A/N: next chappie! enjoy!

Chapter 9: Strategy

"Toboe! Wait up!" Liona shouted to the wolf as he ran in his canine form down the street of the city. He stopped at the corner next to the diner he'd met Ryooshi and looked at his 'sister' as she ran toward him, panting.

"I'm sorry, Liona," he murmured in his human form. "We have to find Ryooshi!"

"What makes you think she'll come here?" Liona panted, leaning on the wall of the diner to catch her breath.

"This is where we met," Toboe explained. "She'd probably come back here looking for food."

He glanced down the alley but didn't see her, then scanned the area around them as Liona remained silent and let him do his thing. He sniffed the night air, listened intently to anything passing by or anything approaching and scanned everything around him to find her. His mind was reeling.

He kept asking himself why she would leave. Had he done something wrong? Had she been afraid of Liona? There were a million different reasons that were possible, but he knew that unless they found Ryooshi again, he'd never know. He prayed she was alright, and that she hadn't left because of him. He thought he'd finally found a good friend in one of his own kind, and he didn't want to be wrong about her.

He suddenly heard a faint rumbling coming from the alley and whirled around to face it, catching Liona's attention and she straightened to stand next to him and whisper, "What is it."

"I think it's a…" he trailed off for a moment as he heard the rumbling getting louder and closer then breathed, "…motorcycle."

He tried to squint, using the dim street light above them illuminating the alleyway and caught a headlight guiding a silhouette coming toward them at top speed. Realizing how close it was and that it wasn't going to stop he shoved Liona out of the way, propelling himself in the opposite direction and they both hit the ground just as the black motorcycle rumbled out of the alleyway, popping a wheelie as it did then U-turned in the street to face the alley again in the empty street.

Toboe wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and heading toward Liona as she sat herself up and he sat next to her, making sure she was alright before looking up at the motorcycle and the rider on it who had shut off the engine and was removing his helmet. Toboe froze, his heart thudding in his chest as he saw Tsume look over his shoulder with a smirk at his passenger whose hands had yet to let go of his jacket which fisted the material in a death grip.

"Well, your cherry's popped now, mutt," Tsume smirked. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

"Shut up," a muffled, yet familiar voice to Toboe and Liona replied. "And I'm not a mutt."

"Ryooshi?" Toboe called and she gasped as she shot her head up from Tsume's back to look over his shoulder as the older wolf on the bike shot his gaze to the young pup as well, all three with wide eyed expressions.

"Toboe!" Ryooshi grinned, scrambling off the back of the bike as Tsume didn't make a move and only stared at Toboe. She ran to Toboe as he and Liona stood up and threw her arms around the pup's neck. "Just the wolf we were looking for."

"We?" Toboe echoed, but didn't have time to ask what she meant before she grabbed his hand and dragged him toward Tsume who was balancing his bike in the middle of the deserted street. The young boy stared at Tsume with wide, panicked eyes and started pulling back against Ryooshi's hand but she only continued pulling him toward Tsume.

"No!" Toboe whispered, harshly. "Ryooshi! No!"

"Don't be such a puppy, Toboe!" Ryooshi grinned as she stopped to pull on his arm then gripped his shoulders to face him toward Tsume.

The young wolf dug his heels into the ground to slow her shoving. Ryooshi looked over her shoulder at Liona and nodded for her help and Liona grinned as widely as Ryooshi was and hurried to help the she-wolf get Toboe over to Tsume as the older wolf frowned at the scene, cocking his head to the side slightly in curiosity. Liona grabbed Toboe's legs and lifted them, making him yelp and glare at his 'sister.'

"Traitor!" Toboe barked at Liona who only giggled, holding his legs as he kicked to get away while Ryooshi gripped him under his arms to carry him. The two girls stopped in front of Tsume and as Toboe caught sight of him again, he froze and the girls set him down then Ryooshi took his hand again and stepped him closer to Tsume.

"Tsume," she smiled cutely, drawing his attention to her for a split second before it went back to Toboe who stared back at him with wide eyes. "This is Toboe. But you already know that, right?"

Toboe shot his wide eyes between Ryooshi and Tsume a few times before he looked at Tsume as Ryooshi dropped his arm and he breathed, "You…know?"

"Well," Tsume muttered but didn't continue.

"So this is Tsume?" Liona wondered, standing next to Toboe and slinging her arm over the young wolf's shoulders, examining the man still on his motorcycle. "He's not quite what I expected."

"What do you mean, Sissy?" Toboe wondered with a frown.

"'Sissy'?" Tsume echoed with a cocked brow, drawing everyone's attention but he continued talking to Toboe, saying, "Don't tell me you're her pet."

Toboe cast his eyes down, remembering how much Tsume despised humans, and probably did now as well.

"Regardless," Liona cut in, lowering her arm from Toboe's shoulder, and remembering what the young wolf had told her of Tsume, "I expected someone a little more…menacing."

"I can be your worst nightmare," Tsume said, lowly. "Believe me, you don't wanna get on my bad side."

"Says the hot guy on the motorcycle," Liona smirked and Tsume's eyes shot wide in disbelief at the human then shot an angry glare at Ryooshi when she giggled.

"What made this guy your friend, Toboe?" Liona went on. "He's the polar opposite of you."

"He saved my life," Toboe mumbled and all eyes shot to him as he looked back to Tsume. "You didn't have to, but you did. You didn't even hesitate."

"I never saved your life, runt," Tsume argued. "I think I would have remembered that."

"It was in Freeze City!" Toboe argued back, desperately.

"There's no such city," Ryooshi recalled. "Toboe, are you sure---?"

"It was before all this!" Toboe explained, starting to well up just a bit in frustration. "It was when he came with Kiba and Hige and me to find Paradise!"

Something triggered in Tsume's mind. Paradise. Why did that sound familiar? A chill ran up his spine but he held back from shivering. That word had an ominous feeling with it for him. Like someone was walking over his grave just as Toboe said it.

"You thought I was annoying at first," Toboe continued, jolting Tsume from his thoughts. "You said I pissed you off, and you didn't want anything to do with me. But when I met Leara, and showed her I was a wolf, you saw how scared she was and you got me out of there."

"Where did I save your life, then?" Tsume wondered, half skeptical and half of him truly wanting to find answers to why he knew this kid somehow, but didn't remember.

"It was when we were in front of that laboratory," Toboe explained. I slipped when we were running away on a pipe running way above the ground but you came back and helped me up so we could all escape."

"Well, you can't argue with details like that," Ryooshi nodded and Tsume gave her a glare as she looked up at him. "How can you not remember?"

"Just shut it, mutt," he muttered, wanting it quiet so he could think through this. He felt something inside him telling him that Toboe was telling the truth; that he had saved the runt's life. But if it was true, why didn't he remember?

"You must remember something," Ryooshi mused and Tsume gave her sideways glare, irritated the she had spoken. "I mean, you knew who Toboe was before I even mentioned him. So it stands to reason that you remember; you just need a little mental nudge to get you to remember fully."

"You knew who I was?" Toboe breathed at Tsume who gave a glare to Ryooshi again before sighing in exhaustion then turned to the young wolf.

"Actually, I knew your name, for whatever reason, but I didn't know who the hell you were or why I knew your name." A thought suddenly occurred to him and he asked, "Who the hell are Kiba and Huge? You mentioned they were headed to Paradise with us."

"I met them in Freeze city, after I met you," Toboe explained. "They were looking for the source of the Lunar Flower scent. They found it, but it disappeared when that Darcia guy took Cheza."

"Whoa, hang on a second," Liona pleaded. "Too much in one breath! Slow down a little, Young pup!"

"Darcia," Tsume echoed, and all eyes turned to him. He looked like he was almost terrified. That same chill ran up his spine and this time he did nothing to hide the shiver. Hearing that name was like hearing the name of death itself, and he couldn't understand why he felt like that.

"Tsume?" Ryooshi called, meekly when he said nothing else and hesitantly placed a hand on his arm. He yanked it from her touch and growled in frustration, suddenly shoving his helmet onto his head.

"I've had enough of this!" he growled, starting the engine on his bike and readying himself to drive off. "Stay away from me! All of you! I don't wanna think about what I can't remember! Whatever it is, it's done and over with! I don't need any of this crap!"

With that he sped down the street, Ryooshi trying to run after him and calling after him, but she stopped a few steps away from Toboe and Liona and they all watched him leave. Toboe hung his head with a sigh and Ryooshi turned to him and Liona slung her arm around his shoulders to pull him in for a comforting hug. Ryooshi ran back toward them and gripped Toboe's arms to get his attention but when he looked up at her, she felt her heart clench in pity as she noticed his eyes turn glassy.

"Don't you worry, Toboe," she told murmured. "We'll get him to remember, and your other friends too! You said you saw Kiba and Hige?"

The young wolf only nodded with a sniffle.

"Where?" she questioned, gently.

"Kiba and Cheza were in the diner," he replied. "Hige was sitting a few feet away from the door."

"And Blue works here," she remembered and her face lit up as she grinned at him. "Don't you see, Toboe?! The diner is the key! They'll all come back here, I'm sure of it. Maybe you all need to be together in order for all of you to get your memory's back?"

"That makes sense," Liona mused, drawing the two wolves' attention. "And if Kiba was with Cheza, he must remember already, so you only have to get Hige, Tsume and Blue to remember somehow."

"But if Tsume doesn't want to remember now," Toboe reminded them. "How can we get him to remember if he doesn't want to?"

"He wants to, Toboe," Ryooshi assured him, snapping his attention back to her. "He's just afraid of what might have happened."

"Tsume's not afraid of anything," Toboe argued, mildly.

"You'd be surprised how scared most of the tough guys are," Ryooshi replied. "But that's beside the point. He wants to remember, and we'll help him remember. Hige and Blue, too. We'll help them all remember."

"But, how are we gonna get them here?" Liona wondered. "It's not we know where any them live, if they even have homes. We can't send written invitation that says 'Meet us here'."

"No," Ryooshi agreed. "But Toboe gave me a great idea."

"Me?" Toboe frowned and Ryooshi nodded.

"You said they were all attracted to the scent of Lunar Flowers, right?" she recalled and Toboe nodded. "Cheza smells like a Lunar Flower, doesn't she?"

"What're you getting at?" Liona wondered, not understanding what Ryooshi was suggesting, but Toboe looked at her in realization.

"Where Cheza is, the rest will be drawn to her, right?" he guessed and Ryooshi grinned with a nod.

"All we have to do is get Cheza here and Hige and Tsume will follow," she planned. "Blue will already be here since she works here, and since you saw Kiba with her he must be taking care of her, right?"

"You really think this'll work?" Liona wondered. "I mean, who knows where Tsume just went and Hige and Kiba could have gone anywhere. Even if we find Kiba and Cheza, how are we gonna get the others to catch her scent?"

"Hige's got a hyper sensitive nose," Toboe explained. "He'll catch her scent from miles away."

"And Tsume didn't go that far," Ryooshi chimed in. "His hide-out is just outside the city. He'll catch her scent."

"Well, how exactly are we gonna find Kiba and Cheza, then?" Liona wondered.

"Don't you know?" Ryooshi smiled, tapping her nose then tapping Toboe's. "We've got the noses for it!"

"I remember Cheza's scent as if it were my own," Toboe smiled, nostalgically. "I could pick her out of a garden full of flowers."

"That's the spirit!" Ryooshi grinned, patting the runt's back. "Let's get going then!"

Suddenly in their wolf forms, Ryooshi and Toboe darted down the street and Liona shot off after them calling, "Hey! Wait for me, you two! I don't run that fast! Slow down!"

A/N: Alright! we're on an adventure! lets get these wolves their memories back! reviews?