Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. –sigh-

Before the Red Moon

Kem let the knife hover, barely a fraction of an inch away from Toboe's neck, and when Tsume attempted to knock the cage he was in over, Maron nodded and the younger noble pressed the blade down. It wasn't enough pressure to cut, but if Toboe tried to move his head at all…

The young candid didn't even attempt to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, not with that blade so close. Sweat beaded on his brow, his heart hammering painfully, fear worming its way through his body.

Maron was smiling at Tsume.

"You know, if you keep struggling like this, he's dead meat." He motioned towards Toboe with a nonchalant gesture.

Tsume glowered and spat, "You damn idiot! Don't do anything or I'll—"

The silver wolf's sentence was finished by a threatening look from Maron. The noble strode towards the wolf in long strides, his face the picture of cruel delight. He put his ugly face barely inches from the bars, and when Tsume looked like he was going to tear his nose off, Maron hissed, "If you rip my face off, Kem'll kill that one. Do as I say or it's his blood on your…paws." He smirked as Tsume bristled.

Kem guffawed. Toboe closed his eyes, trying to calm his rapid breathing and trying to ignore his surroundings.

Maron continued. "I want to see you human. And then you'll walk out of the cage, nice and slow. You won't try anything, because if you kill me, you know what will happen. If you so much as think about trying anything…" he let the much repeated threat hang in the air. "Do it, wolf," he snarled.

When Tsume hesitated, Maron's gazed locked with Kem's, who tilted the edge of the knife and put more pressure, but it wasn't enough to cut…not yet…

Toboe almost let slip a whimper, but he had opened his light amber eyes, wide with fear and pleading in Tsume's direction.

The big gray wolf sighed, and lowered his head, in defiance rather than defeat. "Don't do it." Were his only words as the wolf seemed to disappear and a tall, lean youth sat in the big cage, looking every bit as threatening as he did as a wolf, from the earrings, torn jacket, scar and flinty yellow green eyes that were aflame with a furious light.

Maron nodded. "That's more like it," he said appreciatively. "Now, I'm unlocking the door now. Just come on out." He unlocked the door and stepped aside as a much humiliated Tsume half-crouched, half crawled out. He stood up straight and faced Maron for a second so thick with tension, the air could have been split with the knife that Jem had.

Tsume turned his head to look at Toboe, and despite the look on his face, there was genuine concern and anger in his steely yellow green eyes. But he only had his face in the younger wolf's direction before Maron made his lighting quick move. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out what looked like a white, wide collar and slapped it onto Tsume's neck. A short black chain hung from the edge.

Tsume barely had time to register his surprise, and when Maron yanked forcefully on the chain, the older wolf stumbled forward a bit with a grunt of shock and anger.

"What the hell—"

Maron then knocked the big wolf soundly on the head with the butt of his gun.

"Tsume!" cried Toboe jerking his head a little. He yelped a little as a very shallow cut missed his throat but hit the side of his neck. Blood slowly leaked from the wound.

"Hold still, dammit!" Kem snarled; shoving Toboe's head back onto the ground and pinning his arms with his own. It took him awhile to put the blade back into position while Tsume was wrestling with Maron.

The noble won over when he turned the chain at a strange angle and sparks leapt from the white part of the collar, causing Tsume's face to twist in pain as the sparks flashed all over his body. The wolf sank to his knees and Maron shoved him roughly against the wall, inserting the chain into a holder. It made a metallic sort of clicking sound as it accepted the end of the chain and locked it well.

In the short time that Tsume was stunned, Maron used the opportunity put some handcuffs on. Tsume was still dazed when the older noble troop growled, "There. All done." Turning to Kem, he said, loudly, "Let the runty one go, I don't have another shock collar. We can come back tomorrow with a python choker."

That didn't sound much better.

Toboe was finally able to relax his rigid position on the ground when Kem moved the knife away and used a single handcuff to chain the pup to the wall about four feet from where Tsume was. His first fear subsiding turned to concern for Tsume, who looked dazed, weak, and tired.

"Tsume…" he said, crawling as near to the big wolf as the chain would allow as soon as the troops left. "Are you okay?"

Tsume grunted and closed his eyes. "Yeah," he grunted, his voice thick with pain. "Just…get some sleep."

The wolf that Tsume and Kiba were staring at was a dark gray, near black with a cream colored underbelly and patches around one of his gray green eyes. The patch looked like a rough shape of a crescent moon. The illusion that a human would see if they looked at him was a young man around the ages that Kiba and Hige appeared, with green eyes, dark, short hair and a relatively pale complexion. His attire consisted of dark jeans and a green T-shirt.

Hige's eyes were huge too.

"What the hell is he doing there?" he wondered as Kiba moved forward. Following, he tried to look as discreet as possible. The wolf didn't move as the pair neared. Once they were in the alley, the wolf ducked into the shadows, half dragging the two along with him by the lapels of their shirts.

"Hey, cut that out!" Hige demanded, ripping free of the wolf's strong grip.

Kiba pulled away and looked at him with calculating eyes, tense and waiting for the other wolf to make the first move.

"You brought those nobles with you!" accused the stranger heatedly, looking as if he was trying to burn holes through the two wolves standing before him.

"We're trying to throw them off. We didn't have anywhere else to go, we're passing through." Kiba said evenly, not mentioning the fact that two of his packmates were in danger. You don't mention things like that to loners. Wolves take care of their own, that's how it worked.

"Well, you've spooked and risked the lives of the pack that lives around here," the stranger spat.

Kiba hid his surprise. The wolf looked like a ragged dog, skinny and beat up. There was no way he was part of a pack—even Zali's wolves didn't look that bad.

"Wait a second!" Hige put in, annoyed by the hostile candid. "We didn't ask them to chase us and who the hell are you to be yelling accusations at us? You're not even part of a pack anyway. You have the smell of a wolf stuck on it's own for awhile."

The stranger lowered his angry eyes. "Well, they…uh…"

"Drove you out?" Kiba suggested mildly.

The wolf looked up all of a sudden and growled. "I was framed. But even though they treat me as an enemy, my loyalty remains. My name is Getsuei. Who are you? And your pack looks a bit…depleted."

Kiba wasn't happy about this situation. If the pack that lived around here were as threatening as this one loner that they had thrown out and yet his loyalty remained, they could be hostile enough to drive them out, or worse try and kill them. It wasn't unheard of, especially packs who had to live like this. They were worse of than Zali, and he previously hadn't thought that was possible.

"I'm Kiba." He said after a few moments of hesitation. "This is Hige. And never mind the size of the pack. I just want to know the name of the noble that controls this city and where he stays."

Getsuei narrowed his eyes and smiled shrewdly. "Took the rest of your pack, did she?"

Kiba and Hige both stiffened. Hige opened his mouth to say something, and by the look on his face it was probably rude, but Getsuei continued.

"Anyway, she lives in the big castle on the hill overlooking the city. She's got an airship hovering above it, just to give an ominous impression. But you'll need help getting there." He seemed to be trying to suggest something.

Kiba narrowed his eyes and Hige demanded, "What the hell are you trying to get at?"

"Fond of that phrase, aren't you?" Getsuei said saucily as he flicked his ears at them. "I can help you. I have reasons of my own to get there, but since you're going, you might as well have some help. Besides, I can fight. And as for trusting me, well, I don't have a reason to betray you to anyone. Even though packs don't look out for each other, we don't sell out our own kind."

His words made sense. Kiba disgested this information quickly, and though Hige still looked skeptical, he said, "Fine. But let's get a move on."

A/N: Haha. This chapter is nice and long, making up for the crummy effort made last time. xD YAY, new reviewers. –dances- Looking forward to your opinions on this. By the way, 'Getsuei' means 'moon' in Japanese. Heehee, random fact, just thought you'd like to know. Until next update! Pwahah!