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apothecarinomicon · 3 years

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Spring week 4, part 2

We found the guy staggering down the creek. We heard him before we saw him—he was wading through knee-deep water, half hunched over and groaning in pain. As he got closer, I was able to make out that he wasn’t human but crocodilian, and dressed for fishing. His pants had torn away below the knees, and I could make out bright green vines with vermillion buds snaking up his legs. He was bleeding where they burrowed into his hide. He looked up at us with glassy eyes and weakly called for help, reaching out with both hands.

Automatically I moved to support him but Calder held me back. He told me he recognized the vines as marshbloom, a particularly nasty plant native to Blastfire Bog. An opportunistic parasite, it latched onto any skin that came into contact with it and fed on its host, growing until they were entirely overtaken and drained of their minerals. Once the marshbloom had fed all it could, the buds would open and spread their spores to find new hosts.

This guy already looked to have been wandering for a couple of days; we didn’t have much time—probably only about another 24 hours. I told Calder to watch after him and make sure he didn’t wander off. Since Calder didn’t technically have skin, we agreed he might be able to physically restrain the afflicted man as a last resort. Meanwhile, I raced back to the cottage to scour my predecessor’s notes.

I found that her overall knowledge of the bog and its flora were spotty at best, but she did have an entry on the marshbloom. Her notes said that it should be treated like any other virulent parasite, but with extra focus on healing the skin. With the entry wounds closed, she noted, the portions of the plant inside the host’s body would be unable to photosynthesize and would simply die, and the portions outside would lose the necessary minerals and fall away.

With a little more research, I knew what I had to get. I dumped out the remaining breadcrumbs from my pack, had Ailean hop up on my shoulder, and set out for Hero’s Hollow.

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I told the guards at the entrance that I was foraging and expected to be inside for less than an hour. Then I headed in, map in hand, to find some liquid fire.

It’s not quite lava, this substance (lava is molten rock and this is more akin to superheated magic), but it is quite hot. You need special gloves to handle it. It won’t burn you, but it will certainly feel as if it had. It’s great for clearing parasites if you can get it down—like a flash fire fever. I found it fairly easily, flowing right out of the wall (turns out Hero’s Hollow has a lot of natural deposits), and collected it with little issue. It was as I was headed back out, however, that I heard heavy, clanking footsteps sprinting towards me accompanied by a “what ho!”

I turned and looked to find a suit of armor approaching me fast. The visor was flipped up, showing that the helmet was clearly empty. “I, the Baron, challenge you to a duel, brigand!” The voice sounded more like a jester’s than a knight’s—or a baron’s, for that matter. I backed away and tried to tell this Baron that I really didn’t have the time (or the equipment or the skill) for a fight, but as I said so my back bumped up against the wall. The suit of armor ignored what I’d said, unsheathed its sword (the thin kind with a point, rather than the kind with two sharp sides), took on a cartoonish stance, and cried “en garde!”

I stayed very still for a good long while, and so did the armor. Every few seconds it shouted something like “you shan’t best me, scoundrel!” or “your scourge ends here!” Its accent was all rolled ‘r’s and rapidly fluctuating pitch. After about three minutes of this I finally went to try and just walk away, and the suit of armor immediately lunged forward and skewered my thigh.

I cried out, more out of shock than anything. It was a relatively shallow wound (I wrote “skewered” but it was more like “scraped”), but the sudden movement and prick of pain surprised me. The Baron, for its part, seemed delighted. It immediately turned and began to skip away, occasionally clicking its heels in the air and crying “tee-ha! Tee-hee! I, the Baron, have bested thee!” It disappeared around a bend in the corridor, but I could still hear it for a long while after as I bandaged my wound.

What a blighting nuisance. I supposed though, as I limped out of the dungeon, that it could easily have been a lot worse.

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I headed back to Glimmerwood Grove next, to look for wild roses. The hip seeds promote skin health, and I thought they theoretically should be fairly abundant. But, as is my luck, they proved to be frustratingly elusive. I was already pretty annoyed when I ran into Kendre.

Kendre was a satyr, and (as they volunteered immediately upon seeing me) a druid who lived in the forest. Their arms were wiry, the rest of their human torso obscured by what appeared to be a grass-stained burlap sack with arm and neck holes cut out. The fur on their goat legs matched their russet hair. They wore complex jewelry, with earrings and necklaces and adornments to their curled horns all connected by small chains to form one large piece.

I asked how long they’d been living in Glimmerwood and they said just about their entire adult life. They mentioned a shack deep in the heart of the grove where they lived and gardened and kept to themselves. They said they didn’t normally forage this close to town but they were looking for something elusive.

I asked them if they had seen wild roses around and they thought for a moment before saying that roses had been an unusually rare sight this year. They apologized, and offered instead the location of a different plant: the coffee cap. Though unrelated to the bean (it’s actually a mushroom), it does contain about the same amount of caffeine and releases it into the body quicker when consumed. When added to a potion, its only real effect is to sharpen the patient’s senses—not useful for the task at hand. Still, I thanked them and followed their directions to find some—it’s always better to have more and more varied reagents on hand, just in case.

Kendre was the second denizen of Glimmerwood Grove I’d met who seemed to have no connection to the human society in Greenmoor or High Rannoc at large. As I plucked a mushroom and put it in my bag, I wondered if there were any more.

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I didn’t have to wonder for long. After retrieving the coffee cap I headed back towards the path. I took a right that should have led me straight back onto it, but instead I found myself in a beautiful (if dilapidated) courtyard. I must have been caught in some kind of dimensional fold, as I surely would have noticed the high, ornate walls that now surrounded me had they been present before.

The walls themselves were ornate but clearly weathered, dotted with tall thin windows and covered with hanging moss and climbing vines. The floor was made of smooth bricks that must have once been an intense shade of lapis or ultramarine, but that had faded to a (still gorgeous) azure. They were cut and laid in a pattern that was symmetrical but irregular. It took a good bit of staring for me to realize it depicted the phases of the moon, running from right to left across the space’s center. At the corners of the courtyard were raised plant beds that may have once been carefully maintained, but now grew wild. Each had a great tree at the center. Three of them had a least one side that had cracked or buckled, allowing dirt to spill out and their tree’s great roots to spread less impeded. The fourth one, the one in the far left corner, held a smaller tree, mostly obscured by—to my surprise and delight—wild rose bushes!

I began to hurry towards them before the sound of a clearing throat stopped me. I had completely overlooked what was clearly meant to be the courtyard’s central feature: along the far wall was a great, ornate throne. It gleamed golden in the light, its high back intricately molded with dozens of humanoid figures in myriad combinations and contexts—probably recounting the plot of some long-forgotten myth. Seated on the throne, still regal and imposing despite being dwarfed by it, was a man. As I approached him I realized he was much taller than me, or for that matter any human. His skin was extremely pale, his form rake thin, his hair a nearly-white blond. He was dressed in a garb unfamiliar to me, though the dense ornamental fur of his cloak and the rich purple of his tunic and pants communicated his status anyway. He regarded me cooly with orange eyes as I took in the sight. Finally, I noticed his long, pointed ears and it clicked: this prince was an elf.

Belatedly I dropped to one knee and bowed my head. I hoped that was the correct gesture of respect for elven royalty; it had been many years since I took politesse classes in primary school, and I’d never had much use for what I learned from them before.

He chuckled and told me to rise. His voice, though a fairly high tenor, had a commanding sense of depth. He told me it had been far too long since he’d had a visitor, and I should feel welcome to stay as long as I like. I asked for his name, and he raised an eyebrow before telling me I could not have it, but that I could refer to him as His Majesty, the Crown Prince of Sovereign Go’ed-Wigg. I quickly apologized for my careless wording, and told him he could call me ‘F.’ Given the Crown Prince’s care with his own name I figured care of my own was in order. I decided to let it be ambiguous whether this was an initial, a random pseudonymous letter, or if I had chosen “Eff” as a name.

I asked the Crown Prince (as I decided to think of him because that full title was simply too much) if I might have one of his roses, so that I could heal a patient. He thought for a moment then said I could on two conditions: I had to give him a gift in return, and I had to listen to a story. I told him that my patient’s time was limited, but that so long as the story was of a reasonable length (I believe I specified no more than fifteen minutes), and so long as I myself got to choose my gift to him I would be happy to agree to those terms. His expression was unreadable enough that I couldn’t determine whether I’d wiggled my way out of some trick or not, but he conceded my conditions.

As the gift, I gave him the coffee cap I’d just obtained, and explained its uses. He told me he had heard of coffee caps before, but seemed satisfied with the gift anyway. He said with my limitation we wouldn’t have time for the full story, but he’d tell me the first part anyway. I can’t recount the Crown Prince’s exact wording—he spoke for a long time—but I’ll summarize as best I can.

Once (he told me), there were three queens. A queen of spades, who ruled over those things on the earth, a queen of diamonds, who ruled over those things below it, and a queen of clubs, who ruled over those things above. The queen of spades and diamonds neither one had a king, but each had one knight. The queen of clubs had no knight, though she did have a king—but he was perpetually absent.

The realm of the queen of spades was verdant and teeming with life, both plant and animal. The queen of clubs’ domain was bright and open and free, always fresh and always changing. The queen of diamonds, on the other hand, ruled a territory rich with minerals, precious metals, and gems, which all things that lived would eventually join as they decomposed and returned to their base materials.

The queen of diamonds, though, was uncaring of these gifts. She surveyed her realm and saw rot, slimy worms and scuttling insects, and tons and tons of dirt piled so much upon itself that there was barely room for plants or animals at all. She looked over the queendom of spades and the queendom of clubs, and all the light and life and variety and air they had, and she grew jealous. She resolved to take the other queens’ territories for herself.

The queen of diamonds knew that going to war immediately would be foolish. Her two rivals (the queen of spades especially) had dozens of subjects in fighting shape, and she had next to none. So, she worked on expanding her population. She promoted immigration, emphasizing the riches to be found in her domain. With her (previously unmentioned) magical powers, she engineered those denizens she already had over the course of generations into stronger, smarter, better fighters. She was raising an army.

What the queen of diamonds didn’t know was that her knight and the knight of spades were in love. They kept their affair hidden from their respective queens for obvious reasons, but met in secret regularly. Wishing to limit the chance that they might have to meet in battle personally, the knight of diamonds told the knight of spades what the queen was doing.

The knight of spades took this information to his own queen, who thankfully didn’t probe too deeply into how he’d learned it. Instead, she immediately set about raising an army of her own, and passed the information on to the queen of clubs personally.

The queen of clubs, then, faced a rather pressing issue: like the queen of diamonds, she did not have enough subjects in fighting shape to raise an army. Unlike her counterpart, however, she did not have several generations’ notice with which to rectify that weakness—nor did she even have a knight of her own.

So, after obtaining permission from her new ally, she searched far and wide in the domain of the queen of spades to find a champion, one who could inspire their peers to fight their hardest, with the knowledge to select the generals and lieutenants and foot soldiers who would be able to defend her queendom.

And find one she did. The champion was such an effective leader, so adept at rallying people to follow her with true deep-seated conviction for the cause, that she would come to be known as the queen of hearts.

It was at this point that the Crown Prince stopped and gestured to the rose bush. I realized that I’d become so thoroughly engrossed in his story that I’d lost track of time, and I was thankful I’d thought to set a time limit. He sensed this too, and as I went to pluck a rose hip he asked if I was enjoying the story. I asked him in turn where he’d learned it. He said that he was the only one in the world who knew it. I asked if he meant he’d made it up, and he didn’t respond.

Instead, he said I’d have to come back later to hear more of it. I told him I didn’t even know how I’d gotten here in the first place, much less how I’d return, but he insisted that I’d find my way. As I left the courtyard, he turned his attention back to the mushroom I’d given him, turning it over and over in his hands.

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I was just about set to head back to Calder’s stream when I realized something all of a sudden: I couldn’t touch my patient, which meant I wouldn’t be able to force him to swallow the potion—he’d have to do it voluntarily, without spitting it out or spilling any. Liquid fire, one of my major ingredients, was notoriously both very hot and very spicy, making it difficult to stomach. I would need something to cover the taste. I remembered that I had the candy rock back at the cottage, but I was honestly closer to Moonbreaker Mountain. So, I decided to just run over and find some on my own.

I took a path I hadn’t been on before. About halfway up the mountain, I came across Mòrag McKinney, knelt at a shrine. It took her a long time to notice me, but when she did she smiled and bade me sit down next to her. She told me this was a shrine to Cernunnos, the antlered god of nature, hunters, druidry, fertility, and warriors. She said those going on journeys often placed offerings at it hoping for his favor. I asked if she was going on a journey and she said no, she’d just started coming here recently. Something about it called her.

She traced little circles in the dirt with her finger as she told me about Cernunnos, his ability to call animals to him, how wild-growing plants were considered his bounty. I had heard of Cernunnos before, even if I hadn’t studied him closely, but I let her speak. When she was finished, I apologized and told her I was on a deadline. I asked her where I might find the candy rocks. She seemed disappointed to see me go, but directed me a little ways up the path. I hurried off and found a large cluster easily. The rocks (crystals, really) were extremely brittle—I could break off a good-sized chunk with my hand. Once I’d done so, I hurried back to Calder’s river.

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Here is how I made the potion:

First, I crushed the rose hip seeds with my travel mortar and pestle.

Then, I collected some water (Calder was kind enough to let me borrow a bit of his)

Then, I combined it with the seed powder, liquid fire, and candy rock.

Finally, I shook it until it was all combined.

I decided to call the potion Bog’s Bane—a fitting enough name, as it ended up looking like orange mud. My crocodilian patient was staring vaguely off into the distance, so I gave the potion to Calder so he could help get it down. Once he’d finished it, the patient gasped and his eyes unclouded. Already the visible vines crawling up his legs were withering, their yellow buds falling off. I told him he ought to go see Dr. Ardor-Knox in town, and to tell them that he was seriously drained of vitamins and likely anemic. I didn’t know if the doctor had the requisite knowledge of crocodilian physiology to treat him, but I figured sending patients their way might help smooth things over with them. The crocodilian was still a bit out of it but seemed to understand well enough. He paid me for the potion and stumbled off in the direction of Greenmoor.

When he was gone, I turned to Calder to apologize that my work had cut our picnic short. He said to think nothing of it—the man would have stumbled into his creek anyway, so it was good that someone who knew how to treat him was present when he did. Nevertheless, I asked if we could have a do-over soon, and he said he’d like that.

It was far too late by that point for anything further to happen (though if it’s not wishful thinking there was certainly some tension), so I resigned myself to trudging back home. Now that I’ve recounted the day's events, I’m going straight to bed. Here’s hoping that tomorrow isn’t quite so hectic.

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xenoredux · 4 years

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The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 4: The Gang Wars

If you haven’t read episode 3 yet, you can do so here.

As mentioned before, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Animal injuries, animal death, drowning, cannibalism, disembowelment, illness via poisoning, and other bloody Epic Bruh Moments. Maybe don’t read ahead if dead animals upset you

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here, here, here, here, and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

YES THIS IS THE ONE WITH THE NINJAS IN IT

The first, second, and third platoons are heading to Kasumi Dake. It's an admittedly creepy part of their road trip. The mountain is as misty as its name implies, as is the surrounding, half-dead forest.

To make matters worse/spookier, the once pale blue sky has turned a garish grey, and thunder rumbles as it begins to rain. The Kai Bros confirm they're on the right trail to the mountain, so none of the more crybabyish among them (lookin' at you, Hyena) have an excuse to leave.

Still, it'll be harder to deal with this matter during a storm, so the army huddles together under a rock overhang, being afforded just enough room to keep out of the weather's way. The Kai Bros detail how much of a bullheaded pig Moss is as everyone listens. Akatora says that Old Fattycakes has been trying to cagoule he and his brothers into joining his dogmafia for legit years now, and he just gets madder every time they tell him to get lost.

Unexpectedly, Ben gives a heaping helping of benefit-of-the-doubt to this crimelord, insisting that he's got to have something going for him if he has a huge pack. At the very least he must hold a belief his followers share. Nobody can hazard a guess as to what such an ideology could be, but it gets the dogs thinking.

Cross says this means they should try to handle the situation peacefully if they can, only launching a full blown takedown if Moss proves he's just your run-of-the-mill dictator. The Kai Bros aren't happy to hear the army might go soft on Moss, but they don't complain.

A moment later, Hyena begins to slink away from camp. Great asks where he's going and the Weimeranar twitches, says he needs to take a leak. Hyena says he could always stay under the rock, though he's not sure if he'll be able to keep from wetting himself much longer, and Great is so icked out that he all but tells Hyena in an Italian accent that it's time to take a piss.

Hyena snorts and tells the crew to keep an eye on the group's baby as he might wet himself instead, and he's already gone by the time Gin realizes he was being picked on by a nerd twice his age.

Smith laughs and tells Gin not to take anything Hyena does to heart. He's always been a wormy little guy. That's probably why he falls in behind Sniper so easily. He doesn't have the balls to pull any nasty tricks without his German Nanny around. Gin laughs and tugs on Smith's ear appreciatively.

It would seem as if Smith doesn't know Hyena as well as he thinks, though, because Hyena, though he did stop to pee, is up to some nasty business indeed. He's wandered into the forest, howling gingerly to attract the locals' attention.

He garners a response as a booming, gravely voice tells him to either state his business or get the fuck off his lawn. Several dogs who exude the same energy as smoking bikers with sleeve tattoos encircle him, cornering him against a boulder. As Hyena hyperventilates, he looks up top the boulder and shrieks.

Hyena's gaze meets with that of the biggest, heaviest dog he's ever seen. Shorter then Ben but with twice his body weight, the animal is a hulking English Mastiff mix with a spiked collar and, curiously, a coat mottled with zipper scars from stitches long since healed.

Beside the dog are two others; like bookends, they stand beside him, the leftmost looking like a slender, younger clone of the absolute unit of a dog and the rightmost being a Siberian Husky. There's no doubt about who the big guy is: Kasumi Dake's own godfather, Moss.

Miles and miles away, Hidetoshi leaves the hospital to head to a board meeting. Outside of the hospital, Daisuke is standing in the rain with a colorful, cartoon character clad umbrella. Hidetoshi tells Daisuke he should go home, Gohei's asleep and it's past visitation hours. Daisuke shakes his head and looks at John. The dog tries to follow Hidetoshi into his car but is gently pushed away.

Before Hidetoshi drives off, he gives Daisuke a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry about Gin's disappearance," he says. "We'll find him someday, I promise you that." Before Daisuke can respond, the good doctor has already put peddle to metal.

Daisuke sulks and begins to walk home, seemingly lost in thought. John sighs melodramatically as he wanders through a pet door into Hidetoshi's office. The shepherd's eyes float across the photos adorning the walls, each one reigniting a memory of bloody exploits past. John scoffs about how Hidetoshi - and most of the men in the village, for that matter - have given up hunting, which just goes to show how much of a pack of quitters humans are.

His mind wanders to Gin. He's been thinking of the Akita more and more these days, mulling over their last exchange. If he's to be perfectly honest, John's gotta admit that he's fearful for his sorta-friend's wellbeing.

Enough is enough. All inaction and no killing makes John a dull boy, so it's time to return to the mountains. He'll kill three birds with one stone: make sure Gin is okay, return him to Daisuke (by force if necessary), and maybe kill a tyrannical bear or two if he has time for it. John smugly grins at his totally foolproof plan as he runs out. It's time to become the village hero. It's time to actually make a difference.

The rain finally lets up. Back under the rock the dogs are coming to realize this, and so they begin leaving their resting place. Akatora reminds Ben once more that he and his bros are, like, SUPER willing to kill Moss if he doesn't listen to reason, to which Ben, with his most fatherly of smiles, tells them to start chillin' with the killin'.

But before anyone does anything, Gin points out that Hyena never came back from his pee break. Ben heaves an exasperated sigh. Gin gathers this isn't the first time Hyena's pulled some dumb, inconvenient shit.

Smith mutters about "that goddamn idiot" under his breath before saying he'll do the honors of finding the lost complaint factory. Having begun to strike up a friendship with Smith, Gin channels his inner five year old and excitedly asks Ben if he can go with.

Ben allows the boy he's essentially adopted to run off with his friend and the two young dogs scampering off. Ben chuckles and says dogs Gin's age always need a reason to keep moving. A moment later the group departs.

Meanwhile, Hyena has been filling Moss's head with both disgustingly transparent flattery and heinous lies. The story the little traitor's come up with goes something like this: he's a feral dog living with a nomadic pack run by a dude called Ben. The pack has recently encountered the infamous Kai Ken Short Kings who've tricked Ben into thinking Moss was seeking to destroy all competing packs. This has led to Ben waging war on Kasumi Dake. Poor Ben is just too stupid and smelly to know any better, but he's powerful and dangerous to trifle with nevertheless.

Moss smells a rat - possibly a large, grey, snively one - but he allows Hyena to leave his territory unharmed. He turns to the Mini-Moss at his side and asks what he thinks of the situation, addressing him as Jaguar.

Jaguar is Moss's son from a litter wherein he was the only survivor. He's only 2 years old, just a touch older then Gin is. The youngster puts on a bold face and says that he doesn't believe any pack's leader would buckle to three dogs he dwarfs just to start a random war. Moss agrees, saying that the Kai Bros are too up their own asses to recruit assistants anyway.

That said, the husky at his side, Lloyd, still believes caution should be taken. The little wormy guy might've been lying about the Kai Bros, somehow having discovered their beef with Moss, but there's no saying a large pack of feral dogs couldn't be seeking to do them harm.

Moss decides to send two of his men to spy on the pack and learn more about its intentions. In a parallel to Gin's departure with Smith, Jaguar asks if he and Lloyd may do said spying, his desire being to prove himself to his old man. Moss agrees so long as his son keeps himself safe, and he proudly watches the two slink off into the forest.

Elsewhere, Gin and Smith are trying and failing to find Hyena. Smith's getting increasingly annoyed at the little bugger, cursing and complaining about the inconvenience. Suddenly, both he and Gin smell something coming. It's not Hyena, but someone else. Two other someone elses, in fact. The two run and hide somewhere they won't be spotted to watch their new company.

As Gin and Smith sit atop a rocky ledge, two unfamiliar dogs run by. Smith hazards a guess that they're two of Moss's men as and the two strangers come to a stop. Gin and Smith gasp - Hyena is standing in the strangers' way! Moss's dudes ask what Hyena's still piddlefarting around here for when, in a shocking display of effort, Hyena lashes out and bites the Mastiff in the neck.

Gin and Smith can barely contain themselves - what the hell is this idiot doing?! He's going to get everyone in trouble! Gin can't stand by and let this happen. He's about to spring into action but stops when he notices a dark shadow descending on the group.

The shadow is from an illusive cling-on the pack hadn't realized was following them: General Sniper! The Doberman dives onto Lloyd, landing the perfect blow and snapping the Husky's neck on impact. Lloyd dies instantly, his body tumbling to the ground. Sniper gives a wildly cliche evil laugh. He turns to a confused Jaguar as the Mastiff punts Hyena aside.

Jaguar runs to Lloyd's side and starts shaking him in an effort to revive him. Sniper just guffaws and tells Moss's precious son that his death is necessary for the cause. That cause being, of course, a war between Moss and Ben's packs, a war which will hopefully lead to Ben's demise. He punctuates his insidious plan by slashing open Jaguar's left shoulder, sending the inexperienced dog rolling in the dirt.

Meanwhile, on the cusp of the village, Daisuke is looking around the forest, bow clutched in hand. He's calling Gin's name and murmuring about how his dog had had a strange fascination with the feral pack in the area. Could Gin have come out here? And Daisuke had thought the rain had let up, what is this sticky substance dripping onto his shoulder?

The child turns to see he's being overlooked by a bigass bear with a set of hugeass teeth. As he screams bloody murder, the bear begins climbing down towards him. The animal roars hideously at Daisuke as it approaches.

While Daisuke cowers and falls on his ass, the shadow of a dog passes over him and snags hold of the animal's muzzle. It's John, heroically putting the kibosh on his departure so he can save the shrieking boychild.

Back at Kasumi Dake, Gin's had enough. He leaps down from his hiding place and bops Sniper upside the head, smacking him just far away enough to distance him from Jaguar. Smith joins Gin while the brindle scolds Sniper for his heinous deed, fully planning to follow his chiding up with an asskicking.

Smith joins in the Sniper-bashing bonanza by spitting in Sniper's face and telling him he can pull whatever bullshit he wants, he'll never overpower Ben. Hyena tries to intrude and save/stroke Sniper's ego, but Smith just chases him away, offering him a hearty whooping for his treason. Distracted by the injustice taking place, nobody notices as a bleeding Jaguar limps off.

Sniper, flustered with his failure to assassinate the canine equivalent of a 19 year old, throws himself headlong into Gin, ready to rip him to pieces. He's Too Slow, though, and Gin leaps into a nearby tree out of his reach.

A look of fear flashes in Sniper's eyes. He's not afraid of Gin killing him, but instead of his physical prowess. The Boss is also capable of vertical leaping and other anime asspulls. This convinces Sniper once and for all that Gin truly is the Boss's kid. Aight! All the more reason to kill the kid.

"Do you know why they call me Sniper?" he calls up as Gin readies to leap down. "Snipers are known for their accuracy. They never miss." Gin lunges down at the Doberman. Sniper bares his razor sharp fangs. "I never miss."

Gin realizes he's about to be assblasted by the general's teef, so he does a barrel roll in midair fast enough to dodge Sniper's fangs but not his force. He's sent backwards, colliding with a tree and having the wind knocked out of him.

As he struggles to get up, Sniper looms over him and steps on his head. Mr. S begins sadistically cooing at the young dog, promising him he'll bury Gin and Ben alongside each other when they're both dead.

But there's several episodes left for me to write, so of course Smith comes back and boots Sniper out of the way just in time to save Gin's life. A bloodied, battered Hyena follows behind Smith, but he's useless to help his boss now. Smith grabs Gin, flings him onto his back, and, with great effort, runs away. Sniper and his now worthless henchman give chase, hollering about how the two should've been more obedient to their superior. The Spaniel just bails, desperate to get away.

Perhaps too desperate, because he's unable to stop when he realizes he's run into the edge of a cliff. He screams as he and a barely lucid Gin fly over the edge, both of them dropping into the stream below. Sniper and Hyena watch wordlessly as the soldiers disappear from sight.

As the dogs duke it out, Daisuke is still cowering and John is still bear wrastling. Problem is that John overestimated himself. Without an armed human at his back, bears are like twice as hard to kill now. The shepherd tries his best to keep pace with the bear, but he's getting more and more tired by the second. He quickly begins to realize he can't save Daisuke despite his promise to Gin. His eyes sting with tears of desperation.

Just before the bear is about to abandon the puny pooch and start chomping on the child, an ominous howl is heard.

The dog, the bear, and that kid over there gaze up as a muscular, heavily scarred dog leaps to Daisuke's side. Daisuke takes one look at the dog and faints dead away, overwhelmed by all the shit that's happening.

The dog is Riki, better known to John as The Boss, and his ferocious growl and rippling dog pecs alone are enough to drive the bear out of sight. As the bear stomps off to gossip about this event, The Boss Dog turns to John.

The leader's voice drops to a mellow, low tone, and he asks why John's back here instead of with the other soldiers. If he recalls correctly, John was going to follow Ben on his cross-country trip. John snorts disdainfully and says neither Ben nor Muscles McGee here are his leader. Nobody leads someone as hardcore as John.

The Akita Killyou nods thoughtfully, irritating the edgelord before him, before asking what John plans to do now. In a moment of foolish boldness, John spits that he's going to lead the boss's pack now. The battle-worn bitchboy better ready himself, because John's about to steal his position... by force.

Elsewhere in a stream, two other dogs are doing their best to survive. Smith struggles to keep himself afloat with Gin on his back, but he's growing weak. The Spaniel inevitably succumbs to his exhaustion and begins sinking.

As the water floods his faceholes, Gin regains consciousness with a snort. He treads water for a sec and realizes his friend is underwater beneath him. "Smith!" Gin exclaims before diving in. He returns the life saving favor to Smith by yoinking him up by his collar so that his head is just above the water.

After he catches his breath, Smith confides in Gin that maybe dropping 20 feet into a raging river wasn't such a good idea. He feels battered enough that he thinks he's broken something. He urges Gin to let him go, but Gin stubbornly shakes his head no. Smith's eyes widen as a rumbling sound fills his ears. He looks further down the river and sees a wave of foam flowing over a cliff's edge. This stream leads to a waterfall!

Smith demands Gin let go and save himself, but given he's the hero of this story, Gin adamantly refuses, instead clinging to his friend. As the two reach the fall's edge, Gin turns Smith to face upward, shielding him with his body as they fall into the lake below.

Meanwhile, Riki and John stand off in earnest. The Ohu leader has agreed to battle John for rank, and he doesn't seem the least bit concerned about defending his title. This is likely because all it takes to down ole Johnny boy is a single, well-placed smack with the fangs.

As John collapses, the leader stands over him, offering to help him up onto his paws. John refuses to meet the other dog's gaze, but the boss just smiles. He tells John that he'll be keeping his position as leader, but that John is always invited to join his ranks. He'd be honored to have such a powerful spirit fighting alongside him.

John's ego is more then a little hurt, so he just snarls that what the boss and his soldiers are doing is stupid. A ragtag group of mutts cannot bring down a monster the likes of Akakabuto, and he's never going to change his mind about that.

The boss nods, but he must respectfully disagree. His power is hard to overstate - hell, he can scare bears off with a funny look. And yet he knows he couldn't kill Akakabuto alone even if he tried. He says that there's strength in numbers not when a bunch of directionless cowards join forces, but when those who are strong as individuals work together.

John's forehead crinkles before the boss offers him a bow and runs back into the woods. John is left panting beside Daisuke, who he then begins dragging back to the village.

Dusk comes and goes, bringing nighttime with it. The platoons have been waiting for the return of their soldiers, but it's been taking an awful long time for them to return. They'll never meet Moss at this rate. Chutora suggests that Hyena, Smith, and Gin have all died, to which Cross responds by cuffing him upside the head.

The two are about to squabble when Ben tells everyone to knock that shit off, he can smell blood. Everyone is suddenly alert as a stranger with a gash in his shoulder stumbles into view, collapsing not 20 feet from the pack. Everyone rushes to help him as he falls over. He meets Ben's gaze and manages to utter "Are you Ben..?" before losing consciousness.

"Oh shit," panics Akatora, "It's Moss's kid!" Everyone is taken aback. Great asks Ben if he believes Gin and Smith had attacked this guy without permission, but Ben doesn't think so. It wouldn't be like either of them to do something so rash. Akatora insists that all brindles regardless of breed will fight to the death at a moment's notice, really showing his internalized brindlephobia.

Kurotora worriedly wonders aloud if Moss has killed Gin and Smith in retribution. It would explain why they never came back. Cross tries to slow everyone's roll so they stop coming to conclusions while Ben directs the dogs to finally get in line. Whatever's happening, they need to get to the bottom of it, and they'll only do that by meeting Moss. They leave Great behind to keep an eye on Jaguar as they peel off with new purpose.

Somewhere else in the Kasumi Dake river valley, Smith awakens on the shore of the lake covered head to toe in mud. As his eyes adjust to the darkness, he realizes that Gin is sitting in front of him. He also looks like he had a deep cleanse day at the spa. Gin is overjoyed to see Smith has woken up. He says that he was worried Smith had died, to which Smith playfully tugs at his ear and assures him it'll take more then some water to do Commander Smith in.

But they can't keep horseassing around. Ben and the pack are in danger if they don't clear up this situation ayy ess ayy pee. The two scamper off to find, well, everyone.

As all this is happening, Moss and his gang have found Lloyd's body, and Moss is, to put it delicately, super fucking pissed. He's appalled at the death of his comrade and sick with worry for his son. The others try to soothe him by saying they haven't found Jaguar's body, suggesting he could still be alive, but Moss is too livid at the idea of his sweet baby boy being dead to care.

Remembering what Hyena had told him, Moss swears death on every single soldier following that bastard Ben. He tells his men to prepare for war as he shakes with rage.

The aforementioned Ben and his soldiers are continuing along when Akatora suddenly tells everyone to hol' up. The Kai Ken has just become aware of a kind of smelly smell, a smelly smell that smells... smelly. Ben's all like "Nani the fuck" when suddenly some bassy-ass voice starts screaming obscenities at them.

Up atop his glorious rocky throne stands Kasumi Dake's most beloved mobster. The dogs are in awe of just how fuckin' CHUNK Moss is as his own packmates surround him.

Moss presumes correctly that the dane at the front of the pack is Ben, and he demands to know what he's done with his son. Cross boldly screams back, demanding to know where their missing soldiers are. Moss doesn't give a response, not even the classic I Asked You First, because he's too busy shoving boulders down from his rocky recliner.

All it takes is a few hard shoves to cause a veritable rockslide, unleashing a torrent of boulders onto the Ohu dogs. Ben hollers for everyone to get out of the way, and nobody needs to be told twice.

The slower and less fortunate of the dogs are crushed like barking insects as the larger boulders collide with them. As he scurries away, Ben notices Cross about to become one of these smushed pups as she's too busy shoving others out of harm's way to notice the rocks tumbling towards her. Desperate, Ben throws himself against her with all his might, knocking her clear out of the path of destruction seconds before he himself is pummeled.

Cross and the other survivors collect their bearings before looking back on the destruction. Cross shrieks in horror at the sight she's met with: a bleeding Ben, his eyes shut and his tongue lolling from his mouth, can be seen lying in the jumbled mess of rock. She cries guiltily out to her beloved as the Kai Bros hold her back.

It's too late for the big man. Angry tears flow from her scrunched up face as Cross's wails turn into growls. That fatass on the hill WILL pay for this.

Back at base camp, Jaguar has regained consciousness, and he's having a pleasant chat with Great about how some little grey shrimp and his bossy German friend have been setting up both his dad and the Ohu dogs to fight an unnecessary war. Great is only a little surprised that the obviously evil Sniper would pull this kinda shit, but he thanks Jaguar for the info anyway.

Feeling better after being able to rest, Jaguar rises to his feet and insists the two hurry to his dad's domain. He'd feel awfully guilty if anyone were killed over this misunderstanding.

Jaguar'd better get ready to get guilted because a handful of soldiers have indeed been killtd. Several bodies can be seen poking out of holes between boulders, including the upper half of the dane in the red necklace. Given she was Ben's second in command, Cross prepares to lead the troops into battle in earnest. Moss is about to do the same, telling his men to kill everyone who wasn't crushed. The two armies of dogs collide, snapping and tearing into each other.

Cross and the Kai Bros lead the charge, though, strangely enough, Moss isn't at the forefront of his own army. Instead he's following behind them, urging them on. Cross sees red at the sight of her man's murderer and lunges at him, chomping down as hard as she can into his shoulder.

Cross is no weakling, but Moss is covered in so much visceral fat and muscle that her teeth don't even draw blood. Moss coughs out a smoker's laugh as he flips onto his side, smushing the Saluki and knocking the wind out of her. The Kai Bros call out to their new commander as Moss grabs her by the throat.

Watching from a hilltop nearby, Sniper grins cruelly at the bloodbath before him. He laughs in a most edgy way as Hyena licks his own wounds beside him, quite a bit less amused at the sight of a buncha people who trusted him getting murked.

Sniper notices Hyena's not feelin' the deadly vibe and tells him in a slippery voice that he should be happy. When Sniper's the new leader of the platoon, then the Ohu army, Hyena will be his right hand dog. Hyena forces a giggle, but truth be told starting a war between two innocent parties feels suckier then he expected it would.

The battle rages on. The Kai Bros desperately call out to Cross, but she's unable to escape Moss's gargantuan, flappy jowls. He begins to shake her like a ragdoll and she snarls in desperation and fright. All hope seems lost until the bark of a young, overpowered dog echos across the valley. The Ohu soldiers look up despite the onslaught tearing into them.

A shooting star crosses the night sky, and at the end of its trail a silver brindle akita leaps into view. Gin flings himself into the scruff of Moss's neck. Smith is following close behind, and he canonballs onto the dog that's got hold of Akatora's leg. Smith hollers for everyone to stop, they've been set up!

The Kasumi Dake pack gives pause, but Moss doesn't. He releases Cross and flings Gin off of him, snarling at the insolent kiddo. Gin tells Moss to cool it, his son Jaguar is still alive.

Gin has Moss's undivided, if disbelieving, attention now. Gin goes on to explain that it wasn't he and Smith who attacked Jaguar and Lloyd, it was this shitty dude and his henchman who the Ohu dogs had once believed to be a friend. Smith backs up Gin's account while Gin looks around wildly to find Ben and make sure he's also aware of what's gone down.

Upon realizing what Gin is doing, Cross gives a cough and hobbles over to him. She has tears in her eyes, and she's unable to articulate what she needs to say.

Gin is about to ask her what's wrong when he sees something out the corner of his eye, something red that stands out against the greys of the rocks. The red, round thing catches a sliver of moonlight. Gin gasps as he realizes what - who - it is.

It's Ben, dried blood smattering his unmoving face, the rock that downed him lying on top of his chest. Gin joins in Cross's desperate weeping. He hadn't know Ben for long, but the mountain of dog and his unceasing patience had made an impact on the kid.

Sorrow turns to rage as Gin sets his sights on vengeance. He turns to the silent crowd, demanding to know who the fuck killed his Army Dad. Moss, totally uninterested in Gin's grief, demands back for Gin to explain where his son is. Gin makes it abundantly clear that his empathy is finite as he lunges towards Moss, catching him by the waddle-like roll of skin under his chin. "I'll kill you!" the Akita screams. "I'll fucking kill you!"

Moss only responds with a laugh that rumbles through his body. He's about to mention how very kawaii it is of Gin to attack him when he suddenly finds himself flipping over. "Huh?" he manages to gasp as Gin turns the old clown upside down. Moss is so heavy that he ground around him shakes when he strikes it, and his mobsters look on in awe.

Moss laughs once more, admittedly impressed, before deciding he's done playing games. He kicks Gin's comparatively small body off of him and sends the young soldier crashing into the side of the boulder that smushed Ben.

Gin wheezes a cough as he glances over Ben's lifeless face. Gin's eyes glaze over with tears once more as he turns to Moss, promising the fat bastard that he'll kill him before the sun rises. Moss accepts the challenge, telling Gin to say that to his face not online see what happens. The two run at each other for like 2 seconds before they hear a familiar voice calling out for its father.

Great and Jaguar have successfully located the gang war. Moss immediately loses all interest in Gin, overjoyed to see his son truly is alive and well. Jaguar's shoulder is caked in thick, black shards of dry blood, but he's otherwise doing okay.

As Moss runs over to embrace his son, Jaguar mimics 2009 internet culture by confirming this whole thing was indeed a trap. And moreover that Akita kid and his friend saved Jag's life after Lloyd was killed.

Moss thanks his kid for the plot summary of the day, but he's not sure that'll end the war now. Grateful though he is for Gin's service, Moss knows that the youngin won't stop til he's avenged Ben.

Gin and Moss are about to face off again when everyone hears a weak, breathless voice. The voice tells everyone to stop, and its request is punctuated with the scraping of rock against rock. Everyone looks to the rockslide as one of the boulders shifts upwards.

The shadow underneath the rock slowly begins to rise, revealing a broad four-legged muscleman with a bloody face and a necklace of red beads. It's Ben! Looking rough but definitely alive, he rolls the boulder off of himself with a growl.

As his friends run over to him the big lug reveals his sense of humor hasn't been crushed to death either by telling Gin all his carrying on had made it impossible for him to sleep.

The Kai Bros tackle their commander as Cross cleans his face of blood. Gin admiringly gazes with tearful eyes up at Ben, and Ben smiles warmly back at him. Moss's mafioso are touched by the scene. Even Moss is a little overwhelmed by Ben's machismo.

As his companions calm down, Ben takes a step towards Moss. The dane doesn't want to be rivals. He sees all dogs as equals. His only enemy is that dickheaded bear back home. Ben bows and makes his intentions clear: he's humbly asking for Moss's assistance. Jaguar backs him up, detailing what Great told him about the Ohu army's noble cause to pummel Akakabitchboy into a much-deserved early grave.

Moss thinks this is a neat idea and all, but if he's going to be falling in line behind a buncha army boys, he's gotta make sure their leader is up to snuff even when injured. He tells Ben he'll join him if, even in this condition, he can kick Moss's ass.

Moss barrels towards Ben, and Ben makes good by doing what Moss asked. He kicks the Mastiff's ass by grabbing his neck and slamming his head into a rock. The Big Boy tumbles away, shaken by the impact.

Just as his men are about to run to his defense, he lets loose another one of his rumbly, gravely laughs. He's seen all he needs to see. Moss lifts himself up and promises Zombie Dog he and his pack's loyalty. After all, Moss is getting to be an old man. Instead of wasting his winter years lazing on rocks and farting himself awake, he'd rather die fighting for something that matters.

"We're not going there to die, Moss," Ben says to the old coot. "We're going there to fight so that we may keep living." As the verbal contract is sealed, both packs form one. The dogs celebrate their new allegiance with a chorus of howls. Gin joins the howling, forgetting about his aches and pains from a long day of getting the shit kicked out of him. As he looks to the shimmering moon above, his rich brown eyes seem to fill with stars.

Unamused by the poetry of the scene, Sniper is still watching Dogfight TV from atop the hill, except now he's pissed. Sniper isn't a decent enough person to understand how two enemies can become friends, and he's shaking with fury to see his lbr pretty simplistic plan crap out on him.

Hyena's less angry then he is ridden with anxiety. Since the Ohu dogs are still alive and have recruited new friends who hate both him and Sniper with a passion, he's expecting retribution for the whole war instigation thing. Sniper doesn't speak. He's too busy glaring at Ben, Moss, and the little silver thorn in his side to think of anything but vengeance.

Sniper throws his paws up in the air and decides he needs to disappear til the heat is off of him. As Hyena tries politely and submissively to explain that Sniper will literally never be free of the sins committed here today, Sniper snaps at him.

Hyena rolls onto his back as Sniper commands his underling to continue the ruse and rejoin the pack. Hyena wants to argue, but he wants to live as well, so he keeps his whimpering mouth shut as Sniper plods away. As soon as his silly little stub tail is out of sight, Hyena groans in worry. "Here we go again," he says to a laugh track.

After a few more minutes of screaming at the sky, the dogarmy takes off. The platoon is at least twice as large now, powerful enough to curbstomp most non-bear foes in their way. And so the group fearlessly continues their road trip, running day and night over a 48 hour period. Destination: Iga of the Mie prefecture. Goal: recruit some dogs with uber special skills. Hotel: Trivago.

The dogs quickly reach Mie. Ben mysteriously mentions a particular dog from his past being here, and everyone's automatically like YEAH ITS ASS KICKING TIME. Except hold up, Ben says this isn't the type of guy they wanna fight into submission, but rather speak with. This piques the pack's curiosity, but Ben is too busy reliving memories of past exploits to share. Instead, the Kai Bros decide they've got rumblies in their tumblies, and so it's time to kill some shit.

The three run off to beat a boar onto a metaphorical plate. They're joined by Papa Moss, a guy as big and powerful as any wild boar. The pack applauds the efforts of the deadly dwarves and generous giant as they settle in to devour the fallen piggie.

While everyone stuffs themselves silly, Cross nuzzles Ben's neck and tells him she's glad he didn't actually get curbstomped by a rock. Ben licks her head and agrees that being alive is pretty sweet. That said, if ever the platoon needed a new leader, he trusts that she'd be able to fill his shoes. She'd rather not think about it, so instead she curls up beside Ben and rests her head on his back as he enjoys his share of pork.

Just out of both sight and smell, a pair of eyes watch from the shadows as the Ohu dogs have their fill. The eyes swiftly glide across the way to notice another, much more pitiful pair of eyes focused on the same sight.

The pathetic eyes, the lids around them sagging in self-pity, belong to one anxious, hungry Hyena. He murmurs to himself that life is so unfair, wishing for all the world that he could play some Linkin Park right now.

The stranger in the bushes watches Hyena pout, though they're unable to hear him sniveling to himself about how he'll never find a way back into the ranks. They also watch as a slab of meat falls from the tree directly above Hyena, and their eyes widen. So do Hyena's, but for a different reason. He looks up at the meat's mysterious origin and sees a very strange dog on the branch above him.

The dog is of average size with a muscular build. Her coat is brown with a pale tan underbelly, and atop her scarred head is a fluttery lock of hair reminiscent of a mohawk. In a hollow, airy voice she tells Hyena that the meat is a gift for him.

Hyena spends a single moment thinking WTF The Fuck before the meat seduces him with its juicy goodness. Having had nothing to eat for like three days, Hyena makes like he hasn't eaten in three years and snags it up greedily. It smells weird, but he's too hungry to care.

As he takes his first bite, the Bizarre Tree-Dog leaps from her branch to another. She rapidly takes off and out of view by playing hopscotch in the trees. This gives Hyena a spook, so he snags the meat up and tries to scramble off before realizing that the strange dog is coming back.

This time she's not alone. She and two other dogs of the same unidentifiable breed leap down from the trees and into circle formation around Hyena. Hyena the Cowardly Dog practically pees his no-pants as they inch towards him.

While this is happening the Ohu dogs are allowing themselves to kick back for a moment. Ben figures his mysterious new ally is close, so giving everyone a second to rest ain't a bad idea.

Gin is too excited by the new sights and smells to rest, though, so instead he pokes around curiously. He hears a rustle in the bushes as if something is sneaking away, but he can't see anything. Instead, he hears a new sound just a moment later. It sounds like someone screaming, and that someone sounds like someone he's met - and disliked - before...

Hyena continues trying not to evacuate his bladder as the strange dog approaches him in earnest. She glares at him and asks if the dogs pigging out on pig over yonder are his bros. Hyena says they are, and that they'll kick the ass of anyone who dares fuck with him.

The stranger has to keep from rolling her eyes at the obvious lie as she commands Hyena to tell them this: Maya ("demon arrow") of the Koga Clan is telling them to leave this forest at once. Should they not heed this warning, the pack will face the wrath of the malevolent Koga leader.

The Kogas each do a boss-ass vertical leap into the trees. They're off again, rushing through the leaves as quick as physics will permit. As they go, Hyena finally legit pees himself and just about faints, never having been more afraid of a reminder that trespassing is impolite.

He curls into a shuddering, urine-soaked ball. This is without a doubt one of the worst days of his life. And it's about to get even worse because a dog he's never seen before has emerged silently from the bushes.

The dog isn't one of the Kogas, but instead a red, brown, and white Rough Collie. The animal has a handsome face and a rehearsed-looking gait, walking as if he's trying to impress someone. The Collie stands over Hyena while Yeenee hides his face and his literal pound of flesh. "Who are you?" is all the Collie gets out before both he and his find notice something coming towards them.

It's the Ohu pack, and they're less then happy to see Hyena has returned. Jaguar is especially pissed that the little war criminal dares to show his face again, and he's ready to smack the weenie's head in when Akatora tells him to back off. Nobody is gonna kill diddly shit without Ben giving the a-okay. That said, who is this weirdo standing beside Hyena? Did he bring the little bugger back?

Cross closes the distance between herself and The New Guy (2002) and asks where he's come from while Ben approaches Hyena. It doesn't take a dog the size of a small horse much to look intimidating, but Ben's never looked scarier then when he shows his disapproval of his former comrade.

Hyena insists that he has no clue where Sniper is now, and that he only did what he'd been told him because Sniper had threatened to kill him if he didn't. Moss tells the shivering whelp that he doesn't believe him and that it wouldn't matter if that was true anyway. Hyena was an accomplice to the murder of one of his men and the attempted murder of his only son. The little bastard can never be an Ohu soldier given what he's done.

Alongside all this in a conversation you'd expect to be had over tea instead of the future corpse of a criminal, Cross and Gin politely grill the Collie.

The fancypants's name is Wilson, and he's an old circus performer who's traveled the world. His speech is eloquent, his demeanor is goodnatured, and the dude is clearly ripped under his piles of fur, all of which convinces Gin that he'd make a fine soldier. Gin asks Cross if Wilson can join them, but she's not too sure. She asks why a performing dog is out in the middle of nowhere.

Wilson sighs and looks drearily at Gin, seemingly deep in thought. He had escaped the circus several years ago, he explains. Back then, he'd had a wife named Lean and a son named Londo. His boy was about Gin's age when he was murdered by someone Wilson refers to as The Devil Dog, a cannibalistic cultist monster who Will's owner had tried to train to be a circus dog as well.

The man had been impressed by the dog's unique appearance and flexibility, but the mongrel hadn't liked being bossed around. He mauled the ringleader, killed AND ATE Wilson's family, and escaped back to his followers in the woods. These woods.

Cross seems especially shaken by this retelling of family slaughter while Gin offers his condolences. Wilson kindly accepts Gin's pity, but he insists he doesn't need it. He plans on getting his revenge soon enough, both against The Devil Dog and another unmentioned foe of his. Gin's about to ask what other sinister being has added a hefty dose of trauma to Wilson's backstory when Hyena, weeping like a baby, comes crawling across the dirt to cling to Cross's ankle.

Cross snaps out of her empathetic stupor as Hyena begs her to convince Ben that he's deserving of forgiveness. She reacts as one would to stepping on a piece of gum and pulls her paw away, her face crinkling in disgust.

Even more desperate now, Hyena turns to Gin. Gin's reaction is more volatile then Cross's - he starts growling at Hyena as if ready to attack - so Hyena gives up on finding allies before he has a chance to beg Wilson for backup. Ben pads up to him as the grey dog trembles pitifully.

"Hyena," Ben says, his voice almost unrecognizable with hatred, "you are no longer my subordinate."

Everyone is pretty sure this is Ben's final statement before he whips out his katana and teleports behind Hyena, but he has yet to move. Ben's suddenly bombarded from all sides with suggestions. Jaguar wants to kill Hyena! No, Moss does! No, The Kai Bros do! No, Cross says Ben shouldn't do it! Great agrees, Ben's too good to kill a worm like Hyena!

A loud "Be quiet" is all it takes to silence the platoons' wild jabbering, and Ben is left standing in silence over the deserter.

A moment later and without warning, Ben snaps into action and at Hyena's neck, grabbing hold of him in his powerful jowls. Gin finds himself taken aback. Hyena's shitty, it's true, but Gin's never seen Ben looking so much like a cold, hard killer. Ben's not really gonna splatter Hyena's gutless guts all over the place, is he?

Nah. The dane instead tosses the Weimeranar into a tree, knocking a tooth or two loose and probably causing a few fractures on impact. Hyena wails about the pain he's in while Ben advances on him. Hyena's pleas fall on deaf ears as Ben snarls at him. Hyena is allowed to live... for now. But under one condition: either he brings Sniper back to the platoon to pay for his crimes, or Ben will use his particular set of skills to find and kill both the mastermind and his henchman.

Moss and Jaguar are a little pissed that their would-be life-ruiner isn't rotting in the dirt, but Ben calmly asks them to grin and bear it. It's better to take out an evil and banish his lackey then kill the lackey and lose track of the evil, yeah? The Mastiffs agree, if a bit begrudgingly.

Gin sighs in relief. Ben puts up a tough front when need be, but he wouldn't really kill Hyena. It'd be like kicking a puppy, only somehow less literally.

Before Hyena leaves, he realizes Smith is chewing on his chunk of meat. He whines about starving, so Smith taunts him over how they let him live and yet he's still unsatisfied. Gin's a little too shaken for joking around so he tells Smith to give the dweeb back his Lunchables.

Smith giggles his frat boy giggle and tosses the meat back to Hyena. Sniper's starving steward has gone back to eating when suddenly a dark shadow falls over Wilson's face.

Wilson wastes no time in leaping over the dogs in his way to reach Hyena. He demands that Hyena spit it out, what do you have in your mouth, bad dog, spit it out, drop it, spit it out I said. Just like my dog does whenever I catch him chewing something he shouldn't, Hyena tries to swallow his bounty before someone else can get his icky spit on it.

Hyena is a baka, Wilson says, because that's no regular meat. It's the flesh of another dog.

"GASP" gasps everybody in horror. Even though he only chewed the dog flesh for a second, Smith starts puking up the pork in his stomach. Hyena turns a deep shade of green and looks like he's about to follow suit. A shaken Gin tells Wilson not to joke around, but he knows the Collie isn't lying. Akatora turns accusingly towards a now puking Hyena.

The Weimaraner tries desperately to explain his innocence between mouthfuls of stomach acid. He says in a panic that he didn't know he was cannibalizing - the meat was given to him! Ben starts to regret letting Hyena live as he demands to know who would've gifted some rando a hunk of Roasted Rover when Wilson begins snarling towards the treetops. "It was them," he growls, his eyes burning with hatred. Everyone looks up.

It's the strange dogs from before, the ones with the fauxhawks. Maya gazes down at the confused canines. Then she and her compadres disappear up into the leaves. Determined to get to the bottom of this, Gin superjumps after them, discovering they've swooced just out of view. This catches the dogs off guard, and they begin leaping from branch to branch to get away. Gin's experience in neighborhood parkour comes in handy and allows him to effortlessly keep pace with them.

The rest of the pack follows on foot, trying to keep pace with the flying squirrels/dogs above. Gin's convinced he's almost caught up to the cannibalistic coterie when one of their unseen comrades leaps down on him from above. The dog rabbit kicks Gin in the middle of his back, effectively knocking him from the air and into the dirt. The pack doubles back to make sure Gin hasn't acquired any especially nasty booboos. Gin's alright, but now the squirrel dogs are gone.

As everyone begins discussing what to do next, Ben verbalizes his internal monologue for the audience's sake. Those dogs were 100% ninjas, or at least trained in the art of ninja-ing, which means they must be part of his target's pack. Wilson asks who Ben's looking for, to which Ben replies he came here to find Iga's Akame ("red eye").

Great interjects and, as kindly as one can, accuses Ben of pursuing a cannibal in the hopes of making him a soldier, but Ben assures everyone he wouldn't be looking to add dog-chompers to their ranks. Either Akame's changed since Ben last met him or something weird is going on.

Gin tries to imagine what this Akame could be like. He'd earned Ben's trust somehow, but if his namesake and this recent experience are to be considered, maybe Akame is a red-eyed tyrant who eats other dogs. Gin imagines a bestial dog with a mohawk and two bloodshot eyes leaping from the trees and descending on other dogs, eating them alive.

But there's no time to keep spooking himself because Ben has instructed everyone to get moving. It's time to figure out what the hell is going on.

The pack continues their trek. Instead of shinobi dogs, though, they mostly just find a buncha trees and rocks. Some soldiers are becoming so impatient they're wondering if it's time to interrogate the surrounding foliage when Gin picks up a weird scent. The smell is unpleasant, metallic, and strangely organic. He pursues the smell to find...

The bloodied corpse of a Kishu Inu being chomped on by the ninja dogs AAAAAAAAAA!!! Beside himself with disgust, Gin accidentally gasps a bit too dramatically, and the cannibals turn to face him. Gin snarls and dives towards them. As Ben and Cross come to see what the commotion's about, they see Gin has already launched into a lecture about how these are some very, very bad doggies. Shame on them! Naughty naughty!

"Fuck off, kid," is all one of the Kogas manages to say before the rest of the packup comes in as backup. Wilson meets eyes with of one of the Kogas, his gaze filled with hate. The shinobi smirks, well aware of who Wilson is. As this staring contest takes place, Ben asks the ninja dogs to tell him if they know Akame.

The smug asshole gazing at Wilson thinks fast, saying, "Sure we do. He's our leader. He overthrew Master Kurojaki ("black devil") a while back. We're just following his orders. Ain't that right, guys?"

The Koga looks back over his shoulder at his crew and gives them a slippery smile. The dogs rub their two braincells together long enough to realize what he's doing and they grin back, nodding. They punctuate their unreliable narration by telling the soldiers to leave before bounding away into the trees.

Gin is about to follow them when Ben croaks out that there's no point. Gin follows orders and joins the others in looking to Ben for guidance.

Ben is looking mournfully down at the broken white body before them. The dog is indeed dead. He's covered with bite marks, his innards poking through deep gashes, his fur stained with thick patches of blood. Ben remarks that he's ashamed of having brought everyone here to ask for a cannibal's help, but they must stop this treachery before they can continue their mission. Likewise, they should do a body good and bury the poor sucker. It's the least they can do to make up for the tragedy.

Smith and the Kai Bros begin to drag the dog away so as to lay him to a more dignified rest. As they do, another much more alive white dog watches from the trees above.

He looks very much like the other dog, likely because he is also a Kishu Inu. He gives pause as he sees the Ohu soldiers drag the other whitey away. He mutters to himself about how he's never seen these guys before and that it's probably safe to assume that anyone holding a dead guy is evil. Could they be working with the cultists? The dog's not sure, but he hurries off regardless.

Deeper in the forest, a monument to a forgotten era, a dilapidated human house, stands tall. It's the Kishu's destination, and he leaps to it swiftly. He calls out to his Chief from outside the long abandoned building. "Kirikaze?" a measured voice greets him. "Come in."

Kirikaze ("misty wind") bounds in and immediately begins detailing what he's seen: there's a buncha new kids on the block, a whole assload of them, and after he saw Goody Proctor dancing with the devil, he saw said pack with their doglips fastened around the legs of a fallen comrade. He suggests that the pack may have killed the poor little white guy because they're in cahoots with the cult.

The measured voice calls down to Kirikaze from the rafters of the house. The dog it's attached to tells Kirikaze to gather the others, they've got a homestead to protect. If these n00bz truly are a threat then they must be eradicated. As he lays out his plan, the speaker turns his head into a sliver of sunlight. He's a magnificent white Kishu, paler then any of the others. He squints in the ray of light, his purplish-red eyes glistening thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, the fallen fair-furred friend has been buried in a shallow but otherwise decent grave. Ben bows his head over the distended dirt covering the dog and whispers a prayer. Gin, as if reading his mind, asks who Akame was and why Ben wanted to enlist him. Moss chimes in and says that he's not all for blindly following Ben into a cannibal's lair. Ben decides it's time to stop being so ~*~mysterious~*~ and comes clean with a flashback.

Back when Ben was still a hunting dog, the Kai Bros weren't the only dogs his owner nursed back to health. You see, Ben and his master were out playing Rooty Tooty Point-n-Shooty in the woods when they saw a white animal leaping from tree to tree.

Ben's master had thought the creature was a squirrel, so he'd shot at it and hit it. The man and his dane had approached it and found it to be not a squirrel but a Kishu Inu. The dog was a stark white, whiter then any other animal Ben had ever seen. The albinistic dog had been shot in the leg, and he'd looked at Ben as if pleading for sympathy.

Despite the dog clearly being feral, Ben's master took him home to heal him and raise him as a hunter. It's not every day you see a canine leaping through the trees, so the man was pretty determined to keep the albino no matter how much the dog snarled and hid in back of his prison, a tall, wire pen with a sturdy roof. It took a while for his leg to heal up, but within that time the dog - obviously named Akame - confided in Ben and became his friend.

Akame didn't like the idea of working for The Man (either the individual or the sociopolitical concept), and he especially didn't like the idea of being a house pet while his pack languished in the woods. Without his guidance the other Kishu ninjas would be at a loss for what to do.

Ben was hard pressed to believe this random guy was a ninja solely because he could jump super good, but when Akame stated that his wife had had a litter before he'd left and he'd never gotten to see his children, Ben's heart melted like the cheeseball it is.

Ben had looked deep into the pleading dog's pigmentless, pinkish eyes and decided he wasn't going to orphan any of his puppies. He broke Akame out and escorted him back to the forest. That had been several years ago, and now, if the cannibals were to be believed, Akame was leading a band of murderers.

Ben gives a weak chuckle and wonders aloud if the mohawk dudes were Akame's sons and daughters. Cross looks like she's about to soothe him when Moss interjects that it's cool, man, everyone makes mistakes. It's not Ben's fault his good nature was taken advantage of, not so long as he's willing to put an end to this volatile tomfoolery.

Ben nods, his determination returning to him, and he and the others get back to their favorite activity: running towards an undefined location. But holy canolli, what's this? A gust of wind blows past the pack's noses, sending the eternally intimidating scent of strangers whooshing through their sinuses.

Everyone looks around but they're unable to see where the smell is coming from. All except protagonist Gin, obviously, who is the first to look up. He makes a weird noise in the back of his throat, alerting everyone else to look too.

A barrage of Kishu Inus jump down on top of them, each hollering curses and victorious announcements of triumph over evil or some shit. One of the Kishus screams about Kogas, only confusing everyone further. One of the dogs announces the ninjas' attack move like this is some kinda anime. "Raikaken!" ("thunder blossom blade") she shouts as the wave of white engulfs the army.

The white dogs dip in only once, tooth-smacking every face and ass they can reach. Then they all leap back into the branches before anyone has time to understand what just happened. Flustered, Gin jumps into the trees and calls after them to put up their dukes. Ben instructs everyone else to follow on foot again and the chase begins. Gin calls down to the soldiers periodically to make sure they're following behind.

Watching from a short distance away is an excited mass of Koga dogs. Maya has lead them there to enjoy the show, and she's brought her hubby with her.

The man himself is a unique specimen indeed: the Koga leader is a touch taller then his comrades. He's got a torn left ear and a dark coat of brindle merle. Just between his front paws sits a toddler-age puppy who is clearly his own, the child bearing the same unique markings. The Koga leader grins in amusement, pleased that his cult can kick back and watch as innocents fight their battle for them.

Meanwhile, despite his efforts, Gin is falling behind the Igas. They manage to hurry out of his range of sight and smell, and so he comes to a frustrated stop. As his sides heave with exertion he calls down to Ben that he's lost the lil buggers. Gin leaps down to rejoin the group and explains that he doesn't know what happened, dude, they just up and disappeared.

Smith's face crunches up stoically. He announces that he's not willing to let this go so anticlimactically before he begins sniffing around. The others watch as he takes major nose-hits from the ground and then pauses. He points instinctively at a patch of dirt for a moment before remembering himself and setting to digging. Within moments he manages to unearth something peculiar: one of the Kishus!

The white dude's head is the only part of him exposed, and he's unmoving. "Is he dead?" someone asks. There's a small wave of shrugs. The group quickly assumes the corpse was buried by the cannibals to serve as a midnight snack and they begin to walk away.

Gin follows behind, but he notices Smith hasn't left the presumed cadaver's side. Smith murmurs something about the holedog not smelling dead when one of the "corpse's" eyes opens! The dog snarls viciously and grabs Smith by the collar. As Smith screams and the soldiers double back, the Spaniel is yoinked into the hole and out of sight.

Gin reaches the hole first and notices that it's not just a hole. It's a tunnel, and both the Kishu and Smith have disappeared into it. He tries to leap in and follow, but Ben pulls him out of it by his curly-cue tail.

Gin's insolent about the ass portion of his spine being used as a handle when there's a comrade who needs saving, but Ben says it'd be too risky to follow after them. They're fuckin' NINJAS, my guy, this is clearly a trick they've set up for intruders.

Cross wonders aloud where the tunnel may lead and Ben surveys the area. It takes him all of 3 seconds to realize that oh my goodness there's a house like 50 feet away.

Ben is instantly certain that the ninja bastards live there given no human came out screaming about the massive pack of feral dogs. No doubt the tunnel leads to that building, and that to get to the bottom of this mess the pack will have to go there. They'll have to surround the building's perimeter and then launch an attack.

That said, Ben's a little wary of leaving the tunnel unguarded. Given he previously had his opportunity to go spelunking taken from him, Gin jumps at the chance to explore some hole. Ben tells Gin that he's to WATCH the tunnel, not explore it, as he could be attacked by the ninjas.

Gin pouts as the other dogs go to surround the house, but he still chirps a "Good luck" to them as they take off. As soon as everyone else is gone, Gin gathers all his bravery (and insolence) and dives into the tunnel, still determined to find his friend.

Inside the dirt tube, Gin realizes the Kishus' squirrel-tier leaps are only matched by their gopher-tier digging abilities; the tunnel widens substantially, and it's impressively long. On the other side of it, the dog who 'napped Smith drags him out and under the house.

It doesn't take the dog more then a second and a whiff with his powerful schnoz to realize Gin, in all his smelly post-pubescent glory, is following him. He just shakes his head and makes a brief trek out to a scrape connected to the tunnel. The scrape dips into the lake beside the house, and with one swift motion the dog lifts the single wooden board separating the water from the dig-out.

The water goes roaring down the secret tunnel, which Gin can hear despite not knowing the context. Gin was just thinking that this was all too easy before looking up and reading the above paragraph. Just then, a torrent of water comes wooshing down towards him, flooding the tunnel and knocking him back with the force of a thousand spitting goldfish. He can only manage to cough out a swear before he's carried away.

The other soldiers have taken this time to organize themselves into a nifty little formation around the house, but they come to realize that nobody knows where the littlest recruit is. Cross tells Ben that when she went back to the tunnel to check on Gin he was nowhere to be seen.

Ben's certain the kid has gone down the hole against orders, but there's no time to be upset. Wilson says there's precious little time to save Smith. If Akame really is cannibal chief, he won't keep his men from their next meal for long. Despite his reinvigorated concern for his friend and fellow commander, Ben is wary of leaping into action too suddenly.

Inside the house, Smith is lying unconscious on the floor. Something that feels like another dog's paw (3 guesses as to what it is) touches his face. He slowly opens his eyes.

As the world comes back into focus, he lets out a high-pitched yelp. He's surrounded on all sides by stark white dogs, each one eyeing him harshly. One of them approaches him and he responds by screaming and running into a corner.

Smith starts wailing about how they shouldn't eat him because black and white dogs taste like ass and cause explosive diarrhea when another Kishu, one that was just out of sight, leaps from the rafters right down beside him.

Smith falls into a heap as the newer new guy looms over him. This guy is even paler then the rest; his fur is so pale it seems almost translucent at the edges. The other dogs are clearly annoyed at Smith's bellyaching but this guy just stares at him with expressionless red eyes.

"You're a Western breed, aren't you?" asks the super-white dog, finally breaking the silence. "I've never seen a dog like you before. What are you doing out here?"

Smith chokes out something about traveling to which the dog responds by asking why he and his friends are in this neck of the woods. Smith says that he and his buds are trying to recruit soldiers, which, judging by the super-white dog's reaction, was the wrong thing to say. The Kishu says that Smith's clearly with the Kogas. Smith barely knows how he got here, let alone where this conversation is taking them, so he tries to flee once more.

The neon white dog grabs him firmly by the scruff as he runs past, then slings him back into the corner. As Smith's noggin grows a goose-egg, one of the Kishus leans towards the super-white guy, their obvious leader, and informs him that she and the others are pretty sure that the "soldiers" are outside the manor, no doubt ready to overtake it at any moment.

Neon White tells his pack to ambush the dogs from out the tunnel while he interrogates the hostage. All but the leader depart, leaving a confounded Smith looking on.

The dogs do indeed travel through the flooded tunnel. The gaping Earth-hole is only tall enough to allow for a small air pocket above their heads, so they're mostly submerged. While passing through their underwater subway system, the dogs see the floating, motionless body of a young brindle Akita. Several of their faces crumple at the sight, probably thinking about how war is hell and stuff, before they leave the body behind.

But hey, I'll let you in on a secret: ITS GIN AND HE ISNT DEAD WHODA THUNK. He's just playing aquatic possum while taking tiny, secret gulps of air. He waits until the last of the dogs has swum past before grabbing onto the end of his tail.

The dog seems surprised and he makes like he wants to turn around and face Gin, but there's not enough space to turn back. Gin has hitched a ride out, but he'll no doubt have to contend with the bastards as soon as they leave the tunnel.

Meanwhile, the Ohu dogs have come to the conclusion that Gin and Smith are super, hella dead by now, or at the very least imprisoned, and this stake out has gone on long enough.

Given the commander’s absence, Ben assigns Cross to Smith's place. Then he starts directing everyone on how best to ransack the house. With a nod and an oddly poignant "GO!", the dawgies leap into action, all of them galloping at full speed towards the building.

The Kishus are well prepared for times like these. Several pits in the ground containing live warriors open beneath the approaching hoard's feet, ninjas leaping up from within to snag onto some unfortunate underbellies. Others leap down and out of the trees, cracking skulls with their powerful bites.

Lucky for the Ohu dogs these attacks only slow them down, not defeat them. Ben continues to lead the hoard until it's formed a ring-around-the-rosie of running troops around the house.

But before the soldiers can literally come full circle, Ben yelps in pain and unromantically tumbles head over heels. One by one the other dogs succumb to the same fate, each stumbling blindly and then rolling over. A chorus of pained, confused whimpers rises up as Smith and the lead Kishu exit the house.

Smith calls out to his friends, but the super-white guy stops him, telling him not to take another step unless he too wants to be skewered.

Turns out the ground has been littered with Hishi seeds. Hishi plants are a water grass with distinctly sharp, spiky seeds, and the pack has managed to slice their paws on tons of them. Tens of little doggy footses bleed into the dirt as Smith watches helplessly.

Akatora says that a few seeds shouldn't be enough to down an army, but he feels... like ass. Like, totally sick, and not in a good way. The Kishu nods and explains that, btw, the spikes have been poisoned. A death by poisoning is a deserved one for a bunch of cannibal cultists (which is my band name now, don't steal).

Ben realizes who this dog is and pipes up. "Akame? Is that you? Have you gone mad?" The Kishu's reddish eyes widen in recognition. His eyes dart to the red bead collar around the dane's neck. "Ben?" he says while approaching the commander. "What are you doing here? Why are you helping the Kogas?"

Ben counters by asking why Akame's leading a hoard of cannibals and suddenly everyone understands that a particular plot element has been reused. The good guys have been double crossed once again!

Akame apologetically explains to everyone but the audience that the Igas thought the Ohu soldiers were allied with the Koga cult to aid in their evil plan. That plan being, of course, to slaughter the remaining Iga warriors and overtake their manor. Before he can truly grasp all of this, Ben's stomach starts benchpressing his other organs and he rolls over in pain.

Akame tells everyone not to move, else the poison will spread faster. He sees his own dogs are coming to see what the deal is and barks at them to bring the antidote. One of the dogs, soaking wet, trots up, looking especially annoyed.

Before they go to get the meds, the most annoyed dog swings his curly tail as an exhausted Gin finally lets it go. Gin sputters out water and the Ohu soldiers perk up at the sight of him. Unfortunately, all of them are getting gutpunched from the inside, so they don't have the strength to go meet him.

Ben saves Gin's silver ass by explaining that he's with them. The Igas seem confused that Gin's not a Koga ally. Just then, the wind picks up and blows a now-familiar stink into everyone's noses. A white projectile falls from the trees and smacks one of the Igas in the head. It lands on the ground with an Icky Thump by The White Stripes, allowing everyone to see what it is: the severed head of a Kishu Inu!

Everyone who is able to lifts their heads to the treetops which seems to be the new entry point for all characters. One of the forest's largest trees is covered in the silhouettes of tens of mohawked dogs. On the highest branch stands the leader of the Kogas. Wilson's eyes widen and he squeaks out "It's him... The Devil Dog."

The Devil Dog laughs as Akame utters a SEETHING "Kurojaki." The merle brindle laughs gutterally, congratulating the Igas on their new feat in stupidity. These new guys here? They were innocent the whole time, duh! And their arrival worked out well to distract the Igas while the Kogas formed a new plan of attack. Now the filthy nonbelievers will be destroyed, and their ancient master's home will become the new domain of the glorious Koga clan.

It's only now that Gin realizes the Kogas outnumber the Igas pretty badly. Kurojaki instructs his soldiers to attack the enemy. The cannibals launch themselves tooth-first towards their foes. Kurojaki takes one look at Akame, smiles, and then disappears up into the tree.

Akame knows that the bastard isn't running away, he's just going to go and retrieve his secret weapon. He tells his men to defend themselves, the soldiers, and the manor while he pursues Kurojaki. The albino scrambles away while the others, Gin included, fight on.

Gin tears into the nearest Koga when he notices that one of the Igas, the youngest one, is scared to do the same. The dude seems inexperienced and afraid, not like the other warriors. One of the Igas calls out to him, scolding his little brother Hayato for being such a puss.

To demonstrate how hardcore ninjas have to be, Hayato's ubermasc big bro drags his Koga of choice back into the flooded tunnel, no doubt intending to drown both the brown dog and himself. Hayato cries out to his unnamed sibling, blubbering about how he wishes their father were here to help them. Jinnai, one of the Igas present, tells Hayato to dog up - Akame can't hold their hands forever, and they cannot shame their pops by showing weakness.

Hayato's eyes fill with tears and so do Gin's. Gin has an Epic Bruh Moment and realizes that the Igas are the children that Ben had freed Akame for, and in turn the albino has raised them to defend their home at any cost.

Gin can't help but think of Riki standing on the mountaintop, gazing down at Gin and commanding him into life-or-death battles alongside the other dogs. Would he change his mind if he knew Gin was his son? Hell, what if he DID know and just didn't feel like treating Gin differently? Gin is knocked out of his stupor as the Koga he's fighting kicks him in the face and runs away.

Gin's mind is elsewhere, though, so he hardly notices. Instead, he decides to help poor Hayato. Hayato's actually doing alright at holding his own and it's probably because he's gotten super pissed at his brother's death.

The idea of the day is #diekogascum, so Hayato allows his opponent to chase him to a strange looking plot of grass. Gin squints at the ground for a moment before looking horrified. Before he can tell Hayato to stop, the Kishu plays Follow The Leader with the Koga over the plot. The strange foliage turns out to be debris covering a pit trap. Both Hayato and his adversary scream in agony as they fall into it.

Gin runs over to see what's become of them. He gasps at the sight. Both Hayato and the Koga are dead. The hole is surprisingly wide, and it's filled to the brim with spikes worn to points. Both lifeless bodies slide wetly down the stakes, each leaving some of their guts strung up behind them.

Disgusted by the gruesomely skewered corpses, Gin gallops back to the others. That tears it, by gum. These Kogas are fucking WAY too much shit up, and the only way to stop this madness is to boot them into next Wednesday.

The Kogas are kinda swaying that way too because they've realized the Igas are willing to wipe themselves out so long as they can take some cannibals with them. Despite their greater numbers the Kogas have weaker spirits, and they really don't wanna be kabobbed to death today. The mohawked murderers leap back into the trees with Gin following right behind them.

This time they can't escape Gin's righteous anger as he snags one by the hind leg. Turns out it's Maya, and despite her skillz, she's no match for Gin's moralistic tantrum. He downs her in an instant, sending the two of them crashing to the forest floor.

Maya's got a nasty gash on her face now. Rivulets of blood pool beside her cheek as she lays unmoving. She weakly looks up at Gin and manages to gasp out a question: what the fuck? Also, is Gin one of the shinobis? Gin shakes his head and proudly introduces himself as a bearhound, but it ends up being pointless ego stroking because Maya loses consciousness.

An impressed Akame descends from the trees. He tells his men that Kurojaki has gone back to the Koga marshlands, probably to retrieve his scythe. Gin doesn't know what a scythe is, so he just asks Akame what they should do next.

After Akame explains the need for antidote to the youngster he apologizes for harming Gin's friends. Luckily, as the epic pwnage was taking place, some of the Kishus scraped together some rainy day herbs to cure the Ohu dogs' ailment. Unluckily there wasn't enough for everybody. Ben in particular ain't doin' so hot. He's refused to take even the smallest bite of antidote before all his men are cured.

Akame insists that they need more of The Cure (years active: 1978-present) asap and Gin is totally on board to gather some. There's just one itty bitty issue: the plantidote is a water root that grows exclusively on the perimeter of the Koga's wetland territory. Kurojaki and the Dogchompers will be on high alert given the preceding events, so it'll be an especially dangerous mission. This doesn't sway Gin at all, though he is a little worried at the possibility of a scythe being a machine gun.

The other Kishus here, Jinnai and Kirikaze, elect to also come with. And so he four go on the most nerve wracking field trip ever conceived. As they venture forth, Maya picks herself up off the ground, taking advantage of having been forgotten in all the excitement. Despite her flesh wound, a nasty grin spreads across her face. This is too perfect - the leader of the Igas is wandering right into her hubby's domain. She gives her body a rough shake before she stumbles back to the marsh.

While everyone else is running to the swamp, the Ohu dogs are taking their medicine. Smith is the only one well enough to dole out rations and he's having a heck of a time convincing Ben to take his meds. In fact, he isn't making any progress at all, as Ben just bats anything he's given away with a trembling paw. Ben insists in that fatherly tone of his that Smith feed all of the others instead.

Cross, the Kai Bros, and Wilson all try to share their herbs with him, but even as he grows too weak to speak he continues refusing everything he's offered. A single tear rolls down Cross's cheek as Ben's mouth whitens with foam. He meets her tearful gaze as his bloodshot eyes glaze over.

The sun begins to set on this long, dreary day. But hope may be on the horizon yet. Akame and his crew have entered the Koga domain undetected and have located the antidote! They each dive into the pond and yank the roots up, snagging as many plants as they can carry. Gin smiles in relief only to realize that the worst is yet to come. He and the Igas look on around the pond's edge.

The Kogas have soundlessly surrounded our hapless heros. An ugly, crackling laugh taunts them as Kurojaki steps out of the shadows. A bloody-faced Maya stands smugly by his side. Their infant son stands between daddy's front paws and meets Gin's eyes with an innocent, oblivious stare. Kurojaki takes a moment to survey the invaders in the lake. Between his jaws he grasps a sharp, sweeping blade.

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Thank you to everyone who waited patiently for this episode! We’re at the point where some of the biggest diversions from canon will start cropping up, so hopefully they’re enjoyable. And holy SHIT they keep getting LONGER

Episode 5: The Beasts

#ginga #ginga nagareboshi gin #silver fang #hopeanuoli #yoshihiro takahashi #ginga words #rewrite #fanfic

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rising-superstars · 4 years

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The Children of Virtue & Vice - Aveline Chapter 2: A Small Price To Pay?

“Another day, another job.” That’s what Aveline thought to herself, dressing herself in her normal mercenary clothing of sleeveless red and black cotton shirt with black denim pants, a red scarf covering her mouth and nose, large black boots, and red coat. Looking at her armaments, she grabbed some throwing knives, a decently long dagger, and her collapsible staff. Touching the bronze-colored weapon, she thought about the offer her mother made. Now it made sense why this was bronze and why she received it as a gift from her mother. Sure, she was capable at leading small groups of her fellow bandits and a proficient enough fighter, but leading a whole camp of these people? She really couldn’t see herself doing this kind of thing.

After this job, she’ll have to tell her mother that she is declining the offer. It won’t be easy, but it’s for the best. At least, she thought so.

“So as it turns out, Jessie cannot lead this group as she has come down with a sickness. She will be fine, but she’s in no condition to do any kind of possible fighting or leading.” Caida stopped speaking for a moment and held her hand up to prevent anyone else from speaking, keeping the silence for just a moment, non-verbally asking everyone to listen closely. In a nearby tent, the sound of vomiting could be heard, which was followed by the various bandits in this group making affirmative noises and nodding.

“Hali, Spi, Grant, Aveline, are all four of you ready to go?” All four young people stood at attention, not a single one of them under-dressed or unprepared for this job. “In case you have forgotten, we’re securing a collection of books that are said to fetch a very high price, not to mention the knowledge within could prove to be even more valuable. I asked that you get an assortment of weapons because we may not be alone in this venture. If no one has any objections, then let us be on our way.”

With nothing said between all four of them, the small group went on their way. The target was deeper in the forests they were situated in, hidden in what was described as a temple from the old world, Mors. It took an hour of walking before coming across a large, abandoned log cabin, now green with moss and overgrowth that had taken over. After a long enough time with no inhabitants and enough vegetation taking over a building, it becomes colloquially known as a temple regardless of original intention. The glass windows were cracked or completely broken and a few skeletal corpses were strewn about the “porch.”

Before entering the general area, Caida gave an order to halt and hide in some of the nearby bushes. She pointed to the east, showing that they were not the first to get here. A rival bandit group, clad in various colors and carrying bows and quivers were approaching the cabin, some of them surrounded the area with bows trained at the cabin, as if they were anticipating them.

“Alright, seems like a direct approach won’t be possible. Hali?” The short, young girl with dark red hair tied in twintails and a short sword turned to face her boss. “Can you incapacitate them?” Hali only nodded before jumping from the bush and quickly climbing up the tree with little noise. “Spi and Grant, if she can’t get the job done or gets discovered, I’ll need you to act as distraction. Spi I trust you can take a few out yourself. Grant, if you have some trouble, don’t do anything other than tie them up.” Both mercenaries nodded, turning their attention to the scene.

A few moments later, almost like a breeze, one of the bowmen was quickly incapacitated, silently apart from the quiet sound of blade slashing flesh. Hali turned her attention to the other archers, only 2 left. Jumping back into the tree, she quickly performed another kill, though this time it wasn’t silent as she was discovered as she fell down to attack, her target letting out a yell before being killed.

“Shit! Okay, go, go!” Quickly taking off their jackets that showed their allegiance to Sombra Roja, both young adults stood from the bush trying to draw the attention of the man in front of the cabin.. “Hey hey hey! Hold on a second!” Grant wasn’t the best with drawing attention, but he was willing to try. “What’s going on here? I leave for a few minutes to try and scavenge some parts for my weapons and hunt for dinner for my girlfriend here and our home is besieged by some savages with no understanding of the concept of--”

Grant’s bluff was called very quickly by an arrow grazing his face, leaving a small cut on his cheek. “......manners?”

“Don’t lie to us, we know that there’s something here. No temple this old could ever house some random people, especially in the middle of nowhere. Whatever’s in here, we’re taking it, and you can march back to where you came from or you can die here--”

Their adversary’s words were cut off as the sound of the third and final perimeter archer being taken out echoed in the area. He looked over to see what happened and that gave Grant ample time to drop the steel chain hidden in his shirt sleeve and strike the bandit like it was a whip. Acting as one last distraction, Spi took over the encounter and grabbed their opponent by the collar, throwing him to the ground onto his back and stomping on his chest. This wasn’t enough force to kill him, but he was knocked unconscious. Both Spi and Grant gave the signal that the coast was clear to both Hali and the two in the bush. As they approached, the two had a quick chuckle to themselves.

“Girlfriend, huh?”

“It was either that or sister, and you and I both know they wouldn’t believe that. But they didn’t believe girlfriend either, so......”

The five of them coming together checked to make sure if anyone was injured. Grant only suffered a cut to his cheek which was quickly bandaged while Hali was covered in blood that wasn’t her own, but still not a scratch on her.

“Very good job, but we’re not done yet. There are still two inside, me and Aveline will take them out. If reinforcements come, give the signal and we’ll come running out”

All four young people nodded as the two family members entered the building, tightening the coverings over their noses and mouths so as to not give away their position with a cough or sneeze. They looked around this abandoned home, looking at the ancient technology and furniture that has old corpses still dressed in clothing, almost like they didn’t expect to be dying when they did. There were skeletal corpses of men, women, and children inside. Aveline only let out a small sigh, feeling bad about seeing so much death, even if it was centuries ago. Caida only placed a hand on her shoulder and a gentle rub. This was something that she had perfected doing when it came to cheering up Aveline and like a Pavlovian response, Aveline was no longer plagued by feelings of sorrow for lives lost long ago.

The floor creaked with footsteps that weren’t their and the both of them hid away, waiting for whoever was inside to show up. Those footsteps belonged to the last two bandits, trying to leave with their findings. Having spotted which was was holding the books, both Aveline and Caida knew how to take them out. Caida leapt forward and placed her hand over the mouth of the one carrying the books, quickly snapping his neck and hearing the books fall to the ground. At the same time, Aveline pulled out her dagger and covered the mouth of the other bandit, plunging the blade into his chest. There was a moment of struggling before his body became limp, allowing Aveline to slit his throat for good measure.

After seeing that the last of their competition was eliminated, both Caida and Aveline let out long sighs of relief before Caida bent over to grab the books. Gently combing through them, she could tell from the subject matter that this was ancient literature, probably worth a good 500-700 Domi for each book. Especially with how they were hardcover and not badly damaged by anything other than time. As she looked through the pages, Caida hummed to Aveline. “Just like basic training, huh, my dear?”

“You said it. These guys were no trouble. In fact, for a treasure worth this much, they really didn’t have much in the way of people trying to stop us. It’s al......almost like......” Aveline’s expression went from calm to one of horror, turning to her mother. “We have to leave. This is an ambush.”

Kicking the door down and walking back outside, Aveline spoke to her companions with frantic yells. “It’s an ambush, we have to go!” Once the facade was broken, a dozen archers stepped forward from behind some trees and began to fire in their direction. Spi and Grant quickly ran off with Spi carrying the young man over her shoulder like a bad of potatoes. Hali quickly climbed up a tree and jumped form branch to branch with no trouble. Aveline turned to her mother, a panicked look in her eyes as she saw Caida on the ground, clutching her ankle in pain.

As all the bows were drawn and aimed at the older woman, Aveline jumped to defend Caida from all attacks. With a sharp inhale, Aveline drew the staff from her pocket, letting it magnetize and come together to form the weapon. With an even sharper exhale, her body became enveloped in a deep red aura. Her Vice, as she called it, activated and it’s ability was clear as she felt the arrows hit her body.

One after another, they fell to the ground after making contact, like they suddenly lost all momentum and couldn’t even piece a sheet of paper. As the archers began to fire again, Aveline began to spin her staff, now blocking the arrows that somehow didn’t hit her body. Caida was completely protected from this attack and she would have escaped had it not been for the majestic sight of her adopted daughter protecting her the way she was.

This moment of awe was followed by a singular archer, who had snuck away from the others, drawing an arrow and shooting it at Caida right in the back. The attack was met with a loud cry of pain and Aveline felt her heart sink, her staff immediately collapsing and being shoved back into her pocket. Once she saw the lone bowman, Aveline took a throwing knife from her pouch and threw it at him, taking him out.

Bending down and picking up her mother, she began to run away from the ambush, doing her best to try and outrun 12 archers while also feeling her vision being blurred with tears in her eyes. By hiding under a broken, aged bridge over a river, Aveline caught her breath, looking to her mother with tears in her eyes. “Oh, mother....”

“R-Relax, I’ve taken much worse hits.” Caida’s laugh was dry and quiet. “They missed all the vital parts except one. I’m not dying today, but I’m not walking. Can’t feel my legs at all.”

“A-And we didn’t even take the books. This mission was a complete failure, I’m so sorry......” Aveline was nearly inconsolable, crying and muffling her sobs with her scarf. The feeling of Caida’s hand on her shoulder got her to look at her mother, a cheeky smile on the aged warrior’s face.

“Guess again.” Opening her coat, Caida revealed that she had still the books with her. “Even if I can’t walk, I’m not letting my last mission end in failure.”

“Oh, mother......you can be so stupid sometimes......” Aveline pulled Caida close, embracing her now-paraplegic mother in her arms, letting this moment of melancholy wash over her. This was a pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless.

#Virtue and Vice #ic: aveline #out of stars #a long and sad one

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isolaradiale · 5 years

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FANTASIA QUEST BOARD

Within the main cities of every kingdom a single board was erected in the respective city squares. Upon it rest a number of quests to undertake for profit and for glory.

Wh--? QUESTS Y’ALL!

Are quests mandatory for the event? Not at all! These are just for if you’re looking for something a little extra to do, or if you’re interested in any of the reward offerings.

How do I cash in on my quest reward? Contact the galaxy blog with the quest name and a link to the thread in question. We recommend giving any posts related to the quest a unique tag. To qualify for the reward your thread must meet the following requirements:

you must write out completing the given task

if writing as a thread you must have at least four posts each of at least 150 words per reply

if writing solo as a drabble, the drabble must be at least 500 words

the quest must be completed without using powers that would make completing it too easy (ie. one shot kill abilities during a monster hunting quest or item detection abilities during treasure hunting quests)

How long do we have to complete these quests? There will be a two week period following the event’s end for you to finish any quest threads. However all of the starters must be made before the event’s part 2 formal end date.

Can I take as many quests as I want? No. A single character can take up to three quests but no more than that.

YELA ALORA

A MOSS-T DANGEROUS TASK | 20,000 DUST The local apothecary has run out of chordamoss, a type of moss that grows on the backs of the large gators in the swamps. The gators are too hostile for the apothecary herself to gather it, so that’s where you come in! One bucket of chordamoss should be enough.

A REALLY GOOD BOOK IS BETTER THAN EVERYTHING | MAP OF THE KINGDOMS There’s a rumor that there’s this really good book in the Unholy’s territory and it’s being kept guarded by one of them. One of the scholars really wants it for their collection and is willing to give a reward to anyone. Your reputation with the Unholy will probably decrease a lot, but if you’re not aligned with them, that’s probably a reward too!

BAMBY, THE SECOND | FIRST AID KIT L & 10,000 DUST A strange woman approaches you one day, clad in a green robe. She tells the tale of a sacred tome, the second of two, known only as 'Bamby, the second'. Without any chance to argue against her, you find yourself quickly pushed out the door by her hand and constant encouragement. All you know is that the tome is somewhere within the kingdom...

AIRAISAL

RABID RABBIT | 100 STARS The forested region of Airaisaval has been overrun by a booming population of Binge Chungi, a rabbit monster species that can grow up to the size of a cow. They have dangerous strength and especially sharp teeth. Though herbivores, the damage they do to the forest is extreme. Due to the danger they pose one Binge Chungeous corpse will net you 100 stars once turned in -- though you can only claim the reward once.

SOUNDS FAEK | 50 STARS Residents have reported new dirt paths showing up in the forests, twisting and turning at random and ending in large circular clearings. The paths are outlined with various mushrooms. Swarms of small wisps commonly appear from these circles and venture too close to the town, shocking and harming people if they come across them. If you clear out the mushrooms, they should go away. Hopefully.

QUEEN ALEIDA LOOK, IT’S THE GOOD KUSH | 4,200 DUST Queen Aleida has requested some medical herbs. Please collect some and drop them off at the guards in front of the castle grounds. Thank you!

PLEASE IGNORE THE NAME, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT | FIRST AID KIT L Scholars at the Enchanted Armory and Transformative Academy of Science and Studies have requested the aid of adventurers to venture into the forest of Airaisal to study the magical properties of the plants residing deep in it. Please procure a sample and return within three days.

PLEASE FIND MY CHICKENS! | PANASTAR It seems a delightful young woman within Airaisal has lost all eight of her chickens. Since she's allergic, she can't touch them without getting hives. Instead of asking just WHY she has chickens, then, in the first place, you should just go and get the nice lady's chickens for her. She'll reward you, if you do!

OPALARIAN EMPIRE

WOMEN WANT ME, FISH FEAR ME | 50 STARS & AN ENDLESS SUPPLY OF FISH There’s a fishing contest happening in Opalaria and one of the contestants fell to an illness, so they need someone to take their place! It’s simple - catch the biggest fish! Feel free to team up with a partner if you want to and split the prize! Try not to capture any merfolk and sirens, though - your reputation with them will probably not be so great.

BIG BULLY BEAT DOWN | 100 STARS & FREE DRINKS The Thieves’ Guild is known for collecting its debts in any way it can, and that includes roughing up the shopkeepers who don’t pay on time. An innkeeper has asked you to disguise yourself as a bar patron, and protect her from the hounds of House Karliah. Proceed with caution--these are trained criminals, and aren’t above using magic to put their point across. Take him down or scare him off, and the innkeeper will give you a small portion of what she saved up.

MEDICINE RUN | PANASTAR & 8000 DUST Oh, good, you're available to help! Just what this woman needs; she needs this special medicine delivered to one of her friends. The bad news is that not only is the journey lengthy, the path is littered to the brim with bandits of all kinds! Do you dare make the journey and help this woman out?

XALPHINA

DRAGONS DON’T MAKE GOOD SPOUSES! | 14,072 DUST A village has lost their beautiful maiden to a dragon, which holds her up in a tower deep in the forest. The suitor isn’t all too happy about that and needs help! Get a reward and the title of Knight!

I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY, IT’S TRUE LOVE! | 16,237 DUST A village girl fell in love with a dragon, and ran away from her old life to live with her in her tower. However, the village keeps sending these assholes to come and 'rescue' her. Find a way to keep the wannabe knights away forever to protect true love!

WITCHES BE TRIPPIN’ | SPIRAZON GROCERY DELIVERY A Faekin witch in Xalphina has been playing vicious pranks on the locals. It started out as harmless, but now someone could really get hurt! She’s only a young girl, so please just try and talk her out of continuing her pranks.

NONSPECIFIC

I’VE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU | 32,474 DUST An old man pays you to keep watch over his house at night because when he sleeps, he swears he hears the rattling of bones outside his window and the scratching of skeletal fingers. Kill the skeleton and get a reward and some sweet good reputation!

SPOOKY SCARY SKELETON | 54,124 DUST You wouldn’t ruin the fun of a skeleton, now would you? It’s not doing anything bad by rattling his bones, now is it? Here, just take this bag of dust and leave it alone. Be warned, though - people probably won’t like you all that much if you do this, but the money is pretty good...

A PRETTY FUN GUY | HERO’S CLOTHES ( JUST SOME REGULAR OLD CLOTHES ) A pack of sentient fungi have come to life and have been wreaking havoc among the fields from which they sprung unprompted. Please make hasty work of them before there isn't mush room left for growth!

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artkaninchenbau · 5 years

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Y’all I had one hell of a night just now, lemme tell y’all about it

Okay so I can’t quite remember how the dreams began but the first dream was about Spiderman. Or Spidermen. I was seeing the dream from Peter’s point of view, and he was kind of livid ‘cause another Spidey had appeared in his town (I think it might’ve been Flash Thompson?), and this other Spidey was like a villian, a straight-up bad guy, but nobody else knew about The Other Spidey being evil. This dream was long and I can’t remember much about it but the ending, where Peter gets so fed up with The Other Spidey that he just brutally attacks The Other in their school hallway. Peter had like followed him to school, they were both in their outfits and it was the middle of the day, so of course everybody saw the absolutely violent battle (both had their masks shredded in halves) The police were called and Peter was arrested for violently assaulting The Other Spidey for no reason- nobody else but Peter knew he was evil so this really did seem like a random act of violence.

And this is where the dream shifts from Peter’s POV to the Other Spidey’s.

The following night the Other Spidey broke into their school to break stuff or something, but was caught on security cameras (that Peter had planted just before he was arrested). So now he’s on the run in a van with a female friend and a baby??? So they’re trying to escape from the police, driving in the middle of either a forest or a sparse neighborhood. Up the road the see two “houses” on either sides of the road, the left side has like a nice but small wooden house and the right side has like the worn down remains of what used to be a house, surrounded by a tall, wire fence. As they approach the guy who lives in the nice house on the left yells out and tells The Other Spidey to hide in the fenced area, so naturally he tries to drive the van over the fence. Obviously this didn’t work out. They did bring down the fence from that side, but. Like this fenced area is barely bigger than my room. It’s a tiny ass area, and the building that used to stand there really is just a pile of moss-covered wood and like a lonely door, still somehow standing up. There’s nothing there to really hide in. Despite that, the Other Spidey and his friend try to look if there’s some tiny nook they could hide in (make the cops think they crashed the car and fled on foot while they actually just hide there and wait until the coast is clear). Instead what they find is a pair of old, dismembered, wrinkly feet just standing there, and the second Spidey spots the feet, millions of small spiders start emerging from them, approaching Spidey. He’s immidiately like “this is some Baba Yaga shit right there” (I mean it’s not, that’s just what he said in the dream) and gets ready to get the fuck ouf of there ‘cause clearly this fenced off plot of land is cursed or something. After some spoopy, haunted stuff happen (can’t remember what aside from the door moving on its own), Spidey grabs the baby and tells his friend to just follow him as he runs across the road where the other, proper house is, and just runs past it into the thick forest behind.

The following sequence of the dream was just the Other Spidey, trying to protect the baby as him and his friend were falling down a bunch of thin streams that were so steep they were almost just waterfalls. And there were a lot of them. And they were long. Like impossibly long. And like, the scenery around the waterfalls was changing like too much, like one second you’re in the middle of a rainy pine forest and the next you’re watching the sun set over a small, coastal town in the Netherlands or something. It was weird, man

Eventually the Other Spidey (with the baby) and his friend stumble out of the stream/waterfall onto a road in a dark, misty forest on a mountain side. There’s a house nearby, and tons of people just crawling around on all-fours. Not sure what the ass is going on, Spidey figures it’d be best to just head into the house and take shelter as it seemed like all these people were... kind of trying to get away from the forest. They weren’t in a hurry or anything, they were taking their sweet ass time crawling, but they were all heading away from the forest. As Spidey reaches the house he realizes what the people are trying to get away from. Trolls. Giant trolls emerging from the misty forest, here to eat people. And for some reason, crawling makes you almost invisible to the trolls, making it the optimal way to escape. Also taking shelter in a house is a death sentence appearently. Realizing that, he tells the baby (who has turned into a toddler at some point but okay) to crawl away with everyone else while he’d distract the nearest troll. The last thing I remember is the Other Spidey trying to lure the troll back into the forest, crawling etc.

It was a weird night

#Dream I had

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minniesugakookies · 7 years

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Never Forget Me

Genre: Werewolf Au / Fluff / Angst / Slight Humor (?)

Pairing: Hoseok x Reader

Word Count: 9,040

Warnings: None really, maybe mentions of blood

Masterlist ♥︎ | Ask/Request ☾

A/n: It’s finally finsihed!!! I r e a l l y hope you guys like this fic, I spent almost two months writing it, trying to perfect it and all that fun stuff. Feedback would be much apprecitated :)) Thank you for reading!

Posted: August 19th / 11:43 pm

The helicopter landed softly onto the flat rock surface that was being used as a temporary helipad. I looked out the small window only to see tall dark trees. I sighed and took off the large earphones then opened the door and hopped out. The other men in my crew soon followed, pulling out their cameras and taking pictures of anything they could find. Random plants, strange trees, even some bugs. They all scattered away as the helicopter took off leaving us on a strange forest filled island surrounded by rocks and water. There were six other men on my crew, all of them either in their early thirties or late twenties. I was the youngest, being only twenty-one years old.

I walked away from everyone to look around, feeling bored already. “Y/n! Could you take this camera and take some pictures for our article?” One of the men said walking up to me with a camera in hand, motioning for me to take it.

I looked from him to the camera, deciding I should take it if I wanted to keep my job. I took it anyways, swung it across my torso, not planning on using it anytime soon.

“Thanks.” He said before scurrying off somewhere else. We all worked for a company that made articles about new discoveries or different things about the world. I was an animal scientist. Most of us were either journalists or biologists. I was the only actual scientist in my group.

I walked over and away from the others, closer to the trees and took a picture I didn’t care for, after seeing one of the crew members eyeing me down, giving me a look saying ‘you better start making yourself useful’. I looked back over at the other men, seeing them still too focused on their pictures to spare a glance in my direction. I noticed none of them were going deeper in, exploring more of what lurks in the darkness. I looked into the forest, seeing all the shadows, I suddenly felt an urge to walk in, like something was calling me. I glanced back at the men. Seeing none of them looking at me anymore I took one step before I subconsciously dropped the camera and walked into the wet forest, leaves, and branches squished under my step.

I touched the trees, feeling the moss underneath, maybe even some nests hidden in the large leaves. The only light source was peeking through the branches, producing not as much light as I would like, giving it a creepy feeling; making me feel more on edge. I walked in further, the light slowly fading away, making it even eerie than before, the others voices soon drifting away until I heard nothing at all, only the sound of my footsteps and the occasional bird chirp loudly.

I glanced around, only seeing a mixture of dark green and brown. I tripped on a rock causing me to fall and land on my side forcefully, the only thing to break my fall was the wet leaves. I groaned as I looked around before getting up, making sure I didn’t land on anything that would harm me. As I brushed myself off, I heard some rustling in some bushes beside me, then a low growl noise. I whipped my head to the side suddenly feeling a wave of fear wash over me.

“Hello?” I said quietly. My voice was shaking, I nearly felt myself cringe at how scared I was from a mere noise.

No answer.

“Who’s there?” I tried again, voice more stern than last time. Again no answer.

I tried the ignore the feeling as I pushed myself up and kept walking, but it still lingered. Crawling in the bad of my mind like a disease. I glimpsed around nervously as the growling became a louder with each step I took. I stopped walking and looked for a stick or something, anything, to defend myself with. I found a large log and picked it up, pointing it into the darkness. My eyes were wide with fear, my arms shaking.

~~~

“Just wait. It’s almost time,” My father telepathically said beside me. “Once we’re done with her, she’ll know never to come back here.” I just looked at the girl as my father kept growling. I didn’t understand what was happening to me, but I felt something towards her. I didn’t want to do this, I didn’t want to hurt her. I couldn’t hurt her. There was something inside me, stopping me from harming or even killing this girl. I looked over at my father then back at the girl.

“I can’t do this,” I said quietly in my mind, ashamed of myself. He looked at me confused, slight anger in his eyes.

“She looks so scared.” He then looked at the girl, his facial didn’t show signs of softening. He looked back at me. “Hoseok, you know what happens when-”

I shook my head as if dismissing his comment. I didn’t want to hear it. He slowly walked over to me, giving me a solid look. “Hoseok, this is the last time I’m going to do this,” I was going to ask him what he meant but he was gone in a heartbeat, running off somewhere in the distance. I sighed quietly, feeling disappointed in myself. But there was something about this girl that made me feel so warm. I changed into my human form, my body slowly morphing until I was standing on all fours. I quietly got up, trying not to startle the girl anymore than I already did as I walked over to a tree where I had hidden a pair of clothes.

~~~

“Who’s there!” I said louder this time, my heart pounding out of my chest. Just as I was about to say something else, a man came out from behind a tree. He was handsome with dark brown hair and eyes to match. He was wearing a light brown coat with a white shirt underneath with simple black pants and no shoes. He had a soft smile on his face.

“Are you lost?”

I was confused. Who was he? Why was he dressed so nice in the middle of an island? Why didn’t he have shoes on? I looked down at my attire, suddenly feeling underdressed for some strange reason. I was only wearing a white tank top with black shorts and green hiking boots.

I quickly looked back at the mysterious man. “Who are you?” I asked, not dropping my defensive stance. He didn’t drop the tender smile that was plastered on his face.

“My name is Jung Hoseok. You can just call me Hoseok if you like.” He simply said. I tightened the grip on my stick, still not trusting the mysterious man.

“What are you doing here?”

He licked his lips, looking like he was trying to find an excuse. “I live here,” he stated. I scoffed, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You live here?” I repeated, not believing him. He nodded. I took a step back, thinking of a way to escape before I get brutally murdered by a man that always smiles. Maybe he murders people with a smile on his face. I slowly tried to back up without noticing but it seemed I was unsuccessful because his eyes quickly moved to the movement of my feet. I stopped abruptly.

“Are you lost?” He repeated his voice more firm than the first time. I shook my head, lying. He narrowed his eyes at me like he knew it was complete bullshit but didn’t say anything.

“Then what are you doing out here?”

“I’m just-” I paused. “-Exploring.”

He smiled again, showing off his perfect white teeth, his face basically glowing. Stop smiling.

“What are you exploring on an island in the middle of nowhere?” He took a step forward, I took a step back. “Don’t come near me,” I warned. He stopped and gave me a confused look.

“Why? Are you scared of me? I won’t hurt you.” I took a breath in, tightening the grip on my stick once more. I felt terrified. I was surprised when I tear roll from my eye and down my cheek. I was never good in petrifying situations. I pushed the fear away, appearing to seem tough so maybe the man would leave.

The man was then in front of me in the blink of an eye and my stick was thrown miles away from us. Before I could even register what was happening he was rubbing my cheek, getting rid of the tears. My eyes were wide open, staring at the man before me as his soft hands rubbed my cheek in a slow manner. His eyes were a soft brown colour, he was so close to me I could see almost every detail in his iris. I felt myself getting pulled into his gaze, suddenly feeling I was losing control of my body. I quickly backed away, pushing myself off of him as I tried to get as far away from his as possible.

“What’s happening to me,” I said, my voice shaking with fear. “Why am I feeling like this?”

He only smiled. “I’m not doing anything.”

I saw his eyes turn green, then to a light blue with a hint of gold. “Y/n where are you! Why did you drop the camera! You’re such a bitch, get your ass over here right now!” Someone in the distance yelled. I noticed it as one of the crew members; I was about to yell back a rude remark but before I could, I saw Hoseok’s eyes grow a darker shade of gold; his pupils getting smaller and smaller, turning into thin lines, staring angrily into the distance.

“Do you know them? Who are they? Do they hurt you?” I was confused, but answered him anyway, scared of the outcome if I don’t.

“Um, Yeah, I um-” I was nervous on if I should tell him I know him. “I um, I guess you could say I know them, they hurt me but I don’t really-”

“You’re coming with me,” He forcefully grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the man that was yelling. There were footsteps behind us, coming towards us at a running pace. “Y/n! Get over-” I recognized him as John, the head of this whole trip, paused. “Who the hell are you!”

Hoseok whipped his head to the man, eyes blazing with anger. He suddenly let go of my wrist and just stared down John in front of us. If Hoseok was trying to intimidate John, it didn’t seem to be working. He only walked closer to us, soon standing right in front of Hoseok.

“Who the hell are you.” He repeated. John looked over to me with question swimming in his eyes. I silently pleaded for him to save me, get me away from this strange man. John then quickly pulled out his gun and aimed it right between Hoseok’s eyes. I saw Hoseok frown, his hand then quickly came up to John’s throat, starting to choke him.

“What the hell!?” I yelled out, fear laced in my voice. Who is this guy? I grabbed onto his forearm to try and pry it away from John’s throat but it was like his arm was made of steel. I put all of my efforts into trying to stop him from killing him, but it didn’t work.

“Stop it! What the hell are you doing!” Hoseok pushed me away from him, resulting in me falling onto the ground. There was a loud scream and then nothing. John fell to the floor lifelessly, blood pooling out of his neck. I shot my head up towards Hoseok with eyes wide. His mouth was all bloody and his teeth represented something like a dog, his eyes were now mostly gold with a tint of blue, pupils so thin you could barely see them.

Did he just bite him? I glanced back at John on the ground, his lifeless eyes staring back at me. Oh, my god, he did. I am going to die tonight. I looked back at Hoseok who was now looking at me while cleaning the blood from his face. Fuck, I’m next. He’s going to smash my head against the ground then eat me like I’m some freshly cooked bacon. My heartbeat started to pump faster and I secretly looked for a way to escape again.

I thought of trying to sneak past him somehow without him seeing me but that would be no use. I got up, my legs shaking from the fear and how he was looking at me. Okay, I can do this, just run until you can’t see him anymore. What if he has super speed, I mean, he just fucking killed a man by biting his neck.

Screw it.

I bolted for the opposite way, running as fast as I ever have in my entire life, trying my hardest to get away from this murderer. I only ran for a couple seconds before I was tackled to the ground, my head hitting the solid surface. I groaned in pain, feeling myself go in and out of consciousness. But before I felt myself lose consciousness I heard a strong voice beside my ear.

“You aren’t going anywhere.”

My head was pounding, my back and side ached with strong pains. The ground underneath me was hard and warm and I could feel the sun licking my skin. I slowly tried to get up, groaning in pain as I did. Sitting up straight, I took in my surroundings. I was on a cliff. The wind softly blew in my ears, pushing my hair back in a forceful method.

“You’re up,” I strong voice said from in front of me. “You’ve been out for almost two days.” I looked towards where the voice was coming from and my eyes met with the ones who had kidnapped me. Before me was the strange guy in the woods, but now his eyes were back to their normal brown shade they like they had never even changed in the slightest. Did I imagine them changing colour? Was that all just a weird dream? Or did this man actually kill one of my crew members? In this moment, he looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly.

Two days? Holy fuck, have my members been looking for me at all? “Where am I?” He didn’t answer me. Instead, he slowly walked over to the edge and just stared off into the distance, his long-ish hair - that didn’t drop below his shoulders, maybe just past his ears - blew in the wind with more grace than mine.

“Who are those people?” He suddenly asks after a few moments of silence. He glanced over at me with an eyebrow raised. “The people down near the forest?”

“They’re-” I stopped myself from lying. I don’t think it’s the best time to lie right now.

“Who are they?” He repeated, moving to sit in front of me, staring into my eyes as I answered his question. “Th-They’re-” I paused, “We all work for this company.”

“What do you in this company?” He tilted his head in confused, maybe some regret swimming in his pupils but I couldn’t tell. To be honest, I found it kind of cute. I mentally scolded myself. Don’t go all stockholm syndrome, what the hell is wrong with you.

“I’m an animal scientist, the youngest one, the only girl actually.”

His eyes squinted as he tried to figure out something but he didn’t question further.

“Can you tell me where we are?” I pushed. His eyes shot back to my own. He stared at me for a good five seconds before simply saying “No,” then got up, walking over into the same position he was in before, back to staring dramatically into the distance.

“No? Excuse me, but what the hell?! Who even are you?!!” I yelled, quickly getting up, storming towards him. I raised my arm to push him, hopefully off of the edge but he beat me to it. Turning around quickly he grabbed my waist and pushed me backward, making me land straight on my ass. I looked up at him, giving him the best-pissed face I could muster. He just kept staring at me. Does this guy do anything? Who even is he?? How am I still alive right now?!??

“Tell me what’s going on right now, or I’m going to fucking jump off that cliff,” I threatened. He didn’t show any signs of stopping me, so I pushed myself off the ground once again and stormed past him, standing on the edge of the cliff. I glanced down, feeling a shiver go down my spine. Fuck, we’re high up.

“I already told you who I am.” He softly said from behind me. I jumped at how close his voice was, he was basically whispering into my ear. I whipped my head around, some of my hair hitting his face but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Why did you fucking kidnap me.”

“Stop swearing.” His eyes went green for a split second but quickly went back to normal. So they do change colour. That means he really did kill John. Holy fuck holy fuck holy fuck.

“I’ll fucking swear if I want to. Tell me where I am so I can get the hell out of here.” Before I could even blink I was on the ground with him on top of me. His eyes were blue with the gold tint again, his pupils turned into slits, sort of reminding me of cat eyes. My eyes were wide, he was so close to me, I could feel his breathing on my nose.

“What the hell are you doing!” I yelled out, anger and fear laced in my voice. He is going to kill me, this is how I die.

“Would you stop swearing.” He was stern and I shut up immediately after. I just stared at him, unsure if I should nod or not. He continued anyway, his eyes were now back to their original chocolate brown.

“I already told you my name, I’m not telling you anything else. Now get up, we’re going somewhere else.” He roughly pulled my arm so I was standing up again and then we were off. His grip on my wrist was so tight I could almost feel the circulation in my hand stop. I tried to get out of his hold but everytime I did he just tightened his grip even more. What was with this guy and grabbing wrists?

“Would you let go of me? I’m going to lose my damn hand at this rate.” He moved his head to the side and looked at me from the corner of his eye, then turned back to face the front.

“Hello? Creepy weird guy that lives in the woods?” He didn’t even glance at me this time. Great. Just what I needed, a shitty trip to this weird island with some shitty people, then just to put the cherry on the cake I get kidnapped by this shitty person with weird ass eyes and anger issues. I sighed loudly but kept walking anyway. Who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky and fall off something and hopefully die.

He dragged me down the path leading to god knows where. I obediently followed him, thinking of another way I could get out of his vision and escape somehow. My arm was starting to cramp from his harsh pulling and I silently cursed him under my breath whenever he pulled too hard.

“I said stop swearing.” Fuck, how did he hear me? Crazy bastard with weird eyes and anger issues. I guess I can add, weirdo with superhuman hearing to the list of things I can call him. I glared at the back of his head, repeating curse words in my head. Can you hear me now fuckface?

That went on for hours until he finally stopped in this dark cave. He pushed me down so I was sitting on my butt, as he went to start a fire. It burned to life between us before he made a movement to sit down. I put my knees to my chest to try and protect myself in a way. I kept cautiously glancing at Hoseok only to see him already looking at me.

“Tell me who those people are, what is your relationship with them.” I ignored his question, the only thing on my mind was how this cave gave me a weird feeling like something was watching me - other than Hoseok who was staring me down. I suddenly thought about when I was standing in front of the forest, hearing something call me. It’s the same feeling. I then glanced at Hoseok who was still looking at me, waiting for an answer.

“What are you?” I suddenly asked; my voice was soft, taking him by surprise. He quietly looked down, something flashing in his eyes. I tried to piece together who he actually was and why he was on this island. Did he get stranded here? Is he here with someone else?

He softly sighed but didn’t look like he was going to say anything. I opened my mouth to repeat my question but there was a loud growl that cut me off. “Hoseok I see you brought home a nice meal.”

My body instantly froze, as I slowly widened my eyes. The growling soon got louder, my mind racing with different scenarios on how I was going to die.

Hoseok quickly jumped up to his feet, eyes the blue/gold colour again. His teeth were the same when I saw them during the time he killed John. Oh my fucking god.

“Hoseok, damn you got a hot one.” The voice boomed in the cave, echoing in my ears over and over again. I slowly moved my head to search for the face of the voice but was unsuccessful due to how dark the damn cave was. Hoseok became even angrier at that comment, I could see his nails growing sharper.

What the fuck.

The man slowly came out of the shadows and my blood ran cold at the sight of him. He didn’t look warm and friendly like Hoseok did. And Hoseok fucking kidnapped me, so that says something about this guy. He had light silver-ish hair, I couldn’t see his eyes from here but I was guessing they were a similar colour to Hoseok’s. The thing that made my spine shiver was that there was a large cut, just near his eye, creating that terrifying I’m going to kill you with my bare hands look. He looked quite young, maybe around his late teens, early twenties.

“Damn Hobi why do you look so pissed?” He chuckled. That sent a shiver down my spine. His laugh was so low and menacing. His voice was the same. He then glanced at me, smirking lightly to himself before licking his lips and turning his attention back to Hoseok.

“You didn’t even tie her up.”

“What are you doing here?” Hoseok finally said. His voice was equally as low, and all I wanted to do in that moment was for a boulder to crush me so I wouldn’t have to be eaten alive by these…. whatever they are.

“Why the harsh tone?” The man walked closer and put an arm on Hoseok’s shoulder. “I just came in here to see who was talking; turned out to be dinner,” he said, slowly averting his gaze to me. Taking his hand off Hoseok’s tense shoulder, he walked over to me bending down so he was at eye level with me. I felt sweat drip on the side of my face but I didn’t try to wipe it.

“And what’s your name huh?-” he paused as he stroked the side of my face. “-You’re very beautiful; are you with the men down by the forest? They aren’t looking for you, you know; maybe some, doubt they still are.” He chuckled softly. “Killed one of the bastards myself. I bet you taste better though,” He silently winked at me, I felt there was a deeper meaning to that comment, but I didn’t want to know.

“Jimin, get away from her.” Hoseok’s voice echoed through the small cave, vibrating through my whole body. All of this was happening too quickly, I slowly started feeling my body freak out over what was happening. I went into shock, a tear slowly rolled my cheek. Jimin, I learned his name was, quickly stroked my cheek once again, letting the tear travel from my cheek to his thumb before smirking slightly and turning to Hoseok. “Look Hobi you made her cry.”

Hoseok then suddenly lost it, growling at the young man in front of me. He suddenly leaped at the man, his teeth showing and I noticed they were sharp, sharper and larger than when he killed John. The other man also started growling, his eyes turning into a brown, purplish colour, his teeth also becoming sharp.

I watched as the two men fought, growling and biting at each other as I silently cried to myself. What the fuck is happening. I watched as Hoseok’s hair soon seemed to be getting…. longer? His nails were slowly becoming longer also, and his hands were growing fur. Oh my god.

I rubbed my eyes as I shook my head, thinking what I was seeing was just me being an absolute lunatic. Maybe I haven’t eaten enough today and my mind is starting to play tricks on me. But when I looked back up all I saw was two wolves, one brown, one silver, fighting each other, the clothes they were wearing scattered on the floor. My eyes almost popped out of my skull. I saw the brown one bite the silver one's neck, causing him to whimper out in pain, blood staining his luscious fur. The only way I could tell them apart was from their fur colour and their eye colour.

They were fighting and biting each other, blood streak their fur, making it become discoloured. I couldn’t scream, my whole body just became numb and frozen as I watched these two wolves who I thought were men, fight to the death, I couldn’t understand why. The silver wolf - Jimin - whimpered loudly as Hoseok bit hard into his neck. Suddenly Hoseok tightened his grip on Jimin’s neck and soon Jimin whimpered, then went limp, his legs falling to the ground, the only thing keeping him up was Hoseok’s tight grasp.

Did, he just kill, one of his own… kind?

He dropped Jimin on the ground, nudging him with his nose to make sure he was really dead, once he was satisfied he made his way over to me, but I quickly scurried away in the other direction. “Please don’t come near me, you, you monster.”

A hurt expression seemed to flood his face as he slowly stopped walking. Turning around he made his way over to his clothes. I slowly looked down at my hands to see them trembling with fear. I was terrified, but still confused as to why he just killed one of his own. When I looked back he was in his human form, proceeding to put on his shirt. I saw a glimpse of his toned stomach as forced myself to look away once again.

Stockholm Syndrom Y/n, geez.

I looked back up when I felt Hoseok’s presence near me. He approached me with caution, as he didn’t want to scare me again. But when I didn’t move he simply sat in front of me, just staring at me. I suddenly wanted to ask him why he killed that young man, or why he had kidnapped me if he had no intention of killing me. At least I hoped he didn’t, but he would’ve done it already if he had, right?

“T-thank you, for doing that.” I mustered out. He seemed shocked at my sudden acceptance to the whole thing. He looked at me wide eyed like I had just grown six heads. “I mean you killed one of your kind…” I trailed off as I looked to the side not sure what to call that thing. He let out a long sigh.

“I just wanted to protect you.” As soon as he said that, I felt a strong feeling of... trust? I looked at him with no expression on my face. Protect me? What do you mean by….

“P-protect me?” He simply nodded. “S-so you aren’t going to kill me,” he shook his head, slightly confused.

“You thought I was?” He let out an “are you kidding me?” type of laugh.

“Yes! A strange man I don’t know killing one of my crew members then taking me to this cliff and then dragging me into a dark cave. Yes, I thought you were going to kill me!”

Hoseok tilted his head. “Crew member? I thought he kidnapped you.”

“What?!?” I let out without thinking. “Is that why you took me?!” He simply nodded, still confused. I threw myself to the floor, a loud groan escaping my body. I half felt relief fill my body but the other half still didn’t completely believe this man. He’s just tricking you, he’s going to eat you in your sleep!

“S-so, I guess I’m sorry,” he suddenly apologized. I sat back up quickly, a shocked look on my face. “I just felt a bond with you, and I had this strong urge to protect you…” He trailed off, nervously glancing towards me before letting his thumbs twiddle together.

I thought back to the time when I was standing in front of the forest, those voices speaking to me, feeling like it was somehow related to this whole thing. “Did… did you ever hear, I don’t know, voices? When you saw me?” I questioned.

He thought back, then soon shook his head with a perplexed look resting on his thin face. “Why?” I quickly shook my head, dismissing the thought.

“Nothing.”

He suddenly held out his hand to me. I looked at it like it was some sort of disease before Hoseok let out a heartwarming laugh. I couldn’t help but smile a little. Maybe this guy won’t eat me.

“Isn’t this what you humans do when you want to “come clean” with someone?” He held up one hand to do the quotations of the words ‘come clean.’

“You want to “come clean” with me?” I copied him, raising my hands to put quotations. He nodded with a smile.

“Friends?” I bit my lip in nervousness, hesitation swimming in my mind. He did say he thought that John kidnapped me, he also killed that Jimin guy because he was going to kill me.

I slowly raised my hand until it came in contact with his. Hoseok smiled like I had just granted him all the happiness in the world. After that, we sat in silence for a while. I thought over what had just happened before a question popped into my mind.

“Wait since you’re like part wolf or dog or…. whatever…,” I trail off still shaken up at the fact that he’s a fricken werewolf. “Does that mean that you’re actually six years old or something…”

Hoseok gave me a very confused look before it clicked in his head. “Oh, oh, you think because of the whole thing that humans do? The whole dog years aren’t the same as human years?” I simply nodded. Hoseok let out a whole hearted laugh and I felt myself shrink into the ground for asking such a dumb question. Hoseok seemed to realize that I thought he was laughing at me as he stopped laughing, putting one of his large hands on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I’m twenty-two, I assure you.” I let out a sigh, more questions running through my head, but I decided to push them all back. I sat in a comfortable silence with Hoseok for a while, my eyes kept darting between Jimin dead on the floor and Hoseok silently twiddling his thumbs.

“Since your part dog, do you have enhanced hearing?” I softly asked. Hoseok chuckled slight but nodded. I made my lips into an ‘o’ shape in amazement. “Wow, and enhanced smell?” He nodded again.

I subtly smelled myself to make sure I didn't smell bad, but as soon as I did I questioned why I had done it. It’s not like he cares… right. I slowly glanced towards him.

“I don’t smell bad right?” Hoseok burst into a laugh that warmed my heart, making me smile as well.

He shook his head, still lightly laughing. “No, you actually smell pretty good.” He looked back down and we were met with silence once again.

“So, J-Jimin over there was he…” Hoseok whipped his head back then slowly turned it back to its original position, nodding slowly. I was about to speak but he beat me too it, his voice low.

“I just wanted to protect you, that was the first thing that came to mind. Either carry you out or get rid of him myself.” I thought he was done, but he suddenly started speaking again, this time looking at my face instead of the ground.

“I’m pretty sure he was, um, in heat.” My eyes basically bulged out of my skull at his sentence. Well shit, that explains a lot. I shivered at one of his one of his comments he made “I bet you taste better,” fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Hoseok continued after chuckling slightly at my expression. “I could smell it on him when he walked in.”

“Can we stop talking about this oh my god, that’s fucking weird. Would he actually… you know… if you weren't there.” My eyes widened in realization. “He called me dinner! I thought he just wanted to eat me! Not in…. that way, oh my god I’m going to throw up, I swear to god I will-” I continued to ramble on, Hoseok simply smiled at my mini-freak out session.

I quickly got up making Hoseok jump a tad. “That’s it, we are leaving oh my god I can’t stay in the same room as that animal.”

I quickly stopped in my tracks, realizing what I just said. “Oh shit, I didn’t mean that. He was just-”

Hoseok’s laugh cut me off. He waved his hand almost to dismiss my comment. “Don’t, honestly he was an animal, no pun intended.” I smiled softly.

“Well, let’s go then; I’m hungry.”

Soon we were out of the dark, wet cave and out climbing trees looking for something to satisfy my hunger. I had learned that Hoseok wasn’t the type to eat living things. He said he didn’t see the point if you could just eat things that grew off pants and trees, and not take someone’s life in the process. He was disobeyed by his father because of it, and when I first saw him, he told me that’s when it was the last straw for his dad, and he suddenly ran off. He hasn’t seen him since. I felt a strong relation to him, but instead of my father, it was my mother who had ran off; not wanting to deal with the idea of raising a child. So, she went up and left, just leaving my dad and I together, never even once telling us where she went.

Hoseok told me he never knew his mother, she died somehow before he knew how to walk. He said his father never told him what happened to her. “That’s fucked up,” I said after I bit into an apple. Hoseok tilted his head to get a better view of me. “I mean, your dad is a dick, no offense, but he should at least tell his own son how his fucking mom died.”

I heard Hoseok chuckle once again from beside me. “You swear a lot, did you notice? Is it a human thing, or do you just have a bad habit of it.”

I shrugged. “I feel it expresses my feelings better.” Hoseok nodded knowingly before turning his head to look at the view in front of us. It was almost nighttime, we were back at the place where I woke up, the cliff looking even more beautiful now that it was slowly become dark, the sunset creating a soft pink and orange hue in the sky.

“It’s really beautiful,” I mumbled softly. I didn’t catch it, but Hoseok directed his attention back to me, gently smiling as he said his next comment.

“Yeah, it really is.”

After a couple hours, it was soon pitch black, the moon the only source of light throughout the whole forest. I could see a mini light source miles away, thinking that it’s probably my crew members, packing up for another night. My eyelids started to get heavy, falling in and out of consciousness I looked over to Hoseok who seemed wide awake. “Do you mind if I go to sleep?” I said quietly, my voice soft with sleep laced in every word.

Hoseok softly nodded. “I’m not sure if you’re going to get any, the ground is pretty hard.”

I shrugged as if saying ‘whatever’ then laid down, my back meeting the cold floor creating me to shiver. I turned onto my side to try and get into a comfier position but was unsuccessful; I turned onto my other side, the side turned away from the man sitting beside me but was still unsuccessful. I heard Hoseok chuckle beside me.

“What?” I huffed out annoyed. There was a soft silence, then I felt something nudge my back. I turned my head only to come face to face with piercing blue/gold eyes, which held humor, also something else I couldn’t read. Hoseok nudged me again, probably telling me to move so I groaned before getting up.

“What do you want now?” Hoseok laid down, then nudged his head towards his abdomen area. I pointed to it while raising an eyebrow. “You want me to…?” Hoseok let out a loud sigh then laid his head on the ground, somewhat closing them. I raised both my hands in an offended manner then slowly lowered myself to the ground, laying my head on his abdomen.

I widened my eyes, couldn’t help but run my fingers through his soft fur. How is this so soft? I felt like I was laying on a cloud, my mind quickly falling into dreamland as I laid on the softest pillow on earth, my fingers continued to run through it, only stopping after I lost consciousness.

Waking up the next morning I was confused as to what I was laying on. I was unaware of Hoseok being wide awake, silently staring at me as I stirred awake. I sat up and stretched my arms out to the side, yawning as I did, looking around as I regained myself from the long sleep I just had.

Hoseok laid in silence, watching me. I caught onto his starting and raised an eyebrow. “What are you looking at?” He huffed out before getting up, picking up his clothes from the ground before changing back into his human form.

I looked at the view once again, the sun just coming over the horizon. I then realized something, whipping my head to look at Hoseok who had just put his shirt of his head and was now walking back over to sit next to me. “Holy shit, you don’t even know my name.”

Hoseok stopped in his tracks at my sentence, tilting his head ever so slightly before continuing to sit next to me. “I don’t, do I?”

He settled himself, then glanced over towards me, his eyes meeting mine. “Well, what’s your name then love?”

Love. That one word made my stomach flip, and I almost smiled right after it left his lips but stopped myself from letting my lips turn upwards in even the slightest. “I-it’s Y/n.”

“Y/n,” Hoseok said quietly, testing the way it felt leaving his lips. He smiled the biggest smile I have even seen before turning back to pierce his eyes into mine. “Well Y/n, shall we?” He put an emphasis on my name as he said it, causing my stomach to flip again. I giggled slightly before tilting my head.

“Where are we going?”

Hoseok smirked, taking my hand in his own; of course, causing my stomach to do that weird flip again. What is happening to me?

“You’ll see.”

Hoseok ended up leading me to a similar cave to when I first met Jimin. This one was much bigger in size and more open than the last. A peaceful river ran through all of way to the other end, leading to a beautiful beach.

“Wow,” I said under my breath, unconsciously walking towards the sand. Hoseok stood back, his ears twitching as he heard movement up ahead. I turned around a big smile on my face. “Hoseok this is beauti-!” I strong hand came around my mouth stopping my sentence. Hoseok’s eyes quickly widened before he turned into his wolf form in the blink of an eye, growling at the men behind me.

“What the hell is that thing!” I recognized that voice. It was one of my crew members. No, please no. I ripped myself away from the man, turning my head to get a view at all of them. I noticed two of them, Max and Henry but I couldn’t recognize the rest. One of the men in the back raised a crossbow, aiming it at Hoseok. I tried to run up and stop him but he shot it before I could even get close.

I flew past me at lightning speed, I heard a loud whimper escape Hoseok from behind me. Henry grabbed onto my stomach and arms, holding me back before I could run and kill the man who shot Hoseok. I was turned around, facing Hoseok once more. I saw the arrow had pierced the side of his leg, tears escaped my eyes at the scene.

“No stop it!” I screamed at Max, struggling to get out of Henry's hold, his hands tightening around my forearm. I managed to grab onto Max’s arm, as he loaded another arrow into his crossbow, aiming it at Hoseok as he whimpered in pain from the first shot. “Shut it!” He said as he pushed me off of him, regaining his aim. Hoseok looked up at me, his blue eyes piercing into my own, reading pain and sadness. “I’m so sorry.” I mouthed towards him, tears rolling down my face. I watched as he closed his eyes and waited for his death. Why am I so sad all of a sudden? I should be happy, shouldn't I?

I watched as Max let go of the arrow. It landed right in Hoseok’s leg. The only sound that was heard was Hoseok yelp in pain, echoing through the cave. A scream ripped through me also as I couldn’t help but let it escape. I yelled at Max and also nothing at all. Hoseok’s yelp soon stopped but I continued, feeling like I was ripping my vocal cords apart. My voice started to go horse, tears flowing out of my eyes like a waterfall. I hated every single one of them at that moment, for wanting to go to this island, for wanting to get footage of the animals and plants, for wanting to find the new discoveries before anyone else. I even hated Hoseok for an instant. For taking me away from them because he thought he was protecting me; causing this to happen upon himself.

The man that was holding me slapped me across the face, causing me to stop screaming. My head was down as I breathed hard. I whipped my head up to look at the man who had just killed Hoseok.

“How could you do that! Why did you do that!”

“He was a danger to us! He killed John!”

“He wasn’t a danger to us! He was only trying to protect me from you! He was never trying to hurt us!”

“That thing was a threat Y/n!” I ripped my arms out of Henry's hold and ran up to Max, slapping him hard in the face.

“He is not a thing! He is a person!” Max moved closer to me, his warm breath was blowing onto my face and I could see his lip bleeding a little bit from my slap. If he was trying to intimidate me, it wasn’t working. “He fucking brainwashed you Y/n, look at that thing!”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “He protected me and made me feel safe. Something you people never did.” I said fiercely at him, my blood boiling.

That earned me another slap on the face. My head whipped to the side and blood-spattered across the hard pavement. Before he could do anything else a low growl echoed through the small cave and the men gasped, grabbing their bows and crossbows. I slowly glanced over to where Hoseok was laying, only to see him standing on all fours. His teeth were showing and eyes were more gold than ever, a little blood dripping down his chin. He was growling loudly, eyes narrowed towards Max as he tightened his grip on the bow.

“Leave before this arrow goes through your heart.” Hoseok didn’t move, he simply kept growling, getting louder and louder. The anger in his eyes more prominent than ever. Henry quickly grabbed my arms, holding me back once more as I screamed at both of them. It seemed as everything went in slow motion as Hoseok lunged at Max, mouth wide, ready to bite him. Max hesitated, watching at how Hoseok jumped so far despite his injuries. He quickly recovered, releasing the bow that was sitting in his crossbow.

I silently waited, watching the arrow fly through the air straight towards Hoseok, Hoseok blinding jumping towards Max.

“Hoseok watch out!” I couldn’t help but scream out. Hoseok’s attention moved over to me before quickly going back to Max. He dodged the arrow at the last second, and before I knew it he was on top of Max, biting and scratching at his chest. Max screamed out in pure horror; it echoed down the cave sending chills down my spine. I couldn’t believe my eyes as my mouth fell open at the sight. There was blood everywhere.

Hoseok... looked like… a monster.

Henry must’ve been thinking the same thing as I felt his grip fall loose until his hands weren't on my arms anymore. “What is that thing…” I heard him mutter to himself.

“H-Hoseok,” My voice was barely above a whisper, but I knew he heard it. I saw him quickly stop, mouth covered in Max’s blood. I even saw light skin hanging from his teeth but I didn’t want to pay attention to it.

“I-I thought you didn’t eat h-humans.” I shook out, my voice wobbly. I was terrified and he knew it. He slowly backed away from the now very dead Max that laid on the ground, chest basically ripped open. My whole body was shaking with fear, I noticed I felt the same as I did when he first took me; but worse.

I felt Henry try and grab my arm again. “C-c’mon let’s get out of here before we’re next.” But I shook off his hand. “Y/n, let’s go!” There was scrambling feet behind me but I kept my gaze on Hoseok, who was sitting there with his eyes wide.

“That’s it, die if you want to, I’m out of here.” Then he was gone. It was only Hoseok and I, alone once again.

“Hoseok…” I whispered walking closer. He backed away as if saying don’t come near me but I continued anyway. A voice in my head kept screaming at me to run away as far as I could, but a stronger part of me knew that he wasn’t going to hurt me. He would’ve already if he wanted to.

He grabbed a piece of clothing that was on the floor before running off. I had thought he left, but before I could turn around, he silently returned, back into his human form, head low in shame and guilt.

“I’m sorry,” He said quietly. “I-I didn’t mean it, I was just trying to prote-”

I cut him off, knowing what he was about to say. “I know you were, I just didn’t expect you to maul the guy.” I laughed trying to loosen the tension. He didn’t even smile, keeping his head down. I didn’t know what to say after that, so I kept quiet silently playing with my fingers as they were still shaking.

“You hate me now, I can even smell it on you, you’re terrified of me.” I quickly shot my head up, shaking my head in denial. “N-no Hoseok I-”

“Yes, Y/n, you are.” This time he looked up. I saw a single tear fall from his eye, slowly dripping down towards his chin.

“H-Hoseok..” I whispered, taking a step closer.

“Leave Y/n!” He yelled causing me to flinch. A tear escaped my eye as well. His expression softened at the sight of me crying but it was gone as soon as it appeared. “I’m just trying to keep you-”

“No!” I yelled back. “I’m not going to leave! I grew to trust you Hoseok. Even though you did kidnap me, and take me away from my crew, I realized in these last few days that you’re not like the rest of your kind. Hell, Jimin tried to eat me, well I guess not in the way that I thought…” I trailed off and looked at Hoseok, realizing that this wasn’t changing his mind I continued.

“You killed him because you wanted to keep me safe, One of your own kind...” I said with sincerity. I still couldn’t get that out of my head; for some strange reason, I was still shocked that he had killed - probably - a fellow family member just to keep me safe and alive.

“So please, please don’t tell me to leave. I-” I went silent, causing a confused expression to rest upon his face.

“Hoseok, I think I’m growing feelings for you.” Oh my god what am I saying? And why is my heart beating so quickly? Hoseok’s eyes shot wide open at my sentence. He took a step closer, limping slightly and I almost winced at the pain the grew on his face. When he realized I wasn’t taking a step back he took another one, until he was so close to me I could just barely feel his breath on my nose.

“You mean..?” He questioned, trailing off not completely sure what I meant. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. I didn’t know what I was feeling, but I definitely knew I felt something for him.

“Y-yes.” He suddenly grabbed my face, his large hands engulfing my cheeks making them completely disappear. He looked at me with such hope in his eyes I didn’t know what to do next. His eyes trailed from my eyes to my lips, then slowly back to my eyes. I felt my hands become sweaty at his intense gaze, my legs became numb I felt like I was going to fall over if he wasn’t holding me like this.

“Why are you looking at me like-” His lips smashed into mine without warning. As his lips moved against mine, I was left in utter shock. After getting over the fact that he was kissing me, I let myself melt into the kiss as I wrapped my arms around his waist, my eyes fluttering shut. He felt so warm, I didn’t want to move away from him. Fireworks felt like they were going off in my stomach and I felt like I was going to explode, but in a good way. His thumbs slowly stroked my cheek and I felt him smile in this kiss, causing me to smile also.

He gradually pulled away and I almost let a whimper leave my mouth as his warm lips left mine. I opened my eyes, seeing a smiling Hoseok stand in front of me, inches away as he continued to stroke my cheek.

“You won’t leave me, right?” He whispered. I nodded, feeling my stomach erupt with butterflies. He kissed me again, this time it was shorter and to be honest, I was a little disappointed at the length but I didn’t complain. He pulled my head into his chest, resting his chin on the top of my head as he moved his hands down to my waist, moving them up and down in a comforting manner.

“Good, because I don’t want you to leave either.”

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