Here's the next one. If you're reading this…I must ask you to review it. Please! Pretty Please! Ok, I'll stop whining…(kicks the dirt)
"How do you know Kiba?"
The sound of his name sent a shock down Yuri's spine. But she had to find a few things out first. Shaking the man's question off, Yuri responded with her own question, "Where am I?"
"Answer my question," the man replied coldly.
Yuri didn't hear him. Everything had come rushing back to her now—the soldiers, the fight…she had been captured. What other explanation was there? How else could she manage to wake up and find herself locked in a cage like an animal? But if she had been captured, then surely, Kiba had been captured as well, right?
Taking hold of the medal bars on her cage, Yuri pulled herself close and peered out of them, at her companions. There were several cages but only four of them, apart from hers, were occupied. Directly in front of her was the seemingly-amiable husky boy who had spoken to her. To his right was the silver-haired man who had addressed Yuri so callously. On the other side, and to the husky boy's left, was a young boy with red hair. He was considerably smaller than the latter two and looked delicate and frail. He looked at Yuri with blatant curiosity. To this boy's left was the final occupied cage. A young woman sat inside. She had dazzling blue eyes, from which she surveyed Yuri briefly before diverting her gaze. She had an enigmatic aura about her—as if she were keeping something dear from you.
Yuri uttered a disappointed sigh and released the bars. Kneeling her back against the wall of her cage, Yuri pulled her legs toward her chest and hugged her knees. Nothing. No sign of him. Did he escape? Was he looking for her at this very moment? What if he didn't escape? Was he in trouble? What if he was…the sheer thought of Kiba's death filled Yuri with horror. Either way, there was nothing she could do from in here. She buried her face between her chest and legs and rocked gently back and forth, her mind filled with ominous thoughts.
"Are you looking for someone?"
Yuri looked up slowly. The friendly-faced young man was looking at her. How did he know? Propping her chin on her arms, Yuri's hoarse reply was, "Yes."
He nodded softly. So she was looking for someone afterall. Who was she looking for? Was she looking for Kiba?
"I've been captured by Jagura, haven't I?" She said. It had been more of a statement than a question. She looked up, "That's why I'm here isn't it?"
The young man looked at Yuri questioningly. So she knew…but how? He had assumed that Yuri had been caught by surprise, although there was really no logical explanation as to why she was being kept in a cage like a wolf. He replied in the affirmative, and Yuri gave a curt nod.
"So how do we get out of this place?" Yuri asked, finally releasing her legs and turning toward the husky boy.
"Do you really think we'd be stuck in here if we knew that?" The stern man with the silver hair had joined the conversation.
"Lay off, Tsume," the husky boy interjected. Tsume could be terribly cold sometimes. He had even been distrustful of Cheza, what kind of warmth was to be expected for a human?
"Sorry about that. That's Tsume, by the way. Don't mind him, he's just incredibly cynical, not to mention rude." Said the Husky boy, smiling at Yuri.
Despite her distress, Yuri couldn't help but feel comforted by the boy's friendly face. She smiled in return, "It's alright."
"My name's Hige, by the way. The little one's Toboe, and hot-stuff over there is Blue," he continued, indicating both Toboe and Blue.
"Oh, Hige," Blue sighed. He could be quite tactless sometimes—but he was a sweetie nonetheless.
"Sorry babe, I can't help it!"
Yuri laughed pleasantly at their antics. Blue and Hige were obviously closer to each other than they were with Toboe or Tsume—the twinkle in Hige's gaze when he looked at Blue toldYuri that. Their affection brought thoughts of Kiba back to her. She looked melancholy once again.
Noticing the change in mood, Hige stopped teasing Blue. Maybe it wasn't the best time for it, but he had to ask her how she had met Kiba. "So, who are you looking for?"
"A friend."
"What happened, weren't you with your friend when you were captured"
"Yes, but…well I'm not really sure what happened. We were together one minute, and then I woke up here. Now I don't know where my friend is, or what has happened to him since then," Yuri's voice began to quiver at the last words. This whole time, the thought of Kiba's having met his doom loomed over her head—only now had she been able to voice her worries.
"What's your friend's name?"
"Kiba," Yuri answered softly. She hugged her legs again—she always did this when she was feeling particularly depressed or scared.
There it was. Hige had to practice self-control (something not entirely characteristic of Hige) to keep from launching a million questions at Yuri—it's just too bad that Tsume wasn't "taking a leaf from Hige's book."
"How do you know Kiba? How did you meet him? What happened to him all this time?" Tsume asked, quickly slurring each question into the next.
"I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you said," Yuri replied hesitantly.
"Kiba!" Tsume cried, "why was he with you?"
Yuri looked affronted. "What business is it of yours?" She replied—this Tsume guy was working her last nerve.
A soft, boyish voice rang through Yuri and Tsume's quarrel. "We've been looking for a friend too," it said. It was Toboe. He had been examining Yuri carefully this whole time. Although a naturally trusting person, Toboe wanted to make sure that Yuri wouldn't be frightened if they decided to reveal themselves to her. "We've been looking for our friend for a few days now, but we haven't been able to find him. We got caught trying to find him—that's how we ended up here."
Yuri's expression changed from indignant to expectant. "What is your friend's name?" She asked slowly.
"Kiba." Hige, and Toboe answered together.
Yuri went from shocked to comprehensive in a matter of seconds. She put two and two together. So these must be…she thought. Yes, indeed. These were the friends that Kiba had spoken of; the ones he had been searching for. So that must mean…
"You're all wolves," she said, pointing at each of them in turn.
Had the situation not been as altogether distressing as it was, the look of bewilderment that overcame their faces would have been thoroughly humorous.
"But…" Hige stammered. "so you know…"
"That's right," she answered. "I know Kiba was a wolf."
Tsume threw his surprise off—he needed to get some questions answered. If that girl had been with Kiba when she was captured, and Kiba was not longer with her, that must mean he's still wandering around somewhere nearby—he highly doubted that Kiba would ever be done in by Jagura's men. There was no time to stand there looking stupid—they had to find him, but first thing's first:
"Now will you answer my questions?" he asked, his tone slightly more acceptable than before.
"Sure," Yuri replied. "But you should really do something about that attitude of yours."
"I'll think about it. Now would you answer me?"
"Well…" And Yuri began. She told them everything. From the time that she found Kiba in the desert, to their trip into town. Hige and Tsume interjected occasionally, filling in the gaps in her story with details of their actions at the time. Yuri omitted Kiba's hug as well as her emotional outcry. However, she did include, in great detail, the fight that had occurred in Yuri's house with Jagura's soldiers. But that ended the story. Yuri had been knocked out at that point, and that brought them back to the present.
"Man," Hige sighed. "That guy has all the luck. Why can't we get stranded together Blue? Just you and me, all alone?" He said longingly.
"Ugh," she replied joyfully, "I think I'll take my chances with one of Jagura's men instead."
They chuckled at Blue's reply. Meanwhile, Blue stared at Yuri out of the corner of her eye. She had noticed Yuri's changed in expression at certain points in her explanation—little blushes here or there; a whisper of a smile. Maybe the others had been too distracted to notice, but she had certainly caught Yuri's change in emotion—she could smell it. This was an odd situation indeed.
"So we're back to square one," Tsume grumbled.
"I guess we are," Hige replied.
"How the hell are we going to get out of here?" Tsume growled.
Hige's reply was cut off by a loud crash. The crash was met with sudden, muffled screams of terror. Shots rang out, and there were more crashes and sudden booms.
"What the hell's going on?" Hige yelled, grasping the bars on his cage and trying to look out of the truck's flap.
But Tsume could recognize those sounds in an instant. "We're under attack."
Sorry it took so long to update! School's a drag, I've been swamped with work, and I've been trying to keep up with my other story. Whew! But I have a few updates to put up. In fact, the rest of this story! That's right, it's finished, I just have to post it. So thanks for reading and please review!