Disclaimer: Yak yak, not mine.
Chapter 3
"Cry to the moon"
"Depending"
He heard the gunshot ringing in his ears as he felt his whole body go numb with the excruciating pain he felt on his side. He turned back into his human form, his howl turning into the pained scream of a boy as his body turned back to take the form of the human, not being able to control his actions. He saw his friends, Tsume looking at him, too shocked to do anything; and then everything turned pitch black as the powerful scent of his own blood invaded his nostrils. Then he knew no more.
He felt so cold, he couldn't feel his body and he could feel the warm blood trickle out of his being in great amounts. He knew he was going to die, he couldn't hear or taste, or smell a thing except the metal-like taste of his own blood against the back of his throat. It was a disgusting flavor against his dry mouth, and a burning sensation to his nostrils.
But he thought he heard a whimper... "Tsume?" he thought weakly, but then he felt the faint warmth against his cold body, it was a wolf, but yet, he could not recognize that whimper to belong to any of his friends. Maybe some other pack found him and wanted to take care of him? He prayed that it would be true, he was so afraid to die.
He then heard it again, ringing in his ears, in his mind and sending a horrible feeling that would stand the hair of the back of his head on end. He expected to feel even more pain, but he was surprised to feel the faint warmth get closer to him, then he felt something warm and damp touching his cheek affectionately.
He heard muffled voices, but he couldn't make out a single word in the dense fog he was in. He felt a strong, yet careful grip envelop him, as someone picked his body up; He let out a faint whimper escape his lips, as the pain that remained dormant on his side, began pulsating painfully against him. That made his eyes flutter open, and he saw a strange silhouette of a man...a hat...and- his tired body couldn't take any more, and darkness overtook him again.
Blue sniffed the air and her ears quirked somewhat at the noises of the woods, rain still poured down on them. The woods were starting to seem very tricky with the fog forming, and the temperature dropping, can make anyone get lost, except for a wolf's keen sense of direction. She turned around to look back and see if her master was still following; the man was carrying a light burden, but the human footing isn't as gentle and agile as one of the wolven kin. Quent followed close behind, checking sometimes on the boy's wound, stopping from time to time to adjust the tight piece of cloth he used as a bandage to stop the bleeding from killing him.
His clothes and hands were already starting to get all stained with the boy's blood, and he cursed at this. Because of the dampness of the forest, the blood would never dry out, and that can lead any other predator to the woods. But then again, he thought.
He can leave the trail behind to get other wolves...
He smiled almost evilly at that thought. "That would be just perfect. I'm sure his pack would follow the trail to their own doom, trying to rescue their cub..." he thought, a malicious glare in his eyes.
After hours of walk, they made it to their settlement; ruins of an ancient temple, maybe a church, but even though it was almost all gone, there was a small room still standing, and he used it as his lair.
Opening the door, Blue went in, and dried herself, as for Quent, he placed his wounded burden in what seemed a bed made out of twigs, and clothes over it.
He had to make sure that first of all, the boy had to get warm. So after removing his soaked coat hanging from one of the walls, he made his way to the corner, where he had placed not long ago a fire. He lit the fire yet again, as he rubbed his hands together, and reaching out on his pack for a silver-like bottle and drank the liquid inside. The liquor would make his body's temperature rise and he thought it'll be good to give the kid some.
He kneeled beside the unconscious form and tilting his head up with one hand, he poured the liquid in his partly opened lips. The liquid trickled down his chin; he was not swallowing and Quent, leaving the bottle to rest beside him, tilted the boy's head higher and with his other free hand massaged his neck in an up-down motion. And surprisingly it worked, the boy swallowed faintly, coughing up sometimes, it seemed he was not used to drink alcohol, as he made a funny face in disgust.
Quent almost smiled warmly at this, but noticed almost immediately and scowled, disgusted with himself by being warmed up by a wolf...a wolf!
He decided not to push the matter further, and gently removed Toboe's shirt to look at the wound more closely, the bandage of torn clothes was already clotted with dry blood, so he removed it very carefully as to not start the bleeding again.
He had neither first aid kit nor anything that would help clean the wound and if he didn't do it quick, so he had to rip part of his clothing and with his precious liquor, cleaned the wound. It would've had stung horribly, for the wound was deep, and the bullet was still inside, but the boy didn't more, nor flinched. That was a bad sign, he noticed that the skin surrounding the wound was turning a sick, yellowish tone, and he knew that if he didn't remove the bullet, the boy would surely die of lead poisoning.
He sighed, and cleaned his sweaty brow, Blue whimpered, worried for the fading child, but Quent grunted. "Don't worry girl, I ain't an expert, but I can pull 'im through, after that, it all depends on the runt." He said, as he pulled out a hunting knife, and started pulling out the bullet from his abdomen.
The pack moved quick, but the rain, the cold, and their empty stomachs would not make their trip easy; their strength had all been used up fighting off the poachers.
Their fur was now muddy and drenched, their paws filthy and caked with mud as they went even farther.
Hige almost collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, returning to his human form; his clothing was no better than his fur was, and his face showed exhaustion.
Kiba and Tsume stopped, and went to his side; Kiba pulled him up, and Hige grunted, now understanding how Toboe felt as the weakling in the group. It was a hard way.
"I can't anymore, guys. I'm all wasted, lets rest here a bit, If I move any more, I'm going to puke the little food I have in my stomach." He said between hard breaths.
Kiba looked at Tsume, who has a very hard expression on his face, but relented, he too was tired, cold and hated to be wet, but his worry for the pup kept him going. He never noticed he was that tired, until Hige stopped them.
Kiba nodded and helped Hige walk to a sheltered area, followed by Tsume, who cursed by the rain that still drowned the whole area.
After Kiba was sure Hige was all right, he saw Tsume sitting down on his own, as always. He knew what he was thinking, and his loneliness killed the lone wolf, he really needed Toboe to keep him alive, to keep him from being alone and sad.
He walked up to the Scarred wolf, and stood close to him. "I'm sure we will make it on time... Toboe might be weak physically because he was never treated as a wolf, nor trained, but he has the most strong willed heart I've ever known." He tried to comfort Tsume, who in return didn't snap back at him or grunted, but just sighed.
Almost in defeat, almost in grief, but his head clearly nodded at Kiba's statement.
Toboe might not be the best fighter, traveler or tracker, but he had a very strong will to keep on going, a very pure heart, and an innocent soul. That's what Tsume liked about him, he never noticed how much he needed him until he lost the pup. He felt regret for calling him names and screaming at him... and for saying all those horrible things to him...
He admitted to himself now, maybe not to the others, but it was enough for him to admit to himself, that he loved Toboe deeply as a younger brother...no as a son. He loved Toboe like a father would to a child.
He sighed yet again, and stood up. "I'll be looking for some food." He said.
Kiba looked at him, and somewhat knew he had reached a soft spot inside Tsume, he nodded at him.
"Don't take long, we leave in an hour." He then saw the gray wolf disappear in the fog.
It was suddenly all too hot, he felt the horrible sensation of a fever going all over his body, he was sweating slightly and his breathing had increased to a small, whimpering gasp.
His mouth was very dry, he longed for water to at least touch his lips. He whimpered when he tried to open his eyes, they were burning horribly, and his head felt immediately light.
He tried to call out a name...but he couldn't remember whom he wanted to call out to.
Quent heard the whimper, and woke up, his senses were slightly more acute due his experience of being a very skilled hunter. He turned around to see Blue standing over the boy, licking the feverish boy's brow, trying to keep him cool.
Quent stood up, and sighed softly, took the piece of cloth he had been using to clean him, soaked it in cool water and damped his furrowed brow. It might help to pull down the fever, but then again it was a good sign, the fever proved that he will get better, but he had to be careful as to not let it go higher, or he might die.
The boy's eyes opened, a hazy look in his eyes, but he looked straight at him, fright and what seemed like... love?
It was all very clear in those eyes. Quent had never seen eyes that color... it was like amber, yet golden, a very warm color. The boy's lips parted somewhat, his cheeks were flushed, and his breathing came in small whimpers.
"W- water...pl-ease" he choked out, his voice raspy for the lack of fluids.
Quent reached out for another bottle, which contained fresh water he just gathered from the rain. He carefully tilted his head up, and pressed the bottle to his lips, and the boy drank hungrily as soon as the first drops of water touched his dry mouth.
Quent felt sorry for the boy, he must've had gone through a hell lot of pain...
"What am I thinking?! This is an animal, he is no child...he is a wolf, a ferocious beast, and as such he deserved to die or live behind bars for the rest of it's damned life!" he thought harshly.
But his eyes softened against his own will when Toboe reached a trembling hand to his own, which held the now empty bottle.
Quent almost gasped softly, as he looked to the boy...he was smiling faintly.
His hand was warm, and his skin was ever so soft, delicate under his very own rough skin.
"Thank ...you" he managed to say in a trembling voice.
Quent smiled to the boy, he couldn't resist, as he took Toboe's hand and squeezed it lightly. "Your welcome, kid." He said, surprisingly in a soft tone, brushing the silky hair that was sticking to his burning brow.
Toboe's eyes closed, returning to the bliss of sleep, recovering from the fatal wound.
Quent stood up to look outside to the raining night.
What had just happened back there? He did not know how he changed dramatically to the boy... he had actually spoken softly to him.
"Impossible..." he said softly. He was just using the boy as bait... yes. A bait, just a bait for the other wolves to come, then he will shoot them all. But yet... He knew he was just trying to convince himself away from the truth, as he turned his gaze to the sleeping form, and couldn't stop himself from feeling all warm inside.
It was almost inevitable...
The hunter was growing attached to the wolf cub.
TBC
AN:
Thank you all for the reviews, hope you liked this one!
I am not very familiar with Quent, but I know he hates wolves and all, but this is just a 'what-if'... everything can happen.
Poor Toboe, hope he gets well...heheh if I let him.
Thanks again for all the reviews, this is the longest chapter I've done so far in this fic, if you please review, I promise to work harder.
Thank you, and please stay with me!
Chapter 3
"Cry to the moon"
"Depending"
He heard the gunshot ringing in his ears as he felt his whole body go numb with the excruciating pain he felt on his side. He turned back into his human form, his howl turning into the pained scream of a boy as his body turned back to take the form of the human, not being able to control his actions. He saw his friends, Tsume looking at him, too shocked to do anything; and then everything turned pitch black as the powerful scent of his own blood invaded his nostrils. Then he knew no more.
He felt so cold, he couldn't feel his body and he could feel the warm blood trickle out of his being in great amounts. He knew he was going to die, he couldn't hear or taste, or smell a thing except the metal-like taste of his own blood against the back of his throat. It was a disgusting flavor against his dry mouth, and a burning sensation to his nostrils.
But he thought he heard a whimper... "Tsume?" he thought weakly, but then he felt the faint warmth against his cold body, it was a wolf, but yet, he could not recognize that whimper to belong to any of his friends. Maybe some other pack found him and wanted to take care of him? He prayed that it would be true, he was so afraid to die.
He then heard it again, ringing in his ears, in his mind and sending a horrible feeling that would stand the hair of the back of his head on end. He expected to feel even more pain, but he was surprised to feel the faint warmth get closer to him, then he felt something warm and damp touching his cheek affectionately.
He heard muffled voices, but he couldn't make out a single word in the dense fog he was in. He felt a strong, yet careful grip envelop him, as someone picked his body up; He let out a faint whimper escape his lips, as the pain that remained dormant on his side, began pulsating painfully against him. That made his eyes flutter open, and he saw a strange silhouette of a man...a hat...and- his tired body couldn't take any more, and darkness overtook him again.
Blue sniffed the air and her ears quirked somewhat at the noises of the woods, rain still poured down on them. The woods were starting to seem very tricky with the fog forming, and the temperature dropping, can make anyone get lost, except for a wolf's keen sense of direction. She turned around to look back and see if her master was still following; the man was carrying a light burden, but the human footing isn't as gentle and agile as one of the wolven kin. Quent followed close behind, checking sometimes on the boy's wound, stopping from time to time to adjust the tight piece of cloth he used as a bandage to stop the bleeding from killing him.
His clothes and hands were already starting to get all stained with the boy's blood, and he cursed at this. Because of the dampness of the forest, the blood would never dry out, and that can lead any other predator to the woods. But then again, he thought.
He can leave the trail behind to get other wolves...
He smiled almost evilly at that thought. "That would be just perfect. I'm sure his pack would follow the trail to their own doom, trying to rescue their cub..." he thought, a malicious glare in his eyes.
After hours of walk, they made it to their settlement; ruins of an ancient temple, maybe a church, but even though it was almost all gone, there was a small room still standing, and he used it as his lair.
Opening the door, Blue went in, and dried herself, as for Quent, he placed his wounded burden in what seemed a bed made out of twigs, and clothes over it.
He had to make sure that first of all, the boy had to get warm. So after removing his soaked coat hanging from one of the walls, he made his way to the corner, where he had placed not long ago a fire. He lit the fire yet again, as he rubbed his hands together, and reaching out on his pack for a silver-like bottle and drank the liquid inside. The liquor would make his body's temperature rise and he thought it'll be good to give the kid some.
He kneeled beside the unconscious form and tilting his head up with one hand, he poured the liquid in his partly opened lips. The liquid trickled down his chin; he was not swallowing and Quent, leaving the bottle to rest beside him, tilted the boy's head higher and with his other free hand massaged his neck in an up-down motion. And surprisingly it worked, the boy swallowed faintly, coughing up sometimes, it seemed he was not used to drink alcohol, as he made a funny face in disgust.
Quent almost smiled warmly at this, but noticed almost immediately and scowled, disgusted with himself by being warmed up by a wolf...a wolf!
He decided not to push the matter further, and gently removed Toboe's shirt to look at the wound more closely, the bandage of torn clothes was already clotted with dry blood, so he removed it very carefully as to not start the bleeding again.
He had neither first aid kit nor anything that would help clean the wound and if he didn't do it quick, so he had to rip part of his clothing and with his precious liquor, cleaned the wound. It would've had stung horribly, for the wound was deep, and the bullet was still inside, but the boy didn't more, nor flinched. That was a bad sign, he noticed that the skin surrounding the wound was turning a sick, yellowish tone, and he knew that if he didn't remove the bullet, the boy would surely die of lead poisoning.
He sighed, and cleaned his sweaty brow, Blue whimpered, worried for the fading child, but Quent grunted. "Don't worry girl, I ain't an expert, but I can pull 'im through, after that, it all depends on the runt." He said, as he pulled out a hunting knife, and started pulling out the bullet from his abdomen.
The pack moved quick, but the rain, the cold, and their empty stomachs would not make their trip easy; their strength had all been used up fighting off the poachers.
Their fur was now muddy and drenched, their paws filthy and caked with mud as they went even farther.
Hige almost collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, returning to his human form; his clothing was no better than his fur was, and his face showed exhaustion.
Kiba and Tsume stopped, and went to his side; Kiba pulled him up, and Hige grunted, now understanding how Toboe felt as the weakling in the group. It was a hard way.
"I can't anymore, guys. I'm all wasted, lets rest here a bit, If I move any more, I'm going to puke the little food I have in my stomach." He said between hard breaths.
Kiba looked at Tsume, who has a very hard expression on his face, but relented, he too was tired, cold and hated to be wet, but his worry for the pup kept him going. He never noticed he was that tired, until Hige stopped them.
Kiba nodded and helped Hige walk to a sheltered area, followed by Tsume, who cursed by the rain that still drowned the whole area.
After Kiba was sure Hige was all right, he saw Tsume sitting down on his own, as always. He knew what he was thinking, and his loneliness killed the lone wolf, he really needed Toboe to keep him alive, to keep him from being alone and sad.
He walked up to the Scarred wolf, and stood close to him. "I'm sure we will make it on time... Toboe might be weak physically because he was never treated as a wolf, nor trained, but he has the most strong willed heart I've ever known." He tried to comfort Tsume, who in return didn't snap back at him or grunted, but just sighed.
Almost in defeat, almost in grief, but his head clearly nodded at Kiba's statement.
Toboe might not be the best fighter, traveler or tracker, but he had a very strong will to keep on going, a very pure heart, and an innocent soul. That's what Tsume liked about him, he never noticed how much he needed him until he lost the pup. He felt regret for calling him names and screaming at him... and for saying all those horrible things to him...
He admitted to himself now, maybe not to the others, but it was enough for him to admit to himself, that he loved Toboe deeply as a younger brother...no as a son. He loved Toboe like a father would to a child.
He sighed yet again, and stood up. "I'll be looking for some food." He said.
Kiba looked at him, and somewhat knew he had reached a soft spot inside Tsume, he nodded at him.
"Don't take long, we leave in an hour." He then saw the gray wolf disappear in the fog.
It was suddenly all too hot, he felt the horrible sensation of a fever going all over his body, he was sweating slightly and his breathing had increased to a small, whimpering gasp.
His mouth was very dry, he longed for water to at least touch his lips. He whimpered when he tried to open his eyes, they were burning horribly, and his head felt immediately light.
He tried to call out a name...but he couldn't remember whom he wanted to call out to.
Quent heard the whimper, and woke up, his senses were slightly more acute due his experience of being a very skilled hunter. He turned around to see Blue standing over the boy, licking the feverish boy's brow, trying to keep him cool.
Quent stood up, and sighed softly, took the piece of cloth he had been using to clean him, soaked it in cool water and damped his furrowed brow. It might help to pull down the fever, but then again it was a good sign, the fever proved that he will get better, but he had to be careful as to not let it go higher, or he might die.
The boy's eyes opened, a hazy look in his eyes, but he looked straight at him, fright and what seemed like... love?
It was all very clear in those eyes. Quent had never seen eyes that color... it was like amber, yet golden, a very warm color. The boy's lips parted somewhat, his cheeks were flushed, and his breathing came in small whimpers.
"W- water...pl-ease" he choked out, his voice raspy for the lack of fluids.
Quent reached out for another bottle, which contained fresh water he just gathered from the rain. He carefully tilted his head up, and pressed the bottle to his lips, and the boy drank hungrily as soon as the first drops of water touched his dry mouth.
Quent felt sorry for the boy, he must've had gone through a hell lot of pain...
"What am I thinking?! This is an animal, he is no child...he is a wolf, a ferocious beast, and as such he deserved to die or live behind bars for the rest of it's damned life!" he thought harshly.
But his eyes softened against his own will when Toboe reached a trembling hand to his own, which held the now empty bottle.
Quent almost gasped softly, as he looked to the boy...he was smiling faintly.
His hand was warm, and his skin was ever so soft, delicate under his very own rough skin.
"Thank ...you" he managed to say in a trembling voice.
Quent smiled to the boy, he couldn't resist, as he took Toboe's hand and squeezed it lightly. "Your welcome, kid." He said, surprisingly in a soft tone, brushing the silky hair that was sticking to his burning brow.
Toboe's eyes closed, returning to the bliss of sleep, recovering from the fatal wound.
Quent stood up to look outside to the raining night.
What had just happened back there? He did not know how he changed dramatically to the boy... he had actually spoken softly to him.
"Impossible..." he said softly. He was just using the boy as bait... yes. A bait, just a bait for the other wolves to come, then he will shoot them all. But yet... He knew he was just trying to convince himself away from the truth, as he turned his gaze to the sleeping form, and couldn't stop himself from feeling all warm inside.
It was almost inevitable...
The hunter was growing attached to the wolf cub.
TBC
AN:
Thank you all for the reviews, hope you liked this one!
I am not very familiar with Quent, but I know he hates wolves and all, but this is just a 'what-if'... everything can happen.
Poor Toboe, hope he gets well...heheh if I let him.
Thanks again for all the reviews, this is the longest chapter I've done so far in this fic, if you please review, I promise to work harder.
Thank you, and please stay with me!