Thank you to Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967, Layla347, Wolf81, Ninjasmokepuff, Inger-berlissa910 and an unnamed guest for reviewing the last chapter.
Lots of love
I've also notice that some of the words in my chapters have disappeared some how when i transfer them from word to here on the website...hmmm I'll try to catch them if i spot them but if i miss some im sorry for the inconvenience
Chapter XVIII: Choice.
Kileona wasn't sure how he felt about this small pack that his sister belonged to. With him now added in the pack was six strong but had no alpha and only on female-one they seemed to barely find respect for most of the time.
They were disjointed, seeming to be just a band of misfits rather than a cooperating unit. It took the pup a few days to get all their names but that information did nothing to improve Kileona's opinion about the lot of them. Tsume, the old man with a scar across his chest, was grumpy, rude, and pessimistic in nature. If he wasn't complaining about where they were going and if this was the right way he was trying to pick fights with Miakoda- fight that would have happened if it weren't for the others stepping in. Hige was large-and not in the way Kileona's mother was muscularly large but just...bulky fat. Miakoda said Hige had an insatiable hole in his stomach that could never be filled and Kileona was inclined to agree. Kiba was the white wolf and the quiet one, Mia's mate and definitely the alpha of this disheveled pack-no matter how often everyone said the pack had non. Kileona sized Kiba up-this was his sister's potential mate after all- and so far there was nothing physically wrong with him. This...Kiba was physically fit, larger than the rest of the pack-save Tsume- and seemed to earn enough respect from the others to get them to follow him. But as far as a pack leader… he was leading the lot of them to what was potentially their doom.
Kiba was either crazy or stupid to think they could face Jagura just because they took out some of her men. He was putting them in danger and he had seemingly no qualms about doing it-it doesn't help that the wolf didn't talk much if at all.
And then there was...Toboe.
Toboe… he couldn't be much older than Kileona but he was just as short as him. He was runty, whiney and well...pathetic. Of all the members of Kileona's new pack the pup disliked Toboe the most. He was barely able to keep up with their pace, always taking the rear and slowing the pack down to let him catch up.
He was dead weight but everyone was tolerating it. Especially Miakoda-Kileona's sister.
Since they set off from the tribe of human's, the she-wolf had been catering to the runts spastic nature-he almost got her killed in the last dome city they went to and after all of that Miakoda didn't mind. She put herself between danger and the runt, she lagged for him knowing her mate would slow down for her thus slowing the whole group down. All the while encouraging him, urging him like a pup that just opened its eyes- but he wasn't a pup, he was a wolf- a runt- and Miakoda favored him, babied him.
Kileona hated it and so he hated Toboe.
He couldn't help but grumble in annoyance as he watched the older wolf barely keep up with the packs slowest pace yet. They stood at a cliff edge waiting for the black spot in the distance known as Toboe slowly get closer, Kileona scuffed to himself rolling his eyes as Toboe tripped on something and ate a face full of snow.
Pathetic.
The snow wasn't even that deep, Kileona had no trouble with it and he was younger than this runt.
"He's lagging behind again" Hige noted with a sigh, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.
"Give him a break" voice the only female and internally Kileona felt a scowl forming.
'Like clockwork' he lamented
"We haven't stopped once since we left that dome city, I'm a bit tired myself" Miakoda reasoned oblivious to Kileona's second eye roll of the past five minutes.
'You're still recovering' the pup argued in his head 'and you still managed to keep pace, stop babying him' but Kileona wouldn't voice that, not to his sister's face at least-that was still his sister after all. Still, he had to say something because if Mia was admitting fatigue than her mater surely would…
Kileona glanced over his shoulder at the white wolf, Kiba. While Miakoda watched Toboe with silent encouragement, Kiba watched Miakoda as if to silently gauge how tired she appeared.
"..." the silent wolf stared for a beat before nodding his head "We'll take the time to rest while Toboe catches up" Kiba decided earning curious looks from everyone else.
'Give me a break' Kileona turned away from his new pack with a new level of agitation. If he rolled his eyes anymore, they were going to spiral out of his head.
"Hey!" he yelled out over the wind, glaring at Toboe-who was still too far for Kileona's liking. "Hurry it up, will you? We're losing daylight!"
"Kileona" Miakoda jabbed an elbow into Kileona's back but he ignored that.
"We don't want to get stuck out on the ice when the sun goes down" Kileona grumbled, scowling fully now with arms crossed tightly "We don't know how long the sea spreads out and on top of that some of us are starving-" as if on cue Hige's stomach growled and Kileona would have laughed if he wasn't annoyed with everyone around him at the moment "We'd freeze or starve-both even- so it would be smart to move across as fast as we can"
"The kid has a point" Tsume voice and judging by the look on Miakoda's face when Kileona looked back at her, she couldn't argue with the facts.
She made no further argument on Toboe's behalf deciding instead to stare off at the sea of ice the pack intended to cross once their runt had finally caught up.
Standing in silence other than the wind blowing around them, Kileona returned to his quiet complaining. Where had his sister even found this band of jerks anyways?" were there really so little wolves left that Miakoda had to settle on being the lone female of this 'merry' band?
Their original pack was so much better than this.
At least with a pack the size of Kileona's the slow pace made sense-they had young, elderly and wounded to look after. Even at that they understood the importance of keeping some sort of pace. Things would be different if this were Kileona's pack. Jacy would spear head the guards with Miakoda at his side-she'd make a great addition to them, Kileona would scout ahead for them, Miakoda would get the respect she deserves and their mother would be leading them to safety. Not towards Jagura and certain death like Kiba was-and all for some flower none of them even knew for sure was in Jagura's keep to begin with.
Kileona hated this pack.
"...Dammit all" the pup growled out digging nails into his arms in anger before he could take no more "Would you hurry up, runt!" he all but shouted startling Toboe mid-jog.
"I'n not a runt!" Toboe yelled back probably without thinking about it "and my names Tobo-wwwaaaagh!" the runt lost his footing in the middle of his sentence-slipping on seemingly nothing from Kileona's eyes- and within seconds he was eating snow again.
"Geez" Hige remarked
"Oh brother" Tsume sighed
Kileona rolled his eyes a fourth time.
Pathetic.
The smell of salt was clinging to Kileona's fur by the time Toboe had finally caught up to the rest of the group. He took in a sharp breath while the rest of the pack stared out at their next obstacle. Ahead of them was a vast land of seemingly endless white, but the air not only reeked of salt but echoed with the quiet groaning of ice creeking all around them.
"Is this… an ocean?" questioned Toboe from Keliona's left
"It's an ice floe" answered Kiba
"What's an ice floe?" the pup questioned on
"A frozen sea" Tsume clarified
"Are we gonna walk across this?" Miakoda spoke up this time and with her question everyone turned their heads to look at Kiba. It was a very good question and one Kileona certainly would like an answer for.
He'd only crossed and ice floe once before and he remembered how hard it was to do for him and the pack. Crossing one is a gamble, It's almost impossible to gauge how far it reaches so one can go from a little as a few hours to as long as a week without reaching the other side. All the while there's usually nothing to be found to eat, you're out in the ocean after all would anyone really expect to find a deer or rabbit to share amongst a whole pack? There's no water to drink either, no fresh healthy water at least and when Kileona had made that journey he learned from the handful that tried that drinking ocean water wasn't a good idea-not only did it make them extremely sick but some of them lost their minds before the end.
Nothing, however, could match the cold.
With nothing to shield them from the chilling winds at night but each other. Many perished from that alone.
Were they really going to try and brave it? All on a whim?
Kileona watched the white wolf known as Kiba stare off seemingly blankly at the frozen ocean in silence before he nodded with certainty.
"We have to" he declared "It's on the other side"
"Cheza, you mean" Kileona hummed and the male nodded his head before leaping down onto the ice below. Kileona sighed to himself watching Miakoda follow, then Hige and Tsume, he followed suit landing carefully on patch of ice and bounding between smaller one to join the others. Toboe, as expected by Kileona at this point, was the last to follow taking up the rear and slipping on ice the moment he landed. The pup yelped loudly, he slid across the ice and nearly went into the water with a loud splash as some part of him broke the icy surface.
"That's cold!" he yelled out yanking his paw out of the water.
"Would you be careful?" Kileona turned to face the run like the rest of the pack did "You know we're on top of water, right?" the two youngest members of the pack stared each other down for a moment as Toboe took a moment to collect himself and to his credit he didn't flinch when Kileona glared at him, instead the runt puffed up his chest and got back on his feet.
"I know that!" Toboe countered leaping over the gap and bumping Kileona's shoulder as he passed him. Kileona rolled his eyes-how many times had he done that now? five?- trying his best to not snarl at Toboe as he turned to watch the runt run by "Come on let's go!" and with that he was off ahead of them like a fire was being lit at his backside.
"He's gonna waste energy like that…" Kileona voiced
"He's young" Miakoda jumped in, there was a hint of a chuckle in her voice as she said this "let him do it"
"..." Kileona would say nothing in response to his sisters easygoing attitude, instead he crossed his arms finding solace in simply glaring at the back of Toboe's head as he ran on. How could she condon such flippant stupidity like that?
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up!" Toboe's voice echoed back to the pack "this cold feels great!"
"What the hells he so happy for?" Hige arched a brow "It's freezing"
"He's such a pup…"
Pup or not they pushed on as planned...without much took up the rear just behind Kileona as Kiba took the lead as usual. It didn't take long for the lands the left to fade into the distance, blending with the frigid white ice until all that you could see around you was an endless field of white. That-in itself-was a problem. As far as Kileona could see they were no closer to getting to the other end of this sea and were now too far to turn back.
As he ran Kileona glanced over his shoulder at the runt keeping tabs on his progress. So far Toboe was keeping up okay but as their travels continued Kileona wondered just how long it would take for him to start losing his stamina. Not only that but what would be the block that tipped and sent the rest falling away and lead Toboe to the grave. Would it be hunger? Thirst? Or just fatigue?
Kileona leapt over a ravine right after his sister landing with a skid beside her and a slight pant. He had to admit, he was getting tired himself from the constant running...maybe a quick break wasn't such a bad idea after all. However when the pup turned to his sister he found no eyes of concern for him but looking back where they had leapt.
Across the ravine they'd jumped.
Back at the one of the pack that hesitated to jump.
At Toboe.
Miakoda's red eyes were fixed on the runt who'd skidded to a halt just at the edge of the cliff and again Kileona could feel his usually controlled temper flaring.
"Hey!" he barked out barring his teeth in a slight growl, Toboe jumped at the tone and fell backwards onto his butt "What the hell are you waiting for? You scared?"
"I...I'm not scared!" Toboe barked back and Kileona simply scuffed in response. "I was just getting ready to, alright?"
"Getting ready to do what?" Hige jumped in to jab at Toboe's especially pulling a few chuckles from the rest of the pack and giving Toboe enough motivation to get off his butt and try to leap across the ravine. The pup took a couple of steps back before running as hard as he could and jumping with a sort of scream-that honestly if Kileona wasn't so annoyed he'd laugh at- as he cleared the distance with the ease that should be expected of a wolf.
It was a shame he couldn't stick the landing though.
Toboe stumbled as soon as his feet touched the ice and the rest of the pack had to step out of the way just to keep him from crashing into them before he finally fell face first into the snow and ice a few feet away. This time Kileona wasn't the only one sighing at the poor excuse for a wolf.
If Kileona had to guess, Toboe would die of fatigue.
As terrible as it might sound-and for reasons unknown to even Kileona himself-the pup was hoping for it.
But the runts slip up wasn't completely useless for the most part when the pup finally sat up holding something in his hand curiously. A old looking bit of bone among a messy pile of remains.
"Are these all… bird bones?" Toboe observed turning the bone he held in his hand to get a complete look over it as the rest of the pack approached. Hige snatched up the bone from Toboe and reflected on it with dismay.
"Not so much as a scrap of meat left on them…"
"But it is a good sign" Maikoda mused though much like the grouch and her mate the she-wolf made no moves to look over the bones Toboe had literally fallen into. "If there are bird bones this far out that means there are birds, so even if we keep going we still have a chance of finding some food."
"Well yea you're right in theory…" Hige continued to sulk "but i haven't heard so much as a wing flapping for the past mile. Can't smell anything either"
"Maybe your nose is just out of shape" Kileona remarked flatly, if there was one thing that Hige had been bragging about since Kileona had set out with this group it was that his nose was the best there was to offer. He could smell a dog taking a dump 10 kilometers away-or so he said even though Kileona hadn't asked- and the new addition would have admired that. Wolves with good noses were great for hunting and scouting, Kisa was great scout back in Kileona's old pack… the pup gained a nasty scowl at calling his family an old pack- as if whatever this bad of misfits were could be considered a pack at all let alone a new one.
"What did you say you little runt?" Hige shot Kileona a glare that the pup returned.
"It doesn't matter" Kiba spoke up before an argument could surface "There should be food in the town up ahead"
"He right, you know" Kileona couldn't help but agree.
"The sooner we get out of this frozen dump the sooner we can eat" Tsume remarked "Hey Toboe, you still in one piece?"
"Of course I am!" says the runt that's spent most of the day on his face, Kileona's scowl grew as Toboe picked himself up off the ice and charged ahead of the group "Let's get moving". Weather they looked at him with amusement or simply shook their head it didn't matter. The goal was set: get off this ice and into the next town. So rather than complain or comment the rest of the pack followed with Hige being the last as he took a moment to stare up at the cloudy sky.
"Come on birds…. Lets see some flapping"
The long track across the ice continue on like this. They didn't find any sign that anything had been living on this ice in recent times, making their way past a vast graveyard of bones at one point-none with so much as a nibble of meat left on them to Hige's dismay- by now it was becoming very apparent if the pack didn't want to starve they needed to get off this frozen ocean as soon as possible. There was just one tiny problem…
Toboe.
"..." glancing back as the wolves ran on Tsume was the first to stop when he noticed that the groups runt was so far behind he could hardly be seen among the ice he ran across. It didn't take the others long to stop as well and all those ahead turned to watch the straggler struggle to catch up. Kileona had been right of course, fatigue seemed to be what would be the end of Toboe. Try as he might he just couldn't keep up with the groups pace and now it was starting to finally show, especially as the pup made another leap that ended in his slipping as he landed and fall on his face again. He didn't get up this time around though.
"...Hey runt!" after a pause to stare at the fallen wolf Hige was the one to speak up, calling to Toboe "you alright?"
"..." there was movement within the lump of fallen wolf but if he said anything in response none among the rest of the group could hear it. Would this be it for Toboe?
"Maybe we should take a few minutes to rest" Miakoda let out a sigh crossing her arms before glancing at Kiba and finally deciding to check on the runt "I'll go check and make sure he's okay" check if he was okay? Kileona squinted his eyes at the back of his sister's head, It was no wonder Toboe had such a hard time keeping up! Why try when the group will just slow down for you anyway?
"..." Kileona clenched his teeth at the very thought before breaking into a jog to catch up to Miakoda. He just couldn't take it anymore, why did she cater to this weak creatures every failing? He had to know, if the answer eluded him any longer Kileona wasn't sure he would make it to the end of this journey completely sane "Mia!" he called out stopping the she-wolf short before she could break into a run for the fallen runt. Kileona didn't waste time beating around the bush when he quickly caught up to her, couldn't even if he had wanted to, the first words that spilled from his mouth when he slowed to a stop besides his sister was a simple question: "why?"
"...Why?" furrowing her brow, Miakoda turned her head to fully look at Kileona bewildered by his-seemingly-random question "why what?" she questioned back and Kileona could have almost growled at his sister if he didn't quickly remember that she was his sister-and that she nearly broke his nose with ease the first time they met.
"Why are you going out there to help him?" he elaborated nodding his head in Toboe's direction, the weak creature still had yet to move an inch since falling. Miakoda didn't answer the question right away, she stared at Kileona with the same look of bewilderment she held when the conversation started as if she didn't understand the question but soon her expression shifted a little more towards acknowledgment and she spoke.
"Because we have to get to the other side of this sea" she replied as if Kileona were oblivious to their goal.
"I know that but…" the pup huffed out.
"We can't keep going if Toboe doesn't get back up" Miakoda went on to elaborate like...like she was speaking to a damn child.
"We could still keep going-even without him" Kileona interjected with annoyance, in their mothers pack the weakest knew the rules, paces were made to match the elderly and sick but the threat of Jagura always meant if you couldn't go on you had to be left behind. The preservation of the whole always outweighed the preservation of the one.
"No" Miakoda's answer was firm, her eyes stern when she spoke though her head tilted slightly as if she couldn't understand this simple concept of the all over the one. "Toboe is part of this pack, we don't leave anyone behind"
"Listen Mia-" Kileona started but stopped before he could speak on, the look his sister was fixing him with now made it very obvious he would not win this argument but he would damn sure try. "We're out in the middle of nowhere" he remarked motioning around them at the endless white that was this frozen sea "we have no food to hunt, we have no shelter from the cold. We have to get off this ice as soon as possible but if we keep slowing down and waiting for him to catch up we'll all die out here" there was no questioning it, they would die if they didn't leave Toboe behind. "The others can keep going but they keep stopping because you keep stopping, as the only female you have sway over us-if you keep going so will they. You have to make the choice to .go" Miakoda didn't reply to this, she simply stared-her blood red eyes unflinching from what Kileona was sure was a stern denial to leaving Toboe to die. "Miakoda, I know it's hard but that's just how it has to be. Mom had to make decisions like this all the time. Sometimes you have to put what's good for the pack ahead of one wolf's life"
"..." the siblings stared at one another for a tense silence that Kileona almost didn't realize he had been holding his breath for before Miakoda spoke with an even and final tone to her voice "Your old pack did that" she said before slowly shaking her head "but not us, not our pack. Toboe isn't weak either. He just needs guidance. There's a reason he's made it this far he just needs the right push to reach his..." whatever else Miakoda said faded from Kileona's ears until all he could focus on were this three words:
Not our pack.
Not our pack?
Not.our.pack.
Kileona swore his vision flooded with red at the very idea of being lumped together with this group of idiots and actually calling them a pack. His old pack? Why was it just his old pack? That army's worth of seasons wolves that looked at Miakoda with respect, not just because she was the child of the pack alpha but because she gave off the aura of strength. Miakoda's body was riddle with the scars of her experience-every discolored line weaving an untold story of survival and a fire to live that demanded respect and was willingly granted. That was what a real pack looked like. That was Miakoda's old pack but never-not even once-had Kileona ever heard his sister call it such. And finally he couldn't take it.
"My pack…" the pup mumbled, his hands clenched into tight fist and his teeth ground against each other "My pack, my pack, my pack" his body trembled as he tried not to snarl and yell at Miakoda "They weren't just my pack, they were your pack too-our pack. You belonged there, Miakoda, not out here in some frozen wasteland march to your death." and there was no arguing with it, they were heading straight to the gates of hell and Jagura would kill them all. If they even made it there to begin with. "This...this, this group isn't a pack. They're not even a group. You all hate each other-it's obvious-and if keep weaklings like him with us we're all going to die out here." it was surprising, really, that Kileona kept his voice leveled as the floodgates of his inner anger broke and he sent the motionless runt a heated glare.
"I...I hate this Mia" he finally admitted aloud "I hate this quest for paradise"
And that despite the fact that only two wolves out the whole pack believed in it they still went-that Miakoda still went.
"I hate how they disrespect you despite all you do"
And despite all the love and respect their old pack gave her, she returned to these fools.
"and above all I hate how weak Toboe is, I hate that we have to slow does because of his weakness"
Kileona was so much stronger than Toboe. Despite being younger Kileona was taller, had more muscle on his bones. He knew how to hunt for himself, how to scout ahead-he could probably outrun everyone in this whole 'pack' without breaking a sweat and still-still- Miakoda...whenever Miakoda looked back out of concern from the youngest of the pack she look at…
Kileona...their mother-their pack. They were Miakoda's flesh and blood-Kileona was her flesh and blood-and still Miakoda picked…
Miakoda was silent through Kileona quiet rantings, her expression still holding that look of bewilderment and slight confusion as if they were speaking different tongues to one another but then something...shifted. Kileona watched as Miakoda's confused expression slowly but surely changed into one of understanding-revelation even-and what could be assumed was acceptance of whatever she had come to comprehend. Then, with a small part of her lips and a gentle intake of breath, she spoke.
"...Is that what you really hate?" she spoke "or is that the excuse you're going to used to validate your anger?"
Her response was short, to the point, and so accurate in it accusations that Kileona was stunned into silence upon hearing it.
"..." He opened his mouth to refute his sister, tried to force something-anything-out in protest to Miakoda's words but when nothing came out the pup simply went back to clenching his teeth in anger. "...Stay here" he finally managed out "I'll go get him" if Miakoda had wanted to say anything in response Kileona didn't give her time to. He turned away from her and dashed away both annoyed that she had practically seen right through him and ashamed at his own immaturity.
Perhaps he was just angry but he had every right to be. Miakoda was his sister, she risked her life to keep him alive-sacrificed her freedom and memories for his sake. Clearly Kileona and their pack had meant something to her but now that she had the chance to reunite with them she picked this...this band of idiots! Even as her clearly better brother stood before her those red eyes still looked at Toboe, held affection for Toboe. Kileona wouldn't take it anymore, Miakoda was his first.
"Are you alive?" he nearly spat out when he finally stopped in front of Toboe.
"I'm fine" ah, so he was awake "I can keep going I-"
"Don't" Kileona could feel the chill of the ice coating his words and Toboe froze under them "I'm not here to check on you. I'm here to give you some advice" golden eyes pinned the runt to the spot as Kileona carefully lowered himself into a crouch making sure he loomed over Toboe enough to case a vast shadow over the wolf's form. "You're not cut out for this so give up" that caught Toboe's attention.
The runt moved struggling to push himself up on shaky limbs until he was sitting upright and could meet Kileona's cold gaze.
"You can barely keep up with us now and it's only going to get harder from this point on" Kileona continue blankly "You're doing nothing at this point but slowing us down and-at this rate-if it keeps up you're going to get us all killed"
"That's not-" Toboe tried to defend himself but Kileona wasn't going to let him get away from this fact like Miakoda was able to.
"When the sun set and the temperature drops we will freeze to death if we're still out here" this was a fact and Kileona could see in Toboe's eyes that he understood that. He didn't argue with Kileona instead hung his head in shame, that was all Kileona needed to see to know he had gotten his point across. "I'm going to tell the others you said to keep going and that you'll catch up once you've caught your breath" he remarked pushing himself but up on straight legs and slowly turning away from the fallen runt "If I were you I'd go back to those human nomads and live with them. If you leave now you'll probably make it off the ice before the sun sets" He probably wouldn't-Kileona was sure Toboe wouldn't-but the pup hoped that he gave the runt of a wolf enough hope to try. So when he did try he could just die somewhere out here and stop being a source of Kileona's misery. "..." glancing over his shoulder Kileona looked over Toboe who still hung his head and sat in silence, Toboe truly was without a doubt pathetic "good luck, runt" Kileona offered a parting comment before turning around fully and beginning the walk back to his sister.
He didn't waste anymore of his energy on Toboe, Kileona had bigger things to think about. Like how he was going to convince Miakoda that Toboe wanted them to keep going long enough for the the runt to waste away. While Kileona was at it he might as well think of ways to get rid of the others too.
And then, when no one from this pack was left, Kileona and Miakoda could go back to their real pack.
Where they belonged.
However, it was as this final thought cross Kileona's mind something happened. Something even he as a precautious scout couldn't have expected.
The ice under his feet shifted and the frozen air groaned with an unmistakable Thump….
"...what the…" Kileona furrowed his brow, in the distance Miakoda mirrored his expression so he was sure he hadn't imagined the feeling or the sound. Behind him Toboe hummed in confusion as well before forcing himself to stand up but then suddenly.
THUMP
The ice shook violently under their feet with enough force to send Toboe falling backwards with a loud yelp and nearly knock Kileona off his feet. What the hell was…
"Below us!" the pup realized his gaze shooting downward, something was swimming under the ice something big and-if Kileona's guess was right-something hungry. It took all but less than a few seconds for Kileona to find himself introduced to what that something was. The ice cracked like glass about Kileona and Toboe and in a flurry of shattered ice and cold water something broke through. Forming an impossible to jump distance between Kileona and Miakoda, the beast towered over the Kileona and Toboe for what felt like leagues of massive dark flesh.
In that moment the world stopped, frozen in an instance of surprise and sheer terror as Kileona took in the size of this...this beast! But, once the moment had passed the pup found himself helpless as he watched this sea beast let gravity take over its massive form, tipping sideways towards Toboe and himself in a landing that shattered the ice under both wolves feet and sending them yelping into the frigid dark water. Salt invaded Kileona's senses as the force of the beast landing sent him spinning in through water for a moment before he was able to correct himself and find the surface.
"Kileona!" Miakoda's voice reached him as soon as his head broke through the water for air "Come on! Get out of the water! Quickly!" the She-wolf was kneeling at the edge of the ice, her arm reaching out for him while Hige was busy pulling Toboe out and to safety. Kileona didn't need to be told twice, he barely had a chance to see that creature but he had enough instincts to tell him he didn't want to be in the water when he came back.
As soon as Kileona was close enough, Miakoda had him by the scruff of his neck and yanked him clean out of the water in one strong pull-and in good time too. No sooner had she done that did the ice under them burst forward sending the four wolves-Both Kileona and Miakoda along with Hige and Toboe- tumbling across the ice away from the looming shadow of the beast that now stood at its full height out of the water.
It was massive like no natural animal Kileona had ever seen-bigger than a bear even- and though it had what looked like fins where claw would be on a bear there were two large intimidating fangs coming out of his mouth. They were so large and long they were nearly the length of his whole body. Its body was riddled with scars all the way up to its head where a singular bloodshot eye stared down at them.
Stared, before opening its large mouth and letting out a ground shaking roar of a battled hardened warrior about to attack.
"What the hell is that thing?" Miakoda cringed at the sound it made but there was no time to contemplate what it was. The battle had begun.
Kiba and Tsume wasted no time, they charged the beast like it was nothing but a hunt-and really Kileona realized briefly it kind of was. Snarling loudly over the beast howl and with teeth baring, the two male lept onto the beast and chomped down on its flesh but it didn't seem bothered, didn't so much as flinch in reaction to the attack. It's skin didn't even bleed under the sharp teeth of the wolves biting down on it-what sort of demonic creature was this thing?!
Letting out another roar of a sound it flinched at Tsume and Kiba like they were annoying best sending Tsume rolling away and Kiba crashing into a nearby wall of ice so hard the surface cracked and the white wolf fell to the ground in a daze. The beast had its opening and he took it quickly closing the distance between Kiba and itself before the white wolf could shake his daze.
When Kiba looked up he was met with a lone fang being driven into his leg with enough force to make him yell out in pain.
"You bastard!" Tsume snarled
"Kiba!" Miakoda all but shrieked scrambling to her feet and joining Tsume and Hige as the charged the beast trying to stab through Kiba's leg. Kileona stood before the kneeling Toboe and watched as the beast easily smack Hige away mid-leap and made no sounds of pain as Miakoda scaled the side of its body and bit down on its flesh. Soon Tsume had managed to latch onto its fin but could do nothing more than hold on as it swung him about wildly, even as Hige joined in the scene looked like a losing battle for the wolves.
"...Do you see what I mean now, runt?" Kileona spoke up staring wide eyed at the fight, Toboe flinched at his words but the two glanced at one another. The runt in all his pathetic glory was shivering-from cold or fear Kileona didn't know. "This is what it means to be a wolf, to be a part of a pack. You fight or you die- sitting around being scared will get you and everyone around you killed" and that was it, that was all he had to to say to the runt before he too charged into the fray.
It took him mere seconds to realize why this fight was so one-sided. The minute Kileona bit into the creature's flesh he could feel it-it was tough and flexible. It felt like he was biting into rubber instead of an actual living animal and as he tried curiously to rip skin from body it only moved with him, stretch itself but never giving any sign of breaking and no matter where Kileona bit the result was the same. Meanwhile the beast was slowly but surely digging it absurdly large fang deeper into Kiba leg, the air was already starting fill with the scent of the white wolf's blood.
This was bad. At this rate-
"rrrrRAAAAAGHH!"
Suddenly a snarl broke through the chaos and a new figure suddenly joined Kileona by the beast head. The pup only had a second to look up this new figure chomp down on the beast only working eye before it, finally, shrieked out in agony.
"Toboe! Don't do it!"
Toboe?
Kileona didn't have time to process that the one who had finally caused the this creature damage was the runt for it threw its head back and nearly threw Kileona off. The pup latched back onto its rubbery skin as it threw its head about wildly before pitching backwards and crashing into the ice hard.
The landing knocked the wind out of Kileona, and as the ice broke and the lot of them plunged back into the frigid sea the pup couldn't hold his grip on the beast. He was thrust away from it and had no choice but to float back to the surface dazed from the sudden blow.
"Are you alright?" Kiba rushed over to the ices edge as Hige, Tsume and Miakoda quickly surfaced right after Kileona did.
"Yes" Tsume remarked shaking his head a bit and Hige tried to catch his breath. Miakoda still looked a bit dazed but her gaze was already cast out to the sea.
"Wheres Toboe?" she questioned but no one needed to look far to find him.
Off in the distance the battle between runt and beast raged on.
The creature thrashed about in the water roaring in pain as it struggled to buck Toboe off of it. Despite its best efforts the runt refused to let go even when sped off crashing into the surrounding ice and hurling itself through a glacier before disappearing into the sea below taking Toboe with him. That would be enough for any wolf, Toboe had to breath at some point after all sure he had let go by now.
But no. Wherever they were bellow the beast roars of pain vibrated through the water and over Kileona's body and soon after-a good yard away from where they had dived under- the beast crashed through the ice and into the air screeching the whole way before crashing into a large pillar of ice in an explosion of water, ice and blood. The group could do nothing but gape in horror as the pillar crumbled on impacts and fell down with Toboe and the beast back into the sea.
Silence followed.
The land went as calm as a grave as if the chaos that had just taken place had been nothing but a dream. Of course it wasn't, Kileona wish it had been-wish he hadn't just witness a suicidal runt lose his mind like that but there it was. As those who remained pulled themselves out of the water and used the moment of silence to regroup the time seemed to tick by painfully slow.
Seconds passed, then minutes. It felt like hours they took at the ices edge scanning the surrounding area for Toboe-be it his beaten and bloodied form or his corpse- but they found...nothing? Not even Hige's nose could pick up the scent of the pup from among the smell of Kiba and the beast blood.
"That damn kid went crazy…" Tsume was the first to speak, finally finding the silence to be too much to stand.
"This sucks... This really sucks…" Hige was still scanning the water before them for any sign of their comrade.
"Why?..." Miakoda spoke up from where she was now sitting beside a kneeling Kiba. When they took a moment to check each other it was revealed that Mia took a nasty blow to the head just as the beast crashed back into the ice. She insisted she was alright but it was taking her some time to shake the day the blow had left her in. Still the she-wolf's expression was one of frustration and worry "Why is he taking so long to come back up?"
Why indeed, sadly Kileona didn't have an answer. It didn't matter how stubborn the wolf, every creature that walked on land needed air at some point, there was no way Toboe could managed to hang onto that monstrosity while under water for that long as it violently tried to shake him off. There was no getting around it, Toboe had to be dead for sure.
"Toboe!" the chubby amber wolf howled out into the waste land as if Toboe would howl back.
Somehow, though, Hige's prayers were answered. Behind them the watch splashed up high and the beast immerged. Sluggishly, it crawled from the depth of the water looking far worse off than it had when it first appeared. The fang it had dug into Kiba was broken off, its once thought impenetrable skin was riddled with lard shards of ice, fresh cuts and wounds wept dark blood, and still firmly latched onto its eye was none other than...
"Toboe!" Kiba perked
"I can't believe it." Kileona remarked in awe.
The beast pulled itself completely onto the solid land and with one final fling of its head was able to finally toss the runt off of it sending the runt flipping through the air before he landed firmly on his feet as short distance away.
As the beast turned to face Toboe the runt showed no sign of fatigue despite what must have been the ordeal of his life. Though his back legs gave out on him Toboe still crouched the best he could, teeth baring and snarl menacing as if daring the creature to keep the fight going. For a while there Kileona actually thought that it would but after a tense moment it's body wobbled in its place and the great beast of the sea fell in a cloud of snow.
Miakoda was the first of the group to move, pushing herself onto her feet and hurrying over to the still tensed up pup. The other quickly joined her surrounding Toboe and staring at the beats he took down in collective shock.
"Toboe" Mia breath out "are you okay?"
"What got into you?" Hige joined in the questioning.
"..." at first Toboe was silent, Kileona could see his mind slowly catching up to his body as he processed whatever the hell possessed him back there. He dropped to the ground, adrenaline finally draining out of his system and leaving a shiver in its wake "Something happened…" he spoke in a tiny voice at first before he seemed to get a better hold of himself "And then, I just...I just...I don't know. It was like something deep inside of me just snapped all of a sudden…"
Just...snapped?
Kileona furrowed his brow at the pup. Something just snapped and unleashed that? But how? Toboe was weak and pathetic and just now he'd done something Kileona had never seen any wolf-not even his own mother- do before. It was now that Miakoda words from earlier were slowly coming back to Kileona, the ones he almost tuned out in his anger..
"There's a reason he's made it this far he just needs the right push…"
The right push, huh?
'You must be joking…' in the calm of the beast defeat Kileona was surprised to find that a deep rumble of a voice came from it now as it spoke. 'Not once have I ever been defeated on this island….I have been here protecting it since long, long ago….Even when I was the only one left.'
'In this world, it's either kill or be killed. But understand this…' shakingly he raised his head and around Kileona the wolves tensed, ready for any stubborn last fight this creature had in him but his words continued 'I will not die a victim…' he declared 'I...am going...to save...you….' It spoke no more after that. It bloodshot eye- the very one that Toboe had bitten into- was still open but the life had faded from it.
The beast of the sea-the apparent last one of his kind-was dead and Toboe-the pathetic runt of their group-had killed him.
It was stupefying, how had such a pathetic wolf managed to pull it off? The question kept circling Kileona's head as Kiba announced that Toboe would get to eat first since the great beast was his kill.
Toboe's kill-the concept was hard to process.
But as far as Toboe goes it appeared that the runt had proven himself fit enough to continue on with the journey to Kileona's dismay-if not provided due compensation for putting up with his incompetence so far. But that put quite the dent in the pup's plans. How was he supposed to convince Miakoda to turn back when Toboe was still around? He was supposed to be the easy one of this band of idiots to get rid of. Now, Kileona would have to think of other ways to deter to runt from going on.
While the rest of the pack sat about the great beast Kileona sat away, deciding he'd rather eat by himself while he gathered his thoughts and came up with a new plan. He was so caught up in all of his thoughts he hadn't actually noticed that someone had sat down beside him until they actually spoke.
"You're angry" the male voice caused Kileona to jump before he spun round to look at the owner.
Kiba didn't look back at Kileona preferring to stare off into the distance as he yanked off a bit of meat from the piece he held in his hand. There was a long pause between the two as Kileona stared at the white wolf that his sister had chosen for her mate-what was his game? Did Miakoda put him up to this? Eyeing the wolf, Kileona glanced behind him at the rest of the group where his sister sat. Miakoda had her back to them, busy arguing with Hige about something it seemed based on her gesturing towards the amber wolf and his defensive posture.
"..." turning his gaze back to the wolf beside him Kileona tried his best to scoot away from Kiba without being obvious about it "Not really" he answered if Kiba didn't believe Kileona the white wolf was very good at not making it show on his face.
His expression was blank in a creepy sort of way-honestly Kileona could think of at least half a dozen better wolves his sister could have picked back in their pack that would be way better than this blank slate. Well if Kiba wasn't going to talk Kileona might as well, it would be easier for the male to know now that Kileona didn't approve of him or any of them for that matter "...She was my sister before she was anything to you guys, you know" the pup remarked "She risked her life to protect my sister and I from the Nobles and before that she was a leader in her own right" still Kiba remained silent as ever the fact that he was so casual about the pups words were enough to annoy Kileona greatly to the point that the pup scowled "Our pack treated her like the hero she was-she would have been happy with our pack. Why she's here with you lot is beyond me. Unless you forced her"
Kiba didn't reply to the accusation.
"You're her mate, aren't you?" Kileona questioned "If you wanted her to follow you all you have to do is tell her to right?"
Still Kiba didn't answer.
"I'm her flesh and blood but she picked you for whatever reason-"
"She's saved all of our lives" Kiba spoke up finally stopping Kileona before he could go on another rant and it caught the pup by surprise. Mia had saved these guys too? When Kileona looked up at the white wolf he wasn't mindlessly chewing on the meat he was holding anymore, instead he had shifted- glancing over his shoulder and back at the subject of their conversation. "The scars on her back are all wounds she gained from protecting us, some almost cost her life. It has nothing to do with being family, that's just the kind of wolf Mahina is"
Mahina...right, that was her name now… Kileona tried not to snarl at the thought that his sister even abandoned her birth name.
"Still, she's had doubts" Kiba spoke on casually "I've counted four times she's thought about abandoning us to the point of going through with it since we started this journey" at this Kileona perked up, so it was true-Miakoda was here because Kiba kept her here- "and each time I let her decide what she wanted to do"
"What?" Kileona sat up a bit glancing between the white wolf beside him and the subject of his stares. As if sensing the attention, Miakoda paused in her conversation to glance back at them- her crimson eyes locking with Kiba's for a moment before she tilted her head in question. As expected of the white wolf at this point Kiba gave no physical response to the curious gaze directed at him but Miakoda seemed to understand something from Kiba's staring and went back to her previous conversation. "But then… how?" the question didn't completely form on the pups lips. How was Miakoda still here if she had doubts about paradise, if Kiba hadn't forced her to keep going?
"It was her choice" Kiba answered simply "It's always been her choice"
"...her...choice?"
"Your sister does things her own way, for her own reasons. She joined us because wanted to, stayed with us because she wanted to even when she had a way to cut ties completely. I've heard the others thought she was dead around the time you found her" those blank blue eyes found Kileona and stared at the pup for confirmation and Kileona reluctantly nodded.
Kileona had even thought Mia was dead that day he and Kisa had found her among the rubble of that nobles keep. Kiba was right, Miakoda could have easily never mentioned this group she had been with way back then and their pack would have passed through a safer part of the Deserts bones without ever encountering these guys.
"It's always been her decision what happens around her, So that means she chose you too."
Chose Kileona?
The pup blinked in surprise and then a pause of understanding came to him. His mother had requested that Kileona join Miakoda and she had accepted when she could have easily turned her back on Kileona like she had their pack.
Miakoda had chose Kileona.
"I want her to stay" Kiba broke the silence with this bluntly honest statement, even with all his stoicness Kileona could tell the older male was being honest when he said this. It was in the way the wolf turned his eyes back to Miakoda and the slightly less sternness in his face that Kileona understood that the white wolf meant his words "I've never forced her to stay with us, ours just isn't that kind of pack-if she's going to leave all I can do is ask her to stay. If she does it's her choice just like everyone else's"
Just like everyone else's? So Kileona could turn around right now and go back to his family and no one would force him to come back? The pup furrowed his brow as he thought of this. His mother would never let this sort of free acting go on in their pack. The pack needed each other to survive, there was no room for self interest but here...
"...and if she leaves?" Kileona questioned
"..." Kiba was quiet once again but Kileona wasn't going to let him get away with it.
"What if you ask her to stay and she leaves?" the pup pressed, for a while there Kiba didn't answer Kileona. He pushed the rest of his meal into his mouth and calmly got back on his feet as if Kileona hadn't asked the question but as he turned away from the pup he spoke
"Then I would have to let her go" was Kiba's answer and with that he walked away.
Kileona sat in stunned silence confused by this new revelation. Miakoda does things her own way for her own reason, Kiba had said. So that means she dotes on Toboe for a reason and she accepted Kileona for a reason. But why? Kileona turned his gaze from his sister to the runt sitting beside him.
"He just needs guidance"
Miakoda's words were drifting back into Kileona's head again.
Guidance, huh?
"..." the young pup, foreign to this new pack and its ways, took in a deep breath and sighed pushing himself up to his feet.
He supposed...if his sister had chose him to follow her...Kileona could stand to give this rag-tag team of idiots a chance. You know, if only for her sake. Who knows maybe he could show them a thing or two on how a real pack acts, and he would start with…
"Oi! Runt!" even if it wasn't his name Toboe nearly jumped out of his skin when Kileona barked out at him. Really, it was hard to believe that this same coward just took down a giant sea beast on his own-Kileona would bet Toboe was the type of pup that was afraid of his own shadow way back when. Still Kileona steeled himself from rolling his eyes "let's go!"
"Go?" Toboe squeaked out, he looked around at the rest of the pack to see if any of them were moving but when none of them got up from their comfortable positions he stared at Kileona confused "Go where?"
"Scouting of course" the pup sighed out in annoyance "You've had your first kill, so it's time you learn some basic pack jobs for a runt like you"
"H-hey! I'm not a runt! My names Toboe"
"Are you coming or what?"
"U-uh y-yea! ACK!"
"Watch out for the ice, geez"
He'd thought it before and Kileona would probably continue to think it for the rest of this journey.
Toboe was pathetic
…..
Pathetic...but not useless….