyes narrowed into a glare when she saw him. "Time to call it a day. Don't forget there's work to be done tomorrow." the leader said. Gramps sighed and he started to walk back to the leader, "I see. Well, I dug it deep enough."

"Wait a minute, when you and your pack tried going to Paradise, is this the path you took?" Kiba asked, looking back at the leader. "I thought I told you that place doesn't exist." the leader replies, looking at Kiba. "Zali." Gramps said, getting him to look at him.

Zali then looks back up at the pack of pilgrims, glaring at them with a look of disgust. "If any of you disrupt the peace of this pack, I'll show you no mercy. Especially that she-wolf right there; she better learn her damn place in this city. Now get the hell out of here before dawn, is that clear?" Zali spat at them, walking away from the pack of rogues.

Luna glared at Zali with an offended look. "What an asshole." she muttered under her breath. She hated hearing things like that from strangers she doesn't know. Zali didn't understand how her and Moss knew each other. Moss disrespected her so she had to put in him in his place as a result.

They didn't do anything except reside in an abandoned building that looked to be torn down for the night. Luna sat at the furthest wall away from the doorway of the broken, torn down building. Tsume sat on a piece of rubble. Kiba stood at the doorway with his back turned. Hige and Toboe sat down on the floor of the building.

For a long while, the sound of the gentle wind blowing was all the wolves could hear. That was until Tsume broke the silence. "So do you still believe in it?" he asked Kiba, getting the white wolf to look behind him.

"Believe in what?" Kiba replied. "In Paradise. You know, that place that you thought was real but it's not. There's no such thing as that place." Tsume said. Luna didn't want to hear any conversation; she just wanted to get some sleep.

"If it weren't for Luna's stupid move back there, we wouldn't be in trouble with that alpha of theirs." Tsume spat, looking at Luna. "Well, I'm not taking crap from that asshole. You didn't have to butt in." she said, pulling her legs up to her chest. She didn't want to be thought of as an idiot for defending herself.

"Yes I did, Luna. You didn't have any reason for trying to start a fight like that." Tsume spat, narrowing his eyes at her. "Yes, I did have a damn reason. You don't understand." Luna said, looking away from him. Usually, she had fights with people who provoked her in such a way; just like Moss did.

"It's not the Paradise we're looking for. It was probably a trap." Kiba said bluntly. Luna looked at the white wolf with a sideways glance along with Tsume. There was no way that Kiba could know what Zali's pack was looking for.

Like Tsume and Luna, Zali didn't believe in Paradise and wanted nothing to do with it. Kiba was the only one who was determined to actually risk his own life over that place. "Where's this confidence coming from?" Tsume asked. "Stop saying that. It's just going to make you guys hungrier." Toboe said, trying to adjudicate the situation.

Tsume laid down on the rubble with his hands behind his back. "Maybe staying here isn't so bad. We can just die in the gutter. Start digging holes like that old man." Tsume said, closing his eyes. Luna looked away with a sigh.

She never wanted to bother with going to Paradise. The thought of actually going there incessantly is actually pointless in her eyes. She's just another lone wolf who doesn't seem to have a purpose in this dying and unforgiving world.

"It's not confidence. To be honest, I don't know what it is exactly. But that same voice always speaks to me in the back of my mind. I just have to get there, that's why I've been running all this time. I can't imagine living without believing in it." Kiba replied, looking out ahead of him.

Not too long after, a scent made Hige sit up with a gasp. "You kids must be starving by now." an older woman's voice said to them. Luna looked back at who the voice belonged to.

It was that older she-wolf who was in Zali's pack. Luna could tell by her scent that she was Zali's mate. "Yes, yes, yes! We are, we are! It's very kind of you to notice!" Hige exclaimed, crawling over to the older she-wolf, much to Luna's disgust.

Kiba then walked away from the group when no one was looking. It was obvious that he didn't want to be around this whole shindig with Hige's attempts of flirting with Zali's mate. Hige then tells Luna and Tsume that they should eat while they can because they don't know when they're gonna get their next meal.

Luna only rolled her eyes before getting up to her feet. Tsume gets up also and the two of them head for the doorway. "Guys, Kiba went out by himself!" Toboe called, running back from the outside. He then saw Luna and Tsume walk out passed him.

"Hey, Tsume, Luna, what's the matter?" Toboe asked them. "This isn't worth our time." Luna said, walking behind Tsume. "We're not sticking around with that love struck puppy." Tsume groaned, letting his thumbs hang from his leather pants.

"Wha?! Now Tsume and Luna's left!" Toboe said to Hige, pointing off in the direction that they went. "Who cares? Let them go! This place has more going for than I thought." Hige said, making it clear that he was flirting with Zali's mate. Toboe groaned softly at him before turning around to catch up with Luna and Tsume.

(Luna, Tsume, Toboe)

Tsume and Luna walked in silence in another part of the city. She was a couple of steps behind the grey wolf. Tsume glanced back at the black she-wolf, who was looking ahead in silence, her loose, black bangs dangling over her face.

"You didn't have to come with me, Luna." Tsume said, trying to say that he didn't want any company. "Well, Mr. Lone Wolf, I don't want to be stuck there while Hige flirts with that she-wolf." she says, looking at him. Tsume, secretly admiring Luna's confident and smart ass attitude, quietly chuckled to himself.

"You're really something, aren't you?" Tsume said to Luna. She furrowed her brow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked him. "I'm just saying that you're a she-wolf who doesn't jump at any male she sees unlike someone back there." Tsume continues.

That gets Luna to lightly blush, her cheeks sparking a light shade of pink. "Yeah, well, I learnt to keep to myself and to not let others push me around. Besides, I don't need a male in my life that's going to tell me what I can and cannot do." Luna replies in a smart ass way.

Then, Toboe's footsteps were growing louder and louder behind them. They didn't stop walking though. "Hey, wait up guys!" the red wolf called.

"You guys shouldn't be wandering around like this because we could end up alone." Toboe reminded the two older wolves. "That's fine by me." Tsume replied, still walking forward. Toboe stops walking with them and he looks down sadly.

"Well it's not. By me." he says sadly, getting Luna to look back at him. Luna felt sympathy for the young wolf. She didn't want him to feel bad.

She turned around and walked back to him. She put her hands on his shoulders and rubbed his arm comfortly. "Don't be so down about it, Toboe. Let's go with Tsume and keep our eyes open on him." she tells him.

The red wolf glances up at the black she-wolf. She had a warm smile on her face that showed her caring side. With a smile, he nodded at her. They then continue to follow Tsume.

(Kiba)

Kiba had wandered back to the area where they first met Zali and his pack. This time, Zali and his mate weren't there. It was just Moss and a few other members.

When Moss sees the white wolf walking all on his own, he turns to look at him. "Why the long face? You know you shouldn't be wandering out here on your own." Moss said, patronizing him.

Kiba stopped walking when they said that but he didn't look at Moss. "You should be with that pack of yours, especially with that loud-mouthed black she-wolf." Moss said, referring to Luna. Kiba could see that pack looking at him through his peripheral vision.

He averted his glare in their direction. "What're you doing here with no vital purpose?" Kiba asked. "What did you say?" Moss says, frowning at Kiba. "I know why you weren't able to get into Paradise. You're nothing but a pack of dogs." Kiba spat at them.

Moss seemed to only register part of what Kiba said to them therefore, he glared back at him with his teeth gritted. "Why you little punk." he snarled, walking up to Kiba with that pack behind them.

Kiba didn't falter despite them surrounding him. Moss then lunged at Kiba in his wolf form with a loud snarl. The rest of the pack joined in and they started to viciously attack Kiba.

(Luna, Tsume, Toboe)

Luna, Tsume, and Toboe had made their way to what appears to be a train station with a large clock, a few benches for humans to sit on, and train tracks for incoming trains. Luckily for the wolves, there weren't any humans present because it was in the middle of the night.

Tsume sat down on one of the empty benches with his arms laying on the top, his head slightly dropped and his eyes shut. "I'm really tired. Let's stop here for tonight." he tells Luna and Toboe. Luna then stretched her limbs and groaned tiredly. "Yeah, a few hours of sleep can't hurt." she said, not realizing just how tired she actually was.

When she sat down on the same bench, she felt her entire body become heavy. Her head drooped to the right as she felt herself fall asleep. During her sleep, her limp body was leaning against Tsume's. He looked down at her with a frown, wanting to push her off of him but something inside of him told him to just leave her alone and let her sleep.

"Aarrooo! Aarrooo!" Toboe howled. Tsume's eyes drifted over to the sound of the howl. Toboe was atop an unused train in his wolf form and he was howling.

(Kiba)

Kiba had managed to escape the fangs of Moss and his band of would-be toughs. However, it came at a cost. He was beaten up pretty badly. He had cuts on his body, some of his clothes were torn a little bit, and he was weakened down to where he was stumbling around, unable to keep himself up on his feet.

He stumbled into an alleyway, groaning in pain. Knocking over a few trash cans, his body slammed against the brick wall. He slid down onto the ground and lays on his right side, curling up into a ball. He didn't want to move.

(Luna, Tsume, Toboe, and Hige)

Luna began to stir, indicating that she was starting to wake up from a restful sleep. She didn't have another nightmare as she's had for the last few months. She was relieved that she actually got some sleep without said nightmares waking her up.

As she awoke, she felt something warm against her body. She couldn't make out what it was at first. She blinked away the sleep from her eyes and saw that she was laying on Tsume.

Instantly, she snapped fully awake. She threw herself off of the bench so that she was on the ground. 'What the hell… just happened?' she thought to herself.

Tsume was also asleep as well as Toboe, who was curled into a ball onto his side in his human form. "Whoa, do I need to ask what just happened?" Hige asked, catching Luna off guard. "Oh, damn it! Hige!" she growled.

Hige came up to the station in his human form, his hands in his hoodie. "Sorry, there, grumpy pants. Should I leave you two alone?" Hige replied, referring to Luna leaning on Tsume while she slept. "Shut the hell up." she scowled, standing up and stretching her limbs, "Why're you here? Hoping to find food here, I suppose?"

Toboe woke up because of the talking between Luna and Hige. "Hige?" he tiredly said, sitting up on the bench. "Yeah, that woman told me that there's more food here." Hige said, looking around the station.

Tsume woke up by the sound of Hige's voice, completely unaware of Luna's shocked reaction of waking up on him. He didn't even bother to ask her.

Then, the four wolves then hear the sound of loud chains being shaken below. Luna was the first to investigate by running to the railing that overlooked the rest of the station. Below them were the wolves from Zali's pack.

They were horrified to see them strapped with leather harnesses that was attached to a large crate with heavy luggage on it. One of the men used a whip to make the wolves move. When they did start walking, they seemed to be having trouble trying to pull the heavy luggage.

Luna, Hige, and Toboe were understandably horrified at what was happening in front of them. Luna felt like she couldn't breathe and her palms started to sweat. The worst part about this was that Gramps, the elderly wolf that they met in the cemetery earlier, was also having to pull the heavy load.

Luna felt anger rising in her chest, not only because she's witnessing wolves being used as slaves to the humans, but also seeing the oldest wolf being put through hard labor that could kill him. Tsume was very pissed off at what Zali was doing and he glanced at him.

"What the hell is going on down there?!" Tsume growled, pointing at the wolves below. Zali was standing a few feet away from the four wolves, his hands behind his back as he looked down upon his brethren.

"Okay, hold it there and rest the dogs!" a man calls. Zali's pack had pulled the luggage up the slanted part of the bottom floor. Another man threw some meat from a bucket at the wolves. They begin to fight over the meat so they can eat.

Even though Luna doesn't like Moss and that their last encounter was rather rocky, she didn't want to see her kind be treated like this. "Start talking, damn it!" she growled at him. Without looking at them, Zali answered in a flat tone, "The train makes a point to stop. We work for the humans and they feed us. It's the only way that we can live out here."

Luna gritted her teeth when she heard this. She didn't want to see other wolves being under the influence of humans just to survive.

"Scratching each other's backs… Like you, Tsume. You used to run with them." Hige said, glancing over at Tsume. "I only used them but I was never used by them!" Tsume snapped at the dun mexican wolf. Luna remained quiet, trying to process what was going on.

Luna was on the verge of tears, angry tears. It hurt her to hold them back. Zali's pack started pulling the luggage again.

However, Gramps was becoming exhausted. The weight was too heavy for him to pull. He started to stumble around, his wolf tongue was hanging out of his wolf jaws. His breathing was becoming increasingly heavy and pained.

Toboe gasped when he saw this. "Gramps is in serious trouble!" Hige cried, sounding like he was wanting to help the old wolf.

Then, Gramps had fallen over. He whimpered as he tried to stand back up but he was unable to. He didn't move this time.

The humans tried to whip him in order to get him moving again. It didn't take long for them to realize that the overworking of the old wolf had actually killed him. Luna felt sick to her stomach as she watched this happening.

Then, the five wolves see Kiba standing at the very end of the station in his human form. He saw what had happened to Gramps, and his demeanor completely shifted to pure fury. He saw the defeated pride within those wolves and it angered him to his very core.

He charged at Zali in his wolf form, his wolf fangs bared. Zali jumped down from the railing and ran at Kiba. For a moment, Zali tackled Kiba to the ground in his wolf form by sinking his fangs into Kiba's neck.

"Stray dog loose! Hold it down!" a human shouted. Zali held him down by the neck with his arm around the white wolf's neck as the humans ran at them. Luna, Tsume, Toboe, and Hige could only watch in silence from up above. They didn't know what to do.

Zali's pack and Kiba's pack had gone back to the graveyard in their human forms. Luna, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe stood a few feet behind Kiba. He was sitting against a rock slab that stuck from the ground, a hand on his wounded shoulder.

They had put Gramps's body inside of the grave that he had dug up. Zali had his back turned towards Kiba's pack, a look of anger on his face. "I told you not to intervene." Zali said, looking down at the hole.

"Living like a bunch of down and out strays…" Kiba growled at Zali. Zali looked back at the injured white wolf. "Clinging to this disgusting place and doing this! How can you call that a life!?" Kiba yelled, his eyes narrowing at Zali.

"What the hell do you know about it!?" Zali shouted at Kiba. Kiba wasn't fazed by Zali's burst of anger and he winced. "You're pathetic." Kiba said softly yet coldly.

Zali frowned and looked back ahead of him towards the setting sun. "You kids… are still young." he said, his voice calmer. Luna rubbed her arm and looked down. She didn't know how to process this much like the other wolves here.