Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Claw ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: I wrote this when they first began their journey to Paradise and before the pack even met Cheza and there is a reason why she is not in this….Just so ya know(^_~)

Broken Claw

Chapter 1

The next month…

"Are you sure this is the way, Kiba?" Toboe sighed. His eyes squinted in the howling wind.

"It can be far now." He replied.

"You've been saying that for two weeks now!" Hige pointed out.

"Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

Indeed, it had been two weeks time since they began their journey to another city. En route, they walked into a massive blizzard that the likes of them have ever seen. It just so happened to be a stark contrast to the little desert town they came to. Coming out of that place, they wished for a cool breeze. They got more than they expected. Snow first fell as powder, then as flakes, and now was beaming them with enormous balls of white. A harsh, artic wind soon kicked up whatever fell and made travel even more arduous. They could not stop either, not for long anyway, because if they did the cold would envelop them and most likely succumb to frostbite or worse. After a while in the winter storm, the pack found them senseless, blinded by the snow, deaf from the wind, and numb from the cold. Only a smell of lunar flowers Kiba dutifully tracked was their arrow in the right direction. Still, 14 days of running and never stopping began to take a toll on everybody else. Toboe could barely keep up anymore, Hige gradually slowed down, and Tsume stoically keep his tiredness to himself. Kiba was the only one determined to get to the next city. He just had to see where such a strong scent was coming from.

They moved together in a line. At the rear was the youngest one Toboe, who saw the world through bright and naïve eyes. Beside him was the stern and disciplined Tsume, who mostly kept to himself. Next was Hige, the strategist but was happy-go-lucky all the same. Last commanding the front was Kiba, the unofficial leader. All together they were a pack, indivisible even if its members did not always see eye-to-eye. They kept their journey to Paradise through the hottest of deserts, from the coldest of ice, and in the darkest of nights. No matter what, they tried to stay a team. However, it was not always possible.

"Damn it, Kiba," Hige cursed. "You better be right about the next town! It had better be worth all of this!"

"Quit whining," Tsume said. "Stop acting like a bitch and just go! The faster we get out of this storm the better."

"Come on, guys," Toboe said. "If Kiba says it's worth it, then it just has to be."

"What do these lunar flowers smell like anyway?" Hige asked.

"I can't really explain," Kiba said. "But once you have, it's impossible to forget. It's like the best perfume ever created with every good scent mixed in. Like uh--"

"Like roses?" Toboe asked.

"No, no, far better than that. Once you have, you'll never turn away."

Tsume scoffed. "Don't go filling the kid's head with your shit about Paradise."

"It's true. Otherwise, why are you still here?"

"I don't give a damn about such things and you shouldn't either," Tsume said, feeding reality into the conversation. "I'm just concentrating on getting out of this storm."

"Whatever," Kiba responded darkly, not paying his doubt any mind. "You do what you want, Tsume."

"I will." He sneered.

Before they both could go any further, Hige saw Toboe stop suddenly. His head then looked up at something seemingly suspended in the air. He sat in the snow with eyes facing it, until Hige spoke to him.

"What are you looking at?" Hige asked him.

"Look, guys," he said, not looking back at them. "We're here!"

The others looked at him incredulously, thinking the cold had finally gotten to him.

"I'm serious! There's a sign."

Toboe was right. Although it was hard to see, there was an old posted sign in front of him. Even though some of the wood had chipped away in the inclement weather he read what he could in the fading black letters.

"Cataras City," he read. "A place of beauty and intrigue."

"Sounds about right." Hige said. "Wait, there's more. Land of-" He would have read more but the bottom half of it was worn away, possibly overtime. "Damn!"

"Maybe it's the land of the lunar flowers!" Toboe suggested, wide-eyed.

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" And with that, Hige felt a sudden urge to go forward and ran past the sign, with Toboe right behind him.

Kiba then turned to Tsume. "Believe me yet?"

Tsume stayed stolid. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Kiba nodded and followed after the others. Tsume, on the other hand, stopped to think for a moment.

What exactly are we searching for? He asked himself. What am I searching for following Kiba? Maybe he could be right…. Tsume shook his head. Damn, now I'm starting to believe this "flower" bullshit. Still, no matter the reason or perhaps it was just the fact of the cold outside, Tsume went into the city as well, kicking up snow as he ran.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Tsume finally made his way to the city's entrance, he saw the others just standing there, perhaps in awe of what the sign had promised. However, when he came a bit closer, that awe was actually slight disappointment.

Cataras City looked exactly like the environment they had just came from, just with buildings lining the fallen snow. Some were inhabited, but more others were abandoned and dilapidated, as if no one had lived there for years. Windows were boarded up and doors fell from hinges on nearly every house they seen. The hope of seeing lunar flowers seemed dashed and buried under a blanket of white. Upon seeing this, Tsume could not help but to gloat.

"So, is this your city of beauty and intrigue?" he said sarcastically.

"You don't have to rub it in, damn it!" Hige yelled.

"Yeah, that's not funny." Toboe agreed.

Tsume smirked. "You see I'm right though, don't you? You shouldn't trust a human, or their signs anyway."

Still, although Toboe and Hige felt the sting of a broken faith, Kiba stayed silent, as if in contemplation. Tsume immediately questioned it.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. "Or do you still believe in your little flowers?"

Kiba did not respond, just held his head up and breathed in the air. "Don't be so sure, Tsume," he then said. "You two shouldn't be so disappointed."

"Why shouldn't we?" Hige queried. "I see nothing."

"For someone who claims to have the greatest nose in the world, you sure do miss a lot of scents." Kiba chuckled.

"What in the hell are you talking about now, Kiba?" Tsume demanded.

"Maybe the cold finally got to him." Toboe said.

"No," Kiba said to them. "It's not that. Smell the air."

"Bullshit," Tsume scoffed. "I'll pass."

"No wait!" Toboe exclaimed, sniffing the air. On doing so, a smile grew across his face. "I smell it! It's smells good too! Just like Kiba said!"

Hige also put his nose up in the air and instantly drooled. "That's delicious…"

"I know. I could just stand here forever!"

Tsume crossed his arms over his chest. "I still don't see anything. Where is it coming from?"

"I don't know," said Kiba. "But we can figure that out later. Right now we need shelter."

Hige then rubbed his empty stomach. "And some food too."

"No surprise you said that," Tsume said. "And where exactly are we supposed to get it?"

"There's food everywhere. Just gotta look."

"Then, I say me, Toboe, and Hige go look for a place to stay," Kiba said. "And you go look for food, Tsume."

"Doesn't matter," he replied blankly.

"Can I come too, Tsume?" Toboe piped in.

"As long as you promise not to slow me down."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sometimes Kiba pisses me off about this damn Paradise, Tsume thought to himself, trudging along the walkway. If this is Paradise, I'll shoot myself. Tsume then looked behind him and saw Toboe slowing down again. "Come on, kid," he barked. "Stop dragging your feet!"

Toboe was still very tired from the journey, but he tried his best to keep up with Tsume. Three steps of his equaled only one long stride for Tsume.

"Don't know why you're here," Tsume muttered under his breath.

Toboe still heard him. "I wanted to see more of the city."

"Not much to see."

"Still, I guess it's pretty neat."

Even going further into the city, Cataras looked the same and all covered with snow; Snow in the streets, on top of emptied out cars, and lining old houses. Not many were lived in, and even fewer were places of business or where food could be. Everything was barren, except for one run down convenience store. Out of the row of bricks falling apart, it was the only one that seemed to be somewhat managed.

"Minamoto's" Tsume read, in broken lights.