Chapter 4! Hooray:dancedance:

Muse: Can you believe it? This is what grounding gets you people. Silver should start getting in trouble more often!

…No, because then I can't put it on genius. :scoff:

Muse: Whatever…

This chapter is going to show you why this story is a tragedy…

Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain or any of its characters. Yadda yadda… Chapter 4: Stricken

Silver leaned against a wall and stared up at the ceiling above her. She released an almost silent sigh, but made sure her attention remained on the ceiling. She and Tsume had been arguing again, and she wasn't going to waste her time even looking at him. Stupid ass… He could fall over and die for all she cared.

Or so she told herself.

Claire scooted over near her, finding herself momentarily bored with Toboe, who was harassing Tsume to tell him how he'd gotten his scar and only receiving growls and smacks in return. The girl pup sat herself next to the silvery-coated shewolf and gazed up at her beautiful eyes with adoration. She'd always been jealous of Silver's eyes… her coat too. They were so pretty compared to her own dull brown fur and eyes. She leaned her head on the cot and gnawed a little at the blanket boredly, attention fixed on her idol and wondering why she wouldn't look down from the ugly stone ceiling. Her eyes gazed up at it, trying to find any interesting things that might hold her attention, but she found none and she resumed staring at Silver.

"Come on, Tsume!" Toboe whined, nudging at the gray-furred, grumpy male wolf whom he so idolized. The bangles on his small, brown paw jingled a little bit.

"For the last damned time, Toboe, no!" Tsume snapped back in annoyance. He glared darkly at Toboe, who cowered away finally and then shot a single, brief glance at Silver, who refused to look down from the ceiling. Snorting quietly in disdain, he looked over at Hige, who was now on the receiving end of Toboe's harassment. Though it seemed Hige had more patience with the runt.

"You need to ease up a little, Tsume…" Kiba commented- quietly, as always. Tsume only rolled his eyes a little bit and stared between the cell bars, more bored than ever. He was just about to say something when a group of humans approached the cell.

"Alright, scum," hissed one of the men as he bent low over the cellmates, "you little worthless things are being transferred out of here. Get your shit together so we can get on our way." He seemed completely unfazed by the glares he earned through that comment as he straightened up. The wolves lined up along the bars of the cell as it was opened, then were led out of the small prison along with a few other wolves, surrounded by soldiers. Most of the others were older; near dead it seemed. Except for a single black wolf. She eyed Silver, Claire, and the guys with mistrust as they walked, and finally removed her malicious black eyes from them altogether when they entered the cold snow.

Claire huddled up to Silver, whimpering about it being really cold. Silver could only comfort her through kind words and her own dwindling body heat as they walked for miles. The soldiers had warm uniforms, and seemed to care none for the shivering forms that they guarded. Toboe and Hige complained quietly, but Silver, Tsume and Kiba were too proud to show any signs of weakness.

Finally, the little caravan slowed down as the soldiers made camp for the night. Tents were set up, fires were started, and guard-duties were assigned. The wolves were left to sleep in the snow in the center of the camp, powdery white cold settling over them in the cold night. They huddled together, uncaring of whether they didn't know eachother or not, in an attempt to keep both warm and alive. Claire whimpered quietly in her restless sleep, earning several glares from the black wolf as she tried to rest, which Silver easily returned.

Despite her exhaustion, Silver barely slept throughout the snowy night. They were woken early by the men, and began their tiring trek all over again.

Several days and nights of those long, cold hikes led up to the final one. There was only to be one more day until they reached their final destination. The wolves were kept in the dark about what was going to happen to them when they got there, and tension was high. One of the men, a pudgy, short man, seemed to be in command of the small group of soldiers, and spent a decent amount of time and energy making sure everyone knew it. He was of a high rank, as Silver heard through conversation between the soldiers, only because his father was rich, and bought him the position. 'Corruption. Typical of humans…' Silver thought with disdain. As they started up on the final stretch of the travel, the man, Rian as he was called, harshly lectured them all, complaining that he had a family he wanted to see, and didn't want to be staring at their ugly mugs for any longer than necessary.

Not that anyone cared.

As they walked, Claire seemed to be in disturbingly good spirits, but Silver had the exact opposite feelings. An ominous aura hung in the air, and she didn't like it one bit. The caravan slowed to a halt as the group stopped for an uncharacteristic break. Rian approached the wolves, and the black wolf took that as an opportunity to attack, leaping forward and attempting to tear out the man's throat. She missed, so ran for it, dashing out into the snow. The soldiers fired shots, but they all missed, shockingly enough. After that, the men were suspicious of the other wolves, believing they'd conspired against them, and beat the hell out of the ones that were still alive. Several of the old-timers had died on the walk, and had been left where they'd dropped to rot in the snow.

Rian himself snatched a rifle from one of his soldiers, stalking towards the nearest wolf. He just happened to approach Claire. Silver dashed forward to guard the child, but was kicked aside by a few other men, and became preoccupied with trying to defend herself from them. "You! You little bitch!" Rian roared at the cowering pup, brandishing the weapon. "You helped that other beast attack me, didn't you?" He raised the butt of the gun and struck her in the face with it, sending her flying. As she cowered in the snow, gripping her face, she suddenly appeared as a human child, confusing the living hell out of Rian. He stopped in mid-swing as she sat up, his eyes widening and his body quivering. "What… the hell….!" He wondered aloud. She looked just like his little daughter.

"Mister… Please don't hurt me…" Claire whimpered, tears streaming from her eyes. Rian was woken up from his stupor by her voice, and he switched the position of the gun in his hands to be fired. His vision blurred and she looked like a wolf again, then a girl, then a wolf, and then a girl. He was losing his mind! Dropping to his knees, he aimed the weapon at Claire, who cried out repeatedly for him to not hurt her. Repeatedly, his vision flashed between viewing her as a child and as a wolf, and finally he let out a cry and pulled the trigger.

The bullet tore through Claire's chest, and she screamed in momentary pain as she collapsed in a bloody heap in the snow. Silver's ears flicked upward, and she shot up and tore the throat off of the man in front of her, leaping over him before he could even collapse. She dashed blindly at Rian, tackling him to the snow and biting, tearing, slashing at his face, arms, chest, legs, anywhere she could. Blood covered her fur, the snow… it was everywhere. In the chaos, Kiba and the others let loose as well, succeeding in killing every last soldier, though not without injury. They cautiously approached Silver, who still tore at the bloody, unrecognizable corpse that used to be Rian. Toboe timidly stepped closer to her, reaching out a hand for her shoulder, but quickly pulled it back as she snapped her bloody jaws at him, her eyes wild with hatred and grief. Tears flowed freely and flew everywhere as she resumed the mutilation of Rian's body. Finally, they tore her away from him, throwing her into the snow and pinning her down until she calmed herself.

"The bastard…" she finally sobbed. "He took her away…. My life… he killed her…"

Toboe kneeled near Claire's motionless and lifeless body, licking her cold, bloodless, grimy cheek mournfully. Tears slid down his cheeks and dripped into the snow. He shivered, and curled up next to her, crying quietly. Silver was still pinned down by the guys, but they finally released her as she struggled weakly and told them she had to see her. She nudged Toboe out of the way, and he relinquished his spot to her.

"Claire, sweetie…" Silver choked out, grooming the girl's fur tearfully, "I'm so sorry…. I couldn't do anything…. Damn it, Claire!" She finally broke down, falling over the small wolf's body and sobbing into it as the guys looked on. Tsume finally looked away, down at the snow, and Kiba remained stoic in his expression, though internally his anger was unmatched. Toboe fell down next to Silver and sobbed as well, and Hige crumpled up in the snow, sniffing and struggling to hold back his own tears.

"Damn… why?" Hige asked quietly, gazing up at the shining stars in the sky. "Why? Why'd that asshole have to kill her!"

"There is no answer, Hige," Tsume replied quietly, eyes boring into the snowdrifts in the distance.

"There is no answer…."

:sobsobsob: I knew this was going to happen, but I'm still so upset!

Have you heard the song "My Immortal" by Evanescence? It reminds me so much of how Silver would feel after this… Don't you guys agree? You should check it out and see what you think.

Muse:sob: See you guys next chapter… ;O;