Wolf's Rain Fan Fiction ❯ Lullaby for a Stormy Night ❯ Chapter 3- Guilt goes well with Pain ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3- Guilt goes well with pain

 

Zali, Mose and a few other male wolves took the old mans body to his grave and set him to rest after what happened. Heart took Akira home and stayed with her for when she wakes up. Zali felt a nagging feeling of guilt as it was he who caused the she wolf to get knocked out, but she had been ….. Something just snapped insider her and she couldn't control the rage of her beast inside her any longer. The older wolf wasn't happy about her outburst, but he could see the justice in it. Mose was known to go too far some times, and this was one of them.

 

He gave one last look at Gramps' body before turning his attention to the 4 boys behind him, “I told you, this island has a different way of doing things around here.” He said calmly, “we work together with the humans and amongst ourselves to survive.”

 

“I could really see the team work when you thrashed Akira down the ramp to get her off one of your own,” Kiba spat sarcastically.

 

“She was deranged out of her own mind!” Zali didn't need them getting on his ass about her, they first of all had no right! She'd only known them a night or so.

 

“Being the humans dogs by working for them and clinging to this wretched place,” Kiba snarled out, “What kind of survival life is that? You're all just a bunch of old strays that are too weak to carry on to paradise!”

 

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT!” Zali roared as his anger slipped.

 

 

Kiba wasn't backing down, the elder wolfs outburst just confirmed his view on them, “You're pathetic!” he hissed out as he gripped on to his wounds that were just starting to heal. His older wounds were open again and pain was becoming a more and more intimate part of him now as he sat amongst his make-shift pack.

 

Zali growled lowly at them, but then another voice in the back of his head rang the same words.

 

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Orange eyes glared up at him in disbelief when Zali told her what she was to do if she wanted to make a living amongst the rest of them. She stood at his side on the level above the wolves below who acted as dogs and pulled heavy loads up the ramp. Her nose wrinkled in disgust.

 

“This is it? This is how you people live around here!?” she yelped.

 

Zali raised an eye brow down at the she wolf at his side, what was her problem?

 

“I was under the impression that your family worked with humans in the police force before you came here. Does working with humans give you bad taste now?” he inquired testily.

 

Akira shook her head, “No, there's a difference between that and this: we worked at their side as equals. Here, you work under them like slaves.” She snorted down at the sight, “It's Pathetic!!”

 

“It's the way we've learned to survive.” Zali shrugged and fought the urge to laugh at the show the young she wolf put when she was `deciding' whether or not to take up his offer and help out. He knew that Shura wouldn't be the one to bring food for them and it was Akira who must take the lead now and provide for the small family. She was trying to look like a badass adult wolf she was suppose to be at her age, but Zali could see why her late father and lost brother strove to keep her innocent, she was heart warming to observe in her honest nature.

 

“Yeah, well you're all Pathetic,”

 

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That's right, Akira had said the same words this white wolf had spat at him not long ago, even if she eventually did give in and accept the fact of what she must do to survive, he didn't think this Kiba guy would. Not with the determined ice blue glare he was receiving from the wolfs human form.

 

Zali sighed and looked out at the sky, “You're all so young still …. It's …. Something you can't seem to understand,”

 

“What's there to understand!” now Tsume was getting his own two sense in.

 

Zali ignored his question, “She asked the same damn thing too….,”

 

 

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Akira grimaced in pain as she started to stir from her darkness of her slumber.

 

`What…. Happened to me? I feel like I was slammed into by the train or something, ow…. My head is killing me!'

 

She lifted her eye lids a little before the memory of how she got these bite marks on her neck and back came back to her. She shot up suddenly alert, “WHERE'S GRAMPS! - OUCH!” she hissed and clutched her bruised abs.

 

“You shouldn't move much right now. Just stay laying still and wait for the herbs Toboe went to go fetch you kick in” Heart commanded.

 

Akira let the elder she wolf lay her back down on her un-hurt side to rest again. Her orange eyes caught sight of a shirtless Kiba with wired leaves like the ones on her own wounds marring his chest and arms. Toboe put pressure on each patch to get the herbs medicine flowing through his veins.

 

“What happened to Kiba? He didn't have those wounds before!” Akira was slightly alarmed.

 

“He moved into attack the humans after he saw the way you guys were being treated and the old man dieing. That dog fight you waged probably only added fuel to his fire in attack too.” Tsume answered her from where he leaned against a fallen wall.

 

Heart looked behind her to Toboe and Kiba, “How is he doing?”

 

“These herbs should do for now.” Toboe sighed.

 

“Its only typical,” Hige shrugged from where he sat against the wall not far from Heart and Akira with his arms behind his head, “he never thinks before he bites. Damn Kiba”

 

Toboe looked down at his white wolf friend with concern while Heart quickly jabbed the large fluffy wolf with the toe of her boot to shut him up.

 

“But still, I bet he didn't feel like he could just sit there and do nothing after all that.” The younger wolf defended.

 

“It doesn't matter; he shouldn't have stuck his nose in their business.” Tsume said.

 

“Tsume,” Toboe looked up at his role model pleadingly.

 

“How can you say that?” Heart shot back, “none of us felt like we could just sit back and watched the old man die! We didn't want to! Hell if I wasn't bounded down like that back there, I would have done the same thing!”

 

“Then why are you choosing to be on the receiving end of all this? Why do you slave away like that old man did? Are you planning to die like that too!” Tsume growled back lightly.

 

Heart was taken aback and snarled just the same, “You know what, you son of a-,”

 

“STOP IT!” Akira shouted. Everyone but Kiba turned to her and saw tears brimming those golden orange eyes, “Please, just stop it! What's done is done! None of this will bring Gramps back!” she sniveled, “it never brought Papa back…..,”

 

Heart was at a loss of what to say or do for a moment before she tucked a few stray hairs away from the younger girls face, “Look at you, you're all beat up and you're still stressing out over everyone else's concern. Get some rest.”

 

 

“Let's just go already. Let's get up and leave this place.” Tsume said after awhile.

 

“But Tsume! We can't leave Kiba now, he's hurt! And what about Akira or Shura?” Toboe protested.

 

“Which is exactly why we should have left here yesterday.” Hige snorted.

 

“And what ever happened to `living here had more going for it'” Tsume spat at the other wolf.

 

“Humph,” Hige looked away.

 

“Looks like you fellas have been tied down here too.” Heart sighed as she lightly stoked the now asleep Akira's hair to soothe the wolf back to her peaceful slumber to heal.

 

“Tied down?” Toboe looked back at her.

 

Kiba suddenly opened his eyes and started to get up, “Okay, I'm fine, let's go,” he grimaced in pain.

 

“Hang on a second, you can't go anywhere with those wounds on you and an empty stomach!” Toboe insisted he stay put.

 

“Well I know somebody here who has a stuffed gut,” Tsume glared down at Hige who bristled.

 

“Look you were the ones who went off on your own. Not me! Besides, it's rude to waste food! So I had to eat it.” He justified.

 

“And what about Shura? It was brought for her sake.” Tsume countered.

 

Heart suddenly started growling, “You didn't take her food and eat it while she slept away did you!” she accused.

 

“Calm down, Calm down!” Hige held up his hands in defense, “I would never do that, to a woman at least, Cole and I made sure she ate her fill before I dug in the rest.” He reassured.

 

“Which reminds me, why didn't you take Akira back to Shura?” Toboe asked, “She must be worried about her, but you led us all out here instead of the den.”

 

Heart's autumn eyes became dark with conflicting emotions, “These two have had it pretty hard and yet they hardly ever let it show. They're always smiling because they say `well at least we have each other.' Akira will be fine after a few hours of so, but if Shura saw her blood, she'd go into a panic attack much like the one Akira went through when Gramps passed away at her side this morning. Shura doesn't need this right now.”

 

Toboe felt how gloomy the rest were getting and decided to lighten the mood again, “Well, you could have at least saved us all a bit of food, Hige,” he pouted.

 

“Not my problem. Soon as Shura went back to sleep, Cole even stayed a while to chat with me.”

 

“That's right, so how did your little date go anyways?” Tsume rolled his eyes.

 

“I don't know she seemed kinda … lonely to me. I was about to ask her if she wanted something to cheer her up, cause we all know I could,” Hige got a perverted grin, “but she said her good byes before I got the chance to.”

 

“You know she's Zali's mate right?” Heart dead panned.

 

“She's what!?” Hige seemed to jolt out of fantasy land.

 

“Regardless, what do we do now Tsume? We gotta do something.” Toboe once again asked the older wolf.

 

“Oh! Like imposing on Cole's hospitality for a while?” Hige wagged his tail as he sat forward eagerly.

 

“Weren't you listening?” Heart growled out in irritation.

 

“NO! Like you getting us something to eat! By yourself!” Tsume ordered Hige.

 

“Eh?! By myself?!” he whined.

 

His answer was a golden ice stare and a threatening growl from Tsume.

 

“Argh! Fine! I'm going by myself.” Hige got up and started out to find food again.

 

The others watched as Hige tromped off on his own with a mission of finding their next meal.

 

“I'll go get some more herbs for Kiba and Akira's wounds” Toboe stood up, “Can you take care of both of them for a while Heart?”

 

“They'll be fine here with me,” Heart nodded and watched as the young wolf pup trotted off after Hige.

 

 

“It must feel strange to have people who accept you,” she said after a while.

 

Tsume glanced down at her before choosing to once again go back to surveying the grounds around them for any hint of danger, “what are you talking about?”

 

“After what happened with Kaseem and the rest of the pack. I'm surprised you let your walls down around those two. You don't seem so cold when you talk to them.” Heart observed.

 

“I'm still who I've always been and this is who I always will be,” Tsume chided.

 

Heart looked up at him then back to Kiba to check him over for anything out of the ordinary, “You still don't know what's happed to the rest of us, do you? I can see that you're just dieing to ask me why I'm here and not with Kaseem.”

 

“I don't give a damn about that bastard.” Tsume brushed it off, but it was true. He was dieing inside to ask her.

 

“Typical,” She sighed, “I'm guessing that's your new way of confirming my accusation?” she looked over her shoulder again then down at the ground with a far off look, “You may or may not want to know, but I believe you to have never been outcast from the pack and that you have a right to know what happened. Kaseem was rash in you exile sentence from us all. He already had it out for you anyways, but I never thought he would do that to you. He would have run too if he were in that situation.” She sighed.

 

“He was always a bastard,” Tsume had to agree with her, `especially a bastard when we were both near her'

 

“Well, about 3 months after you left, we were ambushed by soldiers. They singled us out and captured us to take to some noble woman's Keep. I was lucky enough to break out of my own cage, but I was forced to leave the others or join them to my death.” Her voice became more sorrowful by the minute. She inhaled a shaky breath as she tried to stop herself from crying.

 

She looked back at his semi-shocked golden eyes.

 

“They're all …. Dead?” he asked.

 

She nodded, “they shot Kaseem right in front of our eyes and skinned some of the younger pups with the finer furs alive.” Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears, “I can still hear their screams, Tsume. I can hear my name leave their lips as they call out for my aid, yet I was too terrified to fight back and try to save them. If they had survived ….. You wouldn't be the only one they'd exile.” She smiled morbidly at him, “I guess that means you're not alone now, huh?” a single tear streaked down her face before she whipped it away with her sleeve and turned away from Tsume to compose herself.

 

Tsume didn't know what to think. She'd poured out her heart and soul to him just like that. The one who her own mate-to-be hated with a passion because of the affection Tsume had once held for this she wolf was confiding in him of all people when she could have sided faithfully with her mate to be like the females should, but here she was trying to reassure him that he wasn't alone anymore.

 

Damn these females here are something else.

 

What's worse, Tsume didn't think those feelings of affection for her died off in those 6 years they've been apart. They were now surfacing once more in a slowly but surely fashion.

 

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Shura was feeling restless and stood up carefully from her small nest she and the others had made for herself and her pups. She lifted her delicate k-9 paws and stretched them out before padding her way across the dirt floor to the cool air out side. The chocolate brown and cream colored wolf took in a deep breath of air of the fresh air and caught a foreign scent as well as one she had only recently come to know. She could tell the foreign one was only passing by on the road since it was coupled with the sound of a patrol truck, and she saw the yellow 3 wheeled vehicle pass by just after she ducked low behind the fallen pillars to hide.

 

“What are humans doing all the way out here?” she thought aloud, “They believe that cemeteries should be avoided because of the undead spirits that reside here.”

 

She turned around to investigate the other scent, but at a slower rate. She was pregnant after all so she had to take it slowly this time, and the scent seemed to be further away then the humans were. She followed it until she came to the top of the bluff that over looked the area beside the grave yard and smiled when she saw it was Hige.

 

“What's he doing out here with out his friends? Looking for something he lost?” she observed him closer and then caught on to his situation when she saw him discard a chewed up toy he'd found and the loud growl come from his stomach.

 

“They must not have gotten any food this morning. I over heard there was a commotion from the people passing by and Heart and Akira probably won't be able to acquirer enough food for all of those boys and me….” Her ears drooped discouraged and she whimpered, “Wait a minute! There's some food the humans through out on the other side of town, it usually has something good left over like half a turkey or something! I'll surprise them with dinner tonight when they come home.” She decided with a shine of delight in her motherly violet eyes.

 

Turning tail to trot off the other direction with a new mission firmly engraved in her mind set, Shura made her way to the restaurant's back ally on the other side of town, eager to help these young wolves in what ever way she could. She hated this whole `too weak to do anything' crap the other wolves were pulling her on. She wasn't like that!

 

“I may be pregnant, but I can still get food one way or another,”

 

 

 

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Kiba's blue eyes slowly opened as he felt his strength return to him. He took a quick look around to get his bearings and found he was left with Heart and Tsume quietly watching guard while Akira's head rested on Heart's lap as the older wolf petted her long red mane absently. Her autumn eyes caught his movements and she craned her neck to look over at him.

 

“You're awake, that's good,” the black haired wolf sighed with something akin to relief, “How are you feeling?”

 

“Like someone's gnawing at each individual bone in my body while I'm still alive,” Kiba groaned.

 

Heart grinned, “good! It's better than I thought.”

 

Kiba sat up and looked slightly worried when he saw Akira's motionless form near Heart, “How is she? Last I saw she was snapping and snarling at one of the other wolves,”

 

“The little wench got into a 2 on 1 dog fight and was accidentally hurt when Zali tried to separate them and she bit into his arm enough to draw blood.” Tsume said.

 

Heart's eyes creased with concern, “She's never been in any kind of fight that was even that brutal …. Then again, she's probably never had to face the instinct to attack like that with another wolf. It's probably her first time sinking her fangs into real living flesh and blood besides hunting deer and such,” Heart looked down at her young friend, “I wander how she'll react when she remembers the taste of it…. She's not one to just forget about it and move on, what if she feels like she's this horrible monster now that attacks its own? She's close to Zali, and to have bitten him and tasted his blood like that….,”

 

“Come on, you act like she's an adolescent Vampire that just tasted the blood of the wrong human or something,” Tsume snorted, “It's not like it's never happened before her time a wolf can and will attack another wolf if the time calls for it,”

 

“But she was probably out of her mind! She wont feel like she can trust herself, and she relies so much on trusting others that you know it'll kill her to learn that she cant even trust herself!” Heart cried out as she held back the small urge to let her tears flow, “what will we do when she wakes up and realizes what's happened?”

 

“The only thing we can do. We'll stay with her until she's coped with what's happened. She decides how she acts upon what she has done, not us. No matter what we may try to do, we can't make her do anything she truly doesn't believe…,” Kiba said.

 

Tsume let that thought sink in a little before he groaned with a snort, “You two look too deeply into things. If she goes crazy and starts attacking people like a deranged dog, we won't have to kill her, the humans will. They'll probably chalk it up to rabies too, just like they always do.”

 

 

Akira suddenly shot up when all 4 of them heard a loud `clack!” in the distance. Her orange eyes were wide.

 

“Wha-What was that?” she asked.

 

Tsume shrugged, “Hell if I know.”

 

They all strained to listen for anything more, but all they got was Toboe running as fast as he could back to them.

 

“HEY! HEEEY!!” Toboe called out.

 

Heart stood up as he ran in almost out of breath and helped Akira sit up, surprised when the young wolf insisted on standing as well after Kiba also stood, “Are you sure….?” Heart cautioned.

 

“Look, it's just a few scratches here and a bruise or two there. I'm fine, just traumatized a bit. I can stand” Akira insisted and stood wobbly on her own 2 feet in human form before looking over at Toboe who was bent over and leaning on his arms braced against his knees, “I thought Hige was with you?”

 

“Yeah, why are you alone?” Kiba asked alarmed.

 

“That's just it! Hige got captured by this really big trap! And he can't get out!” Toboe gasped out as he lifted his head from breathing so hard, “I ran back as fast as I could!”

 

“Oh, well then what's the big fuss? It's just a human trap.” Heart rolled her eyes.

 

“Huh?!” Toboe didn't expect Heart to say something so ….. Tsume-ish.

 

“All he has to do is trick the humans with his human form and he can go free,” Tsume clarified.

 

“But he was knocked out by those wolves from in town! The ones that fought with Akira this morning!” Toboe gasped out.

 

“You mean Mose!” Akira gasped and Heart sneered.

 

“That little son of a bitch! He's dog enough to go low like that!” she hissed.

 

“Why the hell would they do that!” Tsume demanded.

 

“I-I don't know!” Toboe answered as he started to panic.

 

“Why didn't you give us a warning sign by howling? And what are you doing here! You should have gone after them and followed them!” Tsume scolded.

 

Toboe looked shocked as he realized Tsume was right, “Oh, yeah, you're right….,” he whimpered.

 

“It wasn't Toboe's fault! Lay off will you!” Akira defended Toboe.

 

Kiba stiffly made his way to the door, resting most of his weight on the ruined walls as he limped.

 

“Kiba?” Akira asked fearful of his wounds.

 

“Let's go.” Kiba said.

 

“Where to?” Tsume blinked off guard.

 

“To the town. Zali has to know something about this.”

 

Akira's eyes widened, “No! Zali didn't and he wouldn't ever tell the others to do something like this!” she begged them to understand.

 

“This is coming from the over trusting Puppy that has only known him for maybe 3 or 4 months?” Tsume chided.

 

Akira glared at him then looked at Heart to back her up, but Heart shook her head, “I'm sorry Akira, but they have a point.”

 

“We don't have time for this!” Kiba started limping off, not bothering to look back to see if the others would follow, which they did.

 

Tsume trotted on passed Kiba before growling in frustration, “We also don't have time for this!” with that said, Tsume swooped Kiba over his shoulder with out concern for what Kiba had to say about it and started off at a dead run for the city with the other 3 behind him, “By the time you get there, Hige will be dead.”

 

Tsume lead them into town and the 4 wolves searched the streets, when Kiba had enough of playing `potato sack over shoulder' he struggled to get out of Tsumes hold.

 

“I'm fine now, Tsume, you can let me down now!” Kiba said demandingly.

 

Tsume stopped for a moment and let the white wolf slide to his own feet. Toboe panted at Tsumes side as he frantically looked around, “Where could they be?”

 

Akira smelt the foul stench of dirty fur and station oil near by and looked down the ally to their left to see a wolf pass through it as it went to the other side, “There! They're over that way!” she pointed and the 5 of them were off again, only to stop at the mouth of the ally were Mose and a few other wolves gathered.

 

One of the wolves recognized them and smirked, “heh, well now, it looks like last nights beating didn't sink in too well.” He chuckled as the other wolves snickered around him.

 

Akira glanced at Kiba wryly. These were the ones who were covered in blood last night before she found Kiba in the back ally. Were they planning this?

 

Mose was among them and raised a brow when he noticed the red wolf among them, “And it seems that the over passionate bitch is here too.” He grinned devilishly as he eyed her, “We were rudely interrupted last time, but this time you wont be so fortunate,”

 

Heart started to growl lowly, but stopped when the other wolves suddenly jerked back in fear and surprise. She looked over her shoulder like the rest of the wolves and saw Zali himself standing behind them, cutting off the escape.

 

“Zali!” Akira gasped nervously.

 

“It was you then? You were the one behind all this!” Tsume snarled,

 

“Behind what?” no emotion registered on the older wolfs face as his golden eyes bore into the ally way.

 

“Just how low will you mongrels sink!” Tsume snapped again.

 

Now Zali was losing his patients, “what the hell is going on!”

 

“Is it true you sold out our friend to the humans?” Kiba was borderline from snarling himself like Tsume was. Akira fearfully stood behind all 3 of them, not wanting to believe what was happening.

 

Zali glanced behind them at Mose, “I'll say it again, what's going on here,”

 

Mose belied his nervousness with arrogance, “Hell if I know.”

 

 

Toboe glanced back at the other wolf before turning to Zali again, “That's the one I heard back there! I heard you tell them to kill him!” Toboe shouted back at Mose.

 

Zali's glare got 5 times more dangerous as he stared down one of his pack, “MOSE!” he growled.

 

Mose jolted a bit, but it was all the proof anyone needed.

 

Kiba heard enough, he approached Mose with the intent to do some damage, but Zali shoved him roughly aside, “THIS IS MY PACK!” he reminded with a roar before he turned to Mose and slugged him on the cheek, “Why the hell did you sell out their friend?!”

 

Mose got up and whipped off his cheek, “He's an outsider, that's why.”

 

“Zali, isn't you who is selling out YOUR friends?” a blond haired wolf accused at Moses side.

 

Zali's eyes dilated, “WHAT!”

 

“You know it's true! You don't even do a dogs work!”

 

Zali's eyes then narrowed, “Is that how you really feel?”

 

“You ingrates!” Akira stepped forward, commanding everyone's attention.

 

“Akira?”

 

“Zali has done everything he can to protect your pack and you! He makes deals with humans so you can get food and not have to starve! He wards off any threatening outsiders that may come by away from all of you! Its all for you! Everything he does is for the Pack! You'd have to be a blind fool to think that he'd sell any of you out, you mangy dog!” Akira stood up for Zali.

 

“Yeah well none of us sees him as the leader anymore!” Mose lunged at Zali and punched him to the ground. The other wolves joined in as they started to beat on Zali ruthlessly.

 

Heart bared her fangs and was about to help him out like Kiba was getting ready to before Zali rasped out, “Stay out of this!”

 

Akira clenched her fists to her side and looked away, only to flinch at every slam and slap of Zali's hide as he was beaten unfairly, “this is wrong….. He was doing all he could to protect them and they ….. They,” she bit her lip.

 

“Sometimes wrong things happen, we can't do anything about it,” Heart said as Toboe put a reassuring hand on Akira's shoulder. She smiled down at the young wolf grateful for his gratitude.

 

“STOP IT! STOP IT!! LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Cole's desperate voice shouted as she ran pass them into the ally.

 

Mose seemed to have his fill of fun, “cut it out. Lets leave'em” with that Mose led the others away and out of the ally, leaving Cole to gather up her mate in her arms.

 

“Cole?” Zali rasped.

 

“Zali, something's happened,” Cole was crying, but the others didn't know if it was because of what she saw or something else.