Sheepishly

Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. Paahaha. I'd love to, but I don't. –sighs dreamily-

Before the Flower's Call

Morning. The young wolf cringed in the sunlight as the fiery white orb rose into the sky and blared its warm, bright light down onto the aging world, slowly becoming the wasted product of human greed. For the first time, he wished that the moon could have reigned a bit longer, the warm rays of the sun harsh on his closed eyelids. The pain in his chest had lessened by a lot, but the memory still hurt, and the hopelessness of isolation crashed down on him like the moon falling out of the sky and onto his head. He felt a little sick, in pain and something inside him longed for the comfort of the pack.

It was the wild wolf's love of family. But it was something Toboe couldn't—wouldn't be able to identify. He didn't want to open his eyes at first, feeling as if his bones were filled with lead, and a crushing despair that he'd be cut off from the others. Why bother? What if they were—

He shook the thought away, a small flame stirring somewhere in his heart—a heart that was stronger than he knew. With a small grunt of effort, he opened his amber eyes and staggered to his paws, a tongue of pleasure lighting him—the pain wasn't nearly as intense as he expected, but it still throbbed and ached. Distantly, he remembered Cheza in the Forest of Death, recalling how he had healed his sprained ankle with merely a touch. He found himself wishing for her guidance too, but as it was…he'd have to make do on his own.

He felt small and insignificant in the shadow of the gnarled trees that reached for the sky, the thundering of the falls ever pounding in his ears, the whisper of wind a small comfort as it teased the flowers enough to dance in the small zephyr, tugging at his fur and tail. Toboe's paws were damp from the slick, muddy grass he had spent the night in, and it was time to move on into the woods.

If Tsume had been there, he would have snarled and grumbled at him to stop trembling like a rabbit when the hunter's by, the fear in his eyes obvious in their pale amber depths, the pounding of his heart against his chest reminding him of all the things that lurked in there. He was alone, and Getsuei could accurately describe him as a bad fighter. With a shudder he shoved away memories of the night Ren was killed—no, murdered in her wicked Mother's keep—and the shadows that just started to emerge from the trees and the long, twisted and knobby branches that reached out from oddly shaped foliage, reminding him all too well of that evil woman. Her strong, bony grip around his throat—her eyes burning with hate and pain, and the gentle crashing of the waterfall became her horrible, dry laugh that left him a ragged little runt, an obsolete weakling crouched at the base of the forest.

How could he dare go on? She had sworn to hunt them down, and kill them, and he, the least capable of the pack on his own. Vulnerable as a one legged rat. He took a deep, shuddering breath and opened his eyes—when had he closed them so tight in his fear?—and looked up and down, trying to penetrate barely exsistent shadows with his sharp wolf vision, but his overblown imagination had often gotten the better of him. But not today. He shook his head, trying to picture Tsume in his head, the strong, brave wolf he so looked up to—he never showed fear in the face of danger, always the defender, a fighter to be admired.

The thought of finally proving himself to that wolf, and maybe taking the first step to being more like the scarred gray warrior fueled his determination to taking his first, slow strides into the deep rescesses of the forest, making sure his senses were in tune with every thing around him, his ears pricked and swiveling in all directions, his eyes darting around while his nose fought to draw out the scents of his comrades. He'd find them…the thoughts were to help disguise the uncertainty that clouded his mind.

The poor wolf didn't have the fickle Dame Fortune on his side right now. For the wind was blowing the direction that masked the heavy scents of Dorjan, vassal of the hated Lady Sheshkemana.

Kiba was leading the pack through the forest by the riverbank, his faith in the fact that there was a way down—where the waterfall hit was nearby. After having trusted the white lupine this far, Getsuei didn't have any problems at all with it. Hell, these wolves had been a better family than his stupid sister could have ever been. And anyway, his promise to return Marel back to that pack was…not quite forgotten…just, unfulfilled.

And it never would be fulfilled. He had promised his own life if he didn't return her in ten days prior to rescuing Toboe and Tsume, and those ten days were up. Way up. Even if he did go back with the seer, his sister would kill him anyway. The seeds of doubt had been planted about him, and his constant haunting of the pack's whereabouts had annoyed her. In the early days of his exile, his enemies within the pack had taken advantage to pour further poison about him into Ryo's ears.

They hadn't been very close as cubs; he won her favor in the pack because of his fighting ability, leadership, and wile. It wouldn't be hard for Ryo to act as if they weren't kin—besides, he'd never have his place in the pack again. He'd be the bloody omega, as the humans put it, the dog of the pack. No…he'd never even be that. The omega was always cared for, a peacemaker, someone who disliked conflict. He may get picked on, but the pack loved him, for what he lacked in fighting ability, the omega made up in compassion and true-heartedness for the pack.

Just like the pup of Kiba's pack, Toboe. No, not even the rank of an omega would be granted to Getsuei if he returned—he'd be spat on, kicked at, scorned and damned by his own family. Well, not in this millennium! He had found…friends?

Despite the wolf's skeptical, mistrusting and contrary character, he was starting to care deeply for the pack that had taken him in. Hige might be a pain in the ass, but if he ever left, or was killed, it just wouldn't be the same. Grudgingly, he was starting to enjoy the brown wolf's company. The part of him that had been shoved away by the soldier part of him tentatively voiced that it wanted the friendship. He and Tsume got along better, for both had similarities not only in personality, but unbeknownst to them, their pasts also had an analogous ring. Not that either of them would ever say anything to bring attention to their bloody histories. Kiba, distant as he was, was a good wolf too. He may be secretive and enigmatic sometimes—most of the time, but Getsuei wasn't stupid, he could see that there was something about the white wolf that set him off from them, from the blaze of destiny and purpose in those golden eyes to the way that he constantly looked inside himself to lead them. He was a good leader, tenfold the leader his…sister could ever be.

And he was happy to be a part of it.

Kiba, as usual was striding ahead of the pack by several lengths, his pace quick and ground covering despite. Getsuei himself was keeping good pace, the moonlight had healed his bloodied flank, and it felt almost as good as new. Tsume's shoulder was still a bit stiff and achy. Hige was fine, and Marel, strangely, acted and appeared as if she had never been injured or rode to exhaustion.

Tsume was about half a length behind the big white wolf, his head up, his ears swiveling in every direction, his nostrils dilating as he tried to pull Toboe's scent from the air. Hige was trying to make conversation from Marel, if only to break the heavy silence that hung over the wolves like a stormcloud. Finally, when it was obvious he would make no progress, he raised his eyes to the sky and demanded, "Why the hell is it so quiet? Someone, anyone, say something! I wouldn't even mind if Getsuei started whining about now."

"Excuse me, who's whining?" Getsuei asked with a little bit of a smirk. He was happy, and right now, he felt at peace with the world. He felt no reason to complain. Hell, he couldn't find a single thing to complain about…except…

"Shut up, Hige!" Tsume snapped irritably, his yellow green eyes narrowed. "If you're not going to help us find the pup, keep your mouth shut."

The large brown wolf looked up, startled and slightly hurt at Tsume's words, but he flattened his ears and frowned, his superior nose sniffing the air with a manner of one deeply offended, keeping a huffy silence for awhile. Getsuei also turned and scowled at Tsume, he didn't need to get so damn worked up about the pup, Marel had said they'd—

"Oh crap!" Hige suddenly cried, his eyes getting huge. "Oh this is bad! Kiba, I smell Nobles!"

A/N: Heya, guys! –is exploding happiness- Glad you liked it! That's very pleasing to hear from you all—Lonegrey, Kristen, Tweak (hee!), CC (Mind if I call you that, Chocolate Chan? ), D.C., Wolf Called Killer, and Rae. As for how long the story's going to be, Rae, I have no clue. You shall wait and see, as will I and all the others. –grins- xD Music is an inspiration for me…oh, and thanks Lonegrey. Me, and inspiration? –blushes- Aw. I'm flattered. –hugs- Oy, to all of you, here's a thing I frequently do—depending on what the mood of whatever I'm writing is, I'll listen to a bit of music. Enya or Evanescence works quite well for Wolf's Rain.