Chapter 7: Sei'an City and the Ear Splitting Cry
A/N 1/19/10: Yes! Another chapter revised!
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"Sakura, did you really not see it?" Sasuke asked, his short, black hair blowing slightly in the light breeze; his yellow eyes were focused skyward toward the white, puffy clouds and bright blue sky. Sakura growled and put down the buckets she was carrying to get water. Her blond hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it away.
"See what?"
"The crest on the floor of Lunar Mountain. It glowed blue."
"Grrr…" She was sick of hearing about Lunar Mountain. Her blue eyes narrowed. "No, it didn't, you idiot! It didn't freaking glow, so stop saying that it did!"
Amaterasu slightly opened the door, listening to her pups argue. Waka walked over and joined her, intrigued.
"But… I saw it…" muttered Sasuke.
"Oh, shut up, and help me with my chores!" shouted the blond girl as she hauled one of the buckets up on her shoulder.
"Hey, Sakura, I have a question…" said Sasuke, his voice barely above a whisper. "Have you heard of the Moon Tribe…?" Their parents' eyes widened. How had their children found out about the Moon Tribe?!
"The what?" Sakura asked, the white wolf ears atop her head alert.
"The Moon Tribe… Raiden mentioned them. Have you ever heard of them?" he asked, his eyes now staring at Sakura, or so it seemed, through her.
"No, I haven't. And who cares what that Raiden guy said?" She growled and her expression darkened. Sasuke felt the same crushing aura again but said nothing. "In fact, you should just forget everything that happened at that dang Lunar Mountain!"
"Yes! Yes!" thought their mother. For once, Amaterasu wanted her daughter to convince Sasuke to do something. She wanted him to forget about the Tribe of the Moon.
"But, Sakura, I really think-"
"Are you gonna help or not?" Sasuke reluctantly jumped from his perch on the peak of their house and picked up one of the buckets. The two siblings then walked off toward the river to gather water that would be used to cook supper.
Meanwhile, Amaterasu was trying to figure out how to comfort Waka, who was greatly disturbed by their children's' newfound knowledge. His eyes were wider than usual and he was trembling. She started to reach for him but stopped. She was unsure of what the right thing to do was. Her mind was racing, as was his. Actions had to be taken, decisions had to be made. For their children to even know of the existence of the Moon Tribe was bad. Now, they could easily ask people around Nippon about the Tribe of the Moon.
Amaterasu moaned and buried her head in Waka's chest, frustrated and worried. "All our hard work… Gone…" Waka wrapped his arms around her.
"Ma cherie… Perhaps it was meant to be… Perhaps the gods want them to know of my past…" He sighed. "I guess I deserve it…" She nuzzled his neck with her nose, causing his heart to skip a beat.
"Don't ever say that you deserve to be punished. You didn't know… And it wasn't your fault…" They shared a passionate kiss and a warm embrace before having to break apart to avoid being caught by their children, who were returning from gathering water.
Amaterasu moved to look like she had been writing something on paper and Waka simply disappeared, probably teleporting off to think in sadness as horrible memories from years past were pulled up to the surface of his mind.
As Sasuke entered the house, he felt a strange aura, an air of uneasiness. His ears swiveled, trying to pick up any sounds that could clue him in to why this feeling had arisen. He sniffed, but smelled nothing new. Just his parents and Sakura. He sat the bucket down by the fire pit and walked back outside, leaving Sakura to be assigned another chore as part of her punishment. He would be punished too, oh yes. However, since he was younger and had never disobeyed before, they were more lenient on him, so he did not worry about whatever they would have him do after Sakura was done with her punishment.
He shifted to his wolf form and walked past the turnip garden, tended by an adult male named Mushi. Nearby, several brown dogs were playing; each a pup of the dog named Hayabusa, who had died of old age several years earlier and had been buried under the konohana tree that overlooked the village. The smallest of the dogs, Ita, turned and ran over to him. "Hey, Sasuke, guess what!"
"What?"
"Princess Fuse is having a competition to decide who are going to be the new Canine Warriors!"
"R-really?!" Sasuke wagged his tail and jumped up and down excitedly.
"Yeah! All canines are allowed to compete!"
"Awesome! I can compete, too! So, when is it?"
"The tournament begins in three months, so we have plenty of time to train!"
"Awesome!" Sasuke was happy, very happy. He could finally earn some respect! He and Ita began to playfully wrestle, excited by the news. Sasuke managed to pin Ita and was about to pretend to strike the finishing blow when a horrible noise echoed across the lands. He jumped off Ita and laid down, his ears in torment. He covered them, but to no avail. The other dogs in the village did the same, whimpering and howling for it to stop.
As quickly as it had come, the sound was gone. Sasuke stood up, but the other dogs did not. He looked around and gasped. Every living creature in sight had fallen down, as if knocked out by the sound. He sniffed Ita and was glad to find that he was alive.
Sasuke heard rapid footsteps and an image of his sister flashed through his mind. He instantly set off, his paws moving his body toward a goal known only to them. His mind seemed to go blank, save for the thought, "RUN! Run this way!"
Even if he had wanted to stop, he couldn't have. His paws carried him across Shinshu Fields, through Agata Forest, and over the drawbridge connecting Taka Pass to Ryoshima Coast. His ears caught sound of footsteps once more; his sister was catching up. As he neared the gates that served as the entrance to the Commoners' Quarters of Sei-an City, he regained control of his feet. He instantly stopped and investigated the fallen guards; they were knocked out as well.
"This way…" a mysterious voice whispered. He lowered his head and walked into the city. Almost instantly, he was met with a loud howl resembling a call to the heavens. He raced past buildings and over bridges, and finally through a doorway to the Aristocratic Quarters' of the city. What he saw next was quite a shock.
"Raiden?"
"Hmm?" The black and red wolf dug his teeth into Gangan's neck, causing blood to spurt as the demon flailed wildly. As Gangan leaned to his right, Raiden released his grip and flipped forward, landing in front of Sasuke. "So, you were led here as well."
"Yeah, but who called for me?" asked the pup.
"Tall, dark, and squiggly over there did," answered Raiden, motioning over his shoulder at the dark green beast.
Gangan snarled and shifted his body, leaving no trace of the bite mark. "You stupid demon wolf! You aren't supposed to attack your own kind!" An alarm went off in Sasuke's head.
"You're a demon?!" Raiden shrugged.
"Kinda."
"What do you mean by-" he was interrupted by the same horrible sound that had knocked out the normal living creatures in the area. "Gaahh!!" He covered his ears and laid down. "Shut up!!" Raiden shook his head disapprovingly.
"Wimp." He turned and faced Gangan, who had extended large frills to circle his neck and intensify the horrific screeching. "Hey, big green blur, shut the heck up! You can't sing, and making yourself louder won't change that!"
Gangan stopped the screeching and retorted, "At least I know where my loyalties lie." Raiden snarled and jumped up, meaning to bite down on the monster's neck again. Gangan's body shifted, however, causing him to miss and slam into the ground. As Raiden recovered, Gangan shifted his focus to the cowering wolf pup before him. "Little mutt," he snarled, lunging at Sasuke.
"Kid, move!" Sasuke's eyes shot open as his body moved under its own command. Gangan's head smashed into the ground right behind his tail. However, it did not go back to join the rest of his body. Sasuke smirked and laughed a little.
"He's stuck." It was true. The monster's jaws had dug deep into the strong stone, and now his teeth were trapped in the ground. The rest of his body twisted and changed from smoke to a four-legged beast, to a serpent's body and so on, unable to find a way to break free. Gangan attempted to spread his frills and use a sonic boom to free himself, but alas, his frills could not move more than half an inch at most.
"Strike now!" Raiden shouted, racing forward to attack with his teeth and claws. Sasuke nodded and attacked determinately with his beads. Gangan hissed and growled as the attacks hit again and again; he could not shift his body to dodge, as he could not see what he was dodging. He raked his claws against the ground, digging up a portion of stone.
After a few handfuls, he was almost to freedom. Sasuke struck with his beads in an effort to stop anymore rock from being dug up, but ended up shattering what was left trapping Gangan.
"Pathetic whelp!" roared the beast, spreading his frills and powering up for an ear-shattering blast of sound.
"Move, idiot!" shouted Raiden.
"Huh?"
"Die!" cried Gangan as he unleashed his attack.
"No!" Raiden raced forward, quickly grabbed the back of Sasuke's neck, and leapt from the path of the attack. The blast ripped up a line of earth and stone and splintered a large portion of an unlucky house that happened to be in the line of fire.
Raiden released his grip on Sasuke and stood his ground, ready to fight. "Let's go, Gangan!" He raced forward and scratched at the demon's eyes, causing the monster to emit a horrible screeching howl. He fell back to the ground and was about to attack again when suddenly, a large gash appeared on Gangan's face. The demon shook his head as his body worked to repair the damage, with little success.
"Stupid bell-headed dragon-snake-wolf thing…" a feminine voice muttered as a red and white wolf began working its way over the pile of rubble left from Gangan's attack.
"It's about time you got here, Sakura!" Sasuke yelled cheerily.
"Yeah, yeah…" Sakura shook a bit of dust off of her fur and snorted her nose to clear it of powder. She then jumped down from the pile of debris and assumed a fighting position. "All right, it's time for the real fight to begin! Let's go, Bell-Boy!"
