A/N: Okay, so, I know that this is yet another Yamachi fic, but hear me out. My flash drive decided to glitch all of my Digimon fics, so I had to delete the folder they were on and re-write all of them, and it sucks. I hope this turns out to be a good fic for you guys. It will be mostly Yamato's POV, and starts off with him, but some will be Taichi's. Enjoy~
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.
Ookami Loyalty
Chapter 1
I trekked through the snow of the quiet forest, searching for a meal. I hadn't eaten in nearly two weeks, and it didn't help that I was a loner. If I was still with my pack, this wouldn't be an issue. I barely made it through the last winter, after all, and I was starving by now. A sudden scrabbling caught my attention, and my ears twitched so I could tell where it was coming from. Turning my head, I spotted a white rabbit digging at a little patch of grass. Silently, I padded towards the rabbit, but right before I could pounce, the wind changed, and the rabbit caught my scent. It bolted, and I dashed after it with a snarl, desperate for food. Right as I was about to catch it in my jaws, however, it dashed into its burrow, too deep for me to get to it.
'Dammit!' I let out a frustrated growl, my tail swishing back and forth angrily. With a stomp of one of my paws, I stormed off so I could find another meal. As I walked, I thought, once again, about my old pack.
My name is Yamato, and I am an ookami. Ookamis are wolves that can change into a human form, and maintain it for extended periods of time. However, when in human form, we always keep our ears and tails. Anyway, I belonged to a pack two years ago, and the new alpha kicked me out when the old one died. He claimed I was a threat to the pack, but I knew the truth: Xemnas knew I was a threat to him, and that I could kill him and become alpha if I wanted to. My younger brother, Takeru, was too submissive to be a threat to him, so he was allowed to stay. So I left my pack without argument, knowing Takeru could be hurt if I tried to fight.
Night began to fall, and I struggled to keep my eyes open. The exhaustion and severe hunger were finally starting to hit, and I collapsed, unable to keep going. At this rate, I would either freeze to death, or die of starvation.
'No…not yet…I can't…' I whimpered as the dark veil of unconsciousness fell over me, and the snow fell harder.
X*X(Taichi's POV)X*X
My team and I struggled through the deep snow, trying to hurry back to the cabin from our day of research. I noticed my younger sister, Hikari, stumble slightly as she climbed up a small pile of rocks, and quickly hurried over to her.
"You okay?" I asked, giving her a quick once-over.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Taichi," she assured me. I nodded, and then I heard one of my team members call out from ahead of us.
"Come on, you two! We're going to be stuck in this blizzard if we don't hurry!" Sora called.
"We're coming, Sora!" I shouted back to the redhead. We hurried ahead, taking the lead, but then I stumbled over something in the snow, falling face-first on the ground with a yelp.
"Taichi! Are you okay?" Hikari wailed as she rushed over to me.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just tripped over something…" I muttered, but then I caught a glimpse of golden fur in the snow. "Huh?"
"What's wrong, Taichi?" my sister asked as I crawled over to the source. I began to brush the snow off, and gasped in shock as I realized what it was.
"Hikari, it's a wolf!" I gasped.
"Taichi, I don't think that's just a wolf," she whispered, causing me to glance at her curiously. "It's an ookami. Just look at his fur! That's not a normal color."
"Hikari, we have to help him," I told her firmly. By this time, the other research team members had gathered around us.
"But Taichi, what if he tries to kill us when he wakes up?" Joe demanded.
"Dammit, it won't," I snapped. "I'll keep everyone safe, I promise."
"Taichi, you know those legends of ookamis becoming loyal to humans who help them aren't true," Sora murmured.
"I don't care. I'm going to save this ookami, and that's final," I growled, and heaved the large wolf onto my back. It was lighter than I'd thought it would be, and I grunted as I situated it. "Let's go." Against her better judgment, Hikari helped me through the snow, and eventually we made it back to the cabin.
"Hey you guys! I'm glad you made it back okay!" Izzy, one of our other team members, grinned when he saw us. But then he spotted the ookami on my back. "What the hell is that?!"
"It's an ookami," I told him, and he paled.
"Why did you bring one back?! How did you find him?!" he yelped.
"I literally stumbled over him," I answered with a small shrug. "And I want to help him. Don't question it, either." Izzy nodded, still pale in the face, and I left to my room, where I started up the electric blanket and the space heater. Carefully, I placed the ookami on the rug, and then toweled him off with a couple of towels from my bathroom before covering him with the electric blanket. We have wind and solar powered generators, after all. As he warmed up, I left to the kitchenette, where I grabbed a steak from the fridge which was left over from the last hunting trip, and brought it back to my room.
"Don't worry, big guy. I'll make sure you'll be okay," I murmured to him, stroking his head lightly.
X*X(Yamato's POV)X*X
I began to feel warmth. It was all over me, and it felt good. I hadn't felt this warm since the summer months, and it was nice. Suddenly, something in my brain clicked, and I realized there was no way I could possibly be this warm in the dead of winter. My eyes snapped open, and I looked about wildly, not recognizing my surroundings. There were wooden walls around me, and I was covered with some kind of strange material. I could hear steady breathing nearby, but I recognized the scent as a human's. I had been captured.
Leaping to my paws and flattening my ears against my skull, I bristled and snarled at the human that sat nearby as I backed into a corner, and he immediately gained a fear-scent. It soon died down, but he watched me with a certain confidence that I liked.
'Where am I?! Who are you?!' I demanded of him via telepathy. Upon my communicating to him, I could tell he was shocked I could speak, but then he answered me.
"My name is Taichi Yagami, and you're at my cabin, in my bedroom," he told me. "And I saved you from freezing in the blizzard." I stilled at that, realizing my fate now lies with this human. As I sat back down, my nostrils caught the scent of fresh meat.
'What's that smell?' I inquired, sniffing for the source. Chuckling, Taichi pulled out a slab of raw meat, and I felt my mouth begin to water.
"I brought this in here for when you woke up," he explained. "You felt really light when I picked you up, so I knew you had to be starving. Figured you'd like something to eat when you woke up." He handed it to me, and I gently took it from his hand, and then tore into it once it was on the floor. "Hungry, eh?"
'More like starving. I haven't eaten in two weeks until now,' I replied. 'It's difficult when I don't live in a pack.'
"Why don't you live with a pack?" he asked me. Shaking my head to tear into the meat, I heard rustling and voices from outside of the bedroom, as Taichi had called it.
'Are there others with you?' I questioned first. He seemed surprised, but nodded. 'Then I'll explain to all of you humans. It will be easier that way.' Looking about, I added, 'I'll need some clothes. I can shift into human form, and it'll be simpler to speak that way when I share my story.'
"What's your name, ookami?" Taichi said, getting up to get me some clothes.
'Yamato,' I replied. He handed me a pair of pants and a shirt, and I motioned with my head for him to look the other way. The brunette complied, and I shifted into my human form, which I hadn't used in quite a while. It had been a few years, to say the least. With unsteady hands, I pulled on the pants and shirt, and then spoke.
"I'm dressed, Taichi," I told him. My voice sounded different than it had a few years ago, but I would adjust. He turned back to see me, and I could tell he was pleasantly surprised. After all, when in human form, I retain my ears and tail, but otherwise I looked completely human. I blinked once at him, and he jumped a little.
"Sorry, I'll get the others," he nodded, and walked out with me following. "Hey guys! Come on out to the living room!" There were some grumbles, which made my ears twitch irritably, but then the other humans came out of their rooms. They all stared at me like deer in headlights; some of them wary, the rest panicked.
"Taichi, who is that?" a brunette girl whispered.
"My name is Yamato," I answered before Taichi could. "I'm an ookami, and I am now loyal to Taichi because he saved me from dying out in the blizzard."
"So the legends are true?" a boy with rusty-red hair said.
"Yes, any ookami saved from death by a human becomes loyal to that human," I confirmed, flicking one ear.
"Yamato, I'd like to introduce you to my research team," Taichi smiled at me, and began to indicate who was who as he spoke. "That's Hikari, my younger sister, Izzy, our team tech geek, Sora, and Joe."
"It's nice to meet you all," I greeted, bowing my head slightly.
"So, Taichi, what's the big hurry?" Sora asked.
"I asked Yamato why he wasn't in a pack, and he heard you guys and wanted to explain to us all," the brunette answered. "So let's sit in front of the fire and let him tell his story." Everyone complied, and we all gathered in front of the fire, but only Taichi sat next to me. Hikari sat on the other side of her brother, and then I began to tell my story.
"I was kicked out of my pack two years ago," I began. "When the last alpha died, Xemnas, one of the pack members, was chosen to become the new alpha, and he decided to kick me out as soon as he got the position in our pack. He threatened me that if I fought against his decision, he would harm my younger brother, Takeru, and he's too submissive to fight back. I know why he kicked me out, though. He knows I can overthrow him and become alpha if I want. But anyway, I have been travelling on my own for two years, and I want to see my brother again. I want my pack back. And I need help."
"How do you plan to get help?" Joe asked.
"I wish to have Taichi help me," I murmured, lowering my ears. Glancing at him, I could tell he wanted to help me, but when I saw Hikari's face, I knew she would try and prevent him from leaving at all costs.
"I'll help you out, Yamato," he smiled, and I nodded.
"Thank you," I told him, giving a small smile of my own.
"Taichi, you can't! It's too dangerous!" Hikari protested.
"I'm going to go, Hikari. He's my friend now, and I'm not going to abandon him," the older brunette said firmly.
"Then I'm coming with," she declared, and her tone left no room for argument.
"But what about us, Taichi?" Sora demanded. "You can't just ditch us in the middle of our research!"
"I know you guys can continue on your own for now," Taichi grinned. "I believe in you." With a resigned sigh, his team members nodded.
"All right, we'll hold down the fort until you guys return," Izzy sighed.
"Thank you again, Taichi. And thanks to you, too, Hikari," I told the siblings.
"You're welcome, Yamato," Taichi smiled at me. Hikari just nodded, not saying anything. There were a few yawns from the others, and Taichi laughed lightly. "All right, gang, let's get some sleep. Yamato, Hikari, and I will leave tomorrow morning to find his pack."
"Goodnight, Taichi!" the group chimed, and I stretched before shifting back to my wolf form. I felt their awed gazes on me as I returned to Taichi's bedroom, and smirked to myself. This would be a fun journey.
A/N: I hope you guys like this story so far! I know I do! R&R, peeps!
