Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Claw ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

I know its been a while right…I tell you writer's block is horrible. I just hope I can keep these coming. R&R pls.

Broken Claw

Chapter 3

 

It was late at night, and Tsume was still awake. He had tried to sleep many a time but would end up watching the others drift off. Even though he felt tired himself but sleep eluded him. He longed the chance to close his eyes…. Why can't I fall asleep? He thought, watching the flames dance inside the iron drum. Their dance of red and orange cast shadows across the walls, it also gave him some kind of entertainment. It wasn't much but at least it was something to get his mind off of his sleep troubles, for a second anyway.

 

Finally, his eyes shut…slipping into slumber…dark until…

 

His eyes shot open. Again, consciousness.

 

“Shit!” Tsume cursed under breath. He was so close but was denied.

 

Fed up with this, Tsume stood from his palate and made his way to venture outside, thinking a walk could clear his head.

 

“Where ya goin', Tsume?” a voice asked.

 

Toboe sat up from where he sat, his eyes still drunk from slumber.

 

“Out,” Tsume replied.

 

“You shouldn't be goin' out so….late…..They'll…”

 

He lied down again.

 

Tsume sighed and went out of the room.

 

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

 

Tsume rubbed at his eyes as he walked, snow crunching under his feet.

 

The twilight hours of Cataras were as dark as the sky above. No light at all. He passed more broken streetlamps than boarded-over windows. It surprised them how people could have such poverty but still remain there. Was it because it was the nearest town for miles, or was it just simply they all gotten used to it? That, however, was not at all on his mind. Too many things happened to him earlier, he didn't know where to begin. One thing finally shone through.

 

“Yeah, it's a shame… first Nuri, and now his son.”

 

Nuri…Tsume thought. Odd name for a human…where have I heard it before?

 

Why does that name sound familiar?

 

That question was halted when something else crept into his brain.

 

That woman…

 

Tsume did not know why but the woman from the alley began to burn in his thoughts. It wasn't her generosity in giving bread—among other things—it was her eyes. Tsume had gazed into the eyes of many countless humans, but none like hers. In ones before, he saw hatred, fear, and even pure evil. Her green eyes did show fear but there was something deeper still: pity.

 

Why did she look at me that way? What reason did she have to pity me?

 

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

 

The old woman hollered in agony as the nurse dressed her wound. She stopped a moment to calm her down.

 

“Mrs. Asaka,” she then said, in a sweet voice. “You're going to have to stay still while I put the wrap over your stitches.”

 

Mrs. Asaka grunted. “It hurts.”

 

“I know, I know, but it'll be all over in a second, okay?”

 

The old woman obliged and tried her best to keep herself steady while the young nurse went to work on her injured arm.

 

“Tell me again how this happened?” the nurse asked.

 

“I was cleaning up more broken glass at my husband's friend's store—that hellhole! Seems vandals just like to break beer bottles onto the back wall and leave it for me to clean up. While I was sweeping up, I heard the strangest noise.”

 

“Like what?'

 

“I don't know, but it was awful familiar. However, I can't remember for the life of me where I heard it before. Anyway, it startled me so much that I fell over.”

 

“Lucky for you, ma'am, you only fell on your arm. How is Mr. Asaka?”

 

“I don't know…when I came to see him at that store he…well, he looked like something was bothering him.” She then laughed. “Then again, I'd be that way if that Ryu Minamoto kept the store the way he does!”

 

The nurse smiled. “I think he's doing an all right job.”

 

“If you say so—that gun-loving nut!”

 

Before the woman knew it, the nurse at last rolled the final bit of bandage onto her cut. Mrs. Asaka immediately began to feel better.

 

“See, all done!” the nurse said brightly.

 

Mrs. Asaka flexed her arm. The nurse had done such a wonderful job that there wasn't any pain at all. “Thank you again, child.”

 

She nodded. “Would you like me to walk you back to Minamoto's? It is late out after all.”

 

The old woman smiled. “Yes, but I would like just to go home. I had enough of that dump for one night. This doesn't cost extra, does it?”

 

“It'll cost you as much as I always do.”

 

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

 

Tsume sighed and again looked up at the night sky. It had been about an hour since he left the safehouse. The snow fell silently around him as the clouds parted to reveal a full moon.

 

How cliché, Tsume thought.

 

Indeed it was. Tsume couldn't explain it but he was suddenly compelled to howl

at the shrinking orb above him. He then drew his head back and filed himself with refreshing winter air. As he began, he heard that someone else had already beaten him to it. A howl so slow and deep came from somewhere nearby. Tsume couldn't recognize it; it was too slow to be Kiba, too deep to be Hige, and it could never have been Toboe. There was some other wolf in the city looking up at the same moon Tsume did, but where?

 

Again, it cried. Tsume's ears finally picked up where it came from, in all places but an alley right next to him. He then turned a corner and entered into the unknown. His keen eyes kept a sharp lookout for anything. At last, a blur ran past him and Tsume chased after it. He went deeper and deeper into the back way. Whatever led him on was running swiftly, not particularly caring where it went. It went so fast Tsume was not sure even he could keep up with it. Finally, he saw light at the end and found himself outside Cataras. There, he saw what led him there.

 

It was truly another wolf. It was a male with jet-black fur and a sleek but powerful body perfect for sprinting. He had green eyes that peered out curiously at Tsume. He was just as surprised as Tsume to see another wolf.

 

“So…the old man was right…” Tsume said.

 

“What business do you have here?” he said, in a voice much like his howl.

 

Tsume then smelled something coming off of the stranger. Something so fresh and warm…

 

“Blood…” Tsume said.

 

The wolf licked his paws. “A red head got in my way earlier. He actually tried to scare me off….”

 

“Who the hell are you?”

 

The wolf put his paw down. “Lobos…”

 

“Well, Lobos, you got quite a reputation. I heard you practically mutilated that cop.”

 

“Go back to your pack! It's none of your concern!”

 

“You couldn't have possibly done that alone.”

 

“Of course!” another rang out behind Tsume.

 

His head whipped and saw three other wolves step outside into the light. The first was a shaggy reddish-brown haired with long ears like a fox. The second was dull brown and thin with long legs. His teeth showed at once. The third was the largest wolf Tsume had ever seen. He had silvery-grey fur with golden eyes the color of brass. Another thing other than his size that set him apart was his markings. Half of his face was like the rest of him, but the other was pure white. Due to his size, it was obvious he was the leader.

 

“You're on our territory.” He simply said.

 

“How pathetic,” Tsume scoffed. “I bet you still go after little girls in red hoods…”

 

The alpha male sniffed and suddenly growled. “That smell….”

 

“What smell?”

“A certain human…”

 

“So, you do kill with discretion.”

 

“Humans are weak…but those who live in Cataras are the lowest of them all. They tore down this city that was once beautiful and wondrous, and hunted us like rats. Now, there is only four of the original pack that lived here for so long.”

 

“Humans have been doing that for ages, what makes your plight so different?”

 

“One man…. Aomeijin and his family killed so many.”

 

“Revenge is useless!” Tsume spurned at him. “No matter what you do, the wolves are gone. If you think by killing off all of Cataras will bring them back, you're a goddamn fool.”

 

The alpha wolf sat in the snow, calming himself down. “It's not that at all. However, I think you know too much. You've seen us, and now…. we must help you forget.”

 

Before Tsume could even react, he felt a set of jaws tear into his back. Lobos' teeth held so tightly nothing could get him off. Tsume tried to move away from Lobos but the other two at the side the alpha jumped in to pin him down. As, the wolves bit into the stranger, the alpha wolf stayed sat in the snow. Red flowed everywhere and sinew stained the white below their feet. At last, they stopped. Tsume was in terrible shape. His legs where chewed open, at his eye was sealed, and his chest was missing flesh. He laid there, too weak to stand just looking up at his attackers. While the three were covered in his blood, the leader looked on with an eerie calm.

 

“Enjoy your stay in hell.” Was all that was said, and the pack left Tsume to die there. He looked at up at the sky again. Snow still fell silently as he at last closed his eyes.