It took them hours for the pack to make it to Jaguara's city. When they reached there, they all saw the domed city through the blizzard.
A green light broke through the darknes and it went into the clouds above them. It must've been the power source to the city inside of it. Hige found the pack a way inside the city undetected.
Sky had been taught to stay in her human form while they stayed in the city. The pup had been told to never reveal her true form to any human they come across.
They appeared from a hole that led to a garbage disposal area at the bottom of the city that way they wouldn't be spotted.
"Wow! It's so warm!" Toboe chuckled, running out of the tunnel first. "You were right, Uncle Hige!" Sky giggled, following behind him.
"I'm glad someone here agrees with me," Hige said, walking out before Luna, Kiba, and Tsume.
Luna caught the horrendous smell when she walked in. Her face contorted when she caught wind of it.
"Hige, did you have any idea this place was here?" Kiba asked. Hige glanced back at the white wolf for a second before he shrugged his shoulders smuggly.
"Can't say for sure. It's gotta be my keen instinct," he replied. Luna rolled her eyes and kept her arm around Sky's shoulders.
"You sure about that, Hige?" she asked him. "Hey, unlike Kiba, he uses it more than I do," Hige replied. He did have a good point there.
Toboe walked a little further and Sky caught up with him. "Look at the ceiling! It's so tall!" Sky commented, smiling upwards at the ceiling.
"Yeah, it's the biggest one I've ever seen!" Toboe agreed, laughing amusingly.
The others started to figure out what they were gonna do so they could get Cheza back. Since Sky had never met the flower maiden, she had been told about her while she stayed with them before she got taken.
"Okay, we need to come up with a plan," Luna said, bringing the pack back to reality.
"Well, we know for one thing, Cheza's definitely here," Kiba responded.
Hige walked over to them and rubbed the back of his neck. "If that's what we're doing, then we need to go in that direction," he said, pointing towards the right.
The pack looked at him, completely puzzled. How would he know about that?
'Grrrr,' Hige's stomach suddenly rumbled.
"Hige, we just ate not that long ago. How could you be hungry already?" Luna asked, a little annoyed with this.
"Ah, come on. I'm pretty sure Sky's hungry too!" Hige whined, scratching the back of his head.
"It's because she's still a pup, Porky," Tsume responded. "Dad, be nice!" Sky scolded.
Luna smiled at this and kneeled down in front of Sky. "You getting hungry, Sky?" she asked.
"A little," Sky answered. "Eh, how about this? Why don't we break up into teams? Luna, you, Tsume, and Kiba find information! And the kids and I will go scope out the joint, 'kay?" Hige suggested.
"Don't you mean scope out the food?" Tsume said. Hige held up his hands as if to surrender.
"Don't worry, we'll bring enough for everybody. Sky could be my look out," Hige announced.
Sky got excited when Hige suggested this. "Can I go with them, Mama? Please? Please, Daddy!" she begged.
Both Luna and Tsume weren't sure about letting Sky go with them. Hige wasn't all that responsible with pupsitting.
"Hige, if you let her out of your sight, you know what will happen," Tsume threatened, making his instructions clear.
"You and Luna got nothing to worry about! We'll keep her in our sight!" Hige said.
"Yeah, we got this!" Toboe said, using a fist to pound his chest.
"Sky, you stay with Uncle Hige and Uncle Toboe, you understand? You know the rule when you see humans?" Luna told her directly.
"Yes. No turning to your wolf form. Gotcha," Sky answered confidently. "That's my girl," Luna smiled, giving Sky a kiss on the cheek.
Sky ran to her father and hugged him around the waist. "Bye, Daddy!" she exclaimed.
Tsume hugged her back. "Bye, sweetheart," he said with a smile.
Sky went over to Hige and Toboe after giving Kiba a quick hug, feeling excited about going with them.
"Okay, we're gonna be less suspicious if we split up. Remember to keep Sky in your eyesight while you're looking for the food," Luna said, reminding the two wolves about watching Sky.
"We will! Don't worry about us," Toboe said. "Sweet! So it's a plan. When it's moonhigh, let's all meet back here," Hige added, giving the others a thumbs up.
"I'll race ya!" Sky said to Hige and Toboe, who ran ahead of them. Hige and Toboe followed suit, staying close to the young pup.
(Blue and Cher)
Meanwhile, Blue and Cher had gotten in easily. They didn't have to get ID tags so they could blend in with the humans; especially Blue.
Blue had seen a man that had two ID tags on his person. They ambushed him and get him in an alleyway.
After roughing him up a bit, Blue held him against the wall by the collar of his shirt.
"What the hell!? You bitches tricked me!" He exclaimed.
All Blue did was grin at the brusied man. "Want to get hit again?" she said. They wouldn't stop until Blue and Cher got what they wanted.
"O-Okay! Okay, damn it! Take them!" The man shouted, handing over both tags. Blue smiled with satisfaction.
Blue lets the man go and gave one of the tags to Cher. "There. Now was that so hard? All you had to do was cooperate. You wouldn't have gotten any bruises if you had," Blue said.
Cher knelt down and poked the man's bruised cheek. "Try to remember this: Flowers have thorns," she tells the man before getting up.
They slipped on their ID tags and walked away from the man; both felt proud they just robbed somebody of their tags.
(Hige, Toboe, Sky)
The three had made it to the other side of town. Hige was walking way ahead of Toboe and Sky.
"Hige, wait up!" Toboe called, running to catch up with him. "You're going too fast!" Sky exclaimed.
"Just up ahead... there's an elevator. Past that..." Hige muttered, looking as if he was distracted by something.
"Hmm? What's he talking about?" Sky whispered, glancing up at Toboe. "I don't know..." Toboe whispered back.
They found said elevator a few minutes after that in a run down alleyway. It looked as if it hadn't served it's purpose in a long while.
"Whoa, it's really here! You're magic!" Sky exclaimed, amazed. Toboe was just as amazed tht Hige knew where this elevator was.
The three wolves board the elevator and Hige pressed the button so they could get to the next level. Surprisingly, Sky wasn't scared of the rickety elevator. She was excited to see where this adventure was gonna go.
"This should point us in the right direction," Hige said, looking upwards with as grin.
"I don't know, Hige. We should go back," Toboe suggested, feeling uneasy about being in this elevator.
"C'mon, Uncle Toboe, is isn't so bad!" Sky said excitedly. Hige grinned at the energized pup.
"See? Sky's excited for this. We'll be fine. Let's see what this place has to offer," Hige concurred. Both Hige and Sky were okay with this, but Toboe wasn't hiding the fact this whole thing was making him nervous.
Something about this city seemed strange to him. They exit the elevator once it reached the upper level.
"Hige, have you been here before?" Toboe asked him. The three walk down the dirty street inconspicously.
"Nope. You gotta have great instincts like me to get a good feel for things," Hige replied in a cool manner.
What the three wolves missed, was a security camera that happened to be sitting in the back of the alleyway, watching their every move.
They walked down another street where various humans that had seen the three.
"This place is so big!" Sky said, looking around the city with curious eyes. "Yeah, There's plenty of food and water here for all of us," Toboe said, also looking around.
There was an abundance of food and plenty of water to tide the pack over for the time being.
"After turning the corner up ahead, there's a big stairway that leads up," Hige continued to mutter. Sky and Toboewas starting to worry about him.
Just as he said, they had found a long stairway when they turned the corner. "Wow, you really are magic, Uncle Hige," Sky said, eyes widened.
Magic was one way to describe Hige. He knew what's aroound every corner even though they've never been here before.
Suddenly, two teenage boys flew down the stairs on their skateboards, nearly running the three wolves over. Sky yelped and grabbed onto Toboe, who held onto her.
Hige threw a fist at them out of anger. "You idiots! Watch where you're going!" he cursed them.
The boy in the back only laughed and they kept going. Hige sighed and lowered his fist. "Looks like there are others like Tsume too," Toboe said while blinking.
(Kiba, Tsume, and Luna)
The other three wolves had made it to an upper level of a building. They had a much better vantage point of the city. They could also see the entrance to Jaguara's keep.
But they had one problem. There were soldiers blocking it so they wouldn't be able to get in through there.
"Well, front's blocked. You two have any ideas?" Luna asked, looking at Tsume and Kiba.
"You're right. Going through the front is suicide," Tsume agreed, standing close to her.
Kiba and Luna look at him with a raised grin. "I thought you weren't scared, Tsume," Kiba said. "I'm not. Just seems futile," Tsume replied.
"Wry man's words. You two want to find another way in?" Kiba said.
"Yeah, we should ask around. See if anybody knows another way in," Luna replied, shrugging her shoulders.
Her mate and friend nod at her and they left that area. Both Luna and Tsume worried about Sky and hoped that their daughter was still under Hige and Toboe's eye.
(Hige, Toboe, and Sky)
Hige, Toboe, and Sky walked through the most immaculate city they've been in. They caught that there wasn't any scent whatsoever.
Toboe and Sky both felt uneasy. "Why isn't there any scent here?" Toboe asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Who knows? Maybe that Jaguara lady's a clean freak," Hige answered, shrugging his shoulders.
He started to pick up the pace. His head started to ache incessantly, making him stop walking. He held his head and groaned.
"Uncle Hige, you okay?" Sky asked, looking up at the mexican wolf worriedly.
"My head... It won't stop pounding the longer I try to think," he answered her.
"Probably the strain hadn't got to you yet," Toboe said with a grin. Hige glared at the red wolf, clearly uncomfortable.
"Hige, tell us what's wrong," the red wolf said. "Nothing's going on, okay?!" Hige argued, becoming more agitated by the second.
He was on edge from how he sounded. "But... you've been acting weird since we got here," Sky said, worried for him.
"You two get the hell off my back already!" Hige snapped at them, glaring at both of him. He then took off in a run.
"Hige!" Toboe shouted. Sky looked hurt when Hige raised his voice. They had to go after him. "C'mon, Sky," Toboe said, taking the pup by her hand.
They chased after Hige in a sprint. They found him standing in front of a statue of Lady Jaguara in armor. The longer Hige stared at it, the more his head burned and ached.
"AGH!" he screamed, grabbing his head. It felt as though several nails were being hammered into his head all at once.
He takes off running to the left in sheer terror through the woods. "Hige!" Toboe cried.
The two were in hot pursuit of Hige until they reached a road. Hige leapt across it with his eyes closed.
Toboe and Sky try to cross too but they were sopped by a truck that passed by.
"Hige... HIGE!" Toboe cried out. But Hige wasn't in sight; Hige was gone. "No... where is he?" Sky gasped, tears rising in her mix-matched eyes.
(Luna, Tsume, and Kiba)
The three wolves had spent another hour trying to find a way inside the keep, but they came up with nothing.
They found themselves in an alleyway that looked very dirty. The sound of a slamming door caught all of their attention.
"THEIVES!" a man shouted. The three see the same boys that nearly crashed into Hige, Toboe, and Sky earlier. Both boys were carrying sacks in their arms.
Luna and Kiba chuckled when they saw this. "This remind you of someone?" Kiba said with a smile. Luna glanced up at her mate with a confident smile.
"You're not the only to steal just to survive. Sky is defintely your daughter. Besides, what ever happened to that guy?" Luna said. Sky was becoming more like Tsume everyday.
"Yeah, she definitely is. He isn't the same guy that he once was. Those kids know this alley better than anyone I've ever known," Tsume replied with a smile.
Luna knew him very well at this point. That part of him was still there.
They decided to interrogate them. Tsume and Luna decided to get the jump on them.
At the right moment, both wolves jumped down in front of the boys.
Needless to say, the boys jumped out of their skin. "Whoa, what the hell do you two want?" the boy with a hat on his head exclaimed.
"Nah, keep walking, pal. I ain't doing any handouts. Get your own food. Maybe you can leave the lady here with us," the boy said, making flirty advances towards Luna.
Tsume became protective of his mate and he stood in front of her. "You touch her and you'll regret it," he threatened.
Luna, however, wasn't scared of these boys. "They don't scare me. *Looks at the boys* Look, if you give us what we're looking for, we'll leave," Luna said.
However, those boys wouldn't cooperate with them and took a swing at her. Tsume growled and used his body weight to push the boy into the wall.
The wind was knocked out of the boy and he glanced up at Tsume and Luna.
Luna quickly sees the glint of a pistol in the boys' jacket. He quickly took it out and started to fire multiple shots at the wolves. One bullet tore through the bag of food he was carrying.
The other boy had a bat in his hands, ready to use it. Luna charged at him and kicked the bat out of his hand swiftly. Kiba had knocked the gun from the other boys' hand.
When he landed on the other side of the boys, the white wolf turned and glared at them.
"You guys are so cool!" the second boy exclaimed excitedly. The three wolves were happy to see that they were getting their point across.
The two boys sat down against the wall. "Alright, alright, I'll bite. Where are you three from?" the boy with the hat asked.
"Here and there," Luna answered. "You're not the only ones. Verbal and I have been from every city that you can think of. Word is that this is the best place to check it out," the first boy said, using his thumb to point at Verbal.
It was surprising that these kids have been on the move just like the pack was, but it was for a different reason.
"Alright. Reason we're here is to find a way inside the keep. Do you two know a way inside?" Tsume asked.
"Wait, you mean Jaguara's keep?" the boy with the hat said.
The three wolves nod at them. Both boys glanced up at the grey wolf and looked as if they were criminals.
"You three can't go in there! There's no way you'll be able to make it in there," the boy said in shock.
They were unfazed by this. Those soldiers won't stop them from getting inside; they were getting in there one way or another.
On the behalf of Kiba, they needed to get Cheza from her.
"Look, the thing we're looking for is in that keep. Someone of ours is in there," Kiba said in a calm tone.
"So you're saying that you three want to steal them back from that noble? You must think I'm a sucker," the boy said with a scoff.
"We're dead serious. We have to go in there," Luna piped in. "Are you serious!? That's suicide! Jaguara is a noble you don't want to get tangled up with! We heard that she's a witch that casts crazy spells!" he shouted again, doing hand motions for emphasis.
Luna sighed and knelt down to get to their eye level. "Listen, we don't give a damn about what she's doing. There's one thing we came here for one thing and its in that keep. Do you know a way in or not?" Luna asked seriously.
At Luna's response, both boys were wide eyed but sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, we do. We can take you three to the back door. But you're asking to get into trouble. But what do I care?" the same boy said.
Luna stood back up with a satisfied grin on her face. "That'll be enough. When we get inside, the three of us can take it from there," Kiba replied.
"Damn, you guys are cool," the first boy said, blinking at their confidence with amazement.
And with that, the boys led the group to a huge ditch that was filled with cables inside of pipes. "This is the right place. Nobody has followed it. These pipes run through the keep so you guys should be able to get inside easily," the first boy said.
Luna got an uneasy feeling in her chest. "Tell me that I'm not the only one feeling that," she whispered. "You're not the only one," Tsume replied, having that same feeling.
"It's like basking in the moonlight. It's getting worse by the minute," Kiba said.
Those kids had backed up a little bit so they could give the group some space.
"You know, Hige, Toboe, and Sky might be wondering where they are," Kiba added, looking at Luna and Tsume.
A pang of worry got to Luna and Tsume. "I don't want to have to kill Hige if he lost her. But, we all know Sky knows to stay with them. Besides, you want to go back?" Luna said, looking at the white wolf.
"Luna's right. Sky will be fine for sure. Do you want to quit?" Tsume added, putting an arm around Luna's waist.
Kiba was left speechless. "Let's keep going. If we can't get in through here, we'll go find them," Tsume said, more worrying for his daughter than the others.
"We gotta have faith that they find us before we find them," Luna beamed.
The two male wolves nodded at her before they jumped down to the pipes as swift as the wind. The two boys watched as they bounded away.
"Good luck, wolves. You can do it," Verbal said. The first boy gasped and glanced at him.
(Hige)
Meanwhile, Hige was staggering against a wall, breathing heavily. He held his head as another wave of pain hit him. Each wave got worse and worse.
"Shit! What the hell wrong with me? Why am I...?" he cursed, seeing the glint of a gun from his perephrial vision. He quickly looked over with a deer in the headlights look.
Two soldiers with air guns were coming towards him with their weapons raised.
He gasped and tried making a run for it but one soldier fired his gun, blowing Hige over the ledge. "AHHHHH!" he screamed as he fell over the ledge.
When he landed on the ground, Hige managed to walk away but unfortunately he ran into a dead end.
He saw that those soldiers were coming his way with his guns raised., making him shake in fear.
His head burned again and he screamed from the horrendous pain, holding his head. He fell to the ground on his side.
His vision became cloudy and he could see double. He believed that they were going to kill him now.
One of the soldiers knelt down and lifted Hige's collar to get a good look at it.
"Number 23? Doesn't look like anyone else is with him. Come on, let's go," he said, getting to his feet.
The soldiers turned and walked away from Hige, leaving him stunned.
He pushed himself up so he was sitting up. "Wh...Why did they spare me? I don't get it..." he asked himself.
"Agh!" he grunted, feeling his head ache again. He grabbed his hair and shook from his head burning like fire again.
"My head! What's going on!?" he cried, tears in his eyes. It was getting worse and worse...