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 Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:36 pm
Zehn laid down by her lonesome beneath a lovely shady tree, taking the quiet time to slip into a light doze, common among guard and ex-guard dogs.
Something was hiding in that bush. He could hear it rustle around. Daisuke rose to his paws, ears perked toward the sound. His stomach grumbled. At this point he didn’t care what he ate so long as he ate. He took a slow, easy step forward. The rustling stopped and Daisuke froze mid-step. The prey went back to foraging, the bush rattling its leaves.
The Golden Retriever crouched down low, his muscles tensing and bulging beneath his soft coat of fur. A smirk slid across his muzzle as he licked his mouth in anticipation. He had been working this rabbit for nearly five minutes. His eyes burned with determination, as the bush grew silent once more. As soon as it wasn’t paying attention, he would get whatever was hiding there come hell or high-water.
Upon hearing the light sound of another and catching a familiar scent, the German Doberman opened her good eye and watched as the dark retriever from before stalked something in the bushes. Her curiosity was peeked by his strange movements, but she kept it to herself, at least until he was finished.
The Tora-Ge couldn’t restrain himself any longer and launched himself into the shrub; teeth ready to connect with flesh. He felt the fur against his hard palate and the satisfying squish as blood oozed up from around his teeth. The rabbit’s eyes widened and it let out a shrill, piercing scream. It was then Daisuke, stepped out from the bush and began to thrash his head. He dropped the rabbit and crushed its skull. An eye burst and was oozing out of its socket.
The rabbit had died.
Daisuke bowed his head in reverence. “Arigato, usagi-san...” He murmured before lying down and placing a paw on the rabbit’s body before clamping down on the soft underbelly and jerking his head back. There was a harsh ripping sound as flesh was pulled away. The intestines slipped out of the body and lay in a warm bloody heap before the canine.
There would be enough to sustain him at least until tonight.
She watched as he returned with a rabbit, both eyes open now, though it mattered little. She thought about not asking at all, but that curiosity got the better of her.
"Very unusual vay to stalk. Vhere did you pick that up?"
Daisuke smirked softly. “My sensei, Kirby-sama. He was raised by a feline and learned to stalk as he did...and he in turn taught me.” The Tora-Ge tore out the liver and began to eat it. “He also instilled in me a deep respect for our prey...just as we have souls...they do too and not to forget that.” He then began to slurp down the intestines like a thick, bloody pile of spaghetti.
Zehn nodded her head at his explanation of both his learning of the hunt as well as his spiritual beliefs. Made sense, even to one such as herself.
"Ve vere never taught of that, though the elders constantly reminded us to respect our opponents, in life und in battle."
The male cracked a smile and bowed his head in greeting. He had never met a foreign dog. Her tone seemed guttural and harsh compared to his. But she was polite and seemed strong. “I’m Daisuke…might I have the honour of learning your name, Miss?” He asked respectfully.
When the retriever bowed his head and introduced himself, Zehn bowed hers as well, though more crisply, as she was accustomed to.
"Vierzehn," she introduced herself. She had met other dogs before, for brief periods of time, and now knew that it was odd that she be named simply a number, but it had been the only name she had ever known.
"Daisuke... It is Japanese, ja?"
Daisuke nodded. He was quite excited to have possibly found an ally. But he restrained it from showing on his face. “Hai.” He allowed the tip of his tail to swing back and forth very subtly. “Gomen-ne...I'm not familiar with your tongue...do you mind if I shorten your name?” He didn’t think he could make his tongue work enough to get the name out properly. “If so, what would you rather be called?” He asked.
Daisuke had asked for a nickname and it took her a moment to think. Again, she had been known as Vierzehn all her life and it was what she was used to. However...
"Ah. The brief time I vas a guard, I vas called just Zehn. The human-pups had difficulty forming my name as vell."
The Golden Retriever gave a ghost of a smile. “Zehn-san...may I ask what brings you here?” He said before tossing the rabbit at her feet with a jerk of his head. “Eat your fill if you wish,” He chuckled. “There's plenty of game around here.” He added. Of course it would be nice to try bigger game again like deer. He hadn’t had deer meat in ages!
Vierzehn shook her head when Daisuke tossed her the remains of the rabbit.
"Nein, but thank you," she turned down the food, partly due to lack of hunger, and partly because she wasn't yet accustomed to sharing another's kill.
"Vhen I vas discharged after losing sight in my left eye, I vas a guard for a human und his family. They brought us here und I left. I vas no housepet, but I could not live there anymore," she explained, her voice a little low.
After the male retrieved the rabbit he nodded taking the rabbit’s skull in his mouth and clamped down. There was a harsh crunching sound and he pawed at the head with a paw trying to move some of the skull pieces before attempting to pull out the brain. “I'm looking for a mixed breed by the name of Kirby-sama. He went off after his father. He wouldn't tell me much but from what he said his father Kamakiri was a disgrace. He wasn't sure he even knew of his birth.” He shook his head in disgust. “It's been seasons and I haven't crossed paths with him again.” That said, he laid down once more resting on his hip much like a puppy.
She listened as Daisuke told her about his mentor and how he was looking for him.
"Ah, I vish I could help, but I'm afraid I don't know many others. I generally keep to myself," she explained, but then she didn't know what Kirby looked like. Perhaps she had run into him.
"Vhat does this Kirby look like?"
Daisuke thought for a moment before speaking, “He's a large breed...wiry fur...bearded face...an Irish Wolfhound build with the colouring of a German Sheppard and a gash on his hind left leg. No one I've met has seen him around.” The male explained, his ears flicking back briefly. “He's able it's just...unnerving no one's seen him.”
Daisuke's description only solidified Zehn's belief that she had never met his mentor. She wondered what she could do to aid him, or at the least offer for consolation.
"Vell, perhaps he is just beyond vhere everyone you've met has gone," she tried, shrugging a bit as she did so.
Again he nodded after taking a bite of the brain, it made a squishing sound as fluid flew a short way from it. He finished the rest of the brain and licked the blood off of his muzzle. He loved the tangy, metallic taste. “Hai, you're probably right, Zehn-san.” He agreed with a smirk. “What are your plans now that you're in the country?” He asked before rising into a sitting position.
Zehn sat up after Daisuke, her back straight and her position very formal, a style of sitting she had developed as a pup. He had asked about her plans. She could only tell him the truth.
"I've never had plans. Live day by day, that vas my motto. Although, it might be nice to be apart of a pack again. If it han been my choice, I vould have not been discharged... Though I can understand. I might have been more of a hindrance."
He looked a bit perplexed. “I don't see how you'd be a problem to anyone. But, I'm looking for willing dogs to come with me and find him. It was his dream to gather a large pack and meet up with his father and any others who stood against Ohu. He wasn't brought up by that b*****d and abhors everything he stands for. All of the suffering...” He trembled with pent up rage, eyes flashing intensely. “And damnit, if I won't see it happen!”
She chuckled at him and his idea of how he couldn't see her as a problem to anyone.
"Close your left eye und try und tell me that you can still see things to your left side vithout turning your head."
Daisuke snorted. “In a pack there are many sets of eyes to see. I'm sure one or a few could look to the left for you...” He said with a smirk and a wink. Part of him was wondering if she was having second thoughts and it was an excuse. He wasn’t too sure about this female yet but she seemed to be ‘real dog’.
Zehn considered his response and nodded her head a bit in thought.
"True, true... Und it vill be better than before. Ve vorked alone often, vith our human companion, of course. Perhaps I may join your endeavors."
He laughed openly, partly in relief. “Good to hear!” He exposed his teeth in a wide grin before his face grew serious. More so than the female had ever seen. He sighed. “Sadly, our numbers are two. Knowing that, are you still interested?” He asked tilting his head to one side.
She smiled when he informed that it would only be the two of them, despite the serious look on Daisuke's face. That was good on several levels. Firstly, it was better than being alone, and secondly she wasn't used to being in a group larger than four or five dogs at one time, and even then they had been together for almost as long as she could remember. Take it slow, get used to more companions at one time.
"It's better than being alone," she replied a little offhandedly. And she was beginning to enjoy the male's company.
The Tora-Ge rolled his eyes. “Glad to know I'm your can't-do-better-so-I'm-settling.” He said jokingly with a grin and a deep laugh. His blue eyes twinkled. “All in jest of course.” He added before a thought came to him. There was so much about this female that he didn’t know. “So what did you do for the humans, exactly?” He asked.
Zehn chuckled in return, amused with the retriever's good humor. But when he asked what she did, the smile left her creamy maw.
"I vas in the military. Ve had many duties, guarding the base und on the field ve vould find bombs beneath the ground und enemies that vere concealed somehow. Ve have much better noses than the humans," she replied with a sigh. Part of her missed it still, part of her cursed the accident that made her incapable of continuing. A half-blind b***h was not of use to the military, even one that had been as good at what she did as Vierzehn had been. Too many liabilities.
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Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:38 pm
He nodded. "Bombs?" He asked, somewhat perplexed. For the brief time Kirby had lived with humans his family had made fireworks, and he didn't know what they were called so he made his own term, 'balls of fire'. Daisuke had no way of knowing the two were very similar. "They don't sound pleasant at all." He added finally.
He noted the look on her face, ears titling back slightly. "Did...did I bring up a bad topic?" He asked, wishing he hadn't upset her. "I...didn't mean to at all." He added quickly head bowed.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:21 pm
Zehn shrugged at his question over the topic.
"Nein, I just miss it sometimes. It vas thrilling und the only home I ever really knew," she explained, ignoring his question about bombs. She really wouldn't know how to describe them other than things under the ground that exploded and could tear you apart.
The creamy female stood and stretched, letting out a long, yet soft yawn as she did so. She had been traveling a lot of late and the lack of sleep had finally caught up to her.
"You vouldn't happen to have a place to sleep, vould you? It has been a long journey."
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:17 pm
Daisuke rose to his paws and nodded. "There're some old deer thickets about an hour's walk from here. Plenty of hunting as well." He said. "Last time I checked it was neutral territory." The male added, noticing the sun had begun to settle into a lower position in the sky.
Zehn's yawn elicited a larger one from the striped golden.
"I hope you don't mind fish." He added. Personally, he loved fishing and was quite good at it. But there was a stream near where they were headed chock full of fish. It was their migration season so even if someone wasn't very good at the sport, they would most likely get something.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:28 pm
"That sounds good," Zehn nodded and her body twitched a bit in a kind of small shake. She was tired, but she was used to going for several days without sleep. Only thing was, she hated it.
"Fish, they are fine. Rarely have them, but I've tried them once or tvice," she added with another yawn. It didn't really matter anyways, because when they got to where they were going, she was going to find a spot to curl up and sleep.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:00 pm
He shook his head slightly as if to drive away the want to sleep. The male had been on the move for quite some time as well. He took off and a leisurely trot. "The sooner we get there the sooner we can stop." He said, mostly to himself.
As they headed toward a wooded meadow trees had large, fresh oozing gashes. Saplings were snapped in half and the area smelled musky and all around disgusting. Daisuke scented the air and pushed the air through his nose quickly as if to help rid it on the pungent smell.
It smelled of bear, female bear.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:21 pm
Zehn followed the male, matching his pace until she, too, smelled the bear.
"Ve should not be in this area," the Doberman whispered, looking around as best she could. She wasn't weak or anything like that, and was in fact a very formidable opponent, when she needed to be.
But she was also intelligent, clever. And she knew that two dogs against a bear, a female bear with the possibility of cubs, wasn't the smartest of ideas.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 1:44 pm
"Hai..." He agreed. "We'll have to find a way around...damn bears." He muttered softly. He too, was doing his utmost to keep an eye out for the bear he knew had to be close. "There might be some mountains close by. It's cub season so I assume she'd stick near the river and in the forests." He mused aloud.
To their north he saw the haze of mountains.
"Whatever we do...I don't want to stick around here." He added before he began to trot away from the harsh smells and toward the mountains. Even if she didn't think it was a good idea he was merely moving to keep away from the bears and to have at least somewhat of a heading.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 3:10 pm
Zehn nodded in agreement as she matched her pace with his... for a few minutes. When she got an idea of where he was going, she nudged him a bit and took off at a longer lope, her thin legs not built so much for speed, but her training had more or less helped her overcome that. She would never be as fast as a greyhound or borzoi, but she was faster than a normal Doberman, as all her comrades had been.
The sooner they got out of the area, the better, but that didn't mean she couldn't take the time out to give her travel sore muscles the stretch of a good run.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:35 pm
Daisuke ran until he was neck-in-neck with the Doberman. His leg fluff bounced slightly even with his fluid gate. While his breed wasn't the fastest either he was a little faster than typical Doberman. Her spreed both impressed and amused him. He pressed on, spanning the grasslands and weaving in and out of trees as they cropped up.
He heard a low squalling sound to his left and a crash to his right. He gave a soft bark and ran was quickly as his legs could carry him. This was the last place they needed to be and he knew it.
They would almost certainly loose the fight if they were caught between a mother bear and her cubs.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:16 pm
The sounds around them made Zehn's heart skip a beat and her eyes widen. It had been fun, racing the not-so-golden retriever, but the sound that was no doubt made by a couple of bears made her anxious indeed. Some time ago, she wouldn't have been as jumpy as she was in this situation. But at that time, she had her comrades. Here, she just had Dai. He was proving to be a worthy dog, but still. Two dogs against one angry mother bear is not a good ratio, in her opinion.
"Scheiße!" she barked under her breath and pushed herself to the limit, putting distance between her and the possible threat.
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2008 7:40 pm
The male didn't need to know the literal meaning of 'scheiße' to know it meant 'run for your ******** life'. His strides became longer, dirt clods flew from the moist soil behind him. The rocks at the base of the mountain were looming ever closer. They were so close to saftey and yet so very far.
He could hear thudding and a low growl and he slowed his pace ever so slightly to allow Zehn to pass him for a moment. He then sped up and was on the same side of her as the bear. Her eyes burned with blood-lust. She wasn't even worried about her cubs.
"DIE AKAKABUTO b***h!"
He snarled as he kept running. He had a fair bit of stamina but his muscles were starting to burn. He felt his reserves kick in as his adrenaline surged and he pulled a metre ahead of his previous pace. If only they could scramble up the rocky crags.
Then he registered the sound of moving water. "How agile are you?" He called, having another idea.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:18 am
"Not meant for it!" Zehn barked back, baring her teeth at the threat as Dai zipped around her. She huffed, regretting in some part the playful run they had had.
"Vhat do you vant me to do?" she asked, her speech broken by the huffing of her breath.
She hated bears. Most other predators she could deal with, as they were usually on a similar playing field. Bears had an upper hand because they could stand like dogs and like humans. And that just wasn't very fair.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 10:07 pm
Daisuke's breath was catching and he felt a tightness in his chest. He swallowed hard as his legs kept pounding. "We can't do this much longer." He said, puffing away. "If we go to the water it picks up...sounds like a waterfall." He said, feeling a stitch growing in his side. "We can out maneuver her and make our way down the rocks to the bottom of the river...she's too big to follow us without falling." He reasoned. The more he focused on the rocky outcropping the farther away it seemed.
The bear was gaining ground quickly.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 4:31 pm
"I-can... Try," Zehn huffed back, doing her best to put on a burst of speed. She knew this would turn out badly. First of all, she wasn't a young dog and wouldn't fool herself into think so. Secondly, she wasn't bred for long-distance sprinting nor climbing, downwards or otherwise. And thirdly, climbing was made a lot more difficult when your depth-perception is skewed.
Her ears flattened against her head and she gave all she could give into running from their gargantuan pursuer.
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