Wolf's Rain: Paradise Ghost (Completed)

Chapter Seventeen

Kiba 
Ikira and I watched in silence as Hige made his way back to the hallway, heading back towards the room that his little family was now in. I stood there, lost in my thoughts as I wondered how this all happened. 

How did Darcia find us? We made sure that our trails were stale from our scent, and we made sure that we were close to human grounds, I thought. As I was contemplating, I looked over and saw that Ikira was holding her arm close to her chest. She was looking off into the distance as she was nibbling her lower lip. 

"Something's wrong?" I asked her, knowing that there was something troubling her, and it wasn't about the event before. She shut her eyes and sighed, almost flinching from the sound of my voice. 

"There's something... that I have to tell you. Something that I was meaning to report to you a while ago," She replied. The wolf inside me was growling softly, knowing that she was trying to find the words to say it. 

Within minutes, the brown wolf exploded and shook in front of me as she recalled all that had happened before the shadow wolves attacked camp. From when she was picking the herbs to her running to the hotel. I soon began to bare my teeth, dreading the fact that Darcia had the chance to kill her. 

"... And that's when I entered the hotel and attacked the shadow wolf that was in Blue's room." She concluded, lowering her head. I could tell that this was already too much for her. I, myself, was breathing loudly in anger. I roughly brushed my hand through my hair and tried to calm myself. 

"And why didn't you try to tell me sooner?" I sneered, not checking on the harsh tone in my voice. Ikira looked up at me suddenly, catching rage that every word spoke. I began to hear a voice, one that was familiar from long ago. It was giggling, a deep voice from nightmares long ago. 

You should have heeded the warning, wolf. Not only was your stupid pack under attack, but your little girlfriend could have died. Oh no, what to do! 

I growled out loud, turning around and clawing the wall behind me. "Leave us alone, you bastard!" I yelled. The voice grew louder in my head, taunting me and challenging me. The wolves will be long dead once again, and I have found your little weakness! 

I continued to scratch the door, not caring that I was no longer in my wolf form, and that my hands were burning and red. I was panting and wheezing, shaking my head in an attempt to get rid of those words. Images then began to flood in my mind, causing me to whimper out loud. 

There was a field that was darkened with the black clouds above. Bright flashes enhanced the image, adding more detail to it. The plains, what once was green, was a dried brown with darker splashes scattered around. Blood. 

Again, another flash. This time the blood was brighter, and there were heaps dotting the field. I panted more, realizing what those lumps were. Disfigured and on their sides, puddles of darkness were smeared next to them. 

"Stop it! This isn't real!" I yelped, shaking violently. Once again, a flash blinded my vision. But this time, standing among the bodies, I saw a lean shadow of a wolf standing. I couldn't catch its features, but all that shone were its eyes. A glowing white aura, like the shadow wolves, but I gasped when I caught the faint black dots of pupils.

Your weakness will be your doom. 

Suddenly, I felt two thin arms wrapping around me from behind. The vision disappeared all in one, the images vanishing without a trace. My sight began to clear , and I began to feel the tight squeeze of Ikira as she hugged me. 

"Kiba, calm down. It's gone now." She panted. I realized that she wasn't exactly hugging me, but instead was holding me back from scratching the wall more. I looked up and blinked in shock at the thin black lines that scattered the walls. 

All I could get out was a pitiful 'I'm sorry', and I felt her hold me closer, this time more reassuring. I slightly turned my head and looked intently at Ikira's buried head as she rested it between my shoulders. In a muffled voice, she spoke. 

"I know that I should have told you, but so much was going on already that I didn't want to worry you more," she said. "Not to mention the fact that Darcia is out there doing whatever possible to attack us." 

I sighed, "I know... it's just that... I'm worried." Ikira looked up, giving me a confused look. "I'm worried that we may have to fight. Again. But with more..." She didn't let me continue, as she firmly stood before me and planted her lips onto my forehead. Her hands were warm as they held my cheeks together. 

She finally lowered herself to my height and stared into my eyes. "You know as much as I that wolves are pack animals. We stick together even when hell is around us." Her eyes shone with pride, but I could still see a hint of concern. "And if a war is what Darcia thinks will get rid of us, he will get a war!" 

Suddenly, before I could say anything else, padded footsteps made their way to the hallway. We both turned around and were surprised to see an elderly brown wolf. 

"Wumphy? What's wrong?" I asked her as she made her way towards us. I could tell that something was troubling her, by the way she was averting eye contact to me. This was the first time I could remember that Wumphy would be scared. 

"Kiba, there's a problem," she replied. I rolled my eyes, wondering what more could happen today. She exhaled heavily, closing her eyes as if she didn't know what to think of it.

"The forests, the valleys, the riverbeds, they're all gone," she whimpered, almost stumbling in her own words. I was confused, and Ikira held out a hand to comfort her. "What's gone?" she asked, looking from Wumphy to myself. 

Finally, when she breathed out again, she looked right into my eyes and yelped, "T-the lunar flowers. They've disappeared!"