The Story of a Lonely Wolf Chapter 27: Terror in the City Streets

"Toboe!" Tsume yelled again as he ran down the dirty alley. He didn't find any trace of Toboe on the busy street so he decided to look in some of the back alleys. He knew Toboe could be hiding in one of them.

Where am I supposed to go now? Toboe asked himself again as he walked through the busy streets. Seeing all the happy people and their families just saddened him more. He wanted so badly to go back to the pack, but he knew they'd be much better off without him. Do I go to Paradise? he wondered. He knew he wouldn't be alone there. The only problem was he didn't have any idea how to get there. He was still weak from everything that had happened and he couldn't see straight or smell anything, but that didn't stop him from walking.

"Mommy, what happened to him?" a little girl with purple eyes and black hair pulled back into two pig tails asked as she saw Toboe walk by. His bloody bandages and ripped clothes made the little girl wonder if he was hurt and needed help or not. "Mommy?" she asked again as she looked from the injured Toboe and up to her mother who was buying some meat and vegetables from one of the food carts.

"What is it, Amanda?" her mother asked as she looked down at her daughter who was tugging on her blue dress. She had been talking to the cart owner and didn't hear what her daughter wanted, but she did however feel her tugging on her dress.

"Is he hurt?" she asked again as she pointed to Toboe. The injured boy had stopped to sit on a porch to try and catch his breath and clear his eyes from the blurry vision. Even walking was wearing the young wolf out.

"Oh my," the woman said as she looked at Toboe. "Are you alright?" she asked as she walked over to Toboe and looked into his golden eyes.

"Yes, I'm fine," Toboe replied as his stomach growled. He hadn't had anything to eat since before the accident with Quent and Blue.

"Here," the woman said with a kind smile and gave Toboe some bread.

"Huh?" Toboe asked as he looked from the woman's face to her out stretched hand. He looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. When he didn't see anyone he looked back up at the kind woman and asked, "Is that for me?"

"Yes, of course it is, silly," she replied.

"Thank you, thank you very much," Toboe said with a huge smile as he took the bread and devoured it.

"You're welcome," the woman replied, "Well, we have to go now. Good luck," the woman said as she took Amanda's little hand and began walking away.

"Bye, bye!" Amanda said to the pup and waved to him with her free hand.

"Bye," Toboe replied as he watched them leave with a small smile. "Hey wait!" Toboe called as he thought of something.

"Yes?" the woman asked as she turned to look at Toboe again.

"Ummm…" Toboe began with a shy look on his face, "Do you know where Paradise is?"

"Paradise?" the woman replied with a surprised look on her face. "What's Paradise?"

"Never mind," Toboe answered. The surprise in her face told Toboe she had no idea what Paradise was. He knew she probably wouldn't, but it never hurt to ask.

"Alright," the woman said and walked away.

"Toboe!" he heard a familiar voice call.

Huh? Was that Kiba? Toboe wondered as he listened. The air was filled with so many different sounds that Toboe had trouble telling what was what. After listening for about five or six minutes Toboe decided it must have just been his ears playing tricks on him.

"Toboe!" Kiba called as he ran down one of the nearby main streets. He was starting to get worried. He thought they would have found him by now. He wanted to know why Toboe ran away from them. It had something to do with that look on his face, I know it did, Kiba thought to himself as he thought back to when Josh had gotten in trouble. He remembered he had looked at Toboe and he had the saddest look on his face. I should have asked him what was wrong. Then he might not have run away, Kiba thought angrily to himself as he ran in the middle of the street. He didn't care if the cars were blowing their horns at him. He was tried of running through all the people. He just wanted to find Toboe and go back to the vet's office.

"Kiba!" Tsume called as he heard the horns and thought it might be Toboe they were honking at. But to his disappointment it wasn't, it was the white wolf.

"Tsume, did you find him?" Kiba asked as he ran out of the road and to the opening of the alley where the man dressed in black leather stood.

"No, I didn't find anything," Tsume replied. "I'm beginning to think this is hopeless. We've looked everywhere. Maybe he doesn't want to be with us anymore. I mean if he did he would have never left."

"No, it's not hopeless. We just have to keep looking," Kiba said in his usual tone.

"Kiba, he left us on his own," Tsume replied.

"I know, but I just have this feeling. He didn't want to leave us. I know you can feel it too, Tsume. You know he didn't want to leave us. I want to find him and know why he did," Kiba replied as he looked at the people passing by.

"We aren't going to find him. It's too busy here, maybe we'll have a chance when it gets dark, but I bet that drunken idiot and his dog will have found him and killed him by then."

"There's always a chance. Nothing is ever hopeless as long as you're willing to try," Kiba said as he looked over at Tsume. "You can go back to Hige and the others if you want, but I'm going to keep looking for him," Kiba said and began to run down the sidewalk.

"Kiba, wait!" Tsume yelled before the wolf got far.

"Yeah?" Kiba asked as he looked back at Tsume.

"I'm not going to quit looking," he said, "I'm going to find that damn kid and I'm going to do it before you do," Tsume said with a smirk.

"We'll see," Kiba replied and ran off.

"Watch it you stupid brat!" a man yelled as he pushed Toboe out of the way.

"Sorry…" Toboe said as he continued to walk around the city. All he wanted now was a place to sleep. His body ached from walking and people pushing him around, and he was so hungry. The bread the woman gave him helped the pain in his stomach some, but it still screamed out for food. "I'm so hungry," Toboe said as he staggered down the street. He was so weak now that he couldn't walk or stand up straight. From a distance it almost looked like he was drunk.

"Toboe, where are you!" Toboe heard another familiar voice. It was Tsume this time.

Stop it; I know you're not there. You wouldn't come looking for me; no one would come looking for me… Toboe muttered to himself. No one would come looking for me. No one wants to be with a monster.

"Toboe!" he heard Tsume's voice again.

"Stop it," Toboe cried as he fell to his knees. "Stop it... I know you're not him, you're not Tsume. You're not. Go away and leave me alone." Toboe cried as he heard the gray wolf's calls.

"Toboe! Where are you, you little brat!"

"Leave me alone!" Toboe cried and covered his ears with his hands. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear their voices anymore. It tore at his heart. The sound of the ones he loved so much was tearing him up inside. He didn't believe it was really Tsume. He thought it was just some other mean person that was making the noises. It wouldn't surprise him if it really wasn't Tsume. He had met some nice people along this little journey, but he also met some very nasty ones too. "Stop it!" Toboe cried again, "Just leave me alone!" the young wolf cried then got up and ran as fast as he could down the alley.

"Toboe, stop!" Tsume hollered. He had heard Toboe yell "stop it" and then saw him run down the alley. "Toboe!" he yelled again as he chased the cub down the small street.

"Go away…" Toboe said as he ran down the alley. The running was causing his body to ache even more, but Toboe didn't care. He had to get away from the sounds. If he didn't it was going to drive him mad from grief.

"Toboe, stop dammit!" Tsume yelled in a very irritated voice.

"Watch it!" a woman said as Toboe turned onto a main road and nearly ran into her.

"Stop!" Tsume hollered again. He had come this far he wasn't going to let Toboe escape now.

"Huh?" Toboe said as ran down the street. A familiar sent filled the air. His eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks as he came to a flower cart. "Granny…" Toboe said as he stared at the cart and saw there were some white flowers sitting in a pot next to the cart on the sidewalk. "It's my fault…" Toboe said as he dropped to his knees in front of the cart. He carefully reached out his bandaged arm and began gently touching one of the white flowers. "I'm sorry, Granny. I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over as tears began to flood down his cheeks.

"Toboe!" Tsume said as he came to a stop 15 feet behind the pup. He stood there and watched Toboe. He wasn't to sure what to do at this point. Has he lost his mind? He's petting a flower… Tsume thought.

"Hey, what are you doing, Kid?" the cart owner asked as she looked over and saw the young boy toughing her flowers.

"Toboe," Tsume said as he walked closer to Toboe. Toboe still hadn't realized Tsume was following him and that he was now right behind him. It was almost as if Toboe was in another world.

"Granny, make it stop… please, make the noises go away," Toboe sobbed. The more he heard Tsume voice the more upset he got.

"Hey…" Tsume said as he came up behind the young pup. Toboe's acts of insanity were beginning to make Tsume nervous. He wanted to get Toboe back to the vet's office as soon as possible and find out what was going on.

"Granny, please... I can't do it anymore… I love them all so much. Please make it go away," Toboe continued to sob.

"Is he alright?" the cart owner asked Tsume.

"I don't know," Tsume replied as he put his hand on Toboe's shoulder and shook him gently trying to snap him out of whatever type of trance he was in.

"Stop it…" Toboe said quietly.

"What's wrong, Toboe? Why are you talking to flowers? You look like an idiot," Tsume replied. He was very concerned at this point. He had no clue at all what was wrong with Toboe.

"You're not him, you're not… go away," Toboe said in a whisper he was so tired he could barley hold himself up. He felt Tsume's hand on his shoulder, but he didn't move an inch. He was fixed on that flower.

"Runt, it's me," Tsume said as he tried to pick up Toboe, but the brown wolf just pushed him away.

"Tsume?" Toboe asked as he finally took his eyes off the flower to see who was trying to pick him up. "Is it really you, Tsume?" Toboe asked as he looked up at his friend.

"Yeah," Tsume replied as Toboe looked down at the white flower again.

"Are you ready to go back?" Tsume asked.

"No, I can't go back," Toboe replied.

"Why?" Tsume asked. He was glad Toboe had come back to reality, but now he was concerned as to why Toboe didn't want to go back with him.

"I can't go back. It's my fault. Everything was my fault. Everyone left because of me. I don't want you to leave too," Toboe said as he stared at the flowers' soft white petals.

"What do you mean? I'm not going anywhere," Tsume replied.

"Everyone says that… and everyone still leaves. I can't go, Tsume," Toboe said in a sad weak voice.

"Well, I won't leave I promise, and those guys where jerks for leaving before. Come on, you know I'm not a jerk," Tsume said.

"No," Toboe said again.

"Come on, Toboe, we don't have all day to sit here," Tsume said as he grabbed Toboe's good arm and tried to pull him up.

"No!" Toboe cried as he pushed Tsume away again. "Don't you get it? They died, Tsume! They all died because of me! It's my fault! It's all my fault! I'm a monster, I killed them all!" Toboe sobbed.

"What?" Tsume asked as he stared at the runt with a confused look on his face. He had never seen Toboe burst out in anger like this and it greatly surprised him.

"They all died because of me! It's all my fault! Everyone I'm with dies and I don't want you, or Hige, or Kiba to die too," Toboe cried as he stared up at Tsume with tear-filled eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about, Toboe?" Tsume asked. He was still very confused as to what was going on and people where beginning to gather around wondering what had happened and why the boy was injured and crying.

"Tsume!" Kiba hollered and pushed his way through the crowd to where his friends were.

"Kiba?" Toboe asked as he looked up at the dark haired teen. "You came to find me too?"

"Yeah, of course I did," Kiba replied with a smile. "What's going on?" Kiba asked Tsume.

"I have no idea," Tsume replied, "I just followed the kid here and he went crazy on me."

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked.

"He stared talking to flowers then he said he wouldn't come back with us," Tsume replied.

"Why not?" Kiba asked as he looked down at Toboe.

"Because I can't…" Toboe said again.

"Hey, if this is about that thing with Josh then don't worry about it. Porky took care of it and Josh isn't in trouble," Tsume said. He was trying to think of what was making Toboe so upset and figured it might be that.

"That's not it," Toboe said again as he sat with his arms folded around his knees.

"Then what is it?" Kiba asked.

"It's you... it's all of you," Toboe replied sadly. "I don't want to hurt you too."

"Us?" Kiba asked again. "Do you not want to come with us anymore?"

"No… I want to come with you… I really do… but I can't."

"Why can't you?" Tsume asked.

"Because… everyone said I was a monster and I didn't know what I did to make them think that. But then when I was asleep... it was like I was back in my past. I saw everything that happened. I know what they were talking about now. I saw it all. Granny and Tim died because of me. I am a monster and I don't want you to get hurt too. Everyone I meet gets hurt and I don't want you to get hurt too."

"Awwww, that's so sweet," the woman that owned the flower cart said. "What?..." she asked as Tsume and Kiba who stared at her with blank expressions on their faces.

"Can you come with me for a minute?" Tsume asked. He hated talking to humans, but he knew he had to keep her busy so Kiba could talk to Toboe. He could have talked to Toboe himself, but he knew Kiba was better at talking about this sort of thing.

"Uh… yeah," she replied with a smile and followed Tsume over to another part of the alley away from Kiba and Toboe's conversation.

"Don't worry, Toboe, none of us are going anywhere," Kiba said and looked from the cart owner back to Toboe, then kneeled down beside him.

"Everyone told me that… and they still died," Toboe said.

"But they were humans, they weren't wolves," Kiba replied.

I wish they'd hurry up, Tsume thought to himself in an irritated voice as he stood by the flower cart owner. She was really getting on his nerves. In the last 30 seconds she went from talking about how sweet Toboe was, to her idiot boyfriend, and then some different types of flowers Tsume should buy. He'd never met such an annoying talkative person.

"Ready to go back now?" Kiba asked. He'd talked to Toboe for five minutes now and his words were really started to make sense to Toboe. "It looks like Tsume is really getting angry over there," he said with a small smile as the two wolves looked over at Tsume and the cart owner.

"Do you hear that?" a man standing nearby asked as the sudden sound of sirens filled the air.

"Looks like the nobles found some other sicko to chase," another man replied as the sirens got louder.

"Hey, Bob, get the camera out! I just heard from a bystander that a man robbed a bank and the nobles are chasing him around the city. Word is they are heading this way! If we hurry we can get it on tape!" a woman with blonde hair yelled to an oversized man that sat in a nearby white van.

"Alright, alright," the man replied as he got out of the van and walked around to the back of it pulling out a big camera.

"Who are they?" Tsume asked as he watched the woman fix her hair as the man set up the camera.

"Oh that's Julia Thompson; she's the best news reporter in the city. Everyone knows her. Don't you have a TV?" the flower cart owner asked Tsume.

"No, I don't waste my time with things like that," Tsume replied.

"Are you alright, Toboe?" Kiba asked as he looked down at Toboe who was covering his ears with his hands.

"No," Toboe said, "It's that noise. Kiba, you and Tsume gotta get out of here now. Every time someone died I heard that noise. Get away now."

"Why?" Kiba asked somewhat confused, "You heard the people there is a car chase. No one is coming to kill us."

"Just do it! Please!" Toboe cried as he shut his eyes tight hoping nothing bad would happen.

"They're almost here. I can see the car!" a kid said as they saw a blue van race down the street followed by three of the nobles' big black vans.

What the hell? the bank robber asked himself as he sped down the street. He wasn't expecting an audience. "They better stay the hell outta my way that's all I have to say," he mumbled as he sped up some more. He was now going 85 miles and hour.

"Mommy, what's that?" Amanda, the little girl with black pigtails Toboe had met earlier asked as she ran out into the street trying to figure out what all the noise was about. She wasn't that far from where the wolves were.

"Amanda, get away from the street now!" the woman in the blue dress screamed in horror as she watched the blue car coming down the street at deadly speeds.

"But why is everyone going so fast?" she asked as she turned to look at all the people standing around on the sidewalk. She was so young she wasn't scared of the cars because she wasn't aware that they could hit her. She thought they'd just stop like all the other cars did.

"Get out of there, Kid!" a man yelled as he watched the car fast approaching the small girl.

"But what's going on? Why is everyone so scared?" Amanda asked in confusion.

"Get out of the way!" Kiba yelled as Toboe opened his eyes to see what was going on.

"Damn kids!" the robber said angrily and blew his horn as loud as he could.

"Amanda, move!" Toboe yelled as the sound of screaming, car horns, and sirens filled the air.

"He's gonna hit her!" a woman yelled as they saw the car heading straight for the little girl.

"Damnitt!" the bank robber cursed as he swerved his car so he didn't hit Amanda. He was going so fast that the swerve caused him to lose control of the car and sent it toward the sidewalk.

"Tsume, look out!" Kiba yelled as he saw where the car was headed.

"What?" Tsume asked as he looked away from the flower cart owner to see what was going on. He had lived in the city so long that he was used to the sirens and all the noise so he didn't pay much mind to it. He was too busy fighting with the flower cart owner about how TV was a waste of time and money.

"Tsume!" Toboe cried out. No, its happening again… he thought to himself as he stood up and bolted toward Tsume. I'm not going to let it happen. Not again. Not ever again. It's not going be my friends.

"Toboe, no!" Kiba called as he watched the car head for Tsume. Just as Tsume got what was going on Toboe had pushed him out of the way. The force of Toboe's impact caused Tsume to stumble and fall out of harms way.

"Oh my God!" a woman cried as they watched in horror at the scene that was taking place right before their eyes.

"Get away it's coming this way!" a man yelled as the people on the sidewalk began panicking, running, and screaming in every which direction causing total chaos.

"Toboe!" Kiba cried out again as his eyes widened and a loud crash, along with glass breaking, and screaming where heard. The impact was so loud it sounded like a bomb exploded right in front of him.

"I wonder what that was," Hige said as he looked out the window in the vet's office. The sound of the crash was so loud even he and the others heard it.

"It sounded like an explosion," Drake replied as he and the others gathered around the window as well trying to see if they could get a glimpse of what happened.

Yeah, and I have a bad feeling Toboe was apart of it, Hige thought to himself in a worried voice.