A/N: Wow, more than three years after last wrote for this fandom, I write this. This will only really make sense if you've watched Wolf's Rain, but if you haven't, here's what matters for this fic: In the future, wolves can disguise themselves as humans in order to survive amongst them. In all honesty, I just wanted to describe how I think they'd look like as humans XD
He was used to the chill that settled over his body every morning.
Kar blinked his still-sleepy eyes and arched his back, working the stiffness out of his joints. Sleeping in an open box in an alley wasn't ideal, but considering that he couldn't get himself a room in the rundown apartments (or even a room at one of the scummy motels) he didn't have much of a choice. Besides, he'd slept in much worse places before, and in worse conditions too. This alley wasn't so bad.
He stepped out of the narrow space between the small building that served as the city's main hospital and a chapel that rarely had visitors. The street beyond wasn't crowded really, but there were still plenty of people there that wouldn't exactly welcome a wolf among them, so Kar made sure that his human disguise was on.
The window of the shop across the street confirmed that is was, in fact, up and functioning normally. He nodded at his reflection. Plain gray shirt over a long sleeved white shirt and darker gray pants that he'd seen a lot of boys wearing during the cold months, short brown hair that looked as messy as his fur was. Overall unremarkable, the way he had to be if he wanted to avoid attention. The only thing he couldn't control about his appearance was his eyes. Still as golden brown as ever, they definitely stood out. He kept his eyes down as he walked between the people on the street, careful not to make eye contact with anybody.
He could keep his camouflage up fairly easily. It was only when he was really surprised or afraid that he lost the focus needed to keep it. But even completely focused, he wouldn't be able to explain to somebody how they could feel fur where skin should be, so he always avoided bumping into people.
"Good morning, Kar!" A voice called down to him. He looked up at the second story of the house he was under to find Mitya, his sort of neighbor, waving down to him from her window.
"Good morning, Mitya." Kar said, smiling up at her. She was always nice to him, worried about him living on the streets no matter how many times he reassured her that he was fine out there.
She disappeared from her window. Kar could hear her inside her house, walking down the stairs so she could talk to him properly. He waited at her door until it opened and she appeared, her long silver hair hanging limply down her shoulders. She clicked her tongue at him and shook her head in mock disappointment.
"Have you been sleeping in that drain pipe again?" She asked. "You know how that place makes your clothes so wrinkled!"
He shook his head. "Just in an alley today. I usually don't sleep in the pipe until the rainy season's over."
Mitya sighed. "Oh Kar, you really do enjoy making me worry don't you?"
"Maybe just a little." He said, grinning at her cheekily.
She put her hand on her hip. "Well, maybe I just won't give you your lunch today as punishment, since you enjoy making me worry so much."
"No, I'm sorry! Please don't make me go without, Mitya." Kar said, hanging his head down, completely sincere now. "I didn't mean it."
She stared down at him as if considering. "Well, since you're asking so nicely… I guess I can let you have the lunch I made."
"Thank you, ma'am!" Kar said, smiling up at her.
He waited outside while she went into the kitchen to grab the meal. She gave off a motherly air, despite not having any children of her own. He often wondered if Mitya would have been like the mother he knew he once had, but couldn't remember anymore.
He was sure that his mother would have been kind like her.
"Here we are!" Mitya said, walking back to the door, a brown paper bag in her hands. "I made sure to add extra meat in your sandwich. You've been looking a little thin the last few weeks."
It had been a rough couple of weeks, actually. Most of the tiem, the only meals he ate came from her lunches. "Thanks so much Mitya. I don't know where I would be without you."
She smiled at him. "Well, if you would just agree go out with my niece, I'm sure she could help you get a ob…"
He laughed nervously. "You're barking up the wrong tree again."
"An old lady can dream, can't she?" She sighed. She handed the bag to him and he carefully took it out of her hands. "See you tomorrow, Kar."
"Bye. Say hi to Manov for me." He mumbled around the bag. He'd long ago perfected the art of speaking clearly around a mouthful. He waved goodbye and walked down the street, rounding a corner and out of sight.
He couldn't help but be amused by her odd wish to get him with her niece. Even if he and her niece were of the same species, he didn't think it would work out between the two of them. He'd met her once before, when he'd first started receiving lunches, and she was definitely nice. Pretty by human standards, even. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else out there, waiting for him. He didn't expect to find them, but the thought never left the back of his head.
And besides, a wolf working? Not very likely.
He kept walking until he came to an empty cross section of buildings. It was far away enough from the streets and foot traffic that hardly anybody came around here, so Kar had the place to himself for a few hours. He liked it here because he could eat his lunch without worrying that someone would come along and try to steal it.
He was ready to open his bag and bite into his sandwich when he heard a quick tap-tap-tap of someone running up the alley to his right. He quickly pressed himself against the large crate he was next to, hoping that the person would just run past without noticing him. He didn't know why this person was running, but if they were fleeing from something dangerous, he wasn't about to get caught in the crossfire. Better safe than sorry, Skop used to say.
Any thought of safety quickly left his head though, when he saw a wolf stop right in front of him.
A wolf! Kar thought, his heart suddenly hammering in his chest. He had never seen another wolf in the city before. He could hardly remember seeing any other wolves, aside from Skop, and while Kar usually kept his human camouflage up, this wolf looked like he'd never put one up in his life.
He watched with wide eyes as the other wolf, fur as black as midnight, breathed in the scents of the alley. He looked confused for a moment, as if trying to work something out in his mind, and Kar couldn't figure out why until the other wolf's eyes landed on him. Oh, he had noticed Kar hiding behind the crate.
Kar didn't know what to do now. Should he stand up and greet him? Offer him some of his food? Stay perfectly still and hope the other wolf was friendly? He wasn't sure how to convey that he wasn't hostile without implying that he was weak. He was ready to just open his mouth and say something (he wasn't exactly sure what) when he noticed the strange look in the other's eyes.
Recognition. The other wolf recognized him.
"Kar?" The black wolf asked, his deep voice not hiding his shock. He took a step forward. "Is it really you, Kar?"
Kar didn't know how to answer that. Of course it was really him, but how could he say that when he didn't know who it was he was answering? Who was this other wolf, and how did he know him when they'd never met before? Kar was about to ask him when a girl's voice called out from just behind them.
"Fell? Fell! You can't keep running from me forever!" The girl was saying, running right up to the black wolf, Fell as Kar now knew he was called, without the slightest hesitation.
Kar could tell that she was a definitely a wolf, even with her human disguise was up. The clothes were conservative, long sleeved blue sweater, darker blue pants, and a red scarf wrapped loosely around her throat. It stood out against her white skin. Her hair was long and loose, gently curling around her shoulders, and the same color as freshly fallen snow. Underneath the disguise, she was a lovely she-wolf, strong looking and just as pale as her human camouflage. By both human and wolf standards, she was beautiful. She didn't notice him at first, she was so focused on yelling at the other wolf.
"If you insist on keeping your wolf form, you have to put this on!" She told him, holding out a leash and collar that Kar hadn't noticed before. "I don't want to have another dog-catcher incident, Fell!"
It was as if her words didn't have any effect on him. He was still looking at Kar. "Larka, look."
The tone of his voice seemed to draw her attention away from the argument. She turned her piercing yellow eyes towards Kar and all the anger she had seemed to disappear in an instant. The leash fell from her grasp and her mouth dropped open in surprise.
"It can't be…" She whispered, taking a step towards him. For some reason, Kar didn't feel worried about her approach. She came forward until she was only inches away from him. Her hand came up, but stopped just before reaching him. "Kar?
So she knew him somehow too. Kar felt his head nod and asked her, "How… How do you know my name?"
Her hand came down and the light seemed to dim from her eyes. "Don't you remember us, Kar?"
From where? He wanted to ask. Instead, he shook his head and said. "I'm sorry, I don't."
The two wolves sighed at the same time, clearly disappointed.
"He doesn't remember us, Larka. We took too long." Fell muttered under his breath, low, but not low enough for Kar to miss it.
What did he mean by that? Kar turned his gaze from one to the other, feeling like he was missing something important. "What is all this about? How do you two know me?"
Larka bit her lip nervously. She glanced back at Fell, and when he nodded, she turned her eyes back to him. "Do you really want to know?"
He nodded. "I do."
Her expression became very serious. "If you're sure, you're going to have to keep an open mind about this, Kar. And you'll have to trust us."
This gave him some pause. "Why do I have to trust—?"
The sound of slow footsteps coming down the alley drew his attention from the conversation. Someone was coming.
Fell noticed it too. He tensed and turned away from them. "We can't talk here. Let's go."
Larka nodded and motioned for Kar to follow them. "If you want answers, follow us."
He didn't have to follow them. He didn't know who they were, or what they wanted. It would be easy, so easy, to just walk away and ignore the fact that he'd met these strange wolves. He could go back to a sure lunch every day, drain pipes in the summer, living on the fringes of human society, like always. His life now was so easy…
But wrong.
"Lead the way." He said, resolved. Larka smiled at him and something bubbled in his chest. He didn't have time to analyze what it could mean when she started running and he hurried to keep up with her.
Kar noted how skillfully the two of them maneuvered the alleys, like they'd had plenty of practice keeping hidden in cities. Fell was always a few steps in front of them, scouting the area ahead, while Larka kept glancing behind her. There was something so similar in the way they held themselves that told him that they had to be related.
They were getting close to the edge of the city. Kar wasn't sure how far they wanted to go, but they had to know they'd need to cross the sort-of slum town that surrounded this part of the city right?
"Why are there so many people there?!" Fell whispered to himself just before he reached the end of the alley.
Guess not… Kar thought. "Didn't you enter the city here?"
Larka was the one to answer him. "No, we came here from the other side, under the city."
"Through the maintenance entrances?" Kar asked, surprised. That place was heavily guarded, and nearly impossible to be around without being noticed.
"If you're talking about the eerily clean place made of metal, then yes." Fell said, looking annoyed at the sudden inconvenience. "We're going to have to go the other way."
"That will take too long. We've spent too much time here as it is, Fell." Larka said. "We have to go through."
"I don't want to use the disguise." Fell said, and the look in his eyes said that he wouldn't be changing his mind.
She frowned at him. "I left the leash behind when we ran away back there. You don't have choice anymore, brother."
So Kar was right, they were related. The siblings stared each other down, neither one blinking or backing down. If not for their breathing, they would have looked like statues. Finally, something in Larka's gaze made Fell drop his eyes and sigh.
"Fine." He said, clearly unhappy. As he was saying the word, his illusion came up.
Everything about Fell's human disguise was dark. Dark clothes, dark hair, dark skin. Even his eyes looked like they were a darker shade of gold, aside from the bright sliver of green the left one. It was as if he was made for the night.
"Come on then. The faster we get out of here, the faster I can get rid of this thing." Fell said, stepping out into the sunlit street. Larka and Kar followed a few feet behind.
"Why doesn't he like using the camouflage?" Kar whispered to her, making sure his voice was low enough so that Fell couldn't overhear him.
Larka whispered back to him, "Too much wolf pride. That's why I carry a leash around, so I can at least pretend he's a dog."
"He must hate that." Kar said, smiling at the thought.
"Not as much as the disguise." She said, pressing her lips together in an attempt to stifle her laugh. Fell still heard it.
He glared at the over his shoulder. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing." Larka said, quickly sobering her expression. The cheeky wink she sent Kar nearly made him laugh out loud.
It was hard to be inconspicuous when the girl you were walking next to had such pale hair, but they actually encountered very few problems. People stared of course, but no one made a move to walk up to them. Kar attributed that mostly to Fell's glowering expression. They made sure to pick up the pace if someone stared too long though.
Kar had to remind himself to ignore the sad looking people, that he was in no position to help them. He had been here before briefly, when Skop had brought him to the city after the rest of their pack had been killed by a wolf hunter. People here were more likely to slice someone's throat open than offer or accept help.
When they reached the very edge of the city, Kar decided that he had waited long enough for answers. All the people were far behind them and there was nothing but wasteland in front of them. He stopped walking and waited until they were looking directly at him before speaking.
"You have to tell me how you know me." He said, making sure his voice was strong. "I've never left this city, but you two act as if we've met before. How?"
"Are you willing to keep an open mind?" Fell asked.
Was he? If Kar wanted answers, it looked like he had to. He nodded.
Larka took a deep breath before taking a step towards him, the same as she had back in the alley. "Kar, have you ever heard of a place called The Red Meadow?"
He shook his head. "No, never. What is it?"
"It's many things." Fell said, dropping the illusion now that they were out of sight of any humans. "Most know it as a place for the damned. Some say it's merely the afterlife for us wolves."
"Afterlife?" Kar could feel his eyes widen. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything." Larka smiled sadly. "You see Kar, we came from there. All three of us."
"I don't understand." Kar said, feeling like his world was spinning out of control with this knew information.
"You will." Fell said cryptically. He looked out into the vast, empty wasteland and said something more to himself than to Kar. "She's almost strong enough to get out. It took her a little longer this time."
"Who's she? What do you mean this time?" Kar asked, suddenly wanting to go back to his alley and forget that any of this had happened to him. He only just realized he'd left his sandwich behind.
Larka sighed. "It's a long story, Kar. You don't have to hear it if you don't want to, in fact, it might be better for you if you didn't. But… we need you. We've always needed you. Can you still trust us, knowing this?"
He looked back and forth between the two wolves. They genuinely seemed to care about his opinion. And for some reason, he didn't want to disappoint them. No, he couldn't disappoint them. They said they needed him, and he could tell that he needed them too. He could feel it in his heart, and now he couldn't let himself just walk away from them.
"I'll trust you. But I don't want you to hold anything back. You have to tell me everything." He said, his mind made up.
Larka smiled, and that something bubbled in his chest again. "We promise, Kar."