The wolves didn't stop at Hige's call, but I did notice that their pace slowed. Great. I was about to become a spectacle, something out of the ordinary for this random pack to gape over. After a moment, Leather Wolf, whose wolf form was almost completely gray, stopped abruptly and swung his head back in my direction. It obviously wasn't interest that made him stop as a sour glare was pasted on his features.
The kid wolf, who was clearly attached to Leather Wolf, skidded to a halt and stood beside his friend. The pack leader didn't stop, and I wondered if he was always like this: too determined and purposeful to pause even for a moment. Not that it mattered to me.
Hige looked like he was waiting for them to dash back over, fascinated. When they didn't, he cocked his head to one side and looked back at me. "Wait here," he said before returning to his wolf appearance and galloping over to his pack.
The hushed voices didn't interest me, so I sat down with a thump and twisted to examine my wound. The stretch made me wince – I couldn't turn like that with my shoulders so beaten up. As I shook my fur out slowly, I wondered why Hige was going to all this effort to interest the wolves with me. Maybe he wanted a female tagging along with them, but if that was his aim he was sure to be disappointed. I'm not a pack kind of wolf, and I had no plans of joining a strange pack. But as I thought about rejecting such an offer, I realized that it was stupid. No wolf pack accepted new members readily, and this group of four seemed pretty bent on remaining exclusive. Hige probably just wanted to…but I couldn't figure out his motives. Oh, whatever. It would be easier to just ignore this predicament and watch idly until it blew past.
"Didn't Kiba say to watch for anything out of the ordinary?" That was Hige's eager voice, louder than before.
"A disabled wolf is hardly connected to the lunar flower," Leather Wolf replied scathingly. Special scorn was placed on the phrase "lunar flower," which made me curious. Why did he hate a legend so much? It was just a kid's fairy tale. I ignored his suggestion that I was impaired. I was, of course, so there was no need to take offence.
"Maybe she is!" Hige argued.
Leather Wolf seemed to have had enough. "Get your head out of your ass," he snarled. "You just want to drag along someone you can seduce."
"I'm genuinely interested in this, though! What if she helps us find Paradise?"
Paradise. Lunar flower. This pack was delusional; did they think they were chasing a dream that really existed?
Apparently, Leather Wolf agreed with me. "Paradise," he snorted. "Here we go again."
Hige didn't sound amused. "I've said this before, but I mean it. If you hate it so much, why are you even following us?"
Leather Wolf shook his head and stalked away, after the white wolf, who had disappeared from view. Kid Wolf, who had been hanging uncertainly around the edges of the conversation, dashed after Leather Wolf, plaintively calling "Tsume!" So Leather Wolf was actually Tsume.
Hige seemed to have forgotten about me, and with a roll of his wolf eyes he broke into a relaxed lope after the two.
That had been interesting, but I was glad that it was over now. I shook my head once before getting back to my paws and limping for shelter. Only when I was curled up under a street lamp did I realize how nice it had felt to talk to someone, even if it was a weird wolf and his comrades. I almost wanted them to come back. I told myself that it was only the talking that I had liked, even if I had only said a few words to them.
*1 Week Later*
"Why are we back here?" A small voice whined, and I thought that I might recognize it from somewhere. But, nah. It was just another kid wandering around the city.
"Because Kiba's desperate," a derisive voice replied, and this voice I recognized immediately. It was Leather Wolf, my old acquaintance. Or, more correctly, Tsume of Hige's wolf pack. Judging by their comments, they didn't live here, but they were still in the area. On their quest for a fairy tale, I assumed. That is, if I even heard them correctly when they were speaking of things like lunar flowers and Paradise.
There was no rebuttal from Kiba, but Hige spoke up. "See, Tsume? I told you she was important."
"She's not important," Tsume sneered. "Kiba's just desperate, as I said. He convinces himself that anything could make the lunar flower appear just around the corner. There's not even anything in his stupid legend that speaks of a wolf who can't shift."
Still nothing from Kiba, but I wasn't fixated on a possible comeback anymore. They were looking for me? Why? Did they think I was a part of the Paradise legend or something? I wasn't. I would know if I was part of something that didn't even exist.
This update made me want to see them; they had a bad habit of being invisible and I couldn't see them anywhere near me now. I started walking again – I seemed to have stopped dead in my tracks when I heard them – and craned my neck about in the hopes of catching sight of them. Part of me said that it was better to distance myself from the pack, that this would lead to nothing but trouble, but I was insatiably curious.
The snow had finally stopped about a week ago, but it looked like it was starting up again as I felt something sizzle out of existence as it hit my warm nose. A dainty, circular snowflake flashed into water vapor as it trailed through the air by my muzzle. I was momentarily distracted – if the snow stuck, then the wolves would leave pawprints and then maybe I could find them! Way to go. You're a regular detective, I thought disparagingly, momentary excitement crushed.I had to remind myself that I didn't necessarily want to find them. Besides, I didn't need snow to spy on them. I only had to follow their voices.
The only problem was that they had stopped chatting, leaving me to wander aimlessly around the back streets of the domed city.
"Smell anything, Hige?" The voice was something of a monotone – completely serious, deep, and surprisingly close.
"Plenty! I can smell a hot dog stand a mile away, y'know."
"Any wolves?"
"Besides us?" Hige laughed, but no one was laughing with him. The laughter trailed off, sounding awkward.
How did they sound so close and yet be so invisible? I shook my head, frustrated, and picked up the pace. I trotted around the corner of the alleyway and through a narrow opening to reach a side road that seemed completely empty – no cars, no inhabited buildings. Everything here was crumbling, and I wondered why I had never taken advantage of the emptiness of this place before. Hige's pack had beaten me to it – the wolves were all in their human forms and seated lazily on a thrust of concrete that looked like it had been pushed upward by an earthquake.
"Hey! It's her!" The Kid Wolf's voice was as high pitched as ever as he pointed straight at me. I felt increasingly as four pairs of supposedly human eyes turned to look at me. I looked out of place among the disguised wolves, and just the fact that I was feeling awkward with wolves made me shiver. They were wolves, even if they did have a power that I didn't have. I shouldn't have felt out of place. "That is her, right?" Kid Wolf said, sounding a bit dubious. "Sky?"
Hige grinned. "Of course it's Sky, Toboe." So, Kid Wolf was Toboe. Great, at least when I addressed them I could call them something that wasn't a ridiculous nickname.
Kiba stepped off of the upraised concrete and walked over to me, ignoring some muttered comment Tsume had made. It seemed like Kiba ignored everything everyone said. "You're Skyler?" He asked in the monotonous, quiet voice I had heard before. He had the kind of voice that seemed purposefully quiet, the kind that everyone shut up to hear. And he had used my real name. Maybe this one was smart.
He was so tall compared to me. I looked up at him, and he seemed to get it. He was a wolf the next second, and on my level. "I am," I said, looking past him briefly to see that the other wolves were re-settling on the concrete and watching curiously. Well, all except Tsume, who was turned away deliberately.
"And you can't shift?"
His questions were simple enough, so I felt that I could answer. This whole mess made me wary, but as I didn't know what was going on I couldn't really just turn away. "Nope."
Kiba nodded and paused as if he was considering something. "Have you ever heard of Paradise?"
Straight to the point. "It's just a fairy tale." I shrugged. I watched him closely, expecting him to be disappointed. But no emotion registered on his face, and I couldn't even see a visible reaction in his eyes.
"We're going there," he said without preamble, and I wondered at how direct he was. "You may come along, if you wish." He didn't even wait for my reaction; just turned and padded back to his pack.
Wait. I was under the impression that he needed me! Didn't Hige say that Kiba was looking for anything out of the ordinary? That I might be a part of a legend? If I was, then why were they all walking away without a backwards glance? It occurred to me then that what I was feeling was incredibly stupid. Hige had a hunch that I might possibly be able to help them. That meant next to nothing. Why should such an exclusive pack beg me to stay with them? It wasn't as if I was superior to them in any way. I was disabled, really, and I would only hinder them because it would be much harder to hide with a wolf who couldn't change herself.
But this Kiba seemed bent on getting to Paradise, no matter what stood in his path. I might not be superior to them, but shouldn't he be at least interested in the reaction of someone who could possibly maybe help him reach his goal? It seemed like he was giving up when he walked away. Or maybe I just had no idea who I was dealing with. I was thinking as if I was completely informed of this pack's motives, but I honestly was clueless. The realization shocked me back to logical clarity, but I was still stuck on what to do. When Kiba had walked off, he had extended an invitation but then acted careless about it. It wasn't as if he was holding a hand out, as Hige had. If I followed them now it would seem that I was desperate. There was no way I could do that. Besides, no one but Hige really wanted me with them (for superficial reasons at that), and Tsume was downright hateful. And I had myself convinced that I didn't want to go, anyway.
It was time to speak up, to test Kiba and see if he really was interested in my company. "If I were to follow your pack," I began, realizing that Kiba was the true leader of this pack, "I would hinder you quite a bit. I'm hard to hide. I don't believe in Paradise, and I'm convinced that I have nothing to do with this Paradise of yours. Keeping me along is a dangerous gamble."
Hige exploded with something like, "That's the longest thing she's ever spoken!" And I wanted to clap a hand over his mouth. Too bad I didn't have hands.
Kiba seemed unperturbed by his outburst. "I know," he said simply. It was pretty self explanatory, but I saw then that he was willing to go any distance and face any danger for the sake of his dream.
And though I still hadn't made up my mind about whether or not to go, I found myself stepping forward. Hige bounded over to me and bowed dramatically, extending a hand again with a flourish. "Even if you don't have hands, m'lady," he said teasingly before taking on his wolf body and standing beside me. I could still see a ridiculously human grin lifting his lips and laughter sparkling in his eyes. The pack started to run forward as wolves and Hige flicked me with his tail in something like encouragement. Somewhat involuntarily I ran after them, trying not to think about what was sure to be disgusted horror on Tsume's face.