The Seven: Wanted Dead or Alive
Chapter 112: Instinct to Survive
Title: Instinct to Survive
Author: Hairann
Prompt and Word Count: Enslaved-500
Characters: Jakotsu, Bankotsu and Renkotsu
Warnings: None
Summary: Part 112 of The Seven: Wanted Dead or Alive.
Prompt Summary: A hunter shoots a little too close to the camp and endangers everyone.
Won first place for prompt!
Even with as clear as it was that neither of them wanted to part, eventually they had to separate in order for them to get some work done. Though Jakotsu insisted that he rest and allow himself to heal before going back to work, Bankotsu countered with the fact that a hired hand was only as good as the work he could do and that there was now extra work since one of the men were dead.
Though he wasn't happy, Jakotsu decided to just let him do as he wished; knowing he would end up doing so anyways. Bankotsu wasn't the kind of man to sit around while everyone was doing his share of the work. In fact, Jakotsu was certain he would be doing even more work how so that no one else had to pick up the slack. Of course, he didn't have to know that Jakotsu was helping to lighten his load.
Nodding goodbye to Bankotsu as he mounted his horse and began following after Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, with most of the remaining men following, Jakotsu turned his attention away from them and to his own work. While they had been instructed to scout ahead and make sure the cattle could continue following the trail and a few of them to go hunting, Jakotsu had been left behind to gather more firewood.
Though Renkotsu had been left behind as well, Jakotsu had been too busy with Bankotsu to hear what his job had been. More out of curiosity than anything else, Jakotsu glanced around until he spotted the only two females of the group not too far away; washing dirty laundry in a nearby bucket. Turning his attention to the herd of cattle briefly, he found them happily chewing away on the grass at their feet; completely unconcerned by what was going on around them.
Realizing everyone was doing their job but him, Jakotsu shook his head to help him focus and began gathering up armfuls of firewood; dropping them off in the center of camp as he had been instructed to. It wasn't until he had returned with the third or forth handful that he heard the loud gun shot that rang out. Recognizing it as coming from a riffle as opposed to a hand gun, he wasn't too worried about it as he knew it was just one of the men hunting.
If it wasn't for the fact that the shot was extremely loud, signifying the shooter was rather close, Jakotsu would have forgotten all about it. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't the only one startled by how close it was; in fact an entire herd came to the same conclusion as he did. Only instead of thinking that the hunter should have moved further away from camp before firing, the only thing the cattle thought was 'danger, run'. And that was exactly what they did as they became enslaved by their fear and panic; unaware of nothing else but the instinct to survive.