Author's Note: Sorry for the wait, I've just been waiting for people to review. Maybe I'll spice up my description, lol. Oh, and if the question ever comes up; the city Lashou and Chiku left was NOT the one the series first started in. It is a city that's past that one tunnel that had once been filled with poisonous gas. Ya know, the one they entered in the one episode where they ran away from that big pack of wolves working for the humans? They tried to capture Hige? Anyway, here's the next chappy!

Oh! And I know you're getting tired of this, but;

P.S: I am open to ideas if you wish to give them, and I will tell you right now that I laugh at flames. Constructive Criticism is fine, and I just love Reviews. I hope you like these characters, and I do hope my spelling and grammar isn't all that bad. Ciao! Adios! Ja ne! And Bye-bye! Have a good read y'all and please tell me what you think!

P.P.S.: Kiba, Toboe, Tsume, Chesa (she's new, lol), and Hige do not belong to me. Neither do any other characters in the show that I have not mentioned just yet. However, Chiku and Lashou are mine, if you copy them I will report you, buster! Have fun, and please review and have a nice day!

Wolf Song

Chapter 4- The Dead Forest

The two wolves stared at the landscape surrounding them with curiosity evident in their gaze. It was an entirely new terrain; yet, it was oddly familiar (if that made any sense at all). After waking up that morning, they had immediately set out at a moderate pace with a couple short breaks here and there, as they had every morning for the past two days. Finally, they had reached were they now stood at present, miles upon miles away from the city, in front of a large forest that stretched as far as they could see. It was ominous to say the least, much more different than the other small towns full of unpromising things they'd carefully darted around- too timid to enter, and it would have taken days to get around it. Thusly, they were seriously considering entering it, no matter how threatening it was.

"But we don't even know what's in there!" Lashou kept on insisting, her eyes full of obvious fear, even though part of her screamed to just give in and follow Chiku inside.

"And we don't know what could be waiting for us if we go around it either! We have to take a risk, and this one is the more practical and shortest! Who knows how long the scent of the lunar flower will guide us?" Chiku growled, her eyes flashing with unbridled anger at Lashou. Somewhere, she too was scared at what lurked before them; but the intoxicating scent of the flowers went straight through the forest! They just had to go through it!

"But it looks dead Chiku! Look at it! We could become lost, or starve! There might not be enough water in our pack to last us!" Lashou cried.

"Well that's a risk we'll have to take, isn't it?" Chiku growled in a tone that usually meant the end of the discussion or argument. But Lashou was far from done arguing her case.

"What if there are hunters in there? There could be endless traps, just waiting for us! Do you honestly think running from these risks, following the meaning of your name, will truly help?"

That was it, the final straw. The last thing Chiku could tolerate at this point. Snarling, she pounced on Lashou, who let out a surprised, high-pitched yelp as they fell to the ground. But that surprise didn't last for long as an all-too-familiar natural urge kicked in. Both she-wolves fell on each other, biting and yapping, clawing at each other as they tried to assure themselves dominance over the other. It was a past argument revisited.

But it didn't last long, Chiku had more brute strength than Lashou, and she was the one who succeeded in gaining dominance. Lashou, firmly pinned under her, barred her throat in submission, whimpering as she strained to get from under Chiku's might. The silver wolf on top growled, barring her teeth, and then nipped Lashou's neck, showing she could easily kill her friend if she truly wanted to, and then got off to slide on their pack, considerably lighter after having been gone through one more time, and the more unnecessary things that hadn't already been used dumped out.

Tail and ears lowered in submission and whimpering as a small trickle of blood made its way from the nick on her throat down her brown fur, Lashou quietly followed Chiku into the forest, beside her but also a bit behind. Both girls' hearts were racing, their adrenaline pulsing, and their tongues hanging out the side of their mouths as they panted and tried to regain their air.

It was tense moment to say the least of it; with Lashou cowering beside her friend and Chiku trying not to let guilt creep up on her as she stared straight ahead towards a previously found entrance to the dead-looking forest.

------------Chiku------------------------------

I'm trying not to think about Lashou, even as the remnant of her coppery tasting blood leaves my mouth, hopefully for good. The trees now loom above us, and it is quite dim in here. Lashou is right; this is a very scary place to be. The only comfort I can find is the scent of the lunar flowers. I want to touch them, they seem so near. But I know they are far away.

Their smell, however, makes the sting of my scratches lessen and my guilt creep away. I wonder if Lashou can smell them, they're so sweet; so much sweeter than this fowl smelling place. This place gives me the creeps. I don't like it here at all. But it would have taken us days to go around this forest, if it's even possible to go around it.

"I'm sorry…" Lashou whispers quietly, eyes still downcast at the forest floor. I look back at her, and then I look forward again, I really can't afford to bump into any trees and hurt myself this early on, I tell myself. But in truth, I can't stand the hurt look in her eyes.

"Me too." I feel compelled to say, and I do. Neither of us likes it when we argue and revisit the fight of dominance. It's instinct to be dominant, at least for me it is. My mother was a pack leader, and that would be our family's destiny for as long as we were able to do it. Lashou's family was only second in line for leadership. Still, I wonder if she knows the urge to be on top…

"Are you… frightened?" I ask as casually as I can. Of course, I'll never admit that I'm probably as scared as she is right now; that's my role as dominate female. This place doesn't feel right. Where are all the animals? Why don't the birds sing here? Why is it so….dead?

"…Yes…" Lashou answers quietly after a moment of silence. I nod; I don't feel like talking much, my chest hurts and I can feel it squeezing me. Those damn humans, this stupid poison. I wish we were in paradise now... then I wouldn't feel this pain inside my breast.

I can feel Lashou drawing closer to me as we continue to make our way across the forest floor. It is covered in dead leaves and fallen trees, of which we now walk upon. This forest is decaying, it's frightening, and we've been here for so long, it seems like forever since we entered. I wonder what the lunar flowers could possibly have seen in this place…unless this was once a beautiful forest, and when the flowers died it became dead from sorrow…

A moaning sound makes my heart quicken. I feel like a frightened pup, it is only the wind. It has to be. Lashou whimpers and I can feel the hairs on my back rise. I don't like this.

"Be quiet." I whisper, and stop. She is huddled close to me. I stare up at the canopy of branches above us. Another moan, low and quite frightening, but no breeze disturbs a single hair on me, or torments me by brining the scent of the lunar flowers closer. This is not the wind…

"The trees are crying…" Lashou whispers, her eyes large with fright. I agree, the trees are crying. No… they're screaming!

"Come on, let's keep moving…" my own heartbeat accelerates; I wonder if Lashou can hear it. It seems so loud, almost deafening. Like a pounding waterfall... We have to keep moving, I quicken my speed and Lashou matches it. I ignore the familiar tightening in my chest and I try to calm my erratic breathing.

The forest seems to scream and hiss at us as we move faster. 'No escape!' it hisses.

No escape…

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The two wolves ran faster and faster through the forest. Their eyes darted back and forth as imaginary monsters threatened them from the darkness of each and every shadow. Fear and panic surged through both until they had little regard to the branches that pounded them as they blindly ran on, driven insane by the constant murmurings of the trees they ran on and on; towards what they had no clue but they kept on going anyway, using every last breath they had. For hours, just like that first night.

Until, at last, the murmurings stopped and they found themselves gasping as they collapsed to the ground, a mixture of saliva and blood dripping from their drooping tongues. Scratches and bruises now littered their bodies, marring the beauty that had once been their perfectly clean fur. The look they gave each other was mixed; pain, fear, thankfulness for the other, and confusion.

"What happened?" Lashou whimpered, cuddling closer to Chiku who, miraculously, made it through her shared panic attack without the aid of her inhaler. The dominant wolf blinked her eyes quickly and took a protective stance beside Lashou, despite her own fear as something dawned on her. Something was driving them to a certain spot, like cattle.

"Something in this forest… is playing with us." Chiku murmured, barring her teeth in a growl as she barked up at the trees, snarling in her native wolf tongue.

"Who are you that plays such games? Are you a coward? Show yourself!" she growled, trying to sound sure of herself, even though she was anything but that.

Laughter, patronizing laughter, floated around them in an endless assault of pitches, before a rustle of feathers disrupted it and a crooked looking owl seated itself on a nearby branch. Both wolves felt their hackles rise, something was entirely wrong with that bird.

"Do you mock me?" Chiku snarled, baring her fangs, dripping with saliva, at the feathery creature. "I don't fear you bird! I am-"

"Two little wolves, all alone…" It murmured in an ethereal, haunting manner, and twisted its head all the way around in an eerily slow manner, eyes never blinking.

"I don't like this." Lashou whimpered and Chiku nodded.

"Do you know the way out?" Chiku demanded.

"Who knows anything?" the owl commented, cocking its head to one side. Chiku growled, barking at it.

"Stop toying with me you featherbrain!" she yelled, her temper flaring for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day.

"Follow me…" The owl murmured randomly, and then took flight, startling and baffling Lashou and Chiku.

"Hey!" Chiku yelled, and then took off, Lashou not far behind.

The owl lead them through what seemed like an obstacle course, and the two wolves found they had to dodge trees, side step quicksand, and avoid falling off fallen trees in an effort to not break a leg or, at the very least, sprain something.

"Where's he taking us?" Lashou cried, trying not to fall off the log they were currently darting across.

"I have no idea!" Chiku shouted over the roar of the wind in her ears, created by their speed. Her chest was tightening and she was finding it more and more difficult to breathe. At this rate, she thought, I'll have another attack!

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the creepy old owl stopped and landed on a nearby tree. Lashou and Chiku found themselves facing an opening in the trees, where several rays of sunlight streamed through some branches. The smell of lunar flowers was strong and enticing, almost intoxicating.

"Thanks, I think." Chiku murmured at the owl, which merely stared at them in a way that reminded Chiku of a wise old monk, or, perhaps, even a grandfather who'd seen it all. But most of all, it reminded her of something entirely different, something ethereal and majestic and not entirely there.

"Come on Lashou." Chiku ordered and then confidently began to go towards the most promising light that was just beyond a bit of bothersome foliage. Lashou meekly followed behind.

"Good luck, little wolves." The owl murmured after them, and with a mighty flap of its wings, turned around and flew in the opposite direction, disappearing as mysteriously as it had come.

"What was that owl?" Lashou asked quietly, getting even with Chiku, who cast a glance behind her. An understanding, knowledgeable look, crossed Chiku's face, softening it.

"A spirit of one who had died long ago." She murmured, fully aware of how little sense it might make to Lashou,

"Come on." And then she pushed aside the brush and darted into the light of their destiny.

Their destiny, as it turned out to be, was a beautiful resting place. There was a pool of crystal clean water surrounded by grass that was so lush and beautiful it looked to have come from Paradise itself. And that was nothing compared to the vast assortment of flowers that littered the ground like a magnificent carpet. The waning sunlight made no shadow fall on this place, and it seemed magical. The scent of lunar flowers was so strong here…

"How long were we in that forest?" Lashou murmured tiredly as she slowly nestled herself beneath and outcropping of rock in a nest of sweet scented flowers and soft grass. Chiku set their pack down, also tired from their seemingly endless trek through the forest, and joined Lashou on the soft mattress of plants, letting a tired sigh escape her as she once again reverted to her human form.

Lashou, tiredly, tail swishing lethargically, watched with a pang of sadness as Chiku unzipped their pack and took out her inhaler, and took several reassuring gulps of her precious medication before putting it away and happily returning to her wolf form, which, oddly enough, blended in with the tall grass sheltering them from prying eyes. In fact, she'd seem almost invisible to most.

"Chiku…" Lashou murmured tiredly when the younger wolf curled up without snuggling. The silvery wolf only lethargically opened an eye to gaze at Lashou for a moment, before tiredly murmuring;

"Go to sleep Lashou, I'm too tired to talk and snuggle tonight. We need our rest anyway." And then she was gently lulled to sleep by the sweet smell of the lunar flowers on the breeze. Lashou, likewise, fell into a deep slumber after discreetly moving closer to Chiku. While she wouldn't admit it, she was still frightened, no matter how reassuring this place was.

TBC

A.N. Well, I can promise you that in the next chapter, Lashou and Chiku will finally meet Kiba, Toboe, Hige, Tsume, and Chesa!

By the way, in case you didn't understand. The owl was the spirit of the dead forest. It guided Chiku and Lashou through the forest because, obviously, it 1) wanted them out and 2) well, that will be revealed later grin

Until next time!