This wasn't exactly how I planned my escape to be. I thought I would get out in a blaze of glory and carnage. But I ended up limping away through the shadows like a frightened pup, my muzzle and collar still tightly fastened. I didn't have much choice though. When that white wolf freaked out I knew it would be the only time the humans would be distracted enough.

I always imagined that when I finally escaped from the humans it would be wonderful and I would be happy and empowered. But honestly I was scared, hurt, and cold. The city was on an island and the only way to get off was to go on the train tracks. But the humans would know that I would have to go that way and be waiting for me. The city wasn't safe either. It was small and there weren't many places to hide. I was stuck skirting the frozen city edge, crawling into damp holes for protection, hoping that I was staying out of range of the collar's remote.

I can't hide away in holes forever. But dammit, I can barely move right now.

I curled my body closer into itself and place my fluffy tail over my cold, dry nose. My ears flicked up at the sounds of someone approaching. I laid completely still, too exhausted to try and fight or scare them away. I figured if they were human they wouldn't notice me and if they were a wolf or dog they would ignore me. Neither of these happened.

A wet, brown nose brushed against my fur causing me to snarl through my muzzle. The snout pulled away sharply.

"Whoa, chill out. I'm not gonna hurt ya. Hey, over here," A warm, tenor voice said. A set of light steps padded their way over.

"Did you find her? Is she okay?" A second, higher voice questioned rapidly.

"Hey, you alright? You can come out now. We're here to help you," The first voice spoke encouragingly. He nudged his nose against me again and I once again snarled, my exhaustion making me irrational. The wolf yelped and pulled back again.

"It's alright, Lady. We saw what happened at the train station," The higher voice said softly. A different, thinner muzzle reached into the crevasse.

The wolf tried to encourage me with small whimpers and he lightly brushed his nose against my fur, rubbing against the wounds on my scruff. I twitched with a jolt of pain and suddenly lashed out towards him, my claws swiping out viciously. He squealed and scampered back abruptly, stumbling over his large paws. The other, larger wolf jumped protectively in front of his whimpering friend.

"Let's go, Runt," The large wolf commanded as I slunk back into my hole. I continued to growl ferociously as I curled back into my protective ball, my golden eyes glaring over the fur of my tail.

The large wolf nudged the other to his feet, herding him away. I finally relaxed as I saw their tails disappear behind a large pile of rocks. My eyes stayed wide open, adrenaline and fear coursing through me like a river.

/ / /

"But, Hige. She's hurt," Toboe said rubbing his nose.

"Yeah and we'll be worse off if we keep buggin' her. She doesn't want our help, Runt. Just leave it," Hige said, crossing his arms behind his head. Toboe looked at the blood on his fingers.

"If you say so. I'm going to go see if I can find some food this way, okay?" Toboe sighed, crawling over a particularly large grave stone.

"Yeah, whatever. Just don't go off too far," Hige said, plopping down to lounge in a shaded area.

"Kay," Toboe replied over his shoulder, before sprinting off.

/ / /

Toboe approached the hole cautiously, a tiny slab of meat hanging from his jaws. He took slow steps, his eyes trained on the unmoving ball of multi-colored fur. He reached as close as he dared, stretched his neck and lightly tossed the meat in front of where he assumed the wolf's face was. The wolf twitched and then became still again. Toboe backed up cautiously and sat down a safe distance away.

He glanced at the sky, gauging the time to be about mid-afternoon. When he looked back at the wolf, two harsh golden eyes stared back at him.

"Um, hi! I'm Toboe," He began enthusiastically.

"What are you doing here?" The she-wolf questioned sharply, her voice slightly muffled.

"I, uh, thought you could use some food. Your wounds looked pretty bad," Toboe replied, crouching submissively at her surprisingly, powerful voice. Her nose peek out from under her tail and Toboe almost gasped at the harsh muzzle clamped around her mouth. She sniffed the meat cautiously and then began to tear tiny pieces away through the spaces in her muzzle. It was a slow process but Toboe waited patiently until she finished, his head cocked curiously to the side as he examined her. Red fur blended into cream and brown tuffs. Scars of all shapes and sizes littered her pelt, two jagged horizontal lines could be seen on her muzzle peeking out from underneath the metal.

"So, uh are you okay?" He asked, and then suddenly jumped back as she began to crawl out of the crevasse.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks…uh what's your name again?" She said as she casually stretched her sore muscles. Toboe paused, staring at the dozens of horrendous scars that marked her body and the two collars slung around her neck that he couldn't see before. She looked at him, waiting for a response. Toboe shook his head.

"My name's Toboe. What's yours?" Toboe replied.

"Dawn," She answered and then was interrupted by a snort. "Watch it, kid. Besides, what kind of name is Toboe?" She scolded.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with my name. Granny gave it to me!" Toboe replied indignantly.

"Yeah, alright kid. Whatever you-ARCK!" Dawn abruptly sat down, groaning and cursing. Toboe stared at her in shock.

"Hey Toboe, wanna lend me a fang?" She inquired, shaking away remnants of the shock.

"Huh?" Toboe asked, approaching her cautiously. Dawn angled away from him and gave him instructions over her shoulder.

"Do you think you can break the clasps on the collar and the muzzle? They're a bit of a pain," She said, snorting at her own joke.

"Um, I can try," He replied before taking the steel between his teeth and tearing. A few minutes later, neither the collar nor the muzzle were off.

"I can't break it. But I bet Kiba could! Hige said he broke himself out of a steel cage before," Toboe suggested, panting lightly.

"Well then, lead the way to this 'Kiba' friend of yours," Dawn said, easing herself onto sore legs.

"Alright! You can meet Tsume, too! You already met Hige earlier," Toboe announced, shifting anxiously on his paws.

"Yeah, sorry about earlier by the way," She apologized as she walked next to the young wolf, her hind leg limping slightly.

"Don't worry about it. Tsume's the same way in the morning," Toboe joked lightly.