Chapter 5

A Chance Encounter

For a moment they had reached a stalemate. The scarred grey wolf just sharply eyed them, as if his simple gaze was enough to turn Yan and the group around. The worst part was it seemed to be working; at least on Yan. Kiba's gaze was undeterred as he glared right back at Tsume with his feet firmly planted in the ground and his fangs shown off as if starting a fight.

"Who the hell said this dump was your territory. A pride-less dog like you doesn't even deserve this concrete wasteland," Kiba exclaimed.

Tsume gawked at the white wolf as he immediately replied, "You've got a big mouth for someone so stupid; probably 'cause of all the shit that comes out of it."

Yan's hind legs were shaking, and as he looked at Sasha he could see his fear reflected in Sasha's emerald eyes.

Kiba didn't falter in response to Tsume's snide remark, disposing of what little enjoyment Tsume got from making it. Quickly he turned his focus to Yan, and almost playfully pointed out, "You wanted to meet him didn't you."

Tsume's sharp stare transferred to Yan as he asked, "Kid, do you have a bone to pick with me!?"

Yan simply looked back and forth from Tsume to Kiba, and sometimes to Sasha, hoping that one of them would interject some statement to take the limelight off of him.

Some of Kiba's beliefs had rubbed off on Yan. Yan was a wolf now, so he had to start acting like one. Where was his pride? Trying hard to hide his anxiety, Yan calmly responded "All we wanted was a place to rest; could you spare us that?"

Then there was silence. Tsume watched as a drop of sweat flowed down Yan's check and onto the cold floor. The silence felt like an eternity to Yan due to his fear and worry, confusion, wonder, and desire. What was he doing there anyway? Why did he decide to follow Kiba? Was it because Kiba released him from the prison or because Kiba released his spirit? Maybe he only followed along because the idea of paradise was irresistible. Paradise had to be it: his final destination.

Before Yan got a second more to think about it, Tsume with a blank expression as if talking to himself, broke the silence. "I don't have time for losers like you…"

And with that, he hopped through the broken wall, and Yan, Kiba, and Sasha were alone once more. As disconcerting as Tsume was, there was a certain aura about him that Yan simply couldn't shake off.

"Let's meet up again in paradise"

Again he was hearing voices, but this time he had no idea who it could have been. The line was spoken both delicately and full of passion, as if it were the last words of a dying soul.

Kiba looked at Yan and Sasha. "We'll stay here for the night. We need the energy to keep following the scent trail of the lunar flower. "

Kiba always seemed to think so objectively. He was always walking toward a finish line, never dissuaded by the millions of distractions along the way. After a few minutes, Kiba was already asleep.

Yan kept on trying to let the stars take him into a dream, yet he just couldn't sleep. He slowly opened one of his eyes, and glanced toward Sasha. Looking at her he felt so much warmer, even though he was resting on an unforgivingly cold slab of concrete. He felt like he was at a home away from home looking at her. It was as if she was the only thing keeping him from going insane.

"I know you're staring at me Yan. Like what you see?"

Yan was both surprised and comforted hearing that statement. On one hand he was caught staring at her, and on the other hand her weird sense of humor blanketed his fear of the future.

"Come on, let's go get some fresh air," Yan said.

They both sat in the moonlight from the hole in the wall Tsume jumped out of. They both sat there, staring into the starry night sky.

"Yan, do you remember when we were at 'your paradise'. You asked me something about the extent of life, and I just looked at you like you were a crazy person… well I think I understand what you were talking about."

Yan was confused to hear such unorthodox words come from Sasha's mouth, but he continued to let her speak her mind.

"I… I can't stop thinking about that place Kiba said… about paradise. I mean… I don't know what's there, or even if we can trust Kiba… but I still want to believe. I want to believe that it's where I'm meant to go… that it's calling my name."

Yan had never felt more connected with someone else in his life. He was basically looking into a mirror. All of his complex emotions from before all the craziness happened; they were being acknowledged. Knowing not what else to do, he simply looked at Sasha and smiled softly.

Suddenly, Sasha reached her snout over and gave Yan a lick on the cheek. It was actually for real this time. It wasn't meant to be an awkward joke, so what was it? Yan looked the opposite way, embarrassed about what had just happened, yet Sasha simply kept on looking at him.

"I'm gonna go back to sleep", Yan exclaimed, and with that he tensely walked back into the dark. Sasha simply stared at him from the light and smiled, then stretched her legs outward and lay down to catch some sleep as well.

Yan slowly opened his eyelids and yawned as the golden rays of the sun lit up the room. He slowly lifted his head to see Sasha right above him.

Yan jumpily ran backward; hitting a trash can in the process that fell down with a loud crash. Sasha blurted out laughing in response. Yan was sure he was gonna get yelled at by Kiba for not being careful or something, but Kiba was nowhere to be seen. Sasha noticed it too, so they both quickly ran to the hole in the wall. Their eyes darted around quickly as they searched for any sign of Kiba. If he left them, what would they do? He was their only guide in this new wolf eat wolf world. On a horizontal pillar that connected the factory to the building next to it, they saw a man sitting down.

Long lightly curled auburn hair flowed down his scalp, but not too far, which gave him the appearance of a drifter. A white button up shirt covered his torso, and a grey-green coat covered layered that. Slim blue jeans went down his legs and met his black and white sneakers. And then, he looked right at Yan and Sasha.

"Oh my god he sees us! Run away!" Sasha yelled as her hind legs shivered like the coldest wind was brushing by them. They both backed away slowly, but not before noticing a smile cross the man's face as he jumped down from the pillar. The pillar was about 4 stories high, so Yan closed his eyes and braced himself for the blood that would splatter when the man hit the ground.

He opened his eyes slowly expecting to see bloodshed… but wait what!? The man stood there staring at him. It was as if the world was merely toying with him at this point.

The man arched his back and put his face right in front of Yan's as if he was playing a game. Yan snapped out of his trance and just looked at Sasha stunned.

"I see you don't understand how to disguise yourselves. All the better since you're at least maintaining your dignity as wolves"

Suddenly it clicked in Yan's mind. Who was the only person he knew to ramble on and on about wolf pride… Kiba of course!

"Kiba? How in the world did you turn back into a human? You've gotta teach me! I need to go back and I wanna see my old apartment again and talk to the shopkeepers and eat those tasty bell peppers and and– "

It was all coming back to him. The prospect of being able to return back to normal filled Yan with excitement. It was to the point that words were pouring out of his mouth with very little thought.

"This is just an illusion some wolves use to trick the humans. As much as I hate it, Tsume was right about one thing.

Pride doesn't count for much if you're dead"

Immediately Yan froze in place and his heart skipped a beat. What the hell was going on!? Strangely enough, it sounded like the same voice as last time. This had to be the millionth time that a phrase resonated like this in his head. It was like he was cursed with an endless case of déjà vu or something. What could he possibly do?

He came back to his senses.

"Hold on. So Tsume said that to you?" Yan asked.

"That's right. Out of all the shit that comes out of his mouth there was at least one good tip," Kiba explained as he gazed to his right. "Come on, we gotta get going before those humans catch us again, not that I'd let them."

"But wait," Sasha shrieked. "How are we supposed to follow you. How did you turn into, you know…"

"If you look hard enough, you can tell illusion from reality. Apply that same concept to yourselves."

And with that, Kiba ran off.

Yan turned his head around the corner from the hole in the wall, and saw a white wolf tail flashing around a corner.

"Okay Sasha we have to figure this–". He turned around to see…

She wore small white sneakers, with green socks that rose close to her knees. Her turquoise and white tie dye hoodie matched her shoes, and her reddish brown hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall.

"What in the hell happened to you?"

Sasha cutely smiled at him. She hopped out of the hole in the wall and glanced at Yan. Jokingly, she taunted Yan with a "Catch up sweetie" before running in the same path that Kiba did.

At this point, there really wasn't a way for Yan to test if he looked like a human or not, so he just sat there for a moment contemplating what his next course of action would be.

Just as Yan snuck his face through the hole in the wall he saw a brown wolf staring at him from the corner of the abandoned factory. Its huge golden eyes were fixated on him. It was staring right at him. And then…

Black pearls in a sea of gold fixated on him. And all of the sudden a smile crossed its face.

It was just like before. Except this time it was taunting him like it had done this to him. It was the reason all of this was happening. Without thinking for a moment more, he rushed toward the creature with rage filling his mind to the brim. Yan and Sasha had gone the exact opposite way, but it didn't matter. The only goal in his mind now was to get answers from this mysterious character.

The brown wolf turned around and ran around the corner it was waiting at.

"You think you can catch me?"