Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Haven Reawaken: Wolf's rain/ Restart ❯ Absolute ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Absolute

Four young men, all very different in appearance, congregated around this beautiful flower, gazing at it with very different thoughts running through each's head.

The flower was obviously misplaced in this world. Pure, soft, and fragile, it grew in this cold, heartless city unprotected yet alive.
Kiba stared down at it with eyes that screamed devotion, and his hands quivered as he reached down knelt on both knees as his hands cupped the petals of the flower in his palms with the most painstaking caution.

"It's her. It's Cheza...right?"He whispered softly, eyes wide as he embraced the beauty of the simple flora.

Hige looked down at the flower, and was needless to say; captured by its beauty, but unable to fathom why everyone was just..staring.

"So..it's a flower guys. Uh..did I miss something?"He asked.

There was sudden giggling behind him, and he spun around to face the girl that Tsume and Kiba had met a few hours ago.

"You missed alot, Hige, you silly fool." She spoke, and he rubbed his neck, giving her a humourus but nervous look.

Tsume glared at her, and stepped forward, but Toboe ended up approaching her first.

Toboe looked up at her, smiling. "You're the lady from before! The one who was playing with the kitten! Uh, I couldn't take care of it..just so you know."He spoke shyly, then looked down in dissapointment. The girl ruffled his hair, and he grinned childishly, his face flushed pink.

From nowhere, Tsume grasped Toboe and yanked him back, holding the blade up to her suddenly. Hige stood agahst, Toboe recovering from hitting his head on the wall that Tsume had nearly tossed him into.

"You killed Liana! You knocked her over the edge, and not only does everyone think I did it, but I still haven't figured out crap!"He snarled, but the girl only gave him a curious look.

"What are you talking about Tsume? You said you wanted to know, so I brought the memories back to you the only way I could."She spoke, in an almost innocent tone. Tsume reached out and clutched the collar of her shirt, holding the tip of the blade to her neck.

"Liar!"he growled, threatening to shove the blade into the jugular. From behind him, Kiba ran up and pulled Tsume back, shoving him into a wall and clutching his wrist. Kiba buried his claws into Tsume's hand, forcing him to drop the blade, whilst behind him the girl casually walked over to the flower.

The violet-eyed girl admired the flower with a soft smile, before looking up at the bewildered Hige and Toboe. They moved back and out of the way as Tsume shoved Kiba off of him.

Tsume, Hige, and Toboe were taken aback as Kiba took place infront of the girl and the flower, but no longer stood as a human.

"Holy crap! What's going on here?!"Hige shouted, watching the white canine bear it's fangs furiously at the three. But Tsume understood the situation, and didn't flinch as he approached, keeping a safe distance-enough to make his appeal intimidating.

"A wolf."Tsume stated shortly, and the two other boys gave him confused glances. "It's a wolf. Everyone thought they were extinct, but they were just hiding. Looking like the rest of humanity to survive."

The girl smiled and nodded as Toboe and Hige looked at her for clarification, her gaze shifting back to Tsume.

"You finally remembered Tsume. That's good. Now you can start truly being alive."She said, but he glared and made a motion to step towards her, being hindered only by Kiba.

"Liana's dead because of you!"He snarled, and she chuckled, shaking her head.

"Tsume..."She spoke softly, standing and looking at him. "You didn't save her. YOU killed her."

Tsume's eyes widened, and he gave her a malicious look, grabbing his blade and running forward. Kiba cut him off, tackling him to the ground and crushing Tsume's wrist in his fangs. Tsume cried out, Hige and Toboe standing frightened yet unable to look away.

"Y-you.."Tsume gasped, still glaring at the girl.

"Y-you...-"

"Tsume, you had her right there. You held her. But you were frightened of what you saw. You keep telling yourself that I killed her, but who was the one who let her go?"The girl asked, almost coldly, and Tsume stared at her in disbelief, trembling in pain and confusion.

The girl frowned, and she looked down. "I know it's hard to see someone so close die. But you wanted to know. You said you would do anything to know..but people die Tsume. The closest ones to use." She said, apologetically. "It was cruel..but it had to happen."

Tsume laid his head against the cool pavement, mind tumbling with the memory of her falling. But most painful, was the one of him letting her go.

The girls eyes flicked up to Toboe and Hige. "And you two.."She began, stepping around the flower and towards them, watching as they backed off. "You two are just like Kiba and Tsume. Mostly Tsume. Living your lives as feeble humans, babes with blankets over their eyes. But now you can see it, what you truly are."She said mistily, and both looked at the ground.

Hige stood at a loss of words, Toboe carefully approaching the flower and kneeling down. "The smell..it's what I remember most." He began, Kiba releasing Tsume to look up at Toboe.

Toboe smiled, reaching out and gently stroking one of the petals. "I see her with every breath in I take. That pretty girl..the one who smelled like flowers. She was a flower, huh? I remember her, and her face, and her smile. Then, everything just came back to me. Like waking up from a dream."

"Yeah.."Hige whispered, hands behind his head. "I remember the smell too. But I also remember other things..all the other smells. And tastes too. And the feeling of running, non stop, under the moonlight."

Smiling, the girl looked up at the sky, glancing about, then looking down. A frown crossed her lips, and she looked at the flower.

"But..it's not her. It's not Cheza."She said, and Kiba looked up sharply.

"Wh-what do you mean? It has to be-"

"Kiba, you should remember most of all. Cheza is no longer one being. She gave her one, physical self to become many. The seeds of the Lunar flower."The girl spoke, and Kiba dropped his head.

Tsume looked up from where he sat, gripping his wounded wrist and processing everything.

"So..what's the point of 'waking us up' or whatever you called it. That flower girl isn't here anymore. And he's the only one with all his marbles about him."Tsume uttered coldly, glancing at Kiba, who returned the forboding sentiments.

The girl laughed, and leaned down near the flower again.
"They'll be here soon."She spoke cheerily, "And they'll harvest this flower, just for us. And then, when the time comes that all of the flowers are together, the path will open up. She'll guide us to the gates of paradise!"

The boys listened carefully, even Kiba led astray by her comment.
"They?"Kiba asked, Toboe rubbing his head.

"Who's they? Harvest it? And just what the hell is the 'Gate to Paradise?"Tsume kept asking as he stood.

The girl laughed again, softly, before turning around. "I won't tell you everything yet, but i'll tell you that they are like her. Or how she use to be. She was they perfect incarnation, they are imperfect humanoid forms of the lunar flower. They have already collected many of the flowers, so now there are only a few more to go. But we have to hurry, before harm befalls any of them."

"So, how are they going to know that you found a flower?"Kiba asked, and the girl smiled.

"We're going to tell them!"She stated simply.

Within a blink between each of the boys, the girl before them had once again become a white wolfess. And it was not only her, but before the two white wolves stood a scarred grey, a light tan, and a dark brown wolf, all watching eagerly.

It had been hours since Kiba's conversing with the cat and the old lady, and the sun had set below the horizon, darkness settling across the sky. The cruel, grey clouds parted, and the bright moon shone over the alleyway, casting light onto the wolves that surrounded that single lunar flower.

That was when they began to howl; first the wolfess, followed by Kiba. Tsume joined in, then Hige and Toboe, until they were in unison, howling somber songs to the moon, crying out to the world. Everyone in the city noticed it, and while most tried to ignore it, there were some who turned their heads to look at the moon. No dog could sing like that, only those kings of the night who everyone thought had long dissapeared.

Wolves had returned to the Earth from hiding, and had made sure all of Freeze city understood that.

---

Miles away there stood a lone communication spire, not tall enough to breach the skyscrapers further downtown, but alone and perforating the side of the dome that covered the city.

If one looked hard enough, they could see somone, something standing near the top, an odd, foot-long snow globe like object with strange bronze designs curling up the sides, with a thick gold bottom clutched in its arms.

"She calls to us, joined by others. A seed of Lady Cheza's has been found."It whispered to itself, a gentle smile curling what part of it's soft, pale face was revealed from under the shadows of it's hood. "The one they call an angel..heh, naught but a wolfess, she has awakened the pack. Those four who know Cheza the most, who made her laugh and sing." It muttered with a smile. "Paradise is in their future."

The smile on its face faded suddenly, and it began to gasp and choke, lifting its face to the sky. The hood on its face fell back, revealing a face amazingly similar to that of the flower maidens; Pale, soft, and almost perfect, but in appearance of a slightly younger female. What looked to be veins in her face crawled up beneath her skin, turning veracose blue.

"Th-the beast r-returns!"It gasped, it's voice raspy and dark. "The fury of the l-lost noble f-family returns threefold! C-cursed remains and denial to p-paradise spurns the hell-hounds fury to d-destroy all that she inten-"

It became silent, and the body of the humanoid fell from the spire, crashing down on the pavement below.

The globe had been shattered into a thousand pieces, and from the flowers neck spilt what appeared to be a charm with only an eye drawn onto it.

---

"What's taking so long for these people to get here?"Toboe complained, and Hige shoved him in annoyance.

"Keep quiet Toboe, don't piss yourself. They'll get here sometime, what's the rush?"He asked, Toboe pouting up at him.

The wolfess kept her sights on the entrance of the alleyway, the very tip of her tail flicking side to side in anxiety.
Meanwhile, Kiba stood poised over the flower, watching it with the utmost care. Tsume could only revel in his ability to give so much of a damn, but also felt the instinctive urge to protect the Lunar flower. But he wasn't nearly as Gung-ho as Kiba.

Finally, a shady figure turned the corner, approaching the group. Each stood up warily, but the wolfess sat down as soon as the persons familiar fragrance wafted into the alleyway.

The hood of the person dropped, revealing what appeared to be a somewhat-middle aged woman, with flowing pink hair and a very pale appearance.

"Almost just like her.."Kiba muttered, watching as the flower-woman patted the wolfess' head, before approaching the flower.

Kiba glanced at the wolfess for a moment, almost for clearance. She nodded, and his gaze shifted to the woman. He cringed slightly as she reached out and ran her pale fingers through his fur and against his ears, but his cautiousness fled and was replaced by near exstacy. The feeling of being petted by such a pure figure sent pleasuring chills through his body, and he side-stepped out of her way as she pulled away from him.

Her hands weakly pushed and dug through the dirt and stone surrounding the flower, the wolfess rushing to her side to pull out the blocks of stone blocking her way. Tenderly, the woman pulled the flower out with all roots intact, placing a mound of soft soil in the globe at her side before burying the roots of the flower beneath it and covering it all with the glass.

She stood, grasping the globe close to her body with intent to protect it with her life glowing from her eyes. The woman bowed her head to the group, then lifted the hood over her eyes and proceeded out of the alleyway and into the night.

"Wow!"Toboe exclaimed under his breath, Hige tilting his head and crossing his arms.

"That was easier than I expected."Hige muttered, and Tsume shook his head, looking at the girl.

"Well..what now?"He asked briefly, and she looked up at the moon.

She smiled, then looked out of the alleyway. "Now we have to hunt down the rest of them."She said, and Hige caught up to her.

"Er, don't mean to pry, but how many of those flowers are there?"He asked, and she shrugged. His face fell, and he sighed heavily.

They all began walking as a group down the street in their human guise, the boys all in thought.

"Hey.."Toboe muttered, then looked up at the girl, walking up by her side. "So what IS your real name anyway?"He asked, and she made a lost face.

"I...don't remember."She said, and all the guys exchanged glances.

Hige looked deep in thought, then grinned. "Let's give you a name then!"He exclaimed, and she look almost frightened for a moment, which made the group chuckle.

"What was it they called you? The Angel of wolves?"Kiba asked solemnly, and Hige brightened.

"So, something religious?"Hige asked, and Toboe smiled. "How 'bout Evangeline?"

"That's too difficult!"

"For you maybe.."

"What was that, runt?!"

Toboe and Hige kept on bickering, the girl frowning, Kiba watching in amusement, and Tsume rubbing his temples in annoyance.

"How about we call her Angel?"Tsume asked sharply, and Toboe smiled at him. "That works!" Toboe said happily, Hige pouting and muttering obscenities beneath his breath.

"Angel?"The girl asked, and Kiba nodded at her. "It's a good thing..humans regard them as good, or holy. Like messengers or guardians."

"And you're like our messenger and our guardian!"Toboe pointed out.

The girl, now Angel, looked down and smiled. "Angel.."She whispered, then smiled up at the four.

Hige sighed, still bent over being insulted. "So, where to now?"He asked, and Angel stopped once they reached the end of the city line, where the dome opened up to reveal a rode.

"To the next city..to look for Lady Cheza."Angel exclaimed. She skipped forward for a moment, followed by Kiba, then paused when she realized the others weren't following.

"Granny.."Toboe murmered. "I got so wrapped up in this adventure, I almost forgot about her."He whispered.

Hige looked back at the city, hands shoved in the pockets of his sweater. "I've lived here all my life. Stealing from hot-dog vendors, fighting with hobos over food. I guess i'm kinda scared of going.

Tsume's gaze remained on his feet, his hand rubbing his neck. "Liana's gone..I feel like I owe Brute an apology. She was annoying, and clingy, but still just a little girl. I treated most of everybody like crap, and i'm only going along with this little adventure because somewhere, it feels important to me. But I can't help but feel like i'm abandoning everything."

Kiba and Angel exchanged glances, then Angel looked back and forth between them and the road.

"Give them an hour to settle their dues."Kiba insisted, looking back. "I remember that all I had was this need to keep going, to keep looking, because a voice was calling for me. But that was it. They had more memories, and they can't easily let it all go."He told her, Toboe nodding.

"I just want to tell Granny goodbye, and thank you."He said, and Angel sighed.

"Alright..i'll give you an hour. But we have to keep going, so make it as quick as possible."She said reluctantly.

The three boys turned away, and headed back into Freeze city, one last time.