Disclaimer:Again I don't own Wolf's Rain, its Characters or any of its Dialogue, I do however own my characters and my story.

The Last Paradise

Chapter 2: Encounters of a New Kind

Walking through the crowded town market was a thing she didn't really enjoy, and now there were many soldiers around. She was somewhat supercharged from the rest she got the other night, lulled to sleep by some unknown song, she didn't know if she was really hearing it or if her mind had just been screwing with her. She sulked around the city , her dark blue shades on, trying to look as casual as possible but she couldn't help but to feel as if she always stuck out. She saw a few people sneaking around one wearing a dark jacket and a white shirt and blue jeans. She then heard a frightened gasp come from between two buildings as a cat came walking out, and then saw a young boy wearing a red shirt and brown pants who looked scared out of his wits. People sure are weird all of a sudden' she thought to herself as she kept walking, but other people always seemed weird to her anyways. And either it was just her or people were suddenly into this one particular flowery perfume, but she only could smell it off the two she saw sneaking around. She swiped herself a small loaf of bread from one of the market stalls and began munching on it as she went to walking the outskirts of the town.

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"Is it just me or do you get the feeling we're being watched" Toboe said worriedly looking over his shoulder, clutching his furred gift for Cheza as they walked through the empty part of the town.

"Yeah" Hige said quietly

"You don't think in might be them do you?"

"With their stench I could smell em' commin a mile away" Hige said looking over at Toboe a little.

"I heard something from the cats around here,…they said there's a ghost wandering around"

"You say a ghost?" Hige said pretty much believing him as he looked over his shoulder to see a old woman watching them from between the buildings. "Is she following us?" Hige asked as he faced forward again and Toboe looked back for a moment.

"Yeah, is that a ghost?" Toboe questioned, the worry beginning to crack into his voice a bit.

Hige didn't respond but began to pick up the pace to a half run holding on tightly to the pink boots in his arms. Toboe doing the same holding back a few whimpers and hoping they could get away. They turned a corner both panting a bit as they stopped and looked back only to see the old woman's hand and cane sticking from around the corner.

Aaaaah"

Run!" Hige yelled.

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Run?' She thought as she heard the voice not very far off. She heard footsteps, they were running but before she could turn the next corner someone came crashing into her, knocking them both down, her bread falling from her hand , shades coming off and the furred jacket falling on top of her.

Hige stopped, letting out a slight gasp as for a moment he thought what he just saw was another wolf Toboe ran into.

Damit ,watch where your going twerp! She yelled.

"I….I'm sorry miss" Toboe stumbled on his words.

"Toboe come one!" Hige demanded with urgency in his voice.

She kept her gaze down as she put her shades back on before they could see her eyes, and she handed the fur jacket back to the younger one. "What's the rush anyways, you guys act like you just seen ghost" She said as she got up dusting herself off, She wore typical sneakers, black jeans, a white shawl with a Grey band tied midway her waist, black fingerless gloves, dark blue shades and she had long black hair, aside from that the only thing they didn't know was what her eyes looked like.

Hige and Toboe looked at each other for a moment before looking back at her.

"That's just it …..we did" Toboe exclaimed as he got up.

She blinked, not believing them at all as she picked up her bread.

Hige pointed a finger at the corner. She walked over peeking her head around , she saw the old woman by the building 'Rose so here's where you've been' she thought to herself. But she never knew rose as one to follow people and spook em' out, must have been some important reason why she was following them.

"I don't see anything" she said plainly lying to them.

Hige peeked around the corner as well as Toboe but nothing was there now.

"Well there was something there" Toboe said as they all brought their heads from around the corner.

"Eh .that town was just weird anyways" Hige said as he began walking again and Toboe as well.

She walked up between them "You got that right" she said before taking a small bite out of the bread. "So what's your names anyways?" she asked through her chewing.

"I'm Toboe, and he's Hige" Toboe said in a more happy tone now that things were becoming more friendly.

"I can say my own name runt, if you don't mind" Hige said sounding a bit annoyed.

She chuckled a bit, "Toboe and Hige huh, well I'm Illira" she said breaking her bread in half.

"Illira ,that's a cool name" Hige said sounding highly interested as he always does around females.

"Yeah its pretty" Toboe added.

They walked and by now they were far out of the town and entering the forest. Hige was a bit concerned knowing they couldn't waltz back to the others with a human with them, even though he could have sworn for a moment he saw a wolf, but he didn't sense it from her.

Illira looked at both them, the fur coat in one's hands and pink boots in the others wondering what they were for. "What's with the coat and pink boots?"

"They're gifts" Toboe said

"Oh……for a girlfriend?" she said with a smirk.

Hige laughed nervously "Eh, its not exactly like that" he said rubbing the back of his head.

"Uh …ok" Illira said with a shrug of her shoulders "But what's with the flower smell, coming of you two, You don't look like the type to wear perfume"

"Ehh….uhhhh" Toboe was stumped at what to say, not knowing if he was allowed to mention the Flower Maiden Cheza or not.

"It's a long story" Hige said, "One I'm afraid we have no time for right now"

"I see.…" Illira said as she stopped walking. Toboe and Hige walked up a bit more before they stopped and looked back.

"Well I guess that'll be saved for another time then" she said as she tossed them each the halves of bread she had been carrying. They both caught it, when they looked up she was gone. Toboe was a bit surprised, they both paused a moment before they turned around and kept walking.

Toboe looked down at the bread he had sitting atop the coat. "Yu…You think she was the ghost?" he asked.

Hige looked over at Toboe, he had forgotten about the ghost himself, but now that he though about it, she did disappear kind of fast. "Maybe, but how could it go from a old lady to a beautiful woman so fast…..and anyways you did run into her, if she was a ghost you would have went right through her"

"Yeah, …but some ghosts can do things ya know, like make themselves solid for a certain amount of time"

Hige sighed " Why you gotta go and ruin a good thing like that Toboe jeez" he said as he started a slow run figuring they should hurry up and get back to the others, they had already took longer than they should have.

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Illira ran swiftly and expertly through the forest, heading for the small shack she knew rose usually stayed in, Concealed by the trees she almost past it by as she came to skidding stop. The large tree roots covering the door halfway as if guarding the humble room. She placed a hand on it and a few moments later it slowly moved a couple inches allowing the door to be opened. She was thankful for this small talent she got from rose, even if she could only do it sparingly.

She entered the room, it was quiet and completely empty except for the chair that rose always sat in, the sunlight pouring through the only window. She let out a disappointed sigh, she had a lot of questions for rose about what she thought was going on , so she figured she'd wait for her return.

Nudging herself into the darkest corner of the small room she sat , arms folded on her knees head resting on top.

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Hige and Toboe came running over the hill, stopping as they finally reached their gathering spot where Kiba, Tsume and Cheza waited.

"Man, that was rough" Hige said breathing heavily, since they pretty much ran the rest of the way after Illira left them, and the terrain wasn't exactly smooth and level.

"Were back" Toboe said stating the obvious

"You two sure took a long time" Kiba said, not sounding as if he wanted an explanation, but getting one would have been nice. here kept running of" Hige said off the top of his head, "Here , some food" He said tossing a bag to Kiba.

"We picked up some other things too" Toboe said holding up the fur coat.

"What the hell do you plan to do with that" Tsume said looking at what looked like a furred piece of crap.

"What do you think, it's a present" Toboe said unphased by Tsume's not so cheerful tone. He walked up to Cheza who was sitting on a large tree root, gently placing the fur coat on her shoulders and then stepped back to see her reaction.

Cheza's face didn't change for a moment then her eyes lowered, until her face was a clear sign of dislike, partially because it was fur from another living thing and partially because of what she sensed off it, something that was a bit troubling.

Toboe's face that was once lit , now looked a bit sad as well. "I guess.. you don't like it" he said reading her expression.

"It sure looks that way" Kiba said watching Cheza.

"What I tell ya" Hige said, his notion from earlier had just been confirmed. "Now these are great" he said presenting the pink boots and sitting them down at Cheza's feet.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that" Tsume said, somewhat suggesting he don't get his hopes up.

Cheza's eyes opened at seeing the pink boots, she carefully slipped her feet into them, she stood up, the fur jacket slipping off her shoulders. She did a small spin and a hop ensuring their stability before looking up at Hige clearly happy.

"You like em huh" Hige said chuckling, feeling pretty good on the inside.

Cheza continued to twirl, doing something like a little dance, laughing lightly, before she came to a sudden stop, her red eyes wide in surprise at what she saw.

"Cheza…." came Kiba's voice sounding concerned at why she looked like that. He then looked in the direction she was looking, just over the hill where Hige and Toboe had come from was the old woman. She wore a long light pink almost white dress, on top of that was a purple shawl and a brown cloak that was torn at the sides and tied in the front like a scarf, very black glasses and her hair was extremely long to the point it dragged on the ground behind her with her dress.

Toboe hopped over near Hige, both of them having seen this woman before, simply thinking her as the ghost that followed them, neither of them were too comfortable with her being there.

"Who are you?" Cheza asked quietly , being able to sense something about the old woman.

The old woman slowly walked toward Cheza, her cane being the loudest sound coming from her at the moment as it hit he ground.

Cheza just stood there and before The old woman could get within a too close distance, Kiba protectively stepped in front if Cheza.

A smile made a its way upon the old woman's immensely winkled features. "You are wolves" she said plainly, making known that she knew of their secret.

Toboe ,Hige and ,Tsume all gave a sound of shock at how she just automatically knew.

"Old Lady…Who are you" he asked calmly but really wanted an answer.

She didn't reply, but simply pulled off her glasses, slowly opening her eyes to reveal ones that were just as red as Cheza's.

Kiba gasped, not expecting there to have been another like Cheza's kind, But he had to quickly get over the brief shock as he needed more answers. "Tell us, Who are you"

"The Hanabito is what they used to call us"

"This one could tell that from your scent" Cheza said as she touched her chest. "But you are not like this one?"

"That is true, you are not like my kind, …you are a perfect creation"

"Perfect creation?" Kiba exclaimed

"You must know, I have been here waiting for you for a long time" the old woman said.

"I guess she wasn't a ghost" Toboe whispered to Hige covering his mouth slightly.

That stench!" Hige suddenly said , his attention completely diverted.

"It's them" Kiba said

"I got a feeling we shouldn't hang around here any longer" Tsume added in his usual serious tone.

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Three guards rushed the area but they were already gone. Moving quickly through the forest, led by the elder woman who moved amazingly quick for her age, but she was of course no normal person, not even a person at all in fact, but the same entity as Cheza.

"Do you think its safe to go with her" Toboe asked as they ran

"If she's like Cheza, we shouldn't have to worry" Hige said being right behind him.

The old woman opened the door to he small shack allowing the others to go in before her.

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"Hey!" Illira yelled, standing up suddenly as they all rushed in, two of them she knew and the last of them was rose as she closed the door behind them. They all remained quiet as the footsteps outside faded away. Illira eyed the strangers, not so much Toboe and Hige, but the other two and the young red eyed girl who sat down in Rose's chair.

"Rose what's going on?" she asked quietly

"The old woman walked slowly as she knelt down in front of the young girl. "Its about time you know the last of what I am Illira, and a bit of what you are too" she said looking at Illira who had come and sat beside her.

Illira gasped at seeing her eyes which were just as red as the young girl's, out of all the time she knew rose she had never actually seen her eyes until now. The small room was abundant with the smell of lunar flower, in which Illira didn't know the true name yet.

"This place has pained and suffered and I could feel them within myself, the Hanabito who were the unfortunate and imperfect specimens in the lab, had no choice but to wither and die."

"Whither?" Illira said quietly to herself.

"I was lucky enough to escape from the castle, in the forest at the foot of the mountain, I stayed in hiding for a long.. long time, and before I knew it I was left all alone" she paused for a moment. "Until this one came, came for me, and stayed" she said looking at Illira for a moment before looking back at Cheza. "Knowing nothing about herself just as you, but even if you don't know, I do…I know you both very well indeed"

"All this time this one has been asleep, asleep and waiting…just for him" she said looking up over her shoulder at Kiba for a moment.

"The flower seeks out the wolf and the wolf seeks out the flower, just as this one has done with me" she said placing a hand on Illira's shoulder.

Illira gasped quietly , almost as all the others gasped looking down at her. Hige wasn't too surprised as the others cause he already thought he saw her as a wolf, even though he nor anyone else could sense it at all.

"But no matter how you feel, you must not go with them" she said sounding a little more rough.

"But why?" Cheza asked yearningly

"It will only lead to destruction"

"Are you crazy?" Kiba asked anger in his voice.

"She's not talking to you!" Illira said looking at Kiba intensely.

Kiba glared back before looking at Cheza. "Come on Cheza...lets go" But he was surprised to see she had not moved a inch, almost as if she was ignoring him entirely.

"The faintest scent of flower can offer, is all I have left now, and soon it too will fade completely"

Illira looked at rose sadly, she knew what that meant even if it was said in a weird way.

"What should this one do then?" Cheza asked sitting forward a little.

"You have the ability to sustain the life a Hanabito…stay here"

"Cheza don't listen to her" Kiba said trying to keep her attention diverted.

"Wolf….Just what precisely do you hope to achieve by taking this precious girl with you" she asked, her old cracked voice demanding an answer, but it came from not him.

"To get to paradise, ….We're going to Paradise" Cheza said calmly answering.

"Paradise?…..Paradise…but rose isn't that the.."

"Shhhh , be quiet" Tsume said cutting her off.

Illira threw an irritated look up at him but he , Toboe and Hige were all peering out the window at someone walking

"I smelled her back at the castle, I know I seen he before but I don't know where" Hige said as he watched from the side of the window.

"What now" Tsume said looking over at Kiba, figuring they should leave.

"Lets go" Kiba said in a somewhat demanding tone. "Cheza lets go" he said finally breaking her attention off the old woman getting her to realize they need to move on.

Illira looked as rose stayed silent staring at the floor as they all went out the door. Rose slowly got up and sat in her chair as Illira went to the window watching them surround this woman. The one guy with the dark jacket leapt up, leading the young girl by the hand. When he landed on the ledge there was a white wolf in his place.Illira was shocked and gasped at what she saw, she shook her head a few times and looked again ,but he was back as she saw him before as human, then he and the others ran off.

Illira went and sat down beside Rose, looking down in shock. "So they really are wolves?" she asked quietly.

"Yes my dear, and you are as well, even if you don't think so, you are. There is a part of you that has forgotten and cannot grasp this reality which is why the others couldn't tell"

"B…But how can this be, I..I don't look like a wolf…..I don't remember ever being a wolf really"

"Come here dear"

Illira got up and then knelt beside rose.

Rose slowly moved her hands pulling off Illira's blue shades she still had on, revealing her mismatched emerald and violet eyes, the violet one's pupil that of the slit type.

"It is in your eyes dear, anyone could see you are different, that is why you wear these is it not, There is so much held within you that you do not know. And why do you think you remained here, always returning to me even though you were free to go where you please, The wolf seeks out the flower and the flower seeks out the wolf, as I have said….but in a little while there will only be one flower left for you to seek out.

Illira took her glasses sitting back down again staring at the floor, not knowing what she was to do, would she leave and follow that other bunch with the young girl, or would she go off on her own.

It was a some minutes later, the door to the little shack opened again, it was the young girl, she came in kneeling down next to the old woman, placing her hand on her wrist. Before Illira could say anything it started glowing, an she remembered that rose had mentioned she had the ability to sustain a Hanabito's life, which is what rose was.

The old woman moved Cheza's hand away. "Dear, its alright, my having met you was enough"

Cheza, leaned against her hugging her. "This one is going, with them…..with the rest of them."

Illira watched sadly as this girl whom hardly knew rose sat there hugging her, Illira got up and hugged her too"

"I will pray for you….both of you, I will pray for your safety"

"Ever since this one has came here,…this one has heard voices"Cheza said quietly

"The flowers are singing, they are always singing, but people never seem to notice" was her last words as Cheza and Illira let their grasp go.

"This one is sorry" Cheza said quietly tears flowing down both her and Illira's face. The old woman's body had seemingly molded itself into the chair like a statue. Cheza petted Illira on the head as she had unknowingly reverted into her wolf form. Cheza then headed out the door, Illira had then just realized what Cheza had done but she shrugged the thought off as she followed behind her drying her eyes and putting her shades back on.

Upon going outside she was met with the gaze of the other four, She quietly walked over near Hige and Toboe, Tsume stood at the other end of the row while Cheza walked and stood by Kiba.

Tsume looked at her a not trusting the female that stood with them now, If she was suppose to be a wolf the how come it couldn't be sensed at all.

"I guess its no need for that story now huh Hige" she said quietly looking off to the side.

"Well there's more to it than you know" he said plainly

"Huh, you know her Hige" Kiba said sounding a bit surprised.

"We both know her from the market earlier" Toboe said.

"So that's what took you two so long, messing around with the humans" Tsume said leaning on a tree.

"What'd you mean, you heard what the old lady said, and she said Illira's a wolf" Toboe said in defense.

"Well she doesn't look like a wolf to me, you cant even sense it from her" Tsume said.

Kiba faced Illira now, "Well…Illira….what are you then a human or Wolf?" he asked calmly.

Illira didn't say anything as she met Kiba's gaze then looked away." As soon s I figure that out myself, I'll get back to you on that" she looked at the ground.. She could almost feel their stares burning into her, especially that of the two she didn't know the names of.

"Hey you guys lay off her ok, she's just lost someone very important to her and she seems kind of confused right now" Toboe said trying to ease the slowly rising tension and take the pressure off Illira.

Cheza stepped away from Kiba and went and stood in front of Illira. Illira took a step back feeling a bit nervous, but she didn't know why.

Cheza reached for her shades, but Illira slowly pushed her hand down and began walking away.

Hey where are you going" Hige said

"I don't know….To find more answers I guess" she said looking over her shoulder a bit.

"Be careful" Cheza said is her soft voice.

Illira stopped for a few moments before she began running until she was out of sight.

"We better keep moving, we need to get through the city and find someplace to stay by night fall." Kiba said to the others before beginning to walk with Cheza. And the others began to follow behind.

As I said before story starts slow but I will get it going in due time, Please Please REview PLEASe.