A brown Irish Setter mix with black spots strolled through the forest near Gajou, keeping an eye out for wolves while getting himself a snack to eat. He stalked a bit, his brown eyes darting around to see his surroundings, and to make sure what was what.
When he noticed a small brown hair in the foliage he grinned and licked his lips, slowly walking forward, his floppy ears pressed back a bit and his head held low. He came closer and closer to his prey, ready to jump and strike at it.
However, noises behind him, rustling in the bushes, and he quickly turned his head to look, an uncertain expression on his face. There was sudden growling and the dog whimpered, taking a few steps back. He started growling as well, curling up his lips to show his teeth, but his face held a frown; he was afraid, terrified, because he didn't know what was out there.
''Hello? Anyone? Ben, is that you? Stop messing around, old man! I'm not into your games anymore!'', the Irish Setter mix yelled angrily, but there came no response, no voice, only growling and rustling.
A few yellow eyes lighted up in the darkness, appearing through the leaves of the dark green bushes. The Setter swallowed and took another step back. He tried his best to appear strong and ready to strike, but his body was cowering, his tail tucked between his legs.
Three wolves jumped from the bushes and ran towards the dog, one grabbed the animal's muzzle like it was keeping him from biting him, while the other two wolves each grabbed a limp of the dog, and all three started to pull.
The dog was in pain, terrible pain and yelped and whined, creaming for help, but his sounds were muffled due to main wolf holding on to his muzzle, keeping him from talking or attacking. The dog could hear his muscles rip and his tendons tear; the stinging pain was unbearable. But it didn't take long, because the wolves dropped the dog to the ground, the one wolf still holding on to his muzzle. The Irish Setter cried, tears streaming down, whimpers escaping his throat. He laid there broken and wounded, his limbs torn apart and bleeding. One of the two wolves that had been hurting him badly grabbed his throat and bit through, killing the dog in an instant. They then turned around and left, leaving the body to bleed and rot as they fled and disappeared into the dark forest. This was their mark; war would soon break lose.
''Why did you ask me to come?'', Spencer asked as he walked beside Weed, a curious look on his face as he looked at the tora-ge. Weed gave him a short glance before staring in front of him again, at the path they were walking. The adult dog let out a sigh, staring at the sky for a moment, his blue eyes seemed distant.
''My father asked me a favor. He trusts you and he wants you to know the best fighting methods. He told me he believed you would stay loyal to us, even now that... you know, you've found out the truth about yourself. Your wolf blood.'', Weed responded, avoiding Spencer's eyes. The German Shepherd mix growled loudly, averting his eyes to the ground, his ears pressed back against his skull. ''I'm sorry for bringing it up again.''
''It's okay... I just don't want to hear it anymore, I want everyone to stop talking about it... I would never betray Ōu. I'm a dog at heart. I am a dog and I'll stay a dog forever...'', Spencer mumbled and Weed nodded, no expression on his face at all.
''Understood.'', he simply responded; there was a moment of silence between the two before Weed started speaking again. ''That's why my father asked me this favor, Spencer. He wanted me to teach you hows to use the Zetsu Tenrou Battouga, our family's move. That's a great honor since you're not part of our family or our bloodline in any way, you know that, right?''
Spencer's head shot up and he looked at Weed with big wide eyes, they sparkled with excitement. There was confusion on his face at first, but it soon turned into excitement and the yearling started jumping up and down slightly. ''Spencer, please stay calm. I know you're excited but you have to focus.''
''Oh yeah, sorry... I just... this is amazing! I never thought I would ever learn that move!'', Spencer said, he yipped in excitement. Weed sighed and rolled his eyes, moving on with their walk. The yearling followed him silently, but with a huge smile on his face. The two of them reached a tree, huge with multiple branches, they stopped in front of it and looked up.
''Okay, this is your training ground, here you will learn the move. I will show you how it's done and you will continue from there on. You need to use the move properly to cut off the branches.'', Weed said and Spencer quickly nodded as the Akita Inu looked at him.
''Okay. So I guess you use your teeth to cut, right? You speed up, jump, roll and while rolling you use your teeth to cut through the branches?'', Spencer asked and Weed nodded, looking back up again. ''Correct,'' the male said, smiling weakly now. ''But you don't bite. You don't put effort and strength in your jaw-use. You speed up and let the strength of the rolling and the sharpness of your teeth do the job for you. This move takes a lot of effort and strength; using your teeth to bite during it will take away even more of your strength. You won't be able to get back up if you use too much force.''
''I got it. Let's get started.'', Spencer said and Weed nodded, giving him a look like he told the yearling to watch him, and he started running and jumped up, using the Zetsu Tenrou Battouga on one of the branches. It was a huge and thick branch, but Weed cut through it like it was nothing, like it was made out of paper.
He landed back on the ground, panting slightly, and looked at Spencer, sitting down and curling his tail around his body to get more comfortable. ''I took out a big branch, but since you're new a this move, you have to get started with a much smaller one. Just so you get to know you're strength and find out how to use it properly and with ease. I still, not fully master the move, it might take years before you master it, even with great practice, so you must be talented to get it done the first try.''
''I got it, let me try~'', Spencer responded excited and Weed rolled his eyes again, but this time he actually did smile, something he hadn't done in a long time.
The German Shepherd took a few steps back and hid body lowered slightly, as if he wanted to increase his speed. He then started running, speeding up even more, and tried to roll. But he failed, he couldn't even make a roll and bumped his head into a branch. He fell and groaned and Weed sighed in response, getting to his paws and walking over to the German Shepherd dog. He stood still watching the yearling slowly get to his paws. ''Why... why didn't it work?'', Spencer asked confused, a bit dazed, as he stared around him.
''You didn't do it right. You need to pick your target first. You randomly started running and speeding up. First choose your target and then run. Don't take a step back, just run and speed up. Try making a roll on the ground first so you don't hurt your head.'', Weed said with a serious look and tone, but it was clear in his face he was struggling to keep a laugh.
''I can roll on the ground! That's way too easy!'', Spencer said annoyed but Weed shook his head. The Akita Inu nodded at the ground, wanting Spencer to show off his rolling skills. With a huff Spencer sat and stared at Weed with a grumpy face, before finally giving in to his teacher's demands. ''Okay, jeez. I will roll for you, Senpai.'', he said sarcastically before bending forward and rolling over the ground. It was a bit weird looking and awkward at first, but the dog soon managed to get some better rolling skills. ''See? I used to do this a lo as a pup because I actually tried practicing myself this move. I had a wild fantasy but at least it got me somewhere...''
''Okay good, now choose your target and start running, speed up, use that rolling in the air instead of on the ground and you'll get it right. And remember; don't bite, that's too much force and effort and it will tire you down quicker.'', Weed said and Spencer nodded.
The younger dog looked at the tree and searched for a small branch, starting off easy because Weed had told him to. He narrowed his eyes, clearing his view, until he had found a small branch somewhere on the right. ''You got one? Good. Do as I told you. Use those rolling skills. If you don't roll you better not use the move at all.''
Spencer nodded again and tried to clear his head, taking a deep breath. He started running, speeding up quickly and he jumped up, trying to get himself to rolling. He sort of managed a roll, but there wasn't enough speed; he didn't make it to the branch and fell again. ''You wanna quit yet?'', Weed asked, teasing him; there was a grin on his face. Spencer huffed at him and shook his head and getting to his paws again. He tried again and again and again, each timed sharpening his skills a little bit. Whenever he would fall or fail he would try again; he wouldn't give up till he had managed to use this famous and legendary move. He had seen Weed use it, so it was possible. He had to be able to use it, too.
After hours of hard work he had done a rather good job; a lot of small branches laid on the ground around him, even a few bigger branches. He finally was able to roll in the sky, and to speed up. And he had listened to Weed's instructions and advice; he was ready. At least, he thought he was ready.
''You've done a great job.'', Weed said, ending up beside him and looking at him with a weak smile. However, the smile soon enough faded. ''It's still not perfect, though... but I'm sure you will manage to use it correctly if you practice more.''
''Practice more?'', Spencer asked rather bluntly, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted heavily. Weed let out a chuckle, amazed by Spencer's headstrong actions.
''No, you've done a great job today. You're worn out and exhausted, you should rest. And it's also getting close to night, we should head back to Ōu and sleep. Tomorrow we can practice again. I promise we will.'', Weed said and he poked Spencer's shoulder, turning around and gesturing for the yearling to follow him. ''I gotta be honest with you; I hadn't expected you to grow with your skills this fast. You've improved a lot in only one day, whiled most dogs would probably struggle with it for weeks or even months. Or as I said before, even years.''
Weed stopped, causing Spencer to almost bump into him. Spencer looked at him in confusion as Weed gave him a smile, a sparkle in his blue eyes. Spencer and Weed had never been close; Weed had already tried to avoid him from to start, causing his father Gin to keep on bugging him to meet up with the German Shepherd and help him with training. But now the German Shepherd mix noticed something odd; Weed was actually smiling to him, and his next words really caught the yearling off guard. ''I'm proud of you, Spencer.''
''Um... uh... thank you, leader...'', Spencer managed to bring out, stuttering. He blushed slightly and stared st the ground, not sure what else to say. But he smiled, because he had finally managed to earn Weed's trust and friendship; his hero had finally taken a liking to him, the one dog he had always wanted to be like, the one he had always wanted go meet.
He wanted to say something, thank the Akita Inu again, but something ruined their precious bonding moment. Ben came rushing from the forest, a wild look in his eyes. He called out for Weed, for his leader, and didn't even bother noticing Spencer there.
''Leader, we've got a huge problem on our hands. The wolves have attacked one of our soldiers, a tracker; Maro. We've found him dead in the forest near Gajou. His muzzle was scarred and his limbs broken and torn to pieces. They had ripped his throat out. And we didn't even notice, leader, we didn't even notice he was being attacked! We're so sorry!'', Ben yelled, fear in his brown eyes. He lowered his head, crawling into a bowing position to show Weed he was sorry, that all other soldiers were sorry.
''Maro... Don't worry Ben, we will take care of this. We will return to Gajou immediately and divide the plans. If the wolves can sneak up on us and harm our soldiers without us noticing until it's too late, we can do it, too. But we won't lower ourselves to sneaky killing, we will get ourselves a spy to find the wolves' hideout.'', Weed said, before looking at Spencer with a serious expression on his face once again. ''Spencer, follow me, we gotta get back now.''
With those words Weed started running towards Gajou, followed by Ben and Spencer in the back. The three dogs came rushing from the forest, Ben calling everyone with barks to assign a meeting. They would choose a spy to find the wolves' hideout, so they would be able to locate them and attack them. ''I already know a dog who can be our spy. Spencer, I ask you, do you agree with my choice?''
''Who were you thinking of?'', Spencer asked curiously, looking at Weed as he sped up and ended up running beside the Akita Inu.
''I was thinking about your grumpy friend, that pug. William. He's small and can hide easy that way. What do you say?'', Weed asked and Spencer smiled, nodding. He agreed with Weed's decision; William would soon in the upcoming meeting be assigned as Ōu's main spy.