Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. Sadly. I know. I should shouldn't I?

Third Chapter: May Your Morning Be….

Toboe grasped each end of the large tarantula infested blanket and shook it flailing his arms rabidly. He breathed in yelps and sighs as he ran out of breath and the large rope dug deeper into his stomach. He could feel one of the bulky spiders lingering on his head but sadly, he was too stiffened by fright to move another inch. Toboe felt a leg prop itself on top of his forehead. He gently cocked his head to the side and shook it. Nothing. He straightened up and did the exact same movement but more abruptly. The arachnid took a prop on his leg upside down. It squirmed and wriggled while Toboe stared girlishly afraid and wide eyed at it. The tarantula fell to the ground and crawled away along with the fifty or so spiders that were with it. Toboe kept the blanket for warmth in the cold raining night. He tried and tried to think of a way out, anything, but ideas slipped away as he tried them and they were useless, the rope around him was too strong. His only hope now was to wait for his friends.

"Okay, we have been wandering around these damn woods forever! Kiba, why in the world can't we just leave im'? Like, what good has he really done us anyways…? If the stupid kid hadn't o' run of into these freakish woods, we would probably be in a wonderfully HEATED, DRY, house that had FOOD!" Hige complained.

"Look, as soon as we find Toboe we can leave, but right now what do you think is more important right now, your food? Your shelter? Or loosing a good friend?" Kiba begged Hige.

"See….I know the answer that you want me to say, but deep inside I know the answer that I need to say and want to shortly become a reality," said Hige. You could tell all three of them looked famished and tired, but Kiba kept pushing them. He was the one who really wanted to find Toboe.

They continued walking towards nothing but trees and rotting leaves hoping to find a glimpse of a coral shirt somewhere in the distance. Cracks of twigs were heard underneath the feet of the three men and rustles of small furry creatures were heard from far away. It seemed like they were never going to find the small wolf.

"Well deary me! What brought you out into this neck of the woods?" An elderly woman said as she handed a bundled up Toboe a cup of hot tea.

"Um, well err... I'm not all that sure, one moment I was walking with some friends, and then the next minute I was tied to a tree with tarantulas crawling all over me. Insanity brought me out to these woods I guess you could say. Heh." Toboe winced as his lips reached the hot and steamy tea.

"Well it was quite out of the ordinary to find you tied up to a tree like that! I was worried, let me tell you. Most children I find out here come in as a prank thinkin' that this old forest is "haunted". Most of them are just out of their minds. But you, you were different my child, I had never seen quite a sight. I was just out searching for some good wood for my fire and there you are sittin' with your head down and soaked. Now I just had to get you cleaned up, didn't I!"

"Yes, thank you so much for this again, I really appreciate it. But Ms. I really should look for my friends, they are probably worried, or not, but if they are I want them to know its okay." Toboe looked up from his tea and gave a loving smile to the woman.

"Well of course sweetheart! But, I wouldn't go out their now, the rain is really pouring down, maybe you could look for them tomorrow morning. You can stay here for the night." She spoke gently as she rocked back and forth in her rocking chair hold a cup of tea as well.

"Hm, I don't know, won't they be very wet also. I don't want to trouble them to look for someone who they will never find." Toboe pulled the blanket around him tighter and shivered. He slowly drank some more tea and rested his head back upon the chair.

"I'll tell you what. I will take my raincoat and go out and look for these boys. You tell me what they look like and I will spot them no doubt. But I want you Mr. to march into the bed upstairs, second door to your left and get comfy. I promise you, in the morning, you will see the friends of yours here as well."

"Wow! Thank you so much! Are you sure its no trouble?" He leaned forward and gave her a quizzical look.

"Nope, not at all my child. Not. At. All." She gave him a nod and smiled. "Now, tell me what these young men look like!"

"Well one is named Tsume and he wears kind of tight leather pants with a matching torn jacket. Another one is Kiba who has blackish brown hair and its kind of long. He wears jeans, he's kind of relaxed. The last one is Hige who has light brown hair, I guess its cone shaped if you look closely at it. He has this very dirty yellow sweatshirt. You do not know how much I appreciate this."

"No problem, now you get to bed, I will come up with another cup of tea." She stood and took the mug from Toboe's hands. She set the glass into the sink and rinsed it. She poured another cup of tea, added honey and creaked her way up the stairs. She opened the door to the Guest Bedroom and strolled over to his bed where he silently lied. The woman set the cup down on the nightstand beside the bed. She pulled up the covers tightly on top of him, bent down until she was inches away from his face and whispered, "May your morning be filled with surprises."