Howl of the Wolves
Chapter 3
Journey Under the Moon
Quent and Blue stared at the four wolves and cat. Silence ensued between the six beings.
"It's you…" Quent growled. He walked up to Toboe, and hugged him. (If Wolf's Rain were more comedic, everyone would have done an anime style fall)
"Oomf!" Toboe whooshed. Seeing this as an okay time to do so, Blue ran up to Hige and hugged him too. They moved a little ways away from the group.
"You're the wolf I died with!" Quent laughed. "I've been looking for you guys."
"What for?" Kiba asked bluntly, "To kill us?"
"No, I'm making an exception for you wolves. For Blue, and you, what's your name?"
"Toboe." Toboe grinned.
"There's actually a particular pack I'm looking for. They are known as the Mahogany Wolves, and apparently, they have a bounty on their head." Quent told the pack. "There is even a legend about them. They are said to have been sent from Paradise itself to find the chosen wolves and bring them to their homeland."
"Sent from Paradise itself?" Tsume looked at Quent. "Are you sure, old man?"
"No." he gave Tsume a nasty look. "I've already had a few run ins with these wolves. But only the leader wolf can actually open the final gate to Paradise. Each of the wolves opens a gate along the way, then there are two other keys."
"You sure do know a lot about how to get to Paradise." Kiba growled softly. "But is it all true?"
"It's all from a book similar to the Book of the Moon, called Paradiso Luna." Quent showed the four a book in blue leather that he pulled from his coat. "This is the last surviving copy, at least so they say. I found it in some old cave the leader disappeared down. I think that she-wolf is a spirit, as she disappeared faster than fire in water."
Hige and Blue rejoined the group, looking happier than Hige when he was invited to an all-you-can-eat restaurant.
"Are you two done now?" Tsume growled. "I smell trouble coming."
From out of the crowd came some "Hunters." These men were hunters, who hunted wolves and humans with bounties on their heads. Their helmets contained a machine that could help make the Hunter "see through" a wolf's disguise. And now was no different.
"Wolf Pack!" one of them called. He pointed into the crowd, towards a pack of wolves. And they were none other than Kiba, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe. Blue was hidden behind Quent and Hige, where she took on her dog appearance.
"Crap! Let's get out of here!" Hige yelled as the Hunters pulled out their guns. People started screaming, causing chaos to begin, allowing the four wolves to escape. The Hunters ran as fast as possible through the crowd. One of the Hunters called through a walkie-talkie to alert fellow Hunters.
The chase began. Kiba and Toboe ran between a few buildings to a decent place they could bounce up the walls of the buildings to the rooftops. Tsume and Hige took off down the street. They got about fifty yards before running into Enmei and Kouyuu.
"Enmei! Kouyuu! Run!" Hige yelled at the two wolves. But they stood their ground. Tsume and Hige jumped to a low rooftop and watched.
Enmei and Kouyuu watched with grim faces as the three Hunters slowed to a stop in font of themselves. One of the Hunters laughed.
"You wolves think you can stand up to us?" he yowled with laughter. The other two joined in the laughter. "Who do you think you are?"
"We're Enmei and Kouyuu." Kouyuu spoke grimly, his usual easy-going self was gone.
"Of the Mahogany Wolves." Enmei grinned evilly.
"And you're just about to meet my sister." Kouyuu too grinned evilly.
An amber wolf ran from behind the Hunters and snapped the neck of the lead Hunter. The other two took the bait and looked at their dead comrade. That was the last thing they ever did. Enmei and Kouyuu sprang and did likewise to the remaining Hunters.
More screaming occurred, followed by the gathering of more Hunters than Hige and Tsume thought the three wolves could take on. Futeki attacked again, followed by Enmei and Kouyuu.
"They're going to get themselves killed!" Tsume growled. He stood, getting ready to help the three. But then the three wolves nimbly jumped over a few Hunters and disappeared.
"Come on, Tsume, those three know what they're doing." Hige turned away, until a single shot was heard. The two looked and saw Kouyuu face to face with Quent. Kouyuu's mouth was bloody, but Quent wasn't seeing that. He was seeing Kouyuu's human look. And so was Blue.
"Ruus…" Quent whispered. Kouyuu looked like an older version of Quent's son.
Kouyuu twitched, then jumped away, his shoulder bleeding from a gunshot wound. Quent was still frozen, people still screaming. The Hunters looked a bit lost, and certainly defeated. They began to collect their dead. Hige and Tsume turned silently and jumped in the direction Kiba and Toboe's scents disappeared to.
Kiba and Toboe rested in a small pocket park between some tall, old buildings. It was the park they were going to meet the other wolves in. The smell of humans were getting faint here, showing that the park was rarely used. The rain fell steady on the two wolves.
"So you think they got caught?" Toboe asked worriedly.
"I don't think Tsume would let himself get caught." Kiba reassured the young wolf. He looked around the small park, until he spotted a couple of wolves strolling through the park. He got up and approached them. They were old wolves. Kiba wondered how they could live in this city. He wondered how so many wolves could live in this city.
"Do you know anything about the Mahogany Wolves?" Kiba asked the older wolves. They looked him in the eye.
"The Mahogany Wolves? I haven't heard about that wolf group in years. "One of the wolves laughed. "They're a legend."
"Some say they came from Paradise to find the chosen wolf and bring them to their world." The other said.
"Their leader has the mark of Paradise on its chest. Only she can open the final gate between here and Paradise. But first the chosen wolf must open the first gate, and then the halfling. Next is the timid one of amber, then the leader's sibling. After that is the wolf of the flame, and last of all, the leader."
"Huh?" Toboe squinted, trying to understand the words of the old wolves.
"I heard a rumor about the leader having disappeared to go back to Paradise and leaving his comrades behind."
"And that they're here in town, and they found the chosen, but don't realize it."
"How do you know all of this?" Kiba demanded.
"Because we are messengers, sent by the Master of Paradise." One of the wolves cackled. "But we can't tell you who the chosen is, or the Mahogany Wolves are."
Suddenly, a bright light surrounded the two older wolves, and they disappeared into thin air. "Mahogany wolves? Like Futeki, Enmei, and Kouyuu? They smell like Mahogany…" Toboe told Kiba.
Hige and Tsume then came jogging into the park. "What was that?" Tsume asked Kiba.
"Messengers from Paradise…" Kiba whispered. A look of disbelief crossed both Tsume and Hige's faces.
"Messengers from Paradise?" Hige gawked.
"Yeah…" Toboe looked dazed by what he had just seen.
"Well, Kouyuu, Enmei, and Futeki covered our tails." Tsume growled. "With some blood shed. They killed about seven Hunters."
"And Quent sees something in Kouyuu that we can even begin to guess at. He shot Kouyuu in the shoulder, so we'll have another injured wolf on our paws if those three join us."
"Well, we have a whole day until Full Moon, so what shall we do?" Toboe sighed. "I would really like to go back to my apartment and leave the nice old wolf a letter…"
"Write the letter and give it to me." A cat meowed from the bushes. It was the cat that lived with the old wolf. "She'll miss you, you know."
"Yeah, and I'll miss her too." Toboe then took the cat and wandered off, telling him what to say to the old wolf once she returned seeing as he couldn't write a letter.
Hige eventually wandered off to find some good food, and Tsume just disappeared. Kiba thought back on what happened to him in less than two hours. He then found a good place to sleep, and he settled down to sleep.
Kiba was running through a cave, darker than he had ever seen before. He eventually found a light in a large room filled with clear, clean water. In front of him was a black wolf with silver ears and paws. She was drinking the water, slowly and smoothly. She then turned towards Kiba. He gasped. On her chest was a pure white mark, shaped as a fire spark. Her eyes were crystalline blue, and glimmering warmly.
"I must find my pack now that I've arrived." She walked past Kiba, as if he weren't there. He found he could no longer move. But a force was pulling him into the water. He splashed in. The water was cold, but got warmer the further towards the middle he got. Suddenly, he was pulled under…
"Kiba! Wake up!" Hige called. Kiba jumped up. It was pitch black.
"How long have I been asleep?" he asked Hige as he pulled himself out from under the bush.
"Since last night." Hige grinned. "It's about ten minutes to Midnight, so Futeki and the others should be here soon."
"I slept an entire day? Where are Toboe and Tsume?" Kiba asked.
"Yep, you slept an entire day. Toboe and Tsume are over there. Come on, let's join them." Hige bounced over to where two wolves were standing behind a bench. Kiba stretched and joined his friends to wait for the other wolf pack.
Elsewhere…A dark shape raced across the freshly fallen snow. The wolf had only one purpose in mind for its life. Kill those who defied it.
Elsewhere and a while later…
A girl with black hair and silver bangs, black cargo pants, silver fleece turtleneck jacket, white gloves, and steel toed military boots stumbled across a snowy expanse. She finally fell from exhaustion. Her human body then took on the look of what she really was: a black wolf with silver ears and paws. On her chest was the mark of Paradise: a white flame spark. She slept, oblivious of the dark, brown wolf standing over her small form. The wolf cackled, and picked up the she-wolf and carried her to a small cave he had dug himself. On the ground were the she-wolf had fallen was a necklace that showed she was a leader, and of Paradise itself.