Disclaimer: I never have owned Wolf's Rain!
NOTE: Just so you all know… the following chapters are:
MAJOR SPOILERS!
Based mostly on the final episodes of the series, which is what makes the rest of this story a spoiler…
ENJOY!
CHAPTER 9
--Somewhere near Jaguara's Keep—
"Wh—Where am I?" I open my eyes to a strange sight. I am in a room with purple walls and floor. Across the room, in front of me, I see two chairs. In one, sits the man from before. I growl at the sight of him, but softly so that he cannot hear me. I get up from lying on the floor and lunge forward towards him. Suddenly, I am choked from around my neck and I fall back to the floor with a whine and a thump. I also feel something around my snout.
At this sound, the man says, "So. You are awake."
"Who are you? Where have you brought me?" I growl as I get up once more. I notice for the first time that I am chained to the wall.
The man stands up from his chair and turns to face me. I lunge forward again, this time wary of the chain. The man, however, is just out of my range.
"Now, we can't have you acting this way when you meet Lady Jaguara," he says as he raises his right hand to the eye patch over his left eye.
"What are you going to do?"
"You are hardly in a position to defy me, okami."
"What did you say?"
"Why don't you rest for a little while longer, okami," he approaches into my range of attack. I lunge, but the thing around my snout prevents me from slashing his flesh, "We'll be there soon." He kneels in front of me. Holding my covered snout in his hand as he looks into my eyes, the man then removes the eye patch and---
--A Few Hours Later—
I wake once again to the sound of footsteps. My body is being carried somewhere within a city by the evil man. I growl lightly at the thought of him carrying me. But then a voice speaks, not to me, but to him:
"Darcia."
The man turns around to face a woman in a white coat and blonde hair. She gasps at the sight of me.
"Okami…"
"Yes."
"What are you going to do with it? Why did you come here?"
"Come with me and you will find out." The man, whom she called Darcia, then turned and continued toward the castle looming ahead. The men lining the entrance collapse as Darcia walks by.
Darcia approaches a huge door and it opens on its own. Beyond the doorway, I can see a dark hallway, decorated lavishly. Darcia proceeds down the hallway. As we enter, the door closes silently behind us. I hear the woman gasp; she had followed us in. Darcia then drops me to the floor and starts forward down the hall.
"Are you just going to leave me here? " I growl.
"You will wait here."
I lunge at Darcia from behind even though I still wear the thing over my snout. Darcia turns and hits me so hard that I hit the right side wall.
As I try to get up, I see that the woman looks at me in horror, and then after Darcia's retreating figure. Then she quickly follows the evil down the hall. I stagger to my feet and follow after, slowly, being careful not to be noticed by Darcia.
As my head clears from being slammed into the wall, the lights in the hall flare on. I see that a door is at the end of the hall. This one, which is slightly smaller than the first, also opens on its own. As I get closer, I can see a large room beyond the hall. There are many people in this room. At the sight of Darcia, they collapse, just like the soldiers outside. One figure is clothed in white and a mask, with long yellow hair, remains standing: lit up by a light from the windows.
From my position in the doorway, I see a huge bubble-like orb in the middle of the room. It glows with an eerie, yet calming, light. Inside the orb, is a girl with lavender hair…
'I smell flowers from this orb…'
The woman from before runs to the orb and the girl inside of it. Staying in the shadows, I feel drawn toward the girl in the orb. 'Flowers…' As I get closer, I watch the woman push buttons on the desk. I see that the girl in the orb is suspended in water. Suddenly, the orb shatters in a rain of broken glass and the water inside pours out onto the floor in a small waterfall. The girl falls, but the woman catches her before she hits the ground.
"Cheza!" I hear her say.
I approach the pair of women on the floor slowly, quietly, and cautiously. I am a few steps behind the woman in the white coat, when I hear the girl speak in a soft voice. "Akiko… You came to see this one?"
I stop in my tracks and crouch close to the ground when the woman glances behind her in the direction that Cheza is gazing. Her eyes widen when she spots me. My heart is beating wildly.
"It is alright." Cheza says to the woman and me, "This one will free you, Akiko."
I am startled to hear this word spoken. The only other place I have heard it spoken is in my dreams…
"Come closer, Akiko. Do not be afraid of this one."
Suddenly, all my fears are gone. I approach Cheza and the woman in front of me. Cheza reaches her hand to touch my forehead lightly with her small hand. And I am suddenly calm. I hardly notice the woman remove my muzzle. I hardly notice anything else that is happening in the room. I am so calm and… happy… happy to be near Cheza…