Mūnsutōn no dōkutsu; Naka no machi no hi (the moonstone cave; a day in the town of Naka) part 2

I was having a hard time trying to relax especially when every so often the others switch back and forth between their human form and their dog form then as a result I end up causing some sort of injury to their person as a reaction. Of course now that they've done it so many times it's not as bad; although I wish they would understand that they can't just change back and forth like that. While playing with Christopher, I notice that Russell and Thomas are rough housing themselves or rather Russell is making Thomas his personal chew toy. Nathan and Eduardo are only lazing around; the only one that I don't see is Morgan. Of course I find out he's around when I end up tripping on him after Christopher makes me walk back into him. By mid day I start getting hungry and start looking around for something to eat. The others head out to hunt leaving Thomas with me for company. He makes looking for nuts and berries and a few other things and gets pretty dirty when he starts digging around for them. Once I've gathered what I want I head for the pond and start to catch a few fish. About an hour later the others return with a large stag they're dragging with them. From the look of it they haven't started eating it. Seeing the dead animal makes my skin crawl and my blood go called. I try going back to what I was doing but Nathan interrupts me.

"Hey are you going to keep playing in the water or are you going to take your share of the meat?"

"Um…n-no thanks you can have it…" that's right…I haven't explained to them that I don't eat meat… "I was planning on eating some fish so you can go ahead and eat it." I try to throw of the suspicious wolves with a smile. But it doesn't seem to work. "What?"

"Don't be silly you can't live off of just fish. Eat already." Eduardo throws back at me.

"I said you can have it…" I say shyly rubbing the back of my neck looking away from them.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"N-no-I mean yes I'm fine Christopher…I just…um well…" I pointed to my pile of berries and nuts and a few wild turnips that Thomas had found. "I'll be fine really. Once I cook some fish I'll be all set."

"You'd rather have fish than actually meat? You're too dorky."

"I-I am not!" I protest against Nathans comment. "I just…I don't eat meat…" there's silence for a while as they all (even Nathan) look at me with wide eyes.

"You WHAT?!" they all say at once. In turn, it makes me start fiddling with the border of my shirt as I turn red.

"How can you not eat meat?!" the human Russell suddenly gets in my face. "What's wrong with you?"

"I just… feel uncomfortable eating it…"

"Ah I see." I look at Morgan, "Your being able to talk to animals right?" I nod.

"I don't get it…"

"Fish don't really have anything to say so I guess I don't feel the same way towards them and I can tolerate that…but other animals like Speck and even Fuzzy claw, I can't stand it even if they get hurt a little…eating them just seems wrong to me. I mean if I was them I wouldn't want someone coming around and try to eat me." I look Russell in the eyes.

"I still say it's weird."

"Now leave her be Russell; our Master doesn't want to eat meat so lets respect that wish." Morgan says that but why does he sound so humored by that?

I set up a place to cook the fish I caught and place them on skewers with the turnips. I do my best to not watch them eat the deer they caught but hearing the sounds only makes it worse with my imagination running wild. With the sun finally starting to set I find that I don't even miss the town or that I even think about it. Before twilight the others help me find firewood to last through the night; it turns out to be too big of a pile and end up using one of the smaller sticks to play with them. The only two who don't play is once again Eduardo and Nathan. My guess is that they don't like playing these kinds of games even if they are wild dogs. Suddenly Russell and Thomas both have the stick and neither of them wants to let go. The playful growls suddenly become more threatening as the two stare each other down.

"Don't even think about it." I say, "It's stupid to start a fight over who gets the twig or not." The look at me still with the stick in their mouths and blank stares, "If you can't play nice then game over." My arms fold. Christopher sneaks in behind them and grabs the stick from them both. Morgan them jumps in and tries to take the twig from him.

"Hey!" soon Russell and Thomas join in and the stick is forgotten as they create a dog pile of play fight. It's still kind of hard to believe that these guys used to be pirates all those years ago especially looking at them now. Suddenly two pairs of arms wrap around me. Looking on either side of me. I find Eduardo and Nathan in their human forms staring at me. The others stop looking at us.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing to Reisaki?" I'm surprised Chirstopher is the first to ask that…

"What does it look like? We're getting some alone time with our Mistress." Nathan states. My cheeks begin to feel red hot as their grips on my waist and around my shoulder grows tighter.

"That's not fair! I want some alone time with master too!" Russell races forward and by the time he's over to us he's human standing their angry at the two of them.

"She's a girl; stop calling her master…" Eduardo says coldly. Surprisingly…even though I'm still tense…I'm strangely getting used to this…maybe because they've done it so many times already….

"Don't hog Miss Reisaki…" Thomas whines, "I want to cuddle too…!"

"You're the runt; if anything you'll be last." Russell snaps. Why do I feel a human dog pile coming on…? I feel another pair of arms wrap warmly around me,

"Sorry Mistress, I didn't mean to scare you." Christopher says from behind me,

"Hey! I'm the captain; if anything I should get alone time with our master." With that the rest of them cling to me and send our huddle toppling over.

"Are you alright Christopher?!" he took the brunt of the fall for me,

"I'm fine. But thank you for your concern; that's really nice of you." As twilight turns to night they each get more comfortable as the cling to me by the fire. Gradually as they still clung to me even as they slept my body slowly begins to relax and my eyes feel heavy.

It's strange, I feel safe around them all. I mean they still have a lot to be reminded of when it comes to being human…but their being here is really nice. I don't feel alone anymore.

…

When I wake up I still find myself wrapped up in their arms.

"Yep…human dog pile. I most certainly called it." I look down and find Morgan resting his head on my chest, even though he's technically the oldest out of all them I find that I can't help but pat his head like a dog; he just seems so cute. I turn my half sleepy gaze to my right and find Christopher's gentle face close to mine. His arm drapes over me protectively as he sleeps peacefully. I don't really want to wake him so I try to move as slowly as possible reaching for his arm trying to move it away. He stirs making me draw my hand away; he opens his eyes just like the first time I saw him and he smiles kindly.

"Good morning."

"Hi…Yeek!" Morgan moves his head and some how lands in between my breasts. With a content look on his face he opens his eyes looking at my beet red face.

"Is it morning already?"

"Yep." I answer quickly.

"Can't we sleep in?"

"Nope…" I push his head to the side to give me some relief. The others start to wake up moaning and groaning, reluctant to get up. "Come on you guys, up and at 'em. Time to get moving." I say.

"Five more minutes…" Russell says clinging to me even tighter.

"The hell are you going to do with five more minutes?" Nathan asks scratching his head, somewhat annoyed.

"Five more minutes means five more minutes to cling to Master." He squeezes even tighter. Watching Nathan I can tell the cogs in his head are turning,

"Nice try Russell." I say wiggling out of his grip, "But we need to get moving." The rest are reluctant to let me go, "Come on guys let go already…" they still hold on, "…boys…RELEASE!" at my sudden outburst they all throw their hands up and I make my was out of their grip. "Thank you." I head back over to the stone I had tried rolling yesterday to try again at getting in the cave. It's easier this time with them actually helping me. It didn't take too long with their help and once that task was done they changed back into wolves. The way into the cave was dark so I lit a spare piece of firewood and used it as a torch. The others followed as I led the way. Soon the red glow of the fire was out matched by a soft blue glow. There was a puddle of water that I use in order to put out the torch and the moonstones shined like stars in the darkness. In normal day light they don't glow at all. But in dark places like this and even at night they give off a glow of blue light. I turned to the others,

"You can explore if you like; it won't take me long to-"

"First to find the most moonstones and brings them to Resaki wins!" the each made a dash for it in the race they started digging up dirt in every direction. I left them to it and looked for my own. Russell was the first to come to me with a moonstone.

"Mmm…good try but we need some that aren't so scrawny. They all may glow but it's brighter ones you want; they're the better quality." Eduardo brings over one that was decent size and quite smooth. Even though they glowed they sort of looked like opals too. "Like this one; these are the ones we want." I place the stone in my pouch and go back to searching. They soon all start bringing over some good picks and after and hour of searching we more than enough to keep us going for quite some time. "Ok you guys that's enough. Let's go." With the sun light shining in it becomes easy for us to get out. We roll the stone back over the entrance and not a moment too soon. When I turn around a group of men come through the bushes. There's one that wears a captains hat with a red feather sticking out of it. His white hair drapes over his shoulders and he scowls with cold ember eyes as he watches me. I swallow hard as the captain steps forward,

"You, woman." Nathan, Eduardo and Russell stand in front of me as he trots over,

"Easy…" I say loud enough for them to hear,

"Are you from the town back that way?"

"Yushi… no I'm not, I live near Naka." I felt safer by lying to him. I didn't really like the vibe he was giving.

"Near?"

"Yes near. I live in the forest away from society. I only go into town for some shopping every once in a while so it's rare if I ever go there. I haven't been to Yushi before." He looks down at the wolves by me. "They're friends and very protective. I wouldn't get any closer if I were you." One of them growls slightly, which makes me thing it was Eduardo. The captain looks us all over as if thinking about something, even strokes his short beard.

"We just came back from Yushi with a rather interesting story. A girl who talked to the animals sent them off against the town after a fire. They said she controlled them. In fact you look a lot like the description they gave."

"It must have been someone else. I haven't been there; some people like to spin tales. I did hear about the fire but I don't think it's possible to talks to animals."

"And you're so called friends here?"

"I just earned their trust…nothing more."

"I see." He looks at me making me uncomfortable, "Ever heard of the Yamato legend?"

"Yes about the Sirius pirates and what not." I try to sound calm but I'm sure he can tell my voice is shaky. "That's a common myth around these parts."

"Do you believe it?"

"Um…well no I can't say that I believe it after all it's just a story." I can't tell him that it's actually true and that the crew is actually standing in front of him.

"What's your name woman?"

"W-why do you need to know that?"

"I don't; tell me anyway." I think fast,

"Misha."

"Misha huh?" I wasn't about to give him my real name. Something about him doesn't seem right. He turns to the men behind him, "Men, we're moving out." We wait for them to leave before I slide against the wall to the ground and let out a big sigh,

"What the heck?" I say exasperated.

"That sounded like the people we hid from before." Christopher says, "I think it was a good idea for you to lie in this situation."

"I thought he was going to cut my throat or something."

"He's someone who isn't afraid to draw blood." I look at a serious Morgan. "He's dangerous; it's best to stay away from him." I curl into a ball still shaking a bit from what just t happened. He seemed really interested in stories from here; why though?

The home that I came to reminded me a lot of the one back on the other side of the forest. It's been a while since I have been back to this one. It seemed to be midday and the cabinets need to be stocked with some food.

"I'm going to the market." As I head for the door I can hear there padded footsteps on the wooden floor and I turn around, "What are you doing?"

"Coming with you. What else?" Nathan says. I shake my head,

"Thanks but no. Remember the last time you guys came with me? It escalated into something that could have been avoided." They all seem to remember what happened, "Look I'll be fine; people in this village don't know me so it's not like they can say anything to me and I'm only going for a bit to get some food." I turn to leave but they start following me again, "No." I turn back around, "Boys…STAY!" the outburst seemed to work the first time so hopefully it will work this time. "I promise I'll be fine; I should be back by twilight." With that and with no more interruptions I'm able to leave.

The village takes a bit to get used to as I learn where everything is. First I had to find a shop to appraise one of the moonstones we found. After I got some money, I started shopping. I collected rice, leeks, and many other items. People in this town seem nicer than the others back in Yushi. They seem to smile and wave as I pass by. Looking around I find a few other items I could by.

Come to think of it…the others seems really intent on staying close to me. So maybe I should buy them some clothes to give them. That way they can be reintroduced to human society and maybe want to go back to it just a bit. I don't know where to start though. They all have their own personality and they act more like wolves than humans; that's probably from being charmed for over 100 years and experienced real freedom. Maybe I should ask them first before I even do something like that… I wouldn't even know where to start with shirts to let alone full outfits for them. hm…what's going on over there?

I come across a crowd of people standing outside a bar/ inn.

"I can't believe it; what are wild animals doing in a place like this?"

"Do they belong to someone?"

"What are you crazy those dogs are wild!" Oh please don't let those be my wild mutts. PLEASE!

"YEEEEK!" a waitress dashes out of the bar her face bright red. "What happened to the dogs?! Now there's six naked men in there!" oh crap…! I dash over and stand in the doorway. My jaw drops at what I see. Although at the moment I see only two of my charges. The whole place is a wreck. There's broken dishes all over the place food sticking to the wall and ceiling not to mention it's all over the floor. Tables are turned over along with chairs and in the center of the room I find Eduardo and Russell arguing. I turn, slam the door shut and lock it so that no one else can come in.

"What the hell Eduardo?! That was my meat; I was going to taste it first!"

"Too bad; I got to it first!" the two start growling before the start fighting; biting and clawing each other as if they were still wolves.

"I'm gonna claw your eye out you one eyed mutt!"

"Not before I rip your throat out!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" I scream over them getting their attention.

"Reisaki…"

"Hello Mistress."

"Don't Mistress me! Where are the others?" There's a sound of glass breaking and I find Thomas holding a drinking glass in his hand smoothly before he drops it and watches it shatter. Nathan sits there watching the glass before hit the floor in front of him before inspecting the shattered pieces. He sniffs it first before poking a few of the pieces before putting a piece in his mouth, "Don't do that; you're going to cut your mouth open!" he spits it out looking at me blankly.

"Hi miss Reisaki! We found you."

"That food doesn't really seem edible if it cuts your mouth…"

"That's because it's NOT FOOD!" I hear footsteps and find the last two of my pack, Christopher's body is all wet and Morgan has a bra in his mouth.

"Reisaki it's so unusual! There's a thing that spouts water all by itself." Christopher says innocently. Morgan takes the bra in his hand,

"Hey is this a chew toy? It smell funny though; it smells like a female. Do you wear these things Reisaki?" un-be-lieve-able… you mean to tell me none of them really remember anything about the human world?

Russell and Eduardo go back to fighting making me turn to them first. I roll up my sleeves and stomp over to them. "ENOUGH!" they both flinch, "Get off the floor right now before I make you myself!" on my command they do what I say. I hear another crash and turn to Nathan and Thomas, "You two!" They flinch as they look over at me, "Put the glass down and get your butts over here!" then I turn to Morgan and Christopher, "You!" I point to Morgan, "Drop it right now!" the bra leaves his hand but Christopher curiously picks it up. So I go over to him and slap it out of his hand, "No!" Morgan slings himself over me and smiles,

"Hey we finally found you. This place is fun why didn't you let us come with you?"

"Because I knew YOU would act up!" I grab his ear and pull him over to the door,

"Ow, Ow that hurts!"

"The rest of you Get over here!" realizing I'm not messing around they do as I say. I release Morgan's ear, "Look you can't just go around changing into humans any time you want in town, especially in a-"

"Hey who's in there?" the door knob jiggles. "Open up!" I turn back to the others,

"Quick change back to wolves now."

"But Reisaki we-"

"I said now!" the lock on the door clicks and I turn to see that owner. His eyes are wide with shock as he stares at the damaged tavern, "My…my bar…i-it's ruined." I turn to glance at the wolves standing behind me and glare, I watch as their ears go back. Turning my attention back to the owner I bow deeply,

"I'm very sorry for the mess and damage done to your tavern…I'm still trying to train my dogs at the moment. I guess they must have gotten off their leashes… I thought o left them AT HOME…"

"Well obviously something went wrong!"

"I know and I'm sorry; I take full responsibility for the mess." I reach into my pouch and pull out a moonstone. "I found this a few days ago; it's the only one I have. I'm sure this should cover the damage done to the place. The quality is pretty good it should be enough. And please don't worry…I plan on doing something about their behavior…or at least buy stronger leashes."

"Well…considering you intended to leave them behind and you thought you took the necessary actions to secure them and you're taking responsibility for it…I suppose I could let it slide this once." I thank him before turning to them, "Get moving…" one by one they exit the bar and I follow after them.

After retrieving my items, I make my way back home silently walking in front of the pack of six anxious wolves waiting for me to say something. I stop walking and let off a big sigh, no longer caught up in a rage I turn to them and set the items down before kneeling down to meet them face to face. The wait for me to say something, again I sigh, "…Come here." I say kindly hoping to let them know I'm not angry. Thomas hesitates but is the first to come over; the others come over after.

"Sorry Miss Reisaki, we didn't mean to make you angry." They each nuzzle against me as if saying they were sorry too. I feel bad making them feel like this…

"No…I'm sorry; I shouldn't have gotten so mad… but you guys I think we need to have a long talk about your being able to change back and forth between two forms. Or at least find a way for you to understand." But that can come later…right now I just want them to understand that I'm sorry for snapping on them.

That night I didn't put up a protest about them sleeping in my bed as wolves nor did I say anything to them when I woke up to see them in their humans forms.