Nap time...

All seemed quiet. The birds were happily chirping in the trees, mice and squirrels were scuttling beneath the leaves, fish jumped peacefully in the creek. The only odd sound was the clanking of metal against metal. It was the chain of a trap on a white wolfess as she trudged forward with a bored-out-of-my-mind expression, her tail flicking behind her. All she wanted right now was a nap. A nice, soothing nap. She knew Acerberus was behind her, but she didn't really care right now. "Can we please stop?" she finally asked, coming to a halt beside the cool water. "This thing is killing me, and if I don't get my beauty sleep I'm going to be cranky later. Trust me."

Acerberus followed close behind the white wolfess, his amber eyes were focused on the metal device now attached to Kira's paw. He was thinking of a way to get it off of her, being a wolf his options were quite limited all he had to work with were has fangs and his claws and both could possible injurer Kira. there had to be a safer way to remove it something they maybe he was not seeing. He almost ran into the back of Kira when she stopped he was so fixed on that metal thing he hadn't even noticed how close they came to the lake. he looked up at her as see seemed to complain even more, "Yeah this should be far enough." he laughed when she mentioned being cranky without having enough sleep, "well seeing how you have been all day i think resting now would be a good idea." He started to think about the collar she lost, even if they went back to look for it. It was unlikely they would find it, she lost something close to her, even though he though it was worth less. He land down, placing his head onto his paws "Remember when u asked where i got my necklace from, maybe i will tell you how i got it once we get some sleep. i always said your collar was useless but you could say the same about me necklnce unless you knew the meaning behind it "

Kira narrowed her blue eyes at the male when he spoke of her being cranky. "What's the supposed to mean, huh?" Though she wasn't in the mood to fight right now; she was exhausted. Within a second she forgot about it and collapsed on her side beside the river, her front paw tracing circles in the beautifully clear water while she made sure the other one was settled enough thatt he metal thing didn't pinch her or pull hairs. A lot had happened today, and everything that she had previously believed was right was now being put to the test. She didn't know if she could trust humans anymore, but there was a much more dominant part of herself that would go running toward one if she ever saw one again. The absence of her beloved collar saddened the white wolfess in ways that she'd never experienced before, not to mention the absence of her favorite foods, srvants, and brushes. She just barely heard what Acerberus said about his necklace, and she looked up at him. "Really?" she asked, wondering briefly if the stunt she had tried before had had any effect on him at all. It sure always worked on the dogs back home; that's for sure.

Acerberus closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to take him, today was along one. founding this wolf, having to save her from the humans. She still had so much the learn and he was not sure je could show her ever thing but at least she was getting all of her hardships out of the way early. he opened his jaws wide in a yawn showing his ivory fangs, he was just about to fall asleep when he hear Kira speak, "Of course,you have already been through a lot already."

Kira smiled, though her eyes were closing. The sun by now had already fallen, leaving everything bathed in silver moonlight. the water beside her sparkled and rippled beautifully from it, and it also gave her a bluish tint to the white of her fur. "Thank you," she murmured quietly, though it was all she could get out before her muscles relaxed and the darkness that had hidden behind her eyelids for a while now finally over took her. The white wolfess was even more beautiful in sleep; there was no emotion besides a quiet, serene peacefullness that wrapped around her body like a warm blanket.

Acerberus was awakened by a small bird that seemed to think of his head as a good resting place. he raised his head from his paws and shanked the feathered pest from his head. His jaws gaped wide in a yawn that made his whole body shudder. The brown male stood to his paws, the sun was just starting to show itself over the creek. It was a beautiful sight, the reddish-orange color of the sky seemed to just reflect off the water. He turned his head looked at Kira's sleeping form, from where he stood she looked like a white ball of fluff. no one would ever suspect her of being human raised, her remember that she never tried the rabbit he caught. she would probably be hungry when she woke up maybe this would be the day she would actual eat one. he looked back down at the the water seeing the fish swim just below the surface of the water, maybe she would try the fish. If he could catch on he never had been much of a fisher.

Kira murmured and her paws twitched in her sleep. Her words were impossible to understand, and a few were long drawn out to make what seemed to be a long word. In her dream, it was nice. A clear blue sky rested overhead, and big fluffy clouds were dotted about. It wasn't too hot, and her being white helped with that. She was standing on an extremely beautiful hillside. Soft, lush green grass was underpaw while various colors of pretty wildflowers grouped together here and there. There were trees further down the hill, but she was high enough that she could see the land beyond them. A deer herd grazed quietly in the meadow below her, and behind her was a small cabin where a nice human lived. He was an elderly man who apparantly had known her for some time. She heard a whistle behind her and she turned with a happy smile to see him standing at the door with food for her. This wasn't the food that she was used to, but it wasn't raw meat like Acerberus wanted her to try yesterday. She lowered her head and ate the pieces of meat delicately, while she felt his bony fingers softly run through her fur. Her blue eyes looked up at him happily... But he was gone. Startled, she took a step back and frantically scanned the area for him. Hadn't she just felt him pet her? The door to the small cabin wass till open; he hadn't gone inside. Finally, she caught the glint from something across the hillside further up. It was him. She sighed with relief and took a few bounds toward him... But he raised something long, and one eye closed. Confused, she stopped and cocked her head. Why was this familiar? Suddenly three black and brown shapes exploded out behind him and came barreling down the hill toward her. Horrified, she turned and swiftly ran down the hill, feeling tears well up inside her eyes at the betrayal.

Kira woke with a start, jerking up so fast that she fell face first right into the creek beside her. She quickly got up and shook the water from her fur then stood, her legs spread as if she were ready for a fight, looking completely confused. She caught sight of Acerberus not far from her and it took her a moment before her bedraggled mind wrapped itself around the thought that she knew him; he wasn't going to hurt her. Finally understanding, she sighed and dropped her head to take a swift drink before dragging her tired paws to the shore. "Ugh, I must look horrible," she complained. She eyed the male cautiously. "You sure you don't have any brushes?"

Acerberus followed the fish with his eyes, he would at least try to catch a fish for her. Maybe she would eat it humans have been known to eat raw fish maybe they fed her some. his eyes scanned the water for a fish close enough for him to catch, there was one that seemed to stray off from the rest off the school of fish. Swimming close to the bank of the shore. it was porbly a young fish unaware of the danger it was getting its self into. He leaned his brown muzzle close to the waters edge waiting for the perfect time to strike. The fish was swam right under his muzzle and Acerberus lunged his muzzle into the water snapping at the fish. he quickly pulled his muzzled from under the water but without his prize. the fish swam just out of his range at the last moment. it would live another day but that wouldn't help their hunger. he hadn't even noticed Kira woke up until she spoke to him, he turned his head and looking at her. she looked quite beautiful from what he could see though her fur was out of place in some spots, "oh so brushes must be used for grooming, i can take care of that just lay down.

Kira tilted her head slightly to the side and narrowed her eyes for only a moment, but a nice grooming sounded like heaven to her ears. She really didn't quite know what he was going to do; she must have expected him to pull out a brush magically from somewhere, or that dream was still wearing on her mind. She looked at him questioningly, but did as she was told and lowered her body to the ground, making a few drops of water that were still on her muzzle slide down to make dark spots on the earth beneath. She spread out her front legs and rested her head on them, watching the male from the corner of her eye while her tail wrapped around her hind legs instinctively.

Acurberus shacked his head, removing the water from his muzzle sending the droplets in every direction. Kira looked like she didn't trust him to groom her fur, or maybe she was just worried about how he was going to do it. she was used to some brush thing but that wasn't how it was done out here, just another thing for her to get over if she could. He was glad that she did lay down at least it showed she had some amount of trust in him, "i bet this will feel much better the a brushes." He walked over on to her right side, his muzzle just over her head. He lowered his muzzle to the top of Kira's head. his tongue sled out of his mouth and he began licking the top of her head were her fur was out of place with gentle rasps of his tongue.

Once Acerberus approached her, she then realized what he'd meant. she lowered her ears so that they wouldn't be in his face. "I doubt it; the brushes were heavenly," she murmured just before she felt his tongue on the top of her head. Her out of place and soaking wet fur there was molded back into place as he worked, and she had to admit that it did feel good. Better than anything she'd experienced so far, at least. she lowered her head even more and one eye closed out of pure pleasure.

He countinued to work on the fur on the top of her head, it looked as if she was enjoying herself. this was something he used to do with his brother all the time, they would take time grooming each other. It was like a moment just to forget what they were going through, when they groomed each other it seemed like no one else was around it was just him and his brother bonding as normal brothers should. If it were not for their situation he could have been there with him today still sharing those prices less mometns. but then flashes of his brother's death interrupted his good memories, HIS fangs being the ones to end his older brother's life. why did he have to put him through that, why couldn't they just have fought their why out or died together like it should have been. The images of his fangs crushing his brother neck kept flooding his mind, did her give in to those wolves too quickly? gradually his grooming become slower and slower until he stopped completely. his memories were getting the best of him as they did from time to time. it always happened when he thought about his brother to much. a single tear slid down his muzzle onto Kira's head. things should have been different, his brother promised they would find away out together but he here was all alone. Lost within himself.

Kira's other eye closed as he continued. It seemed so peacefull today. It was warm and nice out, and all the animals around them seemed to be enjoying themselves also. Just then a drop fell on the top of the white wolfess' head and she opened her eyes to look confusedly toward the sky. Peering through the leaves on the trees above her, she only saw a clear sky... No rain clouds. She turned her ead to question Acerberus, but it looked like he was worried about something. Saddnes clouded his features, and she wondered why. What was there to be sad about? Did she do something? She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, her ears still on her head, and she nudged him gently, concern in her blue eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

Acerberus nearly forgotten Kira was there, he was just so lost within his own thoughts that everything around him disappeared. he hadn't even noticed her moment until she nudged him. His head turned to look at her, his ears flat on his head and his eyes seem to dull with the pain he felt, "Now maybe the best time to tell you about how i got this necklace" he said trying to keep his voice from sounding shaky, "It would be best for me to start at the beginning of my life to truly under stand why i cherish this fang so much. But i must warn you, up to this point i must have sounded like all wolves are angels but that is not the case. My story contains the most horrible of our kind, are you sure you still want to know?"

Kira swallowed hard when Acerberus explained what he was about to tell her. She looked down at the fang tied around his neck; she'd nearly forgotten that he said the night before that he'd tell her how he'd gotten it. When he asked her the last question her head bobbed up an down enthusiastically; whatever he was going to tell her must be important. When he mentioned "our kind" Kira blinked. She was still having trouble wrapping her mind around the fact that she was a wolf and not a dog.

Acerberus sat down curling his tail around to his hind leg, "Alright its a bit of a long story, but like i should before it would be best for me to start at the beginning of my life." he sighed and closed his eyes for a bit trying to compos himself to tell the story, " i was born into a small wondering pack,my mother had two pups me and my older brother Zidane as i young pup my mother told us they only stopped moving when females had to give birth, no matter what rank they held each wolf was treated the same; or so we were told. you see, me and my brother never really had a chance to leave pack life at least not the one we intended to live. only after a month of our birth a rival pack found us. they slaughtered everyone in our pack, untill only our mother was left, she tired to protect us but was killed. Me and my brother thought we would suffer the same fate, if only they were that merciful. those vile wolves took us in as their slaves."

Kira found herself staring at the ground in front of her paws as Acerberus told her about his life. She remained completely silent, and didn't even move as he continued. She kept imagining what his mother or brother must have looked like; images of the other pups she didn't know who they were were flashing through her mind. When he mentioned his entire pack being slaughtered, Kira noticably flinched and her ears once again fell to her head. When he spoke about them keeping him and his brother as slaves, she lowered her body slightly. She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide. "Continue," she said quietly, wanting to hear the whole thing. That couldn't be all.

Acerburus nodded his head and continued with his story, "for the first year of our lives we were made to take food food to all of the wolves in the pack, the leader alowaed them to to speak and do whatever they wanted to me and my brother my brother gained. gotten quite a few bruises for trying to protect me from the wolves. as he got older and stronger he become more defiant we wouldn't at times we ignored orders, but that didn't sit well for the leader, we were punished for it. He clawed my muzzle and pinned my brother down by his neck, he then threatened to kill us if he kept defying his rules. but that didn't stop me and my brother from planning away to escape those wolves. we had promised each other we would get out together no matter what happened. Another year passed and we were still in that pack, we made a few attempts to escape but we were caught in punished every time. on the very some day they killed our family the leader approached and and told us we would be free. Zidane and me could not believe it we would finally be getting out of here away from those wolves but the leader added an condition. Only one of us would go free the other would die." Acerberus stopped and sighed and touched the three scars on his chest with his paw, "of all the scars on my body this one is the most painful. This one was received to me by my brother the attack came as a surprise to me and iwas knocked to the ground. then i felt his fangs grasp on to my neck. I-i really thought he was going to kill me just so he could be free. but i couldn't die that way, not like that, somehow i was to break free from my Zidane and i tackled him to the ground this time with my fangs around his neck. even though he attacked me i couldn't bring myself to kill him, it was my brother. The only family i had left, i couldn't do it. Zidane smiled at me like he always did when he had some crazy plan, i can still remember his words over the wolves around us, that’s right brother make it look good, I told you I would get you out of here no matter what the cost." That was when i realized what he was doing, he was sacrificing himself to set me free. He was so unfair making me do this i didn't want to kill him i would have rather died with him but Zidane said he would rather die by my fangs then of those wolves. he gave me no choice I-I i gave in to his wishes and killed him. i killed my own brother the last of my family, for a moment i laid by his body but i couldn't stay there long i couldn't bear to grieve with all those wolves around him. i was about to run away when i spotted this fang in front of my brother, i'm not sure how he lost it maybe when i broke away from, i couldn't get away with my brothers body so i just took that fang and ran off."

Kira remained as still as a statue; the only movement being that of her chest as it rose and fell with each breath. Her ears were plastered to her head and she was half lowered to the ground in a sitting position. She couldn't even imagine what Acerberus had seen and gone through; it was too horible for her mind to comprehend. She'd had such a pampered life ever since she was a pup. She'd never had any brothers, and if she had she couldn't remember them, so she didn't know how strong of a bond he must have felt toward that wolf. Her head turned ever so slightly towards him so that her blue eyes could look him over; mainly focusing on the scars that he'd told her about. Her eyes moved from the scars to the fang that was dangling loosely around his neck. No wonder he'd been so hesitant to tell her at first. "I'm so sorry," was all that she managed to whisper. Her eyes were distant; still trying to imagine the greusome scene. She shook her head lightly and straightened her body, then pushed her nose into his neck fur as if to comfort him. "Your brother was brave. He must have cared a lot about you."

Hot breath exhaled from his mouth in the form of a sigh, he never told anyone about his past. he never intended to tell anyone but Kira was a special case she needed to learn that all wolves were not as good matured as he was. He had to admit though getting that off his chest did make him feel better, though he was still lost as to how he should live his life maybe it was time to searching for that reason but first he had to attend to Kira there so much she had to learn in such a sort time if she was to survive. she may have gotten the humans are bad from their fist hand experience he still needed to get her to eat something though, "You don't have to be sorry about anything, it wasn't your fault." He was taken by surprised when she pressed her nose into his fur, for a few moment he was dazed. But he sighed closed his eyes and rested his head atop of hers', "He was and he did, did you have anyone that cared about you?" he asked out of curiosity

Kira's ears once again lowered when she felt his head atop hers again. She hadn't even realized that they had gone up. It reminded her of yesterday when she had tried to make him tell her about the fang by trying to make him fall for her like she had those dogs. They were so easy to mess with. He hadn't fallen for it, however, which made her curious. She barely heard the question he spoke to her, and she pulled away so that she was sitting beside him. "I, uh... Don't remember," she admitted. "I can remember wolves from when I was really young, but most of my life I had lived in that guy's house. I don't remember who my parents are or if I had any siblings. I kinda wish I remembered them, though," she finally said, finishing with a sigh.

Acerberus brought his head back up as Kira pulled away from him. He wondered it he said anything to upset her, he knew she could not remember her wolf family. he just wonder if anyone ever cared for the white wolfess, "what about in the human home did any of them care about you?" it would be a shame if she never had such a bond before. Having some one care about you above all else make other feel like they are not alone. For all she knew she had no one."

Kira's blue eyes found his as he asked his question, and she shook her head and sighed again. "Not really. I mean the guy's daughter is the one who wanted me, but after I grew out of my pup years she got tired of me. Her mom took me from there, and sure I was pampered day and night, but none of them were like family. They were more like friends. Even the dogs didn't like me because they said I was "a princess" and I didn't belong there. I've pretty much been alone. Though I wouldn't mind a nice steak from my maid," she added.

Acerberus listened to her every word, she never had anyone to truly care about her like his Zidane did for him. He felt kind of sorry for her, she never had a close bond with anyone before. At least not one she could remember, But it was never to late to find that kind of bond. his bond was lost with his brother but maybe Kira could replace which was lost in his life. He nuzzled the side of her cheek, "Well you are not alone now, do you think you would be willing to try to eat something today. You didn't eat nothing at all yesterday, there are some fish over in the lake i could try to catch a few but I'm not too good at it."

Kira flinched slightly at his touch, but it didn't hurt her; she was just surprised. She found her ears being dragged to the top of her head as she looked away with embarrassment, then grinned at his words. "I don't think so. You're gonna have to try harder than that to get me to eat anything that looked like what you had for lunch yesterday." Her words brought back the image of him pouncing on and killing the fawn with one bite; the blood on his fangs, the tone in his voice when he'd demanded what she'd been doing there... And then that brought the images of him snarling down at the dog that had traumatized her so much. His face had been so tight, his teeth had been bared, and his eyes had been unforgiving and fierce. Remembering that, she inched away from him slightly and continued to stare off the other direction. "Though, I'd, uhh... Like to see you try," she added with a half-hearted attempt at humor.