DISCLAIMER: I don't own Wolf's Rain.
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:TOWARDS A LOST PARADISE:
a Wolf's Rain fanfiction
by C.o.m.t.e.s.s.a
:CHAPTER 5:
:Finding you:
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"I close my eyes and I keep seeing things,
rainbow waterfalls,
sunny liquid dreams.
Confusion creeps inside me, reigning doubt,
Want to get to know you
But I don't know how."
:"Call me, call me" from Cowboy Bebop:
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".…" talking
(….) thinking
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In the heap of a fallen edifice, amidst a great block of askew rocks and debris, a huge tree stood. Tall and lush branches massed together in a profound green of leaves, contrasting against the gray of the ground and the sky. At it's feet a mass of huge roots embraced the remnants of the building, protruding like veins. Between them a small cave opened, and it was there where the last wolf that came from the Wild laid asleep.
No sooner had his eyes opened, though that he groaned.
(Not him again…)
Kibad awoken to the feeling a splitting headache and the most brilliant smile he'd ever seen shinning his way.
(I wonder if he's ever pulled a muscle, smiling like that…) he mused distantly.
Hovering closely over him was the pup he'd seen before; the same strands of coppery hair falling over his big, identically coloured eyes like an upturned bowl of noodles. The same pointy, innocent face. The same goofy smile. The same whiff of wilderness and humans.
Kiba tried to control his instinctive glare, but failed.
Baring his fangs he asked evenly. "What do you want this time?"
Tooboe cringed. Slowly, he sat up from his position on all fours and surveyed the fallen wolf. He was on his side, legs stretched in front of him, deeply submerged in the depths of a cave at the roots of a huge oak tree, barely discernable in the tree's darkness.
He smiled inwardly at the deja vù. (Ookami-san was lying like this the first time I saw him.)
Quickly though, he remembered he still had to answer. "Anou, I'm glad I finally found you," Tooboe replied a tad nervously but grinning. "I wasn't sure if I'd see you again, you know? It's really hard to find your scent on the city, and I'm not very good using my nose anyway but I smelled the wind and it told me where you were and I was really glad to find you because I was worried you might have got lost, you know? It's really hard here in the city, cause one never knows what might happen and you can end up st—"
"Stop for a minute, will you?" Kiba groaned and wobbly stood up. "You're giving me migraine."
Silently, the white wolf moved out of the tree's shelter and unhurriedly down the enormous pile of stone rubble the tree was lying on. Tooboe blinked a couple of times and pursued him hot on the other's heels.
"Ne, wait! You're hurt, why don't you let me see the wound?" he followed the other hurriedly. "Please, I know how to treat them, my granny taught me and…please, I just want to help you." He stopped, his voice fading in a strained whisper.
Kiba stopped too, eyes narrowing.
The soft rustle of the wind blew dust and the chills of a locked up, human made winter. It made the fur of the older wolf move languidly, tail barely swishing. His aura was tense and as chilling as the weather.
He raised his head and without turning grumbled, "Why?"
"Wha-what?" Tooboe stuttered, caught off guard.
This time, Kiba did turn. His handsome wolfish features were void of emotion, yet his eyes, such rich gold-coloured eyes had a frozen quality…as if the pure rage of a winter storm were looking directly at you.
Tooboe couldn't help but quiver were he stood.
"Why?" Kiba repeated evenly. "Why do you want to help? What are you trying to gain?"
"Nothing! I- I don't want nothing in return, really!" Tooboe hurriedly said, eyes wide with sincerity.
Kiba raised an eyebrow, clearly stating he didn't believe a word. "You're are not only a pet, then but also a fool." One more time he turned, and began walking. "Every one wants something."
Tooboe trotted behind, eyes slightly downcast. Rapidly gaining courage, he refused to give up. "That's not true. People help each other sometimes without wanting nothing of it."
Kiba huffed. "You should know more. I don't mix with people."
Tooboe quickly fixed his eyes on the other's back, not really sure how to answer.
Silence fell between them. Only their muted steps –and Kibas dragging his wounded leg- was heard moving throughout scorching cold streets and alleys. Everything was half falling to pieces on the old part of the Dome. Buildings, vegetation, everything had seemed to somehow merge with each other to create a sort of bubbled Amazonian ruins picture.
Tooboe looked from one side to the other, ears alert and nose wrinkling. (This place gives me the creeps...) Silently, he quickened his pace and approached Kiba a little more for safety's sake.
"Where are you from?" Kibas low voice said smoothly, finally breaking the long silence and slicing the tension between them like a sword's blade.
Tooboe jerked away from his paranoid speculations and looked in wonderment at the other. (This is the first time he asks me something, and nicely too…)
"I…ehmm…I'm not quite sure. My obaa-san found me lying at the Dome's entrance when I was very little, so…" Tooboes voice trailed off and he made a slight gesture with his right paw that Kiba, for being ahead, obviously lost.
"Hn."
Tooboe sweat dropped. The order's chatting abilities were outstanding. He smiled ruefully, I'll have to do the talking, then.´ "And you, ookami-san? Where are you from?"
Kiba raised a pristine eyebrow, golden eyes peering back through his left shoulder. Ookami-san? Where did that come from?´ Shrugging, he replied evenly, "The Eastern Realm, near the Three Peaks and the Howling Mountains."
Tooboe cocked his head to a side, puzzled. "Anou…and where is that?"
Kiba sighed. (I should've known he wouldn't understand…) "Away to the East," he replied simply, not finding another way to explain.
"Oh," the coppery wolf said, biting his lower lip in concentration. "Sou desu ne…is it cold there, too? What is a mo- mountain like?" he asked with a slight waver, as the path they where now moving across was full of spiky detritus.
Tooboe jumped from rock to rock unsteadily, mutedly praying to every god above to not let him fall face first in front of the other. Meanwhile, some paces ahead, Kiba moved quite gracefully –though strenuously, too. His muscles ached and the left hind leg sizzled with every jerk or pull he played on it, yet his proud demeanor would not be diminished. Limping, he made his way down and about, muzzle tightly shut to avoid any sound to be voiced.
Behind him, Tooboe suddenly slipped. With a cry, he tumbled down in a painful cloud of stones and dust. Finally he stopped, undignifieingly sprawled at the other's feet. Through his coppery fur he blushed and nervously laughed as he stood up on four shaky legs.
Kiba fixed his amber eyes on Tooboe, a tad amused at his antics. In the canvas of his mind, images of the chubby, snow-coloured pups of his pack appeared, wrestling and growling as they fake-fought against each other on the mountain's hidden valleys. Thirteen they were on the last count, all bubbly energy, full of life. Thirteen they had been, corpses lying at his feet, furs rimed with the blue of frost and the angry red of blood, vacant eyes forever staring at the future that extinction had deprived them of.
(They are all dead.) A pang in his heart.
Kiba turned around and hissed as his hind leg jerked in a bad movement. Tooboe immediately jumped off the last ledge, worry overriding his past embarrassment.
"Ookami-san, you're bleeding!" His wolven form rippled away, and a boy stood in it's place, rapidly approaching the other's left rear intent on inspecting the wound.
But Kiba was faster and in a blur of white leaped away, a deep growl reverberating on his chest.
"Don't touch me!" he rasped. "Just stay away."
Tooboe took some steps back, chewing the right side of his lower lip. Kiba shifted his gaze from the boy and slid it through the empty streets. It had been a mistake coming here, the scent of moon flowers had apparently vanished. Again and again…I tire of Rakuens hide-and-seek games.´ He needed to get away quickly, to continue his hunt for the hana no shoujo. He needed to put some distance between himself and the strange boy, between his present and the dead past.
But Tooboe had something else planned. He wouldn't miss another chance, wouldn't cower again. Standing up as straight and stiff as possible, fisting his hands in order for them to stop shaking so much, he inhaled deeply and said, "No."
Kibas brows lowered dangerously.
Tooboe swallowed. Oh, Kami what am I doing! He's going to chew my head off!´ Breathing noticeably a couple of times more to calm his thrumming heart and frightful thoughts, he repeated more firmly. "No, I won't go away. Don't be so obstinate, ookami-san, you need help," The boy's eyes gleamed, his face slightly pouty. "Please, come with me and I'll see to your wounds. I swear that once you're ok, I won't bother you anymore."
Kiba snorted. "And what makes you think I need your help?"
Tooboe raised his left eyebrow. Crossing both arms behind his head, he kicked a stray pebble on the ground. "Well…because you are bleeding your life off, famelic and reeking of dead dog." Blinking, he blushed and fastly covered his mouth with both hands. (Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god! I just said that out loud!)
He extended an appeasing hand, nervously laughing and feeling flustered. He did not know what to do to pacify the wolf and at the same time try to find a quick way out of there with all his body parts intact. But to his surprise, Kiba didn't jump to his throat in bloody carnage as he thought he would but instead barked in sudden laughter. Tooboe gaped. He couldn't help blushing more furiously now, at the same time commenting in rapid succession, "G-gomen-nasai! I didn't mean to offend you. Really, it just slipped my mind, not that any of it is true, of course. Though…well perhaps the part were you are bleeding, because you are bleeding, you know, and you look hungry, too. But you don't smell, no, y-you don't smell like a dead dog. And you don't look like one, because, of course you are not a dog and not dead and…" Looking at the other's now once again blank expression, he droned off, "I think I'm going to shut up now…"
His eyes fixed on the ground, left hand nervously twitching on his right jacket sleeve. (I might as well close my mouth, cause every time I open it I end up screwing things up further, anyway.)
Meanwhile, Kiba mentally sighed. The boy was so odd and bloody persistent that it defied the laws of all that was patience!
He stared at the other.
For a moment, he let himself doubt.
And instantly he felt tired, his heart aching with a strange new heaviness. He had walked the world for days, had lost centuries of his life sailing through the blurry fields of the world in an endless search. All he had once known and cherished in the world had been swiftly brushed off of existence and he had been unpreparedly thrown in the search of a mythical legend in hopes that perhaps, maybe, if he tried hard enough, he'd be rewarded with a place to rest, a Paradise like he'd known in the peaks of his mountains and green valleys of old. (But now… I don't feel like going on.) He blinked in surprise at his own treacherous thoughts.
Fixing piercing eyes on the still muted boy, he considered this new turn of events. Before, the mere suggestion of giving up the search would not have been even considered by his mind, but now the rumor of this light discovery, the figure of this abandoned young wolf that was just as helplessly alone as he was in a world that now undoubtly belonged to the humans, made him pause.
The boy was offering help, shelter and food in exchange of only some meager companionship on his part.
He was being offered a world in comparison to his previous misadventures, to his desolate cold gray life, and all he had to do was let himself relax again.
Feel the world, young leader. Let yourself be guided by the strings of Fate….
(Is this my Fate, jijii-sama?)
Kibas heart gave a lurch. "Very well."
Tooboe instantly looked up at the other's voice, head cocked to a side. "What?"
Kiba sighed resignedly "I accept your offer. I…I'll come with you."
And before he could close his muzzle or get his bearings again, the boy beamed a smile like a ray of sunshine and hastily pushed him towards the right, beyond sooty walls and amidst crowded streets.
-()()()()
This odd couple drifted through the southern side of the dome towards the east. The people they passed stared bewildered their way. Never had they seen such beautiful, weird looking dogs. One was the colour of polished bronze, moving easily through the crowds that parted before them and merrily barking and yipping at his quiet companion. The other was larger and white coloured. He moved with innate stealth, staring at everyone and everything with piercing eyes and obvious mistrust. Though terribly battered and dirty he looked like the footed incarnation of the deadly spirit of the frost.
The other animals quieted instantly as the couple passed. Lap dogs skidded beneath the women's skirts and the birds rapidly dashed away.
Meanwhile, they continued unhurriedly on. They passed several gloomy alleyways, concrete bridges and abandoned fountains, covered in green moss and dust-like coal. The whistle of the frozen wind made Kiba grimace, and he felt the urge to stop and huddle in an abandoned corner to lie down again for eternity. Somehow, before he knew, a warm furry body pressed tentatively against his side in an attempt to shelter him from the bitter cold.
Kiba paused and tensed. It was the boy, once again in his wolf form, trying –though sadly failing- to pass him some warmth and keep him from shivering.
Kiba felt the compulsion to flinch away from the sudden touch, but rigidly controlled the urge. He didn't shun away nor growl in menace at the other's careless invasion of his private space, but he remained utterly stiff, fangs gritted. A second later Tooboe moved with a whispered sigh and, as if nothing had happened signaled the other with his head. "We're near!" he chirped easily, and skipped some blocks away.
"Come on, ookami-san! It's this way!"
Kiba sighed. His cynical mind tried reconsidering his previous decision to take some short lived holydays under the care of such particularly spirited wanna-be nurse. Shaking his head, he trudged on. It's useless to back away now. He won't let me be, anyway…and somehow I don't feel inclined to fight him.´ He gave a derisive snort. I'd end up killing him and that is useless. He isn't a threat and certainly not fit for dinner.´
Some time later Kiba reached the impatient wolf. He was bouncing form one foot to the other at the entrance of a shabby looking house. Kiba couldn't help smile slightly at the boy's behavior. (He sure is a creepy specimen…)
"Ookami-san, c-come in. This is my home," the boy stated, a tad bit unsure.
The place was down two set of stairs. It was actually more like a basement than a house, but it was surprisingly clean of the sooty dust that seem to cover every corner of the damn city. Passing the wooden entryway, he entered a large dimly-lit room. It was mainly bare. No furniture could be discerned through the places darkness, except a big black built-in cupboard and a pile of sheets and cloths lying on a mattress on the floor to the right.
At Kibas obvious scrutiny, Tooboe flushed a light pink and cleared his throat. (I- I need to explain this to him. Goodness I'm such a baka! I tell him he can stay at my place and all I have to offer is a cold basement!) "Ehmm…when I lived with my obaa-san we used to stay at the house upstairs but, when she…when she died the landlady kicked me off because I couldn't pay the rent." He scratched his head distractedly, looking down. " So, I sneaked here. I'm sorry it's not much…" Tooboes voice was low, sadness tingeing every word.
Kiba looked his way but didn't reply. He simply strolled in and sat heavily on the mattress, under the dim light that entered through an unpannelled little window, high up, near the ceiling. The chilly wind seeped mercilessly through it, making Kibas fur rustle and skin shiver.
Tooboe remained at the doorway some seconds more, transfixed by the other's figure on his measly attempt of a bed. It had been years since he'd last had company. Years since anyoned cared enough to fill the hollow left behind after his baa-chans death. Only once before he'd had visitors, a friend. Her name had been Reara. She had been the most beautiful human girl he'd ever met –not that he'd met many, mind you, but he knew she was pretty- with long raven hair and deep eyes. They'd met quite inadvertedly, one autumn afternoon as he had been wondering the Meat Market in search of food. She had smiled at him, at him no less! And given him some sausages. He'd been so thrilled at the time, so entranced by her understanding eyes and carefree smile that he'd felt he'd reach the stars just for her. And that's where he'd screw it up….
Blinking a couple of times, he passed a hand through his bangs. (It's the past. It's over now.) Though he deeply wished it wasn't.
"Do you have water?" a smooth voice cut through his reverie and Tooboe looked up, only to gasp, eyes widening at what he saw. No longer a white wolf stood on his bed, but a boy. The handsome young man sat casually on the mattress, one long lean leg encased in a pair of shabby blue jeans raised, the other –the injured one- extended. An arm was thrown casually over the raised knee, a slim white hand emerging from the folds of a brown jacket.
Tooboe swallowed, his heart skipping a few heartbeats inside his chest as his eyes strayed to the other's face. Slender and as white as the ivory of his wolven fur, it wore a blank look like a mask. A stray lock of his sable brown hair wisped over such blue-coloured eyes like Tooboe had never seen as Kiba mutedly studied him.
Tooboe shivered. (He….he is so….)
"Well? Do you?" The now wolf-turned-young-man repeated evenly.
Tooboe nimbly tried retreating the path of the words that had been exchanged in his mind before he'd been so stupidly and blatantly ogling the wolf. He couldn't find anything. Meekly he decided for the safe path. "Huh?"
Kiba raised one of his perfectly arched eyebrows and tilted his head a fraction. "I said, do you have water?" he looked at his injured leg and prodded it carefully with a slim white finger. "I need to clean up."
Tooboe punched his right hand against the left one, and nodded rapidly. "Hai! I…ehmm I don't have it here but if you give a second I'll go fetch it up. I know the best spot to get clean water," he said eagerly. Turning he skipped inside the darkened room and quickly lit a half-burnt candle which he then placed over the countertop of the cupboard.
"I'll also see if I can get us something to eat, too. The Market's closed at this time, but I can sneak inside a house and see around." He moved about messing the few things the place had, as he muttered darkly "Kuso! Where is it!"
Kiba stared at him in slight amusement, the antics of the other never ceasing to amaze him.
"A-ha!" Tooboe shouted, a metal bucket firmly swaying from his extended hand. "Found it! All ready now." Cocking his head he asked "Will you be okay all alone, ookami-san?"
Kiba looked at the other strangely. (Is it just me or this boy is really out for creeping?) Kiba stared inside the twin pools of melted bronze that were Tooboes eyes. The dim orange light of the candle seemed to make the boy glow in fiery warmth, his light skin dimming to amber, his long hair darkening to blood red. He was so damnably innocent, so disgustingly free from cruelty or deceit that it almost made the mountain wolf cringe in awkwardness… flinch with the yearn to keep that wild innocence pure.
He shook his head and snorted. Wherever had that come from!
"Go. I'll be fine," he said sharply with no trace of his whirling thoughts.
Tooboe moved from one foot to the other, hands twitching inside his pockets. He felt utterly stupid for asking this, for fearing so much over someone that he barely even knew at all, but…he needed to know, to be certain he wouldn't be alone once he returned. (At least for now.)
Inhaling shakily, he stuttered in a wispy thread "W-will you b-be here when I re-return…waiting?"
Kiba felt an odd stirring in his stomach at the other's blunt caring display.
He didn't answer for a while. He looked ahead at the dancing little flame of the candle, his intense blue eyes reflecting it as if the sky were on fire. Inside his mind a fight was taking place. His brain urged him to flee, to follow the now every-minute-more-distant trail; but his heart, his soul ached to remain, to bathe in the warmth that was having a companion near once again.
Without giving it much thought he locked eyes with the other and nodded.
Tooboes heart lurched, a cheery smile lighting up his previously uncertain eyes. He bowed quickly and said "Arigatou!" before skipping away in a flurry of brown.
Kiba rested his head against the freezing wall, eyes closing. Then he opened them to fix on the humid ceiling. (Whatever is wrong with me…) his thoughts trailed off in drowsiness.
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"Please, won't you call me
and ease my mind…?
Reasons for me to find you
Peace of mind…
And what can I do
To get me to you?"
:"Call me, call me" from Cowboy Bebop:
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A/N: Oh my! It's been a while. Have been blithely submerged on winter holydays, enjoying my country's South weather. Actually end up locked up in a mountain's cabin for raging snow storms. But snow is pretty (though I hate the cold! Brrrr….) and a heavenly inspiration for Wolf's Rain fiction.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and remember every critic-slash-comment-slash-review is merrily welcome! (of course if well founded )
(Bows) Doumo arigatou for following my story!
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:C.o.m.t.e.s.s.a:
"The shattering dawn/ finds me in a deserted street/ of my city./ Your profile turned away/ the sounds that go to make your name/ the lilt of your laughter/ these are illustrious toys you have left me."
J. L. B.