Conversation was minimal as Yuri and Kiba walked side by side. Yuri glanced at her watch. Damn, she thought. They'd gotten a late start; although her house wasn't too far from the city, it was no short walking distance. With any luck, they'd arrive in the city by mid-afternoon. She sighed and looked ahead.

All the while, Kiba had been watching Yuri from the corner of his eye, with more than just idle curiosity. This girl was something of an enigma to him. Having found the house empty but for the two of them in the morning, Kiba's suspicion had been justified: the girl did indeed live alone. That seemed an odd position for someone her age—she looked about as old as Kiba himself, perhaps a year or two younger.Despite her age, herface carried an unfounded wisdom about it, yet her actions had been mostly imprudent, not wise.

She had saved him from certain death without a moment's hesitation. She had served and cared for him with the utmost kindness and concern—as if she had been caring for a relative or an old friend. But he wasn't either of those, neither friend, and surely not relative. Then why did she do it? He had nothing to offer her. And what's more, she knew nothing about him. Save for their conversation earlier, all she knew about him was his name and the fact that he was a wolf. That fact alone should have been enough for her to toss him right out her front door. He could have slain her in the middle of the night and the world would have been none-the-wiser. Yetshe showed no signs of fear or alarm—she seemed to know that he wouldn't.

Noticing Kiba's quizzical gaze, Yuri turned a knowing eye upon him. "Something bothering you?" she asked.

"No."

"Oh? That's not what your expression is telling me."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

"Why do you live alone out here?"

"I figured that'd be your question," Yuri answered, giving Kiba a sly smile.

"Does that mean you're going to answer me?" Kiba returned.

She nodded. "Well, I suppose my sentimentality has something to do with it."

"Sentimentality?" Kiba was a little confused by her response.

" Uh huh. My father had that house built for my family."

"Your father built a house all the way out here?"

"Yes, out here," Yuri answered defensively.

"Sorry, it just seems odd, especially when you have the city so close."

"It's OK, I suppose you're right. The location is odd. You see, we used to live in the city. And by we I mean my father, mother and myself. But it was awful there. It was dingy, dark, and dirty. Not to mention brimming with crooks and other such scum. What's worse, the constant fighting between the nobles made violence rampant. It's improved since then, but it used to be quite unbearable and no place to raise a little girl."

"To say the least."

"Yeah," Yuri chuckled. "So," she continued, "my father had the house built out here, away from all of that. Out here, my parents were free to raise me as safely and soundly as they wanted, where the only thing they feared was the sun. And the house is still close enough to the city for my father to have gone to work everyday without much sacrifice.

"Then, one day, my parents and I went to go visit my grandfather in the town of Curious. There was a raid, and lots of people died. I don't know how I survived, but my family wasn't so lucky," Yuri finished sadly. "Pretty ironic, huh? And here they were, trying to escape all that violence." Yuri chuckled uneasily. Kiba only stared at her face—they had stopped walking and now faced each other.

"I'm sorry," Kiba murmured softly.

"Why should you be? That all happenedyears ago, and after all, you're not the one that killed them. It was just…an accident," Yuri smiled, and then looked at the ground. Kiba continued to stare at her face. Although the house brought her painful memories, the thought of losing her only tie to her family was too much for her to bear. That is why she chose to remain alone in that house instead of moving to the city. He felt empathy for her. He knew exactly what it felt like to be alone—he too was the last survivor of his pack, and it pained him even more to know that he could do nothing to ease her sorrow.

Feeling Kiba's eyes upon her, Yuri turned and began to walk away, toward the city once again. Kiba remained where he stood for several seconds. Finally jerking himself back to reality, Kiba stuffed his hands in his pockets. As he turned to follow her, Yuri slowly wiped one lonely tear from her cheek, and stopped to await her companion.

The hustle and bustle of the city made for a welcome change from Kiba and Yuri's somewhat depressing walk there. Kiba felt the strong urge to run through the streets, calling out his friend's names, but Yuri restrained him.

"Listen, I know you want to go looking for your friends, and I'm not going to try to stop you. I need to buy a few things, but if you can give me a description of your friends, I'd like to help you look too," she said.

"No, I'll look for them myself, thanks," Kiba, replied.

"Alright then, meet me back here, at the city entrance, by sundown. That should give us enough time to get back home before dark, ok? Oh, and watch out for Jagura's men, they've been occupying this city for some time. Keep a low profile, although there doesn't seem to be any sign of them…" Yuri trailed on.

Kiba nodded absently and ran off into the crowd before Yuri could utter another word. As he ran through the streets, Kiba realized that he didn't exactly know where to begin his search. It was a large city; they could be anywhere. He stopped, breathless, and looked around him. Hige would definitely try to find food, so perhaps the first thing he should do is follow his nose. Yeah, look for food. That was the best plan of action. Once he found Hige, or any one of them for that matter, it was only a matter of time before he was reunited with the rest of them. With that, Kiba went on his way, sniffing the air.

In the meantime, Yuri was getting some important purchases made. She smiled and thanked the clerk before she left, "Thanks Jack, I'll pick them up a little later, OK?"

"That's fine Yuri, just make sure you're here before we close!" the clerk, Jack, called after her.

"I know, I know," she waved. As she stepped out, Yuri found her mind once again preoccupied. Kiba didn't seem to have been paying much attention to what she had been saying before they parted. "What if he didn't hear me when I told him what the meeting place was?" she wondered aloud. Great, now she'd have to wander the streets looking for him—it would be a miracle if they got home before dark.

Home.

Would Kiba really be returning home with her? She hadn'tactually considered the alternative. He would surely join his friends once he found them, and then what? She would go back to talking to herself, that's what. But what if he didn't find his friends? Would he stay with her then?

Ugh, no, not likely, she thought, a slight scowl coming to her face. He probably wouldn't want to stay with her—he would want to keep searching for his friends beyond the city's borders. The sudden thought of never seeing Kiba again was kind of a lonely prospect. She couldn't understand why she had been feeling so strangely lately—she hardly knew him! But there was no helping it.

Kiba's search wasn't shaping up too well. He had searched seemingly every restaurant, food stand, bar, and pub in the city: no luck. He had even gone so far as to ask shop owners and merchants if they had spotted any of his friends walking through the city.

Nothing.

Should I keep looking for them, try to track them down, wherever they may have run off to? he wondered. Well that was easy enough to answer: yes, of course! His first instinct was to leave instantly—grab hold of even a whisper of a familiar scent and follow it out of the city as far as he could—he would have to catch up with them sooner or later. But something compelled him stay a bit longer. Despite the urgency of his situation, Kiba did not want to leave Yuri so abruptly. He had to at least explain himself and say good-bye, after all the kindness she had shown him—he had to see her again. She had mentioned meeting him at the city's entrance, and there he would go.

Relief spread over Yuri's face as she spotted Kiba approaching her amidst a crowd. "I take it from your expression that you didn't find your friends?" Yuri asked hesitantly as Kiba joined her.

"No sign of them," he replied, sighing disappointedly. A sad expression overcame Yuri's face—feelings of loneliness had not stopped her from hoping that Kiba's search turned out for the best.

A breeze played through the air, rumpling Kiba's messy hair and whipping Yuri's hat off her head. "Oh!" she cried out, trying to snatch it out of the air. She ran after it, following her hat across the street, and into the hands of a tall burly man. A slightly shorter, gangly fellow accompanied him. The larger man had caught Yuri's hat, and smiled slyly at his companion, watching Yuri's approach.

"Is this yours?" The large man said, in mock kindness.

"Yes, thank you very much for catching it," Yuri replied nervously, reaching for her hat. She didn't like the way the larger man was looking at her, and the gangly man's sneering laughter only made matters worse.

"Uh, uh," the large man shook his head, thrusting the hat behind his back. "You have to thank me first."

"Yes, yes, I already did. Now will you please return my hat?" Yuri replied, trying to snatch it away from him.

"No, no, that's not a thank you, is it Lou?"

"Sure isn't Carl," replied the sneering gangly man, Lou.

"Should we show her how to say thank you?"

"I think we should," Lou answered, resuming his laughter.

Carl gave Yuri a malicious grin, grabbing her by the waist before she could run away. "Now let's have a little kiss," he said, holding Yuri tighter against her desperate struggles.

"Let her go," came a stern, menacing voice from behind them. It was Kiba, fists clenched.

"What, is this pretty little wench yours?" Carl teased; Lou's laughter had stopped.

"That's none of your business, now let her go," Kiba said, changing his stance.

Carl had been distracted by Kiba's arrival, and loosened his grip on Yuri. She had to seize this chance. Mustering up all her strength, Yuri extended her index and middle fingers and drove them right into Carl's eyes.

"You little bitch!" he cried out in pain, dropping Yuri roughly on the hard ground. She scurried toward Kiba as fast as she could, but not fast enough. Half blinded, Carl lunged at Yuri. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the onslaught. But it did not come.

Like lightening itself, Kiba had flown in front of Carl, before he could get to Yuri. Kiba ripped into his flesh with both his fangs and claws, splattering his face and hands with blood. He landed gracefully as Carl slumped lowly to the ground, blood oozing out from under him. Yuri opened her eyes to find Kiba standing before her, his back facing her. Just past him, she could see Carl's companion, Lou. His face had turned ghost-white, and he wore an expression of utter horror on his face.

"If you value your life, then you'd better run," Kiba growled at him. It was then that Yuri saw Carl's lifeless form, just inches from Kiba's feet. She gasped. At the same time, Lou ran frantically away with an almighty yelp.

Kiba wiped his mouth the back of his hand, giving Lou a contemptuous snort. "Damn, that fucker tasted awful," he spat. Yuri, still crouched on the ground, stared at him fearfully; the blood had drained from her face.

"You did this?" she asked him, pointing at Carl with a shaking hand.

Kiba stared at her apprehensively—he hadn't considered Yuri's reaction. This had to be the first time she had seen a wolf make a kill. It must have been twice as disturbing since Kiba was in his human form. But there was no helping it now. Carl lay dead on the ground, and Kiba's hands were covered with his blood. "Yes," he responded hoarsely.

Yuri clutched at the ground, her eyes shifting back and forth wildly. This was the worst thing that could possibly have happened. But she knew what she had to do. Suddenly jumping to her feet, Yuri grabbed Kiba's hand. "We've got to act fast," she said hurriedly. "Follow me." Still holding his hand, Yuri ran, as fast as she could, out of the city—toward her house.

About a month ago, Jagura's troops had stormed into the city, claiming it in her name. Within two weeks, Jagura's men had eradicated every hint of a wolf in the city. After that, most of the troops had left, for no apparent reason. However, a few of the troops had remained in the city—keeping watch, making sure nothing suspicious wandered in.

As Yuri and Kiba began their desperate escape, Lou was running through the city with all his might. He knew what he had just seen. That man, the one that killed Carl, he was a wolf. Lou was sure of it. Lou didn't know how that wolf had escaped Jagura's henchmen before, but it wasn't going to happen again, not if he had anything to say about it. He knew exactly where to go.

Whew! That was a long one! Finally, some action, huh? Hope you guys enjoyed this one; it was fun to write. I'll be updating soon, but in the mean time, keep reviewing! I know I keep asking for reviews, but what can I say? I enjoy feedback. Thanks to those who have been reviewing, and thanks for reading!