A/N: right, before I start this chappie, I need to answer a few general questions that -loads- of people asked:
A Racoon Dog: The Racoon Dog is found in Eastern Europe, Siberia, China, and Japan. Small in size, it reaches only 2ft long and has a chunky build. Its summer coat is grey-brown, with darker eye patches like a racoon's 'mask'. Its winter coat is white. These dogs live alone or in small groups. It is related to the racoon, but is more closely related to wolves and other wild dogs; I guess it's a hybrid (a cross breed) of a wild dog and racoon… 0.0 but I dunno how that could happen…
Wolf Howls: Unlike popular beliefs, Wolves do not howl at the moon; let alone a full one. They howl at the start of a hunt, when they've killed an animal and when they finish. They also howl to call their pack together. Think of it as the telephone of the wolfy world.
How come Moon Child has a pack? You said earlier that her pack (including mother) was killed! YOU'RE CONFUSING ME! (that was altered; no one said that but me :) ): right, if I told you all that now, it would be a spoiler, wouldn't it? Just sit back and relax; all will be explained later, don't worry. And when it does, I bet you'll all say, 'So that's why that happened!'.
"You know, you are two strange kids."
Ray laughed at Zorya's comment. He picked off another small chunk of meat off his steak and handed it to Fai, who was perched on his shoulder. The little racoon dog took it with his front paws and ate it in little nibbles. Ray laughed. "Yeah, you could say we are."
"'You', Ray, not including me." Bryan corrected, dodging the bone that had been thrown by the neko at him. ""I thought your aim was better than that."
"And to think you two were rivals just over three years ago…" Zorya said with a chuckle. "You two act like brothers… but what amazes me is the fact that you seem to be able to tame the most wildest of beast."
Bryan shook his head. "Though that may be the case, we have yet to find evidence in that. It's just the fact that not all animals are hostile and rabid. Take Moon Child for instance."
"Your wolf?"
"Yeah. But don't ask me how Tala managed to tame her; I wasn't there." Ray said, handing more meat to Fai, who was still perched on his shoulder.
"Neither was I, but all I know is that…" He stopped, trailing off.
Zorya frowned. "What?" Bryan shook his head as if saying he couldn't say. "Listen kid, I won't get offended."
"Tala found her on her own as a cub. He says he found her mother's corpse as well; he suspects that she was killed because she was all alone with her cub."
Zorya gritted his teeth. He sighed to calm himself down. "Jeez… and you think that that was my brothers and village?"
"…It was a possibility." Bryan admitted.
The hunter shook his head. "It wouldn't have been any of our villagers. We have quite good security on our cattle, but when a wolf attacks even a calf, we go after that wolf; not the whole pack; and only kill it on circumstances. And we would never harm a wolf just because it's on its own; let alone with a cub."
"Then what about earlier?" Ray asked, biting back a yawn.
"We thought that your wolf was chasing you. Like, to kill you."
"Nah, we were running away from you, not her."
"Oh thanks."
"Huh? What is it Fai?" The neko asked the wild dog upon his shoulder.
The racoon was standing on his back feet, front paws up, looking almost like a meerkat. It was sniffing the air, as if searching for the direction of what the thing that it had sensed was coming from.
Zorya picked up his rifle, ready to shoot whatever it was immediately. Fai looked at the gun and reverted to all fours before scurrying right round Ray's neck, making an odd sound. It grabbed a tuft of Ray's ebony hair in its claws and yanked continually.
"Ow, hey! Stop! That's my hair!" Ray exclaimed, picking the racoon off his shoulder by the scruff of its neck. "What was that for?"
Fai just looked Ray in the eye; strange green meeting golden amber. Ray broke their gaze and turned to Zorya; Fai doing the same, though still suspended in the air. "Stop." Ray said. "Whatever's out there won't harm us."
"Too right it won't harm us." Bryan said, his voice strangely far away. Ray looked up into a nearby tree to see the Falcon; a smirking Falcon. Bryan looked down at his neko. "Looks like we won't have to search for our little lost wolfy."
"Huh? You mean…?"
Some time ago"Just where are you taking me?" Tala asked the black wolf. It turned its head and gave him a look that said, 'Soon'. Tala sighed. "Fine, you just better get us there soon. And you better not be wasting my time; if you are, it'll be hell to pay."
'I know, I know. Ayashe told me. But we're here.'
They emerged in a tiny clearing. A small cave was opposite him and to the side of that was a burrow. Out of the cave came-
"Moon Child!" Tala exclaimed and the wolf yapped, rushing over to her master. She technically ran him over, licking his face; a few wolves poked their heads out of the large burrow to investigate. "Hey, stop it, girl! Stop! Glad to see you too!" She got off and sat next to him, as he sat up. "What are you doing-" He stopped, seeing the knowing look in her eyes. "You didn't… Bryan's here? Where?"
Moon Child gave a yap-bark and jumped up onto her back legs, falling back down, and doing it again. Tala got the hint and stood up. Moon Child ran around him once before running ahead.
Tala chuckled. "Fine, yeah I get ya. No need to get your fur in a twist."
He moved over to his wolf and together they walked through the bushes that enclosed the clearing where the pack of wolves lived. But they didn't get far; a deep bark echoed off the rocks.
"Huh?" Tala looked around to see the black wolf looking at him with deep mahogany eyes.
'What is it, Cha'tima?' Moon Child asked.
The black wolf, Cha'tima, growled softly. 'I'm coming with you.'
Moon Child frowned. 'I can handle things on my own… with pack leader with me, of course.'
Cha'tima rolled his eyes. 'Yeah right.' He looked up at Tala, a silent question in his eyes. 'I'm coming.'
"Let me guess; you want to come with us." Tala said; the wolf nodded. "Fine, whatever. The more the merrier."
Back to the future (lol, sorry. Had to do that…)
"You mean…?"
"Yo! Shit head!" Bryan called out.
Two wolves ran out of the bushes; one a greyish white, the other, pure black. Tala appeared after them. He glared up at Bryan in the tree, placing his hands on his hips. "Hello to you too. Now, what the hell are you doing here?"
Bryan jumped down from the tree. "Blame your wolf, Tala; not me. She just went flying off."
"Oh, haha, Bryan. Nice pun." Ray's voice fluttered over. (1)
Tala looked over to the neko-jin (who was currently being bombarded by a happy Moon Child), surprised. "Ray? What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you think that I'd let Bryan go off here on his own?"
"What, you scared that he'd get hurt?"
Ray looked impassively at Tala. "No, I was scared that he's hurt someone else, actually."
Tala laughed and walked up to him, pulling the Chinese boy into a hug. Ray hugged back and buried his face in the Russian's neck.
"We were worried." He said quietly; his voice was even quieter than it would've been because it was muffled by Tala's neck.
"You were? Well there's a surprise."
Ray gave Tala a poke in the back, in between two of his ribs. Tala laughed again and hugged the neko tighter. But what surprised him even more was the fact that Fai decided he wanted to join in with the hugging…
"Uh, Ray? There's a racoon on my face."
Ray let go and moved away to look. Fai let go of Tala's face too; the white racoon gave a little wave.
Tala looked at the wild dog weirdly. "Hello to you too."
'Pest…' Cha'tima growled.
Fai gave a little tutting noise, almost like a hamster or Guinea Pig, and jumped over to Tala's shoulder.
"So, what're you doing with a racoon dog, Ray?"
"You're telling me…" Bryan muttered. "But looks like you've added another wolf to your collection too, Tala."
Tala looked down at the black wolf, which looked up at him. "Yeah, he found me and brought me to Moon Child, who in turn brought me here. He tagged along."
"Got a name for him?" Ray asked.
Tala frowned. "No…"
"Well he does need a name, ya know." Ray said.
During their conversation, they hadn't noticed that Fai had leapt down from Tala's shoulder and was currently being sniffed by Moon Child. Upon hearing that they didn't know Cha'tima's name, Moony grabbed Fai in her mouth and began to draw shapes on the snowy ground by the means of the racoon's tail. This caught the teens attention; along with the forgotten Zorya.
"What the hell is she doing?" Tala asked as his wolf carried on with her drawing with the poor racoon's tail.
"I dunno, but it's funny." Bryan smirked.
Finally, Moon Child stopped, letting poor Fai go; the little racoon dog instantly ran and scurried up to Ray's shoulder, using his clothes as a grip. It sent a glare towards the grey wolf.
Moon Child looked at the teens expectantly.
"C-H-A-apostrophe-T-I-M-A." Tala read aloud. "Cha'tima? What's that mean?"
"I think that's the wolf's name." Bryan said, looking at the black wolf. It nodded. "Cha'tima." The wolf's ears perked up.
"Yup, that's his name." Zorya added, noting Cha'tima's expression. "I've seen that look on a wolf before."
Tala looked at the brunette. "Who the hell are you?" He glanced at the rifle in his hand. "Hunter…" He added acidly.
"Tala, chill. He's on our side." Bryan said, laying a hand on the redhead's shoulder.
Tala didn't reply just turned on his heel and walked to the place where he had appeared from.
"Tala? Where're you going?" Ray asked.
"I need to get Kai."
"What? Where's Kai?" Bryan asked, Zorya once again forgotten. Tala turned sharply to the lavender haired youth. Bryan frowned. "Ivanov; explain."
(1) The pun (play-on-words) being that Moon Child ran to the airport… where planes fly from… and they flew to Russia… get it now? Oh for heavens sake…
I really have nothing to say right at the moment, except:
Has anyone else spotted the pattern with the Wolf Love's? Not with the storyline. But with reviews. For the first Wolf Love I got 58 reviews, then I got 76 reviews for the second Wolf Love, and already we're up to 78 now! (and thank you!) just think how many reviews I could get for the next 2… oops, I let that slip!
Anywho, review!