Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. –whimpers-
Before the Red Moon
Tsume blinked his yellow green eyes blearily, to find himself looking at everything as if it was on its side. His bleariness faded as soon as the memories of the past events crashed down on top of him like a tree, and with a grunt, he tried to sit up quickly, but the pain of his wounds forced him to stiffen, complaining at the strain he was putting on his beaten body.
"I've suffered worse…" he muttered under his breath, ignoring his pain and sitting properly, putting his back to the wall. Turned out he was in a circular cell, with thick, opaque walls of what appeared to be metal on all sides except for the front, where thick bars barricaded escape. That wasn't all either, there were bars horizontally placed and vertically placed, so it would be absolutely impossible to escape by chewing the bars or twisting them. "Dammit…" he muttered, casting an eye about.
He hadn't bothered to take stock of his surroundings at first, but now, he saw that his fellow wolves were all unconscious around him; their bodies limp as rag dolls. Blood streaked their fur, but they all looked like they would recover…they always did.
But one thing that caught and held his attention was the state Toboe was in. There was blood all over his shoulder and a lot of his upper arm, various cuts and bruises were visible on his face, collarbone and arms. The way his body was positioned, and the way his head lolled, he looked a lot more dead than alive…
Tsume's heard started beating a little faster as he crawled closer to the limp pup. There was no stench of death in the air, but there was something in this air that destroyed scents and made it hard to decipher even the clearest ones. He would have sensed it if Toboe was dead…wouldn't he?
Unable to ignore precautions, he tipped Toboe's head back and felt his throat for a pulse. Yes…there was a pulse. Weak, but it was there. Tsume sighed throatily and frowned. Damn Sheshkemana. Damn him, for not being able to help. Damn kid, for getting caught in the first place…the large gray wolf continued to curse everything under the sun that might have had to do with this whole stupid mess mentally, his mood steadily getting worse. As his mood soured, he seemed to feel his own pain and hunger more.
"How's the kid?" asked a voice suddenly. Tsume turned around quickly, to see Hige propping himself up with one arm. The hefty wolf had a nasty wound in his side, but otherwise, nothing too bad—just the usual assortment of battle wounds they usually received when things like this happened.
Tusme grunted. "Look at him. He's half dead." His voice had a bitter edge, and a worried hint in it, but if Hige, noticed, he didn't say anything. He sighed. "Why did he have to be stupid enough to get himself caught?" he groaned, looking up at the single, dim light that lit the dismal cell.
Tsume closed his eyes. "There wasn't much he could do when they found him. Honestly, Porky, the only reason you and Kiba found us was the blood trail and tracks, right? How the hell are you supposed to cover something like that when you're on the run, especially if you're him?" He gestured at Toboe with a flick of his tail. "They also had these really strange guns…"
Hige exhaled noisily and glanced at the unconscious wolves around them. "When the hell are these guys going to wake up? This sucks…really bad."
Kiba stirred and grunted, drawing the attention of the conversing wolves. Once he staggered to his paws, and sat down, he glanced at the door. "We've been in spots worse than this before…" his eyes widened the slightest bit when he looked at Toboe, but the worry in his face vanished quickly.
Kiba's inscrutability of his face was a quality that both annoyed and reassured Tsume. It seemed a long time ago that he himself had told Kiba he had to be calm and detached as a leader, and he often did…except when Cheza was around. When that happened, it usually meant all hell was about to break loose on both sides, but that wasn't the case right now.
"What's your plan?" Hige wondered, pricking his ears. Kiba was silent for a bit, but after running his eye over the current situation, he turned to Tsume and Hige and told them, "We have to wait. Sheshkemana's not going to kill us, or at least, not yet. If she was going to, she would have done it already."
"Yeah," Hige chimed. "And look at Toboe, I mean…" his voice gradually lost its cheery tone as he continued. "…I mean…he's…"
"He'll be fine," Tsume said forcefully, but almost reddened in embarrassment when he realized it was detectable. "We'll all be fine," he grunted, trying to sound nonchalant, still knowing that it sounded pathetic.
"Right." Getsuei's voice interrupted. "That damn Sheshkemana, wait'll I get my claws—"
"Stop it." Marel croaked curtly. All the wolves that were awake turned to look at the old wolf, whose blind eyes were close, her head resting on her paws. She looked the same as she did when she was unconscious.
"You were awake that whole time?" Tsume asked, his face creasing into a frown. This old lady was far tougher than he could have imagined. Marel opened one eye, as if indignant of what he said and snorted. "I was awake before you were." Tsume snorted derisively, wondering weather or not to believe this when Getsuei growled at him.
"She's an elder," he snapped, his hackles rising. "You should respect her, Tsume or whatever the hell your name is." Tsume's face beetled into a frown, and opened his mouth to say something rude in reply when Hige butted in.
"Well, that sounds weird, coming from a guy whose pack acts like a bunch of damn strays!" Getsuei's lip curled into a snarl as he started to rise, trembling to his paws.
"Hige..!" came Kiba's voice, but it was completely ignored by the three bristling males, glaring at each other.
Toboe heard voices. Distant, at first, but gradually becoming clearer as consciousness was regained. He blinked slowly, the dim room fading into lucid view. By now, the snarls were loud in his ears and then…the pain struck. He groaned, suddenly wishing for the darkness to envelope him again. He ached all over. Sheshkemana had done more than choke him—she had thrown him around kicked him with her pointy shoes, and the previous beatings hadn't helped. His body was an absolute wreck. At least, that's what if felt like…
He wasn't completely senseless enough not to distinguish the angry and indignant voices he heard, and the very…feel of the air was thickening with tension and antagonism. This was…bad. If they started fighting…
"Stop it, you guys," he moaned weakly, turning himself over slowly. The arguing wolves all jerked their heads in his direction as he stood up on trembling limbs. "Don't fight…" he pleaded, trying to force himself to stay standing. They had all suffered too…they had all been beaten. So…he had to at least make an effort to be as strong as they were…but he was so weak. So weak… "Don't fight…" he repeated, his voice shaking with the effort to stay standing and the punishment his body had taken. Why did it feel worse after the thrashing had taken place?
As he spoke, he could see that Tsume, Hige and Getsuei's faces looked a bit guilty, the fire in their eyes and postures fading. Tsume looked up suddenly and strode over to the pup and sat down beside him. "Don't stand up and don't talk." He said, gently forcing the pup back down.
Kiba nodded in Toboe's direction, both in agreement to what Tsume was telling him and acknowledgement of the pup's efforts. "Let's think of something to get out of here while we've got the time," he said.
Back in the troop's quarters, a heavily bandaged pair of pissed off men, Maron and Kem were sitting down, trying to make the best of their situation. "Goddamit!" hissed Kem. "That stupid wolf practially ripped my ass off! I won't be able to sit properly for a month…"
Maron was in a very bad mood. He cuffed his partner lightly in the side of the head and pointed furiously at his temple. "Look what he did to me!" he half shrieked. "This is going to scar for God's sake. At least no one can see the scars on your butt."
Kem glared at him and then folded his arms. "I hope the Lady takes a long time to kill him…I hope she takes him apart, bit by stinkin' bit."
A/N: Thanks again for your reviews, Lonegrey, Kristen and Saber. I'm really happy to hear you guys like the story, it's really heartening. Your comments encourage me to update as quickly as possible. –bows- As for the transcripts…tricky little mustards, we'll get 'em…xD
