Wolf's Rain - Episode 17 - Scent of a Flower, Blood of a Wolf

(Hige's Recap Episode)

-Opening-

Hige:
I've gotta admit, the reason I decided to stay in this city was 'cause I caught wind of something.
I'd never smelled it before but I knew what it was.
The scent of Lunar Flowers.
To be honest, I don't really have that much to complain about.
I can always find something to eat, so long as I'm not too picky.
And even when it's freezing, which is pretty much all the time, I can handle it.
The only thing that kinda sucks is the total lack of girls around here.
But on that one particular day... I felt it alright.
A dangerous but amazing scent was calling me. I just couldn't leave it alone.

Man, you really screwed up.
I mean, I've seen one of us get caught before, but never this badly.


Kiba:
I can get out of here whenever I feel like it.

Hige:
Uh-huh.
So then why are you in there?

Kiba:
I just needed a place to rest for a while, that's all.

Hige:
I'm Hige, it's nice to meet ya.

Kiba:
That's not your true form.
Why do you hide yourself?

Hige:
So I don't end up where you are.
These people are terrified of us, so, you know, if we look like them, they pretty much leave us alone.

Kiba:
You're living a lie, just so you can die a miserable death in this city?

Hige:
Gotta do what you can to survive, right?
Keep looking like that, and you'll be back here in no time.
It draws too much attention.

Kiba:
Have you given up your pride as a wolf?

Hige:
You're a strange one, alright.
But having pride doesn't count for much if you're dead.
Ya know?

Strange ain't the half of it.
The guy's totally clueless, but he has confidence coming out of his ears.
Kiba puts his neck on the line without a second thought.
I guess it's my own fault for hanging out with someone like that, but what can you do? At any rate, we finally met her. Cheza, the Flower Maiden.

Darcia:
There is nothing to fear. You are awake now, at last.
We can finally set out on our journey.

Hige:
This way!

Darcia:
Wolves?
You have my gratitude. For it was you who woke her.

Kiba:
What?
Who the hell are you?

Darcia:
The Flower Maiden is mine.

Hige:
The Maiden? Is that Cheza?

Darcia:
We'll meet in Paradise.
If we meet again, that is.

Hige:
The scents of flowers was gone.
So we set out in search of Paradise.
That runt, Toboe, joined us, along with Tsume, whose bark's as bad as his bite. But it's mostly just a front.
Anyway, we're all in this together.
Go on, give us your best shot! We can take it!

Toboe:
Oh, man. I sure am hungry...

Hige:
Yeah, you could say that again.

Toboe:
How long has it been since we ate anything?

Hige:
I don't know... I guess it's been about three days, or so.

Tsume:
Will you two quit your whining already?
It's only been three stupid days.

Toboe:
Yeah, but if we hadn't left the city, we would have something to eat right now.

Tsume:
Well, if worse comes to worse, we can always eat each other.
We could start with the runt, since he's gotten so weak, and of course, there's always little Porky over there.

Toboe:
Wait a second, how come Kiba isn't on the menu?

Tsume:
Because the guy's totally full of crap, that's why.

Darcia:
We're getting close. Can you sense it?
That castle is where you were born.

Hige:
It wasn't until after a whole mess of other stuff happened that we met Cheza again.

Kiba:
She's there...

Tsume:
Hold it! It's nothing to do with us! Stay out of it!

Kiba:
I can feel it...

Hige:
Feel what?

Kiba:
I'm not sure. But it's so familiar...
Come on, don't you guys feel anything at all?

Tsume:
Kiba!

Toboe:
Can you?

Hige:
That guy is hopeless.
That scent!

It's her. It's really her.

Toboe:
My heart just skipped a beat!

Tsume:
Who is that?

Cheza:
This way! This way!

Hige:
That's Cheza, alright. That's the Flower Maiden.

Toboe:
She's a flower and a maiden? That's pretty weird.

Hige:
The way I heard it, some Nobles with too much time on their hands made her from a Lunar Flower in a lab somewhere.
Well, either way you look at it, she's really not my type at all.
It's such a bummer.

Cheza:
This one has been waiting for you.
This one was born right here in this place for that reason.
Everybody! This one's home!
Oh my. There is no one here anymore.
They all withered and died.
This one is the only one left.

Kiba:
Tell us. Who are you?

Hanabito:
The Hanabito is what they used to called us.

Cheza:
This one could tell that from your scent.
But you're not like this one?

Hanabito:
That is true.
You are not like my kind. You, my dear, are a perfect creation.
The wolf seeks out the flower, and the flower seeks out the wolf.
And yet, no matter how you feel, you must not go with them.

Cheza:
But why?

Hanabito:
It will only lead to destruction.

Cheza:
Kiba, can this one stay with you?
Is it alright that this one stays with you?

Kiba:
Cheza, you have to stay with us.

Cheza:
Hige?

Hige:
Sure, why not? When you're on a journey, the more the merrier.

Cheza:
Toboe?
Tsume?

Tsume:
Fine, you can tag along.
If it gets us to where we're going, I can put up with you.

Hige:
When Cheza was with the four of us, she looked really happy.
We all had a soft spot for her, and it was obvious that she liked us, too.

I bet you're hungry, right?

Kiba:
Cheza does not eat bugs.

Hige:
Well then, what should we feed her?

Toboe:
What is it?

Cheza:
This one is stuffed!
And you?

Toboe:
Um... Sure.

C'mon, Tsume! Have Cheza pet you too!
It feels unbelievable!

Hige:
She smells so good!

Cheza:
Kiba!

Wait...We'll all go...together.
This one can be useful, too...

Kiba:
Cheza!

Tsume:
Damn it!

Hige:
But out of all of us, Kiba was the special one.
There's something between him and Cheza that's, how can I put it?
Well, it's different from what the rest of us have with her.
We could all see how connected they were.
But even so, when we wolves were with Cheza, all of us were happy.

And then, it happened!
Our first full moon since being with Cheza!
Our hearts were pounding like they were ready to burst!

Tsume:
So this is it.

Hige:
Yeah, right about now, I feel like I could do almost anything.

Toboe:
I mean, we've all seen a full moon before. Because Cheza's with us, it seems different, doesn't it?

Tsume:
Oh man, I just wanna howl my head off!

Kiba:
Something's about to happen.

Hige:
It's the path to Paradise!

Tsume:
Is that really what it is?

Toboe:
Amazing! It's amazing!

Darcia:
The wolves... It's been a long time.

Tsume:
That stench... He's a Noble?

Kiba:
What are you doing here?

Darcia:
Was your little dream pleasant? The one where you were going to Paradise.

Kiba:
What?

Darcia:
The time has not yet come for that.
Return to me, Cheza.

Kiba:
Get out of our way!

Darcia:
It is futile.

Hige:
Toboe!

Darcia:
Ah, the blood of the wolves... How magnificent.

Cheza:
Kiba...
That is enough.

Kiba:
Don't go!
D-Don't!

Cheza:
It is alright.

Kiba:
Don't go, Cheza...
We're wolves. We're not afraid to die.

Cheza:
This one knows that. But this one has decided.
It is alright.
Kiba... This one will surely protect you.

Kiba:
Cheza...
Cheza...

Hige:
What could that Noble want with Cheza?
I mean, what could a human possibly hope to accomplish by trying to get to Paradise?
Not that we really cared.
In the end, there wasn't anything we could do about it.
Cheza was gone.

You up and moving already?
Come on, guys!
I know we've been through a lot, but why all the moping?

Toboe:
I couldn't sleep, that's why.

Hige:
Yeah, well neither could I.

Tsume:
You slept like a dead man, as always.

Hige:
Look, I'm just as shocked and frustrated as the rest of you.
But none of that is gonna help us figure out what the hell to do now.
Are we gonna live here in a stupor for the rest of our lives?
Somebody say something, damn it!
Kiba! You haven't said a single word to any of us since everything happened.

Tsume:
Drop it.

Toboe:
Leave him alone. Kiba was hurt the worst, remember?

Kiba:
It's not that.
It's just...I'm really pissed off.

Thugs:
She went that way!
Get her!
Come back, damn it!
She's over there!

Hige:
Wow, what a babe...

Thug #1:
She's got friends...

Hige:
Yeah, so what's it to you?

So how come those guys were chasing you, anyway?

Blue:
I thought that I should work, you know?

Hige:
Work? I've never given it much thought.

Blue:
That's how it's supposed to be, huh...
But it's hard to let go of when it's all you've ever known.
For my entire life, I've been at Pops' side, always wanting to be useful to him somehow...if I could.
I'll bet from your point of view, choosing to live that way must sound like complete nonsense.
But the thing is... I was always happy being that way.
If nothing had happened, I could have stayed happy forever.
I don't know what happened, or if it really was wolves who killed everyone.
But even so, that's what Pops believes.

Hige:
Man, and just because of that, he hates all wolves?

Blue:
If I had stayed ignorant of what I was, I would've been able to remain at Pops' side forever.
If I had never met that girl, I could have kept on living the way it always had been.
If I hadn't learned that there was some wolf in me...

Hige:
So what're you gonna do now? You want to go back to that guy?

Blue:
I can't go back.
If I did, I'd have to hunt you guys down again.

Hige:
Sounds nice... I wouldn't mind being hunted down by a girl.
I'm usually the one who does all the chasing.
But somehow they always manage to get away.
Whenever I get in the mood, I always have to take a leak.
Kinda like right now.

Blue:
Well, go somewhere and do it. That's disgusting.

Hige:
I'll hold it! It looks like you're ready to run.

Blue:
You're nice. Gross but nice.

Hige:
Yeah, I get that all the time.

Blue:
Hey, why don't you come with me?

Hige:
Where to?

Blue:
It doesn't matter where, does it?

Hige:
Sounds tempting...

-Ending-

Hubb:
Have you ever wanted to go back to an earlier part of your life?
To when things were happier.
No matter how difficult the present may be, there may come a time when you'll find yourself thinking, "Boy, I really had it good back then".