DISCLAIER: I do not own Wolf's Rain, only the ideas for this story.

Chapter 12

~O~

Forest

Celest didn't seem like Celest anymore. We had continued our journey up the mountains and the farther we went, the more Celest's fur changed. The blue was now grey and the yellow now a deep red, and her fur was like that up to her front legs. At first she had been terrified, but now she didn't even care. Something was changing her. She just kind of stopped being Celest. The Celest I knew would laugh and was clumsy and couldn't stand the quiet or being alone. This new Celest kept quiet most of the time and whenever she did say something, it ended the conversation. It was this change in Celest that brought Blaze back to the pack. He seemed so sad. Every time he would try to see what was wrong with Celest, she would just laugh at him and walk away. I'm not sure what is going on, but something in my gut tells me we'll find out in the mountain.

~O~

Brook

"I wonder what's up with Maddy," Copper commented between bites of the rabbit he was eating. Now that I thought about it, Maddy did seem off.

"Hey Maddy, why don't you come over here and join us?" Forest invited.

"No thanks, not hungry," was all she replied. After a moment of silence, Snipe got up and sat down beside her. I saw her smile slightly before I felt something touch my back. I froze, eyes wide and filled with fear. I admit that I am a chicken, but I've never been as scared as that. It was dark and that just added to my fear. It had felt like ice cubes had brushed across my back. The others were starting to notice my fear.

"What's wrong, Brook?" Forest asked. I opened my mouth to reply, but nothing came out, so, instead, I jumped up and ran over to him. At first he looked at me funny, but then we noticed that Copper had changed into his wolf form and was growling at something. I turned my head slowly and my eyes went wide yet again. The rock that I had been leaning against was pitch black now. It had been white before. There was a figure as black as night and as tall as a tree. It was a pitch black shadow of a being. Before we could blink, it ran off.

"Did- did you guys just see that?" I asked. I wasn't sure whether to scream or sit back down.

"Yeah," They both replied in unison.

"What was it?" I asked, still deciding whether I should just sit back down on the ground instead of Forest's lap.

"It was a shadow," the new voice literally made me jump up. I turned around expecting to see the shadow thing again, but it was just Celest. Wait, Celest? She didn't look like Celest. Her hair was black now and longer. It was braided in a long braid that came over her shoulder. Her soft yellow eyes were now a menacing red. Even her clothes were different! She had a black tank top on even though it was freezing. She still had her black pants, but her boots were now red high heels. There was also a red belt through her pants.

"Celest, what happened to you?" I took a step towards her, but she grabbed my arm with strength she had never shown before.

"What do you mean?" She smiled cruelly.

"Celest, that hurts. Could you let go?" I was now trying to pry her fingers off my arm, but she just held tighter.

"Celest, that's enough!" Forest stood up and started to walk towards her. She threw out her other arm faster than a lightning bolt and grabbed Forest by the neck, lifting him a few inches off the ground. Then Copper charged at her, but she just kicked him in the groin like it was nothing. He kneeled over and Celest just laughed.

"Celest, stop," Blaze appeared out of nowhere and whispered in Celest's ear. She huffed and released Forest and me. It was a good thing, too, because Forest was starting to turn purple. What was going on with Celest?

~O~

Blaze

Celest, she…. She just wasn't acting normal. She was becoming angry and mean and hateful and all sorts of other things. She's starting speaking of strange things and none of us know what to say. Every time she sees a shadow, she smiles. Copper told me once that he saw her telling a shadow to 'make sure everything's ready.' Snipe has even started to get worried, though he is more concerned over Maddy than Celest. Maddy is another problem. She's stopped eating. She rarely sleeps and is always shivering or deep in thought. She knows something. I can feel it. She knows that something is going on, but she won't tell anyone. Whether she's protecting us or something else, I don't like it.

I was pulled from my thoughts as a familiar voice yelled. "Blaze! Hey Blaze!" Copper yelled as he slid to a stop only a few feet away, "Have you seen Celest?"

"What?" Celest, was gone? She knew better than to wander off on her own, didn't she? With the way she's been acting lately… "No, but I know where she went." Copper nodded and we both raced back over to the others, the peak of the mountain only a little ways away.

Sorry I haven't posted in forever. But here is the next chapter, even though it's short. :-)