Wolf's Pride
folder
+S to Z › Wolf's Rain
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
4
Views:
3,470
Reviews:
16
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
+S to Z › Wolf's Rain
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
4
Views:
3,470
Reviews:
16
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Wolfs Rain, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
The Storm
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Chapter Two:
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The night passed without any further irritation on his part, though sleep evaded him for the most part. What rest he did find consisted in dozing for fifteen minutes to an hour, as far as he could figure, before waking up again to a sleepy snort from Hige's direction, and then dozing back off. This did not bode well for his mood the following morning.
The snow hadn't stopped yet, which surprised him. The pattern since leaving the dome seemed to be brutally cold and windy by night, and scorchingly hot by day, but it seemed the clouds had remained over the land and the storm had not yet wrung itself dry. Which meant slow and sleepy trudging through a foot or more of the white stuff upon waking.
Kiba seemed unbothered by the continuation of the storm, and started out into the blistering winds almost as soon as everyone was awake and alert. Toboe and Hige were quick to follow close to his heels, and Tsume himself could figure a sort of reasoning to that. The white wolf would be a chore to find if he got too far ahead, even with Hige's keen sense of smell.
Well, he didn't particularly care if he lost sight of them, anyway. He'd have an excuse to head on solo. So, as per norm, he stuck to the back end of the group, head set low, determined to ignore the snow, the other wolves, and the situation, and simply keep moving.
It was about midday before the inevitable complaint arose.
"Man, I'm starving..."
Funny. He'd expected Porky to pipe up about his rumbling stomach alot sooner.
As usual, Kiba supplied the unintentional pep talk. "We're not far from a forest near the base of the mountains...once the storm lifts, we should be able to find food there," he replied calmly, not even looking back. So determined...even Tsume had to grudgingly admit, you couldn't help but take an interest in someone that sure of themselves.
"How do we even know we're going the right way?" Toboe spoke up meekly, lifting his head against the sharp sting of the wind. "I can't tell which direction is which...its all just white!"
The kid had a valid point, but Kiba shrugged it off readily. "I've passed this way before...we're passing over a river that's frozen over, right now. It's that we're following."
A river? Tsume's eyes darted down. He could see nothing but thick packed snow, and their pawprints left behind. It looked like solid ground beneath them to him. How did Kiba know there was a river here?
Toboe shivered. He hadn't nearly the coat to protect him that the older wolves did, and was suffering for it now. "When is the storm going to clear up?"
Hige snorted. "Does he look like the frickin' weather man, runt? Don't be such a whiner. Just suck it up, will you?"
"I told you, it's Toboe! Stop calling me runt! I DO have a name!"
Looked like the weather was making sure he wasn't the only irritable one around, coupled with the fact that they still hadn't had anything to eat since leaving the city. His own hunger was gnawing away at his insides, and he wasn't in the mood to listen to much more of this. He finally lifted his head to glare stonily at the both of them. "If you two spent as much energy on walking instead of bickering, we'd likely be to the next town already," he growled. Toboe, at least, fell silent, but Hige merely grumbled on.
"Who asked you? Suddenly you're in charge?" the stocky tan wolf shot back, though not returning the glare. Wisely enough...he was mostly fat and fluff anyway, and picking a fight wouldn't have been in his favor.
"Tch. Don't make me laugh. If I were in charge, we wouldn't be out here in this blizzard to begin with," he snapped.
"It won't be much longer until we can find shelter for a few hours...the storm's blowing itself out," Kiba finally spoke up again, turning to survey them with a sort of distanced disdain. Tsume -hated- that look. So fucking superior, aren't you? It stung, it really did, especially knew when the kid's strength mostly lay in his blind faith in Paradise.
He'd still dearly love the opportunity to finish their earlier match, prove who SHOULD be in charge, but in the middle of nowhere, and Kiba the only one who showed an inkling of knowing how to get around, it wasn't in anyone's best interests.
The minute they DID get somewhere secure....
Assuming they did.
Kiba's interference did one thing, at least...they were silent until evening, each bearing through the weather and hunger as best they could. Toboe, however, was starting falter in his steps, slowly dragging behind until he was nearly side by side with the grey wolf. His breath, obviously labored after a day of nothing but walking, panted out in faint misty clouds, ears and tail set low. He was obviously shivering beneath his coat, even in the poor visibility the snow provided. His eyes, as usual, were easy to read.
'So tired...gotta keep going...'
He -was- trying, Tsume realized...and this journey was taxing him worse than any of the rest of them. Again, despite himself, he was reminded of Gel...of that childlike determination, because his mind couldn't grasp how truly dangerous it was.
He almost spoke up at that point. To say what, he didn't know. Something encouraging, perhaps. The fact of the matter being he never got to say it, and if he had, it was unlikely the kid would have heard him anyway.
A sudden, violent gust of wind nearly flattened all of them to the ground, howling raspily in their ears and sending wave after wave of cold difts of snow on top of them. The rust-colored pup ducked low to the ground, and Tsume shifted to stand in front of him, taking the brunt of the bone-chilling wind himself. Ahead, Kiba and Hige braced themselves against the brutal air current, the snow stinging in their eyes and noses...the two things that would lead them on.
It showed no sign of letting up or letting them continue on this way. They were walking straight into it.
"There was another rock formation not far back! We should head there until the wind settles down!" Hige called over the swelling roar of the storm.
It seemed the only thing to do, and Kiba knew it. And from the look of it, he was not happy about it.
"Fine! Let's turn around!"
There was no complaint in the plan this time, not even from Tsume. They turned, backs to the wind, and plunged onward. "Blowing itself out, is it?!" Tsume snarled as Kiba passed him. "Should have known..."
The white wolf merely growled low in his throat and ignored him otherwise.
Tsume shook his head, trying to clear the snow from his eyes, feeling nearly frozen now as the drifts swept up around them like some giant white ocean, intent on swallowing them. He could barely see, could only force himself in the direction he was sure they had come before, his legs leaden as he pushed them ahead, dragging himself through the swirl of ice and wind.
And then, he could see it...a dark outline in the white. The entrance to yet another cave. Hige was already loping through the snow at full speed, leaving deep gouges in the snow behind him. He had to admit, though, it was a pretty welcome sight at the moment. If for no other reason than a chance to rest a while longer...
Thoroughly shaking himself of the snow, he padded in alongside the others, sinking onto a nearby rock and letting out a breath of relief. Hige was lying somewhere on his back, panting. Probably never had a work-out like that in his life...might lose some of that fat, after all, he thought to himself with an inward chuckle.
Though he, himself, was looking forward to a bit of a breather himself...
But Kiba...Kiba was still standing at the entrance to the cave, ears up and alert. Not at rest at all, nor showing any sign of relief. As if...searching for something. Tsume lifted his head, following his gaze with a frown. What could he be looking for in a storm like...
Suddenly it hit him.
There were only three of them in the cave.
"Toboe..."
The red wolf was nowhere in sight.
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End Chapter Two
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Chapter Two:
------------------------------------
The night passed without any further irritation on his part, though sleep evaded him for the most part. What rest he did find consisted in dozing for fifteen minutes to an hour, as far as he could figure, before waking up again to a sleepy snort from Hige's direction, and then dozing back off. This did not bode well for his mood the following morning.
The snow hadn't stopped yet, which surprised him. The pattern since leaving the dome seemed to be brutally cold and windy by night, and scorchingly hot by day, but it seemed the clouds had remained over the land and the storm had not yet wrung itself dry. Which meant slow and sleepy trudging through a foot or more of the white stuff upon waking.
Kiba seemed unbothered by the continuation of the storm, and started out into the blistering winds almost as soon as everyone was awake and alert. Toboe and Hige were quick to follow close to his heels, and Tsume himself could figure a sort of reasoning to that. The white wolf would be a chore to find if he got too far ahead, even with Hige's keen sense of smell.
Well, he didn't particularly care if he lost sight of them, anyway. He'd have an excuse to head on solo. So, as per norm, he stuck to the back end of the group, head set low, determined to ignore the snow, the other wolves, and the situation, and simply keep moving.
It was about midday before the inevitable complaint arose.
"Man, I'm starving..."
Funny. He'd expected Porky to pipe up about his rumbling stomach alot sooner.
As usual, Kiba supplied the unintentional pep talk. "We're not far from a forest near the base of the mountains...once the storm lifts, we should be able to find food there," he replied calmly, not even looking back. So determined...even Tsume had to grudgingly admit, you couldn't help but take an interest in someone that sure of themselves.
"How do we even know we're going the right way?" Toboe spoke up meekly, lifting his head against the sharp sting of the wind. "I can't tell which direction is which...its all just white!"
The kid had a valid point, but Kiba shrugged it off readily. "I've passed this way before...we're passing over a river that's frozen over, right now. It's that we're following."
A river? Tsume's eyes darted down. He could see nothing but thick packed snow, and their pawprints left behind. It looked like solid ground beneath them to him. How did Kiba know there was a river here?
Toboe shivered. He hadn't nearly the coat to protect him that the older wolves did, and was suffering for it now. "When is the storm going to clear up?"
Hige snorted. "Does he look like the frickin' weather man, runt? Don't be such a whiner. Just suck it up, will you?"
"I told you, it's Toboe! Stop calling me runt! I DO have a name!"
Looked like the weather was making sure he wasn't the only irritable one around, coupled with the fact that they still hadn't had anything to eat since leaving the city. His own hunger was gnawing away at his insides, and he wasn't in the mood to listen to much more of this. He finally lifted his head to glare stonily at the both of them. "If you two spent as much energy on walking instead of bickering, we'd likely be to the next town already," he growled. Toboe, at least, fell silent, but Hige merely grumbled on.
"Who asked you? Suddenly you're in charge?" the stocky tan wolf shot back, though not returning the glare. Wisely enough...he was mostly fat and fluff anyway, and picking a fight wouldn't have been in his favor.
"Tch. Don't make me laugh. If I were in charge, we wouldn't be out here in this blizzard to begin with," he snapped.
"It won't be much longer until we can find shelter for a few hours...the storm's blowing itself out," Kiba finally spoke up again, turning to survey them with a sort of distanced disdain. Tsume -hated- that look. So fucking superior, aren't you? It stung, it really did, especially knew when the kid's strength mostly lay in his blind faith in Paradise.
He'd still dearly love the opportunity to finish their earlier match, prove who SHOULD be in charge, but in the middle of nowhere, and Kiba the only one who showed an inkling of knowing how to get around, it wasn't in anyone's best interests.
The minute they DID get somewhere secure....
Assuming they did.
Kiba's interference did one thing, at least...they were silent until evening, each bearing through the weather and hunger as best they could. Toboe, however, was starting falter in his steps, slowly dragging behind until he was nearly side by side with the grey wolf. His breath, obviously labored after a day of nothing but walking, panted out in faint misty clouds, ears and tail set low. He was obviously shivering beneath his coat, even in the poor visibility the snow provided. His eyes, as usual, were easy to read.
'So tired...gotta keep going...'
He -was- trying, Tsume realized...and this journey was taxing him worse than any of the rest of them. Again, despite himself, he was reminded of Gel...of that childlike determination, because his mind couldn't grasp how truly dangerous it was.
He almost spoke up at that point. To say what, he didn't know. Something encouraging, perhaps. The fact of the matter being he never got to say it, and if he had, it was unlikely the kid would have heard him anyway.
A sudden, violent gust of wind nearly flattened all of them to the ground, howling raspily in their ears and sending wave after wave of cold difts of snow on top of them. The rust-colored pup ducked low to the ground, and Tsume shifted to stand in front of him, taking the brunt of the bone-chilling wind himself. Ahead, Kiba and Hige braced themselves against the brutal air current, the snow stinging in their eyes and noses...the two things that would lead them on.
It showed no sign of letting up or letting them continue on this way. They were walking straight into it.
"There was another rock formation not far back! We should head there until the wind settles down!" Hige called over the swelling roar of the storm.
It seemed the only thing to do, and Kiba knew it. And from the look of it, he was not happy about it.
"Fine! Let's turn around!"
There was no complaint in the plan this time, not even from Tsume. They turned, backs to the wind, and plunged onward. "Blowing itself out, is it?!" Tsume snarled as Kiba passed him. "Should have known..."
The white wolf merely growled low in his throat and ignored him otherwise.
Tsume shook his head, trying to clear the snow from his eyes, feeling nearly frozen now as the drifts swept up around them like some giant white ocean, intent on swallowing them. He could barely see, could only force himself in the direction he was sure they had come before, his legs leaden as he pushed them ahead, dragging himself through the swirl of ice and wind.
And then, he could see it...a dark outline in the white. The entrance to yet another cave. Hige was already loping through the snow at full speed, leaving deep gouges in the snow behind him. He had to admit, though, it was a pretty welcome sight at the moment. If for no other reason than a chance to rest a while longer...
Thoroughly shaking himself of the snow, he padded in alongside the others, sinking onto a nearby rock and letting out a breath of relief. Hige was lying somewhere on his back, panting. Probably never had a work-out like that in his life...might lose some of that fat, after all, he thought to himself with an inward chuckle.
Though he, himself, was looking forward to a bit of a breather himself...
But Kiba...Kiba was still standing at the entrance to the cave, ears up and alert. Not at rest at all, nor showing any sign of relief. As if...searching for something. Tsume lifted his head, following his gaze with a frown. What could he be looking for in a storm like...
Suddenly it hit him.
There were only three of them in the cave.
"Toboe..."
The red wolf was nowhere in sight.
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End Chapter Two
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