God's Gracious Gift, a Snarer of Hearts

Chapter One –John's Son

Ok, this is my first fan-fiction I've ever really done. I don't own any of the characters mentioned in the Ginga Densetsu Weed and Ginga Nagereboshi Gin series. But I was wondering what the possibilities could be, if say perhaps, John had a family somewhere away from Ohu maybe. So that's basically what this is based on, so please excuse it if the chapter look rushed or anything.

The spring after the fight with Hougen and his gang was a beautiful one, one that had not been seen for a long time and the order of Paradise was restored. Though many had died to win back the sacred haven, it was not until that spring that time was taken to reflect upon the dead warriors and to spread the words of what had occurred. The news spread quite quickly, just as quickly as the legend Gin had become when he'd taken down the killer bear. But now it was time for a newer legend, though it would not be well known.

There was the sound of yipping puppies trying to play with their siblings and friends, as well as the sounds of joking adults and scolding parents. But the screaming of another dog, urgently seeking his master so that he could spread some important news, cut off this sound. Every dog within a small river valley paused to hear the cries, but they were confused by the commotion. What news could be so important?

"Akuma! Akuma, Master!" A black and white Husky was galloping through the scrub and underneath the blossoming trees on the rim of a clearing. His limbs were aching and his tongue swung at the side of his mouth as he forced himself to hurry onward, seeking his boss-dog. Unfortunately the commotion he caused was not greatly appreciated by some of the other dog, and a large grey mastiff erupted from a dip in the ground nearby. It was a massive Neapolitan dog, something not seen often in this area but brought in along with other fighting breeds in recent years.

"Quiet you idiot!" The beast snarled, his lips swinging as he leapt upwards and tripped the Husky clean over. The Husky rolled along the ground and some of the other pack dogs emerged from dips in the clearing, the scrub, and the trees. Their ears strained forward as they stared curiously at the panting and wincing Husky as the mastiff placed a giant paw upon his head. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

"That's enough Kōgeki!" A young German shepherd dog yipped from the edge of a few dead scrubs. His body was light with only a large saddle-mark upon his back, dark ears, and a dark muzzle. He was strong and his coat was thin but currently the hackles were raised and his head was lowered as he prepared to fight the mastiff. This was not an unusual situation for the young Alsatian, he was always in an argument with the bigger mastiff dogs, especially when they picked upon one another and the dogs they deemed to be weaker then themselves. But today was not the pup's best day to start picking fights, as the Husky carried on regardless toward their master and the big grey dog pressed forward with his own hackles raised, and the lower set of teeth just visible beneath his sagging lips.

"You never know when to leave be, do you Scaly?" He snarled and the young German Shepherd snarled, almost in a playful or false manner, and darted forward with a jolt. But Before he could launch upon Kōgeki, there was a larger dog on seen to pin the youngster down.

The big Italian Mastiff paused and backed away slightly as the new dog, a large Boxer leapt upon the youngster and growled into his ears softly. The young Alsatian gave a low snarling of hatred at this dog's actions, but the boxer, with his lightly brindled coat and white paws, simply gave a low whine of apology but also of wisdom. This pup was getting far too bold, and it could cost him if he kept taunting the mastiffs so much. But by this time the Husky had reached their master and there was a tremendous bark for attention, then all the dogs present scuttled toward the biggest dip amongst the valley, which sloped over a large tunnel that often housed their master's favourite bitch. Once there they looked upon the massive brindled hide, black face, sagging dewlap, massive size, and yet also the incredible muscles upon their Brazilian Mastiff, Akuma, the Devil.

"Well, that's an interesting piece of news indeed, something to be shared amongst you all." The big beast growled softly, he had a bad background that was only known to three animals, his favourite bitch, a Husky called Kumo, a big strong hairy mix-breed called Taro, and Mab, the mother of the Alsatian dog. It was something they did not share with others, as their own pasts were riddled with just as much sorrow as the giant beast, whose body was marred in white scars concealed by his creamy tiger stripes. There was silence as he spoke, all tails were kept low and their heads were similar, no one was allowed to show any sign of importance around their master, Akuma was not named the devil for nothing.

"It seems our old enemy and rival for bitches in the Southern Alps, old Hougen and his brother Genba, have been killed. None other then the tora-ge dogs of the Northern Alps are responsible. I trust most of the elders amongst us remember their visit last spring, the three highest ranking dogs came to greet an old friend of theirs that had past away. Shame really, but I have curious news about one of them at least. Gin now has a son, Weed, whose in charge and doesn't seem to be any competition for bitches, and that rogue German Shepherd John is dead." Everything was said bluntly and there was a great muttering whilst the other dogs chewed over this valuable information. But for one dog it was the most terrible thing ever to have been said, the young German Shepherd bolted off toward the forest where a broken blossom tree protected his mother's den, he had terrible news for her.

In a shallow scrape underneath the dead tree, Mab the German shepherd lay nesting in preparation for the arrival of her first little to Taro. She was very fat with the puppies, that wriggled and made every movement uncomfortable, and yet she was never alone for the births. Last year her original mate had scampered into the grounds to be with her, and had then entrusted her safety to Taro, but now of course, he had not returned to her and Taro had taken liberties. It was not that Mab did not like Taro, after all he was a mighty and loyal mate that seemed to love her dearly, but there had been a much more faithful dog before him.

She was settling gently down into place, the big black dog with his beard in the dirt around the broken trunk, snoozing away, when her ears flicked forward to the sound of an approaching dog. Generally Taro would have been up and snarling at any dog that was not Brody, Kerrianne, or Scanlon, but it was in fact Kerrianne that was snarling this morning. At the sight of her brother, the darker coloured bitch with only one eye settled back down and growled softly to her mother.

"It's only Scanlon, and he seems to be quite upset about something. Probably had Kōgeki or Kanchō beat him in a fight again. Either that or Gunjin stopped it all again." Kerrianne whined as she stepped aside of the snoozing black dog, her tail raised and wagging in greeting, she snuffed softly at her youngest litter-mate, their noses pressing softly together, but her one eye glaring because of the disturbance.

"Mother," The pup whined nervously, as he stepped away from his sister and lay down on the edge of the scrape, the darker German Shepherd bitch looked up at him nervously. There was an important edge to his voice, something she had not heard in him since he had watched Akuma slaughter a failed spy during the winter. She whined softly in curiosity, and this time Taro leapt upwards, afraid that he was missing something.

"What's up boy? Akuma called us for battle in the mountains?" The big black dog, possible a Russian Black Terrier crossed with some kind of mongrel, chuffed gently, his beard shifting with his breath. But Mab whined at him gently to settle down and relax. But the bitch looked to her son with pleading eyes, she did not want to hear what he was going to say, her eyes watering slightly as she prepared for the worst. This was not a good time to be telling her bad news.

"Father's dead!"

"What are you up to Scanlon?" The boxer growled softly as he stepped onto the clearing of grass in the moonlight. The full moon had risen and the Alsatian, Scanlon, was sitting nervously on a slight rise in the grass, gazing at the moon. His heart was filled with woe for the death of the father he had never met, but the boxer did not understand this. He had not been without a true father in his childhood, and his sire had certainly never achieved much, so why should Scanlon care. John had been their enemy in any case, his mother had been taken as a captive and not returned until Taro had fought for her, at least, that's what the rumours were. But Scanlon did not react to the boxer, Gunjin, the same dog to have stopped him fighting. His heart was hurting too much for him to care of any other dog's presence.

"Won't you even scold me for stopping you fighting? That's what you normally do." The big dog whined and sat down regally beside the youngster, but in the manner of all boxers his position always seemed one that was about to bounce forward into a run at a given chance. The pup merely snorted in defiance, he was annoyed indeed, but there were more important problems amongst the pack for him to care right now of simply fights.

"Am I not allowed to prove myself into a good position like Brody?" Scanlon scowled as he snarled, turning his head to the Captain of the Fourth Squad in aggression. He did not want company, already he had refused the comfort of his mother and that of his loving sister. Bitches tended to overdose any form of sadness to the extent it made him aggressive. But Scanlon had counted on his mother crying, she had done nothing but lower her head in sorrow and then curl back up in her hole.

"You're not in any favourable light, pup." The boxer snarled softly, luckily he was the only squad on duty tonight, the Italian Mastiff had taken first squad to the edge of the Alps to check the freshness of the territory boundaries. Plus Kanchō the Tibetan mastiff had taken the Second squad hunting for boar and deer around the forest rim, they'd probably come back with a sheep from a farmer's field. Plus Shiroi the Retriever and Koi the English Mastiff were simply on pup-guarding duty. "Fighting with that fat-head won't do anything but infuriate Akuma and put you in the Omega position. But I understand why you did it. Only an insecure Captain strikes out at the un-ranked and beats the messenger, though the news was good. Plus your timing isn't perfect. Most of the young males are competing for bitches with the older dogs, there's too few and the captains get first pick, you know that?"

"I know about that, but Brody is only one minute older and he's already Captain of Sixth squad and has got that Basenji bitch, Keshia, as his mate. I won't even have a chance because there's only twelve bitches in this whole pack, and twenty-seven dogs. Plus two of those are my mum and sister, and both Tibelda, Akili, and Tamoshii are my bet friends along with Hiroshi, Kensell, and Kin. There's just too many boys here. But it wasn't that I was thinking of." Scanlon growled softly, as much as he was eager to gain a bitch, and he knew his three male friends were of similar minds, plus his three females companions were not fond of mating with any of the pack specimens, his sister agreed with them. Most of the highest ranking dogs were too old for them, and they were not fond of the cruelty of most of the captains.

"Could it be your father's death? I know that Hougen killed him if it's any comfort, at least justice was served?" The boxer continued, itching his left ear with a hind-paw in thought. He could understand if revenge was wanted, but it had already been carried out by John's friends.

"But I wanted to meet him first!" Scanlon whined, his ears drooping low upon his head and his muzzle twitching as he tried not to sniff or howl his sorrows. This annoyed Gunjin, he did not feel that Scanlon was thinking properly, all the pack knew of John as a scoundrel that had stolen a favoured bitch. Brody understood this, hence why the pack accepted him. But Gunjin could not explain anything to a dog that refused to listen to wisdom. Instead his eyes caught the forms of Tibelda and Kensell, the Rottweiler siblings, they were obviously coming to greet their friend. But this gave Gunjin and idea.

"Ever asked them how it feels to be without any parents?" This retort made Scanlon turn to look toward his companions, standing up with his tail low but wagging g in greeting at the two dogs with tails docked to the very edge of the first bone, a mistake made by humans. But before his departure, Gunjin muttered something else. "Why not talk to Akuma, see if you can get him to give you a mission to prove your worth?"

Akili – Wisdom

Akuma – Devil

Brody – Ditch

Genba – The Place Where Things Are Happening

Gin – Silver

Gunjin – Soldier

Hougen – A Dialect

John – God's Gracious Gift

Kanchō – Spy

Kensell – Royal and Brave

Keshia – Favoured One

Kin – Golden

Kōgeki – Attack

Mab – Mirthful Joy

Scanlon – Snarer of Hearts

Tamoshii – Soul/ Spirit

Taro – First-born Male

Tibelda – Boldest Person

Weed – N/A