A/N: Chapter 27 of Ginga Densetsu Alayus. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except my own. Ginga Densetsu Weed belongs to the rightful owner.
Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story. I truly appreciate it.
Chapter 27: Moss has arrived!
Gajou...
"Genba! Genba...!" Hougen's cries of grief was heard from outside the walls of the giant rock structure. After the battle with the Ohu army, Toube and Kamakiri dragged Genba back and stood silently as Hougen looked in pure shock and rage at his brother's appearance. "What a sight...Who the hell did this to my little brother?!" He whirled around to address the group in front of him.
"I'm sorry about this..." Toube spoke as the dogs behind him coward in fear, his eyes on the ground. "even though I was there..."
"I didn't ask you for an explanation! I'm asking who the hell did this!" Hougen snapped.
"Someone called Tesshin, a dog with hair tufted up on his head...and a Kai dog..." One of the soldiers answered.
"How dare they..." Hougen could imgaine ripping his opponents to shreds with his fangs when a low whimper caught his attention. Genba was starting to wake up, his whole body shivering. "Genba, are you alright? Genba!" Immediately the other dane's eye snapped open and he lunged forward to attack. "Genba, stop! It's me!" Hougen tried to reason as he avoided his brother's fangs. "I"m your brother Hougen!" When Genba stopped to look at him, Hougen knew for certain that his brother could not recognize him anymore. Lunging forward again, Genba missed Hougen completely but started to attack the other group.
"Where are you? Shut the hell up! Is it you? All of you!" Genba yelled as he threw dogs left and right, their cries fell on deaf ears as he continued to beat them. Finally he managed to sink his fangs into Hougen's side, the Great Dane stood still as he watched his brother.
"Hougen-sama!" His followers gasped as blood started to trickle down his skin.
"What a pity. My own brother doesn't even recognize me..." Hougen spoke in a surprisingly calm voice as he looked at Genba. "Farewell, forever." After shedding a tear Hougen latched onto the top of Genba's head with his fangs and with a mighty tug, ripped it open. Genba's wail echoed through the chamber as he fell, dead in front of his brother. Hougen's entire body was shaking with grief and sorrow, the lost of his brother was too much for him to take.
"Hougen, what on earth is the meaning of that?!" Toube spoke as the rest of the pack stood in shock at what had happened.
"I'm just carrying out the oath that we promised to each other. You don't understand what I'm going through." Hougen replied as he gently licked his dead brother's cheek, gazing at him in longing and kindness. Back in their past they were locked up in the mountains by a bad breeder along with other dogs. One by one they forced their friends to eat one another until they were the only two left. Then the bad breeder came back and he suffered the same fate, being killed by the two brothers. As they stared at the magnificent sunrise, they made a vow that if one of them were to die, he would want to die by his brother's fangs. Now that the vow has been executed, nobody knew the true meaning behind it. However all of the followers were sensing that an extreme anger was about to break out.
"Where do you think you're going? You cowards." Hougen spoke, not bothering to lift his head up to notice two dogs trying to slink away.
"To treat some wounds!" One of them replied.
"Please let us rest for a bit!" The other one pleaded, "Everyone is at their limit!"
"Where?" Feinging interest, Hougen padded over. "Let me see."
"Ah, it's not a big deal..!" The first one quickly spoke, noticing that he and his buddy were in real trouble.
"No need to hesitate. Show me." Now Hougen was towering over them, looking at them with a calm expression.
"The joint on my front leg hurts really badly..." The second one lifted up his paw to show his leader.
"Here?" Suddenly Hougen's jaw closed shut like a bear trap over the leg, causing the dog to wail in actual pain. Tossing him aside he grabbed the other dog by the neck and threw him away as well. "Quit acting like spoiled brats!" He roared, "You stupid pieces of shit. I'll kill you all! Hey, surround them!"
"Hougen, what are you doing?" Toube looked in surprise as he noticed that his soldiers were being surrounded.
"You too, Toube! How dare you let Genba end up like that! No excuses. No exceptions!" Soon cries of mercy filled the air as the group rushed out of Gajou to avoid Hougen's fangs.
"Hey, all of you! Pin them down!" A call was put forth as the group were chased out of Gajou. "These are the orders of Hougen-sama!"
"Alright, hold them tight." Hougen padded towards them. One by one he started to kill them off and threw them over the cliff without any remorse. Soon only two were left and they coward before him after watching the rest of their comrades get killed.
"That's enough! Hougen, don't think you can get away with this!" Toube spoke as he was being held down by the other three generals.
"Oh yeah. I forgot about you." The Dane replied nonchalantly and turned to face the fighter dog.
"You must be stupid. You plan to throw away someone like me, someone you can actually count on?"
"Who do you think you are? Your power's not that big a deal."
"You'll regret those words!" Enraged, Toube shook off the three generals and rushed to attack Hougen directly. The Dane reared back before latching onto the fighter dog's scruff.
"Toube! You're the one who'll regret it!" Hougen growled, ripping a wound in the dog's neck. Toube fell but he didn't stay long on the ground. Even though he was heavily wounded he still got up. "You can still stand?"
"I'm a fighting dog. A mutt's fangs won't even hurt me!" Toube yelled as he jumped in for another attack.
"Bullshit!" Hougen snapped and in one swipe of his fangs, ripped Toube's right eye. "Just because you're a fighting dog, you talk as though you're someone big." Grabbing Toube's tail with his teeth, he dragged his opponent to the ledge and threw him over. Toube fell and disappeared underneath the waves of the river below. Then he proceeded to kick the other two dogs off the cliff as well. "I make no exceptions. I never have, and never will! Anyone who messes with me gets torn apart!"
Weed's group...
After the fight, Weed and his group were heading for a new location. They walked as one big group and not in the usual single file line but they still had their ears perked in case of trouble.
"So...are we nearly at the hideout?" GB spoke, breaking the silence as he plodded alongside Rocket.
"Almost." Tesshin replied, turning to look at the Settler. "Hougen wouldn't be able to find us there. It's safe...huh?"
"Tesshin?" Weed asked after he realized that the dog had stopped walking, causing others to stop as well. From the trees another dog leaped down to greet them.
"Calm down, it's just me."
"Akame-san!" GB exclaimed as the others breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come out everyone." Akame barked and a group of dogs walked out from behind some bushes to greet the Ohu Army.
"Sasuke! Hook! Reika-san too!" Weed exclaimed when he noticed his old friends. He was even more surprised to see Reika with them.
"It's great to see you again, Weed." Reika said as she wagged her tail in greeting. "After I made my way back I thought that I could still be of use for the Ohu Army so I back tracked until I ran into Akame-san and everyone else."
"It's good to have you with us."
"John-san!" She rushed up to meet the old Shepherd when he spoke to her, her eyes shining brightly. "Glad to see that you're alright."
"Weed, let me introduce you." Ken padded up so that he stood next to his leader. 'These are my parents."
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Weed." He said politely to the older dogs.
"So, it's you! You really do look like him...you're identical to Gin!" Cross spoke since she still had her eyesight.
"I'm Ben, and this is Cross." Ben introduced himself and his lovely mate. Even if his eyesight is bad, his other senses made up for it so he knew exactly where Weed was.
"So...you're my father's comrades..." Weed said, earning two nods from Ken's parents. Wow...something is different about them. Even if they're old now, there's something about them, like a pure aura...Weed couldn't help but stare at them with big doe eyes. Suddenly Akame's ear twitched and he alerted the others immediately. Walking toward where the sound was coming from they noticed a large group of dogs walking in single file lines right behind a giant Wolfhound.
"That's Kamakiri's army." Akame spoke as they watched their enemy carefully.
"Did they find us?!" GB whispered urgently.
"No, they can't have...we didn't leave any footprints from the direction we came." Akame replied.
"They'll pass by if we stay quiet..." Hiro spoke as Reika huddled by his side.
"No...if they come close enough, they'll find us by scent." Rocket countered his statement.
"Shall we? If we do we have to kill them all." Kyoshiro asked, licking his chops with anticipation.
"They have twice as many as us..." GB said and Tesshin agreed with him, warning Kyoshiro not to make any stupid mistakes.
What should I do this time...? "Rocket, Missile, come with me." Weed spoke, getting the two brothers' attention. A brilliant plan popped into his mind and he knew that he must act swiftly before his opportunity escaped.
"Yes."
"Okay."
"What's your plan?" Kyoshiro asked just as the three of them were about to leave.
"Just leave it to me. Anyway, everyone hide so you're not found by them." was the order and they nodded their heads in agreement as the three dogs disappeared.
"Where did that goddamn Weed go?" Kamakiri snarled as his army looked around in hopes of catching a glimpse a hint of blue fur among the white snow. Suddenly Weed, Rocket and Missile ran out in front of them and looked at them like deer caught in headlights.
"Oh no, guys. Enemies!" Weed exclaimed, feigning surprise.
"Crap!" Rocket said.
"How unlucky could we get?" Missile snorted as they took off running in the other direction. Recovering from the surprise entrances Kamakiri shook with laughter.
"We've found them at last. Don't let them go!" He yowled and his entire army ran after the fleeing dogs. Since Genba turned out the way he did, it's just decided that I'm number 2. On top of that...if I capture Weed and take him back, I wouldn't be surprised if it was me who became the Leader...! Driven by greediness Kamakiri could only imagine himself standing at the top of Gajou and that drove him to run after his prey.
"They fell for it!" Weed said happily as they looked back.
"Luring them is an excellent tactic." Rocket praised him.
"It's only lucky that our opponent's head is nothing but fat meat." Missile stated, "He's got no mind and he is horribly stupid to boot. To fall for such a trick must be embarrassing for him."
"The important thing is what happens now." Weed told them and they picked up the pace.
"Hey kid, face us!" Kamakiri yelled at them, trying to provoke Weed.
"Heehee, he doesn't even know he's being tricked!" Rocket laughed.
"We'll split up from here." Weed said as he set his eyes forward. Nodding in agreement the brothers followed his orders. Keeping the dogs in their sights, Kamakiri's eyes widened in surprise when the they simply vanished from view.
They disappeared...their bodies may have disappeared, but their scent won't! I'll definitely get you! Grinning he increased his speed. However when he got close he realized that he was about to fall into a trap.
"Wait! Stop!" Kamakiri ordered as he extended his paws to skid to a halt but some of his soldiers couldn't stop in time due to their momentum and tumbled off the cliff, landing in the snow banks below. He stared at his soldiers in shock, his mind turning as if he was trying to think what would have happened if he had fell. The soldiers on the bottom tried to climb back up but it proved to be futile since their claws couldn't get a strong grasp due to the ice and snow. "Shit! Where did they go!?"
"Over there!" Kamakiri turned to see Weed, Rocket and Missile running a few feet below him, smiles on their faces.
"Bastards...they're laughing at me!" Kamakiri's body shook with rage as he led the others after them. "Kid, don't ridicule me!"
"Hahaha! They fell for it those stupid idiots!" Missile chuckled as he ran beside his brother.
"Tch! But they're still following us, what a persistent bunch." Rocket snorted with annoyance.
"I don't think they're going to give up until they catch us." Weed said.
"I give up. What do we do now, Weed?" Rocket asked. When they got to a river running through their path, Weed slowed down and the two brothers ran across before noticing that he didn't follow them.
"The two of you...please continue to do what you're doing as before, without getting caught or leaving them out of sight. Keep luring them." Weed ordered, knowing that they could probably run endlessly with short breaks.
"That's fine but..." Rocket was about to argue but soon the voices were starting to get close.
"If we keep running like we are doing now, this could backfire...I'm going to drive them away with force." Weed explained. "Be at that rock up ahead in an hour."
"Okay! Let's go Missile!" Rocket spoke and the two brothers took off. Weed himself jumped into the water and watched as Kamakiri's army flew overhead. Making sure they were some distance away, he climbed out and shook the water from his pelt. By then the brothers had past the rock and continued to lead the army on a goose chase.
"Look at that brother, they're getting tired already." Missile spoke as they passed the rock a second time.
"Don't waste your breath talking. Keep running." was his brother's reply. Soon Kamakiri noticed that something was wrong and he ordered his army to stop.
"What's the matter, Kamakiri-sama?" One of his soldiers asked.
"Don't any of you realize? We've been running around in circles for ages!" The Wolfhound tilted his head towards the giant rock.
"Now that you mention it," Stone muttered as everyone looked at the object breathlessly, "we passed this rock before..."
"Something's strange, what do you make of this?" He asked his second-in command.
"What do I make of it?" Stone repeated the question in confusion.
"Leave, while you still can!" Weed's voice shouted over them and they looked to see that the Ohu army had spread themselves out on higher ground to make it look like they had a lot of members. Among them Missile and Rocket stood beside their friends with grins on their faces."This is the fort of the Ohu army. We can easily take out your army of two or three hundred."
"What?!" Kamakiri exclaimed.
"They're using the same tactic we used back in Kishu!" Stone realized much to his horror.
"Your subordinates and even yourself must be tired from running all this time! You have no power left to fight." Tesshin shouted down to them.
"I regret saying this, but according to the Leader's orders..." Kyoshiro inwardly sighed as he uttered the next words, "we'll allow you to leave."
"Ben, do you think this will work?" Cross asked as they waited for Kamakiri's reply.
"Believe in him." Ben replied without another thought, "Weed is without a doubt the Leader's son."
"It would be a disgrace if I were to withdraw here and now!" Kamakiri finally spoke, catching Weed's plan off guard. "We're all going to die someday. And so, right here, right now, all of my dogs will prove that they're soldiers of honor!"
"Don't be stupid, Kamakiri! If you're the Leader, show some sympathy for your troops!" Hiro shouted.
"Bullshit, this is my sympathy!" was the response and the Wolfhound reared his head up and laughed like a maniac.
What the hell is that guy thinking? Weed growled as he listened to his opponent's laughter.
"Prepare yourselves!" Kamakiri braced himself and pulled his lips over his fangs in a snarl.
"Hold it there, youngster!" A booming voice spoke and every single dog turned to see a massive group of dogs that they have never seen before.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Jeez." The main dog, a massive dog with scars barked down at Kamakiri with a look of disgust on his face. "Youngsters these days don't know shit. Why do you follow a dumbass like Hougen?"
"Who's that guy?" Weed asked.
"Moss!" Akame and Tesshin said the dog's name with a smile.
"We'll greet each other later. First off, we need to break their necks!" Moss turned to see the horror expression on Kamakiri's face. Even his soldiers knew that they wouldn't make it back alive if they were to fight. "What happened to all of your excitement, youngster?"
"Sorry to keep you all waiting. What are you doing there?" Suddenly GB got an ingenious plan and with the help of Kagetora, Ben and two others, they manage to trick Kamakiri into thinking that they had over 500 members. Raising the call for withdraw, the Wolfhound and his army beat a hasty retreat back to Gajou.
"Haha! You talk more shit than your own asshole could ever produce!" Kyoshiro yelled after them. "I see right through you, Mr. Leader!" This prompted some laughter amongst the members.
"Weed, allow me to introduce you to Moss. Come." Akame spoke and they made their way to the other group.
"Akame and Tesshin." Moss greeted them with a smile. "It's been awhile!"
"So you greet them and yet you didn't greet us yet? How nice of you." John said as he padded forward with Ben and Cross by his side.
"I knew it had to be you when I heard that arrogent talk, John." Moss smiled. "Ben and Cross I believe you've been well?"
"We're just fine Moss. Being old hasn't done a thing to us yet." Cross chuckled while Ben nodded in agreement.
"Moss-san, it's a pleasure to meet you." Weed said, "I'm Weed!"
"So you're Gin's..." Moss's eye widened in recognition and he smiled, "I'm surprised! You look just like he did when he was young."
"I'm Musashi." Another dog padded forward in greeting. "Weed, I hear you don't just look like Gin, but that you've acquired his heart, mind and spirit too."
"There was someone who informed us about the situation in Gajou." Moss explained. "The reason we came from Shikoku is thanks to that one dog."
"Shikoku...could it have been Alayus?" John asked and Moss nodded. "Do you know where she is now?"
"She was with us earlier up until now." Moss looked around for a minute, "It would seem she had parted ways without saying anything."
"That sounds just like her." John laughed, "She must be running around as we speak trying to gather followers for the army."
"All of you, go back to Musashi's place." Alayus stated calmly as she stared at the two parties converse in conversation. Ryu, Ryo, Hanji and Heita stood behind her waiting for orders on their next tasks.
"No. Musashi-san ordered us to help and protect you, Alayus." Ryu replied.
"We're prepared to follow anywhere you go!" Ryo added while Hanji and Heita nodded in agreement.
"Do what you like." Alayus closed her eyes once before opening them back up and turned around. With a flick of the tail, they disappeared quietly through the snow field and out of sight.