Chasing Dreams (Dropped)

Chapter 145: The Young Wolf

"Only life can pay for death." Rose's words slithered over Nana's skin like a cold wind, waking her from her distant dream. She dreamt of wolves, a pack of wolves all coated in blue furs. All but one, the single wolf bore deep red eyes and had fur as dark as night. He was much different than the rest, he wasn't the quietest nor the loudest like the Alpha she-wolf. He simply stood there alone, away from the rest of the pack and commanding for her to follow.

It wasn't the first time Nana had these wolf dreams. She had them frequently back when she was at Home. Dreams of a blue wolf standing alone in red snow. "...Where am I?" Nana asked dizzily, coming to the realization the room she was in wasn't her own.

The room was dark and cold, filled with stones and the smell of death. Even without relying on her enhanced senses, Nana knew this. She could tell this room held more blood than just hers, that much was obvious.

"Your final resting place." Rose said calmly, Rose appeared behind the bars her lilac eyes glowing in the darkness like a ghost. "Only life can pay for death." Rose repeated once more, hammering her words into Nana's skull like a rusted nail.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly as it sounds..." Rose's words continued to be as unclear as a sky filled with clouds. "Life returns as quickly as it is sacrificed." Nana didn't follow, she was far from being the brightest in Lupus. "I don't understand..." Nana shivered. A chill rolled through the room like a frozen wind, reaching Nana's core and touching the depths of her warm soul.

"You'll understand soon enough." Once again vague words came from Rose. Words so vague that they left Nana frozen with fear. "What do you mean?" Nana whined sounding like a child "Why can't you just tell me? Just be straight up and tell me what the hell is going on!" Nana's boiling shouts echoed in the cold chamber, melting the walls and touching them with life. Something they hadn't felt in a very long time.

Just hearing her voice travel and vanish made Nana's body tremble. Tremble harder than the winter winds. "Where am I?" she asked once again seeking answers "Where is Jacen? What happened to my comrades?" Nana pleaded "Please tell me that they are safe. If they aren't..." Nana hesitated, she didn't even want to think about the possibility that the family she had longed for no longer existed. "If they aren't then..."

"Relax." Rose commanded, speaking in her whimsical voice "There is no need to be so troubled. Even though your actions did little to protect your friend's lives, I can assure you we did not kill the speedster before we left." Rose spoke with some level of compassion at least more than what she had shown previously. "If the speedster had died it would've been by the hands of Orochi, not me."

"Orochi?" Nana hadn't heard the name before, but she could assume that it was another one of Rose's comrades. "Yes Orochi, he is the King's right hand just as I am her left. He does her bidding and commands us when necessary." There was something about Rose's mysterious voice that made Nana's ears dance. It was appealing to listen to, soft and elegant, and yet spoke in a way far different from those she knew. It was clear whatever land she was from was far from here.

"Your King?" The idea of Kings and Queens seemed almost archaic to Nana. Kings were a relic of the past, old and told only in stories. Like the fairy tales, Natsumi would read to her and Jack. "King of what?" Nana half-heartedly laughed, but after taking a small look at the cell she was in it was clear it was modeled from those she had seen in books. "Kings don't exist in these times lady."

"But they do, there are many of them most with false titles." Rose muttered darkly, clearly offended by Nana's comment. "Like that Captain of yours. The She-Wolf." Just by hearing wolf Nana immediately knew Rose was referring to Natsumi. Her cold blue eyes were reminiscent of the wolves in the North. Although Jack had them as well, something he had inherited from Irene. "Or her brother, The Wolf with Devil's Blood." Rose's tongue flicked with disgust, the mere thought Ren possessed the blood of Homura's greatest enemy made her want to vomit. "Plagued with Wolf's blood, but possesses the eyes of a King."