I am SO sorry that this chapter took so long to come out! Sorry that I made Kiba slightly OOC, but, I guess it needed to be done! I appreciate all of your reviews, thanks again. Also, this is short, so, sorry again! shadow
Oh! And I don't own Kiba. Only Kaida.
Chapter 3 – The Howl of the Mad Wolf"Would you get OFF of me!?!" Kiba said gruffly. They had left from the hollow tree when the snow started to block the entrance. Kaida was having problems keeping up with Kiba's fast pace, so, she was clinging onto his arm; little legs dragging behind her in the snow. "Not until you slow down!" she stated. "I have a question for you, though." Kiba sighed, annoyed by the little girl. "What is it?" He stopped suddenly, sending the little girl flying into the snow. Kaida climbed out, soaked to the bone and gagging on snow in her mouth. "WHY THE HECK DID YOU STOP!" she screeched. Kiba wasn't listening though. His head was cocked towards the sky, and it looked almost as if he was sniffing the air. She heard him mutter something under his breath. Kaida shuffled over him. "What is it, Kiba?" Kaida looked at his face. It was disgusted; pained. "I smell..." he said, barely over a whisper. "Death." The girl's face went pale. Then, in an explosion of white powder, a large, white wolf disappeared in the distance. "Kiba!" she called out to the emptiness. "KIBA WAIT! KIBA!" She stumbled through the snow, following the paw prints he left behind.
::Kiba's POV::
That smell, that horrible, horrible stench of death, it fills my nostrils. Wait, I hear something. It's a dog howling...no...a wolf. It's haunting...almost horrifying. I shake the sound from my head. The smell is getting stronger now, the smell of dead wolves. It's so overwhelming I can barely take it. That and the howling; the sad, depressing howls of a lone wolf gone mad. I hear myself howling along with them. The air is becoming filled with howls...echoing through the trees...carrying on for miles at a time. My legs keep pumping...going faster and faster still, even though my body...my mind...tells me I'm exhausted. It doesn't matter. I have to make it there...have to lay the dead to rest. I don't know what is compelling me; I just know that it needs to be done...
::end::
The howls echoed through the forest that Kaida was now completely lost in. "Kiba..." she murmured, now completely unable to find the wolf's tracks. She was walking for hours now, and had given up on finding Kiba, but was now lost all over again. "Deja-vu..."she said to no one. "I'm lost all freakin' over again!" She collapsed in defeat on the snow covered ground. The snow wasn't nearly as deep under all those trees, but it was still impossible to see, so she was stumbling over the rocks and roots and braches, which left her legs scratched and bloody. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes and things behind her. Kaida hopped nervously to her feet. The rustling just got louder and louder and Kaida was getting more and more frightened. "K-Kiba?" she whispered to the thing coming up behind her. That's when Kaida saw them. Horrible, blood red eyes were glaring at her through the bushes. Kaida was rooted to the spot in fear. "N-n-not K- Kiba!" she whimpered. The eyes turned into the head, then body, of a large, sand colored wolf. "W-wolf!" she stammered. Kaida started to back away, but it soon turned into a flat out run. She stumbled through the bramble and rocks, running as fast as she could. Night seemed to come fast under the trees, because though it was only mid-afternoon, it was as dark as midnight. "I can outrun it." she thought, urging herself on. Without warning, she was yanked to the ground. A sharp pain shot from her leg as the wolf dragged her down. She started kicking it repeatedly with her good leg until the wolf let go, and, instead of grabbing her foot, like it had anticipated, all it got was her shoe, as Kaida hobbled away once again. 'There's a clearing up ahead...' she thought with mixed emotions. Normally she'd be overjoyed to see the clearing. It meant sunlight and a possible nearby village. But, in a clearing, it would have a much better view of her. She cursed her stupidity for once again following after Kiba. Both times it got her into trouble. The wolf let out a howl that would make anyone's hair stand on end. It took off at full speed towards Kaida, and knocked her back to the ground.