Chapter One

New Moons and New Beasts

A whimpering noise could be heard on the side of the road. At a street corner a girl sat huddled under a small shawl, her breath apparent in the cold winter night. As she looked up she saw a young girl looking down at her. The girl held a pair of ruby red eyes and velvet looking hair, almost like the night but without the stars twinkling. For a moment she blinked, unsure of what this girl wanted with her.

"Who are you?" She asked the girl standing above her.

"My name is Kai, and you're coming with me. We're alike in more than one way. I'm searching for someone, my sister. Maybe you know her, her name is Blue." The mysterious young girl looked down at her. Her eyes serious and unblinking.

The other girl shook her head. "I haven't heard of one by such a name," she stood, brushing herself off, "but as long as we're doing introductions...my name is Kinonai, you can call me Kino though." She reached her hand out, meaning a friendly hand shake. The other kept her hands in her pockets with a curious look on her face.

"Look, the only reason I'm picking your happy ass up is because you're the only one around here like me...besides you look like maybe you might have some food on you." She scratched the side of her face and flushed red in a little embarrassment. Her ruby red eyes turning to the ground, unable to look her new companion in the face.

"I see, you don't often ask for assistance, do you?" The other smile in self confidence. Kino shoved her pail hand into her pocket, pulling out a piece of meat. "It's not much, but you can have it. I was going to save it for later...but I've had my fill, so go on." She tossed the meat to Kai and gave a grin. "So, where are we going?"

Kai ate the meat ravenously then licked her fingers when she was done. Her eyes turned upward to the other girl and with a grin she replied. "Where ever I hear my sis is." The ruby red eyes twinkled lightly in the midnight lights of the barren city. No one was awake...it almost seemed as if they'd all planned to be dead on this very night.

The eight pairs of legs scampered across the pavement as they ran, men following close behind them, guns in hand. One wolf was a white color, the other a lovely ash grey. The albino wolf wore a spiked color and the other was free of any flaws or assets, for the exception of a painful looking scar running down the spine of her back. Both wolves carried the exact same body type: thin, boney, and sleek. They were like dolphins in the sea of the night, only seen by the shimmer of the light on their fur.

"You just had to pick a fight!" The grey wolf that held Kino's voice yelled to the white wolf.

"He started it! If they go after anyone it should've been him. It's his own damn fault for calling me a dirty skank!" They rounded the corner and quickly transformed into their human forms. The two sat by the walls, holding their breaths. The soldiers ran into the alleyway and stared at the girls.

"Look, didja happen ta see two wol– I mean rather large dogs go by here?" One of the soldiers asked the girls.

The two exchanged curious looks then Kino turned, almost sensing Kai's inability to lie. "No sir! We haven't seen one dogs pass by here at all. Did they hurt someone? They didn't bite anyone did they?!" Kino easily mocked Kai with the remark and received a death glare from her. "I'm sorry, its just that my younger brother was killed by some dogs...so I have a constant fear of them."

"No, no! It's all right. We'll catch them don't you worry miss!" The soldiers continued down the alleyway, when finally they disappeared into the darkness Kino let out a sigh. She slid down the wall until she sat with her knees touching her face. The wolf shook in the horridly, icy cold night.

"Geez, you didn't have to go as far as saying you had a younger brother that was killed by dogs. It was already dramatic enough." Kai scratched the back of her head.

"Who said I was lying?" She looked over at Kai, her eyes as gentle as always. "I did have a little brother...and he was killed by wolves..." There was a pause between the two of them.

Kai blinked slightly. "I'd say I was sorry and all, but that's just not how I am. So...you know...um...how was he killed? You don't...have to say if you don't want to..." The older female sat down beside her. From her pocket she pulled out some form of meat, it wasn't large but Kai split it in half anyway. To Kino she gave the smaller piece, which she didn't mind. Food was food, no matter what kind or how big the piece.

"I'd rather not tonight. After all we just met and already you're getting me into trouble." She laughed, "I guess that's just like you, huh?"

Before Kai could put the meat in her mouth, she stopped. "I was always gettin' into some form of trouble when I was younger. Not like I meant to, I just sorta fell into it I guess. Blue...she'd always been there for me...but he took her away. That man with a face of steal and his family...they stole her from me." She took a bite out of the meat and chewed it thoughtfully. Her eyes burning with an inferno.

"Maybe...they didn't mean to...they didn't know she had a sister..." Kino took a bite of her meet and chewed thoughtfully as well. Though instead of anger in her eyes, there was a form of pacifism. "Maybe if they'd known that you were also there, they'd have taken you in as well." A smile crawled up her face.

"Yeah, maybe. But I can't shake this feeling that I'm close to her. I'm real close. Tomorrow we set out for the next city, got it?" Kino nodded slightly, then curled up in the cold and went to sleep.

"Hey, Kai?'

"Hmm?"

"What're you going to do if we find another wolf?"

"If they don't have a pack...take them with me..."

"Why? Why do you look for lonesome wolves?"

"Because...there are to many of them...don't you agree?"

Kino looked down at the ground, she felt something cold on her cheek. Her eyes blinked up as she saw snow starting to fall. "Yeah...I agree..."

The snow...it reminds me of a blanket. A cold blanket that forms just for me in the winter time. I wish...I wish I was so much older than I am now so that I could have helped him back then. But...I couldn't...and mom always told me not to blame myself...after all...it wasn't my fault. I can't help but miss him though...and that night he died. That night those wolves killed him and my father...and took my mother and I away...the snow was a crimson color with their blood. An ugly color of red that...that's stained into my memory like their blood stained the white snow. That satin snow stained by the sins of those wolves...stained by the sins of my father and brother.

She pulled herself tighter into a ball. Sleeping in a dark alleyway wasn't exactly first class...but if felt better with someone else there. A smile creased onto her face. It's a new moon tonight...its another gentle sky without the great big blue moon to light it up. I wonder...if that means...it'll be bad luck on our mission to find her. To find this girl named Blue.