Disclaimer: I will never own Wolf's Rain! Nor did I write the song titled "Less is More" (Relient K has the rights to it).
Author's note: Sorry for the endlessly long wait! I had started school before I could get a chance to finish this chapter. (boo-hoo!) This shall be the final chapter of Red Snow everyone… I am sad… I think that this has been one of my best works so far. I am happy with how it turned out (except for the fact that it is probably depressing my readers and myself) and I hope my readers are as well. Thanks for reading! It has been highly appreciated!
CHAPTER 13
That man… that… Darcia… he had to be killed. I needed to kill him. I needed to kill that Darcia, On my own, with no one else's help. It was like I could hear Toboe's voice inside my head telling me to kill him. All I knew for sure was that that evil, hated presence call Darcia had to die. And, if necessary, I would sacrifice my life to accomplish this. I would not let myself die without knowing Darcia had died first. This could only be done my hands.
'There he is!' the voice inside my head screamed. It was so loud, it was almost like that voice actually had a body and it was running alongside me toward Darcia's approaching back.
I lunged for the throat. But Darcia managed to slip past my fangs and his wound was therefore not fatal. It was only a long gash along his shoulder. I growled.
"Ah… there you are, my okami." Darcia's voice drawled.
"I'm not yours, nor anyone else's! I belong to no-one but me!"
"I admire your spirit, my okami. That is why I must use you to complete the transformation."
I had no idea what he was talking about. A Transformation? And he says he needs me to do this? Whatever it means, I will not help him! Not after what he did to Toboe!
I growled even louder at this thought and lunged for Darcia's throat again. But this time, Darcia brought his fist up to meet the left side of my face. I think I yelped but then again, I am not sure. All I can recall clearly is rolling head over paws and finally skidding to a halt some short distance from Darcia. And pain. Pain like I've never felt before from the right side of my neck. Except maybe the time I was injured fighting those soldiers in my forest… I feel blood, flowing down my neck.
'Have you been hurt?' the voice in my head asks stupidly.
'It's just a scratch,' I reply.
I look up to see Darcia standing over me with a strange-looking object pointed at me. It is the same thing that he used to kill Toboe.
"It is now time, my okami," he says, "to begin the transformation."
"Wha… What?"
"It is only a matter of minutes."
He then pulls a different object from inside his cloak. It is long and sharp. It glints in the faint light from the red moon.
I feel myself slipping away, almost gently. I hardly feel Darcia take the sharp object to the wound at my neck and cut a piece of my skin off. Then, with the red fur still on it, Darcia eats it. The fur and all…
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Kneeling beside the body of Toboe, Cheza cried. But softly, so no one would hear but herself. She gently stroked Toboe's head and cried. A few of her tears fell on the barren desert ground and a small tendril of a plant grew upwards to try to dry her cheek and failed.
After a few moments, Cheza could stand the pain no longer and stood up and walked a few steps away from the others around Toboe and Quent's bodies. Crying softly the whole time, Cheza gazed off into the hazy distance, tears slowly swimming down her cheeks, thinking. And soon, she began to sing…
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I hear someone singing. It is faint and soft and far away, but I hear them singing. It is the same voice I always heard in my dreams. After a minute, I realize it is the same song. I open my eyes slowly. Darcia is gone. I am lying in a small puddle of my own blood. It is a darker color than my fur… Looking at it made me feel slightly sick.
Not knowing where it came from, I raised my right hand to my neck. I feel the most blood here. I also feel the need to continually hold my hand over this spot. It is where the blood comes from.
I try to stand. I feel the ground beneath me wobble. Still, I struggle on. I have to find whoever is singing that song… I have to show Toboe… I have to meet her…
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Tsume had just left Toboe's side, when he recognized scent wafting in the still air. And soon, Tsume was able to see a red form to his left. As the form approached, it became the nameless red wolf he had met up with in Jaguara's castle. And he could also see that she was staggering back and forth.
'What's the matter with her?' he thought to himself./p>
A few seconds later, the red wolf seemed to spot him, "Can't talk right now…" her voice croaked slightly.
"What are you doing out here?" Tsume demanded, "You—
"I have to find him…"
"Find who?" It was then that Tsume noticed the wound on the red wolf's neck, "Whoa… what happened to you?"
"Got to… show him…"
"Wait! Hold on a sec! Find whom? Show them what?" Tsume watched as the red wolf staggered toward Toboe's body a few feet behind him, "You're in no shape to go wandering all over the desert right now."
"And what about you?" she asked him, "and what about the others? Where are they?"
"They left already… hey! Don't try to distract me!"
"Oh yeah… that's right… they went to find paradise…" she coughed and Tsume started forward slightly, "I'm fine…" she said through the coughing, even though she started to cough up some blood; Tsume's eyes widened slightly in shock. "You should go with them; to Paradise…"
Tsume opened his mouth to argue but the red wolf interrupted, "No. don't worry about me. I'm fine." Once more, Tsume tried to argue after a second's silence.
"Just go!" the girl gasped.
With this, Tsume reluctantly left her with Toboe's body and ran after the others toward the mountain in the distance.
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"Never thought Tsume would be worried… especially about me…" the red wolf said to Toboe. She continued her staggering approach and finally stopped a few feet from the rust-colored wolf in front of her. She swayed dangerously on her feet, but, by some miracle, continued to stand.
"I heard that song again, Toboe…" she said through the coughed up blood in her mouth, "I heard it… even though it was soft… I heard it…" The girl coughed again, sounding ever so slightly weaker, "Remember… back when we met… in the forest… you and Tsume…came after me…and asked me to go…with you to Paradise…?" she asked through the pain, "you asked me…the words…to that song… I finally heard them… all of the words… Before… I… couldn't tell you the words…because I… didn't know them all… I only knew pieces…but now… I… know them all…" she gasped.
"Are you listening…? … Toboe…? … 'Cuz I'm only going to sing them once…" And, even though it hurt like hell, the girl began to sing:
"Jesus, I pray/ Take all my mistakes/ Throw them away/ Destroy them for my sake/
"Jesus, I call out 'cause I'm sorry/ Because I fall so short of your glory/ To the best of my ability/ I'm practicing humility/ And I lay myself before/ 'Cause less is more/
"All that I have/ I lay before/ With my pride on the floor/ Cause to you less is more/ All that I have/ I lay before/ With my pride on the floor/ Cause to you less is more/
"I pour out myself/ All that I am/ You love me so much/ That you fill me again/ And may these words on my heart, on my lips/ Somehow mean so much more than this/ Jesus, I pray/ Know what I'm trying to say/
"All that I have/ I lay before/ With my pride on the floor/ 'Cause to you less is more/ All that I have/ I lay before/ With my pride on the floor/ 'Cause to you less is more/
"I pour out myself, before you were Lord/ I hold nothing back, 'cause to you less is more/ And may these words on my heart on my lips/ Somehow mean so much more than this/
"Jesus, I pray/ Just know what I'm tryin' to say/
"Jesus, I plead/ Please purify me/ Make my heart clean/ Drench me with your mercy/ Jesus, I pray/ I love you, I need you/ For the rest of my days/ I swear I will seek you/ To the best of my ability/ I'm practicing humility/ And I lay myself before/ 'Cause less is more."
The last word was barely above a whisper, but to her it sounded normal. And as she sang the final phrase, her knees gave in and she fell to the ground, "Now... you know the words… Toboe…" Her right hand fell from her neck to reveal the gash there. At the same time, she collapsed to the desert ground, her face a few inches from where Toboe lay in Quent's arms.
And the red wolf died there…
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Author's Note: (sigh) Now that I have completed one story off of my to-do list, it's time to pick up another one. I think shall be working on Kazel: The Dragon Demon next because it has been sitting in my to-do vault for who-knows how long! Anyway, I hope you all have enjoyed reading Red Snow. Thanks for all your loyal support you readers in the fan-fiction world! Until next story…
--HOWLS!-- riawolf