Toboe moved slowly to keep up with the limping Kiba and Tsume. Tsume was badly hurt, and he needed rest. So Toboe began the lead to where Cheza and the girls were. As he approached, he looked at Shilaze, seeing she was still on edge from the ship.

"Hey!" he called out "Did you guys see that ship?" he asked stupidly. He knew they did. But he was relieved they were not the target. He stepped forward to nuzzle Shilaze, but stopped short. What am I doing? He scolded himself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Tsume had settled somewhere near Cheza, who looked tired herself. The sun wasn't very clear here, and maybe, since she was a flower, she needed it? He looked at Kiba, who was alert, as always.
Shilaze nodded "Yeah we saw the ship..." her eyes got wide as she blushed a deep red as Toboe nuzzled her but pulled away the same time he did Ok that was weird...
"So," Toboe said, trying not to sound so healthy and vibrant around the wounded pack "How are we going to save Hige?"

"...we don't," Kiba replied after a moment's pause. The pack turned to look at him, surprised, but he kept a straight face. "We have no idea who has taken him, and his scent has been cut off. We can't do anything for him." He paused momentarily. "And I have faith in him. He'll find his way out and catch up to us," he finished confidently. The white wolf swayed a little; his human guise was drenched with blood, the entire front of his shirt sticking to his chest with the sticky fluid. The white wolf wobbled over to Cheza, trying not to look weak, and failing miserably. He thought he'd fall over any minute--but Cheza needed to heal Tsume. Tsume was more important.

WHAT? Toboe's mouthed dropped open in complete disbelief. Did Kiba actually say he was going to leave Hige to a most unspeakable death to the Humans...well no, Toboe stopped to listen to the rest.

So Kiba had faith in Hige to return? Toboe nodded, but couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Those Humans, once they get you, its too late... well in the mind of a pup. He could picture Hige stuck in a rusty cage with no food or water, trapped without anyone around him, alone and dying...his eyes filled with tears, but he shook them away like gnats. Kiba said Hige would return, and Kiba was wise. Toboe watched as Kiba painfully limped towards Cheza. She pet Tsume as he sat there panting heavily. Kiba needed to rest too. In fact, they all could use some rest. Toboe went and laid flat off by himself, starring at the entrance to the woods, looking for any sign of Miracle Hige.

Kiba let Cheza pet Tsume a few more times before speaking. "We have to keep moving. Those humans may have moved the airship to trick us into feeling secure; they may still be searching." He picked himself up and began slowly trekking deeper into the woods.

Shilaze glanced over to Cheza. With the others back she'll be safe... but where's Hige? She thought but her question was soon answered. "But.." she started but stopped as Kiba explained it made sense after all they've been together for who knows how long.
Shilaze watched as Toboe walked to the entrances of the woods no doubt he was worried about Hige. She followed after him slightly worried but stopped short "Hige will be fine... he's a fighter..." she heard Kiba announced to keep moving "Come on Kiba's right we need to go." She started to follower after Kiba seeing Meshawa was already following him but stopped to glance back to Toboe waiting for him to catch up.

"Come on Toboe Hige will be fine." Meshawa said not knowing if it were true but it was what the younger wolf needed to hear and saying it out loud would comfort Shilaze as well. "Come on short snout, you and runt stay in front of me so I can keep an eye on our backs." She nipped at Shi's feet to make her move faster as she slowly walked over.

Toboe watched as Kiba rose and said it was time to move on. At the beckoning of the others, he reluctantly rose to his feet. He closed his eyes tight and forced himself to turn around and begin his walk with the others deep in the woods. They are right. Hige is smart, he can find us. The trek was languished a bit, what with both Tsume and Kiba being hurt, and Cheza looked somewhat tired. Not too mention Toboe stopping every once in a while to rub his scent on a passing tree. That way, Hige could easily catch them. He smiled to himself a little, it was the first good idea he had had in a while. But his smile faded as they continued on.

Toboe kept his head down. He was depressed and didn't feel much like trotting along joyfully. Maybe it was the woods? The further in they went, the more the light was choked out by tree branches. Something didn't feel right about this place...it was too quite. Toboe felt too like he was being followed, or being watched.
"Hey runt!" barked Tsume, making Toboe jump, "Stop staring at the ground and keep up!"
Toboe scowled and continued on, keeping close. He knew Tsume was cranky, but he was tired. So it didn't hurt Toboe's feelings too much. Besides, he was glad he was called back. He didn't want to be left alone in a creepy place like this.

Kiba led the pack, carefully stepping over large roots. He had released his abdomen, and slipped into a zombie-like march; the wound wasn't bleeding as much, but still left a trail as his blood drip...dripped onto the forest floor. He made sure to keep Cheza by his side, wishing that she were strong enough to heal him, and reprimanding himself for it

Blue laughed at her new found friend. Blue looked back to were she had be working as a "human". It only seemed so natural; she didn't know what else to do. She was the thing pops hated so much, and pops was the only one she had. She looked at the chubby wolf and forced a smile, "alright just keep up." she began to run in the opposite direction.

Hige kept up with Blue's pace. She was quick, sharp and intensely decisive, and boy was the brown wolf enjoying being pulled around different directions. Every sharp turn to get away from curious human eyes, Hige found himself being flung into the wall, tripping over various objects, and trying not to run into Blue. Blood had begun to seep through the bandages on his arm and leg; there had to be an end to this.

Finally, he saw the front door and followed Blue out, down the stairs, along the dirt road and to the grass. Hige collapsed on his knees, wincing at the pain that still lingered. He turned to see they were quite a distance from the building.

Once Hige caught his breath, he stood again, tossing a curious look at Blue. Was she...worried? Nahh... not about me...

"So." Hige sighed heavy. "Oh, I'm Hige. Thanks for getting me out of there." He looked around at the setting, the building in the distance, the dirt road and grass, going on for miles, still no scent of the pack. He sniffed the air. "I think it's this way. Do you still want to tag along?"

Blue panted, tired from running so fast, blue looked back uncertain, should she go with Hige, maybe he would help her but another part of her didn't want to go. "Yea, I'll tag along for a bit." She smiled
"by the way, I'm... I'm blue."

Hige limped aside of Blue; she had a nice strange scent. He could tell she wasn't all wolf, but she kept beside him which made him feel wanted. She could have easily turned around and went back to the humans, but she didn't. He wondered why she made this decision. It wasn't final, but he accepted her offer of 'tagging along for a bit.'

They walked (he limped) for what seemed like miles. Hige really had nothing witty to say about the bland grass that had passed them for the past two hours. Every now and then, he had to run to catch up with Blue because he kept falling behind.

Hige stopped for a moment to soak up himself. He was really being a wuss around this chick. Hige was going to try his attempt at a Kiba, with determination and the whole package. He took off running in full speed, hoping to get this scene over with.

As luck would have it, the woods began to show in the distance. This was a Kiba moment! No wonder things always seemed to go his way; it was that damn determination of his! Hige would have to do this again!
Hige reached the edge of the woods, tilted his head back and howled as loud as he could.

After they'd been walking a few hours, Kiba's ears perked. He could just barely hear something--a howl, hovering faintly just beyond his hearing. He stopped and turned in the direction of the howl. The corners of Kiba's lips turned up slightly. "I told you," he stated to the others softly, turning his muzzle to the sky--well, the tops of the trees. He would be extremely lucky if Hige heard him; but he had to try. He howled as loud as he could, the noise echoing throughout the uninhabited forest.

Hige finally heard the sound he had been waiting for- a howl in return. It was Kiba's howl.

Hige's tail whipped wildly and he jumped about (before he got all clumsy and hurt himself again). "It's Kiba! Do you hear him, Blue? It's Kiba!" Hige thought that he did seem a little too overexcited to hear Kiba's howl, so he toned it down to smiling and heavy tail wagging.
He howled in return, in a tone that said 'I can hear you!'

Kiba breathed heavily, preparing for a final howl. Finally he released a short answer, saying "Hurry up!"

Shilaze moved back to walk with Toboe ignoring Meshawa's request that she stayed in fount of her. Shilaze walked in silence next to Toboe for a while trying to think of something to say. Finally she thought of something "Toboe... I... or um well... is it me or is this forest creepy?" Sure she had been in dark forests before but this one... well something was different about it, something that made her want to run as fast as she could out of it. If it's just me then well there is nothing to worry about... But... if it's not... she shuddered at the thought.

Hige heard his answer. When he happily finished his reply, he turned to Blue with this big goofy grin on his face. "Want to-..." he began, and saw what seemed to be a slight disappointment in her face. His smile faded. "You know, you can always turn around and go back."

He lowered his ears and secretly wished she wouldn't. There was something about her, other than the fact that she was a hot babe, which Hige couldn't put his paw on. She was unique for sure, mysterious; maybe it was her blue eyes.

Hige gulped a lump away in his throat and curiously, cautiously asked, "Do... do you want to come with me to meet the pack? After that, it's up to you, cause," Hige paused, looking toward the woods, "we're going to find paradise. It might be nice to have another hot babe with us when we get there." Hige couldn't help but curl his lips to a smile. If she didn't smack him now, than she at least liked him. At least, this was Hige's theory.

"Paradise?" Blue let it roll off her tongue, it sounded so lovely. "Yes, I'd love to go." Hige smiled

Blue didn't know what made her to decide to go to this strange place, Things can I only go up from here right, she thought, they have to.

Hige smiled, her answer warmed him over. "Ok, let's go."

He stood to his feet and began to walk into the woods. Everything seemed to be going smoothly for half an hour before things got creepy. Hige wanted to keep his head up and his back strong, he wasn't going to let anything wig him out while Blue was near him.

Hige did have Kiba in his thoughts. When he left him, Kiba was beyond bruised, stabbed, broken, and he still managed to continuously reopen his wounds. Hige had been in the same boat, but he had (what felt like) a lot of sleep. Some of his wounds sealed themselves; some were reopened during the get-away. Nonetheless, he hoped Kiba was well.

They walked along for a long time, past the winding (dead?) trees, now and then glancing up at the intertwined branches overhead. No moonlight had shown through, sounds were vacant, and... Were there any other animals alive in these woods?

Hige looked at Blue. "I'm not sure what direction they're in. I'll signal them, someone will answer as to how close we are."

He tilted his head back and howled.

The pack had settled down to wait for Hige to catch up with them. After a half hour had passed, Kiba's ears perked--another howl. Asking for directions. Kiba slowly opened his half-lidded eyes. He was feeling particularly bad at the moment--cold and clammy, covered in sweat, and dizzy. Cheza still hadn't healed him. Kiba forced his muzzle to the air, opening into a low, quiet howl--he couldn't get it very loud--before suddenly breaking out in a cough. Something felt like it was clogging his air pipe...he couldn't breathe...the white wolf doubled over, hacking at the ground.

When the pack settled down for a time to rest, Toboe was quietly waiting for Hige to return to them, make them whole again. After some time, Hige howled again, to get a sense of where they were. Kiba tried to answer back, but he began to cough violently, and he was wheezing heavily.
"KIBA!" Toboe ran over to him, he could see his belly wound had started oozing again, and with each hacking cough seemed to make the wound worse.
Toboe looked to the others, and too Cheza. Something had to be done, Kiba needed help from Cheza. The young wolf threw up his head and howled as loud as he could in urgent tones telling Hige to hurry up.

Hige heard Kiba's howl, it was too quiet, almost faint. The brown wolf began to trot and jump over the branches. He had to hurry.
A second call came across the woods; it was Toboe, who howled every chance he could. But this howl seemed a lot more like he was yelling for help. From the sound of the howl, Hige was closer than he thought. He kicked up his feet and took off in full gallop, leaping over the broken branches and dry crackly leaves.
Hige saw everybody in the distance, through the branches. He maneuvered through them and ran to the pack.
He stopped when he saw Kiba, panic running through his veins. He couldn't do anything about the pain, and neither could Cheza or anybody really.
Hige sat down beside Kiba, and nudged him with his nose. "Kiba?"

Shilaze was happy to have Hige back with them again... he even brought a friend. While Hige went to Kiba's side Shilaze went to greet the other wolf. Trying to stay out of the way for the others, she seemed to be more hindrance then help when it came to some things.
She walked over to the other wolf tail wagging "Hi... I'm Shilaze... what's your name?" she asked trying not to be overly happy while the others were more worried about Kiba and Tsume... At least she thought they were

Kiba clutched at his stomach, vaguely aware of the others; but it wasn't just his stomach wound causing the sudden pain. It was something else, something sharper and blunter at the same time; He could feel something clogging his throat, crawling its way up--his muzzle forced itself open, and with a violent hack, the white wolf spit something onto the ground...

A smooth sphere blackened and dull. Before anyone could get a good look at it, it crumbled like coal.

Hige's mouth dropped in surprise, or amusement, maybe in total shock. He knew he wasn't alone; there was no freaking sound from anywhere. All Hige could hear was his chest pounding with all sorts of questions wanting to burst out of his mouth. The only thing that he could manage, at first, was a heavy spit of air and the most obvious question: "What the fuck was THAT?

Toboe felt a sense of relief. He realized just how attached he had gotten to all the wolves. He had a pack now, some place to belong.

Hige brought someone else with him, a girl. Toboe knew Hige had a love for the ladies, so he brushed it off. Until he got a good look at her. A familiar scent wafted his way, revealing a familiar fear. She is...she was with that human! She tried to kill us! Toboe began to cower and ran closer to Tsume, sticking right by his side.

His eyes were forced to watch a hacking Kiba. He wasn't just coughing to cough; he was trying to cough something up? Suddenly a round little ball came out, and crumbled.

Toboe let his jaw remain open as he stared at the crumbled little heap. He was left speechless.

Blue looked at the other wolves, these, these were the wolves pops was having me hunt she thought to herself. She became nervous but tried to hide it as best as she could, she smiled weakly to the wolf that greeted her, "I'm blue," she forced out.
She heard the pain the white wolf was in and watched from where she stand, nervous.

Kiba placed a paw forward on the ground, trying to support himself, breathing heavily with half-lidded eyes. He knew what it was, but he couldn't let the others find out. If they knew, they'd surely desert him. Dizziness and blood loss overcame him then as Kiba fell forward onto the ground.

Hige nudged Kiba with his nose. After a few pokes, he sat down, looking at the others. "We should let him rest. He lost a lot of blood. If he keeps moving, nothing is going to heal and we might loose him."

Hige never felt like a leader, but he knew that that was important to say. He had been there in the building where Kiba received his wounds and where Cheza healed him, but circumstances made them reopen.

Most of the pack was badly injured, including Cheza (who was wilting, mind you). Toboe had already been healed so he was the strongest. Hige looked at his bandages, scratches, gouges and spots of cringed fur from where he had been zapped the night before. This was all too much for him. He should have been roaming the city in search of hot dog vendors. Which reminded him, his stomach growled.

To distract himself, he looked over at Blue, who had been looking really nervous. He forced a smile. "Oh, guys, this is Blue. She helped me escape." Hige paused, letting the last fact sink in before he continued. He wondered if it would be a good idea to continue, to mention that he was found at a workhouse, and she had been working there as a human.

Instead, Hige lay down beside Kiba, crossing his paws. He set his head on his paws, closing his eyes.

When Kiba finally lay on the ground, Toboe became almost sick with worry. He shivered a bit at the remembrance of that painful hacking noise. What pain Kiba was in! If Toboe thought a bullet through the leg hurt...then how could Kiba stand his wounds? But that was what separated him from the others...fighting experience and strength. Hige spoke, telling the others Kiba needed to rest. Toboe was all for that. They couldn't lose Kiba, or anyone else for that matter.

Hige then introduced the stranger to the others. Toboe couldn't look at her directly, because all he could do was see big white fangs and angry eyes coming right for him. He kept his head to the ground and mumbled a quite "Hi-nice-to-meet-you" before getting to his feet. He knew she wasn't probably a danger now, since she hadn't tried to maim anyone since her arrival. He looked up into her blue eyes and tried his best smile. He then got to his feet.
Tsume was scarred just as much as Kiba was. His mouth was flat, face straight, eyes cold. Hige brought a female with him, "Hmm...I see you found a girl huh Porky? Err..." Finally, the gray wolf moved, grunting a tad as his back sluggishly lifted off from the tree trunk. He acknowledged Blue enough: She was pretty yet, beautiful actually, with the blue eyes and black hair, but Tsume was directing himself towards Toboe and Kiba

Hige wasn't asleep. He lay with his eyes shut, which he wished the others, would do as well, at least to relax. But apparently, not everyone was on the same wagon. Hige ignored Tsume's brash remark about Blue being his "girl", and the Porky comment. Blue was very hot, but as far as looks goes, "Porky" most likely not in her forte'. Being as sexy as she is, Blue probably went for types like Tsume, strong, silent, and dangerous.
The brown wolf snorted, keeping his eyes shut. At least Tsume was back to his own self. He hadn't heard a nasty comment from him since they got to this city.

"You guys rest up, I'll keep guard. This place kinda gives me the creeps." Toboe eyed the sky of branches nervously and trotted off to begin his circle of their camp. This place was odd. It was so...quiet. Almost as if the pack were the only living things to have settled in for quite some time. Toboe could hear his heartbeat grow quicker with each step, and another thing he noticed was there were no other scents in the air aside from wolf and earth. He felt as if he was being watched...or hunted. "Man, I sure wouldn't want to live..."But he was caught off by the sound of wings beating the stagnant air above him. Toboe hit the deck and looked up, his eyes circling around trying to see just what the hell that was.

"Gokurosan no hoo!" A voice cooed from above. "Excellent job detecting me, oukami. Poor, lost little oukami--Why are you here? Who are you where? Are you as think as I drunk you are? Gokurosan no hoo! Hoo!" the owl called

"The Hell..." The two words Tsume only muttered.

The flap of the wings caught Hige's attention. He lifted his head to the sound of the owl, and then heard him talking. He was more than creepy. And it was very curious because the owl was the only one alive besides them. "What the hell?"