Ginga Densetsu Kintora - Chapter 4

Chapter 4


Barking. There was barking all around as Kintora finally came to. She let out a soft whimper as a wave of pain pulsated through her head. As she looked around, she realized she was in a cage, surrounded by other cages containing dogs of specific breeds. What sort of place was this, and why was she here? She had no idea, but the barks, as well as the heavy scent of stranger dogs, alarmed her greatly.

“Hey, hey!” a familiar voice spat. “Shut up. All of you.”

The barking ceased suddenly, becoming a small chorus of whimpers and whines. Kintora looked up, seeing…him. Hajime, the man who assaulted her. He was approaching her cage, two bowls in his hands. On his shoulder, Kintora noticed a wrapping. She could recall performing that spinning move, the Battouga, her father had called it, before she had been knocked out. No doubt, that wrapping was to heal the damage she had done. Setting a bowl down, Hajime opened the door of the cage.

Freedom! thought Kintora as she rushed for the opening. She immediately regretted the decision to do that when Hajime’s hand gripped her throat, pushing her roughly into the back of the cage.

CLASH!

“Stay back, you little asshole,” he swore, setting the bowls inside and shutting the cage door as Kintora struggled to her paws. “Now eat. It’s been a day since you had something.”

She had spent a whole day in this man’s clutches? Kintora shivered. Her family was, no doubt, worried sick about her. Gurē…she should’ve heeded his warning. And what happened to Sunatora? Did the man do something to him? Kintora thought she’d slip into unconsciousness again, her fear was so great. She couldn’t even think to eat or drink, as tempting as it was.

BANG!

The pup flinched as Hajime’s fist banged into the metal.

“EAT!” he roared. Kintora rushed to obey, scarfing down the chicken-flavored pellets and gulping the cool water. Hajime watched for a moment, before turning to leave. Kintora waited until she could no longer hear or smell him, before stopping. She approached the cage door, whining and pawing at it.

“No use, kid.”

Kintora glanced in the direction of the voice. A Border Collie stared at her grimly from her cage a short distance away.

“The cage door won’t open unless Hajime chooses to open it. Even if you could force the door open, Hajime will catch and beat you.”

“B-But,” Kintora began. “I can’t stay here! I have to get back to Ohu!”

“Ohu?” The dogs of the kennel perked curiously. The Border Collie tilted her head. “That Japanese mountain?”

“Yes!” replied Kintora. “My family is there, a-and they’re probably missing me!”

“Could she be…?”

“She is the same breed…”

The whispered echoed in the kennel as gossip began about the newcomer. Kintora looked around, her fear becoming replaced with impatience.

“Well? Are you guys gonna help me, or what?”

“Hold your horses, brat,” another dog grumbled, a Pitbull male. “Ya say you’re from Ohu? Tell me, are you related to Gin, killer of the Japanese Demon Bear?”

“Yes! Gin is my grandfather! Why?”

“Heh…you’re a long way from home, little bearhound. This ain’t Japan, kid. This is America.”

“America?” echoed Kintora. “Wh-What does that mean?”

“It means, Ohu is all the way on the other side of the world.”

Kintora felt her heart skip a beat. The other side of the world!? It would take ages for her to get home, if she even escape Hajime’s kennel. The Pitbull rested his head on his paws, his eyes closing.

“Just take a load off kid. You’re not goin’ home.”

“But I have to…” whimpered Kintora. “Mama…Papa…my brothers…” Kintora began to weep bitter tears, realizing that she would probably never go home. Silence echoed in the kennel, the dogs watching sympathetically as the puppy cried.

“Poor dear…”

“Surely we have to help her…”

“What can we do? We’re Hajime’s dogs; he sells us, and that’s that.”

“But to take a child so far from her family like that? It’s too cruel.”

“Eh, she’ll get used to it. It’s the way things are.”

And with that, everyone was silent, reluctantly agreeing that Kintora’s fate was sealed. Ohu’s princess would be forever lost.


“Still no luck?”

“W-We’re sorry, Boss, but we still couldn’t find the human, or Kintora.”

“…I see…Thank you. You are dismissed.”

A distraught Weed watched as his runners sprinted off. In the 24 hours Kintora had been missing, he hadn’t gone to sleep, instead, sending patrol after patrol to double check, and to go deeper within the human territories to maybe find his precious daughter. He had just spoken to one of the last groups that had been sent. It seemed that it was finally sinking into Weed that his daughter may have been gone for good. He sat at the mouth of his den, his head hanging low. Standing on a rocky ledge above him, gazing down at him, was his father, Gin. The silver Akita jumped down, standing beside his son.

“Weed,” he began, catching Weed’s attention.

“Father!” replied Weed in surprise. “You surprised me.”

“My apologies. I wish to speak with you.”

Together, father and son sat down, gazing at the brightening sky. The night was slowly becoming day once more, and Ohu would soon be a busy Paradise. Weed let out a gentle sigh.

“I didn’t follow your advice well enough, Father,” Weed said sadly. “Please, forgive me.”

“You did the best you could, my son,” Gin replied, giving his son a calm stare. “Kintora was a troublesome child, and didn’t understand the danger she was in. All children can be like that. No one is truly at fault; all we can do is accept what is now fact: Kintora was captured by a human who will most likely sell her for her pelt. If her captor cannot be found in Japan…I fear she is much, much further away. She could’ve been taken to America, the place the humans call the “land of opportunity”.

The place across the ocean?” asked Weed, his brow furrowed in concern. “If she is there…then we can never hope to get her back.”

“That could be true, however, there is a chance that could be false.”

“Father?”

“She is a bearhound, son. She has the blood of my father, Riki, and his father, Shiro, in her veins. We bearhounds have accomplished great feats in our lifetimes, even if some of us were just little kids. I believe that, maybe, she could return to us. Let us not stir up what could be false hope, however.”

“Y-Yes…yes, I believe in what you say, Father.” Weed looked up at the sky, which was a blend of orange and navy blue. “Kintora…I will prey she unleashes her true potential as a bearhound. Sunatora did tell me she had pulled off a Battouga before he was knocked unconscious.”

“A Battouga?” Gin’s eyes widened. “Hmm…then perhaps we should have more hope than I thought. Still, only time will tell.”

Weed nodded in agreement, before looking into the den, watching his sleeping wife and remaining children.

“Sunatora and Gurē will suffer most of all from this loss, however,” he said. “She was their sister. They loved her dearly.”

“I will find distractions for them,” promised the old Akita. “They will participate in training classes to take their mind off the loss. If they focus on it all the time, it will not be good for them.” Weed nodded once again.

“Thank you, Father.”


The day replaced the night, and the sun shined down the whole of Japan. In the Fukushima Prefecture, Weed’s final patrol was traveling along Mount Azuma, one of Ohu’s mountains, on their way home. Their heads hung low and their tails were tugged between their legs in shame, for they, had too, found nothing of Kintora and Hajime.

They walked through the forest, traveling around the mountain’s massive crater. As they did, however, one of them, a Vizsla mix named Benrei, began looking around, a shiver running down his spine. A comrade looked to him.

“Eh, Benrei? What’s wrong?”

“I dunno,” replied Benrei. “I just…nevermind, I think I’m just cold.”

“In summer? Perhaps you are coming down with an illness. Should we stop to rest?”

“No, no,” insisted the Vizsla. “We’ll keep going.”

The group continued, but Benrei could not shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. He continued making glanced behind and around him, his nose quivering. A bear scent flowed into his nose, one that smelled oddly different from any other bear scent he had smelled. Now, Benrei was a young dog, a member of Kyoushiro’s pack before being recruited by Weed. He had no idea that this scent was not one to be taken lightly.

“Benrei,” his comrade called again. “What are you--?” he stopped, also catching the smell. “Hold on…is that…?” The dog sniffed again. “Bear?”

The traveling group stopped to smell the scent. All of them were young dogs, none of them having been alive to witness the events told to them by the Ohu veterans. They couldn’t understand the danger behind this particular bear scent.

GROOOOOOOOOUUUURRRRR!

The echoing roar caused the dogs to nearly jump out of their skins. A great form emerged from the trees, nearly matching them in height. It was a bear, its scarred pelt a deep blackish-brown. Around its neck was a red collar, worn from age, and seemingly embedded into its skin. A thick chain swung from the collar, glinting in the sunlight. On its head was a clump of pitch black fur that stretched down its back. Its eye (the other was covered by some of the black fur) was a piercing light blue, and stared down at the dogs with an alarming sense of familiarity.

“What the hell?” a dog began, staring up at the bear in shock.

“What sort of bear is that?” cried another.

“Who cares!” snapped a third. “We’re Ohu dogs! If it wants to fight, we’ll kill it.”

The bear roared again, its eye turning bloodshot as it raised a paw. The Ohu dogs leapt into action, fangs ready to bite. The paw swung down, massive claws ready to kill.

The forest was soon filled with the bloodcurdling screams of dogs being torn to pieces.