Family or Familiarity

Dracoso strode through town, keeping his eyes forward as best as he could. Many of the children along the pathway pointed and waved. The parents chuckled and looked on as they answered the children's questions as he passed. It would seem that no matter how he tried to avoid it, people seemed to notice. 

Noticing, of course, the three boars marching single file line only a foot behind Dracoso.

When he had gotten back from his last mission, it was already late at night. Dracoso had taken the boars home and... introduced them to his family. His father had simply raised an eyebrow before going back to reading his documents. His mother had scooped up the closest two in her arms and became pampering them. Before he knew it, she had named them and was talking about where they would sleep. Dracoso let her know that they were still wild animals and that he needed to take them to the adoption center so that he could put them up for adoption. She would hear nothing of the sort.

So now as Frost, Flow, and... Flame followed Dracoso towards his task, he knew that he wouldn't lose them. The night had been spent with his mother getting them to do tricks. For some reason they understood her better than him. He wondered, as they marched right behind him, if they were just pretending to guard him until he got to his mission. Then they would probably just run right back to his mother's arms.

As they were reaching the edge of the village, the building came up in the distance. It wasn't much to look at, but it at least seemed to do its job. It made sense to put a building out here, in case the animals were wild and coming from outside. It also made a good place for animals that needed a quieter environment for rest. Dracoso gave a stretch, preparing his muscles for what was to come.

He had checked the mission board that morning and found a request to assist at the adoption center. It detailed working to repair some of the structure and possibly moving animals from one place to another for management. There was a mention that the person needed to be good with animals and know how to handle minor wounds. With his experience so far, Dracoso thought he qualified well. As long as it wasn't birds.

A rustling nearby caught Dracoso's attention. A shape came barreling at him from the direction of the adoption center. With a quick hand, Dracoso grabbed at the shape as it tried to run past, being yanked up and onto its back. He looked down, expecting to see a child that had simply gotten lost. Only, the being had four legs and was scrambling to get up. The dog must have escaped its holding at the adoption center and taken off in hopes of freedom. Sadly, a ninja had gotten in its way.

Dracoso picked the dog up and was carrying it under his arm as he glanced back. The three boars had jumped off the road and were hiding behind doorways and one was in an alley nearby. He sighed and waved at them as they saw there was no real threat. The three boars snorted and turned, heading back the way they had come. Apparently, he was right that they would only follow him so far.

Turning back to the center, Dracoso keep a close eye on the building as he approached. Many of the windows were too dusty to see through and there was a hole in the boards just large enough that the dog probably had used it. The roof had a slight lean and dust spread softly from the doors as if the building itself was exhaling. All-in-all, it felt almost as if the adoption center was tired of trying to stay standing.

As he scanned the building, a man walked out of the building towards him. The man was hunched forward with an arm behind his back, trying to keep balance. He had a smile on his face as he welcomed Dracoso. "I take it that you are the one who has come to help us? We received the message a short time ago that you were on your way," he said.

"Well yes. It said something about a bit of repair and animal management, but there is a barely a building here. What kind of animals are you even keeping?" Dracoso asked. The man gave a grin and pointed towards one of the windows, "well towards that side, we keep the hounds and the cats who are to be trained for ninja support. Towards the middle we keep more of the wild animals, such as tigers and young rhinos. In the back is where we keep some of the more unique cases. Such as snakes and monkeys and even some of the transforming horses."

Dracoso slowly looked more incredulously at the building as the man went on. He tried to imagine this building even standing up to the strength of a tiger and all that he saw was the building sliding along the ground with the rhino pushing inside.  With a shake of the head, Dracoso focused back on the man and asked, "so what all do we need to do?" 

The man started to count off on his fingers each task, "well first we need to patch up that hole. Then we might want to clean the windows, fix all the cages and holding areas, fill in the holes in the roof, retrieve anyone who got loose, fix the water pipe in the back that burst, catch the birds in the back roost-" 

Dracoso lost count after the first dozen things the man mentioned and wondered if this mission even had an end. As the man rambled on, a young boy came running out and sighed as he heard the man talking. He jogged up to Dracoso and softly pulled him aside. In a hushed tone he whispered, "Don't worry. It isn't anything like he is describing. He had dreams of running a zoo when he was younger, so he imagines our store having all kinds of animals and fantastical beings." Dracoso gave a sigh of relief and looked to the man with a bit of pity.

The boy continued, "We do need some help with patching the holes and getting some of the animals back into their cages and pens though. It was a bit of a rough day and the animals have been acting up quite a bit recently. We usually have to spend all day managing the animals and two of our most promising workers have been sick for some time."

Dracoso nodded with a thumbs up to the boy before walking back over to the man and patting his shoulder. "Well I am happy to help. Where should we start?" The man stopped his ramble and cleared his throat. "Let's start with the hole before anything else gets out. From there, we can handle the animals."

The three headed into the adoption center together and Dracoso took in the scene. A few dogs had begun to chase one another near the front door with cats sitting on some of the bird perches above, trying to avoid the dogs. A couple of small birds seemed to be hiding up on little rafters near the ceiling, trying to avoid the cats. A few strange noises came from further back in the store. A few stray oinks and whinnies echoed through the door to the back, signaling the existence of pigs and ponies. Some of the cages looked rusted with a couple of the dividers for the holding areas having bent or cracked through the wood.

Dracoso began by placing the dog he was carrying into one of the intact holding areas and then scooping up two that were in mid chase. The third barked up at him as he placed them down together with the original dog. The third ran off to try to climb towards the cats while the two individuals went about gathering some two-by-fours to have nailed over the hole. Once it was closed off, Dracoso went to work removing the rust from the smaller cages and making sure the locks still worked and connected in place. He then looked up and repeatedly disappeared and reappeared up in the rafters. With a quick grasp, he would catch a bird with his free hand, and his feet and other hand would cling to the walls and ceiling. He would then climb down and place it in a free cage before repeating. 

While catching the birds, the man and boy went about pulling down the distracted cats and placed them in suitable cages of their own. Once all the small animals were back together, Dracoso drew water from his flask and created a couple of clones with a pair of streams of water. He had one climb on his shoulders, and they were able to clean windows from top to bottom, with the other clone carrying the young boy. Once the view out front was clean and clear, they patched up the dividers and stepped into the back.

The back was split into two rooms. One large one where he could see a handful of pigs and small ponies in their own areas and a much smaller room to the other side. He asked the pair what was kept in the smaller room and the man smiled before stating, "that is where we keep some of the smaller animals." Dracoso took a closer look and saw several small cages spread out into their own areas. He could see rabbits and mice in one part with scorpions and praying mantises in another. There were also a few snakes kept towards the back of the room. The man nodded towards the room and said, "check to make sure nothing is wrong in there and we will handle the larger animals."

Dracoso stepped into the room and felt the presence of all the animals at once. Many small eyes regarding him from their respective places before going about their grooming and napping. He checked each of the cages, starting with the furrier creatures before heading to those with claws and fangs. He made sure to be careful with his fingers as some of the creatures seemed to twitch or follow his hands as he looked over each cage. Just to be safe, Dracoso mentally prepared the signs for the substitution jutsu.

Other than a bit of polishing and care, these cages seemed further from the wear of the outside and the room even seemed to be kept at a decent temperature. He made sure their food was topped up and found that as he moved towards the last grouping, he felt almost an echo inside the back of his mind. He looked from one cage to the next, reshaping some of the metal with his hands and a hammer he had been using. As he reached the end, a soft shimmer caught his eye.

A small snake was curled up in the corner of the last cage. Its scales seemed to reflect the light nearby and it almost faded into the background of the box cage. Its eyes shone softly as it watched him. He felt something familiar tickle in the back of his mind.

"Ah, you found a unique one there." 

Dracoso turned to find the hunched man standing right behind him. With a breath, Dracoso recomposed himself and simply gave a nod. The man walked over and stood beside him, looking at the snake as he spoke, "That snake is pretty rare. It can change with the environment around it like a chameleon and hide or reflect the light to where it can blind them. Some used to say they were just a mirage. That's how it got the name 'Misty Mirage', as it could disappear in the rain as easily as a ninja." 

Dracoso looked from the man back to the snake and took in the information with fascination. He asked the man what else he could tell him about the creature. The man gave a smile, taking pride in his knowledge, "Well most snakes have long fangs for delivering poison or venoms. This one only has a row of short teeth that let it bite onto its foe where it needs to so it can hold on. It doesn't have any poison to speak of. On the contrary, these things lived in areas where most of the creatures had plenty of it already. Instead, this thing grew to where it could absorb the poison of other creatures around it and neutralize it. Kind of like a natural herb in its blood."

The snake held eye contact with Dracoso, almost as if trying to read his thoughts. Dracoso asked the man, "what else can you tell me and how did you get it?" The man ran his hand through his hair as he responded, "well they are cold-blooded and like to keep warm. They don't really like to pick fights. They carefully choose what they hunt and once they latch on, you probably won't get them off. As for how I got it, I would say that was sheer luck. You may never see another one in your lifetime with how rare they are. That doesn't include the fact that you may never see it even if it was right in front of you. This one was injured apparently and brought in by a child from the outskirts of the village."

Dracoso nodded as the snake broke off eye contact and coiled itself, almost as if ending the conversation for them. He felt the moment relax and looked back to the man. "Would it be possible for me to adopt this animal?" He asked without a thought. The man chuckled and responded with a wry grin, "I know you can handle some birds, but do you think you can handle that snake?"

He took a moment and Dracoso realized that he had no training with animals, let alone snakes. He had no luck with the boars back home. His mother was frail and she had more skill with them than he did. He let his head drop and shook it softly. "I didn't think so. We have already had a few people who heard the story of this snake being here and rushed over to get it. For most of them, the snake was the one who rejected them. A couple interested it, but in the end it wasn't a good match. No, this snake seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe, for someone. All I know is that this one is still pretty young as it is much smaller than the normal adult, so it has some time to grow. Maybe if you come back to visit again in the future, and you take a couple of snake handling lessons, who knows?" 

As the man finished, he turned to Dracoso and gave him a fond smile. "You seem like a caring person. Maybe a little too quick to action, but maybe you just need something to help you find the right way to approach your goals. How about you come back when you have a bit more training under your belt and we could see about getting you a good companion." Dracoso nodded as he began to imagine finding an animal of his own to travel with. As they headed back towards the front, he asked the man what kind of things he would need to learn to handle a pet.

"Well, that is where most ninja do start after all in these cases," the man said. "In what cases?" Dracoso asked, confused how ninja were related. The man responded over his shoulder as they left through the front door, "well when ninja take an interest in finding a familiar of course. Some go off to find their own. Others explore pet shops or adoption centers. Most clans or families with a tradition of familiars have litters or help them to find the right match." 

Dracoso had read mentions of familiars in books during his time at the academy. Most simply talked about historically significant familiars or mentioned if an animal would make a good familiar. He let the thought hover in his mind as he looked back to the man and realized that they were already back out in the middle of the road in front of the building. He looked back and saw that the boy and man had fixed up a bit of the roof and readjusted a few more things, now that everything else was in order.

"well, I guess it didn't take as long as I thought it would. At least, from what you were saying earlier," Dracoso said. The man looked at the building fondly. For a moment, he almost looked to be peering past the building as he said, "sometimes we aren't always on the mark with where we are going in our dreams...but we can always appreciate the things we have gained from our efforts." 

The sun was beginning to set and the light was dimming over the pair. Dracoso looked at the man and, for a moment, it almost appeared as if he had lost many years of age and a young man stood before him. "It doesn't matter if what we built isn't what we imagined it to be. It is what we do with it that really defines us," the man said softly. 

The light of the sun faded and, as the night settled in, lantern light began to spread. The man glanced at Dracoso, his age returned to as it had been. With another clearing of the throat, he said, "thank you for your hard work here. Make sure to come back and visit as we always appreciate any support we can get." 

Dracoso nodded and shook the man's hand before turning away, somewhat reluctantly, and heading back towards his home. With thoughts of all he had been through today, a new weight settled on his mind. Maybe having others around him wouldn't be too bad of an idea. He just needed to start looking. 

As he walked back, thoughts of the students from his academy days came to mind. He hadn't spent too much time comparing his abilities with those around him, but maybe he would run into a few people looking for missions. For now, he would keep training himself and consider joining a team once he was on to missions with higher ranks. 

The image of the snake staring at him came to mind and he decided that he needed to look more into familiars when he got the chance. The snake was cold-blooded, from what the man had said. It reminded him of his own situation.

{Exit}

[Quick note: the parts with the snake are to lead up to the possible creation of a familiar in the future. This is not towards the 2k WC expected for bonding/attaining a familiar]

E-Rank Mission: The Adoption Center

AP Spent
10x6 AP, Body Flicker 6 times
5x6 AP, surface walking 6 times
20 AP, Water Clone
Total Cost: 110

Reward: 1000 Ryo + 5 AP

WC Total - 3157, 3155 for rounding
+31 stats (10 Chakra, 18 Vigor, 3 speed)

Skill Learned:
One-Handed Seals - 2000 WC

Jutsu Learned:
Rank C - Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field - 1,100
Rank C - Summoning Technique - 500/1000 (adding 55 to the total of 445/1000 from the previous post, Reflections are Deceiving)

Approved