Hige stood to his feet and began to follow Kiba and Cheza. With every step, Hige realized that Cheza didn't heal him, and he regretted it. He tried to keep up, but failed a few times. Hige stopped and looked down another hall. His senses were coming back to him because he smelled food. Instinctively, he began walking down the separate hall.

He paused, after a moment, turned and began to hurry back to Kiba and Cheza. Food would (certainly) have to wait.

Two humans ran past the hallway, not even noticing Hige. He quickly (painfully) leapt out of sight, cursing himself. He heard more and more human feet coming his direction.

Hige took a deep breath, jumped from his hiding spot, and began running back to the hallway where he left Kiba and Cheza. He turned the right direction, heading down the hallway.

The two humans now had their guns in their hands, firing away.

Cheza turned to look to see if Hige was following them. She had noticed that he was weak. She was too busy healing Kiba to even start healing him. She could hear the gun fire in the distance. She knew Hige was near by, but couldn't see him. She turned back to Kiba.

"Hige is missing," she told him.

Captain Jeso watched as the water flowed out from the open doors, and watched as two wriggling forms pushed their way out into a hall, followed by what looked like a drowning brown shape. The water wasn't draining fast enough for the captain. Every second of lost sight on those wolves meant a greater chance for their escape with the flower maiden. The Captain ran up the water logged stairs, and headed out the door to a main hall, with a sergeant screaming behind him "Captain! Captain Jeso...wait!"

Jeso ran down a hall, heading for the conference room, his feet sloshing on the soaked carpet. He wanted to alert the rest of the squadron, but gunshots tore him away from the doorknob. They found 'em

His blood pumped even faster as the Captain headed down towards the sounds of the guns. He stopped behind two officers, greenhorns by the looks of them. He was nearly shot when he tried to tell them cease fire. "Damnit Jeso, stop it. Your gonna drive them outta here, if they get the flower maiden..." he cursed "Just point where they went!" One officer numbly pointed in a direction down a hall, and added "It was only one sir...and there was no flower maiden"

Jeso didn't stay to ask questions, he headed down the hall, gun drawn. He turned just before disappearing around a corner "Tell all the men to gather at the south entrance. We'll cut those bastards off!"

Kiba looked to Cheza. "Again?" Kiba sniffed the air. "He isn't far off." The sound of gunshots resonated through the hall. "K'so..." Kiba ran back the way they'd come.

Hige sat shaking behind an overturned table. He was in no mood (or condition for that matter) to be shot at. He licked a new wound on his arm that he received from the humans. Blood came from it faster than his other wounds, and it stung horribly.

The gunfire ceased and Hige heard footsteps fade into the next room. He tried to stand, but his front leg gave out under him. After a moment, Hige stood with difficulty and made his way limping down the hall. He came to an open door and nudged it with his nose. He stared at the stairway leading to the upstairs.

He knew the only way to tell Kiba and Cheza there was an unguarded way out, at this point, was to call to them. Hige thought it over for a second, tilted his head back, and howled.

Kiba heard the howl come from the adjoining hall. He looked back to be sure that Cheza was right beside him, and tilted his head in the direction of the howl. "This way!" he shouted, his human illusion grabbing Cheza's hand and pulling her down the hall. He found Hige sitting by an empty stairwell, bleeding. He'd almost reached him when a rifle suddenly came into his field of vision.

The barrel of the rifle, anyway

That sound made the very blood in Captain Jeso's veins run cold as ice. It was a howl, a howl from ancient days. It caused him to skid to a halt, and turn back in the direction it came from. He must be calling the other; he must have found a way out! The Captain ran as fast as he could, wishing he hadn't slacked off his morning exercises. He wanted to call for back up, but he hadn't the time. Those damn things could have gotten away already, time was running out.

With a last burst of energy, the Captain rounded the corner and halted, gun instinctively raised, finger ready to twitch at his command. But what met his eyes at the entrance to the stairs wasn't what he expected. It almost knocked the wind clean from his lungs, and his eyes sprung wide open like a jack-in-the-box lid. It was not two wolves and the flower maiden. Those... They were... boys. Just boys. The Captain couldn't fathom this, his mind reeling, constantly trying to add up figures, but nothing came about. Nothing made sense. His mind reverted back to instinct, to protocol, the only thing that was solid now.

"Y... you two. St-Stop! That, creature is the property of the nobles, you will hand her over to me and surrender yourselves, and those wolves you have here quietly" But somehow, these simple words felt hollow, empty. He pointed his gun at the boy in jeans; his eyes held a wildness the captain felt he'd seen before. "I mean it damnit, Hand her over and no one gets hurt!" He almost screamed this last part in a last ditch effort to expel some kind of authority in his voice. But he knew, somehow, deep down inside, that these boys were not going to follow orders.

Kiba turned to look at the soldier, blue eyes blazing. "We're trying to get to Paradise." He grabbed Cheza and pulled her behind him. "Don't get in our way!" Kiba took Cheza's hand and swung her toward Hige. "Take her!" Kiba then leapt, teeth bared, at the soldier. He realized it was stupid, but hey, he was Kiba.

Hige grabbed Cheza's hand and began to walk... er limp upstairs. He left a trickle of blood with every step, but he knew they had to get away. At the top of the stairs, he glanced down to see if Kiba had made it too.

Paradise?

That word erupted a flood of childhood memories for Jeso. He'd heard tales, merely stories, about a paradise made for wolves, and the end of humanity. But they were stories and nothing more...or was it a reality? Jeso didn't know what to think anymore. His mind had switched to animalistic mode long ago. He looked at the boy and watched him hand... no shove, the flower maiden towards the other, and tell him to go. The captain's mind clicked, and he heard his orders clear as a church bell.

Maintain the flower maiden at all costs. At all costs

the last part filled his eyes with rage. Death hung in the air all around him, and he became drunk on it. He squeezed the trigger of his standard issue Beretta and waited for the flesh tearing sound. But it was replaced with the click, click of an empty gun. The world fell on Jeso, and he felt ten times heavier. He threw the useless metal scrap and picked up his hunting knife and lunged for the boy/wolf. His mind screaming At all costs! At all costs!

Kiba's eyes widened. Kiba had already been in the air when the soldier dropped his gun and tore out a blade; he was completely unable to change his course, and ran straight into the hunting knife. Kiba let out a sharp yelp, collapsing to the floor as Jeso pulled the knife out. Kiba quickly struggled to his feet, little puddles of blood quickly dripping from the wound.

Jeso nearly laughed out loud when the knife struck the wolf, his mind far gone from sanity. He was filled with instincts alone now.

"You bastards will never get out of here alive. I must maintain the flower. You can't have her!"

He lunged again, aiming for the wolf's throat. But he was being careless...and in a split second, Jeso feared death, memories of his daughter left at home, and he reflexes, causing him to miss the wolf and face plant onto the ground.

Hige heard Kiba's yelp, and began to hurry down the stairs. He quickly turned to Cheza, "Stay close!"
Three steps from the bottom of the floor, Hige lunged at Jeso, sinking his fangs into the wrist holding the hunting knife.

Cheza knew the knife had wounded Kiba. His blood hung thick in the air. Soon, it was joined by the scent of human blood. She had wanted to try and heal Hige some, but he jumped into the fray before she could get the chance.

"Kiba!" she shouted, trying to get his attention.

They had to leave, and quickly.

Kiba turned to Hige, thankful for the wolf's help, but angry that he had come back instead of escaping with Cheza. Kiba regained his human illusion, standing shakily to his feet, one hand clenched over his stomach. "Come on, let's go," Kiba muttered, stumbling to the steps and grabbing Cheza's hand.

Hige hurried up the steps as well, following Kiba down the hall, licking his chops. He noticed that both wolves were now leaving a trail of blood. This wasn't good for either of them. They'll be easily tracked.

Jeso felt the pain instantly. It was a hot searing pain, as if he had just stuck his hand in fire. That other wolf had his hand. The bones in his wrist crunched and the pain flowed over Jeso, causing him to get dizzy, all strength ebbing away. Just before darkness claimed him, he saw the wolves and the lunar flower leave. He gently said "I guess you win wolf" and smiled as he drifted deep into sleep.

Kiba gently pulled Cheza up the stairs, pain scrunching his features. There was no time to stop; Kiba had no time to be weak over a flesh wound. The stairs stopped abruptly, and there before them were two silver double doors with buttons beside them.

Kiba wasn't sure what it was, but went and beeped the button with his nose anyhow.

Hige tapped his foot in his human illusion. There always seemed to be a slightly delay in elevators, and Hige knew that tapping always seemed to make time pass by quickly.

The elevator swooshed open and a human stood there. Hige about attacked, but he realized the guy was unharmed.

The curly red head stood there, with a puzzled look on his face. "You three coming on? I have to be at a show in 5 minutes."

Hige wasn't sure if this was real or not, but Carrot Top was in the elevator.

"..." Kiba glared at the human, pulling Cheza into the elevator with him, carefully protecting her should the human choose to attack.

Cheza was growing tired. With the running around, the swimming from earlier and the healing she had done, she hadn't found time to replenish her energy. In addition, with the blood still hanging in the air, her head began to swim slightly. She knew Hige needed to still be healed and with Kiba's knew injury; he wasn't as strong as he normally was. Still, she knew that above all, they all needed to get to safety. That was most important.

The elevator closed. The curly red-haired human began to grow uneasy with the two humans bleeding. He got closer to the door.

Hige scooted closer to Kiba and Cheza, wary of the human as well.

The elevator opened to a stage, and the human walked out onto it, with blinding lights pointing directly at him.

Hige noticed the three of them were in spotlight as well, in front of thousands of troops.

Kiba looked at Hige warily. Before they could do anything, a tiny man wearing a bright red handkerchief on his head reached into the elevator and pulled them out. "Come now, we need some backup dancers for Mr. Carrot Top!"

Hige stared at the tiny man with large eyes. "..."
"Um, but we're not his backup dancers. We're trying to get out of here."

The tiny man shushed Hige then pushed both him and Kiba further to the stage. "Dance, you girls, DANCE!"

Unknown to Hige, Carrot Top took Cheza's hands and began to dance with her, towards the stage, down the steps and into the audience.

"Ch-Cheza!" Kiba yelled wide-eyed, rushing toward Cheza. The tiny man pushed him back. "Dance, you two! Just chant "C-A-L-L-A-T-T!"

Just then, a strange whistling came from somewhere. The elevator door opened and out came Cowboy Andy on his steed Onyx. He ran past Hige and Kiba, leaped off the stage, and whipped Cheza into his arms.

"Don't worry my little flower; I'll save you from these evil wolves!"

He tugged on Onyx, and took off up the auditorium and through a set of swinging doors, the hoofs fading into the distance.

Carrot Top looked baffled, Hige was in mid sentence "C-A-L-L..."
and the audience of troops just realized what the guy on the horse said out loud.

Kiba stared blankly for a moment. "...I really hate BONES." He then took off top-speed after Cheza, running through the aisle of the audience. His wound tore even more in the process, leaving a thick trail of blood in his wake.

Within about 10 seconds there were dozens of troops following after him.

And Hige was on the other side. Lucky him.

Hige gasped! The troops were already swarming around Kiba, so if he followed, he would be caught for sure. He had only one way out.

Hige ran for the audience leaped on top of Carrot Top. He stuck his hand in his hoodie pocket and grabbed the red head's neck, and began to jerk him around. Hige shouted, "I'll shoot his freaking head off! Now, back up, or the curly haired one gets it!"

Hige KNEW this was his stupidest idea ever, but the guards actually began to move.
Both of them made their way up to the swinging doors. Hige let go of Carrot Top and bolted as fast as his legs could take him.

Being a celebrity has some merit.

Except when Hige let him go, the troops began to follow at a rapid phase.

Kiba chased after the cowboy, wondering what the hell was going on. He stumbled a few times, but eventually was able to leap onto the horse, snatch Cheza, and jump back off. They had somehow wound up outside. That was all well and good, but there were dozens of troops rushing to surround him, and where the hell was Hige? A sudden stabbing pain in his wound caused Kiba to double over, one hand grasping his wound and the other holding Cheza's hand tightly.

Hige knew this was it. He was either going to die tonight or he was going to escape and find that blue-eyed beauty in his dreams.

Hige ran faster, coming up on the guards that had their guns pulled on Kiba. He leapt and took out three guards, jumped at five more, and took out the remaining ones. Hige, at first, fell to his knees, but stood up and found himself outside. He ran to Kiba, grabbed him by the waist, and limped quickly back to where he hoped Tsume and Toboe were hiding.

Kiba let out a pained gasp when Hige scooped him up, arm pressing up against his wound. He wasn't quite sure where he was--the world was spinning--but he kept clasping Cheza's hand tightly. He could feel her hurrying alongside them. Kiba tried to open his mouth and tell Hige to put him down, but his body had stopped listening to him. If it weren't for the pain, being held like this wouldn't be so bad.

Hige stopped at the top of a hill, which was nearby the abandoned building that Tsume, Toboe and the girls made a hide out in. Guards were now swarming all over the building like roaches.

Hige, who was still on his second wind of pissed off energy, growled. "There are about two dozen of them. Can you stand, Kiba?"

He just noticed his red hand dripping with Kiba's blood. "Oh crap!"
Hige gently laid Kiba down, whose face looked distant and pale.

"Kiba?" He nudged him with his nose and licked his cheek, hoping to get a response. "KIBA? Damnit, come on!"

Kiba squeezed his eyelids shut, then slowly opened them. The world was still spinning insanely, but it was a little better since he was lying down. He saw a big brown shape next to him. "...Hige?" he asked quietly. His body felt like lead, and any passerby would see a young boy with a blood-soaked white shirt. The tops of his jeans were red as well.

Cheza collapsed next to Kiba. She wanted to heal him again, but her energy was still low. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to at least give him a small measure of comfort.

Hige smiled broadly, his eyes dancing. "You! You scared me for a moment there!" He gushed, one hand behind his neck.

Hige quickly grew serious. "There are two dozen guards here. I'm going down there to help Toboe and the others." He looked at Cheza, "Stay with him, make sure he doesn't move."

Hige stood up and jumped down the hill, racing for first guard that came across his site. He leapt onto his back, sinking his teeth into the man's neck.

This was going to be a difficult fight if someone else didn't show up, Hige thought to himself, as his arm went out when he hit the ground.

Toboe smelled Hige, Kiba and Cheza! They were close! He smiled wide, he was glad they were alive. His delight grew until guards began swarming the hill. The little shack wouldn't provide a good enough shelter from bullets, and Toboe knew he'd have to put up a fight for once. Hige appeared and Toboe yelled out to him

"Hige! Hige what do w..."

His words were cut short when a bullet sliced through his leg. Toboe howled with pain. He'd never been shot before, and the pain was unimaginable. But the pain was replaced quickly with a different sensation, fear and the desire to live. He looked around for Hige, for help. He was also looking for Tsume...