Part Six: Funny Smells
Author's Note: My directions at the moment for travelling around the lands described in the Ginga series are a little sketchy at best. Most of my brain says one thing and the rest says another, so please excuse the incorrect locations.
Scanlon did not stay around with this dangerous pack for too long; he gathered the prisoners and let them loose before asking anyone willing to join them. Several were more then eager to join him, and others were travelling the same way and offered their friendship for whenever it was needed. The big leader of the pack remained silent, even when Scanlon returned the role of alpha dog back to him once more. But there was someone else that stepped forward to join them that Scanlon had not expected.
"You don't have to join us you know, Amaya. You can stay with your father's pack or go off on your own into the world. Whatever you decide though, I don't hold your actions earlier against you, and I would be happy to remain your friend." Scanlon grinned at the nervous looking bitch, his tail wagging with delight. But Amaya was not going to leave him when she owed him already, and soon the groups of dogs were off up the mountains.
The packs travelled together for a while, heading north still and this time they separated at the very foot of their first real mountain. The mountain was high and looked quite treacherous, but on this side of the Southern Alps it was the first real marker that they were at the boarders of their home countries. Beyond the mountains were the lands of between the north and Southern Alps, such as the realm of the Kai dogs, the Koga dogs, and the mighty beasts of Mutsu before they reached the Northern Alps and Ohu. Here they separated out and those remaining were corralled together so that Scanlon could explain the situation to them.
"I can't take you any further unless you allow me to explain what is expected of you. If you do not accept these things, then you are more then welcome to go your own way and I will not bother you, but will still consider you friends." Scanlon began as he sat in front of the mob of dogs, which numbered about twenty or so now. He looked at them proudly, like a true leader, and amongst the group, he noted how keen Amaya seemed to listen in, so he continued. "I was chosen from my master's pack to lead this expedition to the lands of Ohu and the home of their warriors. The plan was to arrange an alliance, for they defeated our old enemy Hougen, and I am a son of one of the warriors there, or at least was. Either way, the task of making friends included an offering of the one resource that most packs in these lands have lost out on because of Hougen's cruelty, and that would be females. All the females here may join the Ohu pack if they wish or prefer, but I will not force you. The males can join as warriors or they can return to our pack, but once again I will not force you. Does this make enough sense to you all?"
"Yes, we all understand and we accept these. It is the least we can do after your pack saved us from such terrible deaths, beside, most of us have no pack to return to, and the Ohu Soldiers are very famous." One male collie barked in response after conferring with one another. Their words were followed by gentle smiles or grins, and a big grin emerged on Scanlon's face. But despite his happiness, he could not spot the slight look of concern or perhaps even upset in Amaya's eyes.
"Thank you; you could barely understand how much this means to me! But now we should be going onward toward the summit so that we can cross over into new lands!" Scanlon yipped with delight, and it was not long before the dogs were all lined up and moving forward in a tight formation. They hit the snow-less slopes with ease and there were still many blossom trees spread about, as well as hidden valleys and rocks. But whilst they continued, Scanlon had begun to slow from some stinging injuries and found himself standing beside Kensell. He knew the bigger dog had some issues with him about his foolishness, and Scanlon found himself questioning whether Kensell still wished to remain part of the group.
"I will come, because I want to see what you're like as a leader! Already I've saved you once, but you have made a few rash decisions so far. However, I think you changed back there when Amaya was my prisoner. After-all, no one's ever stood up to me like that except Tibelda!" Kensell had joked, and they had continued on their long march toward the mountains. By evening every dog was hungry and tired, so they stopped at a cave entrance within the mountainside, some old miner tunnels, and in the small woodlands and hidden valleys around, they gathered food for one another.
That night Scanlon and the other dogs slept well, with Kensell and the poodle on guard. The dogs slept well and though there was barely any sound of danger, Kensell was cautious. Since leaving the pack he had always felt confused how the poodle had been chosen to go along with them, and yet Scanlon was allowed to be the pack leader. But Kensell often considered himself not as smart as his sister, and Tibelda had not seemed to find Captain Nezumi a suspicious character. She simply assumed him to be there as an overseer, but at the same time she agreed that it was very strange for Scanlon to be given such priority.
"I'm just going for a leak!" Nezumi had barked at the big Rottweiler, a foolish grin on his face, but his voice an annoying snarling sound. With a snort and a nod of slight annoyance, Kensell allowed him to go and do his business. Then Kensell let out a gentle growling bark at the night sky as the sound of a wolf's howl echoed around gently. He did not want to encounter wolves up the mountain side, but he knew that they would be able to handle it, together.
On his return Kensell could not help but smell something very familiar on the poodle's coat, but he could not think of it. He let Nezumi go without even bothering him or asking the question of where he had been. But he had noted the strange scent and also the length of time it had taken Nezumi to get back. But Kensell was smart enough to keep his mouth shut, and when morning returned to them he was walking up the mountain alongside everyone else without even thinking about the events of the night.
The climb up the mountain continued and it took them into a dangerous series of storms and snows. For the first few hours of the march a storm had managed to creep over the head of the range and let out a flurry of snow into the mob. They were partially blinded and had to hunker down to the face of the mountain for a good hour or so before it calmed a bit. But snow continued to fall, and though they were able to move on, the cold made their joints ache and they were doing little more then creeping forward. The weather remained bad for quite a while, and as soon as the snow began to break up, the wind reached them.
"Help me!" Scanlon had heard a young bitch cry as she had tried to jump forward and been caught by the wind. The young male had lunged after her and managed to catch her by the tail before the wind had knocked her clean off the side of the mountain. The little spaniel bitch had quickly thanked Scanlon and hurried to her fellows, but in the moment that Scanlon had stood proud, relaxed that he'd saved one bitch, a greater gust knocked him over.
"I've got you Scanlon! Hold on and I'll get you up!" Kensell growled as he managed to catch Scanlon's left paw in his great jaws. Scanlon was hanging off the edge, staring up at the big black beast that he sped over to grab him with wide eyes. But he had no need to worry as the big male pulled him right back onto the path. All the others had stopped to make sure that Scanlon was safe, and they all gave gentle sighs of surprise at how happy their leader seemed.
"Well, I think that proves you as one thing at least. I know you're on my side no matter what Kensell!" Scanlon joked whilst he continued to catch his breath. He had been quite shocked by the big male's speed, but the wind was starting to calm and they needed to press on still. He bounded up to the top of the group, Amaya pausing in her stride at the front to wait for him. In the meantime the big Rottweiler slotted back into place beside his sister and began to speak to her of the poodle, but their tones were hushed and not in the same language that the other dogs were used to.
The dogs bedded down under a small outcropping higher in the mountains, but once again the poodle was on guard and once again he left. This time though Amaya had been on guard beside him, and he had needed to make a greater amount of effort in his storylines. Unlike Kensell, Amaya knew nothing about him and so was suspicious of him immediately, but Captain Nezumi was still permitted to wander off. In the meantime Amaya slumped down against the snowy edge of her post and stared out at the low world below with some sorrow. She was so wrapped in thought that she did not realise that she had a visitor.
"Something bothering you, Amaya?" Scanlon whispered gently, sitting up from where he had been snoozing and yawning slowly. He shook each leg in turn and then his head as he padded toward her side to look out at the world. Amaya had leapt in surprise at his approach and seemed to be bowing her head in a mixture of respect, apology, and embarrassment.
"Scanlon! I'm so sorry sir, I should have been paying more attention, I am sorry!" She blurted in surprise, but this only made Scanlon grin and loll his tongue. With a wagging tail he stood up and then stretched out his back, after-all it would not be long till dawn at this rate. But he was slightly concerned for Amaya; she had completely ignored his question, and was not even looking at him.
"It's alright; you can tell me anything you want. I do have ears for a reason, and I like to know what's making you worried. That, and I don't like it when people address the ground instead of me, I'm no higher up in the chain of life then any other dog here!" Scanlon snorted gently, though secretly he was quite pleased that she was showing more respect toward him. But he was slightly worried and Amaya apologised once more and then looked up at him with her ears lowered sheepishly.
"It's not so much what's going to happen with me, I can take care of myself. But I was wandering why?" She murmured and then looked away from Scanlon's confused face to the ground, and then back again as she explained. "I mean, why are you doing this? I can see that it would make your pack proud, but why did you say yes? That, and I was wondering what you will do when you've done this task? Are you ever going to settle down with a mate and concentrate on a family life, or are you going to just do whatever is needed by the pack and act like a soldier?"
"I've never put too much thought to it; everyone else thought I'd be a lousy father and a rubbish mate! That and I don't know if I'd ever make a good soldier. After-all, I was chosen for this because they thought it would be the easiest task and that I wouldn't mess up with it! However, I don't know what they'd do if they knew what had been happening so far. After this I don't know what to do, but I don't think I'd be good at any of those things, I'm a bit too dumb and nervous to be a parent or even a true soldier! At least that's what my pack really did think!" Scanlon chuckled happily and he sat down to itch his ears. As he scratched with a hind paw and closed his eyes, he failed to hear or see the sad expression fall on Amaya's face before she whispered nervously…
"I don't think that."
The day came and this time the poodle had not returned as the Rottweilers had predicted amongst themselves. There was worry and none of the dogs were prepared to leave until they knew what was going on. Scanlon decided to take their time to wait as a chance to get food and rest up before trying to get to the point of the mountains where they could cross. After resting and feeding, the band stayed together as the wind remained harsh and Nezumi still did not return. In fact, it was not until the late dark evening that the big poodle came pacing up toward them, looking nervously.
"I was just distracted for a while; some strange dog was following us! After-all, someone has to be checking behind us in case any enemies are still on our trail!" Nezumi made the excuse as he sat down amongst them, snuffing around for some food. The bitches moved out of his way quickly, and they were surprised when Kensell and the Tamoshii stepped around Nezumi, growling at him angrily. Scanlon pressed close to see what was up.
"I know that smell! That's no strange dog that's been following us, that's one of our pack!" Kensell had barked angrily in the face of the poodle, almost grabbing his muzzle with his big teeth. Nezumi quickly ducked down, suddenly afraid as even Tibelda and Scanlon's sister moved in with their teeth bared and hackles raised.
"What smell?" He choked with fear as Scanlon stepped beside him. The poodle captain shrank down in a hope of avoiding Scanlon's keen nose, but it was useless and Scanlon quickly gave a yip of surprise when he noted the scent.
"That's Neko's scent! He's the pack's spy! You've been reporting back to him and telling them what's happened!" Scanlon growled angrily, but it was obvious that he was worried about this thought. As much as Scanlon had indeed got a good pack and was going to cross the mountains, he had not done very well so far. Instead he had caused a lot of mischief and now he was quite embarrassed at the thought of his giant mastiff leader hearing of Scanlon's stupidity!
"I never did! You've got it completely wrong! I've never heard of our pack having a spy, let alone ever seeing that terrier!" Nezumi had quickly whined, before suddenly pressing himself right up against the ground and staring wild-eyed in fear at Kensell as he unfortunately revealed himself. Kensell was upon Nezumi in an instant and had grabbed him by the scruff, holding him and shaking him a little. But swiftly Scanlon requested the big dog to release him.
"But what's this other smell then? There's someone else following us!" Amaya muttered nervously, and Scanlon turned to her with his harsh teeth for a second before quickly apologising and setting his nose to the wind and began to sniff. Indeed there was another scent that, and though it was slightly familiar, Scanlon could not place it and he was quite afraid!
From out of the chilly and windy air, their came a bark, a very familiar one indeed. But the dogs new to the pack froze and ducked down, close to each other for a slight bit of comfort. But Scanlon remained with his eyes on the rebellious poodle whilst Kensell began to pace down the mountain rocks with Hiroshi and Kin. They gave out a few barks of warning to whoever the intruder might be, but still Scanlon did not let his eyes fall from this traitor. He did not even notice how embarrassed and worried Amaya looked as she stepped back toward the mob of worried dogs.
Coming Soon - Part Seven: Misty Mountains
Who is about to emerge from the fogs? Is their poodle traitor going to reveal the truth of the mission to them? Where is Neko? What will Amaya do when the time comes? Plus, how will Scanlon react when his sister is stuck in a life or death situation in the middle of the freezing mountain heights? Find out in Part Seven.