AN: Yes you know the facts. I don't own WR.

Cry to the Moon
Beaming Sunlight

There was nothing, nothing but sand, the burning sensation of it on their feet, and the heat of the sun, beating on their backs.

Hige fell to his knees and tried regaining his breath. It had been ten days without food, water, and no sight of any civilization.
Who knows, maybe it was more than that, it felt like an eternity since they stepped foot on the desert, trying to find some lead that would lead them to Paradise.
His fists balled, gripping the hot sand and he groaned forecfully on his dry throat.
"Where the hell is it?"

Kiba turned to him, Cheza by his side. "Paradise could be nothing but bullcrap! We are here with no food or water… looking for something that could be nothing but a mere mirrage! Where is it, Kiba? Where the hell is it!"

"Pull yourself together, porky. We are no better than you are."
"Shut up!" cried Hige back at Tsume. "What made you all of a sudden so calm and sure that we might reach Paradise?" Tsume's fists balled and he bared his teeth.
"Your brains are cooked. Just shut your trap and make this hell of a walk easier on the rest of us."
Hige growled at him and threw his weight at him, knocking Tsume hard on the sand.
"Stop it!" Toboe cried out. Kiba sighed, this was becoming almost normal to him.

Tsume will make Hige snap, and both would fight.
Cheza only looked away, it was too painful to see her wolves so hurt and hungry, fighting eachother.

"Kiba, do something." Toboe pleaded the leader, who stood there, watching. "Let them have at it. It will cool their anxiety."
Toboe frowned and turned to them. "But, we have to stick together… not fight, no matter what."
"Sometimes we can't 'stick together', Toboe. There's always something that drives us mad and makes us snap. Get used to it."
Toboe looked at his friends fight, they were no longer wolves, they looked more like rabid dogs, trying to eat the other's flesh in insanity.

"No. I can't let them."

Hige bit down hard on Tsume, who slashed at Hige's eye. Blood was already tainting the golden sand, red."Stop it, Tsume, Hige!" Ttoboe tried approaching them, but both adults would shun him. Toboe stood up and repeated, this time his voice took a more serious, angered tone.
"STOP!" He ran in between them, pushed Tsume hard, making him loose his balance and fall. Hige slashed at Toboe, who managed to block his attack, his arm bleeding with four deep gashes. Toboe hit hard Hige's thorax and made him fall hard on his back.
Hige blinked at Toboe and Tsume looked at him as if he were a weird bug.

"This sun, the thirst and hunger, I can resist! What I am so sick with, is you two fighting! We are a pack and should not fight against eachother! I won't let you two- ungh!" Toboe reached his arm, it stung badly. The blood already trickling down in a river of crimson.

Some drops of his own blood fell like tears continuously on the sand, his hand trembled and he grunted. He hissed at the pain that it caused, but his eyes were still angered. Slits of gold instead of the two calm orbs everyone was used to.

Hige stood up and looked almost apologetic, he was more calm now. "Hey, runt- look I'm sorry. Let me see that." He reached a hand at the boy, but he recoiled as one would to fire.
"Don't touch me." Toboe's voice was low and in a harsh whisper. He turned his back on both Hige and Tsume, who was dusting himself, and then walked beside Kiba, who turned around and began walking once more.

Nightime came and the pack settled on some boulders they found that would shelter them. There was no moon that night.
Kiba sat on top of the biggest boulder, guarding like a centinel, looking for any threatening foe; although it was pointless, it had long proved him wrong that there was nothing to be on the lookout for. Not in a desert like this one.

Toboe settled near Cheza, sitting beside her to keep her warm and a bit comfortable. Nights were extremely cold and days were filled with excruciating dry and hot temperatures.

Toboe held his wounded arm close to his chest, the blood had already soaked through his shirt and dried.

The wound had long stopped bleeding, but he was in no condition to loose blood. Even if he didn't loose too much, the lack of food and water were gaining up on him. His head ached and every time he would stand up, a wave of diziness would swarm over him, and his vision would be blurry from time to time.

Cheza placed a delicate hand over his wound, which made him recoil slightly in pain. "Does it hurt very much?" she asked the boy, who gave her a tired look. "No, not that much. I'ts better than before, though."

The maiden's crimson eyes saddened. "Don't be sad Cheza, we will reach Paradise very soon, all of this hardships are going to be worth living. All this sacrifices, hunger and pain we've suffered, will all pay off in the end. I'm almost sure of it." Said the boy with a smile on his face that couldn't be resisted.

Cheza's lips curled in a small smile. "Yes."

Kiba entered the small cave, seeing that Toboe was a bit more cheerful now. The flower had that kind of effect on everyone, but Toboe- he already was a very noble heart, being with Cheza made him even more happy. "Tell me, how is Paradise like?" Cheza blinked at him, but smiled. "There's many flowers of every color and kind. There's abundant water and food. There's no pain, no corrupted hearts. The sun is always shining at days, and at nights, the moon always gleams down on the earth."
Toboe imagined all of this in his mind, his eyes closed and a serene smile on his lips.

"And wolves won't cry to the moon, not any more." Toboe whispered, and Cheza nooded in silent agreement. "That's right."

Tsume, who was at the entrance of the cave, looked up at the moonless night and rose his head in a low howl.
Hopefully, tomorrow will bring more hope.

Voices, he heard so many of them. They sounded so weird and bizzare, as if they were speaking extremely slow. He was so cold, but he was sweating so much. His limbs hurt and he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. Then, he let go of his reality.

Kiba shook Toboe, trying to wake him up. "Is he dying?" asked Hige, worried that the gash he gave Toboe, might have gotten infected. Toboe's eyes were tightly shut, sweat trickled down his very pale face, his lips were slightly cut and dry with a blueish color.

"No, but he will if we don't get a move on." Kiba answered Hige's question, trying to calm the boy down, cleaning his brow with his hand.

"It's my fault, isn't it?" Hige said in a whisper, but the white wolf shook his head slightly. "Not only that. He was already ill, ever since before we fell to that waterfall, I noticed him shivering very often, loss of appetite. He was already sick, Hige. It's not your fault, at least, not entirely."

Toboe had complained a bit of a headache in the morning, but never told anyone how bad he was feeling. He just wanted to be strong, but his body completely shut down in on him.

He colapsed in the middle of the desert, and Kiba was now trying to revive him, proving futile.

"Let's move." Kiba propped Toboe's limp body , but Hige's hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"I'll carry him. It was my fault, after all."
Tsume was looking from far, Cheza on his back. He was very fearful for the boy, but he wouldn't go, not this time. He had to clear his mind and continue the walk.

"Hey, Toboe?" Hige carried him on his back and began walking quickly, catching up to the rest. "You better hang in there. We are almost there… just… hang in there, runt." He groaned and kicked himself mentaly. He didn't know if they were any closer to anything no more, he only hoped that Toboe was still holding onto life.

"How is Cheza doing?" Kiba asked Tsume, worried that the flower could die along with Toboe.
There was some strange marks on her body, on her face, as if she were wilting.
"This one is fine, this one can hold on just a bit more." She replied with a small smile, Kiba nodded.
"Tsume, stay together and continue, I'll go ahead faster and see if I can find anything." That said, the white wolf broke into a sprint.

Little after that, while the small pack advanced slowly, Toboe began coughing slightly, and that had slowly turned into a fit.Tsume stopped, Hige was forced to check on Toboe who would not stop coughing. Hige had tried to prop him up in a sitting position, and that's when he spat blood."What't wrong with him?" Hige asked in fear.
"Pick him up." The gray wolf urged. "But he's coughing up blood! We need to find water, anything! He's like… dying or something!" Tsume had to resist the urge to kick him, but with Cheza on his back, he couldn't do anything but stare hard at him.
"Hurry and pick him up, we can't stop now. Move it!"

Hige did as he was told and shakily carried Toboe, this time with more care. Tsume began running with Hige beside him. It was so painful now. Their bodies were slowly dying on them. Tsume's vision was already blurring, if they didn't find water today, they were surely not going to live another day.

Kiba tried to regain his breath, his body was screaming at him to stop. He fell to his knees and hands in exhaustion, sweat falling to the sand in drops. Kiba grunted and forced his head up, the sun beated harshly down on him, the salt of his sweat made his eyes sting, the dirt on his dry lips, at the moment he inhaled it, made him cough. His throat was so rough with the lack of water.

"please…." He begged to the skies. To anyone that could hear him, to help.

In the midst of his panting, he caught a scent. His eyes searched, and he urged his legs to move as he stood up. He walked to the top of a sand dune and there he saw it.

On the horizon, a patch of black and white… a cediment of concrete perhaps.

His eyes widened. He had found the dome.
He quickly turned and fell down the sand dune, rolled and quickly brought himself up, he had to return to the others and guide them there.

Hige spotted Kiba and soon realized with a huige grin that the leader had found something, as soon as they caught up, they began running with all their remaining strength towards the dome. It felt so painfuly far and their sprint felt like a slow walk, it was so close, yet so far.

"No, I won't.. give up. I won't!" Hige urged himself, like the rest of the pack to run with no stop. After almost two weeks, they will finally rest and eat well.

Hige's mouth was soon watering when they came close to the doors, an overwhelming delicious smell of cooked meat and the beautiful sound of water invaded his ears. The pack crossed the metal doors and began searching for a fountain, anything to stop the ache of hunger and thirst.

Even Tsume could not fight the urge to look at the hot dog stands without his mouth watering or his stomach grumbling in protest for food.

"I've never been so happy to see humans!" Hige cried out in happiness as he looked about, deciding what he would steal to eat.

Kiba spotted a small fountain with crystal clear water. It seemed the humans had plently of it to be squandering it like that. "You'll eat later, porky, first we need to give those two water."
He said, motioning to Toboe and Cheza, as he followed Kiba. Hige's eyes would've wattered with tears of frustration, but he too was thirsty, so, what the hell?

Tsume placed Cheza on the fountain and she dipped her feet on the water, sighing in relief. Tsume and Kiba drank, not caring if it tasted slightly of plumbering or humans. Hige was having a lot of trouble trying to make Toboe drink water. He would use his hands to try and make him drink, but he would semi choke on it every time he did it.

"Uh, guys? A little help here?"

A small gasp made Hige turn around, there he found an old lady with a small bag on her hands. "My my! Der boy, tell me what happened to this child?" the human elder got close to Toboe and placed a hand on his forehead, Tsume almost growled at her, he hated the idea of a human mendling around their business, let alone, touching Toboe.

"Oh dear, he is very feverish. Please follow me, I have some medicine and herbs in my house." Hige rose and eyebrow and looked at Kiba. He took a moment, but soon relented and nodded. They had no other choice, Toboe was very ill, and they had nothing to heal him.

They were wolves, and they didn't trust humans, but sometimes, in order to survive, you have to rely on your enemies.

Soon they were inside a small house outside the dome's city, there were trees and small plants scattered around the area, some small cotages and apartments settled around that place. It looked like a poorly urbanized area, the houses were half falling appart, but small families resided in harmony.

Tsume looked around the small house, there were two small beds and the kitchen was beside it.
The old lady motioned with her hand to Tsume so he would lay Toboe down.

He was feverish and hasn't regained consiousness yet, his pale features made him look almost dead.
Tsume stayed at his side as the lady made some strange potion for the boy and then went to his side and kneeled near the bed.

"Please prop him up just a bit." Tsume did as he was told, having no option but to trust this one time in this human. The old lady took out a small vile and uncorked it. A strong smell was released and Tsume was almost forced to put a hand over his mouth and nose. "What the hell is that?"

His voice was very suspicious and not so kind. The old lady looked at him and said. "I am sorry, this are smelling salts, so he would wake up. He can't take the medicine unless he is awake."

That said, she placed the vile near Toboe's nose and his eyes oppened immediately and he began coughing.
Tsume almost growled at the lady, but stopped when she began to massage his throat. "Oh dear… this boy is very very sick… I think this is more than just a fever." She said as she looked back at the potion she made. "Well, lets get his fever down, then we will check everything else." Tsume nodded and watched how Toboe's eyes wandered, completely confused.

He couldn't talk, but he felt secure when he saw Tsume. The lady put the potion to his lips and at first he almost gaged, the thing tasted horrible. "Drink it." Tsume commanded, and Toboe did what he could to take the horrid potion in his system.

Hige sighed and streched against the outter wall of the small house. The lady had kindly offered them food and beds to spend the night there- even though there were only two.
At first Kiba and Tsume were completely against it, but once Toboe began to show the first signs of welness since they arrived, they began to trust this lady.

Cheza was quite happy with her also, which helped convice Kiba that this human wasn't so bad after all.

The flower maiden's skin was also beginning to heal, the red streaks that marked her beautiful ivory skin were almost completely gone, the water that the old lady offered them was pure and tasted almost as if it came from the forest.

Tsume looked at the now sleeping form of Toboe, his skin had almost come back to its natural peachy color, his lips were red and his breathing had stopped being elaborate and raspy. From time to time, he would cough and some blood would come out, but it was less than it had been.

The gray wolf didn't like to be in debt with a human, his pride had been hurt just by depending on one. But something told him, that this woman was different- but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Tell me child. Has your journey been as perilious as it seems?" Kiba looked up at the wrinkled woman, she was talking to Cheza, but- what did she meant?
"The nobles are searching for you. They've lost their flower, and they won't rest until they have you back."
Cheza gasped and Kiba stood in front of her. "Who are you?" He said in an almost demanding tone.

The old lady smiled and chuckled lightly. "My, my. I have almost forgoten, where are my manners?"
She reached a hand to her head and took off the hood she had been using, and unwrapped the shawl that covered part of her face.

A pair of crimson eyes looked back at Cheza's. Kiba's eyes widened. "You're- it can't be."
"I am too, a flower maiden. One of the last survivors in the Darcia palace. I managed to escape with some of my friends… but they all withered and died. This world is not anymore, meant for us. That's why, you are taking her to Paradise, isn't it?" She smiled at the white wolf, who could only stand there in awe.
Tsume and Hige like Kiba, had no clue that there could be other flowers around. Her scent and the life she gave out with her aura had long dicipated, but maybe- just maybe that's why the wolves trusted her so quickly.

"You knew all along that we were wolves. What do you want?" Kiba demanded, still standing in front of Cheza.

Yes I am back from the dead! runs away from mad reviewers
Forgive me, I have been very busy and I also had a family loss...
I hope that this chapter makes up for all the months of wait! I wrote all of this in a day!
My computer happened to DIE on me and everything I had written went to the trash. Good thing was that I wrote everything on scratch paper xD

Please Read and Review!

Eriol's Anui (a.k.a. Elenath-)