Mutt: Second chapter! If you haven't noticed already, the character in this story is based off me. I've always wondered what it'd be like to be with Kiba and the others. Toboe is my favorite. He's awesome!

Anywho, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the pack. They are free to be on their own. I only wish to run with them.

"Think he's gonna die?"

"You fat idiot, of course he isn't going to die."

"Hey, I'm just sayin'. He hasn't woken up yet and it's been some time now."

"It's only been four hours."

Who is talking? God, it's annoying. Opening my right eye a crack, I couldn't see anyone. "Someone there?" Sitting up, I noticed I was in some kind of room. It wasn't very big. Maybe big enough for a small family to live in. "Hello?"

"Hey, you're awake." Looking over my shoulder, I saw some grinning guy sitting on the couch. He played with his collar that had the letter H on it. "Took ya long enough. I'm Hige." I just stared. "Hey, what? Is there something on my face?"

"You're a wolf," I managed to blurt out.

Something moved to my right, so I quickly looked over and saw the guy with silver hair leaning in the doorway. "Yeah, unfortunately, that porker is a wolf," he dissed Hige with a smug grin.

"C'mon Tsume, why aren't you nice to me?" Hige whined as he laid back with his arms crossed over his head.

Tsume looked back at me and I realized I was staring. "Got some kind of problem, runt?"

"Runt? Who you calling a runt?" Standing, I realized my injuries were still healing so I had to be careful. "I'm no runt."

"Don't be angry." Someone patted me playfully on the back. Glancing back, I saw it was the younger kid who was calling to me from before. "They call me runt all the time." He smiled happily at me. I don't think I've ever seen such a happy face before in my life. It was weird. To tell the truth, I was more used to cold shoulders and smug remarks like Tsume was giving Hige and me. "I'm Toboe. Pops is a jerk, isn't he?"

"Pops?" Cocking my head to the side a bit, I just stared at him.

Hige stretched and replied, "The old guy who tried to kill you with his rabid dog."

Shadowing a hand over the bullet wound on my right shoulder, I nodded slightly. "Oh, yeah. Him."

"So what's your name?" Toboe asked with a wide smile.

Staring at him again, I blinked. "Wha?"

"Your name, runt. Toboe wants to know," Tsume repeated for him with a tone that made me seem like some type of retard.

I was in a room with three other wolves. Wolves just like me! Inside, I was yipping and howling with joy, but I knew it wouldn't last. They were only passing through. I could smell the outside, the unknown, on them. They didn't reek of city streets or car exhaust. Their scent was the real deal. Freedom.

Toboe tilted his head as his smile faltered. "Are you okay? Don't you have a name? Where's your pack?" He seemed about as anxious and curious as I was. His vibrant amber eyes just glimmering. It was blinding.

"Toboe, calm down," someone said with a calm voice. I didn't know where it came from, but then someone walked through the door Tsume was standing by. They guy's eyes were an ice-clear blue while he had messy brown hair, but I could see him for whom he truly was. I didn't even know white wolves were still around. Or any wolf for that matter! "My name is Kiba. This is some town you have." I could tell by his tone that he wasn't in the least bit happy about this town.

Sighing heavily, I slumped my shoulders and said, "It's not my town. Just a minor disruption in my need to get out."

Hige sniffed the air toward me, but didn't get up. He stopped and gave me a funny look. "That's odd. If this isn't your town, then why do you smell like nothing but this place?" All eyes were on me. They were judging me now. Seeing if I was even worthy of their rescue.

For some reason, I felt cornered and a little panicky. My joy deflated and soon replaced with slight fear. Not all packs were very friendly with outsiders such as myself. Just me being here could be pissing them off. I had stepped foot into their territory, and unlike those foolish thugs back on that building, these guys I knew I should be afraid of.

I tightened my hands into fists and diverted my eyes to the wooden floor. "Fine, yes, this place is unfortunately my home. It has been since my pack resided here. My mother just so decided to give birth to me and my bothers and sisters in the wrong place at the wrong time." Closing my eyes, I remembered back to that day about a year after my birth. "This place was their home and coffin." The last part I merely mumbled, hoping they wouldn't make me repeat anything.

There was silence for a few minutes and I sort of felt foolish for just standing there in the center of the room like some dork. My fur was beginning to puff from anxiety, but someone finally broke the silence. "That's so sad." It was Toboe. He looked to be on the verge of tears as he looked at the ground as well. "I'm sorry about your pack."

Giving a stiff, pained shrug, I looked off to the side. "Things happen. That's how life goes. Things are born then die. It can't be helped."

"You're an odd pup," Kiba said out of nowhere. You could say it surprised me. He seemed to be the silent, watchful type.

Hige grinned. "Aw, leave the kid alone, Kiba. He kind of reminds me of you."

"And you remind me of a fat porker," Tsume groaned. "Shut up." I felt uneasy all over again.

Toboe gave me a nervous smile. "Don't worry, that's how they always are."

"I see." Nodding slowly, I registered in the back of my mind how differently this pack acted from mine. They didn't seem to have rules or any obvious status or rank. I don't think they even had a…"Who's the leader of this pack?" They silenced and looked at me.

"Huh?" Hige looked at me with a vacant, clueless stare.

"Who's the leader here? The alpha?" Now I was the one with the confused, vacant stare. These guys were so weird, acting like they didn't know what a leader was. How could a pack function without one?

Tsume folded his arms then made a slight grunt sound. "We don't have one, kid. And if we did, this guy here seems to think he's the leader." He made a slightly gesture toward Kiba. Okay, right then I was thrown straight through the damned loop and landed awkwardly on my face. Ow, even the mental image of that hurt my wounds.

"How can you not have a leader? You guys are weird."

Just then, Hige burst out laughing. He was clutching his sides hard as he rolled off the couch. His fur was a very light brown, like maple syrup. It seemed much livelier than the old, rotted wood we were standing on. He looked up at me with a lopsided grin. "Kid, you have no idea. We've been called many things over this time, but I think you're the first to call us weird." For his size, I was surprised at how fast he crossed the room and had my head in a headlock. "I like you, runt." He started giving me a noogie. "It's probably this shaggy hair, but you seem like a good enough kid."

I struggled in his grip, trying to pull away from his arms. "Stop calling me kid! That's not my name!"

"Then what is your name?" Tsume asked as he stood straight instead of his leisure lean against the doorframe. "You haven't told us yet."

Hige released my head as I tried pulling away again, so I tumbled backwards onto my butt. Suppressing a whimper, I blocked the pain throbbing in my leg and shoulder. All the while, I was trying valiantly to think of something to say. I didn't have a name. If I ever did, I forgot what it was. The only thing anyone ever called me was-- "Mutt," I had said the name before I could even think it over.

"Mutt?" Hige gave me a strange look. "Who gave you that name? Your mom shouldn't have, did she?"

Feeling slightly ashamed, I sheepishly played with my shoelaces. "That's what Layla called me since I was young. I don't remember my real name."

Toboe crouched in front of me, his hands on his knees. "Who's Layla?" His tail was wagging as he smiled hopefully at me. "Another wolf?"

"Nope." Blinking a few times, I tried to forget the expression Layla had on her face when she saw me for what I truly was. "She was the human who gave me food sometimes."

"You were pampered by this human?" Tsume scoffed.

A deep growl resonated in my throat. "No way! I would never sink as low as to actually be cared for by those nimrods." I dug my claws into the floor on both sides of me then looked up at Tsume. "I have pride. I know my place in this world." His expression changed for a split-second, but it returned to his normal brooding glance. For some reason, I could sense he was perplexed about me.

"I was raised by a human," Toboe suddenly. "She was very nice. She was my gran." His tail was wagging slower now as he sank back onto his butt and he clutched his legs close to his chest. "She took me in when I was born. I loved her." He gripped harder on his legs, his knuckles even turned white. "But she died one day and I was alone." Slowly, he lifted his right wrist and I noticed the metal rings around it. "She gave me these." He looked so sad, so defeated.

I didn't understand why he was telling me this. There was no way he had this much trust in me already to be revealing something so sad about himself. I held no loathing for him because he was raised by a human, but there was no way I'd pity him either. Obstacles like death occur all the time and they occur only to make us stronger for the next day. But as I sat here and looked at him, a boy who was probably the same age as me, I did feel something for him. A type of sympathy maybe.

Reaching over, I placed a hand on his shoulder. I felt awkward and I could feel six pairs of eyes on me as I leaned forward and said, "I'm sorry." Never before had I apologized to anyone for anything. It was never really expected of me. I stole, scavenged, hurt, murdered, and did all kinds of other lowly things I should have apologized for. Or at least felt a little guilty for. No. I never did. Now look at me. I was trying to console a stranger, an outsider, about losing someone dear to him. A human nonetheless.

Without even realizing it, these guys were changing me already. This strange enigmatic pack without an obvious purpose. What I'd give to see what they've seen. I could smell it on them. They've been to places I've probably only dreamed. The way they moved showed they've been through rough times, were experienced at it, and yet seemed afraid. I wished to see the action. I longed to go where they've gone. It was in that instant that I knew I was going back to my old self. The self that needed someone to feel safe. To have a purpose. These four, they had a purpose.

As I continued to hold my hand on Toboe's shoulder, I took a quick glance out the window on my far right. The city loomed and beckoned to me, reaching out with its icy-cold grip of death and sorrow. How I hated the city and all that inhabited it. This place should be nothing but a distant memory. How I wished it'd be true.

"Hey Mutt," Tsume called to me, snapping me out of my trance on the city. "Just what kind of wolf are you? You just don't act normal."

Taking my hand from Toboe's slumped shoulder, I stood with a stifled groan. "Normal?" Sighing, I scratched my head somewhat. "I guess I don't act quite normal to you guys, huh? Isolation can chang a guy, wolf or not."

"Isolation?" Hige was sitting on the couch again. "But you're surrounded by people and if this Layla person named you, then you weren't really alone."

A sharp laugh escaped my lips and I realized how smug I sounded because of it. "Sorry, but when you've been surrounded by beings not of your nature with mannerism to act on nothing but to kill you on sight, you try to hide from them." Noticing how monotone I sounded, I tried to add a little feeling into the next part. "Layla was no exception." That must have been what Tsume was talking about when he called me strange. I had no sentiment on whatever I said because it was normal to me. Death, corruption, disappointment. That's normal, and it can change a guy.

"The sun will be rising soon." Again, Kiba's distant voice caught me off-guard. "We should be leaving soon." I hadn't noticed, but he was seated on a stack of wooden crates.

Toboe's chestnut colored ears perked slightly as he stood to face him. "Do we have to? We just got here and my feet hurt."

"Yeah, and I hear there's going to be some military vans heading this way," Hige added with a grin. "I can smell the food in them a ready, and that line of work is in Tsume's interest."

Tsume snarled at the plump wolf, "Shut up, fatty. I don't do that anymore." He uncrossed his arms to give Hige the finger, it was then that I noticed the X-shaped scar on his chest.

"Where'd you get that?" I guess you could say I was coming to admire the older, mixed gray wolf. He looked experienced, but probably not much older than Kiba there. They both looked as if they've seen Hell and back, though.

His expression changed from annoyance to shock for a second. "Nowhere. Drop it." He crossed his arms over his chest again then left the room. "We're not going after the van! We're leaving at daybreak!"

"Aw, I was hoping to eat," Hige complained from the couch. He rolled on his side and stretched. "We never get a good meal anymore."

I felt a little awkward again as Toboe went to Kiba and whispered something in his ear. As Toboe whispered, Kiba's eyes flickered on me then drifted off to a different direction. When the younger pup moved away from him, he closed his eyes for a second and seemed to be in deep thought. I was confused and anxious. Being stuck in one place was getting to me and I wished to go run around. I had to work the kinks out of my injuries.

As Kiba's eyes remained closed, I started to walk around the room and look at random things. Old pictures, books, there were a bunch of dust mounds that held nothing of interest, but I mostly hung around the window. The breeze from outside helped clear my head even though the sight wasn't much on the eyes.

I hate it here. I hate it so much. Leaning against the windowsill, I slumped my shoulders and propped my chin up on my hands. It sucks. It sucks so bad. Off in the distance, I could hear the random pops of guns, muffled screams, and revving of motorcycles. Rank smells of exhaust, blood, smoke, urine, and pollution wafted under my nose and I could do nothing to suppress the sneeze. Terrible.

"Mutt, if that's what you really want us to call you," Kiba, in a way, called to me. Turning around, I faced the white wolf cloaked in human illusion. We looked alike somewhat, him and I. Except, my hair was longer and white. Plus, he had at least half a foot on me. "Do you call this place your home? This place that was your pack's grave?"

His question caught me by surprise, but I tried to answer as best as I could. "This place is of bloody memories and nothing but a rotten corpse in itself filled with maggots. I do not wish to call this Hellhole my home nor my grave."

"Have you heard of a place called Paradise?"

Something clicked in my mind at the mere mention of that supposedly insignificant word. It was something the elders used to talk and scoff about. Mother would get mad at them and argue, but I never knew what it was about. I would ask her and she would reply the same thing every time, "They're just too old to believe in the freedom of Paradise anymore."

"My Mother used to argue with the older members of the family about it. They thought it was fake or something, but she wanted to find it. No one argued Mother or Father because they were the leaders. What is Paradise?"

Hige rolled his eyes then sighed. "Oh boy, here we go again."

Toboe jumped up and down excitably. "Paradise is a haven for wolves! A place where we can live safely!"

"If it's even real!" Tsume yelled from the other room.

"It is real!" Toboe yelled back, sticking his tongue out at him, but it was wasted on air.

I was put-off slightly. "Um, so you guys are searching for this Paradise without knowing if it's real or not?"

"Yeah, basically," Hige answered, nodding. "But Kiba over there is so sure that it's real, and I guess we had some proof for a while." His gin faltered into an almost sad smile. As if he were remembering something from long ago.

"Proof?" I was curious now.

Toboe shook his head slightly and seemed to plead at me with his eyes. "Don't bring that up now, please." His eyes shifted to the side toward Kiba's direction.

I looked over at Kiba and saw the completely vacant glaze over his eyes. He seemed to be lost in a thought so deep it was snaring anything left of his happiness or purpose. I just couldn't keep looking at him with that stare. Turning to face the window again, I had to place a hand over my heart to try and slow it. I had only seen that kind of gaze once before and I vowed to never see it again.

When I was composed, I turned to him again. "All right, but why are you asking me this Kiba?"

There was silence for a few minutes again, and I thought he hadn't heard me. "Would you like to come with us?"

Spinning on my heels, I faced them with wide eyes. I even think my tail was wagging. "What? Come with you?" My heart was racing again at this almost impossible moment in time. There was no way he had just asked me if I wanted to come with. No way! I want to. I want to! "Why are you asking me this?"

Tsume stepped into the room, "So, you're saying you don't want to go?" Hige and Toboe were both grinning like idiots while Tsume had an uncharacteristic smile. Kiba just watched me with a blank face.

"No! That's not it. I…It's…Huh?" I was stuttering over my own words and I hated it. Nothing ever flustered me, and here I was stammering! "Yes! Yes I would like to come!" Out of my own character, I bowed for some reason. I bowed as low as I could until my back started to hurt. "Thank you! I promise I won't be trouble!" Unfortunately for them, I may be more trouble than they can handle. I tried to push that annoying though to the back of my mind.

"That's enough, Mutt," Tsume chuckled. "Stand up." I stood and couldn't help but smile back at them.

Kiba finally cracked a thin smile and I thought it was for me until I saw his gaze looking over me. I turned and saw light streaking across the exhaust-filled sky. "Daybreak. Time to go." They all turned and headed for the door. I remained. My eyes were glued to the city.

Toboe saw me and headed back for me. The others stopped and waited as well. "Are you ready?"

Turning my back to the window, I had my head lowered somewhat, but I lifted it to look at him. "Yeah, there's nothing here but things to forget."

We left the building, treaded the streets with swift feet, leaving nothing of our existence in its wake. We were nothing but shadows casting off the sides of retched buildings. Mere footsteps on forbidden ground. Vacant whispers never to be heard. The gates were before our eyes. I could feel my heart beating like a snare drum in my chest. We passed the gates, touched new ground, and I knew I was free.

I moved over the ground as if it were swift, smooth water rolling under my feet. Bodies moved around me, guiding me onward, watching me as one of their own. I was with my kind. Others like me. Kin by blood. I was noticed, I was indifferent in their eyes, I was known. As I left the city of forgotten dreams filled with despaired beings of no hope, I finally felt something I had never felt before. I felt the desire I so longed for.

Finally, I was free.