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

Before the Red Moon

Ren quickly whisked up the staircases that led from the darkness of the dungeon, careful to maintain her human illusion as to keep her mother's secret safe. Oh, they knew that Sheshkemana had a daughter, but they had no idea who the father was. Her mother planned to keep it that way. Her claws made almost no sound against the hard surfaces of the staircases and the halls as she breezed by, and it was not long before she reached the great double doors of her throne room.

With a sigh, she opened them slowly, and walked with great composure and poise to her mother—the source of all the bitterness in her life. She hated the throne room…the burning red lights and the excessive shadow—and her mother with her revealing costume all galled her to the core, but none of it appeared on her smooth as silk features. She had long ago trained herself to keep her emotions hidden away.

Stopping at the foot of the ugly throne, she knelt and bowed her head before straightening. "Yes, Mother?" Sheshkemana's face was just as inscrutable as that of her daughter's, but her eyes gleamed with a spark of annoyance. "You sure took your time in getting here, girl. So tell me, what have you learned from the wolves?" her voice took on an eager ring at the end of her sentence.

Ren lowered her eyes and related, "I have learned nothing. My appearance startled them, maybe even frightened them, and they questioned me. But I revealed nothing of my past or parentage," she lied, knowing with great certainty that her mother could never guess that she had uttered a falsehood. Perhaps her mother saw through those of others, but never through her own daughter's. "Besides," Ren continued softly. "Your calling cut the meeting short."

Sheshkemana showed the faintest trace of emotion—annoyance—when Ren told her this, but she managed to control her smooth face. "Very well then. Go down there tomorrow, Ren, and do not fail me. I understand it will take some time, but no longer than a moon. Paradise calls me, and there will be a place for you too. Go down at dawn, and come back at midday. Now, leave me."

"Yes, mother," Ren replied, her feathery voice almost inaudible as she inclined her head once more, straightened and walked slowly from the room, her mind racing underneath her expressionless face. She had to free the wolves sooner before the month was up. And if she dilly dallied and brought no information of the wolves and Paradise, her mother would catch on to the fact that something was up.

She quickly went up to her room, again at a pace that her mother would be angry to see her move at, and retired to her chambers before her guards would arrive. It was a hideously adorned room; there was no space for her to be what she was. The one thing that she liked about it, was the wide window, thrown open wide, letting the silver light of the moon seep into the space, adding strength to the young half wolf. The feeling made her suddenly angry with herself. The wolves in the prison hadn't eaten or drank for almost four days…damn. She stood up, and with some reluctance left the radiance of the full moon and then opened her door again. Her guards had arrived.

"Ren." They stood to attention as they awaited her orders. They were they were the only people in the entire keep that she could trust. "Odakota. Sanyu. I have jobs for the both of you." They were fully aware of her wolfish heritage, and had raised her from the time when she was barely a pup. Odakota and Sanyu were siblings, brother and sister, but were almost like parents to Ren.

"Listen closely, my good friends…you know the prisoners down in the penitentiary are wolves, and though not through blood, they are my kind. None of them had eaten and drank for days, and the light of the moon is denied them all the way down there. Please get them something, but be discreet about it."

"Don't worry, M'lady," Sanyu said, tossing her short black hair and smiling at the half wolf. "No one will ever guess." With that, brother and sister disappeared down the hallway. Ren retreated back to her room, trying to quell her uneasy thoughts. Nothing would be solved until tomorrow.

"Okay, now you guys have to admit it, that was really dodgy!" Getsuei complained, stuffed in a corner, his fur fluffed up, his eyes darting from side to side.

Hige was trying to sleep, but it wasn't coming through. What they had all just seen was somewhat disturbing and very unnerving. There was too much to think about to sleep. "Shut up, Getsuei, for the millionth time!" He said with a yawn, obviously trying to retain his nonchalant air.

Toboe was curled in the back corner, hugging his knees, a pensive look on his face. That noble-wolf girl seemed perfectly trustworthy, now that she was gone. Her ways had been friendly, despite her bluntness on explaining herself. But there was probably no sugar coated way to deliver news like that anyway…

"Getsuei, you've denigrated into a cat while I've been holed up here or something!" Marel snapped irritably, her tail twitching from side to side. "I've finally figured out what's been up with you, you've turned into a damned cat."

Hige found this extremely funny and started to laugh. Tsume did the same, but his laughing wasn't as uproarious as Hige's. Toboe started to giggle too, Marel's thought easing the trouble on his mind. "That's funny, Marel," he congratulated, but the belly laughing that eventually evolved from the giggles reminded him of his empty stomach.

Getsuei humphed and looked crabbier than usual, turning his head with a snort and glaring at the wall.

Once the laughter had subsided, bellies started to growl. Hige's was easily the loudest, and it wasn't long before he started to moan. "Ugg…I'm so hungry, I could eat Getsuei," he groaned. "And that's saying something." "Quiet, Porky, it hasn't been too long," Tsume replied.

Toboe was certain that Hige's Getsuei remark was going to stir up more trouble. "Hige, don't say things like that!" he said, trying to keep the peace—just as his stomach complained loudly. He flopped back against the wall like jell-o with a sigh.

Kiba's voice was that of reason just as a very pissed Getsuei just about said something rude. "We've gone longer without food before. We'll be fine."

Just as he said this, another clang echoed in the room, causing all ears to prick up and all heads to turn in the direction of the noise. And then, Toboe scented something that cut through the odor destroying chemical. His hunger probably allowed him to detect it—food and water.

Hige had already leaped to his paws, an expression of hungry idiocy on his face. "I smell meat!" he said, his voice shrill. Tsume sighed throatily. "What the hell makes you think its for us? It could be those two idiots, Maron and Kem or whatever their names are coming down here to taunt us. Better just go to sleep."

"After that creepy noble-wolf girl? I'm gonna have nightmares!" Getsuei grumbled.

The scent of food came ever closer, and Toboe's mouth started to water uncontrollably, but his heart sank in disappointment when Tsume's words struck home…maybe it was just Kem and Maron, and he wasn't looking forward to seeing their ugly faces again—

The thought of negativity came a halt as two guards, a man and a woman, carrying a crate appeice, halted in front of the door. The wolves watched them carefully.

Toboe tensed. He had never seen these nobles before…his surprise tripled as a couple yards of bar seemed to fall away and the man pushed the first create though. It landed with a clunk, right beside Getsuei's face, who jumped back in surprise.

Toboe wanted to say something, but just as he opened his mouth, the woman pushed the second crate in and said in a gentle voice, "This is from Lady Ren. Don't worry, it's not poisoned." With that, the two nobles replaced the bars and quickly walked away, leaving the six wolves in stunned silence.

"Uh, uh, thanks!" Toboe called almost a half minute after they had gone, his voice echoing hollowly in the hall. Hige was already tearing the first crate apart in his eagerness to get to the meal. After he ripped the top off, he was rewarded with the sight of fresh cut meat, enough so that each wolf wouldn't have to go hungry. There wasn't enough water in the second crate to drink too much, but it was enough.

After a brief hesitation, all the wolves had dug in.

It was way late now. Toboe assumed that all the wolves were asleep, but he had stayed up, after waking from a nightmare involving Sheshkemana, Ren, Maron, Kem and a knife. The shade of the nightmare haunted him, keeping him aware for long hours and it wasn't until pure exhaustion came over him that he closed his eyes.

A/N: Wow! A new reviewer! I welcome you, Tweak. Muchas Gracias. It's great to hear from all of you guys, Lonegrey—yay! Love hearin' from you—Kristen, thanks very much! –grins happily- I'm glad you guys like the story, and I'm really grateful for your faithful reviewing, as silly as that sounds. I'm quite flattered. Not that it matters, I'm going to be an author when I get older…I have started to write my first novel, 'tis almost done…-COUGH- anyway, thanks again and I'll update soon! By the way, not that it means anything, but Ren is a Japanese name that means 'water lilly'. -