Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain. One does wish, no?

Before the Red Moon

Falling, falling, falling, towards that blue black river, crowned with white foam as it raged through the deep gorge below. Shiny black rocks jutted out of the violent water. Toboe's heart rammed in his throat, his eyes wide with fear as he fell, spread eagled towards that river, fear clutching his stomach with an icy claw.

Odakota must have been mistaken, delirious! There was no way that they could make it out of that mess without getting injured badly. He couldn't see the others either. Dark images of his friends getting swallowed by that black water, slammed against rocks and sinking under the water, never to rise again, filled his mind as he fell deeper into the gorge, the high sandstone walls flying by as the scenery above it suddenly disappeared, and he had no time to even brace himself as he crashed into the icy hold of the watercourse.

It was so cold, the young wolf gasped in surprise as he slammed into the water, his impact on the water so hard that it stung, even through his fur—but the discomfort was nothing compared to being shoved under the surface, dragged along by the current like a gigantic hand, pulling him under and forward, turning somersaults and twisting around as he tried futiley to fight the power of the water. The breath had been torn from him when he hit, and all his heart was pounding furiously, but his cold-numbed body barely felt it.

Desperate for air, his lungs burning, he attempted to claw his way to the surface. His eyes were shut, for fear of the cutting water, but he was blundering around like a blind man. Need forced him to open them, the wintry water swirling around his eyeballs, and he longed to close them, but at the moment, he had little choice as he was dragged by the river—his reason dragged away too.

Every time he tried to swim to the surface, where the sun's reflection shimmered brokenly, he was shoved down again by the water. His mind and body were weakening, as was his will to fight due to lack of air and cold. He was getting stinging water up his noise, roaring in his ears and in his eyes, adding to his dilemma.

But it hadn't gotten to its pinnacle yet. As he was heaved bodily through the current, he sensed it right before it happened, the river started to crazily change course, ramming him into wet, smooth boulders with crushing force. Runny stars exploded in his head as he tried to whimper in pain, but no sound would come, his lungs on fire as his limbs dragged him down like leaden weights.

It was one rock after the other, even his anesthetized body could feel the impact again, and again, and again….and finally—

He was shoved up to the surface, for a split second, taking in all the air that he could, spluttering and coughing water out of his mouth, his vision was so bad with pain and the water he couldn't see anything around him, and all he felt was blind panic and pain. The water seemed endless, but soon, the rocks were gone.

It had started to slow, but only the tiniest bit, and Toboe could surface. He paddled weakly against it, his extreme anxiety obvious on his face. He couldn't see, and every breath hurt, his chest especially. His brain seemed waterlogged, his limbs seemed to be made of stone. And then, he heard it. The rushing sound. The roaring sound.

His heart quickened. The roaring grew louder, and just as his vision grew clear, he forced himself to turn around. A sheer drop of water, a curtain falling and falling. A waterfall.

"No!" he screamed breathlessly, fighting with renewed strength against the current, but every paddle appeared to take him backwards, until he was practically inches away, litererally running in the water, but going nowhere. Just as he started to disappear over the edge with a howl, he heard a familiar, agonized cry that shouted, "NO!"

But he fell. Down, and down, and down with that veil of water.

He crashed down, dazed, slammed under by the hail of water from above, completely having lost the will to fight for his life anymore. He was blacking out, dying, maybe for all he knew. He could only hear the sound of the water as he floated to the shore, limp as a rag doll. The rough pebbles against his fur scraped and were pushed away as his bruised, battered, and bloodied body was washed partially onto the shore. Wave after wave slid over him, and then retreated as the unconscious wolf lay, deaf to the singing of the birds and flowers around him. But, in that limp, cold form, his heart still beat, steadily.

"NO! TOBOE!" screamed Tsume as he limped over to the edge of the water, his yellow green eyes huge as he watched the pup disappear over the edge with the sheet of icy water. He felt the frozen claw of fear grip his heart, as he looked over, seeing nothing but the misty bottom of the falls as Toboe vanished into it, his anguished howl echoing.

Tsume hung his head, his tail drooping. The gray wolf's fur, mostly around his right shoulder was matted with blood, his face scuffed up and his body bruised and aching. He had been lying on the side of the river, after having fought his way out of the current, barely hanging onto consciousness when the runt had passed by.

"I'll be damned if he's dead!" he snarled to himself bitterly, his eyes unusually bright as he sat down on the rock that jutted out over the falls. "He isn't dead, he isn't dead, he isn't dead," he repeated over and over as despair took its place in the air around him. He should have stayed behind him, protected him. That pup meant a lot to him. So much. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for him.

He wanted to take the pup to Paradise.

"I'll find him if it kills me." He growled to himself. Hearing heavy pawsteps behind him, he jerked his head over his injured shoulder to see Kiba, though bloodied, looking fine. His yellow eyes were bright with purpose, as usual, and his stride lacked an obvious limp. Hige was also fine, with an ugly scratch by his right eye. Getsuei's flank was covered in blood, but it looked as if the wound had closed itself up. Marel was leaning heavily on Getsuei, her usual proud stride and stance lost to exhaustion.

"Where's the runt?" Hige asked, panting heavily as he looked up at Tsume. "He didn't—"

At Tsume's silence, and his discreet gesture at the waterfall with his tail brought the others to realize that Toboe had gone over.

Stunned silence, broken only by the raging waters ensued. "He's not dead, you know." Kiba said firmly, looking out at the drop. "We would have sensed it."

Hige and Getsuei said nothing. Both were staring at the water. "Toboe…he…"

"We'll find him." Tsume said decisively, his voice a little harsher than he intended, "We'll find him."

"But for now, we have to rest. It's only so much time before…well, you know. But it's a full moon tonight." Kiba stated solemly, looking up into the darkening skies.

If a bird had been soaring overhead the river, silhouetted against the white moon, he would have heard the five howls that reached up into the heavens, joined suddenly by a higher, smaller sound as it resonated throughout the land, for all to hear, a single song among many, before the red moon.

A/N: The final chappie! –grins- I did my best to make it extra spiffy for you, and will get to work immediately on the sequel. PLEASE, don't judge the sequel by it's summary—my summaries as a RULE completely suck. So, having said that, I hope you liked the story and I'm eager to bring you my next Wolf's Rain story. I would like to thank each and every one of you. Lonegreywolf, I want to thank you for your endless and loyal support since chapter one, and that your words have been a light when my bulb's out. Gracias. Kristen, I'd like to thank you for your reviews, and kind words. Saberwolfie, your enthusiastic appraisals make me feel great. Tweak, you make me laugh. I'd like to thank you for your words and the laughs you've given me. D.C., I'm glad to have picked you, Chocolate Chan and Cring White Wolf along the way, getting new people and hearing what they have to say is great, and I hope you will ALL be with me for the next fanfic. All of your reviews in succession let me know that nothing is wrong, and that this ride will continue. Everyone's reviews are the highlight of my Internet-day, and I always look forward to hearing from you. Regards also to Rae, Metaligod and Wolf Called Killer. Again, thank you for your support, and I hope that you enjoyed the ride! Gracias, amigos!