Fwee, chapter 5! Alright, everyone, you guys have been so nice to me, haven't got one nasty review yet! Yay! It's good to hear your opinions and stuff, so just keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Fair deal? Yeah, I thought so. Reviewer responses and then we move onward with the chapter! BTW, I'm moving a rating up, I can't see younger kids reading about… well, you'll see.

Pvt Webster- Thank you, glad you're still sticking to reading the story; I'll try to update every day or two.

silverRe- Thanks to you too, I have my siblings to thank for this idea. We were talking about western movies, so, poof, here this story is.

Kitsu- Thanks again, glad to hear you're still reading it! I'll update periodically, I promise.

Wolfwizard- Thanks, Wolf! It was a stroke of brilliance, or stupidity, whatever. I will write more, I'm not dropping this.

ONWARD!

Chapter 5: Werewolf's Banter

The cold of the night sharpened his senses. He couldn't find a safe place to turn, it wasn't safe anywhere anymore. His lust for blood and flesh grew stronger every second that passed, and he couldn't resist anymore. Still several miles from the town, yet completely out in the open, he shed his clothes before he could rip them. The crack of his bones altered his stance, so he went from crouched on his knees to down on all fours. White fur pierced throughout his skin and he changed slowly, trading one species for another. His human half left behind, he turned to wait for his fellows.

A howl erupted from further away, and he howled back; the long and woeful sound seemed to carry over several miles, and little children in their beds shuddered at the sound. Two of his kind came bounding up to him, and began to speak in a language lost to most men.

"Where is everyone else?" the white wolf asked. His two companions, one yellow in fur and one brown, shrugged the best they could.

"We don't know, if you howl, they should come," the yellow said.

"Or… we could signal them," the brown said. The white wolf nodded and put up his paw. On it was an intricate tattoo, written in ancient runes. The other two raised their right paws as well, with the same tattoos on the pad. As soon as the tattoos touched, a bright light stretched from around them and seemed to circle the globe, calling those with double lives, a second soul, blood thirsty and violent, seemed to beat against the hollow body. Soon, a cloud of multi-colored fur began to move swiftly toward the trio. The white wolf smiled, and stood on his hind legs.

"Come, my brothers and sisters. Tonight… we feast." A howl erupted, many wolves voices combined into one, and together they pounded off towards the town.

-point of view change: POVC-

Nida set his lasso on a hook and sat down on his bed. Another boring day as a farm-hand on the Caraway Ranch. Just before he slipped into dreams, a rustling sound came from outside his open window. His eyes snapped open and he looked out of his window apprehensively. Underneath his window was blood, stained and splattered against the wall. Nida sat up and slipped his boots back on, grabbing his small pistol. After slipping out the window, he walked into the stable, checking on the horses. As he approached Angelo's stall, he groaned, knowing that Rinoa had escaped again. He cared about her, but she just wouldn't listen! Silently, hoping not to wake the horses, he slipped out of the stables and walked towards the barn, pistol slightly relaxed in his hand. He slipped open the door and gasped. The cows, if they were still there, were bloody, and had body parts missing. The rest were gone, and Nida shuddered. No human could do this. He felt the gun being knocked out of his hands and he spun around, face-to-face with a grey-eyed wolf, standing on his hind legs, blood lining his mouth. Nida stared, dumbfounded.

"Human… face your doom," the wolf whispered, and Nida's eyes widened. A wolf that could talk? Of course… a werewolf. Nida was about to yell, but was stopped short as a heavy object came crashing down onto his head. The world went dark as Nida's eyes shut, but nothing could block out the sound of horrible, bone-chilling laughter.

-POVC-

Rinoa rode into the town, Angelo snorting with exhaustion. As soon as she reached the inn, a man led her to the stables to securely tie up her horse. She thanked the man, slipped him a few coins, and walked into the actual building. She leaned against the counter and gently tapped the bell. A dumpy man approached her, yellow teeth revealed through a seemingly plastered-on smile.

"Hello, can I get a room?" she asked. The man laughed and handed her a small slip of paper. She looked at the small-handwritten number on the paper: 7. "Thank you," she said, digging through her purse for money. The man shook his head.

"Pay tomorrow, and don't think you can get away, I watch the door," he said with a laugh. Rinoa grinned gently; it wasn't like her to leave without paying, so he had no reason to fear. As she went up the stairwell, she ran her finger along the stone walls, feeling the cold surface. The numbers were mismatched, and it took her several minutes to reach her door. As she opened the door, a dark figure sat up quickly, scrambling for his weapon. She quickly stifled a scream and shut the door quickly, shouting through the wood.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know someone was in there! I'm so sorry!" she cried, hoping that the person behind the door didn't kill her. The door slowly creaked open, and a man, hair ruffled but all his clothes still on, stared at her, still seemingly half-asleep. His eyes shone slightly in the darkness, and she instantly recognized him. "Mr. Leonhart?" she asked, and he finally realized that the figure in front of him was the woman who owed her life to him.

"Miss…?" he said, equally surprised, not knowing whether to call her Heartily or Caraway. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your ranch?" he asked, more awake now. Rinoa shook her head.

"I've left for a short… vacation," she said bluntly. Squall nodded and gestured with his thumb through the door.

"Obviously, this isn't your room," he said. No, it is, I'm just in here, he thought sarcastically. "What's your room number?" he asked. She looked once more at her paper.

"Room number seven…" she said, hoping to God this wasn't room number seven. Thankfully, it wasn't.

"This is room one," he said, pointing to the number bolted onto the door. She hated the owner all of a sudden, why did he have to make the ones look so much like sevens? She blushed slightly, even though she was trying to prevent it. Squall nodded; he had been thinking about going to see her, but he wasn't expecting this. He pointed to a door down the hall, and she saw a clear number "7" on the door. "Straight down there," he explained. As he looked at her necklace, he saw another silver ring on the chain, and he recognized it as the one he had left for her. Still, he couldn't bear to ask for it back. Rinoa smiled gently and nodded.

"Thanks again," she said quietly. "You saved my life tonight, gave me the ring, and you didn't kill me when I accidentally came in your room. You're not a bad guy," she said. He turned his head, not the kind to accept flattery or compliments. "Good-night," she said, and standing up on her tiptoes, kissed him lightly on the cheek. It was her way to say thank-you for the ring; she kissed the farm-hands on the cheek all the time. Little did she know that it had effected Squall in a completely different way. He watched her retreating figure as he touched his cheek slightly. No one had touched him in so long… all he had done was catch her as Seifer's cohorts had tossed her his way, it hadn't been anything special, and that ring wasn't really great, he could get another one from his father.

"Goodnight… Rinoa," he whispered, and he shut the door to his room and placed himself back on his bed, still touching his cheek. She could keep the ring… it was worth losing some silver just to be thanked that way. Once more, he fell asleep, weapon once more beside the bed. As the two fell asleep in their different rooms, a cry echoed throughout the west, but the cry was overlapped by a triumphant howl as the moon slowly rose in the sky.

Wow, I didn't know I could be… so violent! Well, it was a book, "To Tame a Wolf", that inspired that werewolf thing, but the 'unknown werewolf' is evil. Not like the book, but it's cool! Now I feel so bad about killing off Nida, but I thought it would fit into the story. Thanks for reviewing, let me know if you liked this part! Oh, and that's why I put the rating boost, don't think K+ is for limb-losing cows, and werewolves and people dying or anything. The rating is now T, sorry about that.

-greiverwings