Sorry about delay, classes are slaughtering me, but here's the next chapter, 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.
Chapter 8
I reach the overgrown path of tangled, withered weeds, seeing a small newly blazed trail going inside, the pack wasn't too far ahead of me then so I step inside and immediately feel a difference in the atmosphere. The air was stale the tree's roots were lifting out of the earth as if they were disgusted at taking root here and trying to walk away. I hurdle over the lower roots and duck under the ones that have been raised up beyond my height.
The wolves' trail is almost nonexistent here as the roots conceal the dirt.
"Kiba," I call out as loudly as I can, hoping to hear an answering howl. "Toboe, Tsume, Hige?!" I string their names together, praying that someone would hear me. No answer, not even the creak of the dead branches acknowledges my voice.
I shake my head in frustration. "They couldn't have gone that far," I tell myself and trek onward, hoping to find some trace of them. I decide to take one direction and stay with it, I was alone and injured, I could not risk getting lost. The trees seemed to be gathered around so thickly that the dead limbs blocked the sun's light from getting through. An hour passes and still no sign the Wolves have been anywhere. The pain in my back has increased drastically; I was slowing down to a miserable stride.
"At this rate it'll take me three days to get out," I mutter loudly, before looking at the cynical trees around me in challenge.
"Kiba!" I shout again, knowing he'll answer if he heard. "Toboe!" knowing the pup, he'd be running and howling all the way to where I was if he heard me. "Tsume!" the gray wolf may have a dislike for humans but I had to try anyway. "Hige!" the brown wolf would more than likely be griping about me taking the scenic route when he got to me.
I laugh then glance up at the concealed sky. I was getting far too attached to these wolves. They were once a small group of rag tag strangers that I need some information from, then to allies that had their own resources, then we found Cheza, she had named me 'friend'. Why she had named me that I'll never know, I was no wolf, I knew that much, for her to call me a friend was nearly equivalent to calling me a wolf, which would not put me in a good standing with the pack. But recently, I had named them family.
Kiba had been like the father or an elder brother, looking after everyone and seeing his purpose of finding Paradise. Tsume acted with logic and common sense, a counterpart for Kiba's dreams, reminding us constantly of the reality we were in. Hige was the one who could always find the comedy in the most hopeless situations, releasing the tension of the group with some ironic or witty remark that always seemed to get us thinking straight. Toboe, well, he was the pup of the pack, ready to please, and eager to forgive, a natural peacemaker. Surprisingly, he had been the one that kept all of us from tearing at each other's throats. That runt didn't know just how much power he had, to keep us enjoying each other's company for so long. That was incredible.
Me, I didn't know where I was standing with the pack, I stood behind them, trying not to rise above my place. I just wanted answers to what Cheza and the dreams were trying to tell me, I knew how to deal with less than reputable humans easily, giving the wolves some protection if Tsume wasn't there. Aside from that I was unnecessary to the pack.
I look around to figure out where I was. I had nothing to go on now, and my ribs felt so tight that they were squeezing around my lungs and stomach. I sigh and the strange scent comes to me, it's faint but intoxicating nonetheless.
Cheza, I realize that if I smell the Flower Maiden, they can not be that far, less than several hundred yards at the most. I know that no other human will hear me, so I yell to them again.
Oddly there is still no answer. Either they didn't hear, or they didn't want to hear. I follow the scent as best I can, then amazingly another sound is heard, the noise of bird's wings. I look up and see a small owl perched on the giant branch of skeletal tree.
"Hoot!" it calls out when I blink curiously.
"Hello, night flier," I greet it respectfully, "have any wolves passed this way?"
"A wolf passes here," he replies his voice seems to echo through the trees and in my ears. "Everyone is lost, all lost. Hoot!" he cocks his head in a mocking fashion.
"What do you mean, are they hurt, what happened?" I ask desperately.
"There's nothing you can do," the owl answers. "nothing you can do until yourself be found."
"Quit the mind games, night's eagle!" I yell, "Where is my pack?" I drop to the ground as the pain in my side and stomach begin to split my back. "Just show me where you last saw the wolves." I ask looking at him, hoping he'll comply. The owl just stares at me as if he knows a secret that he won't tell. I want to scream, to continue on my way, but his vague blue eyes holds me until the pain and exhaust send me to the ground, plunging me into sleep.
My find myself in the cage again. The hole is still there and staring at the desert pool. I just wanted to know why I was caged. I hear the voices once more, calling to me in their own wispy tunes.
"Come, find, follow," they tell me over and over, until it becomes a mantra to me. I see myself again, but this time it seems different, I stare in confusion, trying to see what has changed, then myself moves, and I notice immediately, she has no shadow like she's a ghost, I batter the side of the cage again, desperately wanting to get out of this prison, I was stronger than the bars. I had to get out. I wanted to know what was happening, and what I was becoming, I was furious at the secrets being kept around me. Another dent becomes apparent, and all of the woven wires loosen a little. Which surprises me, and I inspect them closer, and I feel the words flowing through them like an energy source that keeps them united.
"To keep her safe," is often whispered among the bars. "we have to hide it," another voice says, one that I hadn't heard in ages. "It's hopeless, we're forgotten," A woman's voice responds in turn.
"She can't remember, it's too dangerous," My father's voice comes through sounding through the wires angrily.
My frustration rises, these secrets are keeping me caged, not my own secrets, but secrets kept from me by others. I charge at the bars again, and again.
What didn't they want me to know? I ask myself as the bulge in the cage grows
"Her blood is weak," I hear my grandfather. "Good, but weak just the same."
I ram the cage again heatedly. How was my blood weak, he'd spoken of blood as being strength of a family, what made me different that they wanted to hide me?
Another hole explodes out, this one larger than the first, the secrets come out faster and sharper than before.
"This world has no hope for our kind, we have to hide ourselves," the woman's voice says. "We have to bury the beast."
Beast? I inquire to no one what are we? The hole widens, connecting the two holes and denting another section of the wall. It's nearly big enough for me to crawl through, I see myself in a ghostly lace, like I'm disappearing. I look down and I see paws flecked with gold and silver fur. The fury disappears into curiosity; I see the gaping holes in the cage and the desert pool beyond it. The secrets are let loose, floating in and out of my mind while I continue to batter the shafts of secrets.
"they're dead," my father's voice cuts in. "Whether in flesh or forgotten like we are."
My father's secret puts everything in order, What is dead? What beast are we? I murmur. I ram the cage putting every effort and ounce of rage and confusion into the blow.
The cage bursts open, all sides crumble and warp. All the secrets slide away, but the woman's voice comes to me before all they curl away like smoke on the wind.
"We're forgotten, but she will remember," she says each word fading off into the desert wind.
I pant and I see myself vanish from sight, leaving only a word and a small trinket dropping to the ground. I shake myself and rush to the pool. The tan and grey fur ruffles in the reflection, the only thoughts I can comprehend is the fact that I might not be human. I step into the water just to see my hand become a paw once more, before tumbling in headfirst.
I wake up, and look around. The owl is still on the same branch, staring at me.
"Am I found?" I ask shakily, hoping he knows my dreams.
"Who is found?" he returns the question. "All are lost, everyone is lost."
"Show me where my clan went," I demand.
The old owl cocks his head then flies off, I rush after it, despite my back and ribs aching, begging and ordering me to stop, this time I ignore the pain. I grit my teeth and keep my eyes on the owl, above me.
"Stray, new wolf, dear wolf," he tells me in his flight, and I increase my step as much as I dare to. "The answer is remembered by you losing."
I can't lose him, I tell myself desperately trying to keep up with him.
"You can not know the secrets that bind you," he calls out again. "For if you know them they are secrets no more."
"Where is my pack?" I inquire heatedly before he stops at the mouth of a cave.
The ancient owl stares at me from the branch he's chosen as his perch. "The answer lies within the darkness, but by finding those lost, are you lost yourself?" his voice resonates with warning. "Only those who step in courageously shall be blessed."
"You never quit the riddles do you?" I return snidely, then rush inside, hoping to find my pack.
The cave is dark and dry, the stalactites are stale and ashen from lack of water. The walls are collecting dust, leaving no trace that water had ever been here. The shadows camouflage the details, making every turn look similar as the one before.
Within twenty minutes of the walking in the shadows I hear something unusual that sends a chill through me, a high-pitched screech that almost reminds me of a cicada, but it's not a mating call, it sounds like warning.
"Kiba!" I yell out, disturbing the dust on the walls, and finally he answers, a short howl echoes through the cave's chambers.
Directions would be nice, I mutter to myself snidely, then run towards the source of Kiba's howl. I rush into another of the cavern's chambers and immediately am bombarded by several huge bugs that resemble a combination between a hissing cockroach and a beetle.
"Where's can of bug spray when you need it?" I exclaim, kicking the disgusting crawlers out of my way.
"I thought you brought it?" Hige remarks further back in the cave's room.
"Me?" I return in mock insult. "What am I, your personal pack rat?"
"Nah, you're not scrawny enough," the brown wolf replies.
"Yeah, whatever," I snort, then look around for Toboe, "Hey, pup, you'd better have my vest, I really like that one."
"Worry about that later!" Tsume shouts to me from a higher ledge out of the bug's reach. "Kiba, this way!" he holds out his hand as if waiting for the white wolf to toss him something. I look over at our Alpha, Cheza looks frail and sickly veins are appearing on her skin.
"What's happening to Cheza?" I ask, barely dodging one of the diseased insects, catching a glimpse of the ravenous teeth. I whip my knives out in response. The bugs keep leaping and attacking us like a colony of fire ants ready to protect their home.
"She's withering," Hige explains, smashing another of the bugs in two pieces.
"We're trying to find some water," Toboe adds, stomping the insects angrily.
Kiba tosses Cheza up to Tsume, where she'll be safer until we deal with the 'bug problem'.
Tsume lays the Flower Maiden down gently, then turns to join the fight. The wolves and I reform our line of defense against the multitude of horrid crawlers.
"You think a wolf would lose to a bug?" Tsume asks cockily.
"Although we gather around the same flower," Toboe agrees.
Hige looks at him proudly. "Well said."
I nod, smirking at the little army surrounding us. "Beautiful flowers, bear the sharpest thorns," twirling my blades to emphasize my point to the pint-sized creepers.
"They're coming," Kiba warns us and a barrage of the bugs rain down on us, I slash wildly with my knives, aiming for the vulnerable, soft bellies but I often hit the hard exoskeleton, knocking them away.
The wolves are tearing at them with tooth and claw, knocking them off when they latched onto their fur. They swept them away from Cheza's ledge. Their fierce barks are amplified by the hollow cave's room. Several minutes of battle and I'm covered in scratches from the bug's fangs and short spines on their legs.
Dead bugs are scattered around all of us. But the fight is taking its toll on the pack. Hige is panting from exhaustion, Kiba's snout is wrinkled and his head bent down almost too tired to keep it upright. Toboe's lack of experience has left him bleeding in countless places. Tsume's muzzle is covered in the thick, green ooze that accounted for blood of these insects. All of us are bleeding we look around at the still growing army of these things. Then Cheza appears in the middle of this growing mass of bugs, which sends all of us into a panic.
"Cheza!" Kiba calls out desperately and all of us rush towards her instinctively. The bugs seem attracted to her like a magnet, latching to her thin pink, cloak as she passes by them, the wolves snap and swipe at the bugs that get in their way, and trample over the rest,
"Cheza, why?!" Toboe yells after her.
I carve a the crawlers out of the air when they leap at me, and glance around long enough to dimly make out the Flower Maiden tumble headfirst over a small ledge.
"Cheza!" Kiba calls down to her, then slides down desperately. Tsume follows, Hige and Toboe trail after the rest. I jump down, holding my balance long enough to stay upright until I topple over when I reach the level floor.
"Is she?" I ask, rushing over to Cheza where she lies motionless,
"Cheza," Kiba cries out, but Tsume holds him back.
"No, wait," he says, looking to a point beyond Cheza. I look up and see a small garden of large green weeds. One of the disgusting beetles had managed to come down with us; it inspects the Flower Maiden curiously, then surprisingly turns away and heads towards the weeds.
Kiba then rushes to Cheza, kneeling down next to her.
"This one is alright," she tells us, when he puts his hand on her cheek.
"Thank goodness," Kiba says in relief.
"This one heard them," she continues, "they said they were hungry."
I tilt my head in question, then see one of the weeds clamp their leaves over the bug.
"Jeez, talk about an appetite," I comment nearly shocked at these bug eating plants.
"A bug-eating plant, eh?" Tsume asks skeptically.
"We've been saved by Cheza's friends," Hige puts in casually, stretching his sore muscles.
Tsume smirks at the thought.
I just shake my head, and instantly the sharp jolt slams through my back, reminding me of my former injuries. "Shut up," I murmur out loud.
"Huh, what'd I say?" Hige protested.
"Never mind," I tell him, cheerfully. "now, let's find the exit out of this scenic route."
"Hey guys!" Toboe shout to us, beyond the bug-eaters. "I see light it's the exit." that gets everyone's attention and we all run towards him.
"Do you always make self-fulfilling prophecies?" Hige asks, slapping my back.
I jump away from him hissing in pain. "Keep your hands off my back for a while," I tell him.
"What's wrong with you?" Tsume asks, looking down at me.
"My back's just sore right now," I remark lightly, then head towards the exit. "Not a big deal."
We get out of the cave and the moon's already nearing her peak over a small lake.
"We've got water," Toboe announces running down the shores before turning around to face us. "And moonlight!"
"It's water!" Hige rejoices, like it's a hidden treasure and both he and Tsume rush in enthusiastically and I follow after them into the chill water.
I duck under and spray the three of them with.
"Hey," Toboe yells when I surface, and splashes me, but Tsume turns and dunks him.
"Why do guys always pick on me?" he asks when the gray wolf lets him up.
"Feel grateful," I laugh, "I only pick on the people I like," I paddle a little ways out of Hige's reach as he tries to pull me under as well. "That and you always give a reaction."
"Is that so?" Hige asks, then pulls my ankles out from under me, pulling me under.
I kick out of his grip and dive deeper getting away from the trio. I break the surface and see Cheza step into the crisp water.
The wolves go quiet and watch her drink and take in the moon's light.
After she finishes, the wolves climb back onto the shore, completely soaked, but that is quickly remedied with a brief shake of fur, spraying silver drops over everything.
"You coming in?" Toboe asks once he shakes the water out of his fur, looking very much like a electrified poodle with his fur standing on end, every which way.
"Nah, I'm good," I say ducking down rubbing my back. Hoping the water would help deal with the pain.
"It's too cold to be in the water so long," Hige warns, squeezing the dampness out of his hair.
I ignore him and swim out a little farther, the jarring ache beating into my spine with every movement now, even with the cold water numbing the pain.
Okay, time to get out, I tell myself, and come back into shore. I squeeze my hair and shirt out as best I can and come over by the pack shivering.
"Are you alright?" Toboe asks looking over at me worriedly.
"Not really," I reply quietly. "I'm cold, bleeding and my back feels like it's being cut apart with a blunt knife."
"What happened to your back?" Tsume asks, "did the bugs get on it?"
I shake my head, "No, it was before that, at the village," I tell him sitting down. "I had stayed behind to get Kiba's group out of the junk yard. I basically let them catch me, I refused to cooperate with them they got mad, and slammed their rifle into my spine, as well as a few boots in my ribs." I rattle off the situation quickly.
"Why'd they take you?" Tsume demands.
"They were looking for some young men, so I played the part as the bait."
Hige blinks at me. "Let's see your back, it could be broken."
"I don't think so, I think it's just been jammed out of place a little." I tell them, not exactly thrilled at Hige's suggestion.
"Maybe Cheza can fix it?" Toboe suggested, sensing my uneasiness.
I glance from him to the Flower Maiden, and sigh in defeat. "Whichever is the quickest way to get this thing fixed, I'll do it."
Cheza smiles and comes over to me. I tense up when she puts her hand on my back. My back tingled up through my spine, before it felt like someone was pulling a needle out from where the nagging ache had been.
"Whoa," I yelp, jerking up slightly. "That was new."
"Feels good, doesn't it?" the pup asks smiling at me.
"If your definition of 'good' means that it feels like someone's pulling long spikes out of your skin, then yes, it does."
Cheza wasn't done yet, because I felt something in my spine twist and snap into place. "Wow," I finish, looking back at her, flexing my tight muscles. "Uh, thanks," I bow my head slightly.
Cheza just smiles in response,
"Feel better?" the runt asks.
I nod, "So, fill me in, what happened while I was gone?" I ask, ready for a good story."
The pack recalled the events, often interrupting each other. Toboe seemed to be the one doing most of the talking, Hige put in his few comments as well. Tsume just smirked when they retold their invasion of the camp. Kiba just watched from his spot beside Cheza.
"Where did you pick up our trail?" Hige asks,
"Apparently you had stopped somewhere for a while, because Cheza's scent had saturated the area, so I tried to follow it." I told them
"That was probably when Toboe hurt his ankle," Tsume replied.
"You should've met up with us earlier if you were that close." Hige says. "What happened?"
I hang my head down not wanting to tell them. "I fell asleep."
"Sleep?" Hige inquired, his voice seems tinted with envy. "you got to sleep?"
"I should've kept my mouth shut," I mutter, burrowing my face in my hand, shivering when a sharp gust blows off the lake. "But I'll tell you this, never take directions from an owl."
"You saw the owl?!" all of them exclaim, looking at me with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"Wait, you saw him too?" I inquire in return, then laugh, "That explains why he said 'everyone is lost'."
"He told us the same thing," Hige replied, crossing his arms in annoyance. "What exactly got you to where we had stopped?"
"Wandering mainly," I shrug. "I didn't really pay attention to where I was going, but I kept thinking about you guys, and it worked." I yawn, "now let's get some sleep, we got a long day ahead."
The rest nod and we all gather around Cheza, and one by one, fall into the waiting arms of our own dreams.