Author's Note: This story is based off of the manga of GDW, not the anime, though I may add a few things from the anime in here at some point. Also, I'm making a few changes to the already existing story, such as having Gajou still exist and *spoiler* GB still be alive. I don't own the Ginga series or its characters, but the original ones in this story are mine. Please review! Thanks!

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Chapter 1 – The Paradise of Ohu

There was a storm coming. Weed could see this clearly from his perch on top of Gajou, and the further he looked to the west, the blacker and more foreboding the sky got, and he wondered how long the rain would last this time. Down below, on ground level, he saw some of his pack playing and horsing around, not yet realizing that their idyllic day wouldn't be lasting much longer. But he couldn't blame them. They were just common soldiers after all, and didn't have the stress and responsibility that he and the other high-ranking dogs of Ohu did. Not that they had had much stress to worry about lately.

It had been almost 2 and a half years to the day since their last war, and things had been peaceful since then. Indeed, Ohu was finally becoming the Paradise was famous for, and Weed was hoping it would stay that way. After all, he had just found out that his mate Koyuki was pregnant, and though the birth of pups was a long ways off, he still wanted to give his sons and daughters the paradise that they deserved, free from war. And they weren't the only ones. The rest of his beloved friends and family deserved peace too, especially with big events in their own lives approaching as well.

Jerome, Weed's best friend and co-leader, was also expecting puppies with his mate Lydia, and as elated as he was, Weed silently wondered how he and the Shepard had managed to time their mates' pregnancies so perfectly to each other, especially since they had been hundreds of miles apart at the time. He smiled and shook his head at the thought of it. Tesshin was about to officially become the top Koga Ninja Dog, replacing the old Koga elder Chourou, who had died of sickness and age last month. The ninja dog was taking it all in stride, but Weed got the feeling that he was secretly very proud of the position, despite his sadness at his elder's passing. But that was in keeping with Tesshin's normal behavior, as the Shikoku-ken was notorious for keeping his emotions to himself. Either way, Weed was happy for him.

Not all the events had been happy though. Last year, they had lost Cross, the oldest among them and the mate of the legendary Ohu soldier Ben, to old age, and while they had all seen it coming, it had still stung badly when she had passed away. It especially hurt Ken and George, her two sons, who had lost their father only a year before that and had just gotten over his death. The pack had comforted them both and then given them their space, which Weed suspected they were both grateful for. Cross's death had hurt his own father, Gin, too, and Weed had done his best to be there for him and still remain strong as the leader, as Gin would've done for him. Even though the elder Akita was no longer the leader of Ohu, he still was one of its top generals, a position he accepted both for his son and to continue to help protect the land he loved so much, as well as its pack. The other top members of Weed's pack all had their own things to deal with as well, whether for good or bad, but before Weed could dwell on them, one of them came up behind him.

"Leader." Came a young but strong sounding voice.

Glancing over his shoulder, Weed saw a white Kishu with scars covering his finely tuned form. It was his close friend Kyoushiro.

"Kyoushiro." Weed greeted him. "What is it?"

"Hook reports from the Northern border that all is well." Kyoushiro said. "And we got the same message from the East and West borders of Ohu too. Everything's peaceful."

"And the South?" Weed asked, already knowing the answer.

"Same as before." His friend answered. "A couple incidents but mostly in order. Did you hear about the breakout from the humans' facility for dangerous dogs down there?"

"Yeah, I heard."

"Did you know that Ronin the Butcher got out?"

"Yeah, I heard that too."

"Shouldn't we do something, leader?"

"It's not our place." Weed said in response. "Let the police dogs handle it. We'll come and help if they ask us to."

"With all respect, Weed." Kyoushiro said in a tone of voice that sounded like an argument waiting to happen. "You should've killed the bastard when you had the chance."

Weed frowned and started to walk down the side of Gajou slowly.

"Maybe." He answered. "But it seemed right to spare him at the time. I stand by that."

Kyoushiro snorted.

"As always." He said with only a hint of sarcasm.

Weed smirked at his friend, who was only a month or so older than himself. Kyoushiro was brash by nature, and Weed had long ago learned how to deal with his occasionally violent behavior when it came to things he didn't like. The Kishu and Weed were extremely close friends, so he never would've gotten belligerent with Weed over one of his leadership decisions, but that didn't stop him from hinting his discontent from time to time.

In truth, Weed did regret that he had let Ronin live. But the dog, who had killed over 35 other dogs near Hokkaido had been crying and begging for his life on the ground in front of him, looking like a far cry from the intimidating, tall, brutal malamute he was and more like a pup getting scolded by a parent for the first time. Weed had spared him, and then turned him over to the police dogs, who had thrown him in the humans' holding facility down in Shikoku and let their masters throw away the key, until two days ago, when Ronin and 12 other highly dangerous dogs escaped, and vanished into the woods of Japan. Before that, Ronin had been overheard bragging about how he'd faked his fear to get Weed to spare him, and that he didn't regret one thing he'd ever done. Weed growled softly. Just the thought of it made his insides boil and he swore that when Ronin was caught, he would get everything he deserved and more. See how much he was laughing then. He wasn't the only one to be concerned about though.

Another dog that had escaped had been a violent, bitter former ninja dog named Takeshi, who had once been a student of Chourou's. He had been one of the Koga elder's most talented students, and had been second only to Tesshin, who had been trained by many others including Gin. Takeshi, however, had a dark side to him that Chourou hadn't seen until it was too late, and by the time he and Tesshin had, the Shikoku-ken-Husky mix had already killed 27 innocent dogs in and around Koga. After that, he'd escaped and Weed and the others had joined in hunting him down, but nature itself had beaten them to the punch. Takeshi had been found in the snow unconscious after an avalanche in the Northern Alps, and had also been turned over for the humans to deal with in the facility.

'Oh well.' Weed thought. 'The dogs down there are good males. They can handle it.'

He stretched his hind legs and turned to Kyoushiro.

"Call Rocket and the others in from patrol." He said. "They can report back and relax if our borders are fine. But send a dog down South to tell them if they need Ohu's help, they'll get it."

"Yes, Soudaishou." Kyoushiro said, then cocked his head curiously. "Where are you going?"

"To check on Koyuki." Weed responded with a smile. "Who knows what she wants me to get her to eat this time."

Kyoushiro grinned and nodded at him, and then turned and howled the calling signal for the scouts as Weed walked towards the entrance to the cave in the side of Gajou where his mate and others were resting. Over in the west, the sky looked as bleak and foreboding as ever, and Weed silently hoped it wouldn't rain. The paradise of Ohu was too beautiful today to let the rain wash away their high spirits. Whatever happened though, Weed knew that he was happy and ready for anything.

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