Chapter Four

The Crow's Black Call

The two wolves entered the city, looking around for something to eat, or some place to sleep for the night. Again the place was as dead as the last dome they'd been in, the same dome where the two had first met.

A boy looked at them curiously, his eyes wide with an expression of awe. "You two..." they both looked up at him Kino's eyes curious and Kai's eyes blank. "You're wolves aren't you?" The two exchanged confused expressions then looked back at the guy.

"No, we're not wolves..." Kai responded with a cold voice.

"You can't lie to me...and what's more I won't hurt you...I like wolves..." on his shoulder sat a large crow that cawed, the night shivering with its call of horrid noise. "Come with me. I have a place for you to stay."

"I don't–"

Kai smiled and walked to where he stood, sniffing him over. He put his hand on her head and scratched behind her ears, she only whimpered in response.

"Well, if you think its okay, fine." Kino gave a huffy response.

The three walked in silence until they reached a spot to sit in an alleyway. Kai looked over to him, sparking a conversation at last, "So, why exactly do you like wolves?"

"The old man that took care of me was a wolf. This city is a sort of refuge for wolves, they sleep in this old dump, but wish. You'd never guess how many I see. Many of the people that come in here are wounded...but the wolves talk of a place called Rakuen and as soon as they set foot in this place you can blink and they'll be gone." He looked up to Kai, then spoke in a light tone, "There was a blue wolf that reminds me a lot of you...she left here two nights ago."

"A blue wolf?! Who was she traveling with?!"

He blinked in surprise to her questions, then laughed, "Calm down, she was traveling with a pack of guys and a lovely lady that smelled like flowers." The crow fluttered down into his lap where he petted it gently. "There was a little runt named Toboe, and a huge silver one named Tsume...let's see..." he paused for a moment, then snapped his fingers, "Oh and there was a brown one named Hige, and a big white one name Kiba. They all seemed to be protecting the flower lady." He smiled at the others.

"Wait...only wolves can smell lunar flowers..." Kino looked at him closely and found that he indeed was a wolf himself. He smiled innocently at the two.

"Well, you can never be to careful with your barriers and bonds, eh?" He stood up again, sticking out his hand, "My name is Luciean." He gave a large grin to the other wolves. Kinonai shook hands with him then blinked slightly. "What?"

"I don't understand, if we're wolves, then why did you hide yourself? It's not like we could turn you in...is it?" She looked at Kai for recognition, unfortunately she didn't have a clue either.

"Actually, you could. Lately there have been rumors of a wolf with a collar that works under the Noble Lady Jagara. Some of the wolves here thought it might have been the one that was traveling with Blue, Hige," sadly he shook his head then continued, "no one knows though, and he doesn't remember anything about his past...so we didn't do anything."

That was the second time the name Hige rang in Kino's mind. For some reason that name made shivers crawl up and down her back, like she'd met him before. "This Hige...you met him, right?"

"Yeah, really nice wolf, kinda fat though. I liked him enough. Though I did feel really weird around him, especially after I heard that rumor. You can never be to careful." Luciean looked up at Kino who was concentrating hard on the ground.

"Leave her alone. She needs some time to think to herself," Kai was speaking to Luciean without even taking a glance at Kino, "at any rate, I'm starving. Got any food?"

"No, I have to salvage what I can from either the trash or what I can steal from the humans without their noticing."

"Then I say we go hunting for something to steal. We'll be back Kino. Be careful while we're gone." Kino merely nodded in response to her friend's concern.

As the two walked along there was little, if any conversation between them. Kai didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, but Luciean felt the obligation to at least try.

"So, I caught Kino's name, but I never caught your's." He gave a smile to her as she looked over curiously at him.

"It's Kai...any other questions?"

The other wolf just laughed at the comment as though it was a joke. "Well, I was going to ask about your past, that is, if you don't mind telling me..."

"I do..." was her only response; the conversation shut with that last line. Kai lifted her nose into the air and sniffed, smelling that sweet smell of fresh meat. She licked her lips and began to walk in a different direction.

"You smell it too? Smells like beef." Luciean turned to his new friend and smiled happily, they'd found meat.

"Yeah, smells good." At first she was walking, and then she began to run. Her eyes wide and happily grinning at the thought of food. Suddenly she stopped, her eyes wide and the glee gone from them. There stood the man that had shot at Kino, the man in the trench coat. The same man that had stolen her sister from her, stolen Blue away.

As Quint turned his eyes filled with the sight of the two. A wolf and a boy...no two wolves stood in front of him. It was like the first time he'd seen that pup, he was drunk from the over use of Vodka. Drunk from losing his dearest Blue and drunk from the horrors that the wolves had brought upon him. For a moment he just stood there and stared at the two, as if they were ghosts from the past. Then, from his trench coat he drew his shotgun, growling.

"DIE YOU PATHETIC WASTE OF SCUM! DIE YOU BEASTS!" He yelled, a single shot could be heard throughout the city.

To the side Kai had carefully moved, then she ran down the street followed by her friend, who now appeared in his wolf form as well.

Luciean was a sleek and slender pure black wolf. His head was huge, following a massive body of muscle and fur. Though his body large he trailed behind Kai like he was as small as she. On his shoulder sat the crow that never spoke an objection to the pair's flee.

As they ran Kai swore she heard another shot had rang out behind them, and she wasn't sure if it had hit Luciean, so she turned and saw the other wolf fly by her. As soon as he passed her, he turned to see what she'd stopped for. There he saw her, fur raised and tail high in the air, but to the man she was just a girl.

"You! You're the man that stole my sister from me! You're the man that stole her!" She accused Quint. He stopped for a moment and stared at her, blinking ever so slightly. He had no idea what she was talking about, but after a moment he realized that she was a wolf and pulled his shotgun up, pointing it directly at her.

"Look wolf, I have no clue what you're talkin' about. But I suggest you run, or you're gonna die tonight." He shot at her yet again, missing because of bad aim. Kai wasted no time and ran forward, tackling him to the ground.

"You stole Blue! You took her and made her part of your family, leaving me in the cold with no hope of survival! You stole my sister!" She growled, then reached down, stretching her jaws. In the exctasy of the moment she was going to kill him for taking away Blue, kill him for causing her misery. Once again, however, Kino stopped her.

From the shadows came the tapping of claws, it happened in a matter of seconds. The ash-colored wolf jumped and hit the albino to the ground, then stood above her. A grueling growl came out from under her breath telling Kai to stop. Every time the wolf below her struggled she put more pressure on her stomach, making the albino howl in pain.

Luciean watched, but did nothing to interrupt. His policy was that if it was between a pack and it wasn't his pack, it stayed that way without his ever getting involved. The wolves continued their struggle as Quint became able to stand. For a moment Quint as well stared, then lifted up the heavy shotgun. The sleek black wolf took one look and placed quick action. He tackled Quint to the ground, knocking the old man out.

"Look you two, quit fighting and lets get out of here now! Before this guy wakes up and sees you two like that!" The two stood, Kai hovering on the question of killing him still...but Kino had made it quite clear that she disagreed. So she took up pace, following behind.

The three stopped outside of the city gates, looking up Kino saw a full moon out. "We can rest out here–" before she could finish Kai had knocked her to the ground.

"YOU IDIOT! THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU STOPPED ME FROM DOING THAT! WHY?! WHY DID YOU STOP ME!?" For a moment there was a lingering silence, then finally Kino spoke why she'd done what she'd done.

"Because, killing him...killing him would have stained you more than you should be stained. Because, you don't deserve that and..." she stopped, not finishing the statement.

There was no reason to, as Kai backed off of her. She spread out on the ground and inhaled the extremely cold air a few times. Then she turned her head to Kino and responded, "If you ever try to stop me again...I'm not responsible for the outcome, got it?"

A shuddering laugh raised from Kino's voice, startling both Kai and Luciean. "If that's so...then I'll willingly die to keep you from killing a human. They're not worth it...after all they kill their own kind..."

"But didn't you?" Kai gave a snappy response and Kino yet again laughed.

"Yes, but that was for the pride of my pack, for the pride of my father and brother. I didn't kill that wolf just because he'd stolen my brother...I killed him because he'd stolen my brother's life...he'd stolen his existence." With a smile she turned to Luciean.

"I meant to ask you before, what are you doing out here...in a dump like this?"

The black wolf's head rose up, his ears perked to the question. The it was lowered as he studied to full moon, hoping to find some form of a response from it. "I came here because..." he began but couldn't find the words, "I came here because I wanted to find out what it was like to finally die. Because everyone I ever knew died when I was little. I'd lost everything and yet gained something..." the black crows call did not ring out any longer.

"That crow...what happened to it?" Kino looked at the other's, Kai looked up to Luciean for an answer.

"He's free now. I let him free after we'd met with that old man. He wanted to stay with me...but I told him to go." There was a silence between the group, and the last words uttered were from Luciean, "I wonder what it's like to be free after following someone around for that long..."