Author's Note: This is where the action picks up again, and the story starts to get more violent. I'm actually proud of this chapter, so I hope everyone enjoys it. Also, if you read the story, review it. I'll be grateful. Thanks.
---
Ken shifted his gaze from left to right as he ran, taking in the sights and smells of everything around him and thoroughly enjoying it, despite the seriousness of their current situation. He and the pack had just arrived back in Futago Pass in Ohu, moving at the same strenuous pace as before on Gin's insistence, and were now only minutes away from Gajou, maybe less. They had been gone for just over 2 weeks and Ken could tell as he looked around at his companions that he was not the only one glad to be back on familiar ground. Jerome and Hiro in particular looked happy to be back, as both of them had mates waiting for them, and the others' expressions betrayed their relief, even if it was not intentionally shown.
Then he looked over at the dog running beside him and felt concern rise in him again. Kagetora had seemed distant during the last few days and though Ken knew why, he still had assumed that his high spirited best friend would've snapped out of it by now and gotten back to his normal self. He seemed to be in a better mood at the moment then he had been since his recovery, Ken saw, but he still seemed a little bit off to the Great Dane.
'Maybe he's just worried about Weed at this point.' Ken mused, 'Hell, everybody is.'
When he looked up to check on Gin and Akame's positions, he saw a familiar sight beyond them, growing larger as they got closer. Gajou… Ken smiled and kept right with the leaders as they picked up the pace even more. As they got closer, he saw that there were dogs situated on and around the great stone structure, waiting for them. As they approached and finally trotted to a halt right in front of it, one of the dogs leapt down off a high rock to greet them. Ken recognized him immediately. His name was Kisaragi, and his black and white fur seemed to have faded a little with age since the last time he'd been among them. Kisaragi, who was a Siberian Husky and a former ally of Gin's during the war against Akakabuto, usually lived up in Mutsu, on the northernmost border of Japan's main island, but had come down to help upon Gin's request when he had heard about the situation with Scimitar and his forces. Ken saw Gin walk up to his friend and both their tails wagged as they greeted each other. Then he walked up as well and listened in.
"…we wondered what had become of you." Kisaragi was saying. "It's good you've returned."
"Has anything happened up here?" Gin asked and Kisaragi shook his head.
"No, but that might change soon." he said. "This Scimitar bastard and his thugs have been busy. They've been going around attacking other territories, seemingly at random. We just got word from one of our scouts this morning that the Saitama pack was totally wiped out. Before that, they annihilated 3 other clans as well, all within the past few days. Everybody's on high alert."
Gin looked furious but managed to keep his composure.
"Are there any survivors at all from the attacks?" he asked and Kisaragi shook his head.
"No." he said in a calm but angry voice. "They kill everyone. Down to the smallest pup."
Ken growled low in his throat at that and heard the same coming from all around him. What he wouldn't give to have 5 minutes alone with Scimitar somewhere with no witnesses. 10 minutes… He shook his head to clear it. He didn't want to let his anger get the best of him. He needed to be on his game for the battles he knew lay ahead, and getting all worked up was something that none of them needed right now.
"Have Weed and Rocket shown up?" Gin asked, a hopeful note in his voice.
"No." Kisaragi said with a frown. "They're not with you?"
That response didn't do much for their morale and Gin looked disappointed by it, but then suddenly 2 forms came running out of Gajou's inner sanctum and Ken turned to look. One was Lydia, he saw, and the other was Koyuki, and Ken watched with a grin as the former leapt on Jerome and gave him a lick on the muzzle, nuzzling into his neck fur afterwards as he licked her back.
"It's about time you got back!" she said. "I've been worried about you!"
"I'm fine." Jerome responded, "But what about you? Has anything happened?"
"Not yet." she said, looking back at her noticeably distended belly.
Jerome looked both disappointed and relieved at the same time and Kurotura laughed as everyone kept catching their breath after the long run.
"Enjoy it while you can, Jerome." he said. "When they come out, you'll never get another moment to yourself."
Everyone laughed and Kurotura looked pleased that his attempt to lighten the mood had been successful.
"Very true." Kisaragi, who had 19 sons, agreed. "Very, very true."
Ken's smile widened at this, but then he saw Koyuki, who was also noticeably pregnant, looking around at the group of them. After a moment, she walked up to him and asked:
"Ken, where's Weed?"
Ken's smile faded almost instantly and he was silent for a second, as were the dogs around him who had overheard.
"He…uh…had to go somewhere with Rocket." he said. "They'll be back when they're finished with what they're doing."
Koyuki sighed and looked dejectedly at the ground.
"Promise he isn't hurt." she said and Ken panicked.
"I – I –"
"He isn't hurt." a voice called suddenly. "I promise."
Ken whirled on the spot and looked towards its source along with everyone else. Then he gasped. Standing at the edge of the tree line to their left were two dogs, both of whom looked exhausted…and familiar. It was Weed and Rocket.
"Weed!" everyone yelled and they all ran towards their comrades, Kyoushiro and Koyuki leading the way.
When they got there, everything became a happy blur as the two were greeted enthusiastically. Ken said hello to Rocket as he walked up and saw Weed greeting Joe to his right, the latter looking very relieved at his brother's condition. Then Ken saw Gin walk up and pull his son into a fierce neck-hug, looking as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. When they pulled apart, the older Akita met Weed's gaze.
"Are you all right?" he asked and Weed nodded as both Jerome and Tesshin gave him friendly, gentle greeting nudges to the side.
"Yes, father." he responded. "I'm just tired. We both are."
"Unfortunately, we can't afford to get much rest." Akame said and Weed tensed up almost instantly.
"What's that bastard done now?" he asked, obviously guessing who Akame was talking about.
"He's having his troops attack our neighboring packs." Kyoushiro said from behind the ninja dog and Weed got an angry look on his face. "They've already hit 4."
"He's playing on our emotions." Weed said and Akame nodded.
"Exactly." he agreed. "Scimitar's trying to get us angry so we'll make a mistake and he can use it against us."
"He's doing a damn good job of it too." Ken said with a growl and some of the dogs around him nodded in agreement.
"Either way, we can't let them keep doing it." Jerome said. "We're going to have to go to them and stop them by force."
"But what about the defenses here? Are they ready?" Weed asked and Kisaragi shook his head.
"No," he said. "And that's the problem. Izou, Suzaku, and their group only arrived earlier today as well. We're not set up to defend Gajou yet."
"And we're running out of time." Gin added, agreeing with him. "We may need to do both simultaneously."
Weed looked as if he had thought of this as well but didn't like the idea at all. Then he nodded anyway.
"Alright." he said. "Let Rocket and I rest up a little and start gathering everyone together. The faster we can get this done the better. Joe, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"
The other Akita frowned slightly in surprise but nodded and followed him as he started moving towards Gajou's entrance. Before Weed could move off though, Kagetora stopped him.
"Leader," he said, sounding guilty. "Are you sure you - "
Weed rested a paw on his friend's shoulder.
"I'm fine, Kagetora." he said kindly, then as if he'd read the other dog's mind added: "It wasn't your fault. Don't forget that."
Kagetora smiled slightly and seemed to straighten up where he stood, clearly more at ease because of his leader's words. Ken let out an unheard sigh of relief when he saw this and then moved off to help Gin and the others gather the dogs as Weed had requested. As he passed the entrance to the cave, sternly telling a couple pet dogs gathered nearby to join an amassing group a few feet away, he glanced in Gajou's entrance at Weed and Joe and stopped mid-stride in curiosity. Looking in, it seemed as if the 2 were arguing, and Ken frowned in concern as he saw that Joe was clearly upset with whatever Weed was saying to him. Weed, for his part, seemed relatively calm, yet definitely serious about his words, even though Ken couldn't make them out. When it looked as if they were finishing up their discussion a few minutes later, Ken quickly rejoined the main group, standing next to Kagetora as the two emerged back outside. Soon, everyone had been gathered and Weed leapt up onto one of Gajou's high rocks so that the hundreds of dogs that were there could all see him.
"As Akame said," he yelled so he could be heard clearly. "There's no time to rest. So my brother Joe and I are going to lead a group to Scimitar and his pack's last known location and track them from there. 100 of you will join us, including Kyoushiro and Kagetora."
Both Kyoushiro and Kagetora looked up at him gratefully and the look that passed between Weed and the latter clearly told Ken that he was giving the honor bound Kai Dog a chance to redeem himself, in his own eyes if no one else's.
"The rest of you will stay here under my father's command and get the defenses here ready." Weed continued. "Once we find these dogs, we'll send a message for you to come down and join up with us. We'll have to do this quickly so they don't have a chance to regroup or launch a counter attack. But first and foremost, I want our home and families here protected. Remember, I'm counting on all of you."
Everyone gathered looked up at him proudly and Ken could feel the fighting spirit of the pack growing by the second. Then Weed looked at them determinedly.
"Dogs of Ohu!" he said fiercely. "Let's end this!"
A roar of approval went up from the lower ranking dogs gathered below and Ken joined the higher ranking ones as they met Weed when he was back on ground level.
"Leader," Akame said. "I think more of us should go with you."
"I agree." Tesshin added. "You just got over a major injury, Weed. With all respect…you may need us."
"I do need you." Weed agreed, looking at him. "Right here. Please trust me on this, all of you. I know it doesn't make much sense, but my instincts tell me that our home will need defending soon, and I want as many of you here as possible to see that it is. Joe, Kagetora, and Kyoushiro can protect me fine, and we're only going to determine their location, not engage them. Once we find them, we'll call for you and then we'll attack."
The other dogs looked uneasy at the plan, but said nothing, electing to trust their leader instead of questioning him further. Then Weed turned to Kyoushiro.
"Kyoushiro," he commanded. "Go gather half of the Koga Ninja Dogs and then get the rest of the 100 others that are coming with us. We're leaving immediately."
Kyoushiro nodded and ran off as Weed turned and went to talk to Koyuki, who looked very worried over by Lydia. Ken turned to Kagetora, who had started to move off to go help Kyoushiro gather their troops.
"Try to take care of yourself this time, Kage." he said, meaning well.
Suddenly, Kagetora whirled and bit him on the shoulder hard enough to leave a mark. Ken yelped and jumped back.
"What the hell was that for?!"
"That was for doubting me, you stuck up mutt!" Kagetora said angrily and Ken wrinkled his nose in irritation.
"The only one doubting you is you, Kagetora!" he yelled as the other dog walked off and followed Joe. "Don't take it out on me just because you messed up the first time!"
The minute he said it, Ken regretted the words. Kagetora had given no indication that he had heard, but Ken still felt guilty for saying something he hadn't meant at all.
"Wait! Kage!" he called, but by the time he looked up, his friend had joined the gathered group and they had begun to move out, Weed now at their head.
Before Ken could say anything more, they had vanished from sight.
Takeshi grinned as he licked the blood off his teeth. It had a sweet, almost metallic taste to it that he'd grown to enjoy, and over the past few days he'd had more than enough to at least somewhat assuage his seemingly insatiable appetite for it. Of course, it didn't give him the same rush he would undoubtedly get when he tasted Tesshin's blood.
'God I hope he screams.' Takeshi thought brutally as he walked silently towards the small, hidden depression in the rock wall to his left, where he senses told him Scimitar was. 'I love it when they scream.'
He was wondering what his enemy's howl of agony would sound like as he stalked around a tree and saw Scimitar standing a few feet away, hidden from the view of the others and nearly invisible in the dimmer light. The minute he saw him, Takeshi's senses told him that something was wrong. Normally, he wouldn't have put much stock in this, as it was the feeling that he always got when the wolf was around, but this time it was unusually strong, and his training had taught him to always trust his instincts. Looking closer, he frowned. Scimitar stood with his forehead pressed to the rough stone wall, staring at the ground beneath him and not making a sound. Takeshi stepped up to him.
"Sir," he said. "What's our next target?"
Scimitar didn't respond. He didn't even move.
"Scimitar-sama, what are your –?"
"Have you ever wondered, Takeshi," the wolf said suddenly. "How you would die?"
Takeshi tensed a little.
"What?" he asked warily.
"None of you know how or when you're going to die." Scimitar responded, still not looking at him. "It could be in 10 years, it could be in 5 seconds. That not knowing makes you cautious, makes you more reluctant to do things that are a little bit…crazy."
Then he turned and looked at the ninja dog and Takeshi gasped under his breath. Thick, red blood streamed from both of the wolf's nostrils, and his intimidating icy blue eyes were now tinged strongly with the liquid, making them look downright scary and him even crazier than he already had before. Takeshi was at a momentary loss for words and Scimitar grinned at him.
"The poison's started to take effect," he said, tilting his head slightly and looking back at the ground. "Which means that I'm out of time."
Then he looked Takeshi right in the eye.
"It's time to go." he commanded in a soft, cold voice. "Gather the dogs together and get them ready to move out now. It's time for Ohu to fall."
Takeshi nodded and leapt away as he turned, attempting to mask his excitement that his bloodlust would be satisfied sooner than he had anticipated. In the back of his mind, part of him was concerned with what Scimitar was now capable of, having nothing at all to lose and looking as truly insane as he did, but he pushed the thoughts aside. Tesshin was now closer than ever, and so was his revenge.
'Here we go…' he thought. 'Finally. Here we go…'
Akame looked around as their subordinates moved to where they were told, frowning in concentration as he made sure that everything was being done right. It had been only a few hours since the departure of Weed, Joe, and their pack, and he and Gin had already begun setting up the defenses around Gajou, positioning their forces so that it was well guarded on all sides. They were, however, moving slowly, and Akame had shared Gin's concern that they should be getting ready faster. Most of the dogs that were gathered knew the severity of the situation, having heard about the massacres of the neighboring packs and the destruction of the human village down south, but some of them, mainly younger males just out of puphood, didn't seem to grasp what was about to happen, and Akame wondered silently if they knew what war was really like. He wished he didn't. Even though he was a ninja dog, and had been trained for the express purpose of violence, he still thought of war as distasteful, and had grown to despise it over the course of his long life.
'All war is death.' he thought, watching as Hiro and Ken directed lower ranking soldiers on where to position themselves. 'And death is sadness. War may be necessary, but that doesn't stop it from being monstrous. I've seen too much war.'
He was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice calling his name. Looking up, he saw Teru running at him from the distant tree line positioned at Gajou's front, exiting it from almost the exact place that Hook had when they had learned about the deaths of Musashi and Jaguar. It seemed like so long ago now. Akame saw Gin step up next to him and greet the young ninja dog as he skidded to a halt, two comrades at his side.
"What is it, Teru?" Gin asked sternly.
"Sir!" he breathed urgently, panting from the run and looking frantic. "It's Scimitar! He's headed right at us! Our scouts just spotted him and his pack not more than a mile from here!"
"What?!" Gin barked in shock and Akame echoed his expression. "Are you sure?!"
"Yes sir!" Teru nodded. "And he's not the only one. There's another group of dogs coming from the river canyon, and a third group coming from the forest on the other side. We think the leader of the river group is Ronin!"
"Which means that Takeshi must be in the forest." Akame said and Gin nodded.
"I thought that they were still down by Saitama!" Kisaragi growled.
"Apparently not." Kurotura chimed in. "Gin, we need to get everyone situated now!"
"I know!" Gin responded and then turned quickly to the group of them. "Tesshin, take Sasuke, Izou, Suzaku, and their group and defend from the forest! Jerome, you, Kurotura, Ken, and Shigure take half of the soldiers you gathered and head for the river! Stop Ronin at all costs! Everyone else stay here with us! We'll head off Scimitar!"
The dogs didn't wait for any further instructions. They quickly gathered in the groups Gin told them to and began to run off. Before they were out of earshot though, Gin got their attention one more time.
"Remember," he yelled. "We can't let them get to Gajou! With us surrounded, we can't get the leader's mate and the other innocents to safety, which means they'll have to stay here! This is our paradise! Defend it with your lives! Now go!"
Then everyone ran off and Gin and Akame exchanged a look as George, Hiro, and Rocket got up next to them, yelling at their soldiers to get into position. Almost the moment they had, something emerged from the trees where Teru had come from. It was a huge pack of dogs, and they seemed to pour out of the trees like ants streaming from a colony. At the head of them, surrounded by a number of brutal-looking, heavily scarred subordinates, was a black-furred wolf whose very presence seemed to be intimidating the others around him. Though Akame had never seen him before, he knew instantly who it was and growled, hearing Gin do the same next to him. The group of dogs walked to within a few hundred feet of them and then stopped. Once they had, Akame saw Scimitar's head moving from left to right, scanning Ohu's forces with blazing, angry eyes before stopping on Gin. Then he smirked.
"The great Gin of Ohu," Scimitar drawled nastily. "We meet at last."
"You hurt my son." Gin said with a murderous look, locking gazes with the warlord. "You murdered my friends. For that, I'm going to give you exactly what you deserve…"
"I've heard that you were a legend," Scimitar said, ignoring him. "That you actually decapitated a bear in one blow. Now that…that's impressive. Although by the look of you it must have happened a lifetime ago."
Gin growled.
"When this is over, Scimitar," he said. "You'll regret you ever crossed that ocean to begin with."
"I'm dead anyway." the wolf responded, a hollow grin on his muzzle. "What more can you do to me? No, Gin. When this is over, you'll be the one who regrets I crossed that ocean. You'll regret what you did to me when everything you ever loved dies…and then you do."
"We didn't do anything to you!"
"YOU LET MAXIME GO! THAT WAS ENOUGH!!" Scimitar snarled violently, then calmed down, flexing his neck on his shoulders. "And for that crime, I hereby sentence you and your whole pack to death, a sentence I will now carry out."
Gin got in a fighting stance, Akame and the others doing the same.
"I have had enough of you." he said. "If it's a fight you want, then let's go. I'm sick of hearing you talk."
Scimitar grinned widely and turned to his troops.
"You heard the dog." he said, and the subordinates around him dropped into fighting stances as well, growling at their counterparts across from them.
Then Scimitar turned back to Gin.
"There now." he said with a smile. "Aren't we having fun?"
Then, as if the words had been a cue to go, his troops charged.
"GO!" Gin shouted, and the Ohu army charged as well.
The war had begun.
Weed and Joe glanced at each other as they took the sight in. It was bad enough to see rotting bodies, but when some of the bodies were of small pups, it was downright sickening. They had just arrived in the neighboring territory of Saitama, and it hadn't taken them long to find the scene of the massacre that Kisaragi had informed them about. The Saitama pack had been on good terms with the Ohu Army, but they hadn't seen each other much, and Weed only knew some of the leaders, all of whom now lay dead in front of them, including their top leader, a Doberman named Draven.
"Everyone on your guard." Weed said uneasily. "Sniff out any sign of where they might have gone."
At that, the pack behind them split up and began walking around in groups, searching for any trace of the invaders' current whereabouts. Joe turned to Weed as Kyoushiro walked by, his nose to the ground as he tried to pick up Scimitar, Ronin, or Takeshi's scents.
"They could've already moved on to their next target." he said. "How many packs are near here that they could have gone after?"
"3." Weed answered with a frown of concern. "And they could be headed for any one of them. Or none. Scimitar's unpredictable, which is the problem."
Joe nodded in agreement, then looked around at the grisly scene before them. Pointing his snout up, he scented the wind and Weed joined him moments later.
"Leader!" came Kagetora's voice suddenly and both Weed and Joe looked towards it. "Over here!"
The brothers ran quickly over to where the Kai dog was and found Kyoushiro and several other dogs already there.
"What is it?" Weed asked urgently.
"I've got Ronin's scent." he said. "Along with a shitload of others, including Scimitar's. They're headed northeast."
Weed tensed up immediately, looking scared.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Smell for yourself, Weed." Kyoushiro said from beside him. "They're definitely headed that way, all of them. We must've bypassed them somehow on the way down here."
"Boss, there's only one pack in that direction." one of the Koga ninja dogs to Weed's left said.
Weed looked at Joe in alarm and the other met his gaze.
"Ohu." Joe growled, saying what his brother was thinking. "He's attacking Gajou…"
Weed whirled on the spot, looking frantic.
"All dogs move out!" he shouted. "We're heading back to base! All dogs MOVE OUT!"
The initial impact had been violent. That's what Gin remembered most of all as the fight had begun. The two packs had come together with a series of bone shattering collisions, and grunts and whimpers of pain soon followed from all around him. Blood had started to fly almost the second the fighting dogs had met in a clash of teeth and claws, and Gin was already spattered with a good deal of it. He had bowled over the first dog that had tried to lunge at him, and tore the throat out of its comrade when he tried to take advantage of the older Akita's distraction. Gin heard Akame moving fast to his right, and when an enemy dog grabbed him from the side by the neck, the ninja dog came to his aid, scalping the attacker in a lightning fast move that made Gin marvel at Akame's seemingly unfaltering fighting ability even in his old age.
Both of them had tried to run immediately at Scimitar, who had stayed where he was when the packs had charged, but they had been intercepted by his minions, who had wasted no time in trying to kill the two most legendary Ohu warriors first. They had failed, but that had given Scimitar the chance to slip away and disappear into the mass of fighting dogs, and Gin had lost track of him. Then he heard a shriek of pain and a dog went flying to his left as Hiro jumped up beside them, spitting something from his mouth that looked suspiciously like his enemy's testicles.
"Where's Scimitar?!" he shouted, grabbing another attacker in his jaws and breaking his neck with a sickening 'SNAP'.
"I don't know!" Akame answered loudly, dodging another bite and throwing the culprit into his charging companions. "We lost track of him!"
"Look for him!" Gin barked commandingly. "We can't let him get away!"
Then the three leapt back into the brawl.
Koyuki shrunk back into the corner slightly inside the cave, trying not to listen to the noises coming from just outside. Beside her, Lydia and Reika looked just as scared, all of them just barely able to see the fighting dogs through the entrance to their temporary haven inside Gajou. She winced as she heard a particularly horrible scream of pain from outside and then she turned to her companions.
"This is insane!" she said shakily. "We have to get out of here!"
"We're surrounded." Lydia said in a slightly calmer voice. "There's nowhere for us to go. If we step outside we'll be attacked, and you and I can't fight while we're pregnant like this."
Koyuki knew she was right, but that didn't make her feel any better. Weed wasn't here, and though she felt safe with the others, she wished her mate were here to give her a more thorough sense of security. Turning back to them, she said:
"We need a plan, at least. If we have to run, we need a place to go. What should we do if that happens?"
Lydia looked almost impressed.
"Wow, Koyuki." she teased, her voice still betraying her nervousness. "You'd almost make a good military dog."
Koyuki and Reika managed to laugh slightly at this, and Lydia smiled comfortingly as she looked at them.
"If we have to," she said. "Run for the river. Jerome and his group are down there and they can protect us. Also, we can jump into the water as a last resort."
Her 2 companions nodded in agreement and Koyuki felt a little better, knowing that they at least had a plan of action.
"That's assuming you can even make it out of this cave." came a voice suddenly and they all whirled in surprise. "And therein…lies your unfortunate little flaw."
Before them, silhouetted in the light, stood a black wolf. He had a leering smile on his face and had blood spattered all over his muzzle and chest. Koyuki felt a chill go through her at the sight of him and she saw Lydia trembling, a terrified look on her face.
"Who are you?" Koyuki asked shakily, taking a step backwards.
"Forgive me," the wolf said. "We haven't been formerly introduced."
Then he took a step towards them and Koyuki's vision adjusted enough to see his eyes, which were a frightening mix of icy blue and blood red.
"Hello, Koyuki." he said, his muzzle twisted into a bloodthirsty grin. "My name is Scimitar."
---