"Do you know the way back to Gajou?" Jerome asked curiously. "I'm just asking because if you've ran away from there in a rage-fit and didn't bother to look back in the direction where Gajou was then you might have some trouble getting back there."

"All I have to do is get onto his scent," I said to my friends, "and from there it's all easy. But, he's not here right now, so I guess I'll just have to–" My eyes then focused on Joe, who looked exactly like Weed except without the scars.

"Joe?" I asked him. "You're part of Weed's family. Do you know if I can catch onto his scent by sniffing you? If he is related to you, then you must have the same scent as him, right?"

"Of course," Joe responded with a nod as he allowed me to sniff at him furiously.

Finally, catching onto Weed's scent, I turned my head away from joe and stuck my nose in the air, slowly sniffing the air. It then called to me – the scent of a silver Tora-Ge puppy . . . Weed!

"Jerome," I told him, "do you think you can climb onto the trees above us and guide us back to Ohu? You're an assassin, right?"

"I understand, Tamashi," Jerome replied as he did as he was told. He gazed off into the distance as he climbed onto a tall spot on the tree.

"Retsuga. Hyouma. Mugen," I told all three of the wolves. "I need you three to be my bodyguards in case if I get into any danger along the way, alright?"

"With my life," Retsuga said, standing behind me.

"I would do anything for you, Tamashi," Mugen said, flanking my right side.

"I'm not normally ready to take orders from a dog," Hyouma snarled under his breath, "but since you've made me a part of your . . . newly found family – as you've put it – then I'll take orders from you, just this once though."

"Koyuki," I offered, "I need you to be my voice of reason. My conscience, able to convince me of getting ahead of my impulsive nature."

"Okay," Koyuki said with a smile as she trailed from behind the three wolves.

With Jerome in the lead, Weed's scent in my nose, my bodyguards protecting me, and my conscience following behind them, all seven of us traveled our way towards Futago's Pass, eventually coming towards the large gorge that lead the way towards Gajou.

Jerome didn't hesitate and leaped over the ravine with ease. Joe followed in Jerome's pawprints as he too jumped over the gorge. Retsuga gently grabbed Koyuki in his jaws and gently tossed her over his back, finally succeeding in the long jump with Hyouma and Mugen close behind. After seeing that I didn't follow, Mugen called out to me, "What's wrong, Tamashi?"

I didn't respond. It wasn't because of my past that I had hesitated. I had finally proven myself to be a strong-willed, accepting (accepting in wolves and other dogs), and brave dog.

It was actually when Weed had crossed this very gorge, when he had told me that "if you jump this, then you're an Ohu soldier", that I had no longer had doubt. In fact, instead of doubt that clouded my mind, a new emotion flooded my head – confidence.

I no longer had any crippling doubt that haunted me from my past. My past was what made me so fearful, so vengeful, and so doubtful. But with the help of my newfound family (especially Mugen and Retsuga), I had felt a small fire burning from within me. That fire was confidence, the likes of which I had never felt in all my years.

Having enough of sitting back and watching as my family stood there with expectations, I howled to the sky and raced forward, bounding three times before planting all four of my paws down and pushing off as hard as I could with my hind legs. I was instantly lifted into the air and zoomed over the gorge with ease, my eyes focused on the other side of the cliff.

Normally, I would have looked down in fear, fear of falling to my death. But I had changed. I no longer felt such a fear and kept my eyes onto the other side of the cliff as it came closer and closer and closer.

SKUUUURRRRRRR!

I landed perfectly on my paws, but when jumping I had also unwittingly unleashed my speed and skid (painfully) to a stop.

"Awesome, Tamashi!" Mugen cried out, licking my face with joy. "You made it!"

"You're now considered an Ohu warrior." Jerome smiled at me.

"I knew I taught my student well," Retsuga said with calm satisfaction. "With all that I had taught you, I knew that – in some small way – you would prove to be a great warrior."

Hyouma scoffed, but still had the energy to smirk at me with an expression of astonishment.

Jerome, having gotten back to the matter at hand, gathered himself and looked back to where the forest is. "We're almost there," he said, mostly to himself than to all of those around him. "All we need to do is pass this forest."

Without another word, the seven of us strolled past the forest, quickly nearing Gajou. It was then that I saw that Weed was standing at the main entrance to Gajou itself. Even from where I was, I could see that his sky blue eyes were glimmering with curiosity and slight anger as he finally spotted me. "Tamashi, what are–"

I watched as his eyes shine with joy as he saw the black and cream one-eared Shepherd that leaped down from the tree. "Jerome?" he yelled with joy and shock. His eyes looked all around me, trying to see if there were any more faces that he could recognize.

His eyes first settled on the Akita that looked exactly like him, gaping in confusion. "Who are you and why do you look like me?"

"My name is Joe," the Weed-look-alike said to Weed, "and I'm your brother."

"Jerome?" an excited voice called out from Gajou as Weed's main group – consisting of GB, Sasuke, Mel, Hook, Ken, Kagetora, Reika, Rocket, Hiro, Kyoushiro, and Tesshin – exited the large rocky structure.

"Joe?" Gin's voice echoed with shock as he too stepped out from Gajou. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Father," Joe stated proudly. "It's me." He didn't have time to react when Gin gently tackled him to the ground and began licking him with great love.

"If only your mother as alive to see what–" Gin paused as he looked up from his second son, only to gape in shock when he saw Koyuki. "Sakura?" he muttered, shaking his head as if he were dreaming.

"My name is Koyuki," the white Kishu said with a kind smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Leader Gin."

"Koyuki," Gin breathed, about to ask some more questions but was cut off.

"Gin?" Akame, Kurotora, and Ben left the safety of Gajou only to come face to face with the wolves of the underworld. "Retsuga? Hyouma? Mugen?"

"It's us, my dear friends," Retsuga assured them with a polite nod of his head.

"I thought that the underworld would have fallen on you," Akame muttered, "as well as it had with every other wolf."

"Speaking of wolves," Kurotora snapped at Mugen, "why is that idiot coward here?"

"Mugen is not an idiot," I snarled, nearly lunging myself at the Kai-dog, "nor is he a coward. He actually proved his worth and saved me from a bear."

"And what the hell are you doing here?" Kurotora growled at me with rage. "You think you can just leave our pack with a head full of hate and come back all forgiving? You're irritating me!"

"Kurotora," Akame calmed him, "Tamashi has brought some new friends with her. Some friends that almost all of us know from our past. She might have left with resentment, but she's proven her feelings are as good as any other dog, as she is now happy."

The one-eyed Kai-dog nodded his head reluctantly, but couldn't help but reveal a bright shimmer in his one blue eye as he gazed at the wolves I had brought back with me.

"Everyone," I told every single one of the dogs, even to the ones that already knew, "this is Retsuga, Hyouma, Mugen, Joe, Koyuki, and Jerome. They were the ones who had helped me become a better dog, who had helped me see that there were actually were 'good guys' in the world, even if they were wolves."

I looked at Weed pleadingly, going down on my belly, raising my ass in the air, and bowing my head while keeping my eyes upon him. "Weed! I'm not going to ask your forgiveness, but if you can find it in your heart to do such a thing, then I'll happily accept your kindness."

Weed's sky blue eyes shone with hesitation and judgment as he proceeded to look at me. I could feel my heart pounding inside of my chest with fear, wishing to God that he would just say my judgement out loud.

It was then that Weed stared at me with an unreadable expression, opened up his mouth, and announced, "Tamashi has brought back a friend I'd believed to be dead, proving that she has a sense of kindness to her. Furthermore, she has accepted a wolf – three wolves – as her family, even though they were different species! She has proven that you can find friendship with even different species, something that I would have never thought of! And for that, I now grant her a gift! A choice! She can choose to remain in Ohu with us or find a new home with her new family!" He glanced down at me. "What will you decide on, Tamashi?"

"Weed," I told him in a loud and respected voice, "I will choose to remain in Gajou if you promise me that you'll allow my newfound family to stay in Gajou with you! After all, you've accepted me. Why should you not accept others into your pack, even though you barely know some of them?"

Weed's eyes brimmed with a bright and understanding light as he finally saw his conclusion. "Everyone! It is my rule that Tamashi will live with us, along with her new family! Are there any objections to that?"

Nobody said anything.

"Very well!" Weed shouted. "Tamashi and her pack are permitted to live in Ohu!"

Every dog – and wolf – howled to the sky with agreement.

Now do you see why I had to bring Jerome back? :) Weed wouldn't have forgiven his own friend if she had just walked away with anger. I hope you're enjoying it so far! Please review!