It took Luna and them a few hours to make it out of that subway. Their fur was covered in the dust from the dirt that was in the old tunnel. The fact that Zali had lost the loyalty of his own pack really stunned Luna more than the others.
She didn't want to force him into a pack where he barely knows the wolves that were in it. She even decided to keep his last bit of advice that Zali gave her before they left in mind. And the way he looked at Tsume made her wonder if that's what would happen.
When the pack made it out, the dark, night sky overcast the new area along with the pack. They each shook their fur from the dust and they stretched their limbs from the constant walking. The pack came to the decision that they'd rest for the night before moving out the following morning.
They found a secluded spot to rest so that humans wouldn't find them. Luna curled up into a ball with her wolf nose touching her wolf tail and slept peacefully without those same recurring nightmares she's lived with for the last few months.
The next morning, the five wolves walk through the forest in their human forms in silence. Kiba was leading the way with Tsume behind him, Luna behind Tsume with her hands in her jacket pockets, Hige behind her and Toboe falling behind in the very back.
Their next goal was to find the Flower Maiden while on the road to Paradise; well, it was Kiba's next goal since Tsume and Luna honestly couldn't care less about this mission. Luna couldn't smell any scent of the alleged flower that Kiba kept bragging about. Even Toboe had stopped walking while the others walked ahead.
He went into thought for a second before Hige called him. "C'mon runt!" Hige said, getting the young red wolf to look at him, "Get a move on or we'll leave you behind!" Toboe then ran to catch up with the rest of the pack.
They continued through the dense forest. "Hey, doesn't this forest seem kinda strange to you? There aren't any animals around." Toboe said, making a point that they were the only ones in the forest. Hige then sighed in slight annoyance at Toboe's discovery.
"Tell me something. You do know that you're a wolf, right?" he asks, hands in his pockets. "Yeah?" Toboe says. "Then think about it, genius. They might've ran off when they saw us coming." Hige finished.
Luna glanced back at Hige and Toboe for a second, a brow furrowed. Hige had an annoyed look. It was because Toboe had spent his entire life in the domed city, unaware of the realism of being out in the woods.
"This is the problem with taking city kids to the woods." Hige sighed, looking straight ahead. "I was thinking, I haven't smelled the flower at all since we left that cave. I wonder if this is really the right way." Toboe said doubtfully.
"You want to give us a clue here?" Tsume said, sounding more impatient. Luna rolled her eyes at Tsume's comment. "Sure." Kiba answered, not breaking eye contact from the path ahead.
"Where are we headed exactly?" Tsume asked. "Paradise." Kiba replied vaguely. Luna wasn't at all surprised by that answer since the white wolf had all eyes on finding Paradise. She didn't see any reason for going there unlike a certain moronic white wolf.
"And what in the hell is guiding there? Can you tell us that?" Luna asked him, her green eyes glancing up at him. "It's on instinct." Kiba replied. The pack then stops walking for a moment; all except for Kiba, who kept walking.
"Here we go again. I just wish that it felt like we were getting closer. Not that I'm complaining or anything like that." Hige sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Not complaining? It sure as hell sounds like it to me." Luna said in a smart ass tone. Hige turned red from embarrassment from Luna's comment.
Before anyone could respond, the familiar high pitched sound of a noble air ship entered the wolves ears, catching their attention. Luna knew right away that it was the same sound that they had heard back in Freeze City. Having sensitive hearing, she despised the high pitched sound.
She looked over at Toboe to see him doing the same. Hige and Tsume looked up in the sound's direction. "That noise." Tsume said. "It's an airship. It's gotta be one of the nobles." Hige said in a hushed voice, tilting his head a bit so he could listen to the sound closely.
"Ugh, I hate that sound." Toboe groaned, still covering his ears. "You and me both." Luna agreed, waiting for the loud sound to cease. Once above, the dense forest was suddenly struck by a huge shockwave, causing the small pack to lose balance for a second.
Toboe ended up grabbing Luna's arm to keep his balance. "Ahh! What's going on?" Toboe exclaimed as the shockwave settled down. "Man, they're really going at it." Hige comments.
Kiba, not affected by the shockwave, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He had a strange yet familiar feeling rising in his chest, one which was hard to ignore. He then started to walk forward as if his feet gained sentience.
Luna saw him doing this and called to him, "Kiba, what the hell are you doing?" "She's there." Kiba said, not looking back at her. "Hey, it doesn't have anything to do with us, stay the hell out of it!" Tsume growled, pretty much shrieking at the white wolf.
"I can feel her…" Kiba whispered. "Feel what?" Hige asked, obviously confused. "I don't know… it feels so familiar." Kiba said, then he looked back at the others with a look of anger, "C'mon don't you guys feel anything at all?!" He then took off sprinting away from the others, not looking back. He was irritated that they couldn't feel what he was feeling.
"Kiba!" Tsume called before going after him. "Can you guys?" Toboe asked, looking at Luna and Hige. "This guy is hopeless…" Hige sighed. "Let's just… follow Kiba and see whatever he's running after." Luna said, starting to run after him. Hige and Toboe follow her.
Kiba kept looking up at the light grey sky as if he was trying to find something. "The Flower Maiden…" he whispered. The further the pack ran, the stronger the scent of flowers became.
(Cheza and Darcia)
Meanwhile, in the sky, was a purple noble ship that was being driven by Lord Darcia III. The same noble that Kiba and Hige had encountered back in Freeze City ages ago. He was keeping Cheza, a.k.a the Flower Maiden, in his ship.
She was standing in a large bowl of the same green, sparkling liquid that was in the large orb shaped container that Cher was keeping her in. Cheza, sensing something, looked up with her red eyes widened. It was as if she was in a trance just like Kiba.
Then, Darcia's ship was shot at by another bigger ship. Cheza then stepped out of the liquid and began to walk over to the doorway as the ship was going down. Darcia watched as she calmly walked over towards the door.
"Don't do it!" he called, reaching out for the Flower Maiden. She slowly turned to face him, her purplish pinkish hair gently dancing with the wind. Before Darcia could grab her hand, she threw herself out of the doorway. That's when the ship went down as black smoke rose from it.
(Kiba, Tsume, Luna, Hige, and Toboe)
Kiba was still running after whatever he was entranced by. Luna and them were still running after him. "Kiba!" Tsume called. "Wait the hell up!" Luna shouted, sprinting behind Tsume.
Hige then sniffed the air before looking up at the grey clouded sky above them. "That scent." he said, his eyes widening. Luna glanced up at the sky and something caught her eye. For a moment, it looked like a star. But… Why would a star be shining in the middle of the day?
The pack of five wolves kept running down that same pathway while Cheza continued to spin in the air. She eventually landed atop a single mountain facade that towered everything around it. They would have no choice but to climb up to see where it would lead to.
Kiba was already way ahead of the others. Then it was Tsume, Luna, Hige, and Toboe below them. The further they climbed, the more profound that they scent got. Luna felt different and it was drawing her in in a way that she couldn't explain. It was affecting the other wolves just as much.
"Yep, it's coming from up there. There's a faint scent in the air." Hige said. "Yeah, I can smell it too. Smells like flowers." Luna replied, sniffing the air. There was strange yet sweet scent that Luna had never smelled before.
Kiba kept climbing, showing no intention of stopping. Tsume, who was standing on a small ledge, looked up at the white wolf. "Why the hell are you so worked up?" the grey wolf asked him.
Hige sniffed the air again and groaned at the scent. "But it's got the stink of a Noble mixed in with it." Hige commented, his face screwing up a bit. Tsume glanced down at the dun mexican wolf, his eyes slightly narrowed. "A noble?" he said quietly as he looked back up.
"Yeah, there's possibly nobles up there. That's why you smell it." Luna said, also catching the scent also. "Hey, Kiba!" Toboe called. Kiba looked down at the red wolf.
"Something in my chest is kinda tingling. Is that what you meant?" he asked timidly. Kiba nodded at him before saying, "Let's get moving."
After a bit, the pack of five made it atop the mountain. They were now walking through another dense forest. The trees and bushes surrounded them so that no humans would see them.
As they walked down the path, Luna had a strange but wonderful feeling overwhelm her. "Damn, I don't know what I'm feeling but… my hands can't stop shaking." the black she-wolf said, her hands shaking. "Yeah, I feel it too! My chest feels so fuzzy." Toboe said happily, his cheeks having a light shade of pink on his cheeks.
Luna felt her cheeks become super hot and red without her knowledge. Hige from behind her was softly humming with a grin on his face. "This is the sense of excitement you get just before you pounce on a pretty girl." he said calmly.
"Don't let your guard down. But there's a shiver up my spine too." Tsume said, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end. Luna looked back at him for a second. She didn't expect him to be affected by that weird feeling much like herself but they were.
They then make it to the end of the path. In front of them was a field with flowers that surrounded a sparkling lake. Luna's eyes look at every cranny of the place that they stood in.
What the pack saw made the air from their lungs disappear. Kiba softly gasped when he saw… Cheza. The Flower Maiden, who was sitting on a rock with her feet in the water looking down. But she had sensed the wolves presence not a second after their arrival.
She opened her fully red eyes and looked up at the small pack with a kind and jovial smile. Luna and them gasped in surprise that this was actually the flower maiden. "It can't be… is it really?" Luna said breathlessly, feeling her heart beating hard in her chest.
"My heart just skipped a beat!" Toboe said, clutching his chest with a balled fist. "Who is that?" Tsume asked, feeling skeptical of this new face. Luna had her eyes glued onto Cheza; she couldn't believe that was actually looking at the flower maiden. "This is the maiden that Hige told me about…" Luna thought to herself.
Cheza stood up from the rock that she was sitting on. Kiba started to walk towards her, as if he was in a trance. "Hold on…" Tsume said, trying to stop him. However, Kiba ignored her since he was attracted to her.
The white wolf walked down to where she was and stepped in the water. Luna and the others just watched in silence. Kiba smiled down at her gently.
Cheza blinked and smiled when she saw Kiba in his wolf form. His golden wolf eyes looking up at her, his wolf ears raised all the way. Cheza leaned down and ran her fingers through his fur.
The feeling of her touch felt tranquil to him; he felt at peace. His wolf ears slowly dropped and his golden wolf eyes closed as she continued to pet him. Cheza kneeled down in front of him and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him gently.
"We meet… at last." Cheza spoke, her voice soft and sweet in his ear.
"Aw… I wanna be held like that." Toboe said with a smile. "Is that really her?" Luna asked, having a new warm feeling as she looked at the flower maiden. "Yeah, that's her. That's the flower maiden." Hige said in a bubbly tone, a smile on his face.
Tsume was the only one out of them that wasn't as enthused as them. He had felt a shiver go up his spine before coming here. Luna looked at the grey wolf to see an unamused expression on his face.
Kiba and Cheza walk out of the lake, hand in hand so she could meet the other wolves. She gave each of them a warm smile, showing that she was no threat to them. She looks at Luna, who stood in her wolf form.
The black she-wolf walked up to the Flower Maiden with her notched wolf ears raised a bit. "It's nice to meet you… Luna." Cheza said to her, gently petting the top of Luna's wolf head. Luna's wolf ears dropped a little and her gold wolf eyes closed from the relaxed feeling.
It was as if all her worries had faded away in an instant. This was something that Luna had never felt before as Cheza ran her fingers through her black fur. Luna even wagged her wolf tail.
About 10 minutes later, the pack was back on the trail. Kiba was holding Cheza's hand as they walked ahead of the rest of the pack. "That's definitely Cheza." Hige said.
"She's both a flower and a maiden? That's weird." Toboe replied with a smile. Luna glanced over at the younger red wolf and she smirks at him. "Actually, Toboe, the nobles seemed to have a lot of time on their hands. From what Hige has told me, she was made in a lab somewhere." Luna said to him.
Hige blushed a tad bit as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ha, it's no problem." he replied. "Do you two honestly believe that's what happened? That the nobles made her?" Tsume asked in a cold tone. Luna rolled her eyes at what he said.
They all crossed a metal bridge that was across a river and they passed through a fancy structured veranda. It had led them to a building that hadn't been in use for a long time. There were withered vines sprawled onto the walls and onto the floor.
Kiba had gone ahead of Luna and them with Cheza walking beside him. Cheza placed a hand onto her chest as she talked to Kiba. "This one has been waiting for you, Kiba. This one was born for this very reason." Cheza says in her softened voice.
They came to another corridor and Kiba looked down at it. The ceiling had holes in it, letting the sunlight shine through them. Cheza let go of Kiba's hand and she ran down the corridor.
"Everyone! This one's home!" she says with enthusiasm. However, something made her halt in her tracks. She was seeing that there wasn't anything down there except for dead vines.
"Oh… there's no one here… anymore. This one understands now. They all… withered and died." she says sadly, kneeling down with her arms hugging her legs. Kiba walked up to her in concern.
Meanwhile, Luna and the rest of the pack were catching up with them. However, Luna felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up on end as a nervous and on edge feeling ran through her veins. Then, the sound of the noble soldiers were making their way down in the building.
"Guys, tell me that I'm not the only one hearing that." she said, still on edge. "No you're not. I hear it too. Their stink is here too." Hige said, on edge as well. Then there was the sound of rapid gunfire coming from the outside of the walls.
The pack sprinted to where Kiba was, obviously in distress about the humans in the area. "Kiba, we're in serious trouble! I smell humans all over the place!" Hige exclaimed. "There's gunshots outside!" Luna yelled, sounding panicked. "Yeah, we're surrounded!" Toboe exclaimed, his body shaking.
Tsume pushed by them and glared down at Cheza as if she was the one who did this. Cheza looked up at Tsume, slightly frightened. Kiba, seeing this as a threat, got in front of her protectively, "No! It wasn't her."
Tsume, being pissed at her, took another step forward from her. "It was her! She screwed with our noses." he snarled at him. Luna became furious at this accusation and she shoved Tsume away from the flower maiden.
"Stop it, you two! Fighting isn't going to help anything! Even blaming her for this is pathetic! Just leave her alone, Tsume!" Luna barked at him, feeling a tang of her protective instincts kick in. Instead of being angry, Tsume was secretly surprised at Luna's defense towards Cheza.
Cheza wasn't the reason for the soldiers coming after them. Cheza then, as if something was hypnotizing her, started walking away from the pack in the opposite direction. Kiba started walking with her.
Luna turns around at the sound of their footsteps. "Hey, where are you going?!" Tsume scolded him. "Didn't you hear what we said?!" Hige called, referring to him and Luna. The black she-wolf shook her head and sighed in defeat.
"I'll go with them. You guys fight off the humans." Luna said, turning to follow Kiba and Cheza. However, she felt a hand tightly grab her arm, preventing her from walking any further. She turned her head to see it was Tsume who grabbed her.
"Tsume, what are you doing?" Luna argued, tugging at her arm. "You're not going." Tsume said, feeling secretly protective over Luna. After she had gotten hurt in that village, he didn't want to take another chance of it happening again.
"Yes, I am. Someone's gotta keep an eye on them. We can't let Kiba get too reckless with those damn soldiers around." Luna argued. Tsume stared at Luna for a couple of seconds with a look that could only be described as protective. He then shook his head before letting her go.
"Fine, but don't get yourself hurt. I won't come and save you." Tsume said, turning around and running in the other direction with Hige behind him. "I don't need your help." Luna whispered to him, finding herself blushing a bit.
"Luna, I'm coming too." Toboe said, gently holding Luna's arm. "Alright, c'mon." Luna agreed without thinking twice. The two wolves run down in the direction that Kiba and Cheza ran down.
Cheza and Kiba didn't get that far. Luna and Toboe walked close behind them. Luna looked around for any soldiers that might be around.
And she was right when the glint of a rifle caught her attention. The gun was pointed towards Toboe, who was walking behind her. As quick as she could, she jumped at the soldier and opened her mouth to show that her fangs came in.
The soldier didn't have time to react as Luna bit down onto his throat with a growl. When she killed him, blood shot from the wound as he fell to the ground. The soldier gagged and choked on his own blood before dying.
Luna, still knelt down on the ground, didn't see another soldier aiming his rifle at her. However, Kiba jumped at the soldier with his wolf fangs bared. He killed the soldier just before he could shoot Luna.
The white wolf knelt down by the human that tried to shoot Luna. Luna and Kiba lock eyes for a moment, then he tells her to protect Cheza and Toboe. She complied and darted behind a cracked wall where Toboe and Cheza were. Luna was surprised that Kiba would risk his life to protect her.
She pressed her back against the cracked wall while having her head turned to look behind her and over the cracked wall. "Luna, are you alright?" Toboe asked her. "Yeah, I'm fine. We need to get the hell out of here." Luna replied, having Cheza close to her.
She knew that they couldn't move while the soldiers were still shooting at them, it would only get them shot. The on-coming bullets hit the wall that Luna, Cheza, and Toboe hid behind, chipping away the concrete. Luna shielded Toboe and Cheza in order to protect them.
After a few minutes of doing this, the bullets ceased, indicating that it was safe to come out. Luna peeked around the wall to see Tsume, holding his knife and Hige brushing his hands from taking care of the rest of the soldiers.
Kiba, Tsume, and Hige met up in a circle. "We're in serious trouble! They got that end blocked off completely!" Hige warned Kiba. "If we leave that maiden here, we can get those soldiers off our backs." Tsume suggested, much to the dismay of Kiba. "Forget it!" Kiba spat at the grey wolf.
"Guys!" Toboe called from down the hall. "C'mon, this way!" Luna said. They looked over and saw Toboe and Luna waving them over down another corridor. They stood in front of a doorway.
Kiba, Tsume, and Hige ran down the corridor to catch up with Luna, Toboe, and Cheza. When they got down there, Cheza stood the furthest away from the pack. "This way." Cheza tells them, jogging down that corridor.
They all ran after her and ended up in a dead end. "What the hell?!" Hige shouted breathlessly. Luna could see that there was no other doorway other than the one that they had just come through.
"It's no use! There's no way we can get out of here!" Toboe exclaimed, sounding panicked. "We could always try surrendering." Hige said. Luna and Tsume shot glares at him as if they were shooting daggers through their eyes. Hige instantly raised his hands and swallowed that huge lump in his throat.
"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" he cried out. "That's what we thought." Luna said, looking from the tan mexican wolf. Hige, not wanting his own ass to be kicked, kept his mouth shut.
Cheza paid no mind to their bickering and she walked to the wall that was adjacent to the doorway. She placed a hand on the vine covered wall and a faint glow appeared. She backed up a few feet and watched as the wall moved.
It made a doorway for them to go through. "The wall just moved!" Toboe exclaimed, startled by the wall's movement. "Who cares? Let's get out of here!" Hige said, running ahead towards the wall.
They ran through the wall, all except Tsume. Luna stopped running and looked over her shoulder. She saw Tsume just standing there with his hand on his hip.
"Tsume, what the hell are you doing? C'mon!" Luna called, urging him to run. Tsume sighed and looked down. He then ran forward into the doorway with Luna directly behind him.
Once they were inside, the wall closed up completely just as the soldiers came pouring in. They had no idea that the wolves had taken the flower maiden. They have their ticket to Paradise.
