Chapter 2

"There's a town up ahead, guys. We can stop there to rest and get some food, or we can keep moving." Kiba stopped and allowed the others to catch up to him. Hige flopped down in the dirt and rested his head on his paws.

"I vote food. I'm starving." Tsume sat nearby with a scoff.

"When are you not?" He received a cross glare from Hige. Kiba glanced at Tsume and Toboe.

"What about you two?" Toboe sat next to Tsume with a bit of a meek expression.

"...I am kind of hungry. We haven't eaten anything in two days." Tsume stood with a stretch.

"You know I don't care what we do."

"All right. We'll stay in the town for the rest of the night. Hopefully, there's actually food here." Hige sniffed at the air and wagged his tail.

"My nose knows no lies. There's definitely food."

"Good. Tsume, you and Hige go on ahead. Toboe and I will find you later." The two ran ahead, leaving Kiba and Toboe alone. "Toboe...you like Tsume, don't you?" Toboe stared at the white wolf in surprise.

"No! I mean...I like him as a friend...but that's it."

"...Okay. Come on." The two wolves loped up to the town, concealing their true forms before entering. "All right, let's split up. You look for Tsume, I'll look for Hige." Before Toboe could protest, Kiba had disappeared down a nearby alley. Toboe whined a bit.

"I hate being left alone..." He started down the street, which was relatively empty other than the occasional drunk or homeless person. "Tsume! Where are you?" He stopped and glanced down a dark alley before starting across an abandoned lot. Where could he be? This place is giving me the creeps...

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. A trespasser." Toboe stopped in his tracks when five wolves slunk out of the shadows; they could conceal their true forms from humans, but not from other wolves.

"What should we do with him, Ryoku?" A large, jet-black wolf with greenish-amber eyes padded over to Toboe, who quickly backed away, quivering in fear.

"I...I didn't mean to trespass. I was looking for my friend."

"Well, you chose the wrong place to look for him, kid. You know what we do to trespassers?" Toboe continued to back away with his tail between his legs, but he froze when he backed into a wall. The five wolves quickly cornered him, growling deeply; suddenly, one of the wolves yelped in pain when Tsume pounced on him and sank his sharp fangs into the back of his neck.

"Tsume!" The wolf threw Tsume off his back, and Tsume quickly placed himself between Toboe and the other wolves.

"You okay, Toboe?"

"Yeah..." Ryoku growled in a low tone.

"Out of the way, mongrel!" Tsume bared his bloody fangs.

"Not on your life. You want him so badly, you'll have to go through me first!"

"Gladly." With that, all five of the wolves attacked Tsume, biting and clawing at every inch of his body. Tsume snarled and tore out one of his attackers' throats before turning and clawing another across the face, blinding him, but he was overpowered by the remaining three. Toboe dashed into the fray just to be immediately leveled by one of the wolves; just as he was about to be attacked further, though, Ryoku called off the assault.

"That's enough. I think they've learned their lesson." He gazed coldly at Toboe as the young wolf picked himself up. "You'd better be out of town by sundown tomorrow, or you'll get the same treatment as your friend did. Let's go." He and the remaining wolves turned and loped off into the shadows. Tsume growled weakly and struggled to his feet, blood pouring from his wounds.

"Those bastards...they'll pay..." Toboe rushed over and caught Tsume just as he passed out.

"Tsume..." He glanced around before trying to move Tsume, but he couldn't, so he began to tend to his wounds as best as he could. Kiba and Hige showed up after a few minutes and rushed over to the two. Kiba took over Toboe's task.

"What happened, Toboe?" He hung his head, looking a bit ashamed.

"It's my fault. I should've been paying attention..."

"I didn't ask whose fault it was. I asked what happened."

"...I ran into a group of wolves, and Tsume showed up and fought them...to protect me." He glanced at Kiba and Hige. "They want us gone by sundown tomorrow..."

"...There's an abandoned building nearby. We can tend his wounds better there. Give me a hand, Hige." The two easily lifted Tsume's limp body and carried him to the building, but Toboe lagged behind, clearly depressed. ...He risked his life to protect me, and all I did was cower in fear. Some wolf I am...