CHAPTER TWO: HIGH EXPECTATIONS

I own none of the original characters from Wolf's Rain. They © BONES

I do own Kira, the plotline, and any other characters mentioned in the story.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a minute!" I said, shaking my head. "How do you know it's me you're looking for? There are hundreds of black eared wolves on this planet! I don't feel the tug of Paradise any more than any of you; I'm just a normal wolf."

"She's right, Kiba." Tsume huffed. "She's a pup; how could she possibly help?" I snorted at what he called me.

"Relax, Tsume." The blue wolf barked. "She has as much of a chance of being the Paradise wolf as the rest of the black eared canines out there. I think it's worth a shot."

Tsume thrashed his head in annoyance. "She's a pup!" He repeated.

"A pup that could lead us to Paradise!" Toboe whined. "At least let her try to help!"

"You're assuming I'm going to?" I asked, lashing my tail and sitting down.

Kiba blinked. "Do you have anything else to do, or anywhere else to go?" I flattened my ears and looked away. "It seems to me you have nothing to lose. So what do you say? Will you help?"

I sighed. "I… Suppose."

"Great!" Said the chubby wolf.

I thought I saw a twinkle of relief in Kiba's eyes as I agreed. "Good. Now… If you're going to be traveling with us, you'll need to know our names." He pointed to the gray wolf, then the chubby one, the other pup, then the deep blue canine, listing off their names as he went along the line. "That's Tsume, Hige, Toboe, and Blue." He then looked at me with bright yellow eyes. "And I'm Kiba."

I felt something harden in my chest as Kiba said his name, but I shook the feeling away. "But before we leave…" I swished my tail, ignoring the pang inside me. "Tell me how you found me and what you expect me to do."

Blue laid down, crossing her front paws. "We weren't looking for you, specifically." She said. "Ever since our part of Paradise was destroyed, we've been traveling all over looking for the prophecy wolf. And after the humans started building their new cities everywhere and wolves scattered across the world, disguising themselves as humans as we did before, we started searching the towns as well."

"We've found countless black eared wolves along the way to the town where we found you." Hige continued. "And each time, we hoped that they were the one. But…"

"Believing they could do anything, those idiot wolves got too full of themselves and ended up dying because of their own stupidity." Tsume said.

Kiba huffed and sat down. "It's been a while since we've seen another black eared wolf… And like I said, I thought there was a strange… Force around you that reminded me of Paradise. So we're hoping, that maybe… You'll be the one."

"You also said it could be because of your own excitement!" I whined.

"Yes, I did." Kiba replied. "But here's something I haven't said: You're different from the others."

"Different how?" I asked.

Kiba's left ear twitched. "I can't explain it."

The feeling inside kept getting worse and worse, until it became almost unbearable. I grunted and fell to the ground, rubbing my face with my paw.

Toboe cocked his head to the side and whimpered, "What's wrong?"

"Kiba…" I said, wincing. Looking up at him, my eyes went wide as I stared into his. "You're… You're not just an ordinary wolf looking for Paradise, are you?"

Kiba blinked, then sighed and sat down. "I don't like to think of myself as a special wolf. But I suppose some do…"

"I knew it!" I barked, flying to my feet, tail wagging. "You're the Paradise Seekers!" My heart was beating wildly in my chest. I coughed in embarrassment as the wolves stared at me, confused. "The White Wolf who opened the door to the wolves before is leading a pack to Paradise again!"

Tsume chuckled coldly. "Is that what they're calling us now?"

"Yes. Well-er… No… My mother did."

"You're mother?" Blue asked, tilting her head.

"She knew of us?" Kiba asked, lashing his tail. "Where is she?"

I flattened my ears and looked down at the ground. "She was… Gunned down a few years ago trying to find food for us."

Toboe whined. "I'm so sorry…"

Trying to stay positive, I perked my head up. "I-it was a while ago… I'm fine." I said.

A gust of wind whipped past my face, getting through my fur and chilling me to the bone. I shivered and yelped in surprise at the sudden coldness, as did some of the other wolves.

"Not again!" Hige complained. "We just got out of this crap a few days ago!"

"Quit whining." Tsume grumbled. "At least it's not snowing yet. Let's find shelter before it starts."

All of the wolves and I immediately agreed, and we started walking, leaving my home farther and farther behind.

Toboe padded up to me and sneezed. "If you don't mind me asking again…" He said. "What did you do back there?"

I growled. "Nothing. Two humans were talking about Paradise, I overheard and… They saw the horrified expression on my face when they said someone plucked the last Lunar Flower. So they assumed I was a wolf, and they were right… But still. I wasn't causing any harm!"

"You need to be cautious with the way you react when humans talk about wolves or Paradise." Tsume said bitterly. "One wrong move, and they'll blow you to bits with their gun toys."

After a few more minutes of walking, we reached a small group of tall rocks that stood way above our heads. One was like a mini-cavern, and after growling and snarling about stepping on each other, we were all able to fit and stay warm, the worst of the blizzard passing over us as we slept.