Part 9: Unlike a Warrior

Oblivious to the events affecting his family as he followed the great dark beast on through the forests and away from, Daisuke was feeling conflicted. It was an unusual sensation for the young dog and even sad as he realised it was his first time leaving home. In the silence of their initial departure, Daisuke thought about everyone he was leaving behind and all of his friends. But he knew too that the departure was necessary and he needed to become a warrior!

Daisuke had to learn to be a true Tore-ge and like his sire and grandsire, the best way to learn was with a mission.

Daisuke did not know much about the dogs he was being sent to help Mongō fight, only that they had fled Hokkaido after causing trouble for the remnant of Hakuro the Bear Killer’s pack. He also knew that they had killed a human to escape, not just any human though… they’d killed Mongō’s owner. Daisuke had never understood revenge and he hoped he would never have to; he also knew that Mongō was just unsure about the capability of killing himself. After-all, though he’d threatened and warned before, Mongō had never admitted to killing another dog before.

“Tell me about our enemy.” Daisuke asked with a low voice and a saddened expression. He could barely keep his feet properly or stop thinking of how much he already missed his mother, so any distraction was a welcome one. Mongō understood this and gave a soft grunting sound to get the kid’s attention.

“There were just three, though they’re bound to have a pack now. The leader is a blue-grey mix called Cane and he runs with a Labrador called Blondie, their manipulative talker, and a Laika called Velos. The Laika had come after Victor’s dogs had left; we feared he was a returning scout or something. In the end they were just opportunists and thieves! The humans dealt with them of course, but Velos and Cane didn’t like the intrusion.” Mongō growled gently as he thought about the big dog that had slaughtered his master without regard. Daisuke could only imagine the upset of the big dog, but he did not really understand what being with a human was like.

“What makes a dog kill like that? It’s not for food and it’s not really for defence. Why go as far as slaughter?” Daisuke questioned, making the bigger dog grunt gently in irritation. It was becoming clearer and clearer that, despite his warrior breeding, Daisuke was too great a thinker to let himself stoop to the level of a killer, but did that mean he would always show mercy?

The manner of his heritage was akin to the code of the human warriors; death before dishonour. His bear hound forebears had died in battle against terrifying foes and suffered the humiliating training of a mad old human. The boy’s grandfather had not been so eager to kill other dogs but that had been because he had needed soldiers to fight the bears and was very against hurting humans. Weed too had been reluctant, but he had not been afraid to kill when he knew he was fighting demons!

Daisuke was another matter entirely; Akame had said the boy was afraid of demons… too afraid!

Silence reigned as they continued their journey westward, following the rumours towards the mountains. Although Mongō had no reason to trust the claims of Kyoshiro’s pack being harassed by a dog called Cane, Gin and Weed had believed them so the Newfoundland did. Though his body was designed for freezing water more than the biting winds of the mountains, Mongō was prepared to travel. In fact, he was quite pleased not to be alone this time and did his best to slow his pace for the anxious puppy.

Dawn broke slowly and the pup began to show his fatigue, whimpering slightly at the pain in his paws. At the unsure sounds Mongō froze on the forest path and turned to look at him. No sooner had he stopped then Daisuke had slumped his backside down and begun to lick his reddened foot pads. Mongō gave a gentle growl before lifting one of his own big paws and tapping Daisuke at the back of the head, only to bowl him over with his surprising strength.

“Check for enemies before you tend wounds… or didn’t you notice we’ve been followed since with left Ohu?” At his words, the young Akita seemed to grimace and look terribly ashamed for his lack of awareness. He’d been so focused on following the Newfoundland dog and fussing over the soreness in his paws that he hadn’t noticed anything. Now he sat there waiting patiently for the big dog to give him instructions whilst checking the world about him. His nostrils quivered impatiently for the scent of a threat, but he could only smell the familiarity of the pine and wild mountain air.

“I can’t see or smell anything unusual… I can’t hear anything at all either.” Daisuke stated bluntly, only to realise that he should have clued on the silence of the forest first. Generally the birds out here were loud and distracting, but currently there was no noise coming from them at all. To the observant beast, this was code that a predator was about and Daisuke startled to snarl. “Trouble?”

“Not sure… I don’t know the dogs in this area well and there’s a possibility they’re your friends.” Mongō snorted gently as he looked back to the dark shadows of the forest. He was trying to decide what to do now anyway, should they hide or should they run? The big beast had little time to decide and automatically he felt an urge to stand and fight. “Let’s get out of sigh and see what’s following us.”  

The two dogs stepped cautiously amongst the large stones and dirt of the mountain track, finding moss and plants to hide their marks or scraping them away with branches. They sought two large boulders that jutted out over the slope in a manner that could hide the beasts lying on the smooth surface. Mongō pondered in his mind if the danger of the situation would awaken some of his bear-hound instincts, but at the same time he doubted it heavily.

The big brown-black beast stood behind the boulders and allowed the pup to climb up onto the hot surface of the rock to spy. Daisuke looked rather unhappy at the suggestion but at the same time he was unwilling to disobey the animal. So, tentative as ever, Daisuke scrabbled against the rock with his paws and tried hard to imagine that Kurobara was here encouraging him on. With that thought his paws seemed to find an area to grip and he crawled onto the flat, warm surface.

The young dog sat patiently on the rocks, waiting for the followers to show their faces and Mongō’s orders to attack. He died not like the possibility of having to fight a stranger so soon, especially when it was to protect himself. But then in his mind he tried to switch the scenario around so that h was there to save Mongō from attack, not the other way around. It seemed to perk him up a little, but he was still anxious. That was, until he spotted a striped dog body.

“Kai dogs?” Daisuke whispered down to Mongō, but the big animal gave an anxious snort of irritation. Daisuke waited for the three striped animals to step into the open and then he grinned and wagged his tail in delight as he began to recognise them all.

The dog at the front was the blue-grey Shinja, a grandson of Chutora that was always seeking some way to prove himself in the eyes of the nearly blind old Kurotora. But walking beside him were dogs that Daisuke had very little memory of seeing before. The first was Yasutora, the big and muscular grandson of Dodo, who died in the battle against Hougen along with his brothers. This dog looked like the general imagining of the Kai dog’s possible father whom his mother did not mention anymore – massive, dark brown and as thick in chest muscle as a Tosa Inu but wild looking as a wolf, Yasutora was a bit reckless to say the least, but that was probably why his great-grand-uncle Kurotora liked him so much. Yasutora was brave, but just a little bit stupid.

The other dog was the real shock – Ametora, the small grey coloured dog with spots on her cheeks and only soft brindle markings along her back. The big shock for Daisuke was that this character was Kagetora’s daughter! No Kai female had ever been permitted out of their territory before when she wasn’t paired off, and especially not for fighting. But Daisuke could already tell by the grim set of her jaw that she was here on a mission. Daisuke couldn’t help himself but stood up straight and gave a gentle bark out to his friends.

“Hello Daisuke… isn’t that a dangerous thing to do in enemy territory?” Shinji barked back with his tongue lolling playfully. At his words and the great growl from Mongō below, Daisuke suddenly crouched down onto the rock with his ears, tail and eyes lowered pitifully. But with a snort Mongō called the pup down onto to thump his head again with his massive paw. The youngster gave a grunt and Shinji grimaced. “That’s a little tough don’t you think Sensei?”

“Sensei?” Mongō growled at them in surprise before shaking his great coat. No sooner had he stepped out into the open then there was a sudden shriek from a deer not far away and all five dogs stood to attention at the sound of something big moving towards them in the woods. The big dog’s nostrils twitched and the Kai dogs began to snarl angrily… they could all smell a bear coming their way. But to their surprise the scent was caught by Daisuke and the youngster launched automatically onto the rock and prepared himself in attack position…

He may not be a warrior, but there was no doubt Daisuke was a Bear dog!