Chapter Ten - New faces

Sakura was confused, as she was put into a cabin which was in a good condition. It did not have any holes in the walls or roof, and it did not smell mouldy at all.

"So you're awake" Taishiro murmured, as he walked to the room where Sakura was sitting. She automatically got up, face towards Taishiro. She did not trust him one bit, and she certainly had no reason to trust him.

"Don't be scared. If you're not objecting me in any way, this will not hurt one bit" he laughed viciously, as he got closer to Sakura, step by step. Her eyes widened, as she hit the wall while walking backwards.

"No, don't…" Sakura whispered, as tears started flooding from her eyes.
"Why wouldn't I? Your partner did this to me!" Taishiro shouted, and pointed the deep, wide wound on his chest. It was not bleeding anymore, but it sure was painful. Only a day had passed since he took the battouga, and he had not recovered very well.

"This is not right! Let me go. Let us all go!" Sakura begged, lowering her head. She was a gentle, warm-hearted female, and she was beginning to break down.
"Why? Why would I let such a good, beautiful bitch leave without a treat, huh? I really think you've deserved one" Taishiro laughed even louder, as he already reached the female. He started to lick his muzzle, and tried to walk behind her. Sakura got scared, and turned towards Taishiro.

"Don't you dare to touch me!" Sakura shouted, as she suddenly got very brave and angry.
"What?" Taishiro asked, but it was too late. She was already approaching him with her teeth, now biting them deep into his most recent wound.

"Aaargh!" Taishiro grunted loudly, as it felt like knives were poking his chest.
"You bitch!" he shouted, as he opened his mouth as widely as possible. Taishiro now stroke his teeth to the female's pure white neck, and got her to release right away.
"Giiiiiin!" Sakura cried as loudly as she could, falling to the floor in pain. Her teeth were now stained with Taishiro's blood, but she did not manage to open the wound again.

"Sakura!" Gin awakened, and got up. Haru also lifted his head, shaking his ears towards the sound. Gin's eyes widened, as he knew she was not treated well. Neither were they.
"Akame, please hurry…" Gin murmured, putting his head down. It was possible for them to get away, but there was no way they could leave Sakura behind. She would probably get the current abuse three times as hard, for Taishiro knew it was his greatest weapon against Gin.

After hours of running, Akame had finally arrived. He slowed down the speed, as he arrived to a village. Luckily it was night, and there were no people on the streets. The lights were already shut down on the streets, and moon lit his way as he walked.
It must be this house…
Akame arrived to a house in the middle of a small village. He did not know the area very well, but he had been there some times before. The picture was quite clear in his head, and this one seemed familiar.

As he recognized the house, he walked around it to see the backyard. It was fenced, as it was supposed to be. He walked in front of the fence, and leapt over it with just a single jump. It was the right house.

"Who's there?" he heard a female voice behind a doghouse. Akame took a few steps nearer to it, and he finally saw the character coming from behind it.
"You…" the other dog murmured dumbfoundedly.
"Yes. It is nice to see you again" Akame nodded with a silent voice. He did not want to wake up the people inside.

It was a pure white, beautiful Saluki female.
"You too! Why are you here?" she rejoiced, for she was clearly happy to see Akame.
"We really need your help. You must come to Yamagata" Akame explained, sitting down for a bit. Kyoko noticed he was tired, and nodded towards a pair of plastic bowls full of water and dogfood.

"Take as much as you like, I'm full" she offered, but got a headshake for an answer. Akame could not postpone this mission.
"It is your brother. He has become as evil as the Devil himself, and our leader is kept as a hostage. I don't want to use the past for my advantage, but I beg you to consider this".

Kyoko got clearly astonished, as she had not seen her brother in years. She suddenly remembered how close they were as cubs, but they got separated quite quickly by humans.
"I…" she muttered. She had a good master. She would not want to betray him, but she owed a big one to this mysterious dog.

"I beg you" Akame asked once again, and bowed down in front of the female Saluki. She blushed, as she saw what the Kishu did in front of her. It was all happening so fast. On the other hand, the trip wouldn't probably take too long. She could come back in a few days.
"Get up, I will do it."

After releasing Kyoko from her leash, they took off to Yamagata. Akame had ran for hundreds of kilometres that day, but he had no choice. Even though Tesshin was left in charge, he felt he had a huge responsibility in rescuing the leader and his partner. It was all that mattered to him right now.

"For how long has Akame been on his journey?" Smith suddenly asked Tesshin. Tesshin looked up to the sky, and saw rays of the sun. It was already morning.
"The whole night. He must be back today. The longer it takes to free Sakura, the worse condition Gin will be in that time".
Smith got even angrier at the enemy pack, and could barely hold himself together.

"Are you spying on Taishiro?" they suddenly heard a voice behind them. They all turned around, and saw a familiar looking character.
"GIN!" Smith shouted, and leapt towards the young male in front of them. The male was obviously confused, but he took the hug with no objections.

"Smith…" George muttered, as he noticed the other male was not Gin. Smith took a step back, and noticed the difference. Even though this male was exactly like Gin, he had no scars and was at least a few years younger. Otherwise, he looked exactly like Gin.

"Who… who are you?" Tesshin asked calmly, as they all noticed this brat didn't seem dangerous. The male laughed once, smiling back at them.
"My name is Shiro. I'm alone, no need to be scared."
The five dogs switched eye contacts before turning back to Shiro.
"Nice to meet you. How are you involved with Taishiro?"
"Me? I was born in that camp. My mom was kept as a hostage, and she told me to escape. And so I did" Shiro explained, and turned his head away. This 1-year old male had been wandering around ever since. He had learned to live on his own, and kept on looking for his family and relatives.

"I haven't seen my mother after that, I think she's dead" he told, turning his head back at Tesshin. As dark as the announcement sounded, he did not seem sad. He might as well have told about the weather with that tone.

"But I'm actually quite happy I ran into you. For a whole year now, I've been trying to find my father and other relatives. I'm pretty sure you know someone looking like me?" Shiro asked, and it made the whole group silent.
Could he be…
His age would match, he could be..
When could've this happened…

"I don't think we should jump into conclusions. But you can help us free the leader" Tesshin explained the situation, and turned his head back at the enemy camp. Suddenly Shiro got very firm, and nodded once.
"I'll do whatever you say" he granted.
"Good"

Everyone was still a bit confused about the similarity between Gin and Shiro, but they could not believe Gin would have secret cubs around Yamagata.
"I have some good news also" Shiro told with a new smile on his face. Smith was the only one to take him seriously, and turned to see him again.
"What do you mean?"
"I knew about this situation. Shigekazu told me. He's going to get some reinforcements from a bit further away" Shiro explained. Everyone dropped at that point. Who was Shigekazu?

End of chapter Ten