In the dead of night, my mother sprints threw the forest with my scruff clamped firmly in her large jaws. Flames engulf the woodland behind us that used to be our home and she runs towards the river. I was very young then, but I still remember every single detail about it. Like my mothers, short panicked breaths. Or the howls from my previous pack members that faded away, their bodies soon to be consumed by the fire and smoke. We finally make it to the river and my mother sets me down. "I have to go back for the others. I need you to stay here." She gives me a few, comforting licks on the top of my head. "Stay here, by the water, Sora. I'll be back soon." I beg her not to leave but she just gives me another lick on my muzzle. "I'll come for you back I promise." And with that, she vanished back through the forest. Her white pelt is easy to track in the darkness but eventually, she disappears. My mother vanished into the forest, into the flames that burned our home to nothing. I sit and wait, exactly where she had left me. The howls of my pack members die and I'm left only with the sound of the crackling fire and the trickling water from the river behind me. I wait and I wait for her return. Even when the sun begins to rise, even when the fire begins to die I wait. But she does not return, nor anyone else from my pack. I remember sitting in the exact spot for 2 days. It was then, on the second night by myself, that I realize I am completely and utterly alone.

The commotion of my incident in the city had begun to fade, though I'm sure by now they're looking for a white wolf or a crazy brunette female. I continue back to my mission of following the scent of Lunar Flower, trying to stay out of the open where I may be recognized. The scent is close now, stronger than it's ever been. My mother used to tell me stories of Paradise to put me to bed. We used to say that someday we would embark on some great big journey and find it together. Who knew with so many nights of dreaming and planning, I would get this close. Only now I was all by myself.

The sent seemed to be coming from a rather large building straight ahead. Pure excitement seemed to be the only thing dragging me threw the cold. Though to be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for. Of course by now most wolves had heard about the new Flower Maiden made by Lunar Flowers around ten years ago. She was so well known among the humans and wolves because she was the first successful creation in a very long time. Her location, however, was unknown. Whether the scent was coming from the Flower Maiden herself or not, I knew I was getting closer to finding Paradise.

This part of town seemed fairly quiet and I didn't think getting inside would be too difficult. With no guards posted outside I cautiously made my way inside. There were a few people inside and they didn't even seem to notice me, or if they did they didn't bother looking my way. Stupid humans. They were dumb enough to let anyone from city come and go as they please? I shake my head before taking a long, deep breath. Whatever the scent was coming from it was defiantly below me in the basement. I take the stairs instead of the elevator to avoid any confrontation. I sneak down, quietly and quickly as the scent of my treasure becomes stronger and stronger. It must be her, it has to be her. Finally at the bottom of the stairs I'm met with two massive doors with red bolded text across it stating, "No Entry Unless Authorized." I sigh with irritation and try the doors anyway. Locked. Damn it. I came this far to find this Flower Maiden, a locked door wasn't going to stop me now. I look around and see an air vent on the wall to my right. It was fairly small but I was sure I could crawl through it. I unscrew the rusty screws that barely hold the vent to the wall and gently lay it on the ground below it. I jump up and heave myself up into the vent and begin to crawl. The musky smell was almost strong enough for me to cough but even with that over powering scent, the aroma of Lunar Flower still has me in its grasp. I tough it out and continue to crawl. I could only hope this vent would lead somewhere inside of that room. After about five minutes of crawling I finally make it to the other side and peer through the tiny went slits. From what I can see, there are about two people inside. One writes furiously in a notebook while the other peers into what looks to be a giant goldfish bowl. On a closer look, I'm surprised to see something floating inside the bluish water. It's small and attached to several thick cords that trail from inside the tank to machines behind it. It's then that I realize what's floating in the tank.

It's her. It's Flower Maiden.

The smell of Lunar Flower is so strong, I'm completely frozen. She's alive. She's real. I raise my hand so quickly to push the vent open that I cut it on a sharp piece of metal sticking out from the side. I retrieve my hand back to examine it. Blood oozed from the wound and dripped down the side of my fingers and onto the cold, metal vent floor. I shake my head and ignore the sharp sting. I peer through the slits once more to see the two scientists are both by the giant tank. "Her eyes, they're open." The first one says in astonishment. "Is she awake? We weren't expecting her to wake up for at least five more years!" The other says flipping through the stack of papers on their clip board. "We haven't altered the solution at all this week."

"We need to get Ruka here immediately!" The man insists.

"She's on the first floor with her husband I think." The woman says as she types frantically on the key board. "Well don't just stand there, go and get her!" The man runs out the door with clumsy feet, almost running into the door frame. As she continues to type I hear her whisper, "She's awake. She's actually awake."

With just one female scientist left in the room, now was my chance. I hit the vent door hard, which falls to the floor on impact. The noise startles the female as she turns to see me. Fear and confusion take over the excited gleam she had in her eyes a moment ago. "Who are you? You're not authorized to be here. Leave immediately!" She points to the door behind me, though I don't turn around to look. I slowly make my way over to her. She backs up until her back hits the tank. "I-I said get out!" I'm completely frozen for a minute as I look at the tiny creation that floats in the bluish water. She was looking right at me. It must have been hard to see but she didn't need to. She knew who I was. She knew what I was. I force my attention back to the scientist. Seeing as my options were limited and the rest of their crew would be returning shortly, I let my human shield come down. I growl at the scientist and put my belly to the floor as if I were about to jump on her. She lets out a loud shriek and runs for the doors. That was easier than I thought.

I quickly force myself back to my human form and run to the tank. Short on time I began to press all the buttons on the hologram screen that surroundes the tank. Nothing I press seems to be draining the water and I can hear the panicked screams of the annoying scientist upstairs. I shake my head and grab the rims of the tank, pull myself up, and jump into the water. I release her from her hand chains and come back up for a quick gulp for air. Before I dive back down into the water, I hear people running down the stairwell. How the hell was I supposed to get out of here with her? I really hadn't thought this threw very well. I quickly dive back down and release her ankles from the deathly tight chains. I wrap one arm around her waist and I bring us both back to the surface. I hear her tiny gasp for air and she coughs several times. I turn my head back to see three people come running in, two being the scientists I saw before and another women who I assume to be Ruka. "Put her down!" One screams. The female scientist stays back by the door and looks around the room with wide eyes. "Be careful she has a big dog with her. It tried to attack me!"

"Wrap your arms around me." I try to sound calm, but with everything going on I don't even see the point in pretending. I put her on my back and she puts her skinny arms weekly around my neck, just as I told her to. I grab the edges of the tank and hoist myself up, out of the water. My eyes dart around the room, looking for another way out. Surly by now they had notified guards and every entrance of every floor was sure to be heavily guarded. My eyes set on a door in the back with old faded letters across it that says Emergency Exit. The man, seeing me head that way, makes it there first and holds his arms out as if to keep me at a distance. "Please, just give us Cheza. You can have anything you want, just give her back!" Behind me I can hear the guards shoes against the concrete stairs. With an aggravated growl I use my free arm, the other clasped onto one of Cheza's arms, and throw him to the side. He's thrown into a large wooden shelf and falls to the ground face first. The two female scientists run towards me and are quickly joined by several guards as I open the door and run up the stairs as quickly as my feet with take me. The alarm is sounded from the emergency door and the whole building is ringing loudly. I want more than anything to cover my ears and get as far away from this building as possible, as far away from this senseless city as possible. I slip and almost fall several times from my wet shoes but I make my way up the dimly lit stair well. I can hear the enraged group running after me, just right behind me.

I finally make it to the top of the stairwell and break through the door. I'm hit with a forceful, icy wind that immediately began to shiver. I can feel Cheza begin to shake too as we run through the storm. Being in soaking wet clothes in the middle of winter was truly one of the worst feelings in the world.

I was truly surprised at how fast I was running for having someone clinging to my back, though she was pretty small. We were beginning to gain distance on the group that continued to run after us. I was used to this kind of weather. I lived in it every day while they stayed cooped up inside their warm little houses. If you could even call the pathetic little spaces that.

I finally came to the great wall the encircled the town. Without turning to see how close they were I jumped to the top of the wall, grabbing both of Cheza's arms so she wouldn't fall. I looked down as the group stopped at the wall, frozen with awe confusion to see me jump the enormous concrete wall. I can't help but smile as I jump back down the other side and run into the dying forest. I had won. I finally had the key to paradise in my possession. The precious little flower hung from my shoulders with her tiny legs wrapped around my waist, shivering and breathing rapidly. "You're safe now." I whisper to her as I continue to run. Her grip on my shoulders tighten in response and I can almost feel her smiling.

I'm sorry its been so long since I have updated! Things have been kinda crazy over here but I'm back and ready to get back into this story! Please comment and let me know what you would like to see in the future for this story ;)