Author's note:

Okay, this is my first fanfiction. It's probably going to be horrible.

I tried to make all the characters in character and not to ooc. If I failed please tell me, and if my grammar sucks you can criticize me on that as well.

I'm trying not to make it boring, but this first chapter probably is boring, I will try my best to make it more interesting.

Since it has a dog's point of view in it, I tried to make the dog act like a dog. So I added different names to things the dog does not understand, like a human den = house and a title = the name of somebody, etc.

If it's too confusing tell me though. This is my first time and I'm trying to make the story okay sounding.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the dog, and any characters I bother to create in the future.

They say some loyalty knows no bounds; It can result in and love or tragedy, or maybe both. The real question is how far will you go?

Winter is a very beautiful time of the year. It prolongs the natural beauty of starlit nights. The moon shines like an illuminated pearl in the night sky. Its quiet desolateness provides peace to those burdened with noise. The ivory white of winter has a sense of purity and innocence, along with hidden sin. It marks the purification of the world and anticipates the rebirth in the spring. The snow in light, delicate flakes falls unto the dead and buries them; blanketing them until they awaken new and pure again. Winter was truly a lovely time of the year.

This however, could only be said for the humans who thought this way; for a three month old puppy though, it's quite different. Winter only stands as a difficult season in the year. When it is hard to find food and stay warm. It serves only as a challenge amongst many in the test of survival. This was true for the young stray that slinked through a rather dead forest, or so it appeared. Every so often the young canine found itself scenting the familiar scent of demons, and fiercer wildlife.

Its ears laid flat against its head and its tail was securely placed between its legs. Its dark brown eyes glanced at every movement from its peripheral. It slightly allowed its hackles to rise in a mock show of defense and barely showed teeth. Its stomach growled and refreshed the main objective in its mind; food. There was no food in this barren forest, no achievable food for an adolescent dog. It must find a human den for food.

This singular thought brought back a brief, blurred memory of a life not so long ago. In this memory there was a female bitch, her grey, brown fur was short and she was thin from the nursing of pups. The mother who had birthed it and taken care of it and its siblings. There might have been the memory of the father who sired it, but the image didn't quite appear in its mind. Its life passed quickly before it, and then it and its siblings were in the sunlight lying with a small human cub.

Yes the human cub, by the title of Daisuke. It had suddenly realized it had nearly forgotten to address things by their titles. Its mother had taught it that when it was just beginning to hear; mother said a title is an important thing to remember because someday people would call for it as well as the other siblings. Its mother had a title, the mother Kinu and Daisuke was the human cub Daisuke. However it and the other siblings had no title, they had not earned one yet. It didn't matter though because now the siblings were among the lifeless, along with the mother Kinu, and the human cub Daisuke.

A brief image passed through its mind. Its mother's nose in its face, the mother Kinu gave a stern, but loving look at it. One brown and one blue eye, shining in a black and white world. The whole memory had been warm, or so it seemed. The memory of the mother Kinu, the longing for her warmth and the longing for the human cub Daisuke's food. That is when the memories faded into the furthest part of its mind.

Food.

That is what it needed. It would die without it; it would be among the lifeless. It set its nose to the ground and smelt; it tried to find a scent of the human dens. Nothing, there was nothing there; only the scent of snow and old animal scat. All of that and the familiar scent of evil; demons. So it trod along the soft snow, going nowhere, except from the lost life behind it. Life along with it was moving forward; that was how it was for creatures. They couldn't be hindered by emotions. No, instinct overtook emotions and forced them to survive. That was what it did now; survived.

The campfire was an orange beacon in the dead, white world of winter. It was sheltered by a large shack which was just a step away from unlivable. It was nicely furnished with dead weeds, the ever present scent of mold and must, and large drafty holes in the ceiling. Though as poor as the condition of the building was it served its inhabitants greatly. For Bankotsu and Jakotsu, this shelter was a rare luxury when traveling on the road, especially in this sort of weather.

The two from a distance appeared to be normal enough. However from a close up view you might say, the two peculiar men were very strange indeed. Bankotsu was merely a young boy; he had dark, black hair tied back in a long braid. His skin was tanned and his eyes were a midnight blue. He had a purple cross tattoo on his forehead and he wore a white haori attired with purple and white armor. A red obi hung from his waste. However what was notable about the young man was the weapon he carried. It was nearly larger than his self and twice the weight. It went by the name of Banryu and was Bankotsu's cherished halberd.

Jakotsu had to be the most eccentrically described though. From a distance he appeared to be a beautiful woman but up close the beautiful woman became a man. Dressed in a rather revealing pink yukata, with purple snake skin patterned armor. On his face he wore a fair share of makeup and blue fang markings were tattooed under each eye. Along with his feminine appearance he had a matching personality. He adored men; handsome men. Along with this he loathed women, addressing them as "filth".

The two companions were different physically but they were bound by one thing they had in common; the love of killing.

They loved battle and slaughter. Both were excited amongst the heat of battle. This is how fate had brought them into their undying friendship. Both of the friends were on a quest now though. They didn't have a lot of time for killing and slaughter, and made up for it with drinking. The quest they were on was one to recruit members for mercenary band. They had just begun a week ago on the quest of recruitment and had yet to cross another warrior of strength who could meet up with the requirements of joining them. With winter's snow, their progress was rather slow.

So now the friends found themselves sitting around the small fire, drinking sake and discussing future plans.

"So brother, what do you think our newest member will look like?" Jakotsu asked anxiously.

"I don't know Jakotsu, I just hope they're strong." Bankotsu answered casually. He had his arms behind his head and his eyes were closed.

"I really do hope they're good looking." He shifted his gaze towards the fire and smiled in thought.

Bankotsu furrowed his eyebrows and opened one eye.

"I thought we already had a talk about that?"

Jakotsu rolled his eyes then sighed.

"I know big brother, but I don't exactly fancy the idea of living with unattractive men."

"Jakotsu…you know I'll only be accepting excellent fighters and strong men. Their physical appearance is the least important thing on my mind. Besides you'll just kill them."

"Oh you're probably right Bankotsu, I would cut them up wouldn't I? Still I can't wait until we get new members!" His eyes seemed to light up with possibilities.

Bankotsu smiled and once again resided in a peaceful train of thought. He too thought and imagined the warriors he would recruit. Brave and strong men, who loved to kill. However as much as he thought about it, his imagination did not expand like Jakotsu's. His had its limits, and his expected the unknown. He did not imagine his warriors just yet in appearance but he rather imagined the skills they would possess. The many battles they fight in. His warriors' physical appearance came in the image of shadows, following him as he led the command.

"Jakotsu, I just hope we find some recruits soon. Its getting nerve wracking being stuck like this, I just want to find them and get the search over with." Bankotsu crossed his arms and look frustratingly at the fire.

"Bankotsu you are always rushing." Jakotsu laughed at his comrade.

"Oh you know you wish you could be done with this search to!" He smiled at Jakotsu.

"Maybe…" Jakotsu had a smug expression.

Then they both laughed simultaneously. It was one of the many humorous arguments they ever had. Soon their laughs faded away into a long lasting silence.

"Damn it sure is drafty in this place big brother." Jakotsu frowned.

"Yeah, but it's better than sleeping on our asses in the cold snow." Bankotsu replied bluntly.

"Jeez Bankotsu, you sure have a way with words." Jakotsu commented sarcastically.

Bankotsu smiled at this.

"I'm could be a regular poet, you think?"

"Oh yes big brother, you could be the best mercenary poet there ever was, if only you knew how to write…" Jakotsu trailed off.

Bankotsu's eyes slightly widened at this, but then his expression was replaced by a rather thoughtful childish one.

"I'll hire people to write for me."

"They'll all be afraid of you though."

"Then I'll force them."

"Only if they're handsome?"

Bankotsu looked aggravated for a short moment.

"No because then you'll kill them, and then what will they write?"

Jakotsu stuck his tongue out at Bankotsu suddenly.

"I will not! You always think I'm going to kill a handsome man, well I don't always!"

Bankotsu gave a skeptical look towards his friend.

"You will to kill them."

"I didn't kill that one man in that village a few days back."

"I told you not to, he was our employer."

"So?"

"If I wasn't here you would still kill them."

"Okay, okay you're probably right." Jakotsu finally said defeated.

Bankotsu grinned victoriously and then laughed. In return Jakotsu laughed as well and all was at peace.

"So big brother you want to make dinner yet?" Jakotsu asked when he noticed that his stomach was growling.

Bankotsu sighed; he could have gone a few days without eating.

"Sure." He replied finally giving in.

The snow began to fall outside, and the wind grew fierce. The two friends sat inside the house, warm and joyful. Both slightly grateful for not having to spend the night in freezing conditions unsheltered. The wind howled and carried the scent of food to who ever would have smelt it. The snow grew harsher and the wind fiercer, and still the campfire glowed like a beacon.

The frail pup felt itself being ripped apart by a sudden wind and ice. The fierce wind tore up the hill at it and blew its fur this way and that. It had to rely on its scenting abilities only, because it was blinded and deafened by wind and snow. A blizzard crashed down upon the small animal. It still carried on though, as the hellish wind fought against it. The pain of hunger grew as well, in addition to the high winds.

It had nearly lost all sense of direction. The wind confused its path, and it found itself tripping over rocks and logs. The only scents it caught were that of demons and the ever so slightest scent, or maybe a memory of the scent of food. It wasn't at all sure if it was an actual scent or something it just wished for. So still it trekked on, staggering over ice covered obstacles.

It had squinted its eyes to avoid the sharp ice crystals that blew into them. Its ears lay as flat as it could get them against its head. Its nose worked furiously at the ground and air in front of it. It had been a good deal of time when the small creature noticed the ever present scent of food had increasingly grown strong. Ahead of it somewhere was food, cooking food, and maybe a village it could live in. More importantly though, there was food. It began to hop in the deep snow, forward, always forward.

At one moment it noticed itself heading down a hill. It had sensed a movement in front of it. Something was coming at a fast pace. Something unavoidable that gave it not enough time to dodge. It processed all these thoughts in one. Something was coming that hit hard. Something was coming no-

WHACK!

It was jolted backwards by a wind blown branch. It landed on its side with an unheard Thud. It got back up with a limp and whined lowly. Its eyes winced at the pain, and it began to move forward again. The incline of the hill helped it to move downwards and steadily the wind began to die down some. The mixture of pain and hunger kept it moving forward, because with food the pain would cease. Sleep would help as well, and hopefully there was shelter where it was heading.

Downwards seemed to last forever, and forever seemed to only last a few minutes. As soon as it began to feel as it was wandering forever downward it found itself walking up straight. It had a brief moment of confusion, but was soon again following the trail of food. The journey lasted a period of at least five minutes, before it caught the familiar glow of fire. The creature humans conjured and made things warm with. The human cub Daisuke had used the creature fire all the time, so it was very familiar with it.

It began to creep forward towards the small glow, and the glow grew until a whole human den appeared around it. The creature fire shown through an opening in the human den. The human den was a rather large but old smelling den. It smelt uncomfortable and time worn. At first it had smelt abandoned, but when the small pup got closer it caught the smell of humans. There were two, and they were both male. There was also the scent of food, and the scent of the creature fire. Then there was a different scent; an old but still present scent of blood.

So the pup crept forward until it was nearly at the first opening of the building. It heard the voices inside, but understood none of the language. It never had understood many human words, besides what the mother Kinu had told it to understand. Which only consisted of a title it didn't have and praise or scolding. Besides what language was directed toward it, everything else didn't matter.

It peered inside, its ears perked as it stared from both the humans, to the food holder in the middle of the room. It licked its chops eagerly staring at the holder which was protected by the creature fire. Though there was food just in front of it, it could not get it. It had already known the food was the humans, since it had first discovered the humans scent. It wasn't quite sure as to how it could obtain the food carefully enough, without startling the humans. Though it had never met a hostile human in its life, it figured humans were like other dogs and guarded their food fiercely. That and these humans smelt different from how the human cub Daisuke had smelt, they smelt as if they were pack mates and would make it submit or possibly kill it.

Still though, it felt starved and maybe just maybe it could sneak without being caught. They hadn't sensed it yet, so maybe when they looked away it could dash in and steal some food. Humans were slow by nature, so maybe it had a fair chance of snagging the meal and getting far away from the two humans. If not it could at least beg for mercy, and submit to them, and maybe they would allow it to eat. The mother Kinu had explained that humans in some aspects were much like dogs, they traveled in packs together, they ate together, and if you abided by their commands they would allow you to eat and sleep with them. This idea in itself gave it some possibilities, because what if was accepted into the human pack mate's pack? It would be an easier life living with humans.

It made the decision to sneak in at first, and see where fate took it from there. Crouching lowly, it watched the two humans intently. With an undying patience it waited for an appropriate moment for a safe dash. The moment finally came when both looked simultaneously towards another opening in the human den. It took its chance and dashed into the den with a lightening speed, despite its sore shoulder. Everything moved so fast and it found itself in a trance. The creature fire mesmerized and struck fear into it, because never before had it been so close to the conjured creature before.

Its tail retreated back under its legs, and it had realized that it was waiting to long. So it reached its head out over the creature fire, and slowly let its mouth grip the pot. In a mere moment of satisfaction it was rudely awakened by a new feeling in its mouth. White hot pain shot through its mouth. It winced in agony and then….

"URRRRRRGH!"

Both humans turned around and it had been caught.

Bankotsu would never admit the jolt of surprise he had felt when he heard the loud shriek behind him. It sounded as if something was being tortured, and screaming out in pain. For a brief moment he had seen the shock on Jakotsu's face as well, along with a slight stumble. What really had surprised Bankotsu though was the source of the yelp.

Scrambling into a wall was what Bankotsu had first figured to be a small fox. It was a shade of brown blur, and it moved so fast around the floor that he couldn't quite get a good look at it. It screamed loudly, its tongue draped from the side of its mouth. He also noticed the kettle in which their dinner was cooking was rocking back and forth. Quite suddenly he found himself smiling, at what had happened.

The stupid animal had tried to steal their meal and had burnt its mouth up the iron kettle.

He looked over to Jakotsu, whose face was filled with confusion. They both exchanged glances and shrugged shoulders. By now the small animal had stopped, and licked around its mouth, all the while pawing at it. Then it slowly looked up at the two and backed into the wall as far as it could. Its eyes were huge, and as he looked he realized that it hadn't been a fox, it had been a puppy. Two shades of brown fur, a light tan on bottom and dark brown from its eyes to tail. Bankotsu found himself laughing at the pathetic looking animal suddenly. Jakotsu joined in as well.

"Oh big brother look at it? Where do you think it came from?" Jakotsu finally had stopped laughing to speak.

"Anywhere Jakotsu, from the woods or from a village, who cares?" Bankotsu shrugged.

"What should we do with it? Kill it?" Jakotsu asked cocking his head.

"I don't know, what fun would it be to kill it? It's not really strong or anything?" Bankotsu chuckled.

The puppy raised its ears finally and cocked its head at them.

"It is kind of cute big brother…" Jakotsu bent down stared at the puppy.

"You think? It looks like a brown little mutt to me." Bankotsu looked down fiercely at the dog.

The puppy began to wag its tail and put its ears down. It rolled over onto its back and whined; its tail was firmly between its legs.

"What's it doing?" Jakotsu raised an eyebrow.

"It knows I'm leader see? It can tell I'm the boss here and its pleading with me to let it live I bet!" Bankotsu smiled smugly at the puppy.

"You think?"

"No, I know for sure."

"What do you think it is a boy or a girl?" Jakotsu asked curiously, unsure of how to define genders on a dog, since he had no personal experience in the past.

"A boy." Bankotsu replied. He sounded rather sure of himself or hopeful at least.

"How do you know?"

"Because I just know, I can feel it."

"Okay then, I'll take your word for it then." Jakotsu reached towards the puppy.

It lowered itself even lower on to the ground. Still though the hand gripped it by its scruff, and pulled it up. Jakotsu hugged the puppy close to him and smiled at it.

"You might not be a good looking man, but you're certainly a handsome dog, yes you are." Jakotsu cooed at it, pleased with it being a boy.

Bankotsu rolled his eyes at the scene of his comrade; a cold blooded killer playing with a small puppy.

"Oh big brother can we please keep him?" Jakotsu looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"WHAT? Keep it? No it would get in the way of our missions!" Bankotsu was in shock.

"Why, we could use a dog companion! We could train it and it could fight with us in battle!" Jakotsu had a puppy dog face of his on now.

"No."

"Please?"

Bankotsu looked away.

"No, it would get in the way!" This was getting frustrating now.

"Please please please please plea-"

"FINE! But if it gets killed it's on your conscience and you're not getting another one!" Bankotsu was shocked at his own words, why did he agree to keep a puppy, a useless puppy.

"Thanks Bankotsu. Just think of him as our new recruit!" Jakotsu hugged the puppy tighter.

Great my first mercenary, a stray mutt, Bankotsu frowned and then found himself smiling.

"I bet he's hungry", Bankotsu nodded at the food.

"Oh yeah I forgot we made dinner, lets all eat." Jakotsu smiled warmly.

So they did, Jakotsu sat down a bowl for thin puppy. Bankotsu ate and watched how the cross dresser handled the small animal. He found himself confused over how anybody could feel that close to something they just met, much less a dog. It was just a stupid creature; he could feel more emotions towards a human then an animal. He just didn't understand it.

When the dog had finished eating, and by then so had Jakotsu and Bankotsu, it had fallen asleep next to Jakotsu. Jakotsu looked at the dog then at his friend, he felt his own eyelids beginning to droop. Bankotsu felt himself wanting to yawn watching the small dog. However he kept his exhaustion to himself, and sat in silence. That damn dog must have had some kind of hypnotism on him or something as tired as it was making him.

"Bankotsu, what do you say we get out the bedrolls?" Jakotsu yawned tiredly.

"Yeah, we better get to sleep if we're gonna leave early tomorrow." Bankotsu replied thankful that he could finally go to sleep.

So the comrades prepared for sleep, and they bedded at opposites sides of the fire. Jakotsu with his puppy and Bankotsu on the other side alone with his thoughts as he preferred. Bankotsu had just begun to doze when Jakotsu had asked him question.

"Brother, what do you think we should name him?" Jakotsu asked tiredly.

"I don't know, Inu? That's a fitting name since that's what it is." Bankotsu replied, slightly annoyed.

"Yeah, but we have to call him something more, something like our names." Jakotsu just kept it up.

Bankotsu sighed.

"Okay how about Inukotsu?" This caused a slight gasp from Jakotsu.

"Dog bones? That's perfect! Thanks Bankotsu!" Jakotsu exclaimed.

"Welcome, now goodnight."

"Goodnight, Bankotsu and goodnight Inukotsu." Jakotsu yawned.

And then there was silence, only the wind and snores broke the silence of the night.

The puppy had been in so much pain when it had been discovered by the two humans it had barely noticed them staring. When it did it had been the scariest moment of its life. They weren't at all hostile toward it though, they were in fact quite nice. When if had looked up at both of them, it had immediately known their ranks. The shorter male, the one with the long tail trailing from his head and blue eyes was the leader, and the one with short hair with fangs that trailed from under their eyes was the second in command.

When the leaders gaze traveled down and met its eyes it immediately submitted. This had caused a good reaction from the leader, and then the second in command had scooped them up and held them close. Cuddling them and acting like the mother Kinu would have. It was rather confusing at first but it felt slightly nice. They were suddenly accepting it into their pack. They were going to allow it to live with them. It couldn't have got much better than this, if only the mother Kinu had been here to see it.

Then they all shared dinner, it hadn't felt so full in days. It had eaten until it got sleepy. Luckily the second in command had allowed it to sleep with them. The leader remained by himself though. In fact the leader hadn't even touched them, only the second in command who had become like a mother to them, but they were male. It began to wonder if all leaders were this way, maybe even the father sire it had never known. It didn't matter now though, what only mattered now was the second in command's warmth, and sleeping. So it did that, but before it had fallen asleep it heard the second in command speak to the leader.

Unknown words passed between them.

But it had a feeling it had to do with it. However that didn't matter now so after they spoke, it snuggled into the second in command's neck and fell to sleep. It dreamt for the first time in awhile. It dreamt of the siblings, the human cub Daisuke, and the mother Kinu. It dreamt of a life not so long ago. It dreamt it was running with the mother Kinu and the siblings again, and it dreamt of eating in the human cub Daisuke's human den again. It dreamt of a life lost not so long ago. The snow still fell outside in calm, drifting flakes.

Okay this is the end of Chapter one, the next chapter will take place 3 months later. By then the puppy will at least be 6 months old and be able to do some real fighting with Jakotsu and Bankotsu. Nothing too extrodinary though, like kungfu jumping off trees and what not.

Any way please review, and give criticism

-SC