A/N: I'd like to thank Lonegreywolf for reviewing. It just so happens that I've been reading your series, can't wait for an update! xD –ahem- Chapter two! xD Now, sorry I didn't mention Hige or Kiba in the last chapter, so here goes. xD Beware if they're a bit ooc, I'm not too good with him.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. –pouts-
Before the Red Moon
"Where the hell did they go?" complained the hefty brown wolf loudly as he walked alongside Kiba through the dark, now deserted streets.
"I can't smell any of that telltale funk. Looks like they're gone."
The white wolf, his fur streaked with dirt and some blood that contrasted starkly with his pale pelt didn't answer at first, his yellow eyes narrowed at the grim path before them. Kiba spoke after scrutinizing the ground up ahead.
"Hige, there are tracks. They're fresh too, see?"
He trotted over to the much mashed and stomped snow, and then arched his brows in a gesture to point these out to Hige. The big husky brown lupine followed and then sniffed the tracks and wrinkled his nose in distaste.
"Nobles," he said, his voice dripping with contempt. "Looks like they were chasing—"
A look of recognition crossed his face as he sniffed the prints again and he opened his mouth to say something, but Kiba beat him to it.
"Toboe. Come on!" The white wolf turned and pelted after the tracks, keeping his eyes on the easy to follow trail. There was blood, Toboe's from what he could tell. The prints also said that it had been a relatively small candid that the Noble troops had been chasing.
Hige sprinted after him, his eyes wide, snow flying out from behind him.
"The runt? Damn, he can't take care of himself!"
Kiba didn't answer, but as soon as they came to the sight of the battle, he took about nine seconds to process the site.
Small tracks overlapped by the tracks clumsy human boots made and then there were large prints, slightly bigger than Kiba's own. Several clumps of dark gray hair littered the area as well. Blood too.
"Tsume was here too." He said with a frown.
Hige sat down beside the large snow colored wolf. "Looks like Tsume tried to bail him out, and then…" he nudged the empty shocker shell with a paw, a look of confusion on his face.
"What the hell is this?"
Kiba studied the shell. "It's not a bullet. If they had killed them, there would have been more blood. No, Hige, they're still alive…" he scowled darkly. "But captive. Come on, the sooner we get a lead on this, the sooner we find them."
As Kiba turned away, Hige followed with a dubious expression on his face and a shadow over his eyes.
"Yeah, but for how long?"
Toboe awoke with a small groan as he came to his senses, awareness trickling back into his mind slowly. Every inch of his body ached, especially his head where he had been smashed into the wall. Blinking, he held a hand up to shield his eyes from the painfully bright light overhead, feeling as though it was as heavy as a brick. When he heard voices, his mind cleared a bit more, allowing him to make sense of the words.
"What did the commander say?"
Toboe guessed that the speaker was Jem.
"He said to guard them. Phaw!" Came Maron's voice, obviously frustrated and tired. "Honestly, he acts as if it was a piece of cake to tackle two damn wolves! He said, 'Maybe the Lady'll find it in her black heart to notice.'" The senior guard's voice took on a nasty and malicious tone, one ringing with a cruel kind of glee. "But it don't matter what we do with 'em, as long as they're in once piece when they get to the Lady! Where are the shock-collars?"
Toboe's eyes widened as his heart pace quickened. He cast about the room, biting his lip, looking for Tsume. It turned out the big gray wolf was lying slumped on the opposite side of the relatively small captive's wing. The young wolf sat up and hugged himself—the room was cold.
The room was small, the whole thing practically made of concrete and steel. He was sitting in a large cage with thick bars—as was Tsume. Boxes and crates lined the walls, a single light that was viciously bright hung overhead. Six short chains hung from low sections on the walls.
Toboe gulped. There were also lots of pointy objects he could see sticking out of one of the boxes. He heard a sudden, weary grunt coming from Tsume's side of the room, just as the large gray wolf lifted his long head off of the floor, blinking.
"Where the hell are we?" he asked, turning his sharp, but pained yellow-green gaze upon the younger wolf. There were some singe marks on the edges of his fur.
Toboe looked down. "I dunno, but…I think we're in an…airship."
Tsume snarled and hissed, "Dammit!" As nothing could keep the stubborn silver lupine down for long, he got up on his obviously hurting limbs and seized the thick metal bar in his long white teeth, twisting and tugging at it to make a larger entrance for himself.
Toboe heard footsteps coming towards them. His panic level started to rise again, "Tsume, stop, they might hurt you if—"
His words were cut off as the noble troops entered the room by practically slamming the door down.
