A/N: Chapter 12 of Ginga Densetsu Alayus. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. Ginga Densetsu Weed belongs to the rightful owner.

Special thanks to the reviewers, I truly appreciate it.

Chapter 12: The Spies

The outskirts of a nearby town...

The snow nipped at the underside of Alayus's paws as she carefully crawled forward on her stomach. The group decided to take a quick rest before continuing toward the Alps. After learning about the leader's kidnapping, Weed led the dogs southbound. There were times where they had to pass through a couple of towns and the straggler dogs that lived there wished them luck on their journey; one of them offered them a ride. He showed them the easiest route south however; the only transportation they could take was by bus. Weed knew that the dogs wouldn't be able to step one paw on the bus but there was a train route that would take them to the nearest station to the north. Unfortunately, the next town was a couple miles west from where they were staying at and it had a train station that would take them south.

Ears trained forward, Alayus spotted a snowshoe rabbit nibbling on a small patch of grass. Placing one paw in front of the other, she slid forward, keeping her body low. The rabbit's nose twitched and it rose up, looking around cautiously. From its eyes, all it saw was the white blanket of snow and dead trees. Twitching an ear, it continued chewing and turned its back on the predator. The huntress waited patiently, her tail twitched slightly back and forth against the snow.

"Didn't anyone tell you that you're supposed to keep your tail still? It could give you away." A calm voice spoke behind her and a paw placed itself on her tail, halting its movement. Flicking her ear in faint surprise, she tried to creep a bit closer but her intruder wouldn't let her.

"Let go of my tail so I can catch my meal." She hissed back, her eyes still trained on the rabbit.

"Oh? That rabbit?" The pressure on her tail disappeared and she saw the dog bounding across the snow. The rabbit took off like a rocket before Jerome caught up and broke its neck. Alayus watched as Jerome trotted back to her with the limp body in his jaws, his tail wagging behind him. "Here you go, I caught it for you."

"I could have caught it myself if you hadn't shown up."Alayus sniffed, turning her head to the side with a pout. Jerome placed the rabbit down and licked the blood off his snout.

"I apologize but, I really wanted to catch it for you." He licked his chest calmly, the quick strokes of his tongue soothing the ruffled fur. Alayus gave him a glance before wagging her tail slightly.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. Can you take the rabbit back to the group? I'm going to go hunt some more." Trotting away, she heard Jerome's paw steps fading off in the opposite direction. She was lucky to come across some more snow hares and made three kills. Jerome came back to check up on her and helped her carry her spoils back to camp. Some of the dogs looked up to see the two German Shepherds walking side-by-side, with snow hares hanging limply in their jaws, and dismissed it as just a casual stroll between two comrades.

"I see that the hunt was successful." Weed commended as he lay down on Jerome's other side. He just came back from a nearby water hole, the water droplets trickled down his whiskers.

"Of course! I want to make sure that every hunt I go on, I return with something for our comrades." Jerome replied. Alayus just nodded in agreement as she drew a paw over her ear lazily. Noticing a few strands of hair that were out-of-place, Jerome leaned over and carefully licked it down for her. She turned over and returned the favor, licking his cheek and making her way to his ears.

"Are we ready to go?" Weed asked GB, leaving his two friends to finish grooming each other. The English settler nodded yes and went to rally the troops together. Once everyone gathered, Weed led the way through the snow.

Southern Alps...

The winds howled outside the run-down house that the leaders were kept in. Through out their harsh travels back, Hougen just threw them inside and left them alone, never bringing them any food or water. The only thing he did bring was pain. The leaders were covered with new wounds every single day and the old wounds took a long time to heal.

"Once that Hougen bastard comes back...I'll rip em to shreds..." John growled angrily, feebly dragging his claws across the ground.

"Enough John, don't waste your energy. He is not worth your anger." Gin replied calmly. He was in terrible shape because Hougen shattered his legs, preventing him from walking.

"You're right...he's not worth it." With that John closed his eyes and fell into deep slumber. Gin just smiled before looking at the snow outside. He could almost hear the other dogs calling his name and beckoning him back to Ohu. He could imagine Sakura, his lovely wife who passed away while he was on his journey. Her death pained him but upon hearing about his son, his chest swelled with pride. Letting out a sigh, he also closed his eyes and went to sleep.

"Do you see them brother?" A gruff voice spoke. As Weed and his army raced across the frozen landscape, three unknown dogs watched them in the distance. "They're heading toward the west. I'm certain they'll try to catch the next train going south."

"I still can't believe that the army is so small! I don't understand why Lord Hougen's so terrified about this." Another voice said.

"Don't underestimate them. We have to be accurate." A third voice snapped.

"Hmmm….you are correct Rocket." The owner of the first voice turned to his brother.

"Let's see…...our target is..…" Rocket gazed at the dogs individually before falling on the one. "There, that one in the front. He is our target."

"Yes, that's the one. The only problem is those two dogs that are following him." Jet gestured with his nose at Alayus and Jerome; the two German Shepherds that flanked Weed on both sides. "This is going to be rough."

"It doesn't matter how hard our mission is, we will complete it without fail. Come Missile and Jet." Rocket turned around and with his brothers right behind him, took off running after the Ohu Army.