Chapter Two: Rambling On
Nadeshiko could only watch, as the two brothers did what they could to provide for her. It was the start of her third day of traveling with them, and they had stopped beside a stream for a drink and an attempt to catch them some breakfast before moving on…..The key word being 'attempt', at this point.
"Dammit! How the hell do cats do this and make it look so easy in the meantime?!" Yukimura growled, irritably, as he shook the water from his fur, and glared down at the swiftly-moving fish that were slipping between his and his brother's paws.
"It's 'cause of their retractable claws, bro. That's why." Joe muttered; sneezing when he got some water up his nose after another botched attempt to catch a fish.
"And how would you know something like that? I've never actually seen you chase one!" Yukimura retorted, challengingly. He got what would have been an arched eyebrow from Joe, had he been human, and then a longsuffering grin.
"I was trying to get you to stop chasing that one that time, remember?" Joe reminded; his words hitting the right mark in his stubborn brother, when he saw Yukimura freeze, and then sheepishly lower his head and mutter 'Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that' under his breath. They both looked aside when they heard some soft laughter from Nadeshiko, and inwardly shared a smile between them, at it; at least she wasn't as depressed as she had been before.
"So your brother is a cat-chaser, Joe-san?" Nadeshiko asked; getting yet another grin from Joe, and an exasperated look from Yukimura, in response.
"You have no idea, Nadeshiko-san! In fact, Yuki will chase anything that moves, be it a cat, a car, or even his own brothers!" Joe laughed, before jumping away from Yukimura, when the older Akita snapped irritably at him.
"You didn't have to tell her that!!" Yukimura growled, as he began chasing Joe around and around in a circle.
"See what I mean!" Joe shouted, much to Nadeshiko's amusement, before taking off on a merry chase through the untamed countryside. At this point in their just-beginning journey, they were again between towns….the main reason for their slow pace, being Nadeshiko herself.
"But she's not showin' any signs at all of giving birth any time soon…..Do we have enough time to reach Ohu before it does happen? And if so, how many is she carrying?" Joe wondered, in the back of his mind; doing his best to hide his worry from the both of them, for the time being, yet knowing for a fact that it couldn't be put aside forever.
"Hey! You three! How's the fishing down there?" a male voice asked, as its' owner appeared at the top of the hill behind Nadeshiko.
"It's great! Even though….we haven't been having such great luck in catching anything, so far." Joe replied, skidding to a halt just long enough to speak to the newcomer, and as Yukimura and Nadeshiko both turned to look at him, as well. The fellow in question appeared to be a Saluki, but he was much bigger than a purebred would have been.
"Must be a mix with something else, then." Yukimura mused, as he watched the other dog descend, and then get a long drink from the stream.
"By the way, the name's Yukimura, and this is my brother Joe, and our friend Nadeshiko-san. What name do you go by?" Yukimura asked, when he'd gotten close enough to speak to the stranger.
"I'm called George. Pleased to meet you, kid." The Saluki-mix replied, amiably.
"Good to meet you too, George-san." Nadeshiko murmured, almost shyly.
"So, what brings you three all the way out here?" George asked, as he looked a little concernedly at Nadeshiko as he spoke.
"We're headin' to Ohu, sir; trying to see if we can get there before her pups are born." Joe said; saying nothing of the trouble that they had run into, nor the horrible circumstances Nadeshiko had been faced with, before.
"Damn….That's one hell of a task you've taken upon yourselves." George muttered, then gave the trio an unreadable look, "You're running from the father of those pups, aren't you?" At this, he got some startled looks from both Joe and Yukimura, and watched as Nadeshiko's eyes seemed to fill with shame.
"Thought so." George inwardly sighed.
"How could you tell?" Yukimura then asked, sounding as though he were preparing for another fight, yet seeming to calm when the older dog shook his head.
"She's almost too far along to be traveling…..The trek to the northern mountains is pretty grueling, even for a dog in the best shape." George stated, quietly; voicing the concerns Joe had had, himself, just moments before.
"So what should we do? We can't just stop here!" Joe yelped, and as Nadeshiko began to whimper at the thought of Fuketsu catching up with them, in the meantime.
"I'm not saying that you should, kid." George replied; inwardly sighing at how quick the pair was to leap to Nadeshiko's defense, and, at the same time, ruefully comparing them to the description he'd heard of another Akita, long ago…..
"Then what should we do, then?" Yukimura questioned, surprisingly calmly, despite the implications of this.
"Allow me to travel along with you. If anything, you'll have another set of fangs to help keep her safe, and another pair of eyes to watch your backs, if need be." George offered; inwardly smiling when the trio gave him looks of honest surprise at this sudden strange twist.
"Y-you…..want to help me? Why?" Nadeshiko finally asked; getting a warm smile from the Saluki-mix that eased the remaining uneasiness in them.
"I'm honor-bound to do that much, seeing as I am from Ohu." George replied, his words getting even more shocked reactions from the trio, as a response.
"Then I think we'll take you up on your offer." Yukimura said; somehow sensing that George's presence at their side would help them, in the long run.
"I just hope Nadeshiko can hold on long enough to reach Ohu….As it is, she could be carrying a large litter…..and she's going to need all the help she can get, in order to care for it." George mused, worriedly, as they began moving on; noticing the evident discomfort on Nadeshiko's face, as she walked, yet seeming impressed by the fact that she wasn't complaining.
Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv(divider)
It was around dusk the next day, when the quartet reached the next town. Even though they were all tired and footsore, they knew they couldn't stop to rest just yet. All around them, they could feel the eyes of the neighborhood dogs watching them; not liking the fact that they were in their territory, yet waiting to see what they had come to their town for, in the first place.
"Holding up all right, Nadeshiko-san?" Joe asked, as they cautiously moved through the alleyways.
"Hai….just a little winded….but otherwise fine….Joe-san." Nadeshiko replied; panting as she spoke.
"Then we'll take a short breather here." George murmured, as he motioned for them to sit down and catch their breaths….but giving Yukimura and Joe a look that meant they couldn't let their guard down yet. As they watched Nadeshiko sit down and struggle to breathe despite the burden she carried, Yukimura could feel it when doubt began to claw at him. Even though he wasn't a very old dog, and he didn't have a mate of his own yet, he could sense that time wasn't on their side. With every day that passed, traveling became ever more uncomfortable for the female Akita….and he knew that soon, it would become unbearable.
"Can she make it? We still have a long way to go, but she's lookin' more and more like she's about to give birth. What should we do? We can't just leave her, and yet we can't just stop here, either!" Yukimura mused, and again inwardly cursed Fuketsu's name.
"She's lookin' a little on the rough side." A stranger's voice muttered, as it's owner emerged from one of the yards nearby, and concernedly approached them; taking in Nadeshiko's scent, as he did so.
"What business is it to you?" Yukimura asked, with a slight growl; his tone warning the other dog that he wasn't going to let harm come to any of his companions.
"None of mine, kiddo. Just bein' a concerned neighbor, is all." The stranger, who appeared to be a wire-haired dachshund, replied; trying to avoid a fight, at all costs.
"Calm down, Yuki." Joe said, then returned his attention to the smaller dog in front of him, "Gomen for my brother's rough tone, then. We're travelers, looking for a place to bed down for the night. Know of any good spots where we can do so?"
"Sure! I wouldn't be worth my whiskers, if I didn't know this town from top to bottom! Follow me!" the dachshund replied, amiably, then started leading them away from the alley, and towards another of the nearby yards.
"Thanks for your help, then." George said, as he helped Nadeshiko stand again, and they all followed the smaller dog's lead. Soon enough, they found themselves in an abandoned, run-down house.
"It's a lil' beat up, but at least it's dry on the inside." The dachshund stated, then added, "By th' way, friends call me 'Willie'. What're your names?"
"I'm Yukimura, and this is my brother Joe, and our friends George and Nadeshiko. Good to meet you, Willie." Yukimura answered; now feeling just a little bit more at ease, now that they were under some form of cover again.
"Good t'meet you too! Now, just wait a bit, and I'll go and get ya somethin' to eat. Be right back!" Willie said, before disappearing through one of the broken-out windows, on his self-imposed errand.
"C-can we…..trust him….George-san?" Nadeshiko asked, once she had sat down again; seeming a little uneasy with how easy it had been to befriend one of the local dogs, despite the gazes they had all felt upon them earlier.
"We've got no choice in the matter, Nadeshiko-san." George replied, as he watched both young Akita have a seat beside her; trying their best to reassure her, with those actions alone, "We're in another pack's territory, and, if I'm right, their Taichou will soon know that we're here, and want to see us for himself."
"Are we gonna have to fight our way out of this?" Yukimura asked, tensely; his eyes narrowing as he spoke.
"Hopefully not. As it is, the worst fights could still be ahead of us…..I'd rather try to talk our way out of this, in order to preserve our strength." George murmured, as the scent of a good number of dogs came to his nose….and as one scent in particular seemed just vaguely familiar….
"So, you're the ones Willie has just told us about…..It certainly looks as though you're fighting against time." A calm, yet almost regal-sounding voice stated, as it's owner entered the abandoned house. In the waning light of the evening sun, the Taichou's pure white fur seemed tinged with blood, yet his eyes showed a wisdom and strength that had been hard-won.
"We are." George agreed, then rose, stepped forward, and bowed politely to the pack's leader, "I'm George, of Ohu, son of the warriors Ben and Cross. These two young warriors behind me are Yukimura and his brother Joe, and their friend Nadeshiko."
"Good to meet you, then. I am known as Giyan, in these parts." The white-furred Taichou replied, courteously; his unshaken calm helping the trio behind George to relax a little bit, and see that the worst was not about to come to pass.
"Taichou-sama, if I may ask, why were there so many watching us earlier? We could feel their eyes watching us from just about all over the place!" Joe said, out of turn. At this, some of the dogs behind and beside Giyan started growling and grumbling complaints about the younger dog's audacity, yet those quickly stilled, when a grave look appeared on their Taichou's face.
"Until just recently, there had been a rival Taichou in this region…..He's been trying to get control for some time now…..Then, a few days back, word reached us that he had disappeared; taking some of his best warriors with him. We don't know where he's gone….but it's enough to make us nervous." One dog, this one appearing to be a collie/German Shepherd mix, said; her worry and fear over this development reflected very easily in her expressive brown eyes.
"So you've been watching every stranger entering the town carefully, to make sure they aren't a part of this tyrant's group, or to see if they have any information about him and his group's movements, right?" George questioned, as the gravity of the situation began to become clear to him.
"Hai…..Though, judging from your reactions, you know nothing…..and this was the first you have heard of this." Another of Giyan's followers replied.
"I see…." George murmured, then glanced at the brothers.
"Could that yarou we'd faced in that first town be behind this? Or is this just a coincidence?" both brothers wondered; listening as Willie returned with the promised food, and as the dogs before them parted so he could get through with it.
"Bara." Giyan called, and as a red-furred Siberian Husky stepped forward.
"Yessir?" the one called 'Bara' replied.
"See if you can find some extra blankets for Nadeshiko. Help make her as comfortable as possible." Giyan commanded; surprising the four travelers with his concern for Nadeshiko.
"Hai, Taichou." Bara said, before turning and hurrying out on her appointed task.
"Why…..?" Nadeshiko softly asked, almost seeming too stunned to speak.
"Why not? I may be the son of a bear-hound, but that doesn't mean I am without a heart." Giyan replied, kindly, as he took a seat about three feet away from the quartet, and as most of his followers also started sitting or lying down nearby.
"Wait….You're related to a bear-hound too?" Yukimura questioned; seemingly surprised by this fact, more than anything else.
"Yes. My father had been one of the strongest bear-hounds in the northern mountains….at least, until he fell in battle against Akakabuto." Giyan said; remembering distinctly what his mother had told him of his sire.
"Wow…..so your father had fought at Futago Pass too, huh?" Joe added. Giyan could only sadly shake his head.
"From what I remember, my father had been killed before that battle…..but my brother had been there for the battle you'd mentioned." Giyan murmured, then silently sighed, "Though I can only wonder if Gin is even still alive, after all this time?"
"So you're heading north, then?" another of Giyan's followers asked, curiously.
"Hai. We've gotta try and get there before Nadeshiko's pups arrive….and before the yarou that had sired them catches up with us." Yukimura replied; his comment getting an almost alarmed look from George, and various different reactions from Giyan and his pack. From some, there was some shock, while others started growling death threats against the monster that had raped Nadeshiko. From Giyan, however, his silence spoke louder than words….and the look in his eyes promised retribution, as well.
"What's the verdict, then, Boss?" a rust-colored Irish Wolfhound questioned, somehow sensing that the leader of their pack was coming to a very quick decision.
"We leave for Ohu in the morning. Toge, be sure to tell those on patrol of this, and that they must return here at once." Giyan commanded; getting almost a comical salute from the Wolfhound in response, before he too disappeared into the alleyway beyond.
"You….believe us, then?" Joe asked, hardly believing what was happening right in front of him; almost overnight, he and Yukimura had an army behind them! Giyan nodded.
"I have heard some humans say that there is no such thing as coincidence…..and your arrival here, this evening, wasn't an accident." Giyan said, then silently added, "And I feel compelled to aid you in any way I can….Though, at this point, I can only wonder why…."
"You think that yarou is behind the disappearance of your rival too, don't you?" Yukimura questioned, and only got a look from the Taichou that answered his question, effectively.
"Then it's a good thing we had run into this pack when we did….From the sounds of things, we might soon need all the help we can get!" George mused, as thoughts of his own family came to mind….Were they all right? And could they still fight, if it all came down to it?
Author's Note!
Yeah, this one was kind of a dull chapter, but I think the action will pick up in the next one! So please, bear with me!
Name Translations:
Nadeshiko: A fringed, pink flower
Bara: Rose
Toge: Thorn
