Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

” Uwwwaaah!!”

” Chiikawa didn’t I tell you to be careful with the reins” Hachiware said riding up to where Chiikawa fell in a bush. Chiikawa nodded tears in his eyes as he scraped his small knees. A small drop of blood dripped from one of them staining his snow-white fur. That’s when he saw it, a small shadow running around under the bush. The shape looked up at him, it’s small nose twitching. Chiikawa jumped up in surprise looking over to the two.

“Eeieiiuu…” he pointed at the shape wearily.

“Did you find something?” Hachiware crouched down next to Chiikawa in the bush. The small shape panicked at the sight of him and hid behind a leaf. “I don’t think it likes me…” he sighed standing up again feeling a swoosh beside him. Hachiware turned his head only to be greeted by the sight of Usagi, butterfly net in hand capturing the small creature.

“Aha!” Usagi shouted lifting the net up to show off his new trophy. The now insect looking thing trembled in the net almost looking like it was crying.

“A beetle?” Usagi shoved the net into Hachiwares face making the beetle fly out of it landing on him. “What the hell is your problem!?” Hachiware smacked the creature off his face making it once again land on the ground in front of Chiikawa. It ran up to the white animal seeking shelter behind the small tail. Chiikawa turned around finally picking up the small creature. At the closer look he realized that the beetle must be a distant relative! They shared almost the exact same facial features!

“Uwa Uwa!!” He held up the beetle in front of the cat showing his amazing find.

“I didn’t know you were part insect Chiikawa.” Hachiware snorted a laugh while inspecting the insect. “Do you want to keep him?” Chiikawa nodded enthusiastically. “Then why don’t you give him a name?” Chiikawa raised his eyebrows thinking to himself.

“Chiikabu! Chiikawa Beetle Chiikabu” Usagi chimed in with a name jumping around them both hooting and hollering nonsense. Chiikawa once again nodded enthusiastically joining in on the jumping. Hachiware sighed seeing his best friends innocently jumping around the bush.

“Let’s head back to camp guys”

They all got back on their horses trotting slowly before speeding up to rendezvous with the rest of The Pochette Gang.

Chapter Text

As they approach the camp, they see the rest of the gang gathered around the campfire. The rest of the gang being only Rakko and Kurimanjū. They are huddled together speaking quietly.
“We’re back” Hachiware announces hitching his horse just outside of camp. Approaching the campfire, he can still not make out any of the older men’s conversation.
“How are you fellers?” Rakko greets finally acknowledging the trio’s existence.

“We found some strange beetle looking creature, Chiikawa thinks he’s related to it. You know how that boy is” Hachiware lit a cigarette taking a drag and leaning back by the fireplace. In the distance Chiikawa and Usagi were running around the hitching station Chiikabu in hand.

“When will they grow up?” Kurimanjū snarled glaring at the pair.

“Calm down, they will mature soon enough. Besides Usagi ain’t immature just stupid.”

“Well as it is now, they’re just deadweight. In the past that wasn’t a good sign Hachiware. Especially with a gang like The Chimeras around.”

“Well maybe you should mind your business old man” Hachiware stood up abruptly leaving the campfire to approach the pair still horsing around.

“Come on fellers stop making such a ruckus. Do you want The Chimeras to find us again?” At the title Chiikawa immediately froze, tears already forming in his eyes at just the mention of the gang.

“Chiikawa why don’t you and your little friend go to bed, I have to have a talk with Usagi” The small hamster and even smaller beetle scurried off to their tent after nodding.

“Usagi did you expose our location to the chimeras?”

“Didn’t” Usagi frowned as he looked at Hachiware, fidgeting slightly.

“I know you’re meeting up with Momonga. Now I don’t give a single fuck about what you do in your personal life, but if you put Chiikawa in any type of danger you will have to answer to me. If you want to keep meeting up with him make sure you’re not followed we don’t have enough people here to keep scouts out.”

“Understand…” Usagi’s ears flopped down.

“Now go to bed, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow” Hachiware snarled before turning on his heel and heading to his own tent.
Sitting down Hachiware thought over the day. Waking up to Rakko panicking because half their food supplies had been stolen by some flying fuck. Accepting the fact that their savings which they had been accumulating for over six months now were fully gone, as well as two horses. Having to babysit his little brother (who he loved very much but was about as competent as a rock) and his mentally challenged friend (who he also loves but gives him severe headaches). Then adding to that having to confront said friend about the fact that he was probably responsible for the whole squirrel fiasco.
All this just adds up to a massive headache that Hachiware does not really want to deal with. However, his gang members do not allow him to take a real break.

The next morning

“UNA!!!” Usagi’s daily wake up scream sounded through the camp. For being so incompetent the rabbit was very competent.

Rakko was first up as the assigned chef for the week, he made a quick breakfast consisting of what little amount of weeds they had left after the ransacking of the prior day. The watery soup wasn’t all that but it was at least something.

“Lets make a plan for today, we should try to get our stuff back” Kurimanjū announced as he emerged from his and Rakko’s shared tent.

“Sounds good, Usagi did you ever find out where Momonga took the stuff?” Hachiware asked turning to the rabbit.

Usagi’s ears perked up at the mention of his name and he started jumping around enthusiastically “Affirmative, Affirmative!!!” he yelled as he continued jumping.

“Great. Let’s prepare some supplies and head out for Momonga then. We should try to catch up to him before he reaches the main Chimera camp.” The cat announced lighting his cigarette as he saddled his horse.

Chapter Text

As they left the camp Usagi occasionally pointed in the direction of where he believed Momonga’s camp to be. They rode for about half an hour until they were out of the forest of their camp and out on the plains. Before them was a vast land, all of it uncharted to both Chiikawa and Chiikabu. The wind hit them both like a wall, never in their life had they felt such dry air in their small lungs. The dusts of the prairie rising up as the horses came to a stop.

“Uwahhh!!” Chiikawa exclaimed. Breathing in through his small nose he felt like he had the whole world to explore, run around and play in.

“Let’s get moving.” Hachiware announced before spurring his horse on and riding fully onto the plains. As they galloped across the dry landscape dust flew up in huge clouds around them until Usagi let out a “YAHA” signaling them to come to a halt.

On the side of the road a fallen Yoroi could be seen laying in a pool of blood. It seemed to have fallen during a battle judging from the many dents in its thick armor. Crimson drops of blood had dried around some of the gashes surrounding the lower stomach of the creature. Hachiware dismounted his horse wearily approaching the fallen armor. He investigated the holes in its face plate looking for any sign of life. The only sight that greeted him was more blood and some grey-looking clumps on the inside of the helmet. Hachiware sighed taking his hat off to bow in respect to the fallen warrior. The others followed suit bowing and removing their hats while still mounted on their horses.

“Looks like Momonga’s doing. The fucker is probably close, be weary and draw your weapons.” Kurimanjū snarled readying his revolver. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the area. Usagi once again pointed in the supposed direction of Momonga’s camp.

As the party continued riding towards their goal they did not exchange as much banter as on the way there. The sight of the Yoroi having silenced them. Especially Chiikawa and Chiikabu. They had just discovered the freedom of the world, and their dreams had immediately been shattered by the sight of the dead body. As they traveled the duo were shivering, their cheery vibe now buried underneath stutters and fidgeting paws.

Chiikawa held the small beetle close to him cradling it in his small arms. He hummed quietly trying to calm himself and the smaller animal as they rode behind the rest of the gang.

“If ya wanna be an outlaw like the rest of us you better get used to this boy!”  Kurimanjū yelled at Chiikawa. “Be more like your brother why don’t ya”

“Be easy on him he hasn’t been outside the forest before” Hachiware yelled back “You can’t expect a child like him to just accept the sight of a dead body you mongoose” The cat snarled. He felt his paws clench around his reins. Kurimanjū had a special way to get under his nerves especially when it came to Chiikawa. He spurred his horse on to get to the front of the small group and away from Kurimanjū to not have an outburst around everyone.

Chiikawa tried to ignore the snarky remarks not wanting to let Kurimanjū get to him again. However, he soon felt his eyes water. Fat salty tears started to fall from his eyes rolling down his furry cheeks and getting stuck in his whiskers. After quietly sobbing for a while he felt the small beetle in his paws stir. It took off from the paws of Chiikawa flying around him a few times before flying forward to circle the other members of the gang.

“Get this fucking pest away from me Chiikawa!” Kurimanjū yelled swatting at the beetle. Chiikabu started dodging the attacks before nibbling on the bigger animal’s tail. He took a larger bite leaving a small red mark on the tail before backing off to not get stomped by Kurimanjū.

“Scroop sop crok crak brack skrak” Chiikabu made weird noises at the grumpy old man who was now yelling every curse under the sun at the insect before flying back to Chiikawa. “Blep” it chirped in his ear.

“Waaaaaaa!!” Chiikawa exclaimed at the discovery that his friend can talk. The earlier damp spots in his fur from sadness were now from happiness as he caught the insect in his arms. He snuggled up to the insect rubbing his face against it while purring.  

“Bieeeee” Chiikabu responded. At this point Chiikawa was losing it from excitement, he started bouncing around on his horse agitating the animal. It started jumping around bucking off the hamster. “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” Chiikawa flew off landing on his ass. A small dust cloud formed around the area of impact making him cough. The gang stopped their horses to watch him sit up rubbing his sore skin.

“I ain’t ever seen someone so stupid before” Kurimanjū snarled.

With Hachiware having red to the front of the group someone else had to stand up for the youngest in the gang. “Shut up, be nice for once you old sack” Rakko whined riding over to Chiikawas side “Are you ok Chiikawa?” The hamster nodded sitting up, his horse was long gone though. As it ran away it neighed at the top of its lungs jumping around very similarly to how its former owner had acted. Chiikawa looked up at Rakko with gleaming eyes tears already falling from them. “Alright get on kid.” Chiikawa stood up before jumping up on the larger horse. His legs weren’t long enough to be able to sit on the horse with any kind of balance, so he opted to lie down in front of Rakko. He kicked his legs gently as Rakko’s horse readjusted to compensate for the added weight.  In the distance he could see his own pony galloping away towards the horizon.

“Let’s keep moving, we don’t want Momonga to get away, do we?” Hachiware announced before spurring his horse on. Their heels dug into the sides of the horses as they kept riding. They saw a lake in the distance, a pillar of smoke rising from the side of it.

Chapter Text

As they approached the lake the smoke pillar began fading.

“Shit, the fuckers gettin away” Hachiware swore spurring on his horse. The rest of the gang followed him, speeding up to keep up with his pace.

“Slow down, you’re gonna get us hurt” Rakko tried to yell between huffs. Eventually Hachiware arrived at the snuffed-out campfire. The logs were still glowing ever so slightly signaling whoever had been there hadn’t gotten far. The smell of firewood and blood filled the cat’s small but sensitive nostrils. As the remaining members caught up to him at the small camp, they also caught the curious smell. Chiikawa and Chiikabu were the last to arrive scrunching their noses in unison at the smell.

“What the hell is that?!” Kurimanjū snarled essentially ripping the tent flap open. At the sight the whole gang grew quiet. The golden sheen of the Yoroi armor reflected the warm rays of the setting sun making the whole tent look like an intricate lightshow. “Jesus…” Rakko sighed closing the tent. The stench of flesh and blood was still wafting out of the gaps in the tent created by Kurimanjū.

“Una?” The strange questioning noise came from Usagi who was standing right behind the duo by the tent.

“Well your little boyfriend seems to have massacred another Yoroi, an even higher ranking one at that. I will never understand you Usagi, you’re a disgrace. Being a queer I can understand but with him? I- “As Kurimanjū opened his mouth to continue speaking Usagi punched him in the cheek “UNA!” the bunny yelled before mounting his horse and galloping off.

“What the fuck is wrong with him?” Kurimanjū snarled before turning toward Rakko. Rakkos face scrunched up baring his teeth at the honey badger “What is wrong with him? What is wrong with you? I know Momonga might not be perfect but have some respect you rat! There isn’t even any proof that Momonga did this.” Rakko turned his back on the other leader who quickly started sulking. The otter mounted his horse before speaking out to the gang. “Let’s get moving before I decide to shoot my coleader.”

Without Usagi guiding them finding Momonga was like finding a needle in a haystack. They debated splitting up, but because of their lack of numbers they decided against it. The sun was really setting now only the very last red light illuminating the prairie ahead of them. As the sun finally set completely leaving only a little light left the group decided to set up camp for the night. Hachiware knew of a small cave he had found while exploring this area a few months prior where they now decided to set up camp.

Despite his exhaustion Hachiware could not fall asleep. Usagi leaving had essentially stranded them. Finding Momonga was almost impossible, with no leads they were better off going back to the old camp. But If they did they would lose all the supplies and money Momonga had stolen, it was truly a hopeless situation.

As Hachiware tossed and turned loud whispering could be heard from Rakko and Kurimanjūs tent.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Rakko snarled at the honey badger sitting opposite him in the small tent. “Why shame the poor guy for something his boyfriend maybe didn’t do? Even if he did kill the Yoroi how are we any different? How many chimeras have we killed for money?” He sighed staring down at the ground.

“Yeah but that’s different… The Yoroi didn’t seem to be robbed just killed for fun.” Kurimanjū sulked. The quiet tension in the tent rose as both the small animals grew quiet.

“Sorry.” Kurimanjū whispered, but only after he had started fidgeting from the glare Rakko was giving him. “It’s ok, I know you’re just worried” Rakko responded softly pulling Kurimanjū into a hug stroking his fur. “Let’s get some sleep we are gonna need it ok?” Rakko laid down pulling Kurimanjū down with him blowing out the candle illuminating the tent. He rested his cheek on the dark spot on Kurimanjūs head as he stroked his back and head softly.

While all this was happening Chiikawa and Chiikabu were fast asleep.

As the sun rose a peculiar sound echoed through the cave. It sounded like a mix of metal clanging and hissing. Hachiware emerged from his tent rubbing his eyes clearly disturbed by the noise. As he squinted against the bright opening of the cave he saw something deeply peculiar; Usagi and Momonga riding around on a Yoroi.