Disclaimer- I don't own Wolf's Rain. But if the producers would ever be so kind as to sell it to me…. 3

Dedication: This story is hereby dedicated to the wonderful Lonegrey. Here's to you, friend.

Before the Flower's Call

Toboe flinched at the sudden rumbling, his amber eyes huge as he flattened his ears and looked up. "The whole thing's coming down!" he wailed, fear seizing the pup by the throat just as Tsume seized him by the scruff.

"Move!" the older wolf snarled through a mouthful of the runt's fur as he literally threw him towards the exit. Toboe landed with a dull thud and a grunt, feeling the rocks crash down around him. The moaning of the walls as they came down roared in the ears of the wolves as Toboe scrabbled to his paws, shaking off dust and pebbles. He opened his eyes, only to cough and blink rapidly to clear the dust from them, dimly spotting Getsuei and Kiba helping Marel to her feet while Tsume and Hige had their backs against the wall, trying to buy time for the old wolf.

Torn for a split second, the young wolf glanced behind him. The section of the wall was crumbling, and the flickering flame in his heart roared as he threw himself against that wall. The sharp rocks and grit grated against his fur and skin, the great weight of the wall pressing down on his small frame as he willed himself to bear it, his eyes shut with effort. He could have sworn he had Tsume's approving eyes on him, but the feeling was gone as Marel let out a whimpering snarl.

"Get off! I can run! Run! Get out of here, quick!" her voice took on a strange, raspy edge. "That bastard in the forest has sent troops after us! Sheshekmana's troops are here—they blew up the foundation of this building! We need to run!" She struggled free of Kiba and Getsuei, rearing up on her fragile hind legs and delivering a sharp swat to both of their rumps. Toboe might have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire, Kiba stumbled away, a look of shock and a new, higher respect for the old she-wolf entering his usually enigmatic golden eyes as he turned and said, "You heard her! Move!"

Getsuei, in this black moment looked shocked and relieved as Marel shot out the opening, held up by Toboe. Kiba barreled on after her, followed closely by Kiba and Hige and Getsuei. Tsume brought up the rear and shoved Toboe through. "Run!"

Everything was happening so quickly that the pup could barely register what was going on as his paws automatically started to work, the only thing keeping him from giving into blind panic was a glimmer of pride and the fire that burned inside him. I helped them…I helped them escape!

Dust fell in thin waterfalls from the collapsing building and even outside; the air was choked with sand, the sun blotted out momentarily, before a heavy, surprisingly cold wind started to push it away with a shrieking moan characteristic of a gale. Now, Toboe could see the fleeing shapes of his friends in front of him, and the great gray Tsume at running at his side. People screamed and through themselves out of the careening wolf pack's way as the mechanical, fuzzy voices of men speaking through walkie-talkies filled the place.

"Quarry sighted! Move out and capture them! Now! Kill if you need to!"

The rattarattarattarattarattaratt of heavy, powerful bullets screaming through the air and peppering the hard ground around the wolves as sparks flew from the ground on their impact, scattering the pack.

Suddenly, with grace and power that no on in the pack could have guessed she had, Marel leaped from the ground and onto the canvas shading a food stall, running on the sturdy cloth and leaping from canvas to canvas, snapping bravely at the guards below. There was not time to recognize the feat as Tsume lunged into the air to mirror her on the opposite street. After those two jumped to elevation, the rest of the pack followed shortly, catching on.

If the guards shot at them up there and missed, they could risk bringing down walls if a bullet went too badly astray.

Hige and Getsuei soared onto the carved out stone pillars that threatened to fall upon the people of the city, about ten meters in front of Marel, alternating with amazing accuracy and teamwork that neither of them thought they'd be able to pull together. Kiba, since the city was symmetrical, did the same on the other side, leaping from pillar to pillar, making for a very difficult white target.

The last one on the hard, cobbled ground inevitably was Toboe, now starting to give way to panic as bullets peppered the ground around him. "There's the little one!" a coarse, male voice bellowed. "Catch him!" With a frightened yell, Toboe sharply skidded to avoid a heavy net hurled at him, the weighted object clattering to the ground barely inches behind his wild turn.

"Toboe!" the brown wolf desperately looked up to see Hige on one of the pillars that was starting to topple. "Go after Kiba! Go!" at the last second, the heavyset wolf leaped from his pillar was the thing collapsed, smashing several guards below him with howls of dismay, leaving only silence…and a leak of red human blood that spilled from the desolate pile.

The runt glanced to Kiba's line of pillars, swallowing hard. It was a jump that any of the older wolves could make, but could he? Of course he could…with a grunt of effort, the pup concentrated all the power of his muscles into his hind legs and launched himself from the ground like a guided missile, feeling his stomach drop and his heart lurch as time seemed to slow as the world beneath his paws became smaller as he went higher, the slow beat of blood in his ears thumping once…and he landed on a pillar, crashing back to reality and all the world's pace and noise filled his ears again.

The pup whined in terror as he felt the unsteady stone start to wobble as he was forced to leap after Kiba, his paws barely touching the surface of one before having to lunge again to keep from falling to the ground. Bullets and curses were still being thrown at them, but they were more…distant now.

Toboe was just getting into his stride when Kiba leaped off the pillars, followed by the pack when a single, hard shot rang out.

A shreking whimper of pain, and a howl of despair.

"MAREL!"

A/N: I am back and I refuse to leave without finishing this story, no matter what anyone at home says. I owe it to you guys, and either way, I enjoy writing and entertaining for you. Thanks to you all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter…and that the fact I return to finish makes you happy. Cherio, I shall be back in a few days with an update for you.