"Geez, you'd think that with the technological development that the humans have gone through, their streets would be cleaner than this" Hail grumbled as he knocked a can out of the way. It was evening and the gang had decided to get a good night's sleep before beginning their journey. Kurai's shape was no better than yesterday's though, and Rain was worried about that.
"What's wrong with him?" Rain asked Hail.
"What do you mean?" Hail replied, flicking his ears in question.
"I mean, he slept all day yesterday but yet he still looks horrible."
Hail looked over at Kurai, slouching and staggering as he pushed the door open with his nose. His blue eyes looked up into the sky, embracing the new day's warmth. But the way he panted with every breath he took deeply worried Rain.
"I don't know...I mean the barrier is up and all, but we're fine. Perhaps it has a greater effect on him than us" Hail concluded.
"The faster we get out of the city, the better" Rain growled in agreement. They noticed Kurai staying in the shadows which the buildings had created.
"What's up?" Hail asked him. Kurai rolled his eyes and stared at the two wolves, well they weren't wolves anymore.
Rain was a human with long flowing silver hair, and her light grey eyes dimmed against the sun's light. Her mocha skin contrasted her silver hair. She had a jacket on which concealed most of her face as she stared at Kurai.
Hail, on the other hand, was a slim teenager. Wearing blue jeans and black sneakers, his slim figure was disguised by the black hoodie that he wore. His raven-like hair reached his waist, and he wore a red and green scarf. He stared at Kurai with icy-blue eyes.
Kurai mumbled something that was inaudible.
"What are you doing? We're supposed to be leaving" Rain said to him.
He mumbled something again, something about human disguise.
Rain's eyes widened with surprise. "You don't have a disguise?" Her face contorted with the struggle to contain her laughter. "What kind of wolf doesn't have a disguise?"
"I never needed one" Kurai replied flatly.
"Hmm..." Hail spoke up. "That's going to be a bit of trouble. We can't have you wandering around like this, people are going to freak out."
"Well...I can just-" Kurai broke off, trying to jump over the building. He couldn't get one jump off before he crashed back onto the ground.
"Oh, god. Are you okay?" Rain asked, running to where Kurai landed.
Kurai growled as he struggled to get up. "I...feel weak..." he whispered.
"We have to get out of this city" Hail announced. He looked around a bit, trying to find some sort of solution. His eyes laid on a broken off leash that laid nearby. He smiled a bit, walking over to it and picking it up. He held the leash in his mouth for Kurai to see, and Rain nearly died from laughter when she saw it.
"You got to be kidding me..." was all Kurai said.
A figure's silhouette dashed through the forest. A clanging of chain was heard as the figure ran through the veil of trees. Shouting could be heard behind it.
"Get her!" a voice yelled.
"Damn wolf! Who forgot to lock her up?" another shouted.
The figure's chest rose in rapid breaths. When the voices began to disappear one by one, only then she stopped. She stopped and the sun shone on her fur, revealing her appearance. A white blonde wolf, fur dirtied by mud and broken pieces of twigs from the trees, stood in the clearing. Her white belly rumbled with hunger and she looked skinny. Her bones were protruding from her stomach, revealing that she hasn't eaten in days or weeks. Although she was light blonde, her feet were black, as well as her muzzle being black, fading into light blonde. Her tail was also dyed in black, as well as some of the fur on her back. There was a piece of chain hanging around her neck, and some chains dangling off her legs. Her dark blue eyes looked towards the sun, and for the first time in six years, her eyes softened. She sat down and began licking her wounds, starting with the scar that was given to her by her father on her hind leg. She had another scar on her muzzle, as well as one right above her right front paw.
They bled, but she did not whimper or whine. This amount of pain was nothing compared to the pain she felt when she had to kill that wolf. The wolf who had given her these scars.
Lying down on the mossy green forest grass, she tucked her paws underneath her head. She gazed at the sun, embracing its warmth.
"Freedom..." she whispered before falling asleep.
"We're going to split up into two groups" Joey instructed them. "We're not going to be able to sneak in as humans, but you wolves might be able to. We'll distract them and try to get them to lower their security while you guys sneak in from the back."
The group was standing in an alleyway that was situated slightly away from the castle. Cheza's scent was emitting from the castle, but also another scent.
"Remember that the reactor will start siphoning your energy the closer you get to it. Once inside, you will probably lose your disguises so you will need to work fast" Fogul added in.
"Where are we going to meet after?" Aatu asked.
"We'll meet at the outskirts of the city. There's an old abandoned farm around somewhere, use your nose and it'll lead you to us. After you've found whoever you're looking for, howl and it'll signal us to start moving out" Joey said.
"How about Shiroi?" Toboe asked. All eyes turned to look at the white wolf, who's heavy breathing and constant panting revealed the fatigue in his eyes. "He's not going to last long."
"Should we take him with us?" Lyra asked.
"No" Shiroi whispered. "I'll go in, don't worry about me."
"But...you're injured!" Toboe added in, flinching guilty at what he did to him.
"It'll be fine... Once we get out, I'll start recovering."
"Okay, we'll begin at midnight. The sooner we find this person, the better" Fogul said, turning away from the group.
"I just don't hope it kills us in the process" he whispered.
"I can't believe I'm doing this" Kurai mumbled underneath his breath. Around his neck was a collar and Hail and Rain were in their human disguises. Rain was clutching the leash in her left hand. Everyone around them were staring at the huge wolf walking around in broad daylight. Kurai could see that in their wolf disguises, Rain was holding the leash in her mouth.
"Is this really necessary..." Kurai groaned. "So demeaning..."
"We have to do this" Rain said, jerked to a halt and tugging the leash. "They'll kill you if they find out what you are."
"The faster we get out of the town, the better" Kurai mumbled again before scoffing his paws around on the ground.
"Shh, stop talking" Hail hissed. "We're getting closer to the border and we don't want them to hear you talking. Let us do the talking."
"What's that thing they're using?" Rain asked, pointing to an object a nearby soldier was holding. They were getting closer to the border, and several soldiers were situated near the gate which was several feet up. One soldier was waving the object around the old man, which made a soft beeping sound. The light on the object turned green and the man continued walking.
"Ugh..." Kurai whispered as they walked closer. Suddenly he stopped, breaths coming in heavy rasp. His head was bowed with the effort to keep standing.
"What is it?" Rain asked worriedly.
"Something..." he whispered. Hail looked at the object and realized with a look of horror on his face.
"Oh shit" he whispered to Rain.
"What?" Rain asked again, eyebrows starting to furrow.
Suddenly, a large beeping sound caught their attention as they looked towards the source. An adult, who was being scanned made a break for the gate. It was a male, and as he broke away from the soldiers, he was gunned down. His human disguise dissolved, and a grey wolf laid in a puddle of its own blood. It was twitching, and its eyes were flickering around wildly. One of the soldier walked next to it and aimed its pistol at its head, and fired. A female screamed, and a child started sobbing. The soldiers began moving the body away.
"What are we doing to do?" Rain whispered after a while.
"Make a run for it" Kurai panted.
"Are you insane? They'll kill us!" Hail hissed.
"No, I'll do something. It'll keep them occupied for a second, but we have to move fast" Kurai said.
Rain and Hail looked at him skeptically. Kurai eyed them
"Trust me, please" he pleaded.
Rain and Hail both sighed and nodded. They started walking slowly over to where the soldiers were, waiting in line. Once it was their turn, Rain looked over to Hail nervously. Hail tightened his grip around Rain's hands.
"Where are you folks headed?" one of the soldiers asked, and his husk voice coming out of his helmet.
"Oh nowhere...just wanted to take a little walk and get some fresh air" Hail said, eying Rain.
"Is this your girlfriend?" The solder asked, peering and looking at Rain. Rain blushed and looked away.
"She's my sister" Hail said in an almost growl-like voice.
The man's eyebrows raised and he looked at Kurai whose markings caught his eyes.
"Is that your dog?"
"Yes" Hail responded icily.
"Awfully big for a dog" The man said, leaning down and inspecting Kurai. Kurai, knowing exactly what to do, lowered his eyes and tail and whimpered.
The man stood up, and motioned for them to follow.
"We'll have to scan you first. Wolves these days, thinking that their disguises will help them survive in this city" The man said, shaking his head. "Soon the reactor will bring them all into the light, and we'll be able to hunt them down..."
Rain looked at Hail in a panic.
"You first mam" The soldier pointed to Rain. Rain nervously stepped forward, hands clutched to her chest. Her eyes flickered around wildly, and her breaths were coming in rapidity. Kurai growled, catching all of their attention.
Kurai's eyes flashed for a moment and his markings started glowing dimly. Everyone around them froze for a moment, and stopped moving.
"Now!" Kurai shouted as he bit off his leash. Rain,Hail and Kurai all made a break for the gate while all the soldiers stood watching in a frozen state. Suddenly, their heads snapped up, and they realized what was gong on. Rifles and pistols were raised into the air, firing at the three figures running on four legs towards the gate. Bullets flew past through bodies, and their chests were heaving with the effort to sustain their frenzied rush. Hail was in the lead, followed by Rain and Kurai loping behind slightly. Kurai turned his head and caught a glimpse of the barrel of a gun going off. His eyes followed the trajectory of the bullet, and saw it was heading for Rain.
"Rain!" Kurai shouted. Rain's ears perked up and she turned her head in a questioning gesture. They were almost through the gate, just a couple of seconds more and they would be out of the city. But the bullet was flying towards her with such an incredible speed, aimed at her head. Kurai sped up, and tackled Rain through the gates.
"Close the gates!" One of the soldiers shouted.
Rain rolled snout first into the ground, before getting up dazed. "Kurai?" she asked with a puzzled look. She looked at the black wolf who just tackled her, and she watched the bullet fly right into his stomach.
"Kurai!" she cried.
Kurai growled as pain as he felt the bullet lodge itself into his stomach, but he continued running. The gates were starting to close, and he heard another gunshot, and another pang of pain on his side. He coughed blood up, but with his remaining strength he threw himself through the gate just as it closed. He heard the soldiers banging on the gates, and he heard Rain's voice shouting at him. He laid on his side, sides heaving with the effort to breath, especially with two bullets in him. He gasped for air, before coughing up more blood.
"Kurai!" Rain whimpered. "Oh god, why?"
"We can't stay here" Hail commanded. "They're going to track us down."
"What are we going to do Hail?" Rain cried. Hail walked over to where Kurai laid, and slipped the black wolf over his back. All four of Kurai's legs were lifted off the ground. Kurai flinched, not used to physical contact before. But his consciousness was starting to fade, he never expected small bullet wounds to injure him this badly. He growled softly, before his eyes closed with exhaustion.
"Is he going to be okay?" Rain sniffed, realizing that Kurai protecting her was what got him hurt in the first place. She saw the blood dripping from Kurai's wounds and onto Hail's coat, then onto the ground.
"He will be, he won't die that easily. We need to find a place to hide though, it's not safe here" Hail said as he bounded off. Rain followed closely behind him. In the shadows of the forest, another figure stood watching the whole ordeal. The figure's black muzzle lifted up into the air, trying to take in the scents of the new wolves. After what seemed to be an eternity, the figure walked off with the sounds of chains scraping the earth's floor.
Shiroi looked at Aatu, who laid with his head on his paws, with tired eyes. He didn't want to bring this topic up, but there was something different about the young canine's scent.
"You're not a purebred... are you?" Shiroi asked Aatu, who shifted his paws uncomfortably. Blue eyes met blue eyes as Aatu shook his head in a sad notion.
"I'm half dog, I think that my father was a dog and my mother was a wolf, but I'm not sure. Joey and Fogul found me when I was just a pup, and I never suspected that I was part wolf until a few years ago."
"I had a friend who was a part wolf and part dog" Shiroi sympathized. "It won't make us treat you any different."
Aatu nodded his head, and smiled a bit before tucking his paws under his head and resting again.
"How did you three meet?" Shiroi asked. Aatu's ears perked up as he heard the question. "Sorry, I'm curious."
Fogul and Joey, overhearing their conversation walked over and each of them took a place beside Aatu.
"Well..." Fogul said.
"It's a long story" Joey finished.
Sorry for the late release, it took me a while to write this as I wrote a bit everyday. If you still have character requests, I'd love to take them. Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review!