WOLF'S RAIN

CHAPTER 1

I curled my body in closer as the rain continued to pelt my fur and sensitive nose. The pain in my shoulder had finally dulled to a muted roar. The rain helped.

Too tired to continue walking, I'd let my battered body flop down onto the muddy earth. That's when the rain started, as if sensing my deep depression. Unable to move, I'd simply lain and let the rain soothe the fiery hole in my shoulder.

Now I was just numb. Whether from the rain or the pain, I couldn't tell, and didn't care. I just wanted to sleep. Yet every time my eyelids lowered and my breathing evened out, flashes of things I'd rather forget invaded my mind and tore at my heart. No matter how hard I tried or how far I ran, I couldn't get rid of my memories. To die now, here in the rain and mud, would be a blessing, but one I couldn't accept. Somewhere deep inside me, something called to my soul. It was pushing me towards a destiny I had no right to take part in. But the voice was insistent, and finally I decided. Slowly, I picked myself up, forcing my deadened limbs towards an uncertain future. The rain began to clear.

The wind picked up, whipping my fur back and forth. I screwed my eyes shut and lowered my head, plowing onwards. No amount of wind would stop me from answering the "soul voice", as I'd come to call the tiny voice inside of me that begged to go forward. Recently it had become a terrible nuisance, pushing me way beyond the boundaries of my homeland and into the unknown. And the unknown was definitely without mercy.

Food was scarce, and even grass, for that matter. The farther I went, the less foliage I came across. The wide meadows and gurgling streams I had grown up with gave way to dusty sand bowls and rivers of mud. There was absolutely no wild game and even the berries were afraid to lay their roots here. The only word to describe this foreign land was: bleak. The wind itself howled louder than any wolf I had ever come across.

My internal compass was telling me I was headed north, but I didn't need a compass to tell me that. The colder temperature and freezing rain was proof enough. Yet through all of this, I'd never once questioned my actions. I had not stopped to ask myself, What the hell am I doing? I guess you could call it instinct, or maybe even a hunch. Or you could call it the "soul voice." But right now, the voice was quiet. I hadn't heard or felt a stirring from within me for some time, possibly four to five days. I wondered if maybe it was sick.

Suddenly, a new scent floated to me on the breeze. I stopped, planting my paws deep into the sand dune beneath me. This scent was...new. I'd never smelt such filth before in my life. So many unpleasant scents collected in one place could only mean a huge herd of some type of mangy animal. My mouth watered at the thought. I didn't care if the beasts had recently emerged from a toxic bath, I was starving. My stomach agreed with me via a hollow grinding that quickly turned into a liquidy growl.

Hastily I climbed the rest of the way to the top of the dune and peered over the edge, hoping to catch sight of a hundred lumbering beasts chomping at the sand, digging for fresh roots. Yet I saw nothing of the sort. In fact, what waited for me in the distance was a weird domed shape hunk of metal that glowed green in the moonlight. My ears swiveled atop my head nervously. I'd never before come across something so gargantuan.

My eye twitched as the voice inside of me suddenly reared its ugly head again, screaming down ever nerve in my body to go forward and enter the "city". For once I hesitated. What resided in that city that was so important to me and this voice? What sort of life changing event laid in store for me? Well, I thought as I shook out my glossy black fur, Guess there's only one way to find out. I leaped off the dune and raced towards the city, never once looking back as my paw prints rapidly faded into the sand.

Entering the city had been tricky. There were...humans lurking along mighty walls that surrounded the entire complex, and they held things in their hands which I learned very quickly hurt like hell. They would catch sight of me and yell to their friends, who all came rushing to see what was the matter. Then they'd point that weird stick at me and fire would shoot out of it. But along with the fire came something else, something that actually dug its way into my tough skin and caused a fountain of blood to squirt out.

Two of these things were embedded within me. After getting past the stupid humans, I'd found a quiet place secluded from everything and had begun to lick my wounds. Being a wolf, I healed unnaturally quickly, so it was only a matter of time before I was back on my paws and headed deeper into the city. After the run-in with the weapon wielding humans, I stayed clear of the busier streets, preferring the trash lined gutters instead, where rats and stray cats were my only company.

My sense of direction had been totally shot, thanks to all the new, disgusting smells invading my nose. I couldn't tell which road I'd already taken and whether or not I'd been trotting around in circles. The only land markers I had were the rickety buildings, all of which looked exactly the same save for the amount of broken windows on each level. This place was also noisy. My sensitive ears flicked back and forth, taking in all the different sounds all at once, causing them to ring constantly. I tried flattening them to my head: to no avail. It merely cushioned the blow of the sounds.

I couldn't help it, I began to whimper. This place was so new to me, and I had no idea where I was headed. The voice had conveniently fallen silent again and had left me to my own devices; all of which were insufficient. So lost was I in my thoughts that I didn't realize it when I padded onto one of the busiest streets in the whole city. People stopped what they were doing to stare at me and whisper amongst themselves. Startled, I tucked my tail between my legs and quickly tried to scuttle out of sight, but it was too late. A nearby man wearing a patched coat that smelled of feces stood from his chair in a rush, knocking it to the ground where it clattered noisily. He was standing defensively over a small child, too young to be playing out in the streets. He screamed something incoherent and cocked back his hand at the same time. I realized too late what he held. The liquor bottle crashed into my skull, spewing its foul liquid into my eyes and ears, nose and mouth, causing me to choke. I blindly sprinted away from the pain, the recently healed wound in my shoulder tearing open again, blood flowing in a rivulet down my right leg. Even when the noise of some pursuers faded into nothing, I still ran. At that second I couldn't put enough distance between me and the malicious humans.

What am I doing here? I silently asked myself as I pawed at an empty food can. Why had I let that stupid voice lead me into this godforsaken place? Wasn't I a wolf, capable of thinking on my own and following my natural instincts? Angrily, I swiped the can away from me, sending it crashing against a tin garbage can. A high pitched yelp caught my attention, and I stopped walking to stare ahead of me. I pricked my ears, gathering in every minute sound. Lifting my nose, I sniffed; once, twice. When the scent registered, my muscles locked into place, freezing my body. A wolf. I snarled, attempting to show dominance as well as curb my own sudden fear. "Come out!" I ordered through the mind link every wolf shared.

A small, tawny head peeked around the trash bin, warily looking at me with soulful eyes. When he didn't move any farther, I snarled again and snapped my teeth. "All the way!"

Quickly, the smaller wolf shot out from behind the bin and cautiously approached me, eyes and tail lowered like a subordinate to its alpha. I let myself enjoy this show of respect for a second before becoming stoic once more. I hadn't lowered my tail or my ears, and my hackles were stiff. Even though he was a wolf, and therefore a brother, he could still be a threat, and I was not about to be unprepared for a possible attack. As if to alleviate my fears, the small wolf came as close as he dared and lightly bumped my jaw with his nose in supplication. My tail wagged lightly, and this seemed to be what broke the ice. The cub raised his eyes to meet mine and he flashed a wolfy grin. "I knew I smelled another wolf! I-I couldn't be sure, since I've never seen another wolf besides myself since I got here, but now I have!" He began to dance in a circle around me, happily whining his joy. "I thought I was the only one! Well..." he stopped dancing and his tail drooped, "That is...until I met Tsume-"

"Tsume?" I questioned. "Who's Tsume?" Suddenly, my hackles rose again and a warning light entered my golden eyes. The pup sensed this and quickly stammered out a reply.

"Tsume is my fri-, I mean , a guy I met yesterday. He took me back to his place but...we got into an argument and I left." His tail drooped even lower, and he fell silent.

A sudden surge of motherliness overcame me, and I stepped forward and licked his ear. He whined, leaning his body into mine, seeking comfort. I let him stay like this for another minute before I shook myself, effectively knocking his body away.

I looked at him questioningly. "You said this Tsume was...a guy? But also...a wolf?" I was confused. Which was he: a human or a wolf?

My lack of knowledge seemed to amuse the kid, because he grinned again, as much as a wolf can, and nodded his head. "Yeah, didn't you know?"

When my face remained blank, he turned serious. "You mean, you really don't know?"

"Know what?" I snapped irritably.

"That you can't show your true form around here. The humans believe wolves have been extinct for over 200 years. They can't cope with the knowledge that there are actually still some out there."

I remembered the scene in the street earlier this morning, when the man had hurled his half empty bottle at me without asking any questions. I shuddered. "You mean...I can't just be? I have to hide what I am, who I am, behind some flimsy human facade?" I couldn't bear the thought.

"I know it's hard," the smaller wolf said, "but it's what we have to do to survive. It's the only way."

After some time I conceded and slowly began the transition from beast to man, or, in my case, woman. Fur became skin, claws became fingernails, teeth dulled and became blunt. My yellow eyes faded away, replaced by orbs the color of cherry blossoms. A cascade of raven black hair softly settled over my shoulders and I flicked it, stirring my bangs and causing them to flop over one eye. I was surprised to find that some of the tips had been colored pink as well, the same color pink as my eyes.

When my muscles ceased their uncomfortable pulling, I sighed and quickly stretched out my arms, testing their strength. Next my legs and back. Satisfied with what I found, I eyed the rest of me. Not a bad body. I slowly smoothed my hands down the front of the hooded parka that clung to every curve of my body and ended in a tuft of faux fur just below my buttocks. It was smooth, like silk, but tough like leather. The overall color was black, with two pink stripes flowing down the back and cutting at right angles to conform to the buttocks, and one pink stripe adorning each arm that ended at the wrist, encircling it. Two more stripes crawled up the hood and two more still cut across the chest, wrapping around each breast provocatively. The hood was also outlined in faux fur, tickling my cheeks.

Next, I moved on to my legs. Each was encased in a black stocking, pink bordering the edge, and was held clamped to my underwear by two separate garters; one in front and one in back. Each garter was connected to my stockings with a clamp adorned with a ball of the same white faux fur as on my hood and backside. I had on winter boots that reached to just under my knees. One was pink, and one was white; each laced up with black strings.

So engrossed was I in checking out my new body that I started when the little runt cleared his throat noisily. My eyes flew back to his; he was smiling and trying to hide a bright, scarlet blush. "Um, you...you look real pretty," he said into his chest as he ducked his head. He had taken the time of my distraction to also shift into his human form. A boy of about fourteen now stood before me; hair a bronze, almost rust color, and eyes a muted gold with green flecks. He wore a simple red button-up accompanied with a pair of baggy green pants tucked into a pair of simple, brown hiking boots. His hair was shoulder length with a few layers cut in, and right now he was using it to hide his face. His innocence dug up a quiet chuckle within me.

At the sound he looked back up, and I could almost envision his tail wagging were he in his wolf form. "By the way," he said suddenly, "the name's Toboe!" He pointed his thumb at his chest and grinned, looking proud of himself.

I found myself chuckling again at his antics. Somehow this kid had managed to quickly claw his way into my heart; a place that was hard to get to and where few feelings existed. I pushed back my hood, bearing my whole head to the warmth of the sun leaking through the city's domed roof. "Nakita," I whispered.

Toboe cocked his head to the side. "Excuse me?"

I turned to him, clasping my hands behind my back and smiling. "My name. It's Nakita."

"Oh! Gosh...that sure is a pretty name." He fell silent again. I simply waited, watching the emotions playing across his face. After a moment, he spoke again, hesitantly. "Um...Nakita? Do you...do you think-" He groaned, shaking his head roughly. He sucked in a huge breath and screamed, "Do you think we can be friends!"

Curiosity coursed through my body, but also a warmth I hadn't felt since...that time. But of course I couldn't refuse him. Toboe looked lost and confused, a boy wanting to be loved. "Of course we can be friends, Toboe. But I have a favor to ask."

Toboe wrung his hands together excitedly. "Ask me anything! I'll do whatever you want!"

I hesitated. Cursing myself for being weak, I plunged on. "This Tsume person...can you lead me to him?"

"I...sure. Yeah, I can take you to him, but...I don't think he'll be very happy to see me."

"Don't worry," I said while placing a hand on his arm, "I'll be there to protect you if he gets nasty. Sound good?"

He nodded. "Mm-hmm! Very good!" I smiled into his eyes and they twinkled back at me. Oh yes, I thought, This is going to be quite the adventure.

"It's just up ahead, over that apartment there," Toboe said while pointing at one of the most forlorn buildings I had ever seen. What windows it had left were shattered and hanging limply from torn curtains. Chunks of brick were missing and the roof was starting to lean to one side.

"You mean he lives in that dump?"

Toboe nodded. "Yeah. He doesn't have any friends, and the only people that will come near him are the people he...hangs out with. I don't know what they do, but he seems to treat them all right. For humans."

I stopped walking. "Tsume hangs out with humans? But why?"

"I don't know," he said while clasping his hands behind his head. "They seem to almost worship him, like he was a god or something..."

"Like a god?" I pondered this for a moment. The only obvious conclusion that I came to was that he had these humans wrapped around his finger, doing anything and everything he asked of them. In other words: he was using them.

Toboe continued to talk but I had quit listening. This Tsume person was becoming more and more fascinating. I decided then and there that I would have to be on my guard around him. He sounded ruthless.

The sound of a rusty door being jerked open snapped me back to the present. Toboe was standing in front of a huge metal door, holding it open for me to peer inside. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "In here," he stated before disappearing into the gloom.

I'd lost count of how many hallways we'd trekked through. It seemed that for each hallway, there were four or five more branching out every which way. I only hoped that Toboe really knew where he was going.

We finally arrived in front of a door that looked to have recently been used, and Toboe stopped, reaching out a hand to rest on the knob. But before he could turn it, I lashed out my hand and caught his wrist. There was more than one scent coming from the room within...and each one was a different wolf. When he turned to question me, I put my finger against my lips, effectively cutting him off.

I cursed my weak human ears when five minutes of standing in absolute silence brought no stray snatches of conversation. Finally, I nodded at Toboe to proceed to open the door, dropping his wrist from my tingling hand. With one final questioning look, he turned the nob and pushed the door in. It swung noisily on its hinges, and I groaned. So much for at least trying to sneak in unnoticed.

The three wolves within froze, each glaring at the new occupants in the room. Toboe stumbled into the midst of them, heading immediately for the tall, dark skinned man wearing the tight leather ensemble. He didn't seem to notice that the other two men were wolves as well, using their human disguises to talk to the dark skinned man, who I took to be Tsume, what with Toboe's reaction to him.

Tsume cursed. "What the hell are you doing here Toboe?" he growled. Toboe simply smiled.

"I'm here to bring you a friend."

The other two wolves still hadn't made a move, which caused me to worry. I peeled my eyes away from Tsume and glared back at the wolf closest to me. He looked to be about nineteen, with a mass of light brown hair standing up in every direction. His eyes were wide, the color of amber, but slightly clouded over with distrust at the moment. He wore a baggy yellow hoodie that covered most of his person, and a pair of gray jogging pants adorned with black sneakers. Around his neck rested a gigantic collar with an 'x' carved into it.

I moved on to the other...and gasped. He was one of the most handsome men I'd ever met...not that I'd met many. His sculpted torso was hidden underneath a plain white v-neck T-shirt and a green denim jacket. His legs were encased by a pair of loose blue jeans, and his feet were fitted with a pair of black converse. He had that just-out-of-bed hair. It was tousled and windblown; a dark brown color that complemented his outfit. I guessed his age to be nineteen or twenty...my age. I blushed, knowing I had been unabashedly staring at him. I brought my eyes up to his face, ready to face him now that I was done ogling. But when our eyes met, a current of electricity arced through my body, locking my muscles in place. His eyes...they were haunting, and they held me captive, unable to move or speak. I began to shake without knowing why. If you had asked me what my name was...I don't think I could have answered right at that moment.

He didn't look away and neither did I. But instead of looking bewildered, like I must have, he continued to glare at me, although his eyes began to soften, making his face look not quite so severe and dulling their color to a more muted shade of blue-green.

I could feel the heat of my blush on my cheeks, so I pulled myself together and was finally able to wrench my gaze away from his ensnaring eyes, resting them instead on Toboe, who'd proceeded to grab Tsume's elbow and drag him in my direction, all the while continuing to chat. Tsume looked ready to bolt, but he let the kid lead him nonetheless. "...and she told me that we could be friends but that she also wanted to meet you, so here we are!" Toboe finished as they stepped in front of me.

Tsume remained quiet, simply deciding to stare me down. His eyes were gold, a stark contrast to his dark skin. As was his snow white hair, cropped close to his head. Two earrings peeked out at me from one ear, and one more from the other. My hand itched to reach up and rub my own ear out of sympathy pain. Finally, he spoke. "So just what the hell do you want, anyway?" His voice was gruffer than I expected, and I flinched at the sudden noise in the otherwise silent room.

His tone set my teeth on edge. It was cocky, and full of command; two things that easily got under my skin. I turned defensive. "Well," I started, "I'm new in town and I wanted to scope the place out, meet other wolves. Is that so wrong?"

Tsume snorted and looked away. "Now why would you wanna do that? And what brought you here anyway."

The guy in the yellow hoodie piped up. "Yeah, what's a babe like you doing in a dump like this? Not that I'm not glad to have made your acquaintance or anything. Oh, and I'm Hige. This here's Kiba and that's Tsume." He smiled impishly, pointing at each man in turn and rubbing a hand through his wild man of hair.

"I don't know," I whispered in all seriousness. "I just felt...compelled to come here. Like something, or someone," I snuck a glance at Kiba but quickly looked away when he caught my eye, "had called to me and told me that something was waiting for me here."

Hige nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that's exactly what I felt!" Tsume glared at him, effectively shutting him up.

"Look," Tsume said, turning back to face me, "I don't know why you think you needed to come here, but you've overstayed your welcome. I don't care where you came from or where you're going. Just get the hell out of here."

I narrowed my eyes at him in challenge. Toboe worriedly watched us, and held up his hands in a placating manner. But before he could get a word in, Hige interrupted him from the other side of the room. "Hey, Tsume. Why doesn't she just come with us? It'll be fun!"

Tsume whirled on him. "And what makes you think I wanna come with you two," he snarled. "As far as I'm concerned, you're going to a place that doesn't exist. I'm not gonna make a fool of myself and go chasing after some fantasy with you two when I have everything I need right here!" He made his point by flopping down in the windowsill and taking a huge bite out of a hamburger conveniently placed in a nearby box.

Toboe looked at Hige curiously. "Hey, what's Tsume talking about? Where are you two going?"

"To Paradise," Kiba whispered, taking a step towards the open window next to him.

I looked at him in bewilderment. "Paradise?" His eyes met mine once more, and again I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't even breathe. It was as if he took control of my mind with one simple look. I couldn't explain it, but there was something that was drawing me towards him, something outside of my control.

Hige came to throw an arm around my neck. "Yeah, Paradise. It's a place where wolves can be free and happy. Where rules don't matter and meat is plentiful. And the best part is," he held up one finger and lightly tapped me on the nose, "that there isn't a single human!"

My eyes widened. "Can such a place...really exist?"

"It does exist, and I'm going to find it." I turned my gaze away from Hige to look at Kiba. His face had turned serious, and he had one foot planted on the sill of the window. "So, are you coming? Or are you staying behind with Tsume?"

"Feh," Tsume snorted from his position across the room. Suddenly, a hail of gunfire rained down on the building from all sides. Kiba jumped away from the window, narrowly dodging a stay bullet that pinged into the brick next to his head. Floodlights poured into the room, illuminating everyone inside. Tsume cursed while Kiba and Hige snarled in rage. Toboe squatted down, curling in on himself and screaming. Without thinking, I began to pet his head soothingly, cooing encouraging words.

A man's voice floated to us from a bullhorn. "Come out quietly with your hands up, and we'll spare your lives."

Tsume thrust his half-eaten burger on the ground with another curse and flung himself at the door directly behind me. As he passed me, he knocked his shoulder into mine, flinging me across the room and into someone's arms. Somehow, before I opened my eyes, I knew it was Kiba. Everywhere his hands touched me, my skin began to tingle. I grasped the front of his T-shirt and dared to look into his eyes. He looked as shocked as I felt, but he didn't pull away. In fact, I felt his arms tighten fractionally around me, and his lids lowered over his eyes. I could feel his warm breath tickling my nose and cheeks, and my fists reflexively tightened their grip on his shirt. My lips parted slightly and I saw his eyes lock on to their movement. Just as I was closing my eyes and tilting my head, Hige appeared and grabbed hold of my hand, tugging me out of Kiba's embrace.

"Come on! We've gotta go!" he yelled while pulling me through the opened door. I looked back over my shoulder to see Kiba standing in exactly the same place, as if in a trance, his arms held out at his sides as if he were still embracing me. He vacantly watched me leave with Hige, not moving until another bullet whipped past his head. Then he was plunging after us, grabbing Toboe by the collar as he passed him. Suddenly, we all found ourselves running for our lives.