Thank you to Layla347, Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967 and xBrokenwing for review Last chapter.

Chapter XVII: Fight smart, Fight on

"So, this flower maiden…"

"Hm?"

"What's she like?"

"Huh?"

"What sort of question is that?"

Mahina glanced behind her at the rest of the pack as they continued on their journey south. After a few miles of hard running the sandy wastelands shifted to endless snow once again and the pack had decided to slow down a bit for a break from running. Though everyone as a whole seemed to be very capable of continuing on with that pace for at least a few more miles there was a new addition to the group that everyone was still trying to get use to. Trailing in the back of the group Kileona walked in a steady pace between Toboe and Hige, it was looking at them now that Mahina realized that the pup was a head shorter than Toboe which the runt must have been glad to realize because that made Kileona the runt now and not him. Hige let out a loud sigh before crossing his arms behind his head and looking up at the sky briefly before staring ahead at Mahina.

"Man" he commented "Mahi, this new runts even more clueless than our runt"

"I'm not a runt!" Kileona snapped shooting the ember wolf a glare while Toboe-use to being constantly teased by Hige-simple rolled his eyes and grumbled the same thing under his breath. Mahina grinned shaking her head at the exchange. "My mother doesn't talk about things like paradise and lunar flowers and the elders said they were nothing more than fairy tales"

"It is nothing but a fairy tale" Tsume, who walked a couple of paces ahead of the three, remarked in his usual cynical tone "We're chasing a dream kid"

"Tsume" Mahina commented "be nice" Tsume snorted at this.

Under his mother's orders, Kileona bid his goodbyes to his family and joined Mahina's pack heading south while Noele and her pack decided to travel east. The pup hadn't wanted to go that much had been obvious, as much as he looked up to Mahina as his older sister the pup was very loyal to his mother and his born pack so to leave it for a band of misfits his didn't know had been very hard on Kileona. The rest of the pack didn't know how to respond to him either, for the first few days of traveling Kileona didn't speak deciding to trail beside Mahina as they ran or take up the rear but Mahina was glad to see that everyone seemed to be warming up to each other finally.

"So what is she like?" Kileona brought the conversation back to its point "This Flower maiden, Cheza you said her name was right?"

"Yea" Toboe nodded his head "It's hard to describe really, she's really pretty and gentle and she smells really nice"

"Like Lunar flowers" Hige corrected

"Lunar flowers" Kileona perked at the mention of the flower looking to Hige with wide eyes, when the chubby male nodded his head the pup looked ahead and met eyes with Mahina. She stared back for a moment before looking ahead, she was sure he was looking at her because he remembered how they had first met.

"Well yea, that's what she is after all" Hige remarked with a shrug of his shoulder and another sigh as if Kileona was truly clueless when in truth Hige was as unaware as he was.

"Miakoda…" Kileona's scent drifted into Mahina's sense briefly his voice reached her ears.

The she-wolf glanced back at the pup, he stood near where Mahina stood but even with the distance she could see the curious, bewilderment in his expression. The siblings stared on for a moment more until Mahina broke the gaze turning to continue staring out at the landscape.

"..." Kileona hesitated glancing back at the rest of the pack before approaching Mahina "...do the others know about…" he trailed off but Mahina knew what he was asking.

"They don't" she replied simply

"You didn't tell them?" Kileona furrowed his brow

"I didn't" Mahina confirmed with a hitch in her voice as if to mock Kileona's surprised. The pup flinched at the tone but seemed to quickly regain his footing in his resolve.

"But...why?" He questioned finding courage to step closer until he stood beside Mahina. The she-wolf didn't look his way but she felt his gaze trying to burn a hole into the side of her head. "You guys are looking for paradise aren't you? And this flower maiden-this Cheza...she's the key to it all"

"I know that Kileona" Mahina sighed

"And she smells like Lunar Flowers" Kileona pressed on despite his sister's refusal to look him in the eyes "Lunar flowers bloomed to protect you, Mai… they saved your life! The others should know that-"

"Kileona" Mahinsa spoke up cutting him off. Slowly she turned her head fixing the pup with a hard stare "drop it" Kileona flinched under the stare, his determined expression wilting to Mahina's stronger gaze.

"But...why?"

"..." crimson shifted to stare off into the distance they still had a long way to go before they reached Jagura's keep. Mahina didn't want the others knowing about how that would affect their pack-they were having a hard enough time keeping it together as is "...because it's nothing important" Mahina declared softly.

"Not important?" Kileona echoed "Miakoda-"

"I said" The she-wolf snarled out loudly "That it was nothing, Kileona…"

"..." Kileona frowned deeply in response to Mahina's stern gaze "...It's not just nothing"

"Kileona…" Mahina sighed "Just leave it alone, they don't need to know"

"But…"

"Promise me, Kileona" the siblings met eyes and after a moment the younger of the two sighed, his gaze wandered out to the land they'd yet to cross.

"...Alright…" the pup mused turning away from Mahina. He lingered for a moment but eventually Mahina was left to herself and her own thoughts.

She did take this moment of solitude to think it over. Nobles and Lunar flowers, paradise and Cheza...and somewhere Mahina was in the mix as an experiment of nobles just like Cheza was.

Was that why she felt this connection to the flower maiden? Not because she was a wolf or because Cheza chose her but because Nables implanted it into her, made it so the pull was all that she was?

"...but the Hanabito…" the she-wolf verbally countered her thoughts "there is still so much to be done…" her words were still fresh on her mind but what? What was it she needed to do? What was it she could do?

Mahina's mind wandered to just a day ago, when they'd almost Kiba's soul to the garden of the eternity. How that human elder had needed Mahina to find Kiba.

He had said it was because her soul had left her body once before and this made it unbound to her body. Is that what the Nobles had done to her?

Were those the experiments? The things that had changed the she-wolf from Miakoda to Mahina. But why? What did any of it have to do with Cheza and Mahina's connection with the maiden?

"Nngh" the she-wolf winced as all this thinking over it all sent a throb through her skull. "...What's the point in thinking about it now?" she muttered to herself shaking her head before turning and heading back over to the others.

"So how much farther ways this keep anyway?" Tsume's words reached Mahina's ears as she fell into steps besides Kiba. Kileona glanced her way for a moment before nodding his head south.

"Not sure myself" the pup replied "I've never scouted that far before but every time I've spotted Jagura's ship they flew from the south"

"Then we keep going south until we reach it" Kiba declared and after a few grunts of understanding the white wolf turned his gaze to Mahina beside him "..." the pair met eyes for a moment but Mahina couldn't bring herself to hold Kiba's gaze. With a small nod she looked away preferring to stare out at the open land before them.

"Try to keep up this time runts" Hige's usual banter drifted past the two as the pack began moving out.

"Its Toboe" Toboe grumbled while Kileona simple grunted from beside him.

"Hey" Kiba spoke up his shoulder bumping Mahina's lightly, she hummed trying to busy herself from looking him in the eye "Are you alright?"

"Yea" The she-wolf nodded looking ahead moving to join the others "I'm just tired is all" before she could follow the rest of the pack a strong grip found her arm and stopped her. With an effortless tug Kiba pulled Mahina back to his side. "Kiba…" she sighed

"You're still recovering from Darcia's keep" Kiba remarked. Not bothered by the way she avoided his gaze the white wolf leaned forward to meet Mahina's eyes "A lot has happened in the past few days, we can rest for a bit"

"..." Mahina stared Kiba's in the eyes, two pools of the deepest blue lurking among brown bangs, that stoic look of his that left everyone bewildered was an open book for the she-wolf. She could see his concern for her in the subtle furrow of his brow, in the sharp look he fixed her with and the loss of pressure in the hand that held her in place.

For a second Mahina stare back at Kiba in consideration.

Not over the idea of stopping here to rest but for what Kileona had said to her earlier. What if what happen at the keep really was important for everyone to know or at least for Kiba to know. Should she really keep this from him after all he was her…

"You're different" Noele's words came back to Mahina just as her lip parted to speak to the male before her "Your eyes are different, your scent is different, even your personality and name are different" As Kiba leaned forward a bit, as if Mahina were going to whisper a secret into his ear, any words the she-wolf may have thought of to explain herself died on her tongue. "Mahina….That Noble changed so much about you"

That's right, she was a Nobles creation…

"I…" Mahina felt her throat clench and she shook her head "No, it's alright" there was no point in making him worry about things Mahina herself didn't know the truth to just yet. The she-wolf shook her arm free from the male's grip and looked away again "We don't have much time to waste, Cheza's waiting for us"

"..." per usual if Kiba had any concerns he wanted to voice he chose not to, settling for looking Mahina over one more time before nodding and walking off to join the rest of the pack. Mahina didn't follow at first, once again lost in her own mind and the millions of questions she had.

"But will Jagura's keep hold the answers?" the she-wolf wondered aloud, if Noele was correct the noble that changed Mahina was the one who held Cheza, the Lady of the keep they now journey towards. Mahina could very well be heading for the place that killed Miakoda and gave birth to Mahina.

With this is mind Mahina took in a breath and sighed breaking into a jog to catch up with her quickly moving pack.

Clouds gathered overhead as the pack ran on and snow drifted from the sky rushing past Mahina's form as the wind picked up around them, but this didn't give Mahina pause as she took the space just to Kiba's left. Her ears perked, turning themselves to catch the faint sounds of rumbling in the distance as the gray clouds suddenly flashed with bright light.

"Did you see that flash in the clouds just now?" Toboe called from the back of the lineup, heads turn upward just in time to see the sky bathed in light a second time "Look! There is again!"

"Those aren't the clouds that are flashing" Kileona declared

"It must be reflecting light from the ground"

"Light?" Mahina glanced back at the Grey wolf curiously "but what could cause something so bright?"

"It smells like something is burning" Hige's nose gave them the answer they needed. Burning earth that caused flashes in the sky?

Mahina knew of only one thing that would cause something like that. Soon, the pack was upon the source, Kiba stopped at the edge of a cliff and Mahina was quick to stop beside him squinting her eyes against the thin sheet of white that tried to blind them all. She could make out a dome city in the distance, bright flashes of light reflected from it as two large masses of black loomed over it.

Nobles. The She-wolf was sure of it, and the smell Hige had caught…

"It's the stench of battle" Kiba declared, his eyes never leaving the sight. He was right after all.

From Mahina's own experience Nobles, or their fleets, only seemed to appear in such numbers when they planned to attack. The Noble who ruled Freeze City had done it to Darcia when the pack first found Cheza and Jagura had done it to Darcia as well not that long ago. Mahina would forever bare evidence of that confrontation across her back.

But this posed a question: Who was attacking who now?

The Question must have lingered in Kiba's mind as well for without another word the white wolf leapt off the cliff and started for the battle.

"Should we…?" Hige mused taking up the space Kiba had left behind. The chubby male looked to his right at Tsume and then to his left at Mahina for an answer to his half asked question. Tsume didn't respond deciding to simply show his usual grumpy expression.

"We may find some clues about Cheza" Mahina remarked when no one else spoke up "It's worth looking into at least" Hige hummed an acknowledging sound in response making no argument as he watched Kiba stop a short distance away and look back at them.

Or, well, not them so much as her.

It wasn't hard to follow Kiba's focused gaze nor was it surprising to find it landed on Mahina. Hige wasn't sure if either of them noticed but they looked at eachother a lot ever since Freeze City and it was always silent staring too, a brief moment of quiet where mouths didn't move but eyes spoke what felt like a lifetime of words in a language only Kiba and Mahina knew.

To Hige, it was something unnerving to see two wolves communicate so well despite barely knowing one another. Other times, like now, it was a curious sight.

What was Kiba telling Mahina with that errilly stoic look of his? Why did it cause Mahina to smirk ever so slightly? What sound argument did Kiba present to the She-wolf to make her nod before leaping off the cliff to join him? And all through nothing but eye contact…

Hige tried not to give it much thought as he sighed and took off after the rest of his pack.

Perhaps he'd discover the answer to that mystery along the way.

The dome city was abandoned, void of any and all civilians that were lucky enough to make it out of the city alive. In its place the weathered and worn streets were taken over by large tanks and armored men wielding guns. The air burned with the smell of gunpowder, rang with the song of metal against metal as bullets bounced off armor. Missiles reached the heavens careening against black ships and the earth itself trembled under the might of the explosions while steel rained down crashing into buildings forging rubble and ruins in their wake.

The barely holding dome over their heads groaned loudly as the Noble airship-damaged too much to stay afloat- descended upon its surface. It took so little effort to bend it to its will and quickly give. Dust and rock raced about when the airship quickly crashed inside the dome.

And yet it didn't end.

The pack slowed to a stop and watched as more large tanks came rolling in to join the battle against missiles and gunfire from the opposing side.

Somewhere near Mahina's right an explosion painted the sky a bright orange. The screams of agony and the stench of blood that followed were enough to inform Mahina that the tanks had begun to retaliate.

"Those stupid humans are killing each other" Tsume snorted out watching flashes of explosions and clouds of smoke dot across the ruined city.

"And all for a Nobles glory" commented Hige.

"Indeed...but which Noble is the question" Mahina mused eyes scanning the battle for an sign of familiar armor.

Were they Darcia's? The Noble from Freeze city? Jagura's?

Toboe flinched in his place beside Mahina as a particularly large explosion erupted close to where they stood.

"Kiba" spoke the pup "we should go, don't you think?" Kiba said nothing in response, his gaze remained fixed on the warring humans. Mahina followed the white wolf's example.

Off in the distance one of the numerous tanks opened allowing its inhabitants to emerge and boy did their appearance take command of the eyes and attention around them. Mahina had never seen an armed soldier like this one before- his very presence left the she-wolf uneasy. Covered from head to toe in pitch black armor, Mahina could find no open joints she could exploit if she were to face this thing down. She watched with slightly wide eyes as the human stepped out into the open with a silver shield that was as tall as him.

He looked as ominous as can be.

"That one…" the she-wolf spoke up shifting the packs attention to the walking tank.

"Jagura's troops" Hige determined quickly backed up by Kileona humming in confirmation.

"That's them alright"

"We finally found them" commented Tsume.

Finally, a solid lead to follow. It was small, it might not even mean anything but it was enough. Enough to prompt Kiba into action, wordlessly the white wolf leapt down into an empty street and the fray taking cover behind a lone wall as a tank rolled by.

So they would join the warring humans, so be it. Mahina's feet left the ground before her mind could register the action and before she knew it they were in the things of guns and warfare, sprinting through the battle torn streets that was once a city.

"Alright, runt" Hige spoke up ignoring the glare Kileona sent him "time to make yourself useful and tell us all you know about Jagura" as demanding as it sounded, Mahina couldn't argue its necessity.

As they raced through the city swerving out of the sights of both fighting sides and dodging flying rubble thrown their way from numerous explosions.

"Jagura's been hunting wolves for as long as I can remember" the pup began his explanation. Pausing to duck behind a dark corner. Mahina followed suit pressing her back against the concrete trying to make herself as small as she could white that armored behemoth marched past.

It was only not that she was a stone's throw away from it that the she-wolf saw the large sword he held in his other hand. Despite her pride as a wolf Mahina tensed, holding her breath.

A moment passed and then another and for a second Mahian thought he would see her and Kileona but then...he passed.

"...That was close" Toboe breathed in relief his head poking out from the rock he had huddles behind.

"After all these years…" Kileona spoke "her troops have evolved to be better wolf hunters" the pup glanced at the soldier growing distance by the minute.

"Are they anything like Darcia?" Mahina questioned

"I don't know" was the answer before his sister pushed him along following Kiba as he moved on "but moms lost a lot of our pack to Jagura's men"

"Ha" Hige appeared beside Mahina as they ran, she didn't even have to look at the chubby wolf to sense his smugness "how hard can it be? They're just a bunch of stupid humans"

Stupid? Yes they indeed were but it was these same humans that turned the world to this...that hunted wolves down until the only safety those left had was to blend in with their murderers.

Yes, humans were stupid creatures and yet still…

An explosion so grand it shook the earth under Mahina's feet sent out bright flashed from the west of the pack and in it's wake…

"Incoming!" Tsume announced

"Scatter!" Kiba's command made Mahina snap her head upward in time to take in a large tank going airborne and the shadow it cast as it descended upon them.

Not needing to be told twice, the pack scattered taking off in different directions to escape it. All but one…

"Toboe!" Mahina yelped skidding to a halt and doubling back when she looked back to see that the pup hadn't moved.

Her body collided with Toboe's pulling a yelp from him before they both hit the ground and slide away just as the tank landed sending dust and debris in Mahina's face and into her lungs. Holding Toboe close to her form she turned her eyes away.

"...M...Mahina" the pup shivered out of his daze. Mahina glanced down at the pup and then at the tank with wide eyes.

"A bunch of stupid humans…" she mused with a shiver of her own "with nasty toys…" the cold metal almost kissed her nose.

An inch or so more and it would have crushed her head completely.

"Are you guys alright?" Hige's head appeared from a top the tank, his expression tense until he saw that neither Toboe nor Mahina were harmed by the felled machine.

"Yea, close call though" Mahina pushed herself up hoisting Toboe to his feet as well "be on your toes Toboe, it's not safe here"

"..." Toboe was busy staring with a paled face at the tank that nearly crushed them but he soon nodded his head "right…"

"Her troops wear armor that fangs can't bite through" Kileona went on with his explanation as the pack continued to move, more carefully this time. "Some of them are just foot soldiers but some are armed to the teeth with swords and a shield that blast some weird kind of wave at you"

"...a what?" Hige arched a brow at Kileona who merely shrugged his shoulders in response.

"It sounds stupid…" the pup acknowledged "but trust me, get hit by that and it'll knock you off your feet for sure"

"Lovely" Mahina grumbled racing after Kiba as the male landed on the roof of a building overlooking the center of the battle.

"So...does that mean we can't beat them?" Toboe questioned concerned but Kileona snorted loudly at this-golden eyes scanning the land as he did.

"I never said that" he replied

"If you've been fighting them so long, there must be a way around that armor"

"Strike at the joints" Kileona locked eyes with Mahina "The back of the neck if yo ucan"

"Sounds easy enough" the she-wolf smirked but a light whistle from Tsume made her ears twitch before she looked his way.

"What about that one?" the grey male questioned with a nod of his head. It was impossible to miss who he asked about.

While his lesser comrades fell to bullets and harsh blast, the behemoth Mahina had spotted earlier was on a league of his own. Larger than the others, he swung his mighty sword and Mahina watched as it cleaved a man in two.

"..." Kileona made no response to explain the monstrosity.

"Kileona?" Mahina looked to the pup to find him visibly shaking with rage.

"One like that took Tates fang" Kileona nearly snarled out.

"...his...fang" Mahina echoed and then she remembered.

Tate. Though her time with him was brief Mahina remembered the wolf. Slender in build much like Mahina with an 'X' shaped scar across his right eye and a missing right fang that he wore on the right ear of his human shift.

"The stupid human got cocky but I got him" Tate had beamed when he told Mahina what happen "Thought he could take my tooth as a prize but i got that back too!"

So that was what happen…

"Those bastards" Kileona snarled baring sharp fangs as he did "They almost killed him" Mahina recognized this posture-the look of pure rage that crossed the younger wolf's face. Kileona wanted vengeance for his brother and he wanted it now.

"He won't kill anyone here" Mahina spoke up pressing a firm hand on Kileona's shoulder to keep him from acting on impulse. The siblings locked eyes and the She-wolf quickly pinned the pup with her sternest stare "As long as we're not stupid about it. Don't charge in without a plan"

"..." it took Kileona a minute to calm his nerves but he eventually settled down if only a bit "Their armor covers their joints" he remarked "so a quick in and out attack won't work"

"That sword and shield don't help either" commented Tsume watching as the armored human easily took a head off in another grand swing.

"Tate took him by surprise and knocked off the neck plate of the armor" said Kileona earning a hum from Tsume.

"It see" the grey wolf smirked dangerously "expose the neck-"

"And go in for the kill…" Mahina grinned

"Exactly" Kileona nodded.

Kiba quietly listened to the whole exchange though his eyes never left the battle bellow. It seemed the current plan was enough for him because now he was standing up, quickly taking off into the very heart of the gunfight

The pack followed.

It was easy enough to sneak up on Jagura's men. They were so busy focusing on their losing target, the poor souls didn't notice Mahina as she descended on them. Teeth bared and silver eyes zeroing in on the nap of the nearest soldier's neck.

Her claws connected with the spot with artistic beauty if Mahina took a moment to admire her work as the man cried out before falling lifeless to the ground. The men that stood on either side of Mahina gasped at her sudden appearance and one quickly took aim. Within minutes Mahina's ears rung from the volley of bullets recklessly fired at her though, thanks to her own speed, the she-wolf did not suffer the burn of being pierced by them.

A quick back step and twirl had Mahina standing behind the soldier's comrade and whe nshe safely had him shielding her, the she-wolf gripped the humans shoulders in an iron grip, locking him in place to take every round fired.

The senseless shooting went on for a moment more until the trigger happy man thought it was safe or he'd simply run out of bullets.

"..." he lowered his gun watching with tense shoulders as his target slumped to the ground "did… did I get it?" he questioned aloud.

"...no" Mahina had to say, for someone with a majority of his face covered this human had a very clear expression of terror at the sight of an unscaved Mahina "It was a valiant effort though" she snarled slowly raising to her feet. The soldier gaped, aiming his gun at Mahina again before pulling the trigger-nothing happened.

Huh, guess he actually ran out of bullets.

"I-I..I don't understand" the man stammered out as Mahina advanced on him "you're just a girl… how can you be so fast?...You're just a girl!"

Mahina lunged before the human could rant more-one hand gripping the man's gun hand while her knees collided with his armored check knocking the man flat on his back and the visor on his helmet off his eyes. The terrified human stared up at the large fangs Mahina bared at him before she forced his head to the side and chomped down on his exposed neck.

'Mia!' Mahina sat up at Kileona's call. The slender pup was climbing out of a nearby tank, he glanced Mahina's way before looking nearby. Mahina looked as well. That behemoth was back and with a new target 'His guard is down!'

Mahina understood, she charged the two humans racing straight for Jagura's man. Delivering a firm kick, the she-wolf knocked his sword out of his hand and skyward.

"Hey there buddy" Mahina mused, carefully lowering her leg as her pack surrounded the soldier "I have a bit of a bone to pick with you…" the man didn't answer her, instead he raised his shield at her to fire off waves much like Kileona had said. Mahina braced herself for it but Kileona quickly yanked her out of the way.

The man followed them as they attempted to flee, leaving the soldier blind to Hige's simple shove knocking him off balance and making him drop his shield that Toboe jumped in to kick away from him. Unarmed and off balance the soldier was easy pray for Tsume who came zooming in with blade in hand, he sliced off the plate of armor over his neck leaving him defenceless to Kiba.

The white wolf sailed down onto the man like an angel of death. Pearl white fangs sunk into flesh and blood splattered as Kiba latched onto the exposed neck.

Silence followed- if the battle was still going on it wasn't around them.

"Huh…" Mahina hummed walking around the fallen soldier and giving him a swift kick before leaping up to the beary tank with Kiba to check if there was any sign of life inside "I guess Hige was right, they really aren't that difficult to deal with"

"See?" snorted Hige "what did I tell you?"

"You!" Mahina tensed at the sound of a gun being cocked "don't move!"

The opponent of Jagura's troops were not as armored, in fact when Mahina turned and snarled at the man he was dressed in a simple coat for the bitter cold around him.

"Alright…" The man stood up his gun trained on Kiba pulling a snarl from Mahina "who are you? And why would you want to save us?"

"Keep that gun up and you'll be hunted soon enough" Mahina snarled

"Mahina" Kiba spoke up pressing a hand on the she-wolf's shoulder settling her with a stare before he turned to the human "it wasn't intentional" the white wolf declared

"Hey…" Hige mused approaching the man and giving him a sniff "this is the guy that was chasing us back in that city where we first met Cheza"

"...is he?" Mahina eased up at this.

"You mean you know about Cheza?" Kiba added but the man showed no sign of knowing what Hige and Kiba meant.

"Cheza?" he echoed "What are you talking about?"

"She's a girl who was made from Lunar flowers" Toboe explained clarifying it for the man.

"You guys…" he gasped "you're those kids from Darcia's city"

"He is…" Mahina mused jumping down from the tank

"See? What'd I tell you?" Hige remarked with his arms crossed. Good, that meant he knew of Cheza and had been around.

"Where did they take her?" Mahina snarled out immediately taking a step forward in a threatening manner. Tsume stepped up this time, gripping the she-wolf by the back of her jacket and pulling her back.

"But...I thought she was with you" the man questioned, gaze shifting about the group as if he expected to see Cheza among them. Of course he saw nothing "so then…"

"She was taken" answered Tsume keeping a firm grip on Mahina and perching a foot on the dead soldier "by people wearing the same armor as these idiots" the man seemed to understand now.

"You mean Jagura?" he questioned with wide eyes "It all makes sense now...I never really understood why Jagura would want to attack us…" an explosion nearby drew his attention briefly "Orkham...Jagura...Darcia...the Nobles would risk everything they had just to get their hands on that flower…"

"...Orkham?" Mahina blinked owlishly at the human. Was the name supposed to be familiar? "...who is Orkham?" the she-wolf turned to Kileona who shrugged

"Look, pal" Hige spoke up with a sigh "we don't give a crap about what the Nobles are doing. The only thing we wanna know is whether or not you've seen Cheza"

"No, I haven't seen her"

"So we've wasted our time and energy" Kileona grumbled in which Mahina was inclined to agree. If the human hasn't seen Cheza there was a possibility that she wasn't here. This Jagura had gone through great lengths to steal Cheza from Darcia-destroyed his whole keep to get the maiden. Mahina doubted that Jagura would risk losing Cheza in some random battle in an abandoned dome city. Cheza wasn't here.

"But if Jagura did take the flower to her keep, you'll find it ahead that way" he pointed south "out beyond the sea of floating ice"

So it was to Jagura's keep after all. Satisfied with the information given, Kiba gave a small nod turning south where Jagura's keep was supposed to be. The rest of the pack moved to follow.

"Wait a minute!" the human made them pause "tell me something: are you really going to fight Jagura alone?"

"Whether I'm alone or not" Kiba spoke up turning back to the human. He took a few steps forward and his wild scent danced across Mahina's nose as the white wolf took up the space beside her "I'm always gonna fight to protect the ones that need me, no matter what"

"Kileona, Toboe" Mahina called to the pups turning away as Kiba's fingers laced through Mahina's and he pulled her along.

So they continued on, navigating through the dome and taking out any of Jagura's troops they came across as they went. By the time they reached the domes edge it had reached midday and the pack gathered about to rest before they set out to this sea of floating ice.

"So i was wondering…" said Hige from a top a tank he sat on peeking inside to make sure no one was alive within.

"What?" Tsume questioned from where he lounged

"Why such heavy armor for a bunch of humans?" the chubby male questioned grunting as he lifted himself off the tank, a helmet from one of the dead soldiers in his hand as he did.

"They're hunting wolves" Toboe elaborate and it made sense, if Jagura's fleets were truly an army of ever evolving wolf hunters they had to be properly equipped for it.

"Hm" Hige huffed at the thought "and about that…" he went on tossing the helmet between his hands "how can they even tell if some one if a wof or not?" That was a good question, heads turned to focus on the pup that had the most experience with the Noble.

Kileona blinked, surprised when he realized the pack was staring at him before shrugging. So even he didn't know how they did it.

"What use are youm runt" Hige snorted balancing the helmet in one hand before hurling it at the pup. Kileona yelped out as the metal landed on his head perfectly and with such force it knocked him over.

"Hey!" Mahina barked out perched on some rubble beside Kiba "knock it off, Hige"

"Well it's true" the chubby male snorted out with a shrug "he's supposed to be an expert on Jagura and he can't even tell us that mu-" Mahina didn't bother letting Hige finish. She yanked up the nearest helmet to her and flung it at Hige cutting him off mid sentence as the medal collide with and the bounced off his head. "Ow" he gripped his head shooting the she-wolf a glare "what the hell, Mahi!"

"Hurts doesn't it?" the female sneered at him "think about that next time you wanna chuck helmets at others"

"How about I show you?" the chubby wolf challenged Mahina and almost immediately regretted it. Mahina's fur bristled and she bared her teeth at him in a snarl. That was when he remembered, with a sinking feeling in his stomach, who he was dealing with.

"Oh really?" the she-wolf snarled out dangerously, slowly pushing herself up to a standing position.

"Hey, Hey" The chubby wolf held up his hands immediately not wanting to face Mahina's wrath when she looked so ready to throw down.

Lucky for Hige, Kiba was already moving to pacify the female.

"Mahi" the white wolf simply called her name placing a hand on her shoulder. Mahina glanced back at Kiba and Hige saw it again. That moment of silent communication between the pair in which Kiba somehow easily calmed Mahina down. She sighed, rolled her eyes and settled back down.

"What ever" she mumbled

"..." still rubbing his head, Hige stared at the pair curiously "hey…" he spoke up "you two have been really close lately…"

"Close?" Mahina's reaction was instant, it was easy to catch the blush of her skin with it being so pale "We're a pack, Hige"

"Well yea" Hige countered pointing at the female "but you and Kiba…" he looked the two over- at Mahina's embarrassment and Kiba's general indifference. They were so close they were touching! The pair sat close, rubbing shoulders without seeming to notice or be bothered by it. Mahina's red eyes shifted from Hige to the white wolf beside her.

Her bashful expression remained but Kiba looked just a bit amused, he shifted in his seat nudging Mahin with his shoulder.

Hige would call the exchange cute if he knew better...but then again…

Hige's eyes grew wide as he stared at them, really stared at them. Kiba and Mahina hadn't gotten this touchy until Mahina had to pull Kiba's soul back from that garden or whatever. That old human had told Kiba that the garden-where he apparently met a 'nice girl'- had not been enough for him and now here Kiba was unable to go two minutes without looking at or touching Mahina.

"..." it clicked "wait…" Hige was making sense of it now "no way! Don't tell me!"

Mahina turned as red as her eyes and now Toboe was picking up on something.

"What?" the runt asked

"...are you guys…"

"That's none of your business!" The she-wolf barked out flustered by the unwanted attention.

So it's true! They really were! Hige snickered. Sneaky Kiba.

"Come on, Mahi" the ember wolf snickered "we're a pack right?" the she-wolf glared at Hige "packs don't keep secrets, y'know?"

Unfortunately Hige never got the answer he wanted. Kileona had finally sat up with the helmet still on his head, the visor now dropped and over his eyes. He gazed around the pack before yelling out and stopping the conversation at hand.

"I...I can see…" the runt stammered out "this helmet...it shows me your true forms!"

"What?!" the chubby male snorted "no way" he reached behind him for the helmet Mahina had chucked at him earlier and slipped it on. The vision behind the visored helmet was red, so much so that Hige wondered how the human could make out anything from it. Yet when he looked over the others he found Kileona was right, under the red blanket Hige could not see any of their illusions.

Tsume, Kiba, Toboe, Kileona...but…

"..." Mahina made a flustered face the minute Hige stared too long at her and snarled dangerously at him "Quit staring! I'm not telling you anything!"

"No! That's not it!" Hige declared holding his hands up in defense "It's just...the helmet…"

"What?"

"Mahi…" Hige readjusted the helmet on his head just to make sure it was working "I can't…" he trailed off for a moment.

Even under the blood red veil Hige couldn't see Mahina's true form. As he told her this he watched her brow furrow on her human illusion. Look as he may he couldn't see the slender form of Mahina's true form.

The rest of the pack stared at Mahina now but she looked just as confused as they did.

Was that what that human had meant? What Noele meant?

"I-I..I don't understand, you're just a girl… how can you be so fast?...You're just a girl!"

"That Noble changed so much about you"

A deep frown formed on the she-wolf's face and she chanced looking at Kiba. The white wolf fixed Mahina with a curious look she had feared he would have. The seeds of truth were being planted-the pack was beginning to realize that Mahina wasn't just a normal wolf.

But...what was she?

Time passed, the pack rested and the storm outside the dome faded away. It was time to move on.

With Kiba at the lead, the wolves raced across the open land with their goal concrete in their mind. Somewhere in the distance stood Jagura's keep and within the walls Cheza was trapped-this was it. Jagura had obliterated all other Nobles after the FLower maiden, Orkham and Darcia, making Jagura all that was left. At the end of this journey they would either be on their way to paradise or the would die.

Kiba, suddenly, stopped running making the pack stop as well. They stared at him but he didn't stare back nor did he say anything, preferring to look upward to the sky.

Mahina looked as well, crimson eyes scanning the cloudy sky to see what it was Kiba was staring at. She looked and she stared and she looked some more for seconds? Minutes? Longer? The she-wolf wasn't sure but the longer she stared the more a sensation passed through her.

The snow was carefully melting under her feet causing the ground to dip and bend slowly lowering her into itself-making her sink down, down, down easily as she made no effort to stop it. Then, the ground gave way and Mahina suddenly dropped- sliding through the tear in the earth and into the cold embrace of watery darkness. Yet as she sank Mahina did not struggle.

Lower and lower and lower

No air came to her yet she could breathe, no light could pierce this darkness around her yet she felt warm, comfortable, at peace. As she reached a bottom, a smooth glass surface, she felt...bound… her hands locked behind her back, her legs bent into herself and her body curled into herself. Her senses were dulled, her hearing muffled, her skin tingled when what felt like hair tickled her grazing against her and moving with the current of water.

There there came light.

Bright, green, sparkling light enveloping her in it etheric hum. It brightened her limited vision allowing her to lift her head and take in her surroundings with blurry eyes. Her form was framed in a mass of ivory silk hair. She wasn't alone, as she raised her head higher-opened her eyes wider- she saw someone else bound by their wrist and neck, suspended above like a beacon. This form, subtle and elegant, did not speak nor move nor show signs of awareness yet their very existence pulled words from deep within, dancing up the throat breezing across the tongue and swirling out into the water.

A simple ward as light as air.

A name.

"..." her eyes blinked sluggishly and her lips parted unbothered by the water that entered as the name came to her "Che...za…"