[Maeve, you should have waited for me to post the introductory post........]

Taking a deep breath, Aki narrowed his eyes against the fierce wind. He coughed, as said wind got into his lungs, stealing the air away from him. The silver haired male bent over, hacking lightly. Nearby, a blue haired male sighed.

"You alright Aki?" Phantom walked over hurriedly, thumping Aki on the back. Aki waved his hand.

"I'm fine," the teen nodded slowly. He glanced across the vast plain they still had to cross - before over at the small house that he had discovered Phantom to be living in. Phantom.

Another wolf.

Well, half-wolf. But enough wolf that Aki had thought the other had been full wolf when they first met. "Should we get going?" Phantom asked warily, his light purple eyes sparkling with a bit of hidden mirth. "There might be someone who knows something about Hana in Seventh City."

"Why don't you live in the city?" Aki asked, as the wind whipped around them. Suddenly, in the place of the two slender males were two wolves. One of them dark gray, the other dark blue and wearing the purple scarf that Phantom never took off.

Phantom rolled his eyes, nudging Aki in the shoulder with his nose. "Because the smell of the city is really bad," the blue haired canine explained, one tooth peeking out of his lips. He flicked his ears, before taking off at an easy lope towards the metal jungle, Aki not far behind. Their tails streamed in unison, as their paws met the ground at the same time.

Shonda sat at the edge of the city, encased in shadow as she watched them approach from her rooftop perch. She could see for miles from here.
She could see them clearly.
The darker fur on her tackles bristled up, and a low growl rumbled in her throat. New wolves. New wolves could only mean trouble, when the wolves already living in this city could barely scrape out a living for themselves as it was.
Moving slowly, she slipped over the ridge of the roof, dropping onto the porch and then to the street. Her paws made no sound as she moved through the abandoned buildings, weaving her way towards the other wolves. There was no need to travel human here. No humans lived in this area, anymore.
Too many had died here in the last couple of weeks for it to be safe.
Trotting out into the open, Shonda knew that the approaching strangers would see the crimson glowstick around her neck long before they saw her paler silver pelt.

Shinelle had finally managed to leave home, that was first on her checklist. Then she had managed to get through the forest and made a camp for the night, that was second on her checklist. Next was to go to Seventh City, which she was currently doing seeing as she just got there; that was third on her checklist. Shinelle looked down at the piece of paper and looked at the fourth thing to do

- Find other wolves

"That can't be as hard as it seems" She said to herself, her voice was quivering but it still sounded beautiful and song like. Her mother said that Shinelle could have been a great singer if she had wanted to, and if she didn't have stage fright, and if she wasn't a wolf.

Suddenly, as if the word had set off something, she could smell another wolf; It was distant but she could still smell it. Shinelle could no longer move, *What if they hate me? What if I'm no good? What if they are dangerous? What if? What if? What if!* She had to sit down her mind was just going to much. She looked around at the alleyway that she realized she was in. It was dark and fairly dirty, "Well I guess I can sit here for now" She said as she gently sat down.

Mizaki leaned against a building, the neon sign flickering and nearly dead above him. Around him other different colored signs advertising for barber shops, drug stores, and other things that humans needed flickered and pulsed. THe scent of long expired foods lingered in the air, the streets left unmaintained by the humans that had abandoned the city in fear of the amount of murders that had happened. All were killed with fatal bite marks.

He exhaled a puff of smoke, dropping the cigarette to the asphalt. He didn't know when or why he started smoking except for the fact that his owners gave him a cigarette once as a joke to see what would happen. He retreated into an alleyway.

A flash of white leapt back out, landing on all four paws, eyes gleaming in the street lights. The scent of cigarette smoke had been erased completely as Mizaki blinked, eyes still an eerie blood red. There had alway been that joke that he was albino... Mizaki chuckled at the memory before sprinting towards the city limits having caught wind of newcomers.

Upon entering the outskirts of the city, the two became humans at once. They blended in almost perfectly, Aki more than Phantom. Phantom stood out, obviously, because of his pale blue hair. Nonetheless, there was so much going on around them that it didn't really matter.

"Where should we go first?" Phantom asked as he tightened the scarf around his neck.

"We need to find other wolves," Aki's eyes narrowed against the sharp, biting wind. It was too strong, too fierce for him to get much of a scent through. "Or shelter, at least."

Phantom nodded. They didn't have much money between them....If they found other wolves, maybe those canines could tell them where the good places to sleep were. They passed a newsstand, not bothering to read the headlines that boldly declared, "ANOTHER VICTIM WITH THROAT VICIOUSLY TORN!"

Suddenly, Aki froze. There - in front of them - was a silver wolf. The red glow of the glow stick around her neck alerted them quite early. Marveling at his luck, Aki stepped forward.

"Hello....." he greeted her cautiously. Phantom hung back.

Shonda flattened her ears warily, gazing at them, before her image seemed to flicker in the wind. The silver wolf was replaced by a girl with long silver hair, tucked up under a cap.
"Hello," She answered levelly, but that was about the end of her friendliness, "What are you doing here, strangers?" She demanded, "There is not enough food to share with you. Turn around and go back where you came."
There was a low growl to her words. The growl of a wolf protecting her territory.

Shinelle sat for a few moments longer then without any notice she flickered between her purple toned wolf back to a girl. "Wait, what was that?" She still didn't understand the change but she flickered when she caught the scent of a wolf nearby. She didn't know if she should go after it or stay put, it was really the only time she got scared around people. The *What If's* came back in her mind and Shinelle decided to get up.

"Not much I can do by sitting" She said pulling her hair back in a ponytail. The hair still reached down to her lower back and her bangs went flying in her face. "Hmm..." She caught the scent again and started walking forward. She hoped she would be found first, for some reason she thought it would be easier on her.

Devlen coughed. The coffee was burning hot on her toungue.
She watched curiously as the steaming brown drops spewed from her tongue catapulted over the edge of the balcony and into the span of thick trees below. She'd come up here, as she had for the last two days, to watch the sun set and the moon rise. Her night vision was as good, if not better, than day; besides, the days now were too frigid for her to enjoy. At night, the bite of frost left, whilst only cold and fresh air remained. She breathed deep, knowing that with every inhale came the contracting of her intercostal muscles, expanding the ribcage, her diaphram was contracting, puffing out the chest, and when she exhaled, she knew the intercostal muscles relaxed, dropping the ribcage, which increased pressure on her chest, forcing the air out. Imagine living with that knowledge 24-7.
Oh wait. I do. For some reason, Devlen found the thought intensely funny, and chuckled for a few minutes. Every time she thought she was over it, a bout of laughter would come to attack.
Though laughter isn't the best medicine, it sure helps, she thought, then sighed. The time had come to leave the hotel, and finally enter the outskirts of the Seventh City.
She stood, but before leaving, with abrupt movements and following her gut instinct, she morphed within the span of two seconds, a record for her, and threw back her head. Instead of a human yell, what escaped her lips was the very real howl of a wolf.
Feeling content, she headed back down the fire escape, leaping the remaining ten feet to land on her bent knees, easily absorbing the impact. She adjusted her now-human shoulders and headed to her small room, packing her few belongings. She glanced around the room. It hadn't become her home in the last two days. She didn't feel as if she were leaving anything behind.
She had yet to find a home.
Sighing, Devlen slung her bag over her shoulder, ignoring the whistles of the bar patrons as she shoved open the door. Within the span of a few yards, she was a wolf again, carrying her pack between her teeth, letting her pads brush the bristly grass that lined the path- the path heading from the sleezy hotel to the Seventh City.

Mizaki shifted back as he neared the limits, noticing a girl demanding the two presumable newcomers to leave. He caught their scents, having been upwind of them. The girl's scent was... relatively familiar, she definitely lived in the city. The red eyed man sighed, wanting to go back home to the furniture store he called home. He made his way to the trio, stuffing his hands in his coat pockets to keep them warm. "Are you two the new ones?" He asked, tone the exact opposite of Shonda's growl.

"We come in peace," Aki grimaced at the cheesy line. "We are just here to look around. Loners, in search of shelter." He pressed the other wolf. "Look, we are unarmed, and we are strangers to the area."

Phantom looked curiously at the strange wolf, his gaze soft and naive.

"We just want to stay the night," he murmured. "We promise to be out as soon as we get the information that we need."

Shonda eyed them for a moment longer, then snorted softly and turned her back on them.
"Come on, then," She muttered, "Let's get in out of this storm, and you can tell me what sort of information you're looking for."
She started forwards, into the slums of the city, towards where she kept her shack. Once, it had been difficult to hide, even here. But with the recent deaths, there was no one there to hide from.
It would make a safe hide-out for the two new wolves as they sought whatever they happened to be seeking.

It was late. Probably midnight. Perhaps one in the morning. Devlen didn't know, and didn't care. She was working ferociously, hands making undecipherable movements in the wound.
She'd entered the outskirts of the Seventh City about twenty minutes ago, not even breathing hard. Withing the span of the last few weeks, she'd become accustomed to the constant running she'd have to do to get to the city and find Paradise, or in the least prevent another wolf from being murdered- which is what had drawn her here in the first place. Then she'd noticed the near-silent whimpering of a wolf with her advanced hearing. She dropped her bag on the edge of the road. With calm, quiet steps unnatural to wolves, bred of her human nature, she approached the spot. It was a small clearing, and within laid a silver wolf, scratched, scarred and marred to the point of unrecognizablity. His fur was ripped, skin clawed. She'd immediately morphed into human form again, brushing back her pale blond hair, murmuring comforting words to the wolf. She got out a few ingredients- honey, black pepper, basil leaves, poppy seeds. She got out a needle and antiseptic thread. This wasn't how she would normally heal a wolf, but she had very few supplies, little medicine, no shelter. Any predators lurking in the shadows of the forest would see easy prey, but Delven wouldn't let them get to the wolf without getting through her. Although not a shifter [she could tell from his purely wolf aura], he was partly her breathern. And she wasn't as delicate as she appeared.
She stitched his wound, covering it as best she could with a salve she made from the chewed leaves. Had something attacked the wolf? Someone. These marks were clearly made with knives, so she scratched out the common carnivore from her list. Something human enough to know how to use a knife had attacked the wolf. Thinking he was a 'shifter... Delven kept her head enough to keep a steady hand while stitching at her relevation.
So the rumours were true.... she mused, alebit frightened but also logical. She healed him as best she could and sat with him until the wolf gathered enough energy to get up and hobble off. She bid him farewell with a few whispered words in wolf-tongue. Mainly "Inate La'blem, brother".
Then she stood and hopped a local farmer's barbed-wire fence as a wolf, finally entering the boarders of the lengendary scene- the Seventh City.

Shinelle continued to search through the city. "This place seems deserted" She finally said to herself. She didn't know where to go or anything, she had been only told to go to seventh city but now... what could she do when there was no one here? She couldn't stop herself she let out a low and haunting "Aroooooo" then headed for an abondaned apartment. There was a balcony out of one of the rooms so she decided to grab a blanket from the old worn bed and wrap it around her as she slept on the one balcony as the one above her sheltered her from any rain.

"Well, its better then nothing I suppose"

(I won't be on for a week, Im very sorry but it's true. Im hoping one you guys would please try to god-mod me in (I do trust that you guys wont make my character do anything werid or gross) and Im sorry for the inconvience)

Mizaki waved the two new wolves in, one with green hair and the other with white like his own, "Come come~ there are monsters on the prowl at the edge of the city." He said playfully, clearly not meaning it as he followed Shonda. He couldn't help but be interested in the stormy she-wolf-- she intrigued him.

Shonda wove with the expertise born of long practice between the fallen mounds of human trash and the sharp edges of buildings. She did not leave behind a single silver puff of fur as she loped around the abandoned buildings, finally reaching a deep crack in the foundation of one. She gestured with her pointed muzzle at the crack, pricking her ears at it.
"I sleep in the basement," She growled, "It's warm and dry, if not pretty."
And then she crouched down on her belly and slid easily through the little hole. A more slender wolf than many, it was easy for her to get through. For larger wolves, it would be tougher.

Mizaki stared at the crack, snow white tail swishing as he thought for a moment before slipping through, only just barely making it without getting stuck. He smiled, ears twitching as he adjusted to the new surroundings. It was cozy with a home-y feel to it.

Shonda led them to the far corner of the basement, where a deep mound of tattered, mouse-eaten blankets lay. A nest she had made for herself, as a wolf that preferred running wolf to running human.
Gripping one of the blankets in her teeth, she dragged it off the top of the pile, throwing it so that it lumped up a few feets away. She kept pulling blankets off of the mound, until there were enough for everyone.
"They're more comfortable than the floor," She told them in a low voice.

The town stunk. That was the first thing that reached her. Then came the scene- beauiful with all the lights casting shadows into the forests, yet if you looked hard enough you could see the beggars. She knew she'd have to find a place to camp, so strung her backpack onto her human shoulder and continued into the depths of the clusters of builidings, searching for anything that caught her eye. A shiny piece of fake silver. A neon sign proclaiming they sold furniture to all members of the public. How wonderful, thought Devlen sarcastically. She continued to seach for a hotel, one with enough pride to be free of rats yet at a cheap pr- oh, who was she kidding? Yet she would not spend another night camping outside. She was sick of it. Although a wolf, she had a human side, aswell.