Wishes

Chapter 5: Cruel Intentions for Right Reasons

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Wolf's Rain. I cry about it every night. I do however own Byron, Hana and Koro.

Authors Note: I haven't updated this story since the fith of last month. I'm very sorry for the delay. I was away on vacation, and once I returned, I was sent off to school. Since it's my final year of High School, I'll be very busy, but I'll do my best to update as often as possible.

For anyone interested, at the end of this chapter, I'll have a bit of information about Hana and Byron.

Thank you to all who reviewed, I really appreciate your thoughts, views and opinions.

He hadn't realized that his body had given in to exhaustion, and that he had fallen asleep, until he turned over and found himself laying on a bed. Instantly, Tsume sat up, and looked at the spot next to his on the bed, "Toboe?" he squinted and looked up, peering around the room before his body tensed. "Where are ya runt?" he swung his legs over, placing them firmly on the ground before standing.

Just as he stood, the aurburn haired boy entered the room, dressed in his usual attire. He gave Tsume a smile, as though apologizing for making him worry. "You looked really tired, I didn't want to wake you up"

Tsume looked to his right. The shade was pulled over the small window. "The sun should be setting soon" he pointed out.

"And it'll be safe for us to go out and find Kiba, Hige and Cheza" Toboe added with a firm nod as he walked foward and sat on the edge of the bed, hands resting on his lap. "I hope they're okay"

Tsume stood up, "Toboe?"

"Yeah Tsume?"

"What made you run off that night? You know, the night that you were attacked by those mountain lions" Tsume watched as Toboe cringed and rubbed his wrist. Obviously, it wasn't something he had enjoyed thinking about. Still, Tsume wanted to know. There was something that didn't make sense to him.

"You wanted to be left alone" Toboe replied after a moment of thinking, "And I decided to go get some water. I didn't think it would have caused any trouble" He sighed and his eyes softened as he stared at the floor. "The mountain lions must have picked up my scent. I guess there aren't too many other animals around here aside from the mountain lions. They wanted to eat me.."

"And you fought them" Tsume stated plainly, still thinking. "I didn't think you had it in you runt" he turned to stare at the closed window.

"I don't" Toboe replied gently, looking up at Tsume, almost as though he were ashamed of admitting to weakness. "I couldn't fight them off. They would have killed me if..."

"If what?" Tsume cut off impatiently.

"Hana and Byron, they mean well. They're good people, they saved me and I'm grateful..but..."

"But what.."

"But thats what I wanted to tell you about Hana . She's.." Toboe paused again and closed his eyes tightly as he lowered his head...remembering.

His body trembled with fear as he struggled to move away from the attacking creatures. Pain surged through his body as his blood escaped his body through the many cuts and tears in his skin. His vision blurred as he forced himself onto his feet and bared his fangs in a desperate attempt to look threatening. He wobbled foward on all fours before dropping down again, unable to maintain his balance.

Slowly, his eyes closed and he was unable to open them again. All he could do was listen and wait for the inevitable, 'But I made a wish..' he thought, 'I can't die now...' he thought before letting out a loud yelp as he felt himself being pushed over, onto his back. He cried out again as a sharp pain suddenly began at his chest and spread its way through the runt's body.

That was it, his end was just around the corner. He could smell the saliva and excitment coming from the mountain lions. The smell of his own blood came to him as well. He shuddered and waited. But, his end never came. Instead, he discovered a new scent, a sweet one that smelled of roses.

Then, a soft song teased his ears. It was a sweet song, but very sad, "Cheza?" He forced his eyes open and stared up, but, instead of finding the maiden he was familiar with, he saw a red headed girl with bright green eyes. Next to her, two males and two females, blood decorating the skin around their mouths...

Themountain lions that had attacked him?

"You..your just like us..." he had known that there were other animals with the ability to hide their appeareance, but he had never expected to meet them.

The red headed girl glanced towards the sky, then motioned for the others to leave, 'This one is no threat' she told them.

Slowly, the creatures left, obeying the will of their master.

"The forest is dangerous during the day...with a mind of it's own. And it's all her fault.." Toboe kept his eyes closed as he felt the tears try to fight their way out. "She's the one whose doing this..."

Byron sighed silently and lifted his ear away from the door before turning to sit at the table, his hands resting on the wood, palms up. "He was awake..." the old man muttered lightly. The fact that Toboe remembered bits and pieces of what had happened in the woods troubled him.

Yes, the way the forest acted during the day was because of Hana. The forest had been given the task of protecting the girl, as had the mountain lions, but it wasn't her fault. It was his.

"Don't worry little one, I'll protect you, and not allow the nobles to harm you again" he held the odd looking girl to his chest as he cut through the shadows, exiting the keep.

She trembled gently in his arms as she reached out and touched his cheek. "What am I?" she asked.

"Your a failure. Your not the key toParadise"

"I'm sorry..."

"No, it's something to be proud of"

He had kept her hidden in a cave while he created the house in the woods, then used the mediocre knowledge of alchemy he possessed to give the plants life and a more meaningful purpose: To protect Hana.

He had continued working for the nobles, so they would not suspect him of kidnapping the maiden, but once Cheza had awaken, he fled.

The noble had wanted to dispose of the girl once she learned that the attempt at creating a successful key had failed, but Byron couldn't allow it. He felt a connection with her. He felt as though she belonged to him...they needed eachother. But he didn't understand why.

All he knew was that he had to protect her.

"And I'll do whatever it takes"

Now that Toboe had an idea as to what was going on, and had told his friend, they would find a way around the forests defenses and manage to leave. They would continue on trying to find Paradise. And if the nobles caught the wolves and their maiden, Cheza?

The old man stood from the table and entered a back room. He took a second to glance around before finally reaching for his shot gun.

As soon as the white wolf opened his eyes, he turned over and lept onto his feet, glancing around in an attempt to figure out where he was. "Cheza? Cheza!" He called, taking two unstable steps foward before stopping and calling for his maiden again. He couldn't smell her at all.He touched his coat. Whenhe held her close to him, her scent usually stuck to him, but now...it was gone.

There was a sharp pain in his back, that throbbed with each step he took. But, he ignored it, since he knew that he was lucky that his back was the only thing injured. The vines had been so violent towards him, until he had calmed down...because of Cheza's song. 'Why did she...?' He thought to himself before recalling Cheza's special connection with plants. She was probably aware of what they wanted and had done something to protect her wolf.

Her wolf...

Kiba continued foward, ignoring the pain in his side. The pain he was beginning to feel in his heart was much worse. First, they had lost Toboe to hungry animals of the wild, then, Tsume had disappeared. Shortly after, Hige vanished, and now...he and Cheza had been separated. When the journey to Paradise first began, he hadn't been attached, but as time went by..they had become his family.

And he felt as though he had failed them.

He needed to find them again, before it was too late. So, he tilted his head back and howled. He waited for a reply, but none came. However, Kiba refused to believe, that like Toboe, the rest were dead.

He continued foward, stopping only when the sound of a twig snapping behind him caught his attention.

After he had managed to regain feelings in his legs, he dug and dug and dug, until finally, he surfaced from beneath the earth, just next to the base of a large tree. "Woah. I was pretty far under..." he coughed and felt his side. He was bleeding pretty badly, but couldn't remember how he got hurt. "I've got to find Kiba and Cheza"

"Paradise...evil...betrayal..."

Hige spun around, "Who is that?" He could see no one, smell no one..all he could do was hear. And since he prided himself on his sense of smell, it annoyed him. A few yellow leaves fluttered down from the sky, landing on the tips of his sneakers.

He had become so distracted watching the leaves drop, that he never realized the mountain lion creeping up behind him until it had knocked him over, pinning him onto the ground.

Hige blinked as he stared up into the black eyes of the short haired, blonde headed female holding him down. She wore a simple tannish dress and no shoes.

"Woah"

"You are not the only one who can cast an illusion to fool humans, wolf" She spoke in a strong voice. "We've all had to adapt to survive"

"I know that babe, you just suprised me" Hige grinned, not minding at all the fact that she rested on top of him. Then, it dawned on him that it had been mountain lions that killed Toboe. He gathered his strength and pushed her off, knocking her over. "I don't have time for this. I need to find my friends..find Paradise"

"What?" Fool!" The girl laughed, taking on her true form. "This is Paradise"

A/N: Well?

About Byron and Hana: I recieved an email from someone who wanted to know more about the two...Before Cheza, there had been several attempts to create a flower maiden. Hana was simply a trial run to see if through alchemy, they could create a human. She was sucessfully created, and once she was, nobles knew what they were capable of. Originally created by Ooakum, Hana was kidnapped by Jagura, hoping that this girl was the key to Paradise. She was kept in a dome in the lower levels of the keep. While there, she was visited by one of Jagura's soldiers..Byron. He instantly felt a connection to her. When he learned of their plans to kill her, he knew he had to do something. And he did, he kidnapped her. Shortly after however, reports of a successful maiden of lunar flowers came to be, so Jagura never bothered searching for Hana or Byron.