'Ello, everyone! As we all know I don't own the original characters of Wolf's Rain: Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe, and Blue. I do, however, own Sasha and Rose... ... and others that will come in later chapters.
I would like to thank my beta reader: DarkFoxGirl13!

*pulls out a silver watch, slowly waves it in front of yous, wanting to hypnotize yous* You will review, you will review, you will review.... Read this and review!

CHAPTER 6 : THE PROMISE

The sun slowly descends beyond the forest as the moon raises up to take its place, with stars that twinkle around the now dimming sky; but the beauty goes unnoticed to me.
Hiccups escape my throat involuntarily, my runny nose sniffles, and my body continues to tremble. I now realize that I'm not as strong as I thought throughout this past decade.
A sob tears from my dry, uncomfortable throat. My face is red from the lack of oxygen and wet from all the tears I've shed throughout the long, agonizing minutes.
My nails dig into my hairline, but fail to draw blood. My large wolf ears are down on either side of my head, and my tail is in between my legs, clearly displaying my weakened state.

Dark grey clouds begin to shroud the night sky. Lightning flashes above and thunder claps soon after. Little children's screams are heard almost immediately after.

Slumping my head down, I pull my knees up to my chest, wrapping my shaking arms around them and rock back and forth with the use of my feet. My mind and senses are numb to all the chaos surrounding me.
Slowly my body begins to cease its shaking and slacks, until it hits the ground with a dull 'thump'. A black veil creeps up the outer part of my vision, then finally to the point to where I'm completely drowning in blissful darkness.

"Rose!" A much smaller version of myself shouts.
"Rose, where are you~!?" I sing.
My round, human ears fail to pick up any sounds that my little, adopted sister would have created.
"ROSE!!!" I try again.
Worry wraps its icy cold fingers around my heart; tears form in the corners of my eyes and a whimper escapes my pale throat.
I raise my right hand and curve my index finger over my upper lip.
"Rose-chan…." I whimper.
I continue my way down the slightly busy street, looking for the pale brunette, my big brown eyes searching for the smaller child.
I flinch at the sound of thunder.
In peripheral vision, I see old guys closing down their shops.

"Mister! Mister!" I run up to an older man waving my hands in the still air. The man has multiple wrinkles on his face, a gray mustache and bushy eyebrows, black irises, a large nose, a square shaped head/jaw, and a cleft chin.
He stares down at me with an unreadable expression.
"Nani?" He asks with an aged voice.
"Have you seen a little girl with red eyes?" Thanks to my height I appear older than I was – which is only six and a half years.
"Hmmm…," the man closes his eyes and taps his chin in thought, "Hai, I did spot a young girl with those eyes."
"Really?!" Eagerness fills my eyes and relief washes over me, as I know fully well that Rose was the only one with those eyes.
"Where?" I ask him.
"Up in that direction…." He jerks his thumb up the direction of the nearly, empty street.
"Arigato gozaimasu," I quickly bow to him and run the way he showed me.
Over the last few months, my speed had tripled.; which I am thankful for, cause now I can get to Rose faster.
The cold wind pushes my raven tresses back. My cheekbones, the tip of my nose, and my ears slowly turned red, due to the amount of speed and cold air.
Through the rushing wind I hear someone beg someone else to leave them alone. My eyes widen as I got the scent of Rose – and her terror was mixing in that scent.
An airy growl escapes me, my brows knit together, and if possible, my speed increased. Along with Rose's horrified scent there was an indescribable, kind of disgusting, smell.
My breath comes out in huffs of air as I arrive upon the site. I see three large, darkly dressed bodies surround a much smaller, lightly clothed one.
I lift my left foot and jump off my right, with a raised my fist, eyes filled with rage, white teeth clenched, and a growl ripping from my throat.
Not soon after my fist met with one of the men's face, I got in front of Rose protectively. I could feel my face take on the similar appearance of a snarling dog.
The man I had hit covers his bloody face and groans, the other, two men go to aid their comrade.
"Sasha…?" I hear Rose whisper, I relax at her voice at first, but quickly grow stiff again.
The man that I had punched removes his hands and his dark eyes glared into my bright brown orbs.
"You bitch," he growls out.
I snort in response, smirking in content that his nose and mouth are dripping with dark red, sticky residue.

From the inside of their coat sleeves, they pull out silver blades with black handles.
My arms and legs twitch briefly, and from behind me Rose whimpers.
The man in the middle, the one with the bloody face, steps forward with a grin on his face that sends a shudder through my body.
Everything seemed to happen at once.
The man lunges.
Rose screams in fright.
That's when something in me snaps and everything goes red.
"Sasha… Sasha… Sasha…?" I blink several times when I hear Rose's innocent voice hit my ears.
"Huh?" I look around me in confusion.
Almost instantly my eyes widen at the site below me. The three men lay beneath me covered in bruises, 'claw' marks, and large gashes. I jump off one and land near Rose.
I bring my blood scented hands up to my chest, my eyes wide, "Did I do that…?"
"Hai…," she whispers, not bothering to sugar coat it.
I grab my little sister's wrist and sprint to the house. The hard dirt pavement fly under my feet and I soon meet the uneven earth, the pathway to our little dwelling. The trees zip by as I run and poor Rose stumbles behind me.
I fling the door open, throw Rose in, and slam the door shut.
As I pant heavily, my back slid down the wooden door, and I hear Rose get up and walk over to me.
"Onee-chan?" She gingerly places her warm hand on my shoulder.
I open my eyes half way and gaze at her, puffs of cool air pass over my lips.
"How did you… ? Why did you do that?" Her dark red orbs waver.
Slowly my breaths begin to even and a blush raises up on my pale face, I chew on my lower lip and tighten my hands into fists.
"They were going to hurt you," I stated a matter-of-factly.
"And," my fists tighten further and I sniffle, "And I'm the older sister; I'm supposed to protect you."
Rose gives a light laugh and my hands relax as she takes them, "We're sisters, that's correct, Sasha. So that means that we protect each other."

Tears weld up in my eyes, my throat burns as I refuse the sobs to come out at Rose's words.
I maneuver our hands, so that mine held hers carefully, but I didn't meet her caring eyes. "I-I swear to protect you, R-Rose," I promise, I then lift my brown orbs and stare into Rose's, "And if I fail to do so, then let the nobles come and take me away in the dead of night."
A vision my parents flashes through my mind's eye – though, due to the excitement of it all, their faces were shadowed.
Rose sniffles, tears somehow brimming her eyes.
She changes the position of our hands and her eyes bore into mine.
"I swear to protect you, Sasha," she vows, "And if I fail to do so, let my worst nightmares come true."
Her worst nightmares, I thought.
I don't voice the thought, I just laugh as my tears run down my face. Happy that we have, or had, such a strong-sisterly bond.

My large triangular ears twitch at the sounds of people passing by below.
I move one of my hands up to my face, so I can protect my eyes from the direct sunlight, then open and rub them awake. Slowly sitting up I look around the empty room, half surprised that the light colors aren't bouncing off the walls from the sunshine.
With a groan I look outside to see gray clouds still blanket the sky.
I give off a beastly yawn, get up, then stretch. I lick my lips, detecting traces of the deer's blood, and smack them.
I place my hands behind my head as I walk toward the closed door, and then kick it open. Quickly I flatten my ears against my head and place the black headband over them, just remembering that there are humans about, then head out of the building.
My heart feels kinda heavy… but I shake the feeling off.
Rain lightly hits my face, I sigh contently at the cooling sensation. I bring my hands down and place them in my pockets and begin to walk around aimlessly – not really having a true destination.
My sensitive nose sniffs the air as my bright brown eyes wonder along the sides of the street.
Women are walking around, shopping I think, with their children. Some kids laugh, while the majority of them have solemn expressions, obviously not enjoying being drug around for groceries when they rather play.
Men are at their 'stores,' the bulk of them selling food, such as hot dogs and burgers.
My stomach growls when I spot these stands, reminding me of my failure and the lack of food I had yesterday.
I place my hand over my pale tummy, "Shut up," I tell it.
Stealthily, I begin to walk towards the left of the road, where another man is selling hot dogs. The movement is swift, but it just would appear as if I moved my hand in my pocket as I speedily walk by.
I snicker as I round an alleyway, then pull out my hands, revealing two, plain hot dogs, and sit down on a crate.
I take a bite of the one in my right hand, my face scrunches up at the odd taste upon swallowing.
"Shoulda got the burger." I sigh, I finish eating it, nonetheless, and begin on the other.
I stop in mid bite as I hear a cat cry.
"Hm," I blink and look down; underneath my headband, my ears twitch.
The gray and black, tabby kitten meows again.
"What?"
"I'm hungry!" He mews.
I snort, turning my attention away from it, and take a large chunk out of the hot dog. "That's too bad," I tell it, trying my best to ignore it.
The pesky creature starts to claw on my jeans.
"Quit it!" My eyes flash as I snap down at him.
He looks up at me with his dark blue eyes and mews cutely in response.
I blink down at him, my eyes lighten and I give him a gentle smile.
I rip off a bit of the meat and hand it to the black and gray, little tiger. Time after time I hand him small amounts of meat as I eat the bread.
He lays down but he still moves his back legs to propel forward, I tilt my head and blink at him, when he suddenly pounces onto my lap! My eyes widen in shock and I hold up arms, like I've been caught by the nobles.
"You are aware that I'm part wolf, right?" I ask him.
"I know. But you're part human, too, right?"
I glare down at the fur ball. My hackles raise, irritated that the kitten is acting so… so… casual around me. I bolt up, the causing poor creature fall down in the process, and storm off.
"All cats are a bunch of smartasses, stupid jack-asses!" I growl.
Felines of all breeds hiss at me for my comment as I pass them by.
I continue to storm down the street, snarling about cats and how much I despise them.
"Where the hell does that… that… that thing get off acting like that!? UGH!! Stupid cat!" Despite me hating that feline right now, an image of him flashes past my mind.
I sigh in frustration, He may be annoying, but he sure was adorable.

I walk along the streets of the city with my fists slammed into my coat pockets.

Though they are pinned down, my ears can pick up the surrounding whispers.
"Oi, look her," An unknown male whispers to his little group.
I stop and glare, giving them something to look at.
"Boss, I think she heard you!" A guy with tussled, dark brown hair nudges his friend.
My top lip thins and, almost unnoticeably, my wolf fangs begin to take shape.
"What do you want?" I growl out.
The members chuckle and walk up to me. There are six people, the leader included, who's the first to step forward.
He has dry, messy, light brown hair. The majority of his bangs fall over his sickening, dark violet eyes. Despite his hair, he has a regal-shaped, noble, pale face. Along the right side of his face is long scar and on the lower half of it is another, tiny scar. On the tip of his nose and above his lip, on the left side, are other marks.
His clothing, like the rest of us, is ragged. He has black and dark grey converses, loose, black jeans, and a black belt with a silver pentagram buckle cover his lower half – from what I can see, anyways. A tight white t-shirt with blood splattered, along with other scents that make my skin crawl, and a black unzipped leather jacket cover his upper half.

I inwardly snarl, I'm beginning to really loath leather….
"You're on our turf," The 'alpha' tells me with a smirk on his chapped lips.
"Oh, really," I raise an eyebrow, "Then I'll leave."
Turning around towards my new place, I see some of this man's gang members. I glare back at them.
"I don't think that's possible."
My hands tighten into fists and my claws begin to dig into my skin.
"And why's that?" I growl irritated.
"We're not really the one for letting pretty girls – like yourself – getting away so easily," Boss smirks, showing his pale-yellow teeth.
I pull my lips back reviling rows of white teeth and my hackles.
"Oh-ho~! A mad one, ne?" He chuckles with a crooked grin, his men joining in soon after.
"It's too bad you all caught me at a bad time," I tell them.
"Why's that?"
I feel my teeth transform, I feel the vibration of the growl in my throat, and I see everything go blood red.
I blink my eyes, then widen instantly at the smell of blood. I look around myself to see that the gang is laying around me, dead. I swallow down a lump in my throat and jump on a hill of trash.
My eyes well up with tears as I look over my shoulder. I sigh and shake my head, ridding myself of the tears. I jump to the next pile and continue to move on until I'm near the forest. Gazing into the woods with a blank expression.
An image of Rose fades into my mind, causing a single tear to fall along my jaw.
I promised to protect Rose, but Kiba seems like he'll do a better job.
The wind pushes my raven tresses back, though the hairs on my shoulders -- where my human ears used to be -- blow around and hit my face.

Underneath my headband my ears twitch, at the sound of heavy footsteps.
KACHINK!
My head snaps over my shoulder.
For a brief moment, I see a noble holding a laser gun at me. He fires, but I quickly jumped out of the way red laser's way.
I land on all fours, hands and feet, my hackles are up and a deep growl rips from my throat.
There are only four of them, but with their weapons and dense clothing, there's no possible way for me to kill them all.
"What the hell?!" One man stares with wide eyes.
"She's the one we're looking for!" Another yells, that's when they all point their lasers at me.
My golden eyes widen and my breath hitches in my throat. I turn around and sprint into the woods.
I'm not strong enough to take on all of them!
"YIPE!!!" A bullet zips pass me.
My eyes are wide with fright, my legs pump, carrying me to wherever, and my heart races. I make several dashes, trying my best to lose them.
Is this how that rabbit felt when I chased it yesterday? Bur I don't have time to reminisce on that.

"Sasha?!"
Rose? My eyes fill with concern.
"Sasha?!"
Toboe? Oh, no!!
I make a sharp turn, away from the pack; I'm not welcomed…I know I'm not.
Hot tears fog my vision and my ears still hear their heavy footsteps.
I let out an ear-splitting scream as a bullet lodges itself within my right thigh. Yet, in spite of that, I continue to run, just at a slower pace. Another bullet goes by, grazing my shoulder, causing me to let out a whimper. I feel the blood running down my thigh and soaking my pant leg and trickling along my shoulder.
I make another turn, only to trip over an uprooted tree root, yet I fail to make my heavy body get up. All I can do is place my shaky hands on my head and curl into a ball, as I await for them to kill me.
I don't look up as I hear one of the men yell in pain, followed by another and another. Their footsteps turn around and their laser guns fire. Soon after yips are heard, but then there are snarls and the humans' yells of pain.
"Sasha." I can hear Rose's oh so innocent voice through all the mayhem.
Her small, smooth hand lay upon my shaking shoulder, but I refuse to look up.
"Sasha?"
I whimper in reply.
Her other hand rubs my back, slowly I begin to relax underneath her touch.
I hear someone click their tongue, and I know instantly that it's Tsume, in record timing my body tenses up again.
He lets out a disgusted laugh, "Don't tell me we're going have to keep saving your ass after this."
That hurt.
"Tsume," Rose's voice is stern, "With all due respect… Shut-Up!! It's your fault that this happened!"
Never in our friendship have I heard Rose raise her voice like that.
"Why don't you go do something useful – go get some food. Kiba, would you go with him."
"Hm," Kiba sounds.
I hear a growl, but right after, there's the sound of retreating feet.
"Sasha," Rose voices as she gently begins to pet me, "We got to get that bullet out. Are you willing?"
I whimper, but nod my head.
"Alright…." Her voice is soft, "Hige, could you hold down her legs?"
Sluggishly, I pull out my legs; biting my lower lip in anticipation. When my legs are fully outstretched, I feel a massive amount of weight on my ankles: Hige.
"Toboe, would you hold onto her hands?"
"Un," my arms are soon outstretched and I feel a pressure on them, as well.
"Try to stay still, Sasha."
There is a lot of tension in my thigh and my muscle spasms as Rose gingerly places her hand near the bullet wound. I chew on my lower lip and screw my eyes shut.
Rose's slim fingers enter the tiny hole; I yipe, similar to a dog in pain, this makes the grip around my ankles and wrists tighten. Rose tries to sooth me as her free, left hand rubs my lower back; but still, my claws penetrate the sensitive, pale skin of my palms.
I feel her slim fingers slide through the muscle and fat, and I let out a short scream as something touches my bone.
"Found it," my sensitive ears pick up her soft voice.
Her finger curls around something in my leg, making me squirm and whimper in discomfort. Finally, Rose's fingers, and the bullet leave the inside of my thigh.
There's a great amount of tension, yet relief in my leg. The muscles around the wound relax, as everywhere else tightens. The pressure on my ankles and wrists goes away and I curl into a ball.
Toboe and Hige leave, to go get some firewood I think.
"Sasha?" I look through my bangs and up at Rose, who's form is rather blurry.
She brings out arms, a pout on her lips, "Want a hug?"
I mimic her expression and hold out my arms, and she scoops me up in her arms. I wrap my arms around her neck and she wraps one of her arms around my waist, while the other gently scratches my scalp, making my tail wag at the sensation.
"It's a full moon tonight – you should heal quickly."
I nod my head in acknowledgement.

The blood flow slightly increases. My tail twitches in annoyance and I growl lightly. Unwillingly I detach myself from Rose and lay down on my belly, the blood flow slowly decreasing.
"We're gonna have to clean these tomorrow, Rose." I say, indicating my jeans, after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
I hear Rose laugh heartily.
Rose pulls out my headband, making my ears fall forward, then pets in between the large animal ears, causing my tail to wag once more.
Why did I ever leave? … Oh, right. My mind laughs, bitter-sweetly remembering my childish-ness yesterday.
My ears wiggle at the sound of leaves crunching underneath feet. I sniff the air and relax, it's just Hige and Toboe. I look up and see loads of logs in their arms.
Being helpless as a pup; I watch Rose, Toboe, and Hige make the fire. My tail twitches in annoyance. I push myself up, flinching as my leg screams in protest.
"Sasha!" And apparently Rose, as well.
I sigh out and continue to raise my form, it seems like lead, yet jelly-like.
"Nani?" I ask her dully.
Rose stomps over to me, she places her hands on my shoulders and pushes me down on the ground. I growl in protest, but she ignores me.
I glare up at her, Rose places her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes, "You can't and won't move until tomorrow."
I grumble incoherent words to her. Rose lightly laughs and walks back to Hige and Toboe, I then watch them.

Hige places his fists on his hips and growls towards the forest line, "Damn-it, where are those two? I'm starving!"
Toboe innocently looks toward him, "Aren't you always hungry?"
Hige glares at the red wolf pup. I look away and snicker, my tail wagging underneath my trench coat.
I stop my laughter and wiggle my ears. My sensitive nose sniffs the air; my hackles rise. I smell a scent that I absolutely despise: Tsume.
As I look over the fire that Rose created, my body tenses. Tsume and Kiba are now back with dinner, to which Hige and Toboe automatically go up to the two to help them. Once the large mammal hits the ground the wolves tear into it.
"Good old veggies for me!" Rose tells us, she begins to eat the greens that she collected.
I sigh and turn my head, my face getting slightly dirty; my black hair acting like a curtain, which I'm gratefully for right now. My face reddens as I remember my outburst yesterday. I roll my teeth over my lower lip and my tail swishes.
"Sasha?" My ears wiggle at the sound of Toboe's voice.
Everything seems to go silent as I look up to him, I see he has a large junk of meat in his jaws. His tail swishes, it tucks in between his legs while the tip flicks out, showing that he's embarrassed at the attention.
"Do want some food?"
I give him a small smile.
"Un," his bushy tail wags.
Toboe takes small steps towards me and drops the meat, he uses muzzle to push it closer. I raise my hand up to the raw portion and rip into it, blood instantly stains my lips and chin.
Toboe barks out a laugh and trots away.
I eat around the bones, cartilage, and other things I can't eat.
My stomach begins to tell me that it's full as I finish up. I toss the bone somewhere and fold my arms, using them as a pillow. I lick around my lips and my tail wags in satisfaction.
I look at the fire, just as Rose throws in another branch, and I smile. How could I ever think of leaving her? I was being selfish when I did. I'm still selfish… I'll get stronger, so that I can still protect her.
My right thigh and shoulder feels like it's in cool, soothing water right now. I close my eyes and sigh in satisfaction, feeling the full moon work wonders on my wounds. Slowly I open my lids and look at the guys.
Kiba is by Rose, his snow white tail thumping on the ground in pleasure as Rose pets in between his ears. Hige and Toboe are playing together, it looks like tag. Tsume is jumping about and snapping at the air.
I blink and raise an eyebrow at him, slowly a devious smirk comes to my lips, Blackmail~!
Feeling the last bit of my wound close up I roll onto my back, resting my noggin against my arms. I stare up at the full moon and I tilt my head a bit.
It just might be me… but it looks like it has a reddish hue to it, I blink and stare harder at it, but I sigh as I give up the debate and roll onto my side.
I must've slept in until noon or something. Today went by so fast! I yawn, all sounds begin to fade from my ears.
I look towards Rose, I promise to protect you, Rose-chan.
The day's events slowly creep up on me, and, with the sensations I'm getting from the moon, I fall asleep.

Author's Note: Wow, this is a lot different from other chapters.... No italics, for thoughts, and rather bundled up.... But I'm grateful for the beta reading, FoxGirl!

Please leave a review!! Ya' know ya' want to~!