For a hundred years, a large bamboo forest stood near present - day Kyoto, Japan. It served as a home for many creatures - from the large xiang xiang pandas to the weasels of the ground. But there was one creature that came, and following it was destruction that destroyed this beautiful place.

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Sakura breathed in the humid air of the bamboo forest, a light breeze carrying many scents from afar. The blue sky above was blue and cloudless, besides the wall of cumulonimbus clouds looming above the mountains in the distance.

Rain is coming, Sakura thought, been a bit since we've had a good rain, besides a small bit of drizzle - the forest will be happy with a storm.

"Sakura!"

The white wolf looked up and smiled up at the small red panda on the branch in the small tree beside her. "Hello, Maiku. How are you?"

"I'm fine," Maiku stated, "But Nightjar's been hogging all the berries!"

At the sound of his name, Nightjar, a small cat-like animal peeked out from a bush not too far away. "Maiku!" he complained, "You know they're my favorite!"

"Alright, no more bickering over the good berries this season!" Sakura chuckled.

"Alright," Maiku and Nightjar said in unison.

Suddenly, a black ball of fur fell right in front of Sakura.

"Hudai!" Sakura said, nudging the little fox with her paw, "I told you not to climb trees without my supervision!"

"But Sakuraaaaa," Hudai whined, getting up off of the ground, "You were right below me, so I assumed that counted!"

"Well, I didn't see you, so it doesn't," Sakura explained.

"Hmph," grunted Hudai, lowering her ears grumpily.

As Sakura continued through the forest with Hudai, she heard rustling in the distance. At first, Sakura thought it might be something hostile creeping up to them, and instinctively motioned for Hudai to get behind her, but then realized that, if this was supposed to be an ambush, then those involved are doing a terrible job of being stealthy. So, Sakura loosened up a little bit.

Suddenly, a big bundle of blonde fur launched in Sakura's direction.

Of course, it didn't do much good if the animal was trying to attack, for Sakura shrugged it off and pinned it quite easily.

"Who are you?" Sakura growled at the animal. It looked a bit like a wolf, except for its curly tail and smaller build. Also, of course, wolves are not usually blonde and white.

The small almost - wolf, despite his size, had a ferocious spirit, swiping at Sakura's just - out - of - reach belly while baring his teeth. "Who wants to know?" he snarled.

Sakura growled again, and he whimpered, forcing his curly tail between his hind legs.

"Okay! Not the talkative type!" he whimpered, "Don't eat me!"

Sakura cocked her head, staring at him in confusion. "Eat you? I'm a vegetarian, thank you very much!"

"Okay then!" he cringed, attempting to pull away from the white wolf's grasp.

"Now answer my question," Sakura snapped, "Who are you?"
"My name is Inu!" the almost - wolf said, "I'm scouting ahead for my master!"

Sakura flicked her ear, "Master?"

Inu immediately covered his snout with his paw. Sakura nudged them away and looked him in the eye. "Who is your "master?"

"Umm," Inu trembled, "Can you get off me first?"

Sakura glared at him.

"No? Alright, then," Inu stated.

"Hudai," Sakura turned to see the little black fox, creeping closer with curiosity, "Go get Maiku and Nightjar. I'll need their help in a moment"

"Alright!" Hudai replied, and Sakura watched him as he darted back towards the area where they last saw the two.

As Sakura turned back to Inu, Inu visibly gulped.

About fifteen minutes later, Hudai arrived with Maiku and Nightjar.

"Hello!" Nightjar said to Inu. Inu immediately barked and snapped.

"Cat!" he exclaimed, reaching for the small feline. Nightjar hissed and swiped his nose, curling his tail around his paws as he smirked at the struggling almost - wolf.

Maiku carefully crept up to Inu, nose twitching in curiosity. "What are you?" he asked Inu.

"Have you never seen a dog before?" Inu questioned. Maiku cocked his head in confusion. Inu let out an exasperated sigh. "No wonder you came out and tackled me, wolf."
"My name is Sakura," Sakura snapped. Inu lowered his ears and tucked his tail further in between his legs.

"What should we-" Hudai was cut off by a deafening din coming from the east. Inu yelped and put his paws over his ears, trying to block out the booming noises.

"What is that?!" Nightjar yelled over the noise. Sakura didn't answer. She only stared out into the distance in terror, the noise sparking something deep in her memory - an image impossible to forget.

Sakura was only a small cub, living with her parents in their den a long way north of the bamboo forest. She lived in the boreal forest, where the tall spruce and fir trees loomed over squishy, brown podzol and pine needles. She led a peaceful life, for no animal fought over food or territory. Instead, they allowed the food chain to commence, and keep the ecosystem in balance. But one fateful day, giant yellow monsters with spinning, oval paws came. Their jaws were massive, and they clawed at the ground, uprooting trees and tearing at the ground like sharp teeth ripping flesh.

Sakura was by the river with her parents when all this happened, and they were cornered by creatures who walked on two legs, and held sticks of death in their forelegs. They spoke a language not known to animalkind, and they communicated - somehow - by making yelping and howling noises (not quite yelping and howling, but it was close enough to qualify for that). Her parents stood in front of her, growling at the strange creatures. Sakura was stuck between her parents and the creatures in front, and behind her was a quick - moving river.

Sakura's mother's ears laid back as the creatures closed in on the small family. She looked back to Sakura, fear and panic showing. Then, whispering something to Sakura's father, she grabbed Sakura by the scruff of her neck and leapt over the typhoon of a river.

Sakura made it across the wild river. But her mother was lost to the rushing current.

As the creatures shouted and barked at each other, one looked up to the other side of the river and barked, pointing at her. Half of them looked and pointed their black sticks at her. Then, a sharp snapping sound came from the stick, kicking up dirt a few inches away. Sakura yelped in fear and, not worrying about where she was going, ran as fast as she could. Away from her father, the creatures - who she later discovered were called "men"- and the river that killed her mother. Her home, her family, her friends.

And she never looked back.

Now, she relived that moment in her mind as she watched the yellow monsters with gaping jaws and teeth made of metal claw at the bamboo and the ground, destroying everything in their path. Men with snapping, killing sticks prowled around, searching for something to kill and move aside.

"Run!" Sakura shouted. Maiku, Hudai, and Nightjar didn't hesitate.

"We'll meet you by the lake east of here!" Hudai shouted behind him as he darted through the bamboo. Sakura stared into Inu's eyes - she had nearly forgotten about him - and ran to the direction of her friends. Inu, probably preferring to not be killed by monsters, followed close on Sakura's heels.

Once they got a couple of miles from the edge of the bamboo - forest - wreck - in - progress, Sakura spied the lake that Hudai said he and the others would meet her at, and turned toward it. Sakura didn't stop running until she and Inu were at the lake's shore, where Hudai, Maiku, and Nightjar sat, catching their breath. Maiku, Sakura saw, had a long cut down the side of her face, showing through her orange-red fur as it sliced down to her knee.

"Maiku!" Sakura yelped, "What happened?"

Maiku, ears down, said, "It was some kind of dog I think."

Inu, seeing her accusing glare, yapped at her.

"Are you implying this is my fault?" Inu growled, "All I know is that I went there to find something and then go back to his den!"

Sakura barked and pinned Inu down once again, her snout inches away from his.

"Alright, time to spill the beans!" Sakura snarled, "Who is this "master" you keep talking about?"

Inu lashed out with his back legs, attempting to shred Sakura's belly (and failing). "That's none of your concern, wolf!"

Inu immediately cringed away as Sakura snapped at him, "Tell us! Now! Our lives and yours are at stake!"

"Fine!" Inu whimpered, "But you have to promise me that you won't kill me!"

Sakura sighed. "Alright. But no promises!"

Inu sighed in relief, his body un-tensing itself as his ears calmly pointed backwards, "I work for Sharptooth."

Hudai yelped and hid behind Nightjar, who was hissing in astonishment at the dog's words. Maiku yapped, showing her teeth, her new scar just adding to the effect.

"Sharptooth?!" Maiku snarled, his small, pointy teeth gleaming in the fading afternoon sunlight, "Are you insane?!"

"I had no choice! He was going to kill me if I didn't!" Inu exclaimed, fear in his voice. Sakura just stared, still in clear shock at what he had said. Sharptooth was a mountain cat with teeth sharper than a murder hornet's stinger. The very teeth that created the large scar on her neck, concealed by her thick fur around that area.

The very thought of those huge jaws enclosing around her made her subconsciously dig her claws into the ground - or, in this case, Inu's shoulders.

"Hey! Sakura! Watch the claws!" Inu yelped, struggling to wiggle away from her sharp front claws.

Sakura, slipping back to reality, said, "Why would you work for that crazy cat?"

Inu whimpered, attempting to pull back from Sakura, but Sakura held her ground.

"Alright, fine!" Inu exclaimed, "I'll tell you what happened. Would that make you happy?"

"No, we don't have the time for this!" Sakura said in exasperation, "We have to start moving, or we'll be hunted down by those... men!"

"I agree with Sakura," Hudai said, "If we're going to get out of this, then we need to work and stick together!"

Maiku and Nightjar nodded in agreement.

Sakura looked down at Inu, a mischievous glint in her eye, "So, Inu, stay and be hunted by men, or come with a group of 'wild animals' and have a less likely chance of being hunted?" she asked.

Inu sighed. "I guess I have no choice, do I?" he asked. Sakura smirked and nodded her head.

"Okay! I'll go," he said.

Sakura, satisfied with Inu's answer, got off of him and looked to the eastern horizon, towards the Kitayama mountains.

"That way?" Sakura questioned the group. Hudai looked up at Sakura and nodded, showing confidence in his steady gaze. Maiku stood up and paced over to Nightjar, gazing at the rising moon over the mountains, her silent way of telling Sakura that she was ready. Inu sighed and, shaking his pelt in annoyance, came and stood next to Hudai.

"Alright, then," Sakura stated, "Let's go."

And so, the four unlikely friends (and one sort - of - friend - but - not - really - yet) set off to the eastern Kitayama mountains on a path that will be known to all animalkind as the Mountain Road.

Five days later, after a treacherous journey over cliffs an raging rivers, around lakes and men communities full of strange smells and rude men, they finally made it to the foot of the mountain, where the flat terrain they had been traveling on for ages met the slight incline of the foothills - the calm rolling hills before the steep mountain cliffs.

About halfway to the mountain, the group rested beneath a red pine with a lump near the top - maybe some kind of tree disease - before setting off again. Food was starting to get scarcer, so they ate what they could find. Luckily, what they could find included a deer (for the few animals who ate meat in the group) and some edible plants from a man's garden in its secluded mountain home.

"Alright everybody, dig in!" Sakura said, "There might not be much food where we go, and it'll get scarcer the closer to leaf-fall it becomes."

Once everybody started to eat, Sakura sat down and ate some fruit from the garden and, as she finished what she had, she felt a piercing pain in her side.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, kicking at the area. She felt a huge bug-like shape around the spot. Sakura, feeling dizzy with pain, looked down at what she had just hit. What she saw made her heart stop.

A murder hornet.

"Guys! Get out of here!" Sakura bursted, jumping to her paws and ignoring the sharp pain from the swell in her side, "Hornets!"

Suddenly, a loud buzzing came from the lump farther up the tree. Maiku looked and yelped at the sight. At that, everybody ran.

But that's when a large swarm of huge insects emerged from the tree, grouping together like birds of a feather. Their wings created an endless cacophony of buzzing as the swarm pursued the travelers through the foothills towards the mountains.

Sakura kept up the best she could, but the sting in her shoulder had swollen up quickly, and a bit of blood spilled out of a small abscess in the middle. She was slowing down a bit, bringing the hornets closer and closer to her tail. Sakura knew what could happen if she got multiple stings, so she pursued through the pain and looked ahead to her friends.

Inu looked behind him at Sakura and, taking one last look at the others, drove himself back behind Sakura and helped by pushing her along, the hornets only tail lengths from Inu.

"Keep going, Sakura!" he insisted, still pushing her forward.

Sakura pushed on, up the foothills and down into a crevice where, all of a sudden, the hornets turned and flew back to the direction of their nest in the tree.

The five sat down to rest, Maiku flopping down with his legs splayed out on all sides - his legs were too short for that much running. Sakura was just lying down on the ground as Hudai looked at her, worry in his eyes.

"Sakura," Hudai said, "Your sting."

Sakura looked down to her shoulder where the hornet had stung her, and wished she hadn't. The sting was red, swollen and irritated, the small abscess opening up a small bit to blood and puss. The running did not help its condition.

Nightjar, Sakura noticed, was staring off into the distance at a light at the end of the crevice, with green grass blowing in the wind beyond. Sakura stood up and, ignoring the dizzying pain from her shoulder as she moved it, walked slowly towards the end, the others following her curiously.

When they got to the light, the group could not believe what they saw.

In the opening, there was a wide open meadow with green grasses and a wide assortment of flowers and trees spread about. Small hummingbirds flitted from flower to flower, suckling on the sweet nectar inside. On the farther end of the meadow, a group of trees stood, from the sakura trees from which Sakura got her name to the japanese pines growing tall into the sky. As the group got closer, they noticed a small cave near the back of the stand of trees, opening up to a soft and springy pine-needle floor with stony walls.

"It's like it was made for us to stay," Sakura pointed out, "There are trees that probably have some hollows in them for Nightjar and Maiku, and this small cave makes for a great shelter for the rest of us. The lake on the southern side of the valley would be a great source of water and food if we want fish, and I saw some deer over by the northern side that must be their mating grounds, so anybody who eats meat can hunt well. Also, there's a patch of different herbs for edible and medical purposes that we passed on the way over here, it's perfect!"

Inu looked around the cave and, smiling, said, "I think you're right, Sakura."

Hudai looked up at Sakura with pleading eyes. "Can we please stay?" he pleaded.

Sakura smiled. "Of course."

And so, the group stayed there. Sakura's sting healed and, eventually, mated with Inu to birth the first wolf-dogs in that part of the world. They stayed for many years, even after the original groups' death, and their family lines continued, for Maiku, Nightjar, and Hudai all found mates and had children. And for generations, the story of the original groups' journey from the bamboo forest stayed strong - the story of the Mountain Road. But great stories are like stars - they are told over and over again, and overtime, they fade and lose details, until all that is left are myths, echoes of the great original story. But even then, those myths live on.

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Yeah I wasn't gonna publish this.

BUT THEN IT GOT GRAND CHAMPION AT THE 4-H FAIR OUT OF, LIKE, 12 OTHER PROJECTS SO I KINDA WANTED TO :DDDDDD

Lol short stories are not my strong suit so I'm still questioning h o w

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