Chapter One:
Moonlit Wanderers
With paradise still far off to the set of weary travelers, there was no doubt in their minds that on their journey they would have run ins with other wolves. They would cross paths with their own kind and there would be times when their own kind would seem worse than the humans hunting them, but they all stood strong and stood together. Time had woven their bitter spats into a sense of loyalty that no one would see with a mere glance, the pack's bond ran deep, an instinct that flowed through their warm blood as they moved with each evening. They would get by deceiving humans and making the best living they could for themselves. Kiba, Toboe, Tsume, and Hige...all wolves that would stick together until paradise was met. No one knew just when they would stumble upon the fabled land, lost...but each wolf knew deep down inside that there would be a day and there would be a place.
The day lit sky was fading quickly as the sun began to duck behind the horizon. The mountains would cast great shadows over the valleys nestled beside them and the waste land would become littered with creatures of the night moving out to fill their empty stomachs. Most existing animals now feared walking out in daylight, hunters and pushy humans had left their scars on the earth by wiping many species away. Wolves were perhaps the most feared and hunted of all creatures. The legends stated that the last wolf was seen over 200 years prior but this was all legend. There still existed a small harmony that hid before the human's eyes, the humans never truly becoming wary. Few hunters still insisted that wolves existed but they were in a class their own as many people found their rambling repulsive and the result of too much alcohol the night before. Sightings were regarded as mere illusion, light and shadow, yet the common people were never the wiser in most situations.
The city was small and over crowded and people went about their business trying to make a living for them selves. The streets were lined from daybreak until midnight with vendors and gangs each coexisting in a very chaotic yet organized demeanor and there were nightly accounts of burglary of goods imported from other towns.
My eyes darted back and forth as the humans hustled to get their business done, my disguise was working well and they were none the smarter to what I was. Thirsty and terribly hungry I continued onward trying to avoid any kind of unwanted contact. Children darted between my legs and I suppressed a distasteful snarl and turned to head in the opposite direction. All of my life the city had been a place to call home yet something had torn inside of me when I watched the humans burn a wolf alive...the creature had wandered into the city hungry and tired. The humans who were all very afraid didn't waste any time when they called the nobles upon the animal and it was killed instantly.
I'm thankful for never having been found out yet even still I wonder when people cast wary stares on me. I look normal...I'm a tiny young girl no older than 17. My long crimson hair is always tied into messy buns at the side of my head and I'm always wearing the same thing. I have a ratty little dress that covers my thin body, the threadbare fabric driving me nuts at times. It's amusing that the humans and all of their intelligence can't see through this deception. It's mere illusion, a wolf can induce it and make the human see a normal being of their own nature but in reality I stand before them with my tail dropped low and my pale gray fur covering my true body. Blue eyes blazing forth watching their every movements and making sure my haunches are ready to carry me should I need to escape the scene.
With a tired grunt I walk past a small restaurant, the scents from within making my mouth water but I continue onwards. I have no money to waste here and nor the patience. I would much prefer to do my own hunting but it would sure make my disguise look awkward to be a human sitting in an alley way with a felled animal. Raw flesh hanging from my human lips. I cast a sideways glance down a darker alley and press my ears against my head nervous, something wasn't right...something felt astray here and I hurried past this place.
It wasn't too long after word when I heard the rumbling growl of another. I turned quickly, my human limbs freezing in place fearfully and pointlessly, the creature saw through my guise as I pressed my ears forward and met her growls. Her jet black fur was raised all along her spine and neck and her ivory fangs bared, she wasn't here to talk nicely and I raised my tail defensively. Her growls didn't cease as her human stalked out of the alley way and stared me down with a dark smile. His face was a well known one among the wolves, this was Quent...he was responsible for single handedly killing many of our kind and to him I was mere game. He would look upon my trembling human body with his hateful drunk eyes and raise the barrel of his gun with a grin as I struggled to watch both he and his faithful pet, Blue. Her eyes watched my tense body move ever so slightly and she lunged forward as I snarled and waited for the impact of her body.
I felt her teeth deep in my shoulder as I sank my own into the base of her neck drawing blood, the warm fluid running into my mouth I snarled and bit down harder matching the pressure she was using and pulling fiercely. She let go for only a split second before snapping down upon my snout as I yelped and lashed out lower on her paws and forelegs. I could feel her head slamming into me as I bit again harder and was slammed to the ground; she had gotten underneath me and thrown me aside. I lunged again and intertwined our motions trying not to give the human, Quent a clear shot at me and lashed out and spun Blue around in front of me. I was sure our snarls had already roused many from their peaceful evening and felt the eyes of others watching fearfully, intently waiting for me to falter. My instincts told me to rip her throat out and I would have providing I could reach it but she fought as though she had no more fear of dying and fought like the best of them. I was tiring quickly, mainly due to my lack in food, I hadn't eaten in days and my body was responding slowly as I felt her teeth close around my throat and in moments she wrestled my body to the ground. Her snarls could be felt and my heart was beating erratically as I struggled to watch for Quent, in no time he would put a bullet between my eyes.
I could hear the crunch of the snow beneath his feet and the cheers of the city people as he neared. The hammer of his gun was drawn back and I heard him rest it upon his shoulder taking aim as I struggled and snarled, barking and growling trying to fight the she dog off of me. She wouldn't rest...
My attention was called by the voices of others, my own kind as the scene was interrupted and for a moment I was able to pry myself away from Blue's jaws as I lashed my own into her hamstring and hurried to keep her from moving at me. A gunshot rang out as a painful sting ripped into my shoulder having already been wounded from Blue I fell away from Quent's dog and limped away. A darker gray wolf leapt over my struggling form and snarled as Quent hurried to finish the job. His fur was bristled angrily and he lunged for the man latching onto his wrist and crushing it in his jaws as he fell backward with a frightened yelp, cursing the whole way down. Blue was rolled aside as a larger white wolf rushed her and slammed his skull into her ribs sending her into the trash littering the alley. I watched as the white one's fierce yellow eyes surveyed the scene and he issued a sharp bark, the strange gray wolf released Quent as the hunter struggled for his gun and the others joined me.
Their eyes scanned me quickly and I growled some, not sure what to make of the situation. I heard their voices clearly as they argued. The gray one snarled and bared his teeth as his eyes fell on me again.
"Would you stop all the heroics?! She's as good as dead anyways! Taking her with us would slow us down!" he growled as the white wolf stared upon my injured body. Another gunshot rang out and splintered the boxes beside us as the gray wolf hurried disappearing into the shadows. The white wolf addressed me harshly his expression unwavering as his haunches were tense and ready to move.
"Get up now! I will help you as much as I can but don't you dare stop if you want to die in this city...your human disguise hiding the pride underneath." He growled as I stumbled to my feet and nodded. He was fast on four legs...and my own two were barely keeping up as the edge of town came into view. My breath was visible in the cold and my lungs hurt terribly as I clutched my chest and hurried, forcing myself on. We didn't stop running until I thought my heart was going to burst.
Ahead of us was a small clearing in the littered wasteland. Quent hadn't followed and I prayed he wouldn't soon be. My lungs ached and still the stranger led me. Night would soon be leaving and the moonlight was my only promise at a healthy recovery.
Moonlit Wanderers
With paradise still far off to the set of weary travelers, there was no doubt in their minds that on their journey they would have run ins with other wolves. They would cross paths with their own kind and there would be times when their own kind would seem worse than the humans hunting them, but they all stood strong and stood together. Time had woven their bitter spats into a sense of loyalty that no one would see with a mere glance, the pack's bond ran deep, an instinct that flowed through their warm blood as they moved with each evening. They would get by deceiving humans and making the best living they could for themselves. Kiba, Toboe, Tsume, and Hige...all wolves that would stick together until paradise was met. No one knew just when they would stumble upon the fabled land, lost...but each wolf knew deep down inside that there would be a day and there would be a place.
The day lit sky was fading quickly as the sun began to duck behind the horizon. The mountains would cast great shadows over the valleys nestled beside them and the waste land would become littered with creatures of the night moving out to fill their empty stomachs. Most existing animals now feared walking out in daylight, hunters and pushy humans had left their scars on the earth by wiping many species away. Wolves were perhaps the most feared and hunted of all creatures. The legends stated that the last wolf was seen over 200 years prior but this was all legend. There still existed a small harmony that hid before the human's eyes, the humans never truly becoming wary. Few hunters still insisted that wolves existed but they were in a class their own as many people found their rambling repulsive and the result of too much alcohol the night before. Sightings were regarded as mere illusion, light and shadow, yet the common people were never the wiser in most situations.
The city was small and over crowded and people went about their business trying to make a living for them selves. The streets were lined from daybreak until midnight with vendors and gangs each coexisting in a very chaotic yet organized demeanor and there were nightly accounts of burglary of goods imported from other towns.
My eyes darted back and forth as the humans hustled to get their business done, my disguise was working well and they were none the smarter to what I was. Thirsty and terribly hungry I continued onward trying to avoid any kind of unwanted contact. Children darted between my legs and I suppressed a distasteful snarl and turned to head in the opposite direction. All of my life the city had been a place to call home yet something had torn inside of me when I watched the humans burn a wolf alive...the creature had wandered into the city hungry and tired. The humans who were all very afraid didn't waste any time when they called the nobles upon the animal and it was killed instantly.
I'm thankful for never having been found out yet even still I wonder when people cast wary stares on me. I look normal...I'm a tiny young girl no older than 17. My long crimson hair is always tied into messy buns at the side of my head and I'm always wearing the same thing. I have a ratty little dress that covers my thin body, the threadbare fabric driving me nuts at times. It's amusing that the humans and all of their intelligence can't see through this deception. It's mere illusion, a wolf can induce it and make the human see a normal being of their own nature but in reality I stand before them with my tail dropped low and my pale gray fur covering my true body. Blue eyes blazing forth watching their every movements and making sure my haunches are ready to carry me should I need to escape the scene.
With a tired grunt I walk past a small restaurant, the scents from within making my mouth water but I continue onwards. I have no money to waste here and nor the patience. I would much prefer to do my own hunting but it would sure make my disguise look awkward to be a human sitting in an alley way with a felled animal. Raw flesh hanging from my human lips. I cast a sideways glance down a darker alley and press my ears against my head nervous, something wasn't right...something felt astray here and I hurried past this place.
It wasn't too long after word when I heard the rumbling growl of another. I turned quickly, my human limbs freezing in place fearfully and pointlessly, the creature saw through my guise as I pressed my ears forward and met her growls. Her jet black fur was raised all along her spine and neck and her ivory fangs bared, she wasn't here to talk nicely and I raised my tail defensively. Her growls didn't cease as her human stalked out of the alley way and stared me down with a dark smile. His face was a well known one among the wolves, this was Quent...he was responsible for single handedly killing many of our kind and to him I was mere game. He would look upon my trembling human body with his hateful drunk eyes and raise the barrel of his gun with a grin as I struggled to watch both he and his faithful pet, Blue. Her eyes watched my tense body move ever so slightly and she lunged forward as I snarled and waited for the impact of her body.
I felt her teeth deep in my shoulder as I sank my own into the base of her neck drawing blood, the warm fluid running into my mouth I snarled and bit down harder matching the pressure she was using and pulling fiercely. She let go for only a split second before snapping down upon my snout as I yelped and lashed out lower on her paws and forelegs. I could feel her head slamming into me as I bit again harder and was slammed to the ground; she had gotten underneath me and thrown me aside. I lunged again and intertwined our motions trying not to give the human, Quent a clear shot at me and lashed out and spun Blue around in front of me. I was sure our snarls had already roused many from their peaceful evening and felt the eyes of others watching fearfully, intently waiting for me to falter. My instincts told me to rip her throat out and I would have providing I could reach it but she fought as though she had no more fear of dying and fought like the best of them. I was tiring quickly, mainly due to my lack in food, I hadn't eaten in days and my body was responding slowly as I felt her teeth close around my throat and in moments she wrestled my body to the ground. Her snarls could be felt and my heart was beating erratically as I struggled to watch for Quent, in no time he would put a bullet between my eyes.
I could hear the crunch of the snow beneath his feet and the cheers of the city people as he neared. The hammer of his gun was drawn back and I heard him rest it upon his shoulder taking aim as I struggled and snarled, barking and growling trying to fight the she dog off of me. She wouldn't rest...
My attention was called by the voices of others, my own kind as the scene was interrupted and for a moment I was able to pry myself away from Blue's jaws as I lashed my own into her hamstring and hurried to keep her from moving at me. A gunshot rang out as a painful sting ripped into my shoulder having already been wounded from Blue I fell away from Quent's dog and limped away. A darker gray wolf leapt over my struggling form and snarled as Quent hurried to finish the job. His fur was bristled angrily and he lunged for the man latching onto his wrist and crushing it in his jaws as he fell backward with a frightened yelp, cursing the whole way down. Blue was rolled aside as a larger white wolf rushed her and slammed his skull into her ribs sending her into the trash littering the alley. I watched as the white one's fierce yellow eyes surveyed the scene and he issued a sharp bark, the strange gray wolf released Quent as the hunter struggled for his gun and the others joined me.
Their eyes scanned me quickly and I growled some, not sure what to make of the situation. I heard their voices clearly as they argued. The gray one snarled and bared his teeth as his eyes fell on me again.
"Would you stop all the heroics?! She's as good as dead anyways! Taking her with us would slow us down!" he growled as the white wolf stared upon my injured body. Another gunshot rang out and splintered the boxes beside us as the gray wolf hurried disappearing into the shadows. The white wolf addressed me harshly his expression unwavering as his haunches were tense and ready to move.
"Get up now! I will help you as much as I can but don't you dare stop if you want to die in this city...your human disguise hiding the pride underneath." He growled as I stumbled to my feet and nodded. He was fast on four legs...and my own two were barely keeping up as the edge of town came into view. My breath was visible in the cold and my lungs hurt terribly as I clutched my chest and hurried, forcing myself on. We didn't stop running until I thought my heart was going to burst.
Ahead of us was a small clearing in the littered wasteland. Quent hadn't followed and I prayed he wouldn't soon be. My lungs ached and still the stranger led me. Night would soon be leaving and the moonlight was my only promise at a healthy recovery.