[{Trail.Lost~]} [Rukia/Aisa]

[Hakumei]

The crescent moon shown brightly over the freshly fallen snow that coated the vast Russian tundra. Clouds ran in a circle around the moon as if to give the wolves a path to walk among instead of leaving them in darkness. The small midnight-black alpha, of one of the rare wolf packs still around, moved over the fresh snow like a black ghost. Silent to the human ear, soft padded paws compacted the snow with a quiet crunch, leaving wolf prints in the snow, that - to the untrained eye- looked like mere dog prints. He looked slightly disgruntled having lost a scent of the moon flower to the wind and it's pull was now muffled by the ice and low pressure of the sudden snow storm. He trudged on through the snow until he spotted tire tracks and stopped, listening carefully for the sound of any human vehicle that might be around. Looking up the hidden highway that lay under the powder, he saw the tracks faded into the horizon where a human city's lights lit the near-black night. Looking in the opposite direction another city, closer than the latter, could be seen. Giving a slightly annoyed grunt and walked parallel to the road toward the further city. The humans were getting a higher number, wolves' numbers were dwindling because of the humans. Wolves had been forced into hiding, bewitching the humans, altering their sight to make it seem like the wolves were humans, they even went as far as leaning the human's language in order to walk among them without being killed. Looking back at the other two members of his pack he kept moving forward.

[Rukia]

The faint scent that Haku had been chasing had by this point virtually evaporated- not a good sign, and she could tell by his posture that he was incredibly frustrated at this fact. However, the scent of humans grew stronger, as well as their sounds and the feeling of their constructed paths under her feet. Like stone, but far more flat and with a worse smell. The moon was the only comfort in this barren, icy and faceless taiga- well, and the comfort of her family-pack around her. That was enough to keep her moving though the scars on the surface of her skin ached in the wind

With a quick glance of her own over the landscape she saw no real food to speak of-perhaps voles under the snow, or the rare rabbit, but easy larger prey was unlikely and the harder prey could well take them to their deaths if they weren't at their peak to take it down. While Haku looked at the path before him, Rukia's job was to keep her mind firmly fixed on the practicalities of food and shelter. Right now, the latter would become pressing before the former; with this wind a blizzard could blow up at any moment and with their shorter fur and smaller statures they could easily freeze.

With a short jog she walked up to her brother's shoulder and bumped him lightly, then looked into the distance where the clouds were massing before giving him a bit of a blank stare. Whether they would continue and try to outdistance the snowfall or stop and dig shelter was his decision, not hers, and after her experience with her previous pack she very well knew her place.

[Hakumei]

Hakumei paused when his smaller sister asked for his attention. Fallowing her gaze he noted the clouds seeping toward the moon, and glanced around once more. There was no shelter around so the only plausible shelter he could think of was to dig. But where to dig? The ground was frozen solid, if they hurry they could turn around and make it to the closer human settlement and possibly take shelter there by fooling the humans into thinking they were one of them. Glancing back at his sisters he turned and started in a dead sprint toward the closer human settlement. He moved swiftly but not so that his sisters would not be able to keep up with as he got closer he slowed down, altering how humans would see him and slowing, giving his pack time to change their "aura" to look like humans as well.

[Rukia]

Haku took off at a spring and Rukia was less than a second behind him, Aisa only a second behind that- and she easily caught up with her slightly larger elder brother, though his legs were longer than her own. Speed was something she'd cultivated in her years, and while she didn't have his bulk or muscle she was slender and agile, helping her to leap over the higher snowdrifts that may have slowed her down. This was no time to be faltering though- with their small size they could easily be buried and freeze in this weather.

She noticed a slight shift in the air around Haku and immediately slowed as well, twisting the portion of her mind necessary to the task of looking in a way that would fit in with the two-legged walkers- or at least would make them ask less questions. She knew it would look as though she was a younger girl, trudging through the snow in a white kimono tied with a red obi, her dark hair hanging loose and her head down though her eyes burned with intensity. At least it was their form, and meant no shots would be fired- and a warm place to den for the night. That was the primary goal and she kept it in mind.

[Hakumei]

Hakumei moved through the borders of the city at a mild pace, on edge but keeping a calm presence to not alert his sisters. As he walked he looked for a place that was warm for them to stay for the duration of the storm. After walking for a bit he noticed an abandoned home, he looked back at his sisters and gestured for them to fallow him around back of the house and out of any human sight, once around back a cellar door could be found propped slightly open, just enough for the small wolves to slip though. Hakumei looked in before glancing at his sisters "Wait here" he said before moving into the cellar. Once inside the small Asian wolf scanned the area, and checked the house. With no sign of any life other than a few mice and rats he headed back to the cellar door.

[Rukia]

Haku said to wait, so she waited- impatiently, true, but she had to make sure to listen, so Aisa would learn what the right way was. Her expression was completely solemn and her eyes still cast at the ground, only her ears tuned to where her elder brother was and whether or not he needed her help. The sound of his footsteps soon returned to her and she cast her eyes up for the barest second before turning them back down again. "We go ahead?" she asked him politely but with quiet intensity. A shiver built and she shook herself, trying to hide the quivering effect it gave her muscles and the pain it built in her bones.

[Hakumei]

^{Hakumei nodded to his sisters, it was safe enough to stay, and he didn't want them to freeze. Moving back away from the cellar door he dug through drawers and other containers looking for blankets or other bedding material before finding some in a corner. He pulled them out before making a bed for them to sleep on. "Have to find food soon, none of us have eaten in almost a week"}

[Rukia]

She watched Haku make a bed for them all a bit wearily, then nodded in response to his words, going back to the drawers he'd just pillaged and checking for any canned foods or dried jerky like some kept in their storerooms. Finding none there she went over to a shelf of pickle jars- they smelled of vegetables and vinegar, not the most palatable foods but most likely edible. Still, they needed meat, and soon. Otherwise the cold would sap them down to nothing.

"Can go hunt if need to, brother," she told him in a quietly respectful tone. "Then can stay here, warm up with Aisa. Are leader, will need strength to find path to flowers and better world." Shaking slightly she seemed to rub her arms and looked around again for signs of smaller creatures who may have taken shelter from the cold here as well."[/b]

[Hakumei]

^{He looked over at his sister and thought for a moment "Are probably mice or rats on the floor level of the building. If you must hunt, stay close in case anything happens." he said. Haku didn't like the idea of any of them hunting alone due to their small size compared to other wolves and the fact that some humans hunted wolves even in human appearance but there was no other choice. "After you catch something come back, I will go out next, take turns hunting so none of us freeze." He did have faith in Rukia to not get into trouble, she was the fastest and could keep warm by running and she did seem to enjoy hunting without help. He moved over to Rukia, while Aisa laid down on the make-shift bed, and nudged her - seeming to give her a quick hug "Be careful."}

[/sup]

[Rukia]

He nudged her slightly and she nodded, stiffening a bit to keep from instinctively cowering a bit lower in reaction. Old habits died hard, even for wolves, and generally any sort of touch in the past had led to a snap soon afterward. The feeling of her brother and sister near was more comforting though, and as much as she hated changing territory the new surroundings forced her mind to begin adapting to all of the changes at once. She was more skittish, but she'd also adjust to everything cleanly.

Turning back toward the room she walked along the edges of it quickly, then slipped through the half-open door and toward the main part of the house. The scent of humans was long cold, but other things still made their homes here. Her ears could pick up the scratching steps of bugs through the house and some other more reasonable meals among them. Mostly rats and mice, but there was something a little larger and that would be a far better idea. With this cold they'd need every scrap of food just to fuel themselves and stay warm.

Trotting quickly between the rooms she followed the scents, mapping the place in her mind- and on her way found an old human-thing of soft cloth and feathers, with another that smelled like goat-fur. Perhaps these would help, she'd seen humans wearing such things like skin. But first the food- an opossum sleeping behind an old box-shaped thing. A larger wolf would have had a problem, but she managed to catch it and break it's neck easily enough, then set it on the blanket and pillow and dragged the pile with some difficulty back to the basement.

It was hard to bark with something in your mouth; all she could manage was a muffled yip as she tried to slide through the cracked door backwards while pulling the things she'd found. As much as she hated humans their things would help her starving siblings through the storm and that was worth a bit of shame.

[Hakumei]

<sup>The Asian alpha watched his sister leave the room, heading up to where the humans would have been living if they were still around. Shivering slightly he trotted over to where the third born was curled up on the blankets. He laid down for a moment to try to get warm before searching further for more blankets or maybe some food. He was only down for about thirty seconds before getting back up, and sniffing around for any buried items or maybe a mouse or two. No such luck. The mice that use to be there were long gone. He found a door, it was locked but he could find a way in. It took a minute or two but the wolf found that there was a loose panel on the door and managed to shove it in ward. Wiggling into the hole was the next step, with his small size it was easy.

Inside the room was small, just a pantry mostly empty but there was a box of crackers that was relatively bug-free as well as a bag of dried meat, humans called it "jerky" or something. Quickly snatching up the bag and box he crawled back out of the cupboard just as the other door was pushed open. He instantly dropped the food and trotted over to his scarred sibling and took hold of the goat skin blanket to help her drag it over to the corner for bedding. The items stank of humans and dust but it would have to do. Once it was in it's place he let go and looked over the items. The pillow made him curious, what was it? It looked soft though so he put his paw on it to watch it sink kind of like snow but it wasn't all that cold. He was pleased with his Beta's findings. They would keep the three of them warm for the night, and she had gotten a kill too. "Very good." he said licking the back of the female's head before moving the opossum off the bedding. Next it was his turn to hunt but where to start?</sup>

[Rukia]

Her brother came over to help her and she used all of her strength to continue pulling the things; once they were in the room Haku looked them over and judged them, testing the softer thing. He seemed pleased with what she'd brought back and at his lick her tail wagged slightly in understanding though her expression remained as solemn as ever. She may have made him proud, but she was far from proud with herself. She was still too weak to be an invaluable asset and her weakness would be a liability if things kept going the way they were.

The cold of the fake stone floor the humans seemed to enjoy was sinking through the pads of her feet and she lifted a front foot delicately to relieve some of the sensation while watching her sister resting. Always resting- but she wasn't used to this sort of working and travel, and if any of them were going to escape their dishonorable heritage she seemed the most likely. Aisa was still social and unafraid, much like Rukia herself had been once- but she'd always been smaller and more sarcastic, and after their mother's death and Haku's disappearance it had to be one of them. She'd egged them on until she was the only one they hated and saved her sister. The cost had been higher than she expected though; while unbroken for the most part, her spirit was worn thin.

Switching her balance she lifted the other foot and set the other slightly-warmer one back on the ground again, then edged closer to the blanket, watching Haku all the while and refusing to look at the food. They were all hungry, and it had been a long trip, but she was not the one to eat first and knew it well. "Are going back out?" she asked quietly, still uncomfortable with the human place and the way it made the sounds echo.

Blinking once she veered off to the side a bit and sniffed the air again

[Hakumei]

<sup>He looked at his pack, the weather wasn't doing them any good. They need warmth and food. Rukia was shifting her stance from one foot to the other, she needed to rest for a bit. Nodding at her question he pushed her lightly onto the blanket to get her off of the cold ground. "Will find more food, you stay here with Aisa and keep warm." He spoke softly but sternly as an order, he knew she would want to come and help if it was not a demand by the alpha. Quickly he moved the dried meat and crackers into a pile with the rodent the beta had caught before heading out of the basement, into the cold outside. The snow fall was starting to get thicker, he had to be quick or it would turn into a white-out and snuff out his sight, smell and hearing. He lowered his head to bear the weather before continuing on, keeping up the altered aura in case any humans dared to bear the storm and step out of their coffins they called 'houses'.

He kept to himself as he searched nooks of trees and low branches for any hibernating critters that would be good eats for his pack but there was little to no success. All the animals were higher than he could reach which was rather frustrating. The only other thing he could think of was to dig through the human's left overs they threw in large bins outside of where they gathered to eat. Muttering to himself he headed into the area of town where they kept those places, it didn't take more than five minutes for him to find what he was looking for, a near-full dumpster. he had to jump onto a near by stack of boxes to have access to it but the 'out of date' stakes were worth it. Most of them were fatty -which would be good for his pack- but they were only a day or two too old for human taste. Waste-full creatures. Glancing around to make sure there were no humans he began to drag the half-full box of food he pulled from the dumpster back through the snow to where his pack was.

The alpha was gone for a good twenty minutes and was covered in snow by the time he shoved the box through the small hole into the basement of the house and crawled in after, shaking the snow off. The humans did not suspect a thing so far and the snow was quickly covering up his tracks. He looked to his pack, the risky trip was worth keeping them alive.</sup>

[Rukia]

Haku was her brother, but the equality between them as litter-mates had changed slightly since his disappearance and return, and then his ascention in rank. He was her alpha, so when he gave an order it must be followed unless doing so would result in the death of a pack member. When his nudge sent her slightly off-balance she stumbled as he'd intended, catching her footing in the blankets and then instinctively lying down as he'd told her to. Aisa shifted a bit to allow her space and Rukia grudgingly made herself comfortable as she watched her elder brother leave, headed out of the cellar and into the deep cold outside. They weren't made for so much cold, but they would endure it nonetheless. That was how things went with wolves. And the humans thought THEY could adapt.

With her sister still drowsing on one side and some of her old scars beginning to ebb in their aching the beta watched the doors, ears perked forward intently though with her head across her paws. The food was nearby but she wouldn't touch it until Haku's return. An alpha decided who ate first and he could take that right, as was his due. Then there was Aisa, larger than both of her siblings and always needing a bit more food to fuel her body; being the smallest and previously the scapegoat Rukia was used to having much less.

There was a good bit of time before the return of the alpha, covered in snow and carrying some frozen and oddly shaped meat- human food? It was still sustenance and she was far past the point where her pride could allow her to turn up her nose. Inwardly it silently enraged her; as the fastest and the beta she should have been out there hunting, not resting! Slowly she rose from the blanket and walked over to him tentatively. "Should rest now, cold will sap all of strength. More tired means more chance of freezing."

[Hakumei]

<sup>The alpha shivered slightly before taking one of the frozen pieces of meat out of the box he had collected as his beta came over and told him he should rest. He threw his head up and trotted over to the bed they made before plopping down and chewing on the meat, proud to have found food and just plain happy to have it. "Two can eat now." He said looking back a the beta before reaching out with his paw and pulling the opossum over and starting to strip the fur off of it. It didn't take long for him to strip most of the fur off before he dug into the stomach of it and started to eat the 'good' parts of the rodent. He knew Rukia would rather eat a fresh kill, and since she was now the smallest of the pack, he would be nice and let her have the warm meat. He didn't mind chewing on things any way. After he consumed the liver he pushed the corpse to the side, leaving the rest of the kill to the beta as he went back to chewing on the frozen beef. He was sure she'd be happy with the heart and other nutrition rich organs as a treat for being helpful.

After about two minutes he managed to chew off a bit of the meat and looked at the two females as he tried to brake the piece further down. The sounds from outside meant that the storm was getting worse by the minute. Good. Once the snow packed up on the outside of the building it would start to warm up, just slightly, but it would mean less energy burned from the three small wolves. He looked to the closet he had retrieved the dried meat from and wondered if it was large enough to be a temporary den to contain more heat, though Aisa might not have not been small enough to fit through the gap in the door. They could make it bigger though. He got up and trotted over to the gap in the door and looked in. They might be able to fit in there comfortably.</sup>

[Rukia]

It wasn't a usual thing for Haku to give up the best of a kill- it was simply against their wolf instincts to do so, but he fought that with their higher powers of thinking. Being the alpha meant he had more space and justification to use that sort of human thinking in situations where a lesser wolf may have simply let himself live on animalism alone. That was what made him the alpha though; he could easily care, not only about their immediate pack, but the future. Rukia was the beta precisely because she lived more in the present and had the faster responses to back up what her brother wanted to see done and could be fierce in her loyalty though her growth was a bit stunted.

Blinking a bit in surprise she carefully took the opossum that Hakumei had cleaned and set aside and tentatively moved a few steps back from the pair. A long time of hunger and punishment had made eating a bit of a chore for her and to fight the terror and anger she always ate a little away from the others. Her higher form of thinking was obvious in her concern for her siblings as she lay down, closer than she had in the previous days but with her back toward them as usual and then began to eat. If they were in her sight Rukia would have felt the need to guard what she was eating without any limit, but if they were out of sight she'd be far more able to relax.

About half of the fresh meat was in her stomach- lot a good deal, but it was still something- and she glanced back at Haku and Aisa at that point to check how the rest of the food was faring, then tentatively tore another piece off of the animal before her. Aisa could be a picky eater at times and probably wouldn't want any of this particular kill and Haku seemed content gnawing on his steak so her food was probably safe. Of course it is, these are your siblings and pack-mates, she sternly reminded herself, ears going back for a moment before she started to eat again.

[Hakumei]

The alpha looked back at the two females before swallowing the meat and proceeding to chew on the door to make the hole a bit bigger for Aisa. Once it was big enough for the youngest sibling he slipped in and started to clean out the small room, pushing the unneeded canned human foods and other bottled things that did not smell like food. After that was done he looked at his sisters than went and fetched the blankets, causing Aisa to huff as she moved off of them, while he dragged them to the hole in the door and shoved them into the pantry and made a bed in there. He was sure Aisa thought what he was doing was stupid but Rukia might get it, she was smarter and less spoiled. Satisfied with the temporary den he crawled back through the hole and went back to where he left the slab of frozen meat before laying down and proceeding to chew on it again. with some food in his stomach he was starting to get energy again but fought the urge to move too much, just because he felt more energy didn't mean he needed to spend it already.

[Rukia]

Haku was a very smart leader as well as a caring one and Rukia gnawed on the small bones left before her, stripping them of all marrow before she rose to help him at his task. There wasn't much space to work next to her larger brother but she was content to gnaw at some of the wood and then scoot away as much of it as she could before going back and carefully collecting whatever Aisa had left over and carefully pushing past her to bring it into the back of the den. Though Haku didn't seem very interested in the cans and bottles shame and experience had told her that what they held could keep you away from death, even if it was the leavings of disgusting human creatures. They were already sleeping on human blankets and crouching in one of their abandoned dens- would gnawing open one of these metal containers increase their shame that much more?

Forcing herself to ignore the scent of the others foods so close in their makeshift den Rukia put her ears down and stepped out again, walking along the perimeter of the larger basement room in a sort of territorial patrol while her siblings bedded down. With the storm outside and the fact that they were inside a human dwelling it was unlikely that danger would approach from that direction, but her wolf instincts had kept her alive for far too long for simple rationality to get in the way of the too much. It wouldn't take that much energy to double-check things- and besides, once she did she'd be able to rest that much more easily.

After having looked the space over to her satisfaction she pushed her way into the smaller pantry-den and lay down next to her brother along the wall, giving him the warmer and more respectful spot in the middle of the pack. This area did fill with their body heat more quickly and already some of her slight shivering had begun to fade as some of the warmth seeped in through her thin fur, relaxing the pain in her scars and wiry muscles. Aisa was still shifting about, trying to get as comfortable as possible in the mass of blankets and pillows, but Rukia knew that eventually she would settle down and go to sleep. With a sigh of her own the smallest of the wolves curled up into a ball and tucked her nose as close as possible to keep it warm before closing her eyes.

[Hakumei]

The alpha laid in the center of the den and waited a few moments for his beta to come in and calm down. There was nothing to do at the moment but wait out the storm and sleep, though he did not want to sleep. Sleeping was to conserve energy, he had some spare energy to burn. He shifted a bit as Aisa finally settled down and fell asleep. It seemed he just couldn't get comfortable but after two shifts he decided to stop moving, he didn't want to bother his sisters and keep them awake so he concentrated on the sounds of the abandoned human nest. The house creaked under the stress of the snow and the rodents that had made homes in the frame were busy at work trying to keep their little holes warm.

He huffed slightly and put his head down, ears forward in listening. The wind outside was getting worse, and he was glad he made the decision to move into the smaller area, though it smelt of mold from the rotting shelves that lined it. Rolling his shoulders forward he stretched out his back legs a bit as he waited for something to happen. The sounds were strange to his ears, use to the sounds of open fields and warm forests of his home land. His breed was not made for the snow and cold of the world now and that was bad. He glanced at Rukia, her scars left her skin more exposed to the elements than the rest of them and her forced submissive nature kept her from getting close enough to try to get warmth from either him or his sister. He shifted, not leaving the spot in the center of the small closet like room but moved a bit closer to where Rukia was and put his head over her back. She was stubborn about accepting help but he was even more stubborn on insisting on giving help to her.