key: 'wolf speech' / "human speech"
Making Me Blue
"Looks broken."
"No, it's just out of place." She drew away and pondered for a moment, "I remember Mum telling me that all you have to do is pull to get the bone back in place…"
He shuffled away, "You're not exactly in good shape at the moment either, so I'm not lettin' you near my arm…"
"Tsume," she rubbed her neck gingerly and looked up at him through one brown eye, "You won't run good if you don't let her set it." She reasoned.
Outnumbered by both females, the older wolf exhaled shortly and sat back down, "Don't look so smug." He warned them both, granted he was scowling at the younger of the two.
Kiba straightened from seeing that the other two younger males were resting well –one he was more confident in than the latter, as the former was snoring like a bear—and looked at the remaining trio only to wince slightly when hearing the noticeable crack of bone and hissed curse that shortly followed come from the oldest of their pack. He sat down by the younger she-wolf who was still rubbing her neck. "Wondering if I should worry about her forcefulness…" He muttered as his gaze rested on the 'nurse'.
Eri chuckled wryly, "I would, but then again I'm not the alpha here." She patted his shoulder. "Maybe ya should see if Kiba needs any bones reset too, Nikki…" She wondered, smiling when said wolf stiffened at her side.
"Cut the scare tactics for once, brat," Tsume put in, rubbing his tender arm, catching the defeated pout on her face. He nodded to his sister who was smirking bemusedly at the thought, "Thanks for that."
"You should've wired his jaw shut in the process," Eri lamented before giving a squeak when she was helped up from the felled piece of low-bearing steel to be dragged away by the gray wolf, "Tsume I'm sorry…!"
"Get some sleep instead of running your mouth, wouldja?" Tsume advised dryly, releasing her yellow coat hood, deciding to give his sister time to rest.
Nikki raised a brow in confusion before looking at the amused expression on her mate's face, "What just happened?" She wondered.
"I'm trying to figure it out myself, but… looks like love." Kiba shrugged as he met her gaze, sitting down on the steel piece where Eri had sat. "Strange as it is." He added thoughtfully.
"I've seen stranger," Nikki mused with a shake of her head, sitting with him, regarding the dirt and bits of dried blood on his paler skin and asking quietly, "You okay?"
A rather vain question, given what they had just survived, but someone had to worry about him right?
Kiba quieted and glanced up at the high windows before them. "The moon was red… I've only seen a red moon once before." He noted.
Nikki frowned softly and reminded, "I told you once that you don't have to carry the world on your shoulders… At least not while I'm standing with you." Blue met green.
Kiba looked away for a moment, seeing something she couldn't, and he exhaled, "I know that now…" He then told her what had happened when he was small, how his pack had died and left him alone in the world… When he finished he was briefly surprised she rested her head on his shoulder and had bunched a hand in his shirt, wondering for a moment if she had fallen asleep on him.
"I had Tsume to face the world with, when we lost our pack, but I… I can't imagine going it alone for so long." Nikki whispered as the stillness of the warehouse settled around them, feeling his arm that had reflexively folded on her shoulders give a squeeze, and she nuzzled his neck. "The more I think about it, the more I believe we were meant to meet back in Freeze City." She mused softly.
Kiba smiled thoughtfully at that, "nothing surprises me at this point, except for what happened that day." He held her closer as he thought of the night's events, raising a brow when she slightly drew away to lock stares before she leaned in to kiss him. He groaned as quietly as possible given their sleeping pack nearby, releasing her shoulders in favor of curling his fingers in her hair, reciprocating possessively and finding the eagerness in her kisses to be another surprise.
Nikki drew away with a soft squeak of surprise when she slumped into his lap, blinking once before her cheeks colored as he also blinked at the break, looking at the green on his jacket collar and finding interest in it even as he was valiantly trying to not laugh. "S-shut up…" She grumbled.
Kiba tilted her chin up so their stares met, noting the blush darkening her already-tanned skin, running his fingers through her hair. "You really are cute when you try." He said quietly, smiling even though she flushed and stuck out her bottom lip as was her way, leaning in to kiss her again.
::::x x::::
Frustrated with the overall lack of movement around him, Hige looked at his pack. "Look, I'm just as shocked as you guys, but that's not gonna help us figure out what the hell to do now! Are we just gonna mope around for the rest of our lives? Someone say something, damn it! Kiba, neither you or Nikki have said a word since all this happened…"
Eri clipped the word, "Don't."
"Drop it, Porky." Tsume sharply cut in.
Toboe quickly chimed, "Yeah, Kiba and Nikki were hurt the most, remember?"
Giving a short exhale, the black wolf straightened to start pacing and slightly surprised the five. "Since shit already hit the fan, Hige has a point. We need to get her back… That creep just waltzed in and took her away like before, and nearly got us in the process." Her voice quieted at the last six words and she bristled, stopping to look at her pack and finishing with a determined scowl on her brow, "I dunno about you lot, but I got first dibs on tearing his throat out."
Briefly surprised such determination had come from his mate, Kiba considered amending before they all heard shouting coming from outside of the warehouse they had been holed up in, his ears twitching when hearing the noise approaching.
A blur of black dashed into the open doorway and skidded to a halt right then with dust flying from the run, before it cleared to reveal the familiar wolf-dog, surprising the pack. The black dog's form changed to that of a girl near identical to the older she-wolf save her hair was wilder and her eyes were a clear blue.
"Wow, what a babe!" Hige said with a goofy grin in place.
Nikki deadpanned before her ears perked as the half-breed's three pursuers came into the warehouse.
Eri bristled and glanced at Tsume as he slightly shuffled to protect her.
"She's got friends." The thug wearing a beanie huffed.
Hige nearly flew in to defend the new wolf, prompting a look from the other two women, "And what's it to ya?" He asked bravely.
"Hand over the girl." The second thug in a suit ordered.
"Why should we?" Hige demanded as the second thug had seemed to take note of their females.
White-suit nodded to both black-suit and beanie-boy to advance on the wolves, remarking coolly, "You lot aren't from around here, I can see… That bitch is our merchandise, but now that I'm lookin' at you, I think we struck gold. Right boys?" He eyed the black wolf from toe to head before doing the same to the light-gray wolf as his friends shared a chuckle.
"Was that meant as a compliment?" Eri wondered sweetly as she and Nikki traded glances and came to the same conclusion.
Nikki smiled serenely as she approached white-suit, "I believe so! Gentlemen, as much as we sorely hate to disappoint you, you've caught us in a bad. mood…!" She slammed her left boot right up his groin, causing him to swear colorfully and drop to his knees.
"Bitch!" The black-suit snarled as he and the beanie-wearing thug flew at the she-wolf.
Eri sharply thrust her fist out and decked black-suit right in the cheek "Oops!"
"Looks like you dumbasses struck out!" A streak of gray head-butted beanie-boy who had gotten closer to Eri, knocking him away.
Kiba sprang on white-suit when he regained his bearings and rushed Nikki, pinning him as Hige had pinned beanie-boy, teeth bared when white-suit focused on what he was. He snapped his teeth as the third thug screamed something about the 'Curse of the House of Darcia', causing his prey to flinch, before he led the way out of the warehouse at a sprint and heard the six wolves shortly follow.
::::x x::::
Tsume laughed, "did you see the looks on their faces?"
"That was so cool, you guys!" Toboe said as he looked at the two she-wolves.
"That's one way to snap out of it." Kiba mused as he looked to his lover from his seat on a slab of concrete, smiling fondly when her cheeks colored.
Nikki smiled shyly and sat with him on the slab, "You okay?" She wondered, receiving a nod.
"Are you all right?" Hige wondered of the third she-wolf.
Said female nodded with a small smile, "Yeah, thanks for the help."
"We didn't do it for you, y'know… They just caught us in a bad mood, that's all." Tsume huffed as he scowled at her.
Hige made a face. "She was just thanking us; sheesh, don't be so hard on her, it's not like we meet new girls every time, y'know… Oh yeah, I'm Hige!" He turned to her with a bright smile.
"My name's Blue." She smiled back before looking at the four, "Guess it's been a while, huh?"
"Hold it, you know each other?" Eri wondered as she looked at Tsume.
Kiba shrugged as he glanced at the new she-wolf, "Something like that."
"You did some really crappy things to us with that human." Tsume agreed bitingly.
Nikki's brow twitched and she proceeded to straighten and backhand both gray and white wolves, stepping down to greet the she-wolf properly. "Don't mind them, they're just… well, acting like pups. The name's Nikki; that brainless jerk is Kiba and the major asshat is my older brother, Tsume. Sorry we didn't really meet the last time." She said with a warm smile that surprised the tan wolf.
"Since when are you so nice?" Hige, Kiba and Tsume demanded in chorus.
"Shut it!" Nikki snapped annoyedly as she glared at all three of them.
Eri snorted amusedly and giggled at the otherwise-sore expressions on the trio's faces.
Blue caught the pup's confused look and she couldn't help but laugh quietly. "Well anyway, thanks for helping." She said.
"Um, that old guy you were with… where is he?" Toboe piped up as he looked to the wolf-dog.
"Oh yeah, him… Well, something happened and we split up." Blue explained albeit lamely, glancing away.
Kiba noted, "He was still tracking us in the last town we were in."
Blue nodded and looked elsewhere again, "I know he was… Pops would track down a wolf to the ends of the earth."
Eri slightly tilted her head, asking, "You're part wolf, though, right?"
"Hey, isn't that girl with you guys? The one you were traveling with… She had a, well, a strange scent." Blue asked hopefully as she changed topic.
Toboe blinked once in surprise, "'A girl'… You mean Cheza?"
Hige popped in before the melancholy could surmount again, "Oh that, well let's just not talk about it! Why don't we look for some food; we did just bump into each other, y'know, and it's kinda dangerous out there for a girl on her own in this town…" He smiled cheesily at the half-wolf.
"Fat chance, Porky!" Tsume scoffed, seeing said wolf flinch.
"And why not?" Hige hissed between gritted teeth.
Tsume folded his arms at his chest, "Like I'd run with her; she did everything she could to hunt us down."
"You weren't the one she helped chase down," Toboe agreed when the tan wolf started to protest.
Blue shook her head and smirked ruefully, "It's fine, I wouldn't want to hang with a bunch of pups anyway. See you around," she looked to both she-wolves before leaving the pack with her hands in her overcoat pockets.
"H-hey, they're just bein' a little cold! Wait up!" Hige exclaimed before he scampered off after her.
Eri shook her head and looked at the pup who called after him, "He'll come back, Toboe, don't worry."
Kiba nodded slightly when the pup looked at them, "When we were back in that last town, she found out she was half-wolf. Cheza told her."
"'Half-wolf'?" Toboe echoed.
Nikki added with a small smile, "that part of her must have reacted when she met Cheza." She looked to her brother and asked, "what's with you? You can't honestly still be pissed about what happened in the dome…"
"I'm surprised you're not. You were pretty pissed when her pet shot Kiba last time." Tsume remarked with a slight nod at said wolf.
"He's not here with her, Tsume. Blue seemed sincere about meeting Cheza, at least before you and your big mouth shot that out of the sky." Eri defended as she hopped up to his place at the top of the mound, sitting with him.
Tsume closed his mouth and scowled at her, looking elsewhere with a puff. "I think you're hanging with my sister too much, considering that stunt you two just pulled." He mused.
Kiba smirked as the younger wolf smiled smugly, "it's almost scary… almost." He agreed.
Nikki returned to where he sat near the top of the mound and plopped down, "It's not easy being the only girls in the pack. Do you have any idea how exhausting it's been keeping you two from tearing into each other to prove who's alpha?" She made a face.
"Now you understand the hell I went through keeping you alive in the city…" Tsume returned dryly, ducking when she threw a tattered sneaker at his head.
::::x x::::
A breeze blew across the outlook.
Kiba glanced at his other half to recognize the hint of worry that darkened her blue eyes when she thought he wasn't looking, and his right elbow gently nudged her left. "We'll get her back." He quietly assured when she glanced up at him.
"I know we will…" Nikki exhaled softly as she looked ahead, slightly hunching her shoulders. "I just, I can't shake this anxiety that I felt, that night he took her." She confessed, expecting him to assure her that they were going to be fine, that she had nothing to worry about…
But that wasn't the case. "That makes two of us." Kiba acknowledged the slight surprise in her eyes and another breeze blew past them. "I lost enough before we met, but I don't plan to lose you too." He said as the horrible thought of her death scared him to his core.
And he was not one for fear.
"Kiba…" She began before quieting and puffing a bit of air, leaning on him and closing her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, remember?" She murmured.
His green eyes softened as he looked at her, "You're still too cocky." He mused with a quiet chuckle, catching her slightly exasperated smile when she drew back.
"… 'Paradise' huh?" Blue wondered thoughtfully behind them, drawing the couple back to reality.
Hige answered matter-of-factly, "We're all trying to make our way to Paradise… It's something every wolf has to try and do. You're going with us to find it, aren't you, Blue?" He looked at her.
Blue shrugged, "sounds tempting, but I can't go."
"Then I'm not going either." Hige stated.
Nikki rolled her eyes when Kiba glanced at her, offering as they had both turned to the pack, "It'd be safer if you stuck around the humans, Blue… If that's what you're worried about."
Kiba agreed despite the distraught look on the tan wolf's face, "She's right, it's not too late to turn back."
"What the hell're you saying, guys…?" Hige asked incredulously.
Blue shook her head, "But I have no intention of going back, not to the way I was… Not now. I just need to find out what I really am."
Eri stepped off the outlook's ledge, "Then come with us. We can go to Paradise together… Come on, Blue." She said, smiling excitedly at having another girl present.
Nikki stuck her hands in her coat pockets and agreed, "Eri's right… All you can do from here is keep going."
"That's right, all you can do is move forward, right? Right?" Hige jumped up as if he had suddenly gotten an epiphany.
It was Kiba's turn to roll his eyes.
Tsume snorted quietly, "Oh yeah, I can see right through ya, Porky."
"If only Cheza was here… Ow!" Toboe muttered before he was lightly whacked by the pudgy wolf.
Hige made a face, "I told you not to say that… All right, on to Paradise…!" He said excitedly and pointed south.
"We're headed west, genius!" Nikki cut in patiently, nodding in the intended direction when all eyes fell on her.
Eri raised a brow, "but Paradise isn't over there."
"Darcia's keep is." Kiba stated.
Tsume caught on first and he frowned, pointing out, "she left us on her own, remember, Kiba? That freak will be there too… we might actually get killed this time."
"Cheza left to protect us, and she's waiting there. Don't worry about him, either… I already called dibs." Nikki huffed, momentarily wondering if he could read her mind; not that she doubted it, given that he was her brother.
Recognizing the cocky edge in her tone, Tsume smirked wryly. "Like I said, you're insane if you think I'm letting you go it alone, Nik."
an: not much to put, just that i'm posting an update for this on tumblr too if anyone wants to know. elsewise, later guys! C: