Hello again! Thank you for reading my story. And now it's disclaimer time!!

Kaori: Unfortunately, we don't own Wolf's Rain. We tried to buy Kiba on eBay, but it turned out to just be a stuffed animal. Damn.

"Paradise?" Toboe asked. "We're going to Paradise, too!"

"Are you really?" Artemis looked up. She staggered again and Hige caught her. "Could we come with you?" she looked deep into Hige's amber-brown eyes, appealing to him.

How could I say no to those eyes? Hige wondered. "Of course you can," he said, smiling broadly.

Tsume cleared his throat. "Who died and made you the leader?"

"I've told you, we don't have a leader," Kiba said. "This isn't that kind of pack."

"Well, what kind of pack is it?" Athena shot at him. "Sorry excuse for one, if you ask me."

"Well, nobody asked you," Tsume said.

"Don't you talk like that to me, Scar," she said.

"Yeah, well- " he started, but he was stopped by her eyes. A deep, intense blue, both cold and warm at the same time, both calm and crazed. His heart skipped a beat.

Athena winced. She lay down and began licking a cut on her front leg. Tsume watched her very carefully, in case she were struck with the urge to tackle him again. After their scuffle earlier, he figured that she was at least as strong as he was, if not stronger, and he was sure that if she were given the element of surprise she could beat him in a fight.

He had never before met a girl as strong as he was, he realized.

As they walked through the forest, Tsume was careful not to have Athena at his back. But at the same time, Athena seemed as if she were avoiding having Tsume at her back. As a result, they ended up walking abreast, shooting dark looks at each other. Hige and Artemis seemed to be playing some kind of bizarre game of 'accidentally' rubbing up against each other. Tsume looked at them in disgust, and saw Athena doing the same. He accidentally caught her eye again and his heart fluttered. She looked away quickly.

What was that? Tsume wondered. Was he sick?

Athena suddenly burst into peals of loud laughter. Tsume jumped and stared at her. She was rolling on the ground, laughing like a hyena.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Tsume asked furiously.

Artemis grimaced. "Yeah, she does that sometimes," she said. "Just don't pay attention to her. She'll catch up."

Tsume was not about to let the madwoman have his back. He waited for her to recover. Gradually, she calmed down and sat up. Tsume offered her a hand. She hesitated, then took it. She didn't give it back. Tsume didn't ask for it. They walked together until they could see the others ahead of them. Tsume jerked away. She didn't seem hurt or ask why. Tsume glanced at her, and their eyes met. She didn't want to be seen touching him, either.

"This doesn't mean I trust you," Tsume growled as they joined the rest of the pack.

"Ditto," she said.

Athena turned out to have a lot of strange habits. For one, there were the fits of laughter. Then, there were times when she just froze and wouldn't move. Randomly, she would lunge at plants, or at nothing at all, and attack them, as if she thought she were tearing it to pieces.

Tsume couldn't take his eyes off her. He was fascinated with her. He didn't know what was happening to him, but he kept getting the urge to touch her, to rub up against her, to do (he grudgingly acknowledged) what Artemis and Hige had been doing. But he resisted, his fear of humiliation overriding his instincts.

That night, as the others lay sleeping under the silver moon, Athena and Tsume both lay awake, watching shapeless shadows shifting, drifting across the forest floor as the trees swayed in the breeze. They didn't look at each other. Then, Athena spoke.

"Claws, yes?"

"What?"

"Tsume. Claws, yes? It means 'claws'?"

"Oh. Yeah."

Tsume stared up at the starry sky. He wasn't sure why his heart was beginning to beat faster. He looked over at Athena. Her deep blue eyes looked into the sky. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" Tsume asked, rising.

"Nothing." Her messy curls sprawled out on the ground, spilling out of the ponytail on the top of her head. He wished that they were real, that he could stroke them, comfort her.

She was beautiful.

She was a beautiful wolf, and she would have made a beautiful human. Blue eyes, red-brown hair, smooth, pale skin. Tears glistened on her face, reflecting the starlight.

"There must be something wrong, or you wouldn't be crying."

Without warning, she pounced on him, pinning him down. "I'm not crying. And since when are you so sensitive?"

He struggled, but couldn't throw her off. He cursed himself for dropping his guard. His heart was pounding, but not from struggling. She was so close that her breath tickled his face. She looked him directly in the eyes for a moment, and then rolled off of him, lying back down on her back and staring up at the moon.

"Athena was the goddess of wisdom," Athena said.

"Oh, really?"

She was crying again. "Artemis was the goddess of the moon and the hunt." She turned to look at her sister. "Some goddess of wisdom I am." She looked around at the other wolves. "Fang. Claw. Howl. Whisker. Am I the only one who can't live up to her name?"

He suddenly realized that Athena wasn't crazy at all.

Just... sad.

But why?

That, he didn't know.

Thank you for reading chapter 2!! Please review. I know it was a bit short, but I've got a bit of writer's block.

Kaori: Thank you! Oh, and much thanks to charice, goldsilver-dragoness, and DevilLady666 for being the first to review this fic. You win. But, by the way, Athena is in fact the goddess of wisdom, and Ares is the god of war.

If any of you are interested, please read and review my Harry Potter fic. Nobody's reviewed it yet and it's depressing. Come back for chapter 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!