A/N: Hello, once more! Syri here, and both I and Strelli would just like to say thanks for reading this so far! Hopefully you find more reasons to keep tagging along on this journey as you venture further into the unkown . . . Thanks again for reading, and please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed with open arms, but flames will be stored in the dark corner of a pantry and collected until the time is right . . . Rekoj, beware. :P

Once again, this story was purely made for the enjoyment of you guys, and just because we were bored and tend to do strange little group projects when we are bored. :P

Syri & Strelli

Tiger's Fury & Lion's Heart

Chapter 10

Flames roared around the valley, licking up both buildings and flora alike. The once green sanctuary was now dangerous hues of red, orange, yellow, and white, and smoke twirled up into a sky dominated by the blood red moon. Through the crackling of fire and the breaking of timber, a sad, mournful howl rose up in the midst of the burning; long, low, and loud.

"Eneres!" Citegrene yelled, racing towards the lone figure on top of a rise. Flaming, a tree branch snapped off above, almost falling on top of her, but she deftly swerved and continued to dash upwards. "Eneres!" she cried when she reached the silver wolf. "Eneres, come! We need to go, now!"

Turning her sad, tear-filled eyes to face her best friend, Eneres wailed, "I lost Cheza!" Her dreadful crooning was a pitiful sound from one so strong. Citegrene looked on with despair.

"We can find her later, Eneres! All is not lost, just get out of the fire's path. Come on! All of the other wolves have escaped; it's just you left! Let's go!"

"Leave me, Citegrene. I need to think."

"ENERES, there's no time!!!" Citegrene growled, grabbed her by the scruff, and started to haul the limp she-wolf away. Eneres snarled demonically, and slashed Citegrene across the side, leaving a thin red line of blood. The golden wolf yelped in surprise and let go.

"I said, LEAVE ME!" Eneres stood there, huffing, rage and hatred in her eyes. There was also something close to fear, an emotion Citegrene had never seen before in her friend.After several tense minutes of silence, each wolf staring down the other, Citegrene spoke in a low tone.

"Very well . . ." She sprang down the slope, hoping with all of her heart that Eneres would change her mind and follow. When she reached the bottom near the tree line, she looked back. Eneres stood there, hunched over and sulking. There was an ominous crack, and then the wolf was buried under a burst of sparks and wood.

"ENERES, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!" Citegrene flew back up the hill, through the sparks and flames. She felt no physical pain, not even when her ankle caught in a rut and twisted with a sickening crunch. "NOOOOOO!!!" She fell to the ground, horrible yelps escaping from her pain-wracked soul, as if she were the one dying. "No, no, no, no, NO!! ENERES!" She threw back her head and howled her grief to the flame-consumed world as her friend was consumed in the flames.

Citegrene's song rose and fell like a cry from the darkest pits of torment and despair, a cry that carried her broken spirit away from that horrible place. Citegrene gave up all hope and stood up to throw herself into the flames, for life was not worth living without Eneres.

A slight warmth on her body made the golden wolf sadly look down at the little pup that sat there, nuzzling against her leg. Soot covered its furry body, concealing very well the fact that it had a white pelt. Citegrene's eyes hardened as she thought of how it wasn't fair that Eneres had had to go through this, and how this little wolf would have the chance to live. Her lip curled in a snarl as she thought of how this whelp had the nerve to touch her at a time like this. What, did he want to die, too?

Citegrene . . . The she-wolf snapped her head, and saw in the flames the haunting image of a white she-wolf. As quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. Snorting and shaking her head to rid her mind's eye of the image, she snatched up the wolf pup in her teeth and sprang off towards the woods.

Once she reached the bottom of the hill, she couldn't stand it anymore. Setting the light pup down by a tree on the forest's edge, she snarled at it, it's wide, blue eyes staring up at her, its tail wagging happily. "Never again shall I save one that is unworthy of saving. Never again shall I have kindness on those who don't deserve it. Pup, mark my words, the only reason you are still alive is because you are young and have seen nothing of this harsh, cruel world. May you grow up to be a light to brighten the darkness. But if I ever catch you being unworthy, I will hunt you down. We will meet again, young cub." And with that, she threw her head back to the crimson moon and howled, "Tor! Fenris! If you do exist, then why did you make the world so cruel? Why did you kill off one of your greatest servants?! Where the hell were you when she needed you most!?"

If only Cheza hadn't been taken . . . Citegrene, grief-stricken, slammed her head against the nearest tree. Another howl of mourning and self-hate rumbled up from her chest and was unleashed into the smoky night air. Why, why Eneres? Why couldn't it have been me instead?

A dark shape stirred on the edge of vision. Citegrene's heart fluttered as she looked its way, yelling hopefully, "Eneres?" The figure was too large to be the silver she-wolf as it gazed out into the night, with its side to Citegrene. Once it heard her cry, looked at her with one dark eye, a grin spreading across its face. Its horrible, twisted mouth opened as it slowly turned its muzzle to face her fully.

"I have Cheza."

Citegrene woke up to a hard jolt, feeling that sense of guilt and despair looming over her, waiting to overpower her. Coarse, evil laughter echoed all around her as she opened her piercing blue eyes to see a blurry face close up. Surprised, she sprang quickly onto her feet. Smack! Stars swam across her vision after the hard collision of her head and the low cage ceiling.

"Aww, did I scare you?" The voice chuckled some more, then instantly dropped low and dangerous. "Where is she?" Citegrene shook her head to clear her vision, then glared at the evil man crouched just outside of her cage.

"Where is who?" she snapped, staring into those dark eyes, full of cunning and insanity. A strange sort of fear filled Citegrene as she took in her enemy; a fear of the unexpected. He looked like a wild card.

Curly grass green locks fell to the strong shoulders, framing his square jaw and chalk-white face. Black rings of smudged kohl crudely circled the dark orbs that were set underneath thick eyebrows. Blood red coloring enhanced his lips and . . . scars.

He noticed Citegrene's scrutiny and cracked a yellow toothed grin. His voice was playful as he asked, "Do you want to know how I got these scars?" He pointed to the knotted, distorted lines of skin that stretched from the corners of his mouth halfway to his ears. No attempt at subtlety made, one of his hands dug through a pocket in his conspicuous purple coat, withdrawing a small, sharp knife. He eyed it almost lovingly, then flicked his intense gaze back onto Citegrene. Quick as a snake, his arms flashed through the bars and grabbed the wolf's furry head. Her yelp was cut short as he hauled her closer to the bars, closer to him as his eyes drilled holes into her very soul. Oh, it was so tempting to just give in to him, to evil itself, and to let her darker side take over once again. But something inside told her to keep fighting.

Her head was already pushing against the iron stakes, but the man still pulled her closer, as if even he wasn't sure what to do next. It was so intense that she saw his human image flicker a few times, revealing the wolf beneath, the wolf from the shadows of the ruined house back at the valley of the Balkar.

Rolling his eyes quickly, his tongue darted out to wet his lips as he began speaking in a far darker tone, "Well, you see, my brother was a nasty corrupt little cop, and one day, he decided to come home and play 'stick 'em up' with me. With his gun to my forehead, he says to me, 'You've been a bad boy, but you don't ever seem to enjoy being bad. Bad boys always smile when they do something bad . . .' And so, he pulls out his dirty little cop knife, and sticks it in my mouth, like this." He demonstrated by shoving his blade into Citegrene's jaw, pushing it hard against the corner of her lips. A drop of blood trickled down her parched throat. "'You need to smile more,' he says. So, he takes his knife . . . and he does this."

The blade easily sliced through her skin, leaving the left edge of her mouth hanging open in two flaps, blood spilling everywhere. Agony split through Citegrene's head, a loud scream escaped from her throat.

The man seemed to enjoy this very much, and cackled evilly. The red tongue flicked out and wet his lips once more. "But, now I look on the bright side; now, I'm always smiling." He quickly shoved the blade against the other side of Citegrene's mouth, but the she-wolf snapped at his hand defensively, her jaws closing on thin air.

Blood flowed down her cheek as she stared at the man with an anger so deep, so primal, she thought she had locked it away after hearing Larka's sweet voice. "You will pay for this!" she growled. The man simply waggled his finger at her tauntingly.

"Oh, I most certainly hope so. There is much more to come once we meet again. But now, now, you still haven't answered my question. Where . . . is . . . the Flower Maiden?" Citegrene's eyes widened in shock, but she told the man to eff off, that she didn't know where Cheza was, and that if she did, why would she tell him anyways? He just leered all the more from her fiery reply.

Then a frenzied baying sounded in the distance. Citegrene's tormentor glanced over his shoulder, out of the open back doors of an armored truck that Citegrene had been hauled in. "Until we meet again," he said as he tipped an invisible hat to her, cackling as he jumped out of the truck and ran off.

Citegrene looked on in shock, the pain in the side of her mouth stabbing through her brain. But she was used to pain. She wasn't used to seeing that horrible face of Rekoj, especially as a human. What did he want with her? Why was he looking for Cheza? And how had he gotten to the city so fast?

"Citegrene," a voice sounded, "what did that bastard do to you?" It was the black wolf, his utterance full of anger and concern. Citegrene whimpered in reply, feeling the salty blood trickle into her mouth.

The baying suddenly became loud extremely fast, and a large bluish black dog jumped through the open doors. Its slavering fangs snapped as it barked its head off, trying to reach through the bars to get to the black wolf. Citegrene screamed at it to stop, hoping that the dog was intelligent enough to understand.

Astonishingly, the dog froze in its tracks and turned its piercing blue gaze onto Citegrene. It cocked its head as if listening to some faraway voice, then wagged its tail, once, turning back around and leaping out through the doors. A distant voice yelled, "Blue! Blue, did you get it? Did you get that damned wolf? Oh, there you are, Blue . . . GO FIND IT! GO FIND IT, NOW!!" Blue's barking started up again, this time going in the opposite direction, away from the vehicle which was Citegrene's prison.

"What . . . the hell . . . was that about?" Citegrene chuckled at his comment, immediately berating herself as stinging pain shot up from her torn cheek into her skull. With a new furor in her veins, she attacked the metal bars on her cage, occasionally adjusting her grip in order to prevent her injury from being worsened. The bars bent like butter in her teeth, and soon she was free, working on the black wolf's cage.

"You know . . . you still haven't told me your name," she said after he had slinked through the newly made hole.

"And what made you decide that you want to know that?"

"Well, I need to know what to call you. Come on, you must have a name."

"I don't."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, all right!? My mother died when I was young, and she never named me, okay? End of story." He jumped out of the truck angrily, landing hard. Citegrene heard his grunt of pain and followed him cautiously. The sun beat down on the little alleyway that they were in, and flies buzzed around the dead bodies of their once-alive guards. Rekoj has a sick sense of humor, Citegrene thought as she looked at their carcasses. Their shirts had been torn off and on their bare, hairy chests were the words, "If you can't beat me, join me."

"If we are to survive in this city, we have to work together. Please, just tell me your name."

A growl escaped from his throat as he whirled around, and pinned her to the ground with a lean paw on her throat. He wanted to strike so badly; she could see it in his features. But he couldn't. That gaping gash in the side of her cheek made him visibly wince, his lips curling into a snarl; made him realize what Rekoj had done to the once beautiful golden wolf. Now, blood stained her features; her thick fur was clumped and matted with dirt; her ear had a little clip in it from their captors. His eyes sparked with hope, and as Citegrene looked up at him, full of a compassion born of pity, his anger slowly drained away. Almost fearfully, he turned away from her and whispered, "My name . . . is Natas."

Citegrene inhaled sharply to cover up her surprise. "Who would name y—"

"Enough! I don't want to talk about it." Walking away, he sat down and stared blankly at a wall.

"Well, Natas, we might as well get going. I can scent lunar flowers here, and that's surprising since . . . Eneres is the one with the good nose." Wearily, she struggled to her feet. Already, Citegrene could tell it was going to be a long day.

Night fell. Stars twinkled overhead in the polluted air as two wolves sat together on a rooftop, looking up at the glowing crescent moon. They were both silent, enjoying a rare time of peace and reminiscing over the day's events. Both had been forced to take on human images to get through the city, but Citegrene had had to cover up the wound on her mouth with a shawl. The thought of how she knew Eneres would react if she ever had to appear human popped into her mind. She could almost hear it now, the endless line of cusses, curses and angry excuses.

The scent of lunar flowers was very strong now. All day had been devoted to following it, but this was Citegrene's first city she had set foot in, and, unknowingly to her, it just happened to be the largest left on earth. At least Natas had known how to navigate the endless alleyways and thronging market streets.

Cheza must be here somewhere for the place to smell so strongly. But why was Rekoj here? Why had he threatened another encounter with Citegrene? She remembered the verse from the Prophecy, the one that stated, "With Power, who will redefine the laws of nature, as her mate." Mate? Mate as in a real, flesh and blood wolf, or as another, spiritual part of Citegrene herself? It confused her deeply, and for the umpteenth time, she doubted that the fortune teller from her past had even been right, saying that she would help open Paradise. But then, why did Larka speak to her? What made Citegrene so special?

"Who will redefine the laws of nature" . . . Well, there had been a lot of redefining going on in the past two fortnights. Citegrene had even began redefine herself after her latest encounter with Larka. Boundaries had been crossed and reestablished, and a lot of questions cluttered the she-wolf's mind. With a sigh, she decided that it was time to rest.

As soon as her eyelids shut, a loud crash sounded nearby. Natas growled in his sleep, his muzzle twitching. Citegrene always kept her distance, but the two had started to mend the tense gap that existed between them. They had been forced to work together in order to survive.

There was another clang. Citegrene got up curiously, pain slicing through her cheek. There were voices now, and the golden wolf walked to the edge of the roof, perking up her ears as sounds floated out an open window from the next-door building.

"Jesus, what did you do this time!?"

"John, it wasn't my fault! He had a gun! He trashed the place and he took everything!! Oh, John, he was so scary; he wore this . . . makeup and he . . . What are you doing!?!" A woman screamed, and then there was another crash. "JOHN!!!!!"

Light flooded the dark street below as a door opened. A slim figure ran out, fearfully looking back over her shoulder at the man inside. He leaned against the doorframe, bat in hand, and yelled, "Damn you, woman! Get out of my house, and never come back!!" The door slammed suddenly and the street went dark. Citegrene peered curiously over the ledge, twitching her ears. She sprang and landed lightly on the tar two stories below, projecting her human image as she walked towards the woman.

Long black hair draped over her shoulders, she stood there in the moonlight, weeping into her dainty hands. Then, looking up at the stars, she sniffed and said softly, "Please, Lord . . . Please forgive John. He doesn't know what he is doing, so please forgive his ignorance and bless him with all you have. It is not his fault." She crossed herself, then stared at the ground, sniffing. After several minutes, the woman turned and walked away, her heels clacking on the hard ground. Citegrene stared confusedly at the stars. Are Tor and Fenris real? What of this Lord? Is He real too? Or are they all just stories for pups?

"Citegrene . . ." She cocked her head, twitching her ears towards the sound.

"Citegrene . . ." Her lip curled in a snarl as she twirled all about, looking up at the tall buildings surrounding her. Someone was toying with her.

"Citegrene!" She whirled around only to see that Natas' face was inches in front of her own. "What are you doing out here? Are you trying to go solo or something?"

She chuckled, then realized that it wasn't a joke as he glared at her. "Oh, I was just . . . Do you ever wonder if the humans have gods as well? I mean, what if they have the same stories as us, like the story of Sita? What if their tale of a higher being has truth? What if . . ." she looked up at the moon, the light illuminating her fur, "Tor and Fenris aren't alone up there?"

Natas sat down beside her and looked at the wide swath of stars that was the Wolf Trail. To humans, it was the Milky Way, but it held something much more meaningful to wolves. It was the path that wolves took up into heaven to be with Tor and Fenris when they died.

"I'm not sure if I believe in Tor and Fenris, but if they do exist, may they have mercy on us all." The stars seemed so far away, almost unreachable. What is Paradise Does it exist at all?

An echo of ominous laughter resounded faintly through the street as Citegrene laid her head on her paws and finally closed her eyes, her body shutting down after the day's terrifying events.