After Tora left the Iga with the birth and care of her younger sisters, she padded aimlessly, her thoughts straying to a possible mate.
It was all the Koga's fault her brother had left her parents with no choice but to have another litter. If the Koga hadn't killed Saru, her packmates wouldn't be pressuring her right now to produce an heir.
It didn't help that there were currently no Iga ganin she was interested in. A thought occurred to her. Would it really hurt to fall in love with a Koga? She wondered, despite knowing inter-clan relationships were forbidden.
Without realizing it, she had come to the border of Iga territory that was beside that of the Koga. Tora was one pawstep from entering enemy country when she was confronted with two Koga ganin: one male, the other female.
The male snarled viciously. "What are you doing on our land?"
The female, Tora assumed her to be the sibling of the male, merely watched. But she seemed interested in an Iga wandering from their own territory.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry." Tora stammered an apology, unsure if he would believe her. "I was lost in my thoughts; I didn't mean to."
The male growled louder than before. "Cut the crap!" He snapped his fangs at her. "You know this is the border. We shouldn't have to point that out. What's really going on?"
"My packmates expect me to produce an heir… since my brother was killed… and there were no males in the newest litter." Tora explained, knowing Hakutaka as the alpha could kill her for revealing secrets to the enemy.
He would be fulfilling his role as alpha if he knew she was fraternizing with their foes. But for some reason, she felt she could trust these two Koga. Why?
"Calm down, Raiju." The female Koga spoke for the first time. "Can't you see she's not looking for a fight?" She cast Tora an apologetic look. "And even if she was, it'll be two against one. An Iga weakling would never be a match against us."
Tora could feel her hackles rising. "What did you just call me?"
The female casually flicked an ear. "Are all you Iga dogs this sensitive?" She pondered aloud.
"Typical Kaguya." Raiju muttered. "And you call me confrontational…"
Tora stared at the two bickering dogs in dumbfounded silence. Were these really members of the feared Koga clan? So much for the proud, fearsome clan of bloodthirsty warriors she had been told stories of all her life.
She was turning to leave the pair while they were distracted when Kaguya's sharp voice made her stop in her tracks. "Where do you think you're going?"
Tora froze, heart pounding. She slowly turned to face the two. The Koga dogs stared at her with narrowed eyes.
"Well?" Kaguya asked expectantly.
"What?"
"Do you agree with me? Is my idiot brother being too overbearing?"
For a moment, Tora was at a loss for words. This was not at all how she had imagined her first meeting with the dreaded Koga clan to go.
"Er… A little?" Tora said, her voice meek.
Kaguya's face broke into a smirk. "I knew it!" She crowed, turning to Raiju. "See, you really need to loosen up." Her gaze fell back on Tora. "Everyone in the Koga was building you guys up to be a horrifying threat, but you don't seem too bad. For an Iga mutt, at least. See you same time tomorrow?"
The suggestion came out of nowhere. It may have been a trap. Nonetheless, Tora never knew why she said yes.