Even though Spencer and Ian had left, the kiss between Bryan and Ray never ceased.

Moon Child rolled her eyes. 'Just knew that was coming… just knew it… I could feel it in my fur… 'Always trust the fur, Ayashe', Elan used to say used to say to me.'

They broke away from the heated kiss for breath, only to plunge back into it again.

'Spirits above… I told them to take it slow, but they just ignore me… but that may be cause by the fact that the stupid race of men lost a couple of brain cells and the way of how to talk to us animals.' Another rolling of eyes. 'Maybe Tiger Boy's right; I do kinda talk to myself, don't I? Oh well, maybe a goddess is reading my mind and writing it down to write about in a story or something… with me as the heroine… yeah, that would be nice.'

She wandered away a little bit and into Tala's room, where she leapt up onto windowsill. Staring out the window, her hazel eyes became sad, as she took in the landscape… so different from home…

Flashback

'Come on!'

Moon Child frowned, running as fast as her young legs would carry to catch up to her childhood friend.

'Cha'tima! Slow down!' Moon Child yapped out.

'No! You hurry up!' the yap came back on the wind's breath.

'Darn you, Cha'tima… damn you…'

But she skidded to a halt on the edge of an ice slump, where part of the icy land had given way; most likely caused by a caved-in tunnel built by subterranean animals. She gazed out over the icy Siberian tundra she now called home, her eyes twinkling in the midday su-

'Argh!'

Another wolf cub had slammed into her, knocking both over the small cliff's edge, making them roll down the slightly slanted hill. They stopped, the other cub on top of Moon Child, who was on her back. The other cub was jet-black; an oddity among the wolf pack, though she didn't know why.

'Caught you, Ayashe!' The black wolf yapped out.

'You only caught me, Cha'tima, because you back tracked and snuck up on me while I was day-dreaming!'

Cha'tima barked. 'You should be on your toes, Ayashe; wolves should never let their guard down; especially when on the hunt. But we should get back; father says that he needs to talk to me.'

Moon Child, or as Cha'tima had called her, Ayashe looked sad.

'What's wrong, Ayashe?' Cha'tima asked, nuzzling her affectionately. 'You look sad…'

'He's probably going to talk to you about taking over when he gets old…or dies…'

'What?'

'That's what happened with my father in the old pack… he died and another wolf had to take over…'

Cha'tima faltered. He knew that Ayashe and her mother, Kaliska, weren't original members of their pack. He knew that in Kaliska's old pack, she had been the Alpha female; the female leader of the pack, leading the group with her mate. He knew that the reason for Kaliska taking Ayashe and running away was because her mate had been killed and the new Alpha male demanded for her to mate with him… but he was glad that she and her mother was safe; in their pack, with his father; the alpha male, Elan.

'Why's that bad?' He asked, their noses touching.

'Because then you won't be able to stay with me and play with me.' She replied sadly.

Cha'tima's mahogany-coloured eyes softened and he licked Ayashe's nose, before nipping her ear playfully. 'I'll always make time for you, Ayashe; even when I do become pack leader. But that's far away now…'

'I suppose…' She glanced sideways to see their pack of wolves on the horizon. 'What do you think is happening, Cha'tima?'

'I think we're moving. The deer – with – horns (1) must be moving to a fresh eating place.' Cha'tima said, stepping away from her. 'Come on! Race yah!'

End flashback

'Ayashe… my true name…' Moon Child thought sadly, 'I thought I had forgotten…'

"Moon Child?"

The wolf's head whipped around to see Ray standing in the doorway, Bryan behind him, looking concerned. The neko-jin moved closer, though the Falcon stayed put.

"You okay?" Ray asked kindly, perching on the edge of the windowsill, next to the reminiscent wolf. "You miss Tala and Kai, don't you?"

'I miss more than them…'

Ray looked over at Bryan, silently asking him for help, but he stopped when Moon Child's expression changed; determination shone in her eyes.

'We're going!'

"Moon Child what- where are you going?"

The wolf jumped off the windowsill and ran past Bryan and down the hallway. Ray rushed over to the Russian. Bryan smirked.

"I think our little wolf has found our other wolf's scent…" He said, before both teens rushed after Moon Child.

The metal door creaked open slowly and footsteps echoed around the dank, dark dungeon cell. Kai raised his head a little bit from his chest and his eyes flickered open.

Before him stood his grandfather; Kai did his best to glare, but it did only half the damage it should've done.

"Oh, please, Kai. Don't even try that glare on me; it doesn't work." Voltaire scoffed, eyeing his grandson, who was sitting with his back against the wall, one arm hanging limply by his side. "Now, do you have anything you want to say before I start?"

Kai smirked. "In fact, I do." He said; his voice, to his pleasure, showed no weakness.

"Oh, and what is it?"

"Fuck off and die like the sick and lonely bastard you are."

"Now, now, Kai. Is that the way to treat your only living relative?"

"Stop being a hypocrite and get on with whatever punishment you have planned for me today." Kai snapped back, saying the word 'punishment' in a rather sarcastic way.

"Kai, Kai, Kai…" Voltaire tutted. "What have I taught you?"

"A load of crap?"

The crack of a whip resounded off the walls of the cell, and Kai's head snapped sideways as the long, thin rope connected with his cheek, leaving a raw, red, bleeding line along his cheekbone. Voltaire sneered.

"Silly, little, weak Kai." He said in a taunted voice. "Always leaping before looking… I mean, look at how you ended up in here! Your pathetic, traitorous and weak excuse of a boyfriend ends up in hospital because his mind betrays him and you come running here to try to save him." He smirked. "The key word here being 'try'."

Anger bubbled inside of Kai like boiling water. How dare he insult Tala!

"Shut up…"

"What did you say?"

"Shut up!"

"I can't hear you…" Voltaire taunted, daring him to say it one more time.

"I said… Shut. UP!"

Nearby, on the wooded border of the Siberian tundra, a teen looked into the sky suddenly as a great, burning fireball flew up above. It disappeared in a silent explosion, but in its place was a huge bird made up of flames, crying out a melodic war screech.

The boy smiled, his icy blues glinting. "Dranzer… hang on… I'm coming for you, Kai."

And the boy ran into the woods, towards the burning phoenix and to what he hoped was the place where his lover was.

"Why the hell is she going to the airport?" Ray asked as they ran down the deserted road, heading towards said building.

"Well, of course. Whoever took Tala would go overseas." Bryan pointed out.

"But how the hell are we going to figure out where he went? How will Moon Child know?" Ray replied. "Unless you haven't realised, wolves can't fly."

Bryan rolled his eyes as they slowed down in front of the large building; Moon Child waited obediently outside the doors. She gave a bark and trotted inside. Ray and Bryan shared a look before following her. They watched as she made her way towards a check-in desk.

Ray looked up at the sign above the woman behind the desk. "Moscow, Russia." He read. "Oh joy… going to Russia…"

"What's wrong with Russia?" Bryan asked.

"Oh nothing, just last time I went, I was sick for what seemed like forever and frozen out of my mind."

Bryan smirked. "Don't worry," He said, his smirk continuing. He handed the woman a credit card, "I'll be here to keep you warm…"

"Oh joy…" Ray muttered under his breath. He turned to Moon Child. "You sure he's in Russia?"

Moon Child. 'No doubt about it, Tiger-boy… no doubt about it…'

Ray glanced ahead and frowned. "Nah ah. I ain't going out there."

Bryan sighed and looked out into the wood-edged tundra; the place where they were being lead to by Moon Child and the place where Ray was refusing to go.

"Listen, Ray. You either walk out there willingly, or I have to carry you." Bryan said. "Remember who this is for; Tala and Kai. If the wolf says there in that direction, then we go in that direction."

Ray sighed also. "Fine, I guess you're right…"

As they walked out towards the edge of the town, Ray subconsciously pulled the thick, fur-trimmed coat tighter around his body. The icy wind lazily drifted over his face; he found it not to be as cold as he remembered it; he voiced this aloud to Bryan.

"Global warming." He replied simply. "People burning carbon dioxide for simple wants and eating away at the ozone."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Didn't know you were one to care about the environment."

"Back in the Abbey, it was the only thing, apart from Tala, I could care about. Also the fact that I want to delay the possible destruction of the Earth just long enough for me to die naturally." Bryan said nonchalantly.

"Well, that might not happen if those guys come after us." Ray said, pointing to a group of men who were crowding around a campfire a few hundred yards away, a stash of guns within their reach.

Bryan's face, if it could, paled even more. "Oh, shit. The hunters."

He grabbed Ray's wrist and ran. He stuck his thumb and index finger into his mouth and gave a whistle; a whistle that Moon Child picked up with her hearing; she soon joined their running towards the woods that lined the seemingly-endless icy tundra.

"What?" Ray asked as they neared the woods, though the trees were at least a good thousand yards away. "Are those the hunters that attacked you?"

"Yes." Bryan replied, his voice showing weariness clearly. He caught Ray's look. "Just – nothing, Ray. Haven't recovered from that atta-"

BANG-PING!

Bryan pulled Ray to the side just as the bullet hit the ice, causing the pinging sound. They carried on running, as fast as they could. They reached the woods in no time; Ray looked down at Moon Child a few yards from the trees.

"Moon Child, go in there and stay low! They have no reason to hurt us, so go! We'll be fine!"

Moon Child had no time to change her mind. She dashed into the bushes nearby and hid, quivering as the men with powerful rifles surrounded her brothers.

Flashback

"Ayashe, go hide in the bushes! Stay low and hide. I will be fine!"

"But moth-"

"Go! I love you…"

Kaliska technically threw her cub into the bushes, just as the hunters appeared. She took up a defensive stance; crouched low and teeth bared, growling loudly…

Flashback

No, she wouldn't let that happen to her brothers; not let it happen again… but what could she do?

(1)- Can anyone guess what Cha'tima is refering to?

A/N- a lot of background info on Moon Child… or should I say, Ayashe? (I'm thinking of writing a fic about her life before she met Tala; whadda ya think?)

Will she be able to save Ray and Bryan? And will Tala reach Kai in time?

Review to find out quicker!

P.S- BTW, if ya wanna know, all the names of the wolves are all native American names (or as they are incorrectly called 'Indians'); this is because the grey wolf (which is the main breed of wolf (Even Cha'tima, with his black fur)) originates from America, via how the land was laid out a million years ago and because of protection programs helping wolves.

Some info on wolves there; aren't you the educated person today?