Kai often found himself wondering what it would be like to be a highly skilled telepath like Linda. He could hardly fathom how terrible yet handy it must be. He had so many questions, but he knew that Linda probably wouldn't want to answer them. How often would he have headaches and how bad would they be? How would he be able to to distinguish his own thoughts from the thoughts of others? How would he know what choice was his and what choices his friends wanted to make? How would he handle what his friends thought about him? What did they even think about him? What were his friends thinking about when they stared off into space every so often? What were the motives behind their choices? What did they fear? Who did they strive to be? How would they make things happen? And the worst question of all: How dark were their bad sides? 

Questions like those always rattled through his head when he saw others examining him, when others disagreed with him, or when others were skeptical about his choices and actions. He had never personally seen Abby angry - aside from the time that she had gotten a little snappy when Shintaro refused to get checked over when he had a high fever - but what went on in her mind when she was? 

Did she even stop to think about what she did or said, or did everything just shoot out in the heat of the moment? What did she think about when she was angry? What did she usually get angry about? How did she handle situations where she didn't like the coming outcome? Did she speak up, and if she didn't, what was going on inside her head when she wanted to? 

Kai felt fur brush against his right hand, and when he looked down, Komakii was walking beside him gracefully, his shoulder touching Kai's hand briefly with each step. His green eyes were staring straight into Kai's, and Kai swore he saw something meaningful behind the bright irises. 

Komakii tipped his head at Kai, blinking only once. He gave a puff of air through his nose in an almost impatient way, like he was telling Kai to give him an answer.

An answer to what? 

Kai didn't take his eyes off the wolf's, staring intently in their green whirlpools. Slowly, Kai began to realize that there was a meaning behind Komakii's look, and it looked so human that Kai shook his head in astonishment. 

Are you alright? his bright, intelligent green eyes seemed to say. 

"I'm alright, Komakii," he said quietly, making sure no one else could hear him talking to a wolf. He probably sounded really stupid answering a question that wasn't even asked by voice. He patted Komakii's head cheerfully, but once more, he found himself staring into those intense green eyes. 

There was something about them...

Komakii broke eye contact with what seemed like a snort of embarrassment. He glanced away, shaking his ears and speeding up to a trot. He walked over to Abby's side and lowered his head to nudge her hand for pets. 

Kai took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. There was something oddly human about Komakii, which meant he had probably been a domestic animal before his life in the woods. He wondered why Komakii had grown so attached to them. Maybe they reminded him of his old owners. How old was he really? He had to have been a puppy when his previous owners had him. Wolves didn't live as long as normal larger dogs, but Komakii was definitely a purebred wolf.

While Komakii went around happily, seeming to give encouragement to each person he rounded to, Kai began to wonder how they were going to find the gem. They had planned to head to the nearest town, which was fifteen miles south, where they were heading, and ask around, but how would that work? 

And who would willingly give them such a powerful and valuable gem?

~

Kai woke in the middle of the night to a muffled, startled bark outside of his tent. He jumped awake in his sleeping bag, his eyes shooting open. He relaxed a moment later and sat up, glancing around and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. He rubbed them for a moment, then slid out of his sleeping bag. Komakii had barked, which could have meant many things: He could have been barking in his sleep, there could be a predator near, or there could be a Dark near. 

Ever since Moon had "disappeared", the Darks had simply roamed and toyed with who they pleased. Kai had wanted to regularly go out and find Darks to stop, but Falte had refused it. They weren't doing anything too serious, which meant the police could most likely handle it.

The Darks could have found his friends and him. 

Kai poked his head out of the tent, finding Komakii sitting up and shaking his head as though there were bugs in his ears. Confused, Kai slid completely out of the tent and crawled over to the wolf, who hardly noticed him coming.

"What is it?" Kai whispered, making Komakii stop mid-shake and turn to look at him. The wolfish frown he gave Kai looked oddly flustered and slightly annoyed, but he glanced away and shook his head again. He lifted his paw and ran it over his snout once, then let out a sigh through his nose and laid back onto his stomach. 

"What's wrong, Komakii?" Kai asked, touching Komakii's head gingerly, wondering if something had hurt him. Kai stroked his ears delicately, and the wolf flattened his ears in a soothed way. Kai, through the light of the moon and stars, saw his shoulders seem to relax. His tail wagged slowly back and forth. 

"Are you hurt?" Kai questioned, though he felt very silly afterwards. Komakii wouldn't be able to answer him. Kai stopped petting him and glanced around him, wondering if there was another wolf nearby and it had just picked on Komakii. When Komakii whined quietly, Kai turned back to him and ran his hands through his fur anywhere he knew a wolf would aim for. 

Thankfully, there were no wounds, just tense muscles. Something was bothering Komakii.

Slowly it dawned on Kai. 

"You have nightmares, too, huh?" he said with a sigh, stroking Komakii's head slowly. But he jerked his hand back in surprise when Komakii lifted his head and stared straight into Kai's eyes once more. Then Komakii gave a soft snort and tipped his head downward, all the while not breaking eye contact. 

Had he understood Kai? That had seemed like a nod of acknowledgement. Or was Komakii just annoyed that Kai was there and interrupting his sleep? 

But that wasn't what he saw in those green eyes. He saw understanding, yet underneath all of that he saw fright, worry, and longing. 

Wolves could have nightmares. 

But Kai's question was this: What had he dreamed to make him so anxious, tense, and worried? 

Kai shook his head in astonishment at Komakii's actions, then continued to pet his head. He figured that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep for another while, so he would stay with Komakii at least for a little longer.

Soon, Kai found himself thinking about Shintaro. What was he doing right now? Was he sleeping, or did Moon even allow that? Were they moving through the night, looking for a long lost gem that would change everything forever? Was he dreaming about his friends? Was he thinking about them if he was awake? How much did he count on them? How much did he miss them? 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Komakii lift his head and stare at him again. This time Kai didn't bother making eye contact. He simply continued to stare at the stars, wondering if Shintaro was doing the same. After all, he and his family had gone stargazing a lot before. 

Suddenly, Komakii threw back his head and howled, scaring the living daylights out of Kai. He nearly jumped out of his skin, but somehow held back his cry of fright. When Komakii didn't cease in his howling, Kai turned and looked at the wolf.

His snout was tipped toward the sky, his mouth parted and streams of white breath flowing out. His eyes were closed, but Kai could almost feel the emotion radiating off of the wolf. He was longing for something. He was scared for something. He was worried for something. He longed for that something to be safe. Whatever was bothering Komakii, he was thinking about it and howling to them. 

Just as Kai was longing for Shintaro, Komakii was longing for someone.

Just as Kai was worried for Shintaro, Komakii was worried for someone. 

Just as Kai was scared for Shintaro, Komakii was scared for someone. 

Just as Kai was thinking about Shintaro, Komakii was thinking about someone. 

They were running the same path together.

~

Here's chapter twenty-six, since I was actually feeling productive today! Thank you so much for reading!!

I really enjoy seeing the votes and comments pop up on my screen. 

It really means a lot to me. Thank you so much!

Peace!!~~