The wind raced past the woman's pierced ears as she fell. The darkness seemed to have no end or beginning, and just when the moment came that panic would hit most humans that they were free falling, the floor would rush up and catch the victim. Any human would break a limb on impact, but wolves were different; they could sense the floor and land gracefully. Which is exactly what she did.
The tips on her boots were to first to hit the floor, making a loud clicking sound that echoed through the dim chamber. One hand reached out to the floor to steady her body, and her coat finally caught up with the rest of her body and draped around her hunched form. Her eyes were closed, and her hair fell over her face. It was a dramatic pose, but when you had been falling down that hole for a long time you had what fun you could.
She stood and stretched her muscles, every inch of her body lean muscle ready to attack at any moment. She reached out to the wall to her right and gently tapped a small switch. Light flared throughout the chamber, illuminating a large room with a door at the far end. A short flight of brick stairs led to the floor of the main chamber, which was made of cold stone covered by pelts for warmth. The walls were similarly designed, obviously for warmth and not decoration. The furniture in the room consisted of a corner full of cushions for resting, a small cabinet, and a very long table full of papers, books, and artwork.
A quick look a the materials would determine that the woman held in interest in wolves and their history, but a more in depth understanding of the material would lead the knowledgeable researcher to the conclusion that the woman was researching the Book of the Moon. This was understandable, for she was a wolf, and the Book of the Moon was devoted to the Paradise which wolves were destined to seek.
The door at the end of the room was simple, with no locks or security devices so to speak, but one look beyond would shock. The room was filled with monitors and sound recorders. The monitors showed various scenes from the city above the hideout, including the entrance to the town, the main roads, and some of the back alleys, including the alley that eventually led to the woman's hideout. She was obviously keeping a watch on the city above, keeping a watch on both humans and wolves on the streets above.
The woman slid out of her coat and after hanging it off a small rock from the wall, walked slowly down the stairs to the cabinet. She opened the metal doors with a quickly flip of her hand and reached inside. Inside the cabinet was a short supply of dried food. "Damn," she swore quietly in a deep voice. The supply was limited in options as well, only salted meat and dried carrots. "I guess that tonight is eat light night, again. Where's a foolish human when you need one. They usually have the most money and the least protection. Tomorrow I'll find one to mug and then buy more food."
She tossed her hair back over her shoulder; it had fallen forward once more when she bent to grab some carrots and a small piece of meat. She sighed loudly, and then stuck a carrot in her mouth. She glanced at the empty shelves and rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm out of water as well. Shit!" She kicked at the cushions near her feet in frustration. It was becoming more and more difficult to find provisions in the dying city above.
She slowly chewed on the carrots, savoring every taste of the bland vegetable, and approached one end of the table. Before her lay a map of the city above, on it were many marks crossing out areas of the city that she had searched in vain for any information on the Book of the Moon. "And just my luck, I am out of places to look. Why the hell did I come here in the first place!" She had this same argument every time she came to a city and eventually had to plan on the nest way to slip out of the city she had worked to hard to make a home in.
You came here looking for the book, and just like many times before, you have to continue your search elsewhere. Get over it and start packing, hun. Times a wastin'. Her conscious concluded rudely. She groaned and flopped onto the cushions with exhaustion. Packing up meant packing the research materials as well as the monitors and other tech she had with her. This also meant that she had to go topside to retrieve the cameras and microphones.
She stared up at the ceiling, just breathing, and thinking of the time that was long past when she had a home, and a life, and a…Reminiscing is getting you nowhere, Tsuki. The conscious was breaking into her memories again. She groaned again, and sat up. She held her hands out in front of her and stared at the scars that peeked out from the gloves, scars that traveled up both of her arms and over her back. The scars from her loyalty and her refusal to believe what others told her. Her loyalty to him.
A loud beeping from behind the far door broke her from her reverie this time, and she glared at the offending room. She stood and walked to the black door, and narrowed her eyes at the dim lighting from the three screens. The beeping came from an alarm she had set for any detection of wolves in the city. The alarm was not rare, but out of habit she sat in the small folding chair and checked each monitor carefully.
Each screen contained four separate frames from different parts of the city. The top right frame on the middle computer was flashing, set off by the wolf detector. The footage came from the back side of the town, where the slums were located and the cold, harsh plain pressed up against the city. It was also the section of the city closest to her hideout. She stared at the monitor more closely and enlarged the frame.
Within the moving frame were four wolves, one white, one gray, and two brown. To humans they looked human, but Tsuki's tech came from Jaguara's Keep and could tell the difference between human and wolf. The figures were blurry, so she couldn't see each figure clearly but to tell that they were wolves and the color of their fur. But before Tsuki could muse over the appearance of four wolves traveling together, they men on the screen picked up their heads in alarm.
Tsuki enabled sound from the film and heard shouts of "Stop, thief! He stole from my shop! Someone stop him!" The four wolves, Tsuki could now see from their jerky motions that the four had recently been injured, looked confused. They obviously had no idea what was happening. To make matters worse, local authorities appeared and began to run at the four. The three larger wolves didn't hesitate to run, but the smallest wolf was frozen to the spot.
The gray wolf turned and barked at the little wolf. The brown wolf jumped at the sound and finally moved; just in time for the police opened fire on the fleeing men. Tsuki watched the unfolding scene with indifference, for this was not the first time she had seen newcomers to the city ostracized by the locals. What caught her attention, though, was the fact that the larger brown wolf was now leading the four down an alley. Down an alley, to a dark hallway, to a hidden door, and down through a hole in the floor.
Tsuki had no time to react before hearing muffled cries from the outer room as the first of the wolves rudely entered her home. Tsuki took one last glance at the screen and, cursing loudly, left the small room to confront the intruders and give them a very rude welcome.