I was meaning to do this at the beginning, but I don't own Wolf's Rain . . . at all . . . but I think that was a given . . .
Chapter 6
The moon was fading. Night was slipping away. They still stood outside the town, not sure what to do. They had gotten out, and hopefully found safety. Hige was asleep on the ground, Toboe sitting next to him. Tsume and Kiba stood, looking out to the line of trees that marked the small patch of woods ahead. The next town was beyond that. They knew that much. No one had spoken for some time now.
"I don't think we should stay here," Kiba broke the silence. Everyone turned and looked at him. "The sooner we get moving, the better," Kiba said. Tsume stared at him for a moment longer, then turned and went over to Hige. Toboe helped him again with putting Hige on his back.
They moved out. Kiba was right, they probably shouldn't stay there. It wasn't safe in that town, but they didn't know if it would be any safer in the next. But it was worth the risk. They had to do it, for Hige.
The moon sunk lower in the sky. They didn't run, they found it best to save some energy. Cheza had begun to look worn, so Kiba carried her. Hige had been coughing more, and harder. His face was drained of all color. But there was a slight hint of pink due to the fever. His breathing was ragged and short. Toboe cast a concerned look to him several times.
They had finally reached the trees when the sun barely began to rise. Kiba looked back for a moment, and took one last look at the town. He knew they had found the bodies by now, but he didn't have to worry about that anymore. Clearing that from his mind, he trudged through the leaves that covered the ground. Tsume stopped for a moment and pulled Hige up again.
"Do you think anyone will know the cure?" Toboe asked, trying to make a conversation. No one answered at first. No one really had an answer.
"We can only hope Toboe," Kiba said, without looking back at him. Toboe slumped his head down in disappointment.
"Stop being depressed already, it's getting annoying," Tsume said. It was annoying him, but he deep inside he didn't want Toboe to be depressed.
They continued walking, the trees getting thicker. They thought that it would of lead them to the next town, but maybe it didn't. Everyone tried to keep that thought from invading their minds. I wonder what Hige is thinking, Toboe asked himself. He wondered if Hige was even thinking at all.
Hige's mind was in a haze. Nothing was clear, except for his fever. He heard people talking, but he didn't know what they were saying or if they were trying to talk to him. He wanted to open his eyes and see, but it felt like they were glued shut. But then he thought sleep was beginning to feel better than being awake. He stopped himself from thinking like that. He knew that meant he was losing, and he refused to lose. The voices he heard went away. Hige wanted them to come back, so he would want to wake up. But they didn't come back, until a few minutes later, only there was a new voice.
The sound of a twig snapping behind them, caused everyone to jump. They turned to see a tall man there. He was dressed in old clothes, worn clothes. He had a brown beard, hiding his face. His hair was equally as brown and fuzzy. But behind that, there was two brilliant green eyes, gleaming at them.
"Now, what would you be doing out here?" he asked, his voice deep. No one answered him. "Well?" he stared at them.
"We're looking for help," Toboe said. "Our friend," he pointed to Hige, "is sick, and we need to find the cure," he finished.
"A cure huh?" he asked. "May I ask what's making him sick, you'd be surprised how much I know," he smiled. The group wasn't sure what to do. All of a sudden a man appears and wants to help, this was just too odd for them.
"It's called," Toboe stopped, he couldn't remember the name. "Tsume, what's it called again?" he asked.
"C-5," Tsume answered. The man had a shocked look across his face for a moment.
"Are you serious? I haven't seen anyone with C-5 poisoning in a few years," he said, rubbing his beard. "Lucky for you, I know the cure, but it won't be easy to find," he walked closer to them. Everyone took a step back. "Don't worry, I'm just going to help," he smiled again. "Oh, I suppose it would help if I introduced myself, wouldn't it?" he laughed at himself. "The name's Keno."
Either this man was crazy or he really did want to help. No one was sure which, but if this man did want to help, they would take it. Everyone stood still, as if they were almost afraid to move. The man stopped next to Tsume and Hige. He touched his hand to Hige's face and looked closely. It was like he was examining him.
"How long has he been like this?"Keno asked.
"About a day and a half," Kiba said. Keno's expression lightened some with Kiba's answer.
"It's a good thing I ran into you now, people with C-5 poisoning don't live much longer than three or four days."
Now they were glad that they had run into this man named Keno too. But they didn't know if they were being tricked or not. Yet something about how he was acting and offering his help seemed very trustworthy. They looked around at each other for a moment, thinking on if they should trust him or not.
"You can help him?" Kiba asked. Keno nodded. "We'll go with you," Kiba finally gave him an answer.
"All right, just follow me," Keno walked to the front and lead them on. An awkward silence had come over all them. None of them wanted to talk because of Keno. There were still doubts in their minds if they really could trust him. But as they walked on, a trust was formed some how, even though they were silent.
The sun was in clear view now. The light came in patches as it shone through the tree branches. The path they walked seemed relatively straight and smooth. Still no one spoke, but they had let some of the tension go. Hige had stopped coughing for a while. At first Toboe thought it was good, but then he thought about it and he realized that Hige's coughing was the only way they knew he was still alive.
"Um . . . are we almost there?" Toboe spoke up, but barely loud enough to hear. Keno stopped and turned around. He smiled at Toboe.
"Look right over there," Keno pointed off to the left at a wooden cabin. He took them to the front and door and swung it open. "Rei, I'm back," Keno put his pack down by the door and lead the others in. The foot steps of a small woman came forth. She was small indeed, not height wise, but she was very thin. Her face was bright, with pink cheeks. Her blue gray eyes sparkled. Her light brown hair was cut short.
"Oh, you didn't tell me you would be bringing home guests," she said in her light voice that chimed like bells.
"Well you see this boy," he pointed over to Hige. "Has C-5 poisoning," Keno replied. Her face went blank for a moment, as if something was wrong, but then she snapped out of it.
"Why don't you have him in our extra bed yet?" she hurried over to Tsume and tried to pull Hige off of him. Tsume wouldn't let go of him. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt him, and I can lift him," she pulled on Hige a bit more, and Tsume let him go. Surprisingly, she could carry him, quite easily at that. Tsume was glad to have Hige's weight off his back though, it was beginning to hurt.
Rei carried him to the far side of the main room they were in, and laid him down on a small bed they kept in the corner. Keno brought out some seats for everyone else and a blanket. He put it over Hige. He then went over and joined everyone else, along with Rei.
"So, why don't we introduce ourselves?" she smiled. "I'm Rei, and I see you've met my husband Keno already, what's your names?" she asked.
"His name is Hige," Kiba pointed over to the boy laying in the bed. "I'm Kiba, and this is Cheza," though he didn't want to necessarily, he introduced himself anyway.
"My name's Toboe," he spoke in a brighter voice than before. Tsume didn't say anything. Toboe nudged him in the side with his elbow. Tsume growled slightly.
"Tsume," he mumbled, but they understood.
"Well, I guess the next thing should be about Hige, that's his name right?" Rei asked to make sure. Kiba nodded. "Ok, but before that, you don't have to keep hiding like that," Rei said calmly. The boys gave her a confused look. She looked to Keno.
"We know that you're wolves, so you don't have to keep up that human disguise," he said. They seemed a bit shocked to hear that. "That's why I offered to help, and the same goes for Rei, you see we both care for any animal very much," Keno finished. Even though they knew it was safe to look like wolves around Keno and Rei, they stayed in their human form.
"How long will it take to find a cure?" Kiba asked, suddenly changing the subject.
"Well we have to go find it, the cure is called the Yuki flower, a very beautiful flower, but hard to find. Hopefully there is still some in the same spot I found them last,"
"A snow flower?" Toboe asked.
"Yes, I'm going to take Kiba and Tsume with me to help find it, Rei you take care of these two and the girl," Keno said standing up. He went over to his pack again and gathered a few more things. He checked to make sure his good knife was still there and slipped the pack back on his shoulders.
Kiba and Tsume stood up and walked over to Keno. They carried nothing, they didn't need to. Rei walked over to them, her face carrying a sad expression. Keno knew she didn't want him to leave yet, since he had just come back, but he also knew Rei understood how important it was to find the cure.
"Be careful," she whispered as she gave him a quick hug and went to attend to Hige. Keno smiled at her and walked out the door. Kiba and Tsume followed Kiba.
"We should be back soon, if all goes well," Keno announced as he turned around for a second to give his wife one last look. The door shut behind Tsume.
"I hope they find the Yuki flower," Toboe said as he went to sit next to Rei. He looked over and saw that Cheza seemed weaker. "Do you have some water she could drink?" he asked. Rei nodded.
"I can get some for her," she stood up and poured a glass of water for Cheza from the sink. Cheza drank it with much appreciation. "I should probably get some cold water for him too," she said. She went to one of the wooden cabinets and pulled out a bowl. She filled it with water and quickly grabbed a wash cloth.
"What's that for?" Toboe asked. Cheza followed Rei back into the main room and sat next to Toboe.
"This is for his fever, hopefully it will cool him down some," Rei said as she placed the wet cloth over Hige's forehead. Hige seemed to relax some with the cool cloth on his head. "Now how long has he been like this again?" Rei asked, thinking that if she knew, she could help some more.
"A day and a half," Toboe responded quickly. Rei's expression darkened. Toboe gave her a confused look. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"You don't know all of the effects of C-5, do you?" Rei almost talked in a whisper. Toboe shook his head. "I didn't think you would, anyway, one of the major effects is hallucinations, and since it's been this long, I'm some what surprised he hasn't had any," Rei explained. Toboe cast a worried look to Hige.
So the worst wasn't over, he thought, it's just now beginning . . . .
WOOOOOOO!!!!!! CHAPTER 6 FINALLY DONE!!!! I am sooooooooo SORRY for not updating for like . . . however long it was, all's I know is that it was a looooong time. So here you go, and now that I'm over all my writers block and such, chapter 7 is well on the way, so READ ON AND ENJOY!!!!! ONCE AGAIN, I AM SOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please read and review! Ja ne! .
youkaigirl