My Paradise (Wolf's Rain Fan-Fic)

Chapter 11

We stop for a short break. "So...where exactly are we going?" I ask. "We have to find The Lunar Flower. It's the key to finding Paradise. Can't you smell it? It's scent is what had drawn us to the city, don't try to deny it." Kiba says. "Maybe for all of them, but the only reason I was there, was because I was kidnapped by the hunter who threw me into the arena." I say. "What? Kidnapped? The hunter took you away from your pack?!" Toboe asks. "Well, no...not exactly. I didn't have a pack at the time..." I say trailing off as the knot in my throat appears. "Were you thrown out?" Tsume asks quietly. "No...my pack..." I trail off as a faint memory surfaces. 

Flashback

The scent of smoke and fire filled my nose and burned my lungs. Our pack was gone, the humans burnt down our entire forest. My mother and I were the only ones left. My pack, and my little brother were lost to the fire. We ran as fast as we could, mother was in front, I was running next to her. I was still young, barely a year, and I was scared, so was she, though she didn't show it. Burning trees fell around us. One good sized branch falls in front of us, scaring us, and bring us to a stop. 'What do we do now?! Which way? It's not safe to keep going that way!' I whine. She didn't answer, just kept looking around. 'Mom?' I bark frightened. She looks at me. 'It's going to be alright Yuna, come on, this way.' she says and runs left. I follow as well as I could. We went around the fallen branch and continued to run. Neither one of us saw the tree, until it was too late. It was going to crush me unless I got out of the way, I knew this but, I still froze. I couldn't move. Mom pushes me out of the way, just as it was about to hit me. I look around, trying to find her through the heavy smoke. 'Mom? Mom?! Where are you?!' I call for her, but no one answers. When the smoke clears a bit, I find her. She had been crushed by the tree. 'Mom...'  I say quietly. I ran to her, nudging her head, while dodging the fire that still clung to the tree. She didn't react, not even the slightest. I whined and lay next to her. 'I'm so sorry...' I say and whine more. 

Flashback ends

I snap out of the memory. She's gone...and it's all my fault. I blink away the tears, but one escapes. I'm so sorry... "Yuna, are you alright?" Toboe asks. I wipe the tear away. "Yeah, I'm going to go look ahead." is all I say before I run off. There was a sea up ahead, I could smell it. I stop as I reach it, looking around. A bridge ran all the way across it, leading to what looked like a small town. The scent of that flower was stronger here, there was also a very distinct scent of wolves. I have to tell the others. I run back, but when I get half way, I notice Toboe and Tsume were walking this way, which meant Toboe got worried, and dragged Tsume with him to find me. "Yuna! We were worried about you." Toboe says running up to me. Did he say 'we?' "Oh really?" I ask raising an eyebrow at Tsume. He rolls his eyes. "He was worried, I told him not to be. But he dragged me with him anyhow." Tsume says. I laugh quietly. "I told you I was alright, all I did was look ahead." I say looking back at Toboe. "I know but he got me worried, saying 'Something isn't right...'  so it's his fault!" Toboe says pouting. I look back to Tsume and raise my eyebrow again. He rolls his eyes and acts like he was looking at something very interesting. Ookay... "Well either way, as you can see, I'm fine. So there was no reason to worry. Anyhow, I have to go back, and tell the others what I saw. "It's not another machine is it?" he asks. I laugh quietly. "No, no danger. Just a town, and the scent of that flower was stronger there." I say. "Lets go then!" Toboe says running back. "You coming Tsume?" I ask, not moving. He looks back at me, nods, and follows Toboe and I. Once there, Hige and Kiba get up off the ground. "Anything?" Kiba asks. "There's a small town up ahead, the scent of that flower is stronger too." I say. "Then we have no time to waste, lets go." Kibva says starting to go. "There's one more thing.." I say catching his attention again. "What?" he asks. "If we go in there, we may have trouble. Wolves live there too. Packs can be very protective of their territories, we'll be intruding, and most likely get confronted. We can't afford that, we need to focus on the goal. Maybe go around." I suggest. "I know, but if you smell the flower, then we have no choice but to go through that town, what if it's there?" Kiba asks. "I'm just making sure everyone is clear about what we may encounter. It isn't wise to go in there blind." I say. "Whatever it is, we're prepared. Let's go." he says and walks away. We follow shortly after, cross the bridge, and enter the old town. "Zali, look what we have here." a dirt covered man says, elbowing a man to his right. "What are a bunch of kids like you, doing here? No one comes here for the scenery, they just pass through, so tell me, where are you headed?" the man asks. He was an older man, messy Brown hair. He had a jagged scar running from his chin ending next to his left eye. He wore a Black trench coat, a Navy Blue shirt, Blue jeans, and Black boots. "Paradise." Kiba says. The entire group of men start laughing and pointing. "There's no such thing." Zali says. "There is too!" Toboe says. Zali looks at him. I didn't like the way he looked at Toboe, so I put him behind me. "Aww, how sweet, the b***h is protecting the runt." the dirt covered man says sneering at me. I'm about to say something, when Tsume, Hige, and Kiba gravitate around Toboe and I. I hear a low growl from Tsume. "Calm down...they're just baiting you, they want you guys to try something, I told you, their territorial, but pack law stops them from attacking outsiders, unless they attack them first." I mumble so only Tsume, Hige, and Kiba can hear. They reluctantly stand down. I knew we shouldn't have come here...