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

Before the Red Moon

Sheshkamana had taken to the comfort of her dark throne room, the red lamps burning low. It had been three days since the capture of those wolves, and she was starting to get impatient, not only with them, but herself. That look of defiance in the eyes of the pup before he fainted…she couldn't…get it out of here head..! Well, she knew where the all were now; she had heard enough gossip from the guards from Orkham and Jagaura's troops that there were only four wolves in the original party.

The cream and gray one and the old wolf were obviously residents of the pack that lived here. A bonus, sort of. They weren't of abundant use in though, but she would find one later. Now all that mattered was finding out the way to Paradise…Sheshkemana's heart was desperately ill, and she was tired of this world. She would stop at nothing…

The noble sighed and then glanced at the door. Her daughter should be returning soon enough to give her the news on the wolves. In the meantime, she would—"

Her door slammed open, causing her to sit bolt upright in her chair from sheer surprise, but her eyes narrowed in distaste when she realized who was walking in. Annoyance crept into her steadily level voice, disrupting its oily smoothness. "What do you want, Maron?" she asked, waving her hand in a nonchalant gesture.

Maron's face was tight with something she could not read, but she didn't care. "The Commander wants to know what you're going to do with the wolves…" he started, his voice trembling a little.

Sheshkemana had to keep her face from hardening into a frown, but it was work. "It isn't his place to question me like this." She stated, knowing full well that the soldier was the one who wanted to know, not the Commander. The Commander hadn't suffered wounds from the wolves yet, and well, Maron was only human. "I'm not going to have them all killed yet..." her voice uncharacteristically trailed off as her memeory started sifting through the files, making her practically re-live the torture she had administered and have to watch the pup continually fight her…and fight her again, and again no matter what she did…

"Get out of here!" she suddenly snapped at Maron. "I don't want to see your face again until I ask for it! I'm waiting to see my daughter. Leave!"

Maron flinched as if he had been shocked, and then walked as quickly as he could away from Sheshkemana, leaving her to her own disturbed thoughts.

"Argh! I can't believe this!" Hige complained, nursing his left shoulder and wincing every time he touched it. He, Tsume, Kiba and Getsuei had been slamming into the bars of the cage for the last hour and a half, and still the thing hadn't budged. All of them had recovered quite nicely, though they were still a little sore.

"It's like they're made out of something stronger than steel." Tsume commented, pointedly not touching his shoulder, a look of veiled frustration on his face.

"Are you kidding yourself? A damned tank wouldn't be able to get through this crap!" Hige grumbled. Getsuei snickered, and opened his mouth to say something, but Marel growled loudly in his direction.

Toboe had also pulled through. He was able to get up and walk around without too much difficulty, but his bad wounds and the ugly bruise around his neck was a bit tender. He was a little frustrated himself—Tsume had refused to let him help. "Ramming yourself into the stupid door isn't going to help you get any better." Tsume had told him before issuing a point blank no, with Kiba and Hige, AND Marel to back him up.

"Maybe you guys should take a break," he ventured tentatively, bracing himself for the onslaught of indignant growls he'd receive, but before anyone could reprimand him, Kiba suddenly stiffened, as had Marel.

The big white wolf was staring intently at the door, and with wide eyes ran to the edge. "Who's there?" he demanded, his voice echoing. Marel had also moved to the door, her blind eyes closed, her ears turning in all directions...

"Kiba…?" Toboe had gotten to his feet and also walked to where the others were. Hige was sniffing the air, his eyes closed in concentratiotn.

Getsuei sneered. "You can't smell anything in this stupid cell, Hige. There's something in the air that—"

"Shut the hell up, Getsuei," Tsume growled at him. "Stop trying to stir up trouble, it's really pissing me off!" Getsuei snorted and pointedly turned his back on them.

"What is it, Kiba?" Tsume asked the white wolf, the gray lupine's face turned to the door as well. Toboe felt something, a strange awareness, as if they were…

"Are we being watched?" he asked quietly. The silence was deafening, and Kiba turned briefly to nod at him. The pup's heart rate spiked, at least last time something like this had happened, there had been space to run…but something told him that this other presence wasn't hostile—

"Urgh!" Hige stopped sniffing and frowned. "I can smell a Noble." Tsume and Kiba turned to face him. "A Noble?" Tsume repeated, his own voice taking on a harsh, grating tone. Hige nodded. "Yeah…but it has some other scent, way more…human-ish. They're sorta mixed." Now it was Getsuei's turn to frown.

"That smack to the head must've bashed your brains," the cream and brown wolf said scathingly. "And I had doubted that you had even had one."

"Stop it, Getsuei!" Toboe gestured as he said this. "Leave him alone! Getting all of us riled up isn't going to help—urngh!" Getsuei had grabbed the pup by the lapel of his shirt and punched him, solidly. Toboe spun away, and hit the ground, knowing he'd feel that a lot worse later.

Hige spun to face the other. "What the hell is your problem--?" he started to demand when another, sort of airy-fairy voice broke in.

"Don't start fighting…the gray and cream wolf is merely bitter and worried. But he shouldn't have hit the pup." Toboe, back on his feet, bristled, just like everyone else. Kiba glanced around and asked loudly, "Who's there?"

The sound of rustling cloth all made them turn their heads. Their eyes widened as one—except for Marel, whose ears pricked forward—as Toboe let out a small gasp.

Standing outside of the cell, several feet back and sort of to the right, was a girl.

A/N: Gah. Forgive the crummy chapter. We are having seriously stupid weather over here…It's bright and sunny, yet it's raining like crap and I keep hearing thunder like a big ol' bass drum. –cough- Anyways, thanks again for the great reviews! I'm really happy to see you guys regularly comment; it makes me feel nice inside. I really, really appreciate it! My many hanks to Lonegrey, Kristen and Saberwolf! –glomps- I will try and update as soon as possible.