I would once again like to thank the one reviewer I had who informed me that I missed a ch and accidentally repeated a previous one. This is why I ask for reviews. I want to know if I mess up In Any way. Thank you for reading my story so far and I will try to do better about previewing before posting. Please read and review.

Nope. Still don't own it. (Damn it.)

Astra stood at the mouth of the cave looking out at the snow that continued to fall heavily. It has been two days since she has eaten and was waiting on the storm to blow over so she could hunt. Ever since she found the wolf, she has been questioning her motives for helping him. She was not the kind of person to help another. She has always believed that all creatures should be left to their own devices. To live or die based on their own strengths and weaknesses. After licking the wolf's wounds clean and somehow managing to push the broken rib back down into his body without getting sick, she begun noticing details for the first time. He was pure white. As a matter of fact, he looked just like the white wolf in her dreams. Now there was a coincidence. She didn't know about his eye color because in the two days they have been in the cave, he hasn't opened his eyes. She saw the scars criss crossing his back, a fine indication that at one time he had been whipped or tortured. He was what could be concidered to be a handsome wolf, but Astra was never into relationships. Too much to tie one down. Her only love was whatever trail she happened to be blazing at the time. But despite this, the couple of times she tried to leave, she found out she just couldn't do it. Every time she tried, she would look at him and stop. She couldn't explain why, but she felt a need, a desire to protect this wolf.

'Astra, what has come over you girl?' she thought sarcastically to herself.

A soft whimper from behind her broke Astra from her thoughts. She looked back and saw that the wolf was shaking again despite the fire that was blazing in the middle of the cave to keep the cold out. She walked over to him and laid down next to him, sharing the warmth of her body heat with him. He stopped shaking for a moment and then started trembling and thrashing.

"He's having another nightmare," she muttered. She gently licked his ear and then his cheek, trying to calm him, but to no availe. She softly began to hum a song her Den Mother used to sing to her when she was a pup to help her sleep or ease her fears. She didn't do this with the intention of calming him, not thinking it would work, but to ease her own worry for him. The realization that she was actually worried about him startled her. What is it about this wolf? When she did so, however, he seemed to immediately calm down. He lay still and his breathing calmed to a more normal pace, almost as if her voice had some kind of magical effect on him. She finished the song and lay there a moment longer, staring at her battered companion. Finally, exhausted, she fell asleep.

For once, the nightmare did not present itself. Instead of fire and death, he stood in a black pit of nothingness. Everywhere he looked, there was nothing. 'This isn't bad,' he thought. 'It could definately be worse.'

Then he began to feel a strong heat that began to envelope him. He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again. Suddenly, to his horror, he was a puppy again back in those woods. The smoke and heat stung his nose and eyes. The smell of death and blood in the air. Once again, he had no control over his body. He was just a puppet in a play playing out his part. He once again was running to the flames, calling out someone's name. He pushed himself towards the flames, trying to find his childhood friend. She needed his help. 'Wait a minute. Childhood friend? She?' A little more of the story was presenting itself. But before he could take another step, fire seemed to envelope him. He gave a howl of pain and distress as the flames singed his fur. He was in a full blown panic and was struggling to stay alive. Suddenly, everything came to a standstill and time itself seemed to stop. On the winds, he heard a soft, almost celestial voice humming a song. He listened for a moment and then recognized the song. It was a song from his childhood. A song from his past. The voice continued to sing the song and he felt an almost magical sense of peace come over him. He was no longer in pain. He no longer heard the suffering of other wolves. There was only peace and serenity. He closed his eyes and let the song's warmth wash over him.

He opened his eyes and immediately shut them again. The light that hit them was so intense after so long in darkness. He laid there for a moment and then squinted his eyes, trying to let them adjust. He slowly scaned his environment, trying to figure out where he was. There was a fire about ten feet from him. That was when he felt a warm, furry body laying next to his. He slowly looked over and saw a beautiful white she-wolf with unique black markings laying against him, sharing her body heat. He tried to move but whimpered as pain coursed through his body. Feeling the movement, the she-wolf jumps to her feet with a snarl, scanning the cave quickly for any signs of a threat. Seeing nothing, she looks at him and just then notices his eyes slightly open.

"Finally wake up?" she asked. He tries to answer but nothing came out of his mouth but a cough. He winced in pain as the cough aggrivated the injuries done to his body.

"There's some water in that hole beside your head," she informs him. Seeing this, he tries to reach it but he's just too weak. He feels a pressure against him and looks over. She has pressed her side up against him. She nods to him and he nods back. She slowly pushes him closer to the water. He weakly begins to slowly lap at the water until it is almost gone. When he finally feels like his throat and tongue no longer feels like a desert, he stops. She pushes him back where he was. He clears his throat and weakly says, "Thank you."

"No problem," she replies. "What's your name anyway?"

He closes his eyes and thinks for a moment. Finally, he opens them, looks up at her, and whispers, "I don't know."

"Dead end. Scents gone. Blood trail's gone. Kiba's gone." Hige scratched the back of his head in confusion.

"This doesn't make sense. according to the blood trail, he either dragged himself or was dragged by someone or something. If he was dead, there should have been a body. But it's just like he disappeared." Tsume looked around the area again, just in case he missed something, but he knew he would not find anything. All around him was nothing but snow, snow, and more snow. 'Weird weather for spring time,' Tsume thought. 'It's been snowing for over a week now when it should be fair weather and sunshine.' He turned back to the others.

"Well, he appearantly isn't here so we need to keep moving. We still have another mountain to climb before we can get to the next town. It's possible he may have made his way there." Tsume was just saying this for Toboe's benefit for he truely believed that Kiba had died. It still bothered him why there was no body, but there was nothing he could do to answer that question for now. He had to get them through safely until they reached town. He assumed they would part ways there. Whatever happens, he felt responsible for them now. Strange how things change. At first, Tsume could of cared less about any of them. Now, he was looking at Toboe like a kid brother and Hige. Well, Hige was just Hige, but he still felt bad that he had lost Blue. He made a promise right there and then that he would look out for them until they reached town. After that, he doubted he would ever see them again.

"Tsume?" Tsume noticed Toboe looking at him with concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Runt. Let's get moving guys. We got a long way to go yet."

Braclets clanked as the she-wolf slowly walked through the trees, sniffing the area, trying to pick up on a scent of the wolves that Blue had told them about. Sky blue eyes scanned the area, searching for any signs of movement. She couldn't find anything. She changed her direction of travel and continued searching the area. She had been at this for hours now. She started at the burned out forest where The half wolf, Blue said they were attacked. Blue would have been out here with her searching but her injuries were still severe enough to keep her from looking. She had made her way to the mountain before she finally caught a scent. She put her nose to the air and sniffed for a bit before she picked it up again. She gave a howl to alert the other trackers and seconds later, a howl answered her from one of the other trackers. She started her run up the mountain, praying she would find them.

A couple of days later, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe was making their way down the third and last mountain. After reaching the bottom of the mountain, they would still have three days travel before reaching the closest town. Right now, they still had another full day of travel before that would happen. Tsume noticed a cave off to the side and told the others that they should stop for a rest. Hige and Toboe nodded and they made their way over to the cave. Once inside, Tsume said he would go hunting. Hige offered to come with him but Tsume told him to stay there and watch Toboe. As soon as he left, Hige turned to Toboe and said, "Hey, is something wrong?"

"I'm fine."

"No you're not Runt."

Toboe glared at Hige for a moment and then looked away. Hige sighed and looked out the opening of the cave. He could see the wind blowing the trees, the snow on the ground and the moon high in the sky. He racked his brain for something to say to comfort the pup but nothing would come to mind. Finally, he looked at Toboe and said, "Look, I know what's bothering ya. I'm not gonna push for you to talk about it, but I just want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. I don't know how much good it will do, but I'm here for you Runt.

"Thanks Hige. I just don't want to talk about it right now. I mean...I killed him. That's all there is to it. I can't help for feeling guilty about it. I was trying to help him, but he still died." There was tears in Toboe's eyes now. He sniffed and burried his face under his left foreleg. Hige just sat there, leaned back against the cave wall in his human form, wondering what to do. He was never good at comfort. He sighed and scooted closer to Toboe. He reached out a hand and slowly started rubbing his head. He continued to pet Toboe until his whimpers subsided. It felt weird being a wolf and petting another wolf but it seemed to help. He stopped when he heard a noise outside. He shifted into his wolf form and stood ready just in case it was a dangerous enemy. After what happened, he was not about to take any chances. He only relaxed his his stance when the familiar scent of Tsume caught his nose. He walked out of the cave, Toboe, who had recovered from his crying spell, was right behind him. Tsume came over the hill with several rabbits in his mouth, at least two for each of them.

"Alright, food," Hige shouted. He ran over as Tsume dropped the kills on the ground. The three wolves settled down to the business of eating. When there was barely any bones left, They went to the cave.

"I'll take first watch. You two try to get some sleep. I'll wake you in a few hours Porkey."

"Gotcha." Hige yawned and laid down. He was almost immediately sleeping. Tsume shook his head and then went and sat down at the mouth of the cave. Toboe went and joined him after a few minutes.

"What is it Runt?"

"Well Tsume, can I ask you something without you getting mad?"

"out with it Runt. What is it?"

"Well...um...I..." Toboe looked at him nervously

Tsume looked at him with those cold eyes. His eyes soon softened and he said, "This is about Kiba isn't it?"

Toboe looked away with a miserable look on his face for a minute. He then looked back at Tsume. "I was just wandering...well...If you have ever killed anyone before?"

Tsume looked outside of the cave for a moment. Toboe kept his eyes on him while he contemplated whatever was so interesting on the outside of the cave. Finally, Tsume looked at him and said, "Yeah kid. I have."

"Well then, how did you get over it. You know. Not let it change you?"

"Who said it didn't change me?" Tsume continued to look at Toboe in the eye. Toboe looked away from him for a moment.

"What happened was not murder Toboe. It was self defense. You tried to pull him back up. It's not your fault that the collar broke. Besides, who said he was dead?"

Toboe looks at him. "I know you think he is."

Tsume looked away for a moment before looking Toboe in the eyes. "It's kinda hard not to think that kid. But since there's no body, then who knows. If he is alive, then he'll turn up. Right now, we have to do what we can to survive."

Toboe looked at him again and said, "Thank you Tsume."

"No problem. Now try to catch some sleep. You need it."

"Okay, I will." Toboe yawned and then went to the back of the cave, laid down, and promply fell asleep.

Astra looked at him, shocked. He turned his eyes away from her and stared at the cave wall, the only other thing in his line of vision from where he lay on the floor. He closed his eyes and took several breaths before he opened them and looked at her again. "I don't even remember my own name," he whispered. "I don't know anything. I woke up here in intense pain. That's all I know. I had a dream that I remember. Well, more like a nightmare. But other than that, I don't remember anything. Who am I? Where am I? What was I doing? How did I get hurt. I have so many questions and I asume that the reason you asked my name is because you don't know who I am. Am I correct?"

"That would be correct. I don't know a damn thing about you."

"How did you find me?"

"Crazy and long story."

He looks away. He then looks at his injured leg and looks at his wrecked body. He looks back at Astra and says, "It looks like I have nothing but time. Why don't you indulge me?"

Astra sighed. She sat on her haunches and looked out the cave mouth, contemplating for a moment, then she turned back to him. "Alright, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to laugh or think I'm crazy. This whole story is gonna sound weird."

"I lost my memory," he said dryly. "It doesn't get anymore weirder than that."

"Good point," she said. She gave a sigh and than started her story. "I have always been a roamer ever since my pack was destroyed. I move around from place to place, just trying to survive. It's been alright so far. Here lately, I came down from up north. I had decided to travel with some traveling humans that live out in the wilds in hide structures. They were very peculiar. Nothing like humans I had seen before. These humans believe in all species being equal. Everything shared and no more value being placed on one over the other. They believed in wolves and welcomed any wolf that needed to stay with them for a while. Their Elder even made mention of a wolf they had raised when his pack was destroyed. This wolf felt a calling, something pulling at him and so he left to search for whatever he was supposed to find. They never saw him again as a matter of fact. Well, ever since I stayed with that tribe, I started having weird dreams. Dreams about fire, wolves howling in pain, Gun fire, and two wolf pups. One of those pups is me. I started reliving the destruction of my pack. The odd thing is, I started having dreams about a white wolf. I would see him standing with a snowy peak in the background. He would look at me with those piercing eyes, as if beconing me or challenging me. I started getting pulled to the south. It's like something was calling me, like an itch in my very soul. After a while, I started traveling west. Eventually I found you lying mostly dead out there in the snow.

Throughout her whole story, Kiba never said a word. He just kept his calm eyes on her, all the while, wondering what would have pulled her to him. What would have tugged at her very being? Was there some connection between the two of them?

"And that brings up the weirdest part. I don't know if this was a dream or a vision or what it was. I saw that same white wolf standing in a human's house. He was surrounded by two humans. One was an adult male and the other was a female child. There was a big brown wolf there as well as a cinnamon colored wolf with bracelets on his leg. He was laying on the floor as if he was dying. There was a weird girl there. Her eyes were red and her hair was lavendar. She had her hands on the injured wolf, a weird light was coming off of them. She was crying. The white wolf suddenly let out a howl that would curl your tail. It was the most amazingly sad howl I had ever heard in my life. It was almost as if this wolf's very soul was crying. It's hard to describe. I couldn't help but give a howl back. A howl that would make him know that everything would be okay. It was,...I don't know what it was, but when I howled to him, I felt a strange energy go through me. And then I felt drained. Even so, I felt like I had accomplished something great. It's too weird to explain."

He happened to notice the markings on her fur at this point of time. They were strange markings to say the least. The way the moonlight that was streaming into the cave was hitting her made it seem like the markings were glowing and the color of her eyes. It was like she held the moon itself in those eyes. He couldn't put his paw on it, but those eyes and markings seemed familiar somehow. She turned to him as she took a break from telling her story, gauging his reaction. He stared at her for a moment and then said, "You want weird? How about this. Ever since I have woken up, I feel like there is something I lost. No not my memory." He glared at her as she held back a sheepish smile for getting caught almost pointing out the obvious. He continued. "It's like I lost something precious to me and I feel like something or someone is calling to me. I keep hearing this voice. It's faint. But it sounds like it's telling me to find something. I just can't make out what." He looked at her and gave a smile. "I guess we're both crazy."

She gave a smile and said, "Well, get some sleep. It's gonna take you a long time to recover. Just keep in mind. Once you're back on your feet, we part ways. I don't travel with company."

He stared at her a moment with those piercing eyes. She supressed a shudder. It was almost like he was staring at her soul, gauging her as an entity, and finding her wanting. He finally gave a nod and laid his head back down and closed his eyes.

The brown and white she-wolf ran all through the night and on through the morning. The scent was getting stronger. She stopped and sniffed the air again, analyzing all the scents. One of them smelled very familiar but she couldn't tell from where. She started running again, desperate to catch up with these strange wolves. Her run continued on through the evening. She ran up a cliff face so she would have a better view through the valley. As she stood on the cliff, she scanned the area, trying to locate the wolves. At long last, she finally spotted them. She was just about to alert the trackers when she caught another scent in the air. It was the distinct smell of humans. She peered down through the trees and saw human vessels comming from several different directions. the trees ringed the area and came to a stop at the mountain face. The humans had the wolves boxed in. The humans converged onto the wolves and started to attack. The she-wolf gave a warning howl and then started running down the steep slope of the cliff, desperate to help these wolves.