Chapter Three

The First Crescent Moon:

Kinonai

The two traveled along the fresh snow, both feeling the cold wind against their fur. Ahead of them there was only more snow, and behind them a life of troubles left behind. They would never look back again, just as promised.

The great pup of a wolf sat down at the edge of a cliff. The bright golden orbs full of glimmer and beautifully glittering in the day light. Her eyes pointed up at the clouds, the grey fur blowing in the winds. She felt a warm tongue lick the side of her face, looking up she saw her father. A great black wolf with huge gold eyes and white fangs that looked like pearls stood in front of her.

"Father..." she grinned at him.

"Kinonai, do you remember what I told you your name meant?" The two sat looking up at the horizon, nothing really being said between them. Kino looked over at him, a smile pressed on her face.

"I never understood why you gave me the name that meant "dispirited" but I won't complain." The young pup sat with her for legs in front of her and her bottom pressing the ground.

The old wolf stared at his daughter in approval of her words. She was wise beyond her years and would make a wonderful leader...she would also become the alpha female and practically control the pack. "I gave you that name because of the hardships you will face soon. Promise me something Kinonai, no matter what happens, you will always look ahead and never behind you. You will always remember that there is always something better ahead of you, and never behind you." The wolf grinned at his daughter, who grinned back.

"Okay father, I will always remember that there is always something better ahead of me rather than behind me."

The two wolves had stopped in a cave to rest for a while. There they found shelter from the harsh, blistering winds and warmth, very little, but more warmth than outside had provided them. Kai looked over at the grey wolf and sighed, the wolf seemed in intense thought. Though she didn't want to disturb her, she did wish to know what she was thinking. It was just to damn quiet.

"What're you thinking about?" Kai's voice shattered the thick silence and caused Kino to jump.

After recovering from her scare she gave a shuttered laugh. "Well, I was thinking about what I'd promised my dad before he died, about how I would never look back. Kai...do you still want to know what happened to my brother? After all, we've been on the road for a while...its only natural to learn more about each other...right?" Kino smiled up at her friend who only gave a solemn nod.

"Yeah, sure." The white albino's ears perked as her friend began to tell her about how her brother was killed.

"Along time ago my pack was really big, it was great. We never really fought and no one ever really cared that much. We would hunt and–" her voice began to fade into her memories.

The same young, grey wolf sat at the edge of the same cliff from her earlier memory. A grin was broad on her face, a smile no one but she could possibly place on her own face. The sun was setting, and in the morning there would be yet another day. Before day break there would be a hunt, and the adults would bring back food to them. That was always how it was, and that was how she wanted to keep it.

"Kinonai!" Her father's voice yelled for her. It seemed rushed and horribly worried. He ran from where the pack had sat down in the forest to where she sat now. Instead of sitting down beside her he picked her up by the back of her neck and carried her. The others followed suit. Something was horribly wrong.

That smell! It's the smell of those other wolves! She looked over, seeing her younger brother being carried in her mother's mouth. His leg was ripped open, meat and fur just simply hanging off of the bone. It was the smell of blood that drove her insane with craze, just like the smell of those flowers. She shook herself free of her father's grasp, when she hit the ground she didn't tumble or fall, but landed distinctly upon all fours. Those gentle golden eyes were now flickering with despise and hatred. There were four larger wolves trailing behind them, three of the wolves continued running past her to find the others and obviously kill them, but one stopped. A huge brown wolf growled fiercely.

"Go on! Go on and join them little girl. You'll die an easier death that way," he spoke in a deluded tone of voice, as if he'd simply snapped. Around his brown face there was blood, he was the one that had hurt her little brother! He'd done it! Her eyes burned brighter with that hate, and she ran forward, he did the same. They flew at each other, both biting the other, but Kino's razor sharp teeth grasped his fur harder than he could grasp her's. He fell and blood stained her mouth. Blood also stained her fur from when he'd grasped her, that would make the long scar she would bare in the near future. This would be her first scar from her first fight.

She followed the scent of the others, but only to find that they all lied dead except for the females. Each of them had been rounded up and the males killed. It only took moments for the three wolves to over power the young pup. Just as they did she told them that their leader was dead, that she killed him. They backed off, their tails between their legs.

"And for a while I ruled over them, I was the queen of everything...but after mother died I decided to leave. Besides, I wasn't a very good leader. I was to young and everyone knew it, so I appointed a much older and wiser male wolf named Zair to be the leader. He easily took over and I said my good byes, cut my ties...and ended up in that city. Then I found you...or rather you found me. I loved playing leader, but for some reason on that first crescent moon I felt it was my time to go, that they would find a better place to live and Zair would lead them onto that place. He did tell me one other thing before I left, "Never quit your search for Rakuen...never stop searching for our Paradise." That was the last thing anyone said after I left."

She looked over at Kai who sat with her eyes closed, the thoughts of how her friend had ended up with her tinkled around loosely in her mind. Then finally she opened her razor sharp red eyes and replied, "Then when we find Blue...we search for Paradise."

Kino shook her head, her body also shaking hard with laughter. The long silver hair slid over her eyes as she looked over to Kai, "But Kai...we're already searching for Paradise, this entire trip was based on our desire for Paradise, our desire to find Rakuen." Kai blinked in confusion to this statement. "Look, the entire time we've been searching for Blue we've also been following this scent, this scent that takes us to the ends of the world and back."

The white wolf looked at her, blinking slightly still but realizing exactly what her friend had said, she was right. This entire search for Blue was not just based on her scent, but that scent that also belonged with Blue's. Kai got up and stretched, looking over to where her friend stood up.

"So, are you ready to go now?" Kai's voice was an inviting sound for Kinonai, who nodded in approval.

"Lead the way Kai."