Sorry for the delay, it's cram session here, so enjoy what I did get done, and normal disclaimer follows:
I do NOT claim ownership or influence of any kind of Wolf's Rain or their characters, Bones and Bandai does. And yes I am updating as quickly as I can
Chapter 7
Kiba leads us back to the town, looking for accommodations for the night. The town is dark and distilled by this time giving the buildings a very hostile feel. We pass by some of the bars, the smell of smoke and alcohol penetrating through the doors. Tsume strides through the section with an old familiarity and confidence. Toboe keeps at his heels, somewhat nervous. Hige has his casual, laid back attitude back as he looks at the scenery. I still take to the lamp posts and roof ledges, getting a feel for this town, and for the shoes that the wolves had gotten for me earlier. The shoes weren't exactly new, but at least they didn't weigh a ton and they did fit.
Kiba and Cheza were behind the brown wolf, keeping their pace steady as they passed by the buildings.
I pass over one of the arches and I hear a low growl coming from one of the bars, I look over and I see this black dog attached to a leash, her hackles raised on end. She keeps growling as the wolves pass. Cheza glances over at the dog and Kiba walks by then turns around to see what the matter is.
"Cheza?" he asks then also sees the defensive hound in the alley. Only now, the dog seems more curious than hostile, until she sees our white Alpha, then proceeds to growl.
"There are friends here too," Cheza tells him and heads towards the dog just as she reaches out to pet the soft black fur Kiba places a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
The Flower Maiden looks at him calmly. "It's alright," she says, turning her eyes to him, unafraid of the dog's menacing growls. Kiba steps back respectfully.
"You didn't know?" Cheza inquires the black dog. "you just decided for yourself." the dog stares at Cheza, with intense blue eyes, bewildered. "but there's wolf in you too." Cheza says smiling.
The white wolf's breath comes out somewhat ragged, and I nearly lose my balance on the narrow arch. My eyes strain to make out the dog's lupine features. It isn't long before I see small resemblances. I smile. Maybe wolves weren't so extinct after all. Cheza reaches out to stroke the fur again, the half-wolf backs away somewhat shocked.
"So you were all alone all this time?" the Flower Maiden comments sadly.
I see a small group of figures come towards the door, some carrying rifles with them.
The soldiers, damn it, they're here! I realize too late.
Kiba grabs Cheza and we all run back onto the streets, the black half-breed tries to follow but the leash keeps her back. I look back to Kiba and the others and back to her, wanting to untie her so she can follow. But the soldiers come out and I run back to the others, I hear the soldiers' guns being cocked as they rush out of the alley.
"No mistake," I hear one of them say. "The targets…" I get out earshot before I can hear anymore. We find ourselves in the middle of an abandoned car junk lot. Hige is inspecting an old bus that's half buried in the dirt. The rust had worn holes in the roof, and the seats were disintegrated.
"This'll do, right?" He asks, when he looks out through the cracked and stained windows.
Tsume is not impressed and in truth, neither am I.
"I'll come back as soon as I find out what they're doing," The pewter gray wolf says.
"I'll come with you," I agree and everyone looks at me suspiciously.
"You think you can keep up with me?" Tusme snorts disbelievingly.
"Yeah, they're probably looking for young men," I tell them, trying to find someway to validate my offer. "If they see a girl or woman they won't come after a guy easily, they're going to prey on guys who are alone in a crowd."
"I can avoid them," Tsume retorts.
"Yeah," I agree snidely. "but that keeps you at a distance, I can get closer than you without being noticed."
"Cheza stay here with Toboe," Kiba says looking at both of them.
"Leave it to me," The pup replies, and the rest of us leave the bus, looking for information about the soldiers and or in Hige's case, another meal.
"Have a nice trip," The runt calls out to us.
I shake my head, and catch up with the confident gray wolf. "We'd better stay close when we're on the streets," I suggest clearly, glancing at him, "if we do get in trouble, I'm your cousin, got it?"
"Since when do you know about getting out of tight situations?" Tsume asks, glancing at me, curiously.
"Since I've been arrested four times," I return easily, tossing my head proudly. "and having to get some of your guys out of trouble on more than one occasion."
"You've been arrested?" the leather-clad gang leader inquires, slightly disappointed.
"I have, but they never could prosecute me though," I laugh, "broke out twice, got out once on a loophole, and the last one I have to thank you for."
"I had nothing to do with you," Tsume growls.
"True, but you were the one who gave me the opportunity to get in," I smirk. "If you hadn't been raiding those nobles and your guys hadn't been rounded up like cattle, I wouldn't have met up with you guys."
"Stay quiet," Tsume says when we get inside the gates and blend into the crowd.
I see the dark uniforms flash between the crowds. I try to ignore the instinct to jump to the roofs. "Get a little further along, I'll see what these guys know," I tell him and plunge in towards the soldiers. Tsume stands still for a moment then hurries further ahead and I stumble into the soldiers.
"Hey, watch it there, girl," one of them jokes, when I nearly ram into his rifle barrel.
"Oh, sorry, I guess I wasn't looking where I was going," I apologize quickly, brushing myself off.
"Say you haven't seen any young men running around lately, have you?" the soldier asks, glancing at me.
I raise an eyebrow suspiciously. "I've seen plenty," reply vaguely. "you looking for anyone in particular?"
The soldier hands me a photo, showing a blurred picture or all of us from when we had been running through the castle with Cheza. I nearly choke but I keep breathing.
I study the picture for a moment, "You know, I thought I saw this one yesterday evening, but I could be wrong." I say handing the picture back, pointing to Hige in the picture. Only his shirt and hair are visible in the picture, while most of his face is hidden.
"I only saw the shirt, but I'm afraid that won't be much help," I shrug. "What exactly did they do?" I ask, hesitantly.
"They're wanted for stealing a very valuable item," The one who had handed me the picture replied.
"Must be some item," I comment, straightening my vest. "to send the elites out to get it back."
"Yeah," the soldier remarks stonily.
"Oh, jeez, I gotta go, sorry for bothering you," I apologize and rush back into the crowd taking his wallet and tags as I do.
The slate gray wolf is waiting for me in one of the alleys nearby. "What did you find out?" He asks from within the secluded shadows, looking rather at home in the alleyways.
"Directly, they have a picture of us," I tell him, "They probably have more, but they got a collective photo of us running through that castle."
Tsume's eyes fly open, no longer looking cool and collected. "They know who we are?" he demands, stepping towards me.
"Not really," I shake my head, "the picture was really blurred, I couldn't see our faces too well, just our clothes generally but nothing specific about them either."
The street thief nods, then relaxes slightly. "Anything else?"
I smirk and pull out the wallet and badge case from my pocket. "This answer your question, Tsume?" I look around and explain further. "there should be specifics about what their looking for in there."
"You nicked this off them?" Tsume asked incredulously.
"No, I asked them politely if I could borrow it," I return sarcastically. "of course, I lifted it."
"Let's see what they're up to," the gray wolf grins.
"Lead the way," I agree, opening the wallet a small card falls out and a small projected screen pops up, showing the soldier's rank, placement, detachment, squadron, and squadron location. "Jeez, all that's missing is the guy's shoe size," I joke.
"Is this where their located currently?" Tsume asks, scrolling through the information.
I nod, "right down to latitude and longitude," I confirm. Tsume's smirk widens at the news.
"We have a way out of here, then."
"Let's find some more options first," I imply. "No use in just having one plan and not having a second option available."
"Yeah," Tsume nods, then jumps up to the buildings, "you coming?" he asks when he's on the roof.
"I'm coming, you oversized mutt," I toss back, leaping after him. I land just as he charges me, I get out of the way and feel my blood pulse through me rapidly. "The hell?" I exclaim. "What was that for?"
"You have good reflexes," he comments casually. "for a human,"
I bristle at his statement. "If this is training, give me warning next time."
Tsume glares at me. "Show me how you fight,"
I back away, heading for the ledge and the gray wolf follows and I tease him into following me, to where I hope he thinks I'm making every stupid move I have available. When he gets within range I try to tackle him down, he dodges and I step back waiting for his counter strike. When none comes I start towards him, cautiously, keeping out of immediate range, but near enough to goad him towards me if needed. I start to circle around him, jumping in and out of range erratically while I do. Switching directions every few paces trying to confuse him until I strike yet I latch my eyes on every movement he makes in case he decides to strike first. I jump into his range and I feint a swipe before jumping back. Tsume takes the opportunity and slams into me, sending me sprawling on the roof.
"Was that your best?" He asks coming over to me. "that was terrible."
"It won me several street competitions," I argue back, "and that was not my best," I lash out my leg hoping to sweep him out. The street leader jumps over it, and I roll with my momentum until I'm standing again. And I rush him again, dodging around him trying to find an opening where I can strike, while guarding my core and give him a solid back punch. He blocks it easily and grabs my wrist, twisting me around. I start seething and deliver a sharp kick to his shins.
"At least you know how to get out of a hold." he says letting go of me.
"You'd be surprised what terror can teach you," I mutter before diving in towards him.
Once again I am on the ground. I pick myself up, swiping wildly at him, attempting to get an opening. He backs away a few steps and I run away, hoping he'll get the hint to chase after me.
He does and as soon as I can feel him directly behind me, I stop abruptly and crouch down, Tsume trips over me, and I run back the way I came, stopping a ways off, to see if he was alright.
"How did you do that one?" he demands shaking himself when he stands up.
I roll my eyes, "That's the 'stop and topple', when I know that my opponents's chasing after me and they're faster, I just stop and crouch down and they topple over me, giving me the opportunity to get out of the situation." I explain, straightening my vest again, looking around, ready for a volley of attacks from him.
"Let's go," Tsume states turning towards the ledge, "We have a few things left to do still."
I nod and follow him, until we reach the squadron's camp. I glance towards him, knowing exactly what he was planning. "Oh no, Tsume, tell me you're not,"
"It makes sense," he replies firmly, a smirk flitting through his eyes.
I look at him then back to the encampment, shaking my head. "You, okami, are crazy."
"The more dangerous, the more excited I get." he answers.
"Let's just see if there's a more subtle approach to making an exit," I sigh burrowing my face into my hand.
The grizzled wolf, and we start looking for an alternative escape route from the town, but it seemed that at every alley and backstreet there was a pair of soldiers at the entrance,
"I don't like this," I whisper to the gray wolf. "it's like they're trying to box us in."
"I know," he growls and we keep walking, past them. I look up and even the roofs now have the soldiers posted on them.
"So much for jumping the roofs out of here," I mutter, than an inkling of an escape route blooms in my mind. "I hadn't used that one since I was fourteen," I whisper out loud.
"What?" Tsume asks, I respond by grabbing his jacket and pulling him through the streets.
"Just trust me, it'll work," I hiss to him.
The two of us dodge and weave through the crowd until we reach a restaurant. I look around and see a pair of soldiers loitering around, apparently not on patrol. I take a deep breath and rush into the restaurant and plunge into the kitchen, half dragging Tsume after me.
"Hey, wait," the manager yells at us. "You can't go back there." within two seconds the entire kitchen is in an uproar as we're trying to reach the back door. The door opens with a little effort and I race towards an old apartment.
"What are you doing?" Tsume shouts.
"My old obstacle course," I reply breathlessly. "I used to go in and out of buildings to get someone off my trail." we rush up to one of the rickety balconies and jump down to the back streets.
Tsume glares at me when he's certain that we've lost the soldiers. "Let's get back now."
I nod smirking, I hadn't been in this much trouble since I the last time I got arrested. The walk back is quiet and when we get out of the city Tsume increases his distance from me. I don't mind, I'm too pumped from the escapade to even care. Everyone else is back at the bus.
"How does it look," Hige asks when we step inside.
"I found a perfect way out," Tsume announces.
"It's settled then," Kiba nods, "we leave tonight."
"And by 'perfect', he also means perfectly crazy," I joke behind Tsume. "but can someone explain the game plan to those of us who don't know what we're doing?"
"We're going through the Forest of Death," Toboe explains somewhat worriedly.
My eyes go wide, "What, we're going where?" I demand, hoping that I heard wrong.
"Forest of Death," Toboe replies, slumping down to the floor.
"Not scared are you?" Hige smirks.
"Shut up," I snap, "and yeah, I'm scared. 'Forest of Death'? Forest of Fear is a more fitting name."
"What do you mean?" Toboe asks looking more nervous than he did.
"Never mind, it's just legends," tell him waving him off and heading to the back of the bus, lying down on the back seat.
"What do you mean 'legends'?" The pup inquires.
"Just things my grandfather used to tell me," I reply vaguely, turning away from the wolves.
"Your old man told you a lot, didn't he?" Hige says idly from his seat.
"It doesn't matter, okay, so leave it alone," I snarl, not in the mood for conversation.
"Stories?" Cheza asks, breaking her silence.
I can't help but smile at the memories of hearing myths, legends, and other tales at night. "Yeah," I answer, "stories."
"Well, like what?" Toboe asks, perking up at the subject.
I laugh, sitting up on my bench. "I'm not going to get any sleep until I tell you, am I?" I ask the pup.
"Yep," is the zealous response.
"Ok, ok," I consent and shut my eyes, like my grandfather used to do before deciding which tale to tell. I choose the last tale I heard from him. "Listen closely so you can hear,"
"The world was still green and the wolves ran free, fear was growing in the hearts of man, and no voice was in the sea.
Wolves of mountain, wood and field, hunted and sang in the days that none now yield.
But hunted and herded by man's designs, they fled and fought til behind them were the watery lines.
Howling in the storm and the wind's low cry, the waves heard the voice of the wolf seethe and sigh.
Wave and froth came showering down, carrying the wolves from solid ground.
The wind tossed waves and the stormy skies whispered to the wolves the need to survive
Tails and haunches twisted into one, for like a fish they would become.
Fins for paws, still they kept their earthen claws.
Their voice would remain unchanged, the sea laughed to hear their song untamed
Smooth, sleek, fur of brown and black, reminded the waves of land held back.
Fangs of wolf were kept intact, warning men to be wary yet.
The waters are wild as a beast, the storms that strike and on ships they feast.
Turning the tide and summoning the storm. The wolves had blessing within these forms
The land still calls from across the tide, beckoning the wolves to emerge from the watery line.
Though man forgets, beasts do not, remembering the tales that time forgot
Looking to the land from across the tides, the sea wolves still sing of the road to Paradise."
I ended the tale, opening my eyes, hoping I'd not offended them, the reactions vary from face to face. The runt is almost enthralled by the story. Kiba looks at me quizzically, Hige looks uncertain as he shifts his position, Tsume just stares out into the distance, appearing disinterested or annoyed. Cheza just smiles appreciating the tale.
"You spoke of forgotten wolves," Hige says, "not many humans know about that stuff, some wolves don't either."
I shrug and lean back on the bus seat. "So what," I reply lazily. "it's not like that's anything new."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the storm gray wolf asks, glancing towards me suspiciously.
"It means that I don't need to tell you anything," I snap, rolling over on my side.
"What are forgotten wolves?" Toboe inquires.
"Exactly what it sounds like," I answer, "Wolves that have forgotten what they are."
"How can they forget their own?" Kiba demands disbelievingly.
I shrug, "Maybe they think it's easier to ignore the fact of what they are?" I suggest.
"That's not possible," The white wolf protests vehemently.
"If it can happen among humans, it's capable of happening anywhere," I inform him casually. "We have a habit of rubbing our imperfections on everything we touch."
"You sound like Tsume now," the brown wolf remarks.
I decide not to answer, I needed to save my energy for when we get out of here.
"Ai, you're getting stoic, you know?" Hige says rubbing his head.
"Do I even care?" I retort coldly, shutting my eyes, hoping to get some sleep before tonight.
"Leave her alone, she's just tired," Toboe stands up between me and Hige.
"Thank you Toboe," I reply, "But for the last time, don't speak for me."
The pup slumps down disappointedly. "I was just trying to help."
"Runt, if I wanted help, I would ask for it," I retort, trying to get comfortable on the seat.
"Ai, the problem with you is that you don't ask when you do need it." Hige says, running his hand through his hair.
"You can keep your theories to yourself, Hige," I snarl back. "but, just let me sleep."
"Enough," the white wolf orders sharply, stopping the exchange before it escalated further.
I sigh and close my eyes and try to get to sleep with their questioning stares boring into my back.
Hige sits down promptly, Tsume takes up his post at the door, the pup just plops down on the floor and Kiba just lets the situation go and returns to contemplating tonight's escape. Cheza however, just kept staring at me. It was so odd, it felt like it's peeling away at me or something, it scared me so badly that it exhausts me and I fall asleep.
My eyes open and I find myself staring again at myself, this time I'm in a trap or something, the bars are thin steely cables woven together to resemble a net. The cage is crude and old, it doesn't look like much, but I have the feeling they're stronger than they appear to be. I look out to see myself standing over me, looking over my caged self in complete disgust before walking away, I desperately try calling out, ramming the unyielding bars as I do. A twinge of something jolts through me, my grandfather listening to the mountains his eyes misting over with disappointment and longing. Wolves running in the distance, while a greedy fire engulfing a small field, giving off a sweet but solemn scent, like it was incense. The me I'm seeing is just walking away as if I don't hear myself. I scream louder, the cage topples over, I see myself turn around and glare at me. I stare back; nearly as angry. I was sick of these dreams that left me vague clues. I wanted answers.
Why was I in this cage? Why was I seeing myself? Why wouldn't someone just tell me what was going on? I rammed the cage again in frustration, and surprisingly I felt the bars yield slightly, I step back to see a small dent in the bars, not enough to do any good, but enough to know I was growing stronger than the cage that held me. I see myself back away in panic. I didn't care, all I wanted was to get out. Again I charge at the weakening bars.
Let me out, I demand, the bars squeal at the force as I clash into them. tell me what is going on. The blow to the shafts breaks some of the woven cables, but not enough to shatter the bars yet. I stop for a moment and look around.
There, just a stone's throw away, the desert pool is still there, contrasting sharply with the barren cracked earth. I ram the bars once more, feeling the need to know more urgently now. I hear a sharp but unmistakable snap, and see the strain on the cage had just now given in to create a small gap, it's not big, but it gives me enough hope to know that I will get out.
I wake up being shaken like a rag doll. I push myself up hurriedly, and slap at whoever was trying to get me up.
"Ai!" Toboe yelps, ducking under my open palm, "you're getting to be the worst to wake up now days, Kali."
"I'm up," I mutter, stretching out. "but that doesn't mean I have to be cheerful about it."
"Get up," Kiba growls from the entrance. "we're going."
"I'm coming," I tell him, rushing out the door, where Cheza is waiting in the late twilight.
"This, way," Toboe says, creeping along the edge of the path of worn, rusted vehicles. "but stay low, they're here."
I jerk back in surprise. "What do you mean 'they're here'?" I hiss to him, just as I see a small squadron appear from the town's entrance.
"Oh, damn," I whisper, shaking my head. I look around, and I don't see Hige, or Tsume around. "Tell me they're not still at the bus," I ask Kiba, looking back worriedly.
The white wolf shakes his head, Cheza looks serene despite being in the middle of all this chaos.
"Then where are they?" I ask, ducking beside a half buried corvette along with the rest of them.
"They went to the camp to draw them away from us," Toboe explains simply, looking out to check to see if we could continue on.
The rest of the journey through the junkyard is a rapid succession of rushing from one hiding spot to another. Until we reached a truck that had been parked there recently, and had not quite sunken as low as most of the other cars. I hold my breath when I hear a few of the soldiers pass us.
"You think that those guys are gonna be there?" I hear one of them ask quietly.
"It's been confirmed, we have five young men and the subject," one of his comrades replies. "they're in there, alright."
Five? I tilt my head curiously. Then the thought hits, they thought I was a guy. Toboe jerks back behind the fender.
"The guys are in our path, we're blocked." he tells us nervously.
Kiba growls in frustration, looking at the ground trying to figure out a new plan.
"Let me handle it," I tell him and hand The runt my vest, the suede is worn in some places, and the fur lining had been rubbed bare in several places. "I'm going to want this back," I tell Toboe sternly.
"What are you doing?" the pup asks, anxiously glancing from the vest to me.
"Giving these guys a wild goose chase," I answer, smudging some dirt on my face and arms, then crawl into the truck's cab, then I see it. A dusty, sweat stained baseball cap. I grin and shake it off before putting it on my head, hiding most of my hair.
"Kali," Toboe whispers, Kiba is also staring at me bewildered.
"Look, if they catch one of us, the rest can get out," I explain, "they're looking for young men, not women. They catch me, and you have a head start, they realize after a while that I'm not who they're looking for, they have to let me go, and you guys are out of their reach, and I catch up with you later." I ramble off quickly, and climb into the cab and hotwiring the car to where it might just make some noise. "Get out of here," I turn to them, ready to stir up some panic.
The alabaster wolf just stares at me for a moment, then nods, the runt just looks at me, his eyes filled with confusion, Cheza just smiles before speaking. "This one wants to see you again." the three of them rush off into a different section of the junkyard and I just breathe a quick prayer that I can pull this off.
I rev the engine hearing it grind and gurgle when I do. The engine cuts off and the truck is completely surrounded by the elites, barrels leveled and fingers ready to fire on me.
"The hell?" I shout, trying to lower the pitch of my voice, backing away from the guns. The situation seems almost odd without Kiba or Tsume there behind me waiting to jump them, even weirder without Hige making some stupid comment about the insanity of our situation. I blink trying to get my focus back on my plan.
"We have one of the suspects here," one of them calls out to the others.
"What suspsect?" I demand, "I didn't steal this truck, ok,"
Another of the soldiers grabs my shoulder. "Don't try anything." he warns.
"I was just sleeping here, I haven't done anything," I protest, trying to slip out of his grip. It doesn't happen and the soldiers drag me out of the cab, their guns trained on me, ready for trouble. They handcuff and haul me to a secluded area, near the village gates where their superior is waiting.
The guy's nearly a head taller than me, but his eyes seem cold behind his warm, amber glasses. His trench coat and fur hat add a sense of dignity and secrecy about him, but his entire presence seems demand respect of everyone around him. I tilt my chin defiantly, and struggle against the cuffs.
"Where are the others?" he inquires, his tone is hard and biting, as if I'm just a pesky mosquito needing to be swat.
"What others?" I return hotly, "I don't work for nobody." my reply is answered with a harsh slap.
"The others that took the girl," he shouts.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I lash back, playing the dumb kid. The soldiers behind me slam the butt of their rifles into my back, knocking me to the ground.
"You and four young men stole a very valuable experiment," the commanding officer answers, looking down at me in frustration.
"What, oh, you mean those kids you guys been after since you got here?" I ask, breathlessly, my back starts to throb from the blow now.
A heavy boot collides into my ribs, knocking the wind out of me. "Don't play dumb," on of the soldiers advises harshly.
I curl up in defense. "I don't know anything about them," I wheeze, trying to stop the ache in my stomach from escalating further.
Ten more minutes, I tell myself, hoping that'll give the pack enough time to get out of the town.
A short burst of gun shots explodes a short distance away, I gulp hoping they hadn't found them. The superior nods and the soldiers haul me up at the unspoken order and drag me towards the old bus we were staying in. I nearly sigh in relief, they hadn't caught them. The commander climbs onto the bus inspecting in as he does.
"They're gone!" one of the elites reports.
"Ridiculous," the commander protests in disbelief. "where'd they go?!"
I bow my head to hide the arrogant smirk that was growing on my face. The wolves were going to make it.
The troop comes out of the bus, the commander looks absolutely furious.
"Where did they go?" he growls at me, lifting me off the ground.
"I don't know," I reply, "I don't even know who you're looking for!"
The answer satisfies no one, the commander throws me to the ground, and the hat comes off, announcing to everyone that I was female.
"You're a…" one of the soldiers splutters in shock, unable to believe that I was not what I looked like.
"Yeah, I am," I spit back, "Now can someone explain what the hell just happened?"
"Why did you not say anything?" the leader demands, looking at me also in shock.
"When you're in this area as long as I have, you don't want to be taken advantage of," I snarl, sitting up. "Now, what is going on here?"
"We apologize," is the stern reply from the commander, and the soldiers take the cuffs off my wrists. I glare at the entire squadron and flex my fingers. "Have you seen any young men around here?"
I glare at the captain, "I just got here an hour ago," I retort, "And if I did, I wouldn't tell you anyway." I was digging under this guy's skin, but he couldn't do anything to me now, I wasn't linked to anything he needed, I now had the upper hand, so I gave him the worst insult a thief could give. Turn and walk away.
"Sir, should we?" one of the soldiers asks from behind me.
"No, she's not any concern of ours," the commander tells him
"They're not here," one of the elites reports over a static filled radio. And I wait for a response, letting me know that I they're safe.
"They're over here," a panicky voice blasts over the two-way radio. "All troops return to camp!"
I grin. Tsume was definitely good at providing chaos. I hear the frustrated shouts as the troops rush back to their base. I follow a short distance behind them, before taking to the roofs. My back and ribs slow me down to the point where I have to stop every three or four roofs to get my breath back, but my spine feels jarred and out of place when I land.
It's just a little tight from when they battered me, I tell myself, trying to ignore the pain jolting up my spine. Several rooftops later, I can see the chaos erupting from the camp. At least that tells me that I'm not too far behind the others. I keep jumping the roofs until I can see the main streets nearby. Then I see her, the black half-wolf, just lying there on the street, bleeding. I jump down, and for the first time her blue eyes are not the fierce cold blue that I had seen earlier when Cheza had told her she was friend and wolf. Instead they seem confused and remorseful.
"Hey, there," I say softly, approaching the black wolf cautiously. The half-wolf doesn't growl, instead she looks at me like she wants to say something. I tear off a length of my shirt and start to wrap it around her neck to stump the bleeding. "I'm going to help you, this may hurt though, so don't bite me, alright?"
The wolf nods weakly whining as I tighten the bandage slightly.
"What's your name?" I ask glancing at her again.
"Blue," is the single answer she gives me through wolf speech.
"I'm a friend," I introduce vaguely, just when I hear gunshots fired, they aren't the soldiers rapid gunfire, they're slower like a hunting rifle. My eyes go wide and I look back at Blue.
"I have to hurry, okay?" I tell her, finishing the bandage and checking her for any other serious wounds. "I hope we meet again, Blue." I stroke her shoulder and run in the direction of where the rifle shots had come from. Blue stares after me for a moment before I pass out of sight.
I run faster, even with my back feeling like it's being split apart with a blunt hatchet. Five more rifle shots fire off repeatedly, as if the shooter is chasing after a small group. I try to increase my pace, but my ribs have tightened so much that I can barely breathe at the pace I'm running at. I grit my teeth, ignoring the ache in my lungs, making my vision fade in and out of shadows. If anyone had hurt my pack I'd make them pay. Suddenly six shots are fired out again, but the hunter isn't aiming, the shots come too quickly for that to be a possibility. They're just fired in bitter vengeance and blind hatred. I find a small ledge overlooking a grim cemetery with only a few iron headstones. I jump down and inspect the grave yard, hoping to find some sign that the pack had been there. I bend down and find several bullet holes in the ground.
I sigh, the pack hadn't been harmed, but the odd thing about the graves is that someone else had been there earlier, a large bouquet of flowers had been placed at one of the graves, the flowers are still fresh, but there's just something odd about all this, I shake my head. I have to rejoin the pack and I rush toward the foreboding dead trees that aptly named the place "Forest of Death".