Wolf's Rain

Kiba:
Why? Why do humans always look to the sky? Why do you try so hard to fly when you don't have any wings? We'll run on our own legs.

Hige:
That hot dog must've fried your brain!

Kiba:
They say there's no such place... as Paradise. Even if you search to the ends of the Earth, there's nothing there. No matter how far you walk, it's always the same road. It just goes on and on. But, in spite of that... Why am I so driven to find it? A voice calls to me... It says, "Search for Paradise."

Hubb Lebowski:
Cher... Cher! Cher! Cher...

Cher Degre:
Listen to me, Hubb... You've become very reliable.

Hubb Lebowski:
Yeah, because I have to protect you. [Cher smiles.] We can start over. A baby too... let's have a baby too. We'll bake bread... and...

Hubb Lebowski:
[as Cher's eyes fade] That's right, we'll nurture a bird too. Everything will turn out fine... It'll turn out fine.

Hubb Lebowski:
Cher... Cher! Cher... [sobs, while cries out her name; everyone mourns]

Toboe:
[after the shootout with Darcia] Old man... old man... I'm sorry. I...

Quent Yaiden:
I... was the one who shot you.

Toboe:
I... made a promise to Blue, that I would protect you. But, I failed. I'm sorry. I wanted to stay with you, like Blue, and protect you. It would have been nice if everybody could have gone to Paradise together. [lies on Quent's arm] Please, let me sleep here.

Quent Yaiden:
That was... I see... That was you... That was you. [hugs Toboe's body while he cries]

Blue:
[when Hige and Blue arrive] Old man... old man... old man. [as Quent looks up at her, his eyes fade; starts to sob]

Tsume:
[to Toboe] I wanted to take you to paradise.

Blue:
Are you there, Hige?

Hige:
Yeah, I'm here.

Blue:
My vision is blurred. And I...

Hige:
There's no need to worry. I'm not going anywhere. We can stay together like this forever. [puts his hand on Blue's forehead, brushes her hair away to show blood]

Blue:
[closes her eyes, sighs] So warm.

Hige:
Hey, there you are. Cheza was taken by Darcia and Kiba went after him.

Tsume:
Don't speak!

Hige:
Can you do me a favor? Could you kill me with your fangs? Can you still not forgive me? Am I still a traitor?

Tsume:
No-one cares about that any more!

Hige:
Please... I'm suffering. Tsume. [Tsume bites into his neck] Let's meet up again in Paradise.

Kiba:
[after Darcia jumps off the cliff after Cheza; goes back to Tsume] Tsume! Are you all right?

Tsume:
I'm just a little tired. Go already!

Kiba:
Tsume...

Tsume:
I finished Hige offf. I don't want to move any more either. I knew it from the beginning, I knew it somewhere in my heart. That's why I led a spontaneous life. I was confident after having met you... that I wasn't the one who would open Paradise. [groans] Go.

Kiba:
Hang in there.

Tsume:
If you don't go...

Kiba:
Hold on to me...

Tsume:
Go already! [Kiba runs after Darcia] Let's meet up again in Paradise. [howls, slumps down]

Quent Yaiden:
Always helps to have a friend around when you're crossing the mountains. You never know what you'll run into. Like bears - or wolves.

Bartender:
Wolves, huh? Now there's something I haven't heard for a long time. Not since my grandpa was alive. He said that when the world comes to an end, Paradise will finally be opened. The only problem is, only wolves will be able to find it. Who knows? Maybe the world is coming to an end right now.

Quent Yaiden:
Wolves are only servants of death! Don't you believe all that Pagan garbage!

Bartender:
Relax, old man. Wolves have been extinct for over two hundred years. It's just a children's fairy tale.

Quent Yaiden:
The thing about fairy tales is . . . there's always some truth in 'em.

Tsume:
That was quite a stunt you pulled back there.

Kiba:
I was protecting myself, that's all.

Tsume:
You shouldn't be so quick to kill.

Kiba:
What's wrong with killing?

Tsume:
I don't know what mountain you came down from, but you're in the city now. There are rules here.

Kiba:
Rules? Is running around with a pack of idiots one of the rules?

Tsume:
I'm only usin' them.

Kiba:
Your rules stink like this city! What's the point of living if it means throwing away your pride?

Tsume:
You've got a big mouth for someone's that half-dead.

Cher Degre:
[about Cheza] I've never seen this expression on her face before. Has the solution been altered?

Cher's Assistant:
No, it's the same as always.

Other Scientist:
Do you think she's awakened?

Cher Degre:
According to the data left to us, the first thing Cheza showed a response to was blood, wasn't it?

Other Scientist:
You mean wolf's blood?

Cher Degre:
Yes. The smell of wolf's blood.

Cher's Assistant:
But what evidence is there that -

Cher Degre:
None. Many things exist that can't be explained merely due to a lack of evidence. Cheza herself is the crowning achievement of an alchemy that is unproven. The Flower Maiden and the wolves are being drawn to one another. Just like an ancient scholar's fairy tale.

Hubb Lebowski:
Quent Yaiden . . . So, can you tell me what brings the sheriff of Kyrios to our humble city? That's some heavy artillery you have there, but I doubt that you came here just to hunt.

Quent Yaiden:
Where is it? The animal I killed?

Hubb Lebowski:
It's apparently dead. The body will be disposed of here.

Quent Yaiden:
That's impossible! There's not a chance in Hell that that thing is dead! Show it to me, and I'll believe you! Don't you understand?! That thing is a wolf!

Hubb Lebowski:
A wolf? You think it's a wolf?

Quent Yaiden:
It looks like a dog, but it's not! It's a wolf! You don't honestly think that we killed all of them, do you, Detective?!

Hubb Lebowski:
The last appearance of a wolf was over two hundred years ago. How do you think they survived this long without going unnoticed? The mountains and forests are all gone. There's no place for any wolves to hide anymore.

Quent Yaiden:
I'm telling you, they somehow cast a spell over us! They're all around us! Wolves do exist, and we have to kill them all!

Hubb Lebowski:
I thought that this sort of thing would be under your jurisdiction.

Cher Degre:
So, then, it's alive?

Hubb Lebowski:
Barely. I think it's only a matter of time before it goes.

Cher Degre:
That sounds like us.

Hubb Lebowski:
We're not over yet. We just need to keep trying.

Cher Degre:
I'm not so sure.

Hubb Lebowski:
[Hubb and Cher walk into the holding room to see Hige in front of Kiba's wolf form, who's held in a cage] Hey, what are you doing? What department are you with?

Hige:
Oh, sorry. I was looking for cleaning supplies, and I, um, got lost.

Hubb Lebowski:
The cleaning crew, huh? Just go out that door . . . [Hubb points to an open door] . . . and the supply closet is on your right.

Hige:
Oh, really? Thanks. [Hige exits the room through the open door]

Hubb Lebowski:
So, do you think it's a wolf?

Cher Degre:
I don't know. For one thing, I've never seen one before. But, if it is a wolf, it may be related to Cheza's sudden reaction.

Hubb Lebowski:
Oh, please. Not Cheza again.

Cher Degre:
What's that supposed to mean?

Hubb Lebowski:
It's because of Cheza you and I broke-up.

Cher Degre:
Stop acting like an idiot, Hubb, and take this thing up to the lab.

Hubb Lebowski:
I'll have somebody do it later. Dogs and I don't really get along. Actually, I'm allergic to them.

Cher Degre:
This is the reason that you and I would never work.

Hubb Lebowski:
I don't know; maybe it is only a matter of time.

Hige:
[talking to Kiba, who is being held in a cage] Man, you really screwed up. I mean, I've seen one of us get hurt before, but never this badly. And you're caught, too.

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 meetcha.

Kiba:
So, why are you in here, anyways?

Hige:
No reason. It smelled like something interesting was going to happen, and I just followed my nose, you know? Besides, I've got nowhere else to go.

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

Hige:
So that 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 lying to yourself, just so you can live a miserable life and die a miserable death in this city?

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

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

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

Hige:
Your wounds . . . Are they healed, yet?

Kiba:
Yeah. After all, tonight is a full moon.

Hige:
So, why'd you come to this crummy town, anyways?

Kiba:
I smelled something: The scent of a Lunar Flower. It was coming from this city.

Hige:
Yeah, I know. My nose can tell when a dogs takin' a dump ten kilometers away.

Kiba:
Yeah? That must really stink.

Hige:
It sure does!

Kiba:
So, why did you escape with me?

Hige:
I don't know. I just felt like it, I guess. Besides, you seem kinda interesting. So, what's next? Where are you headed?

Kiba:
To Paradise. There isn't any moonlight in this place.

Hige:
Paradise, huh? Sounds like fun.

Kiba:
My name is . . . Kiba.

Toboe:
Thanks a lot. For before.

Leara:
Huh?

Toboe:
For the sausages.

Leara:
Wha . . .

Toboe:
Remember that dog in the alley the other day? Well, it's mine.

Leara:
That beautiful dog is yours?

Toboe:
"That beautiful . . ." Um, yeah! Yeah, he's mine!

Leara:
But how did you know about it?

Toboe:
Um, from the lady at the store.

Leara:
What's it's name, anyways?

Toboe:
Uh, name? The name is Toboe.

Leara:
Toboe? What a weird name.

Toboe:
Yeah, I guess so.

Leara:
My name is Leara. What's yours?

Toboe:
I just told you. It's Toboe!

Leara:
I thought that was your dog's name.

Toboe:
Oh. Uh, well, we're a lot alike, so I decided to name him after myself.

Leara:
You sure are weird, all right.

Toboe:
Who the heck was that? And what's up with his dog?

Tsume:
I have no idea.

Toboe:
You're Tsume, right? Wow. This is the first time I've ever met another wolf. I've heard rumors about you from the crows. They say you make friends with Humans, and run waild with them! Heh, heh.

Tsume:
You heard wrong.

Toboe:
I'm Toboe. Thanks for the help back there. You know, I've been with Humans for my whole life, too.

Tsume:
Just get lost, okay? I'm getting pissed-off. And that only happens when I'm around idiots.

Toboe:
But . . . Can't I come with you?

Tsume:
No. You can't.

Cher Degre:
To be honest, you sound a little obsessed.

Hubb Lebowski:
I'm not obsessed, Cher. Don't worry. I'm probably just looking for another excuse to see you.

Hige:
Come on, we're friends now, right?

Kiba:
Coming from you, that sounds kind of fishy.

Toboe:
I never meant to kill anything. Granny, she . . . I was all alone at the entrance to the dome, and she was so nice. She said I was so little, my eyes had barely opened. [Toboe holds up the four white bracelets on his right fore-arm] She gave these to me, and we lived together ever since.

Tsume:
You mean she kept you as a pet. You were tamed, nothing more than an obedient dog.

Toboe:
I wasn't! I . . . I only . . . I wanted to protect her. But she still . . .

Tsume:
She still threw you out?

Toboe:
She still died. She died. I let her die.

Quent Yaiden:
Well, look who it is. Detective Dandy.

Darcia:
Cheza is not vital to you. Is that correct?

Cher Degre:
Who are you?

Darcia:
Everyone is resting now. You look exhausted, as well. You should rest for a while.

Darcia:
Wolves . . . You have my gratitude, for it was you who awoke her.

Hige:
What?

Kiba:
Who the Hell are you?

Darcia:
The Flower Maiden is mine.

Hige:
The Flower Maiden? Is that . . . Cheza?

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

Quent Yaiden:
Look at this. [Quent shows Hubb his hand, which Tsume cut open earlier] Pretty, ain't it? It's a souvenir from an angry wolf.

Hubb Lebowski:
You can't prove it was a wolf.

Quent Yaiden:
Well, there wern't any cats or ferrets around. There was only a young human. The beast turned into a little boy right in front of my eyes. It was just a little kid.

Hubb Lebowski:
Can you remember what the boys face looked like?

Quent Yaiden:
For some reason, my memory's a little fuzzy.

Hubb Lebowski:
Maybe I should come back another time.

Quent Yaiden:
It'll always be the same. But I'm not drunk yet tonight.

Hubb Lebowski:
I don't know why I ever thought I could come to you for advice.

Quent Yaiden:
You're obsessed with the wolves, huh? You're dying to know everything now. Isn't that right, Detective?

Hubb Lebowski:
That dog you shot ran away.

Quent Yaiden:
What a surprise.

Hubb Lebowski:
And you think it put some kind of spell on us to escape?

Quent Yaiden:
You got it.

Hubb Lebowski:
It just isn't possible.

Quent Yaiden:
These claw marks . . . and the fact that you're here should be proof enough. There are a lot more of 'em, you know. People you pass everyday in the market, the poor shlubs you sit next to in the bar . . . Any one of them could be wolves. I tell you now the words of "Red Moon." "From the great spirit was born the wolf, and man became it's messenger." In other words, the human race was created from wolves. So says the author of "The Book of the Moon."

Hubb Lebowski:
"Book of the Moon?"

Quent Yaiden:
I might as well say it: Instead of looking for wolves, you should probably start suspecting humans.

Cher Degre:
Now I know, paradise is something that must be opened by the wolves. There's only one place that can be called paradise, and I suppose that's the way it should be.

Hubb Lebowski:
[pulls out a cigar taken from the soliders abandoned car] So that's what the celebration was for...do you think there's a chance that we could go there too?

Cher Degre:
No, I doubt it.

Hubb Lebowski:
Then what the hell are we supposed to do?

Cher Degre:
The only thing we can do...die out.

Hubb Lebowski:
Why?

Cher Degre:
Because the world would become distorted with us in it. And yet in a new world, one that was created by the spirit of the wolves, I'm sure there'd be new humans as well.

Hubb Lebowski:
So we're all a bunch of pawns to be thrown away, huh? That suits me just fine.

Cher Degre:
[scene changes to the couple in the car] You know I think I understand now why you and I never had children...on some level we knew the world was ending, it may of seemed like we had found something else to obsess over but the truth is we'd given up on the future. That's the real reason I was never able to get pregnant.

Hubb Lebowski:
Do you still feel that way?

Cher Degre:
What shred of hope am I supposed to have left after all of this?

Hubb Lebowski:
I'm here...together with you. Something that I had almost given up hope on has come true. Whatever happens to the world, Cher, I want to have faith in the future.

Cher Degre:
[smiles] You really have changed.

Owl:
[voice over] When are we born? When do we die? Why are we born? Why do we die? The world has been destroyed and we've fallen countless times, always resurrecting from the ashes as Paradise. It has happened before, and it will happen again. An endless cycle of life and death. The world is a Paradise that was opened by someone, but this era too is almost at an end. We have acquired the means to exceed our natural span of life, never suspecting that the world itself was finalized in its existence. This knowledge has left me in despair, my fate has fallen and scattered like the petals of a dying flower, like the blast from a sand storm it has been warn down and weathered away. As if to be purified, the world will be encased in ice so that it can return to the beginning once more. Paradise is a world that is opened by someone...

Cheza:
The ice is spreading fast now, the world will freeze over. Soon, this one will disappear, this one is a forged hanabito, this is not this one's true form.

Kiba:
Your true form?

Cheza:
Now this one can become...

Kiba:
Cheza...

Cheza:
The world will close up for a while, and we will be apart from one another.

Kiba:
What should I do? I don't have anything left to protect.

Cheza:
We would not have met, and the flowers will protect you. Kiba, because you protected this one, the flowers will return and bloom once more. So when the world is reborn, and Paradise opens, we will meet again. This one will be waiting for you. Find this one. And this time, the Paradise you hoped for will be...

Darcia:
The world where you will go hand in hand with the flower maiden has neither perfect happiness nor joy nor life. This is because it also does not contain perfect sadness nor misery nor death. What lies in waiting is a paradise for wolves alone, the unclean humans are no more...come with me Cheza, it is time.

Tsume:
Screw this stupid journey. Paradise can kiss my ass. I'm just... fed up with this stinking town. It was time to move on anyway...

Hige:
Whoops, uh, must've taken a wrong turn. Hey-hey! It's one of our own!

Kiba:
Move it, will ya! That's the last time I trust your nose.

Hige:
Well, anyone's nose would go numb after a night in that stink-hole!

Darcia:
[in the background] I tell you now the words of Red Moon: From the Great Spirit was born the Wolf and Man became its messenger. The Beast lives his life in silence, abiding where the blessing of the blood of the gods is bestowed upon him. The White Flower, after winning the favor of the lord of the night, will share her scent, preordained and eternal in countenance is of a lily white supple maiden. She distills and condenses all of time, until it becomes a precious frozen mass. Only then will appear the wretched beast. [Darcia appears in wolf form]

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

Hige:
Yeah... you could say that again...

Toboe:
How long's it been since we had any food?

Hige:
I dunno... I guess it's been about three days.

Toboe:
You mean we've gone that long without eating?

Hige:
Yup... Not a bite...

Toboe:
How much longer till we get any food?

Hige:
I dunno... Another three days, I guess...

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

Toboe:
Yeah, but if we stayed in the city, we'd have something to eat right now...

Kiba:
We can last a lot longer, if we bask in the moonlight. [the other wolves stare at him] I traveled a full month once when I did that...

Hige:
Did you say a month?

Kiba:
It should stop snowing anytime now... Once it does, and the night draws closer... then the moon will be out.

Tsume:
[Grins connivingly and closes his eyes] Well, if worse comes to worse, we can always eat each other... We can start with the runt since he's gotten so weak. And of course there's always little Porky over there...

Toboe:
Hey, wait a second! How Kiba isn't on the menu?

Tsume:
[Stern, annoyed voice] Because the guy's totally full of crap, that's why.

Toboe:
[Weary voice] Aw, man... I sure am hungry...

Hige:
[Weary voice] 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.

Toboe:
We've gone that long without eating?

Hige:
Yup... not a bite...

Toboe:
How much longer before we get any food?

Hige:
I have no idea... Another three days, I guess.

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'd have something to eat right now...

Kiba:
We can last a lot longer if we bask in the moonlight. [the others all look at Kiba in confusion] I traveled a full month once when I did that.

Hige:
Did you say a month?

Kiba:
It should stop snowing anytime now. Once it does and night draws closer, the moon will be out.

Tsume:
Well, if worse comes to worse, we can always eat each other. [Hige and Toboe look at Tsume with shocked, worried expressions; Tsume grins menacingly] We can start with the Runt since he's gotten so weak... and of course, there's always little Porky over there...

Toboe:
Hey, wait a second! How come Kiba isn't on the menu?

Tsume:
[Scowls as Kiba] Because the guy's totally full of crap, that's why.

Kiba:
That's strange. [while talking about Jagara's castle]

Tsume:
That being?

Kiba:
That you're whining.

Tsume:
I just have a decent sense of danger.