• A.K.A Wolf Act XIII- Arguments.

    {{Zero’s Perspective}}


    Octa went on and on about how Nobell has been terrorized by an evil gang called the “Scrapers”, and that Kumori was the only thing that scared them away. Then Kumori’s past was revealed, she was abandoned at a young age and was found as a naked, young human lying in the middle of the woods, crying. Ever since she’s been a wolf and continued to live in Nobell. The whole story sounded fishy to me. Who are these so called, ‘Scrapers’? And what did they want with this weird city? But, the weirdest part was, Hotaka was buying this obvious crap! I looked over at Yukiru and I could see that she wasn’t falling for this as much as I was.

    “So, I guess all I’m asking if you God-sent Halflings will protect us. The Scrapers have started to return in small and almost meaningless raids but, I know that soon enough, they will harm every citizen of Nobell,” Octa said with an almost begging tone.

    Without skipping a single beat, stupid Hotaka turned around and looked at us with a face that just screamed for me to punch it. And then had to say it, “I think we should help her, I mean, them.” I scoffed; he’s such an idiot. Because he thinks this Kumori chick is just the hottest thing on Earth, he needs to save her.

    “But, there’s just one problem, doofus,” I said in am angry whisper, “We aren’t here to save the day! Let’s just say we can’t and turn the other way! I don’t like this annoying little town anyway! This ringing is getting really annoying.”

    Hotaka tilted his head, “What ringing?”

    Yukiru and I just looked at each other for a few seconds, “What do you mean, ‘what ringing?’?! Those necklaces these people are wearing have been screaming at us since we got here!” I whispered swiftly again, getting ready to clobber the crap out of Hotaka. The thing that worried me was that it didn’t seem to affect the other wolf, Kumori either. And, Yukiru was getting anxious, making me want to get her the hell out of here.

    Before I could beat some sense into him, Hotaka turned back to Octa and Kumori, “We’ll do all we can.”

    Me and Yukiru dropped our jaws at the same time and as if we rehearsed it we both exclaimed, “WHAT?!”

    Octa clapped his hands together once and I swear I saw his fat stomach jiggle like a bowl of jello. Kumori didn’t seem any less happy, wagging her tail vigorously. Octa looked at us, concentrating for a bit and spoke up, “You all look like you haven’t had a decent place to settle in weeks!” Now that I couldn’t disagree with, even as a wolf sleeping in the ground was tough on the body. Not to mention unsanitary. I swear if Hotaka say one more thing-

    “Would it be too much trouble if we asked to stay here?” He said with a smile at Kumori. I’m going to kill him. I am honestly going to tear his scrawny little body apart. I raised my hand to punch him but I felt Yukiru gently tug on my sleeve and shook her head. “Please?” I mouthed. Once more she motioned her head, no. I reluctantly let my hand fall down at my side.

    Octa pointed to some houses down the side of the cobble stone street, “The homes are relatively small but I’m sure you five will find it to your utmost convenience.” The thing was maybe 50 square feet on the bottom floor and the top floor was probably on, maybe two, beds. I grabbed Yukiru’s hand in mine, “Thanks. We’re very tired and we need our rest.”

    “Oh, but of course,” Octa replied. There were so many things I wanted to do to Hotaka, interrogate, kill, and beat him up. The list goes on. What I really wanted to know was what was with his sudden, and very creepy, change of heart about Nobell. I mean, at first he looked as if he wanted to burn it to the ground but now, he’s eating out of the palm of Octa’s hand. More like Kumori’s paw. That’s it!! Damn that moron! I nearly dragged Yukiru into the house as quick as I could without hurting her of course. Mostly so I could get her away from these freaking “city people” and also so the rest would follow and I could pound Hotaka’s idiotic face in!

    {{End of Perspective}}

    What in the world was Hotaka thinking? I’m all for helping someone but this is an entire city filled with helpless people and we have absolutely no clue on who these Scrapers are and what they want from Nobell. I was still glad to have Zero take me away from all of that; especially Kumori. There is something about her that gets my fur on end.

    As soon as we entered the small house, Zero punched Hotaka in the face and I think I heard his nose crack. I yanked Sparks and Ichio to each one of my sides and we went in to I think was the kitchen which was a mere 8 steps from the front door. I flinched with every time Zero either slammed Hotaka against the wall or just plain out hit him.

    “What the hell were you thinking you f*cking retard! Just because you got yoo-hoo eyes for miss pretty back there doesn’t mean we have to put everyone else at risk! And why are you all for this stupid town anyway?! I thought you wanted nothing to do with it! And now? You think you’re the sh*t now huh?”

    “Zero!” I interjected. I was angry too but he was staking this way too far.

    Zero glared at me for a second or two with a face that just sank my entire body. I actually felt that for a few moments…Zero hated me. I knew that wasn’t true but his face just seethed with despise. He let out an animal-like grown and stormed up the stares that led to a bedroom I presumed. Hotaka sighed and slumped down into a wooden char, one of six that surrounded a relatively large, rectangular, wooden table. He rested his face in both of his hands and cursed at himself.

    “Hey guys? Go outside and see if there are any others you can play with, ok?” I whispered to Sparks and Ichio. Of course the thought of goofing off made them run for the door like their feet were on fire. I walked over to Hotaka with a small forced smile on, “Listen, Zero gets like that sometimes. He—“

    “He’s right,” Hotaka interrupted, “I can’t believe I did that. I wasn’t thinking right. I just felt this unrelentless urge to help her—I mean them.”

    I sighed with a slight laugh, “Cupid’s an annoying little b*****d, ain’t he?”

    Hotaka smirked for a while and then went right back into his guilty and sad state. “I just…I couldn’t do anything. My mind just thought something and my mouth blurted it out.” A flashback hit me when I just exploded at Zero and told him I loved him. I know all to well about that kind of things but that was with Zero and me. This is with someone we don’t even know. None of us have any idea as to what Kumori wants or even if she’s docile and not some crazy wolf that Surt-Lim just had to play with.

    “Now what the hell are we going to do? We can’t just say, ‘Sorry. We change our minds. Good luck being killed.’” Hotaka said angrily.

    I got on my knees next to him so I could see as much of his face as possible, “This will all blow over in a while. Trust me. These townspeople are weak and some small gang isn’t going to be much of a challenge for us. Zero will get over it and we’ll be out of here by next week tops.”

    Hotaka exploded out of his chair and stood over me with a stare that could melt stone. I honestly thought that for a second, Hotaka would hit me, or worse. I slowly stood up so I could be eye level with him. Most of the time, if a wolf raises it’s body swiftly above yours, it means that a fight isn’t too far behind. I knew I could take Hotaka; I’ve done it before. So, I tried my best to not completely blow up at him, “Look, we are all tired so why don’t we just—“

    “Why do you think you know everything?! Just because your all sweet you think everything will be just fine?! Well news flash little missy, I’m not ok! Nobell is not ok! And you won’t be ok if you don’t shut your mouth fast.”

    Out of sheer rage I became a wolf and with my ears plastered to the top of my skull I managed to growl out, “Hotaka, if you want a fight then you’ll get one. But, now is not the time nor place for this. You need to either take a walk or take me beating you t a pulp.”

    He sat back down in the chair but still kept eye contact with me. He wasn’t going to do anything anymore (at least that concerned Zero or I) because in the very beginning, we established who was highest and lowest in the pack status. While Hotaka isn’t the last wolf, he sure as hell isn’t higher than me and if he wanted to keep his head on his shoulders, he would listen to me. I blinked into a human again and called for Sparks and Ichio to return to the small home we were now forced to inhabit. It was kind of cute to see those two interact with “normal” humans. Almost made me forget why all of us were one of the farthest things from human.
    //////////////////////////////////////////////////
    I just sat on the couch and watched Hotaka slowly and lazily fall to sleep with his cheek flat against the table. Ichio and Sparks chose to sleep as wolves outside. I didn’t blame them houses are kind of intimidating. After tucking in my two little ones I quietly snuck up stairs to see Zero sitting on the edge a really big bed, facing away from me, that was pinned to the farthest wall possible from the stairs. My face got slightly warm when I realized he was shirtless. I almost got half a step back down the stairs when,

    “KiKi?” he said barely above and audible moan. I felt a tingle run down my spine, his voice seemed really angry but I just couldn’t walk back down those steps.

    A smile crept up on me as I walked over to Zero who still had his bare back smiling at me; “It’s too dark in here. You should turn on a light or something.” But, when I went for the light switch, the lights stayed dead. Only the setting sunlight that kissed the hardwood floor served as a small light. It was sort of enticing since the window was right above the bed and Zero just seemed to glow. I reached the bed and slowly sat down behind him and lightly traced my fingertips over his back, which was incredibly warm.

    “How did you know it was me?” I asked with a whisper. Apparently my breath was cold and he automatically made a small shiver and small goose bumps appeared on his skin.

    “I could hear your heartbeat.” That’s all he said. A simple gesture of meaningless affection and I was falling head over heels for him all over again. But, then of course I’m the farthest thing from being subtle when I’m flustered. I let out a nervous laugh, “Heh heh, yeah I guess I’m just a dork like that.”

    Without any delay or thought, Zero responded, “I’m sorry.” He wasn’t even responsive to me being close to him. Almost as if I was still across the room in the staircase and his voice was still as emotionless as before.

    My face jumped in surprise but then sank down as I remembered his stare and what he had said. I lightly placed my forehead against his back and criss-crossed my legs; “You scared me for a moment, Zero. You can’t be so mean to people. Things will work out eventually, you’ll see.” And like Hotaka, Zero’s anger seemed to skyrocket. He still didn’t turn to me, though.


    “How can you be sure?! We thought nothing would happen to us when we searched for the flowers but then Surt-Lim came and he--” Zero couldn’t finish. And I knew what happened then but, “This is now and I’m alive, everyone is fine and I if you value anything about me, it should what I think.” I was about to get off of the bed and storm downstairs to sleep out side with Ichio and Sparks but, something rather someone grabbed my wrist. I reluctantly sat back down with Zero again, “You need to move on. As you’ve witnessed, life’s too short to be cautious with everything you do.” He still didn’t flinch. “And you never know. Maybe Hotaka has a good hunch and we might be out of here before you know it.”

    “I don’t care. You and everyone else are in danger now. If you get hurt again…”

    “I won’t get hurt again.”

    He didn’t respond only a sigh. I kissed the back of his head, “C’mon, ZiZi get some sleep. Tomorrow’s the day we start kicking a**, right?”

    I made my move to leave again but of course my dear Zero wouldn’t let me. But, I never expected him to say what he did;

    “Sleep with me…”

    “Wh-what?!”

    “I mean in the bed. Sleep next to me.”

    Oh, thank God. I thought for a second that he wanted to… Talk about a change of mood. My dirty mind quickly died when Zero turned and opened the three layers of cotton sheets and buried himself in them. And of course I just sat there like a blushing idiot until he patted the spot next to him, “I won’t bite…” Now he was just teasing me, making my face grow more and more red and warm. I didn’t want to sleep in my jeans; I normally slept in my wolf form so pajamas weren’t really an issue for me…until Zero invited me to (without doing anything) sleep with him. And I didn’t know what was arousing to humans and what wasn’t so, stupidly, I removed my jeans and climbed in the bed with Zero.

    Zero flashed me his typical up-to-no-good smile, “…hard” I slugged him on his shoulder but of course he didn’t even give me a kidding ‘ow’. We were both on our sides facing each other and I had no idea what was going through Zero’s mind but I’m 110% sure it has something to do with the circumstance we were in and what we weren’t doing because of it. I let out a small, ‘hmph’ and plopped over onto my other side so that my back was pressing against Zero’s chest. “Doesn’t your mind get covered in dirt since it’s always in the gutter?” I asked peering over my shoulder. I heard him chuckle, “that’s why the god Lord invented Q-Tips.”

    I couldn’t help but laugh and turn back toward Zero. My forehead was just barely touching his and he gave me a nice goodnight kiss which I more than happily returned.

    “I love you,” he said in a mumble.

    “I guess I love you too, ZiZi. And I promise that nothing bad will come of this.” I held out my pinky and Zero slowly coiled his around mine, “I trust you Yukiru, that will definitely never change but I still hate this place. And don’t think that……”

    His voice faded as I fell asleep. Beds were far more comfortable than the ground or my den so it was on expected for me to drift to sleep after mere seconds of laying in one. I still slept uneasily; What if this was going to be just like when Surt-Lim attacked our clans in the very beginning? What if the Scrapers are ten times more powerful than we anticipated? Nonetheless, I fell slept with my smallest finger still entwined with Zero’s.

    I was happy to be here but as soon as I woke up; why did I have this horrible knot in my stomach?

    End of Act XIII


    /-/-/-/-What’s to come/-/-/-/-

    The gang wakes up to see the town completely torn to bits. The only survivors are Octa, Kumori and a select few of the town’s people. The Scrapers left a warning note for our beloved five. Will they help Nobell? Hotaka sure wants to and Kumori doesn’t seem to want the kind assistance. Desperation, anger, agony and even betrayal await our wolf pack. Stay tuned for another step closer to the amazing climax of Nobell.