Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Claw ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Broken Claw

Chapter 2

The bell of the door rang when they saw themselves staring down the barrels of a double-shotgun. An elderly man at the counter with silver hair and hazel eyes held it unwavering at both Tsume and Toboe. As the two of froze in sudden fear, the others in the store treated it as just routine. A woman wearing a trench coat and ski cap sighed heavily. A squat, red headed man then ran up to the counter.

"Let `em go, Minamoto," he said, trying to ease the gun out of his hands. "They ain't gonna do no harm!"

Minamoto still held it with vigor but listened to the advice of his friend and slowly set it down next to him. "Too many damn robberies." He grunted.

Inside of Minamoto's was just like the outside but with food and things lining walls and aisles. The walls were striping a grey and worn paint and missing tiles and dirt were all on the floor. Anyone would think from the way the store looked that a putrid stench of dirt and spoiling food would follow, but on the contrary, the place had a distinct smell. Sweet, like the air outside but somewhat heavier in that area. Toboe stopped short of the door, sniffing the air, while Tsume went to work.

From a first glance, Tsume thought it could just rob the place blind. He had planned to just walk in and take whatever he wanted. With a gun-toting lunatic at the helm, Tsume had to be a tad bit shrewd. Toboe was still at the door, now looking at a few magazines as he skulked through the aisles. He would've mess it up anyway… He saw the man from earlier go up to the counter and talk with Minamoto while he bagged the lady's things. Now was his chance. He had carried a bag with him and now was the time to put it to good use. It was until he reached for a bag of chips that he overheard Minamoto and the man talking.

"Town's goin' to hell, eh, Ryu?" he asked.

"Tell me about it, Liu," Minamoto replied while putting a few things in a brown paper bag. "Things haven't been the same since all our good policemen keep getting caught in the line of fire."

"Whatever happened to Nuri's son? He was one of the best, as good as his father."

Suddenly, the lady who was at the register grabbed her things and rushed out the door, nearly knocking Toboe down into the stand. Minamoto grunted and rubbed at his head.

"That was his sister that just left," he explained. "Ken…he…he was killed back in December. Best customer I ever had…even if at times he was a fucking smart-ass."

"I see…He was shot?" Liu asked.

"No," He then sighed heavily. "There's a rumor going around…about his death I mean."

"This is the first time I'm hearing that Nuri's son is dead."

"They say it's wolves."

Tsume's eyes then went to them in disbelief, forgetting he was trying to do. Toboe's attention left the magazines. "Wolves?"

"Yeah, kid," Minamoto confirmed.

"How can there be?"

"Don't listen to him, boy," Liu said, eyes wide. "Ain't true! It ain't true damn it!"

"That's what I heard," he said. "He was bitten in the throat and had a piece of flesh taken off of his stomach…Hell of a way to die…"

"I still don't think so. This city's been rid of them for a while." Liu then looked at his watch, and sighed despairingly. "I gotta go anyway."

"Take care and watch your ass, Liu."

Tsume agreed with Liu full heartedly, but then again the presence of another pack could prove as reassurance that wolves are not truly going "extinct". He would have thought more or the situation, but a loud click from behind interrupted him.

"You wanna buy those?" Minamoto's voice asked.

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

"Damn, not a goddamned thing in this one either!" Tsume cursed, picking through the dumpster's contents.

After Minamoto making them--or rather forcing them-out of the store, Tsume and Toboe decided not to take any unnecessary chances and went to the garbage instead. However, for a city seemingly dirty and filthy, nothing was to me found in the grey, metal containers. Even in that alley, there was nothing worth consuming. It was now nearing nightfall, and Tsume was beginning to feel the pain of hunger himself, but searching through 11 dumpsters already left him somewhat discouraged.

"Maybe we should just go," Toboe said.

"Yeah, you're right," he replied, jumping out. "Might as well go back and find Kiba and Hige."

Tsume composed himself, wiped away any discarded shreds of paper and rubbish, and put his hands in his pocket. Toboe still wanted to press an issue from earlier inside the store.

"Do you really believe there are wolves in this city?" he asked.

Tsume caught an all-familiar scent radiating off of the young pup. "You're not scared, are you?"

"No," Toboe shuddered. "All right maybe I am. Do you think they're peaceful?"

Tsume chuckled. "Come on, kid. You don't really believe that senile old bastard in the store?"

"But what if it's true, Tsume? They killed that cop…"

"Probably got what was coming to him…" Tsume answered coldly. "Just one last human to deal with."

"Y'know…humans can't all be that bad."

Tsume stopped in his tracks and looked at him in dismay. "You're really too young to understand. If they are not so bad, then why do they all want us killed?"

"Maybe because they're afraid we'll do something like the others did to that cop."

Tsume sighed. "Come on, let's just get to the others." He then walked off hurriedly, expecting Toboe to follow him in toe. Once outside the alley, Tsume saw that Toboe was no longer behind him.

"Toboe," he called into the darkness. "Toboe, where the hell are you?"

No answer.

"Toboe!"

Still nothing. He nearly panicked until he heard a faint yelping noise.

"Aww," a female voice said. "You're so cute."

Tsume then saw where he was. Toboe had reverted back to his wolf form and was being fawned over by a woman in a long, tan trench coat and black knit ski cap…

That woman from the store…Tsume thought.

She had her back facing towards the exit of the alleyway as she swooned for Toboe. Tsume then saw Toboe get on his hind legs and beg.

Damn it, Toboe, why don't you just lick her face while you're at it!

The woman chuckled. "Awww…you must be hungry."

Toboe yipped and wagged his tail, much to Tsume's chagrin.

"I think I got a some bread in here somewhere," she said as she searched through the brown bag. She pulled out a loaf of bread and laid two slices in the palm of her hand. In a flash, it was gone. Tsume then fabricated a plan. He hoped that Toboe remained there…

"I would give you more, but I have to eat too."

Toboe's ears lowered.

"You're so cute!"

The woman extended her hand to pet Toboe's head when it was knocked out of the way. A dark, grey wolf stood in front of the pup, snarling at the now frightened woman. Although it was almost pitch black, Tsume could see her green eyes peering at him, full of tears. She immediately bounded to her feet and ran away as fast as she could out of the alley. Her hat fell off her head but she still went, screaming along the way. Tsume chased after her, barking at her heels. Suddenly, the smell from earlier ran through his nostrils. He then stopped while the woman still ran.

What the hell? He thought. Tsume looked up and saw that she was gone.

He then turned his attention to Toboe. "What the hell was that?"

Toboe grinned sheepishly. "She looked kinda lonely…so I cheered her up."

Tsume then gave him a cold stare. "You love those damn humans too much…"

"How can you say such things, Tsume? She gave me bread!"

Instead of answering his question, Tsume pushed him aside to the spot where the woman was earlier and then picked up a fallen bag of groceries she had left behind.

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

"It's about time you showed up!" Hige said as he met both Tsume and Toboe at the door.

"Hello to you too, Hige," Toboe said sarcastically.

The place they choose to stay in was surprisingly roomy, but still barren with a large metal can in the middle. It held the only source of both heat and light: a fire. Kiba was warming himself beside it when they entered.

"Welcome back," he greeted them. He then looked at the bag Tsume held. "I didn't know you had money."

"Nah," Tsume answered. "There was a lady just giving this away…"

"Well, in any case," Hige said, snatching the bag from Tsume. "Let's eat!"

With vigor, Hige searched madly through its contents. He found a bottle of juice, the bread from earlier, potato chips, a plastic bag full of apples, and a pink and white box filled with things neither of them have ever seen.

"What the hell is a `tampon'?" Hige muttered.

"I dunno," Toboe said. "Looks like cotton candy on a string though."

"I don't think those are edible, boys," Tsume then said. "Best to throw those out."

Undaunted, Hige went back to food, ripping off the packages savagely.

"So, did you guys enjoy the city?" Kiba then asked Tsume and Toboe.

"It's okay, I guess," Toboe answered. "Tsume scared a lady but that's about it."

Kiba then turned to Tsume, smiling. "I thought she was giving it out."

"She might as well have been," Tsume replied.

"She was nice though," Toboe went on. "And pretty too."

Hige's ears then perked up at the last bit. "Pretty?"

"Yeah, she was, and she had a nice smell…like those flowers you were talking about, Kiba."

Kiba suddenly became interested. "Lunar flowers…on her?"

Toboe nodded. "Yeah, everything was fine until Tsume scared her away."

"Relax, Kiba," Tsume then said. "It was probably just her perfume."

"You never know," he then simply.

"What else happened, Toboe?" Hige asked, attention away from eating.

"Nothing really," he replied.

Then Toboe remembered.

"Oh yeah, when me and Tsume were in the store the cashier guy said that there's another pack of wolves in the city!"

Hige then felt himself choke. With a fist, he pounded at his chest. Kiba wanted to be sure.

"Are you serious?" Kiba questioned.

Toboe nodded. "But don't get so excited, Kiba. He also said that they killed a human here."

"What?"

Tsume scoffed. "Maybe he deserved it."

"No one deserves to die, Tsume," Kiba said. "Human or wolf we all are entitled to live…"

Tsume then turned a deaf ear onto Kiba's preaching.

If he only knew what humans were capable of…he thought.