The World Through Many Perspectives

Dracoso got home late after his mission at the adoption center. He was asleep in his bed only a few minutes after arriving home and slept like a log through the night. He wasn't the first to awake in his bed the next morning. Sutsui took her time carefully slipping out from Dracoso's sheets and exploring the room. She looked through many of Dracoso's personal trappings and came to learn quite a bit of his past through pictures, notes, and possessions. After an hour of exploration, she went to return to his bed, that the door seemed to slide open of its own accord.

One of the boarlings, Flame, had leaned in and laid eyes on the snake. A tense moment seemed to pass as they regarded one another. Flame took a step into the room, to which Sutsui shifted a step away, letting patterns shimmer over her skin. Flame hesitated for a moment, staring the snake down. As she slithered up onto the bed, seemingly protecting Dracoso, Flame took in the situation. He stepped into the room, closed the door, and sat down staring at the pair. An hour of this passed, with Sutsui quietly moving along Dracoso's clothing to get adjusted to the movement for the future. As the sun rose and fell fully into the room, Dracoso began to stir.

He yawned as he sat up, his body still sore and aching from all the animals he had dealt with. He felt a slight shiver run over him as a cool, slippery feeling ran up his spine. He began to jerk but a sudden wave ran through his mind. A familiar sensation flowed over him as he became aware of Sutsui's presence and paused before settling back into his bed. "Ah right. There's two of his here now," he said softly as he reached down and let his fingers softly rest on Sutsui's neck. The snake curled softly, sending waves of sensation back of comfort and awareness.

As the sensations ran through him, he felt the awareness tug at him, and he turned to stare right at the door. He saw Flame sitting there, almost feeling as if Sutsui had made him half aware of this fact. Flame looked at him with seriousness mixed with curiosity. Dracoso realized that this would be another interesting family animal event the moment his family learned of this. Sutsui sent him a sensation of calming and Dracoso instinctively gave her a small nod. "If you saw her, she is a friend. No fighting. No biting," was all he said to Flame. The boarling stood up, offended, slammed the door open, walked out, and slammed it shut.

Dracoso shook his head at himself, "this is going to be a fun morning." He got up and dressed, feeling awkward at first to have Sutsui watching. He realized halfway through that that wasn't the most awkward part. She seemed almost attached to him with every movement. He breathed in and figured it was somehow related to how familiars worked and so tried to communicate the concept of privacy and secrecy. She communicated back the concept of bonding and a minor flash of an image of the man from the adoption center ran through Dracoso's mind. "You outfoxed him too and got away with things there huh?" He asked her. Sutsui didn't respond and seemed conveniently muted in her sensations.

He bathed in warm water. When the water had been heating up, he felt sudden waves of shock coming from Sutsui. He sighed and nodded as he kept it at a heated level without steaming. The snake enjoyed resting along his neck, half dipped in the water, and softly held by his shoulders and head when he leaned back. Afterwards, Sutsui lazed around his neck as he redressed and headed down for breakfast.

His parents were already sitting down with breakfast set out. His mother was sitting with the three boarlings seemingly at posts around her sides and back. As Dracoso walked in, all three seemed to tense up and track him as he crossed the room to take his seat. He began to eat his food, his father taking odd glances now and then at him and his mother calming down the boarlings. She was the first to speak, "so the children seem to be a bit uncomfortable this morning at something you have. From the closest I can tell you seem to have brought home a wild animal."

Dracoso had to pause for a moment. At the comment of wild animal, Dracoso seemed to look across the three boars. All three responded with a look of irritation. He cleared his throat before saying, "She is not wild. She is probably more civilized than the three... children you have circling you," he said as he gave her a warm smile. She raised an eyebrow before responding, "well these three are well trained and capable of handling both themselves and I. I mean you can't just bring in creatures without letting us know." Dracoso again had to pause as that description seemed very familiar to what happened with the boarlings. Sutsui sent another sensation of calm, tensing her body softly against his chest to help him feel his breathing.

"So... when do we get to meet them?" his mother asked. Dracoso felt this was going very quickly and fed the thought of Sutsui revealing herself or appearing for them to see. He received a sensation of discomfort for having so many creatures present to be 'observing' her. This came in the form of an image of her discomfort in the cage with many people coming in and out to see her. Dracoso nodded and looked to his mother before asking, "Would it be possible for the... 'children' to step out? She was in a cage for a long time and was 'looked at' by many people. She is more comfortable with smaller groups."

His mother thought to herself for a moment before making a soft click with her tongue. The boarlings looked at her surprised and shook their head. She looked at them and did a small shooing gesture. The three left the room one by one, grumbling in small squeals to themselves. Once they had left and the door was closed, Dracoso reached out again. Sutsui begrudgingly agreed with an image of distance showing that she didn't want them to get too close or touch her. He nodded instinctively to himself, to which his parents shared a look of curiosity, before he sat up. 

"Just, don't get too close or try to reach for her. She is still uncomfortable with most people," he said as he felt her slowly move up from his chest and over his shoulder. She slipped her head up out of his neckline and took them in through pale blue eyes. His mother took a small gasp to which his father tensed up at the sight of her. Dracoso put his hands up, "it's ok. It's ok. This, is Sutsui." He said quickly, hoping an introduction might lighten things. His father released a breath that he had been holding and his mother settled back into her seat. 

They both watched Sutsui for a minute or two, before his mother asked, "So, what is the story behind how she came to... live in your clothing?" She ended the sentence with incredulity. His father finally spoke, "is this a kind of bet you are doing or something? Put a snake in your clothes for the day and if it doesn't bite you, you win? Gotta say, that is definitely more extreme than bets were when I was your age." Dracoso shook his head at his father as if he had no idea what he was talking about.

Dracoso thought of where to start and Sutsui flashed up the memory of his first visit to the store. Dracoso responded with a quick thought of how he had already shared the story with his mother and could remind them. "Well, remember when I went to the Adoption Center a while back and mentioned that I had seen a snake there which I felt some kind of connection to?" he asked them. His father nodded while his mother simply said, "well yes, along with many other things." Dracoso sighed at her response and said, "well, after the funeral mission I went on, I felt I wanted to have someone close to me so that I would feel more secure doing more dangerous missions in the future." 

His father jumped in, "so you put a snake in your clothing?" Dracoso tensed up and almost put his hand to his forehead before he felt Sutsui's tail run up his neck, sending a wave of irritation mixed with focus. Dracoso shook his head before he replied, "No, not close like that. Well... that wasn't the original intention. Anyways. I went back to see if that connection was something more and I ended up finding out there was. We can... communicate somehow just by focusing on each other. it lets us share intentions, I think, so that we can act together." 

His father raised an eyebrow before slowly asking, "so she's talking to you... and she's in your clothing." He paused as Dracoso already saw where this was going and gave off a big sigh as his father said, "Son. I know you are at that age-" His wife extended her arm quickly, slamming it across his abdomen. This caused him to lose his breath and begin coughing heavily. Sutsui seemed pleased as she watched.

Dracoso just shook his head as he saw his mother's forced smile and said, "she is my familiar. The man at the adoption center gave me training and understanding on how to care for her and how to strengthen our bond. I don't know how common it is to have your familiar this close to you at all times, but it feels natural." His mother seemed to relax at the word familiar and nodded as he explained. She chuckled softly and said, "that makes a lot more sense. I think you are the first person in the family to have a familiar for quite some time. Your father, when he was younger, tried to get a familiar once. His friend's family had a yak which he tried to-"

His father slammed the table, having recovered enough to speak, "Yaks are strong and capable of protecting people. They can charge at their enemies and carry whatever might be needed into combat. They are just a stronger, more powerful horse." He finished with a firm nod as if to end the point. "Besides, what is a snake going to do? You can poison someone with kunai far faster than throwing a snake."

Sutsui seemed to bristle as she felt the sensations coming off of Dracoso. Dracoso looked his father in the eye and replied, "she is going to help me remain within stealth. She doesn't make poison, she absorbs it and purifies it. She can think for herself and remain with me whenever I need her. I'm pretty sure a yak would take all the elements of surprise, along with your bed, out if you did have it as a familiar." Sutsui felt his confidence and fed her own back. His father seemed to get heated up as they kept eye contact.

The sound of clapping hands drew the two men back to Dracoso's mother. She looked from one to the other before resting her eyes on Sutsui. "She is quite an incredible sight, and the way she seems quite cognizant of everything going on is impressive. Either she does understand what we are saying, or she is able to read it off you somehow. I am glad you do have someone who seems able to assist you son. Just make sure you look after her just as much. Familiars can be quite tricky if you aren't careful."

Dracoso nodded before his father chuckled and said, "she would know. She tried to make a dove into a familiar. It ended up giving her a 'gift' for all her efforts as it flew over her." Dracoso glanced back at his mother who was giving a very cool stare as his father. His father chose to become silent and continue eating his food. The family continued their meal with the three boarlings returning for their breakfast. He slipped pieces of his meal up to Sutsui and slowly found what she did and didn't enjoy. She had a preference for meats and sticky rice, oddly enough. She would eat the vegetables if they were in small pieces.

Once done, Dracoso headed off to the mission center, giving his parents a hug goodbye. The boarlings watched him leave, seeming to decide for once not to 'escort' him to his mission. Dracoso gave an internal sigh of relief to which Sutsui gently adjusted on his shoulders, reminding him that he had her for that role. 

After seeing the guards in action in multiple situations, Dracoso decided that he wanted to see what guard duty would be like. The mission detailed accomplishing a list of specific tasks. The list included: checking individuals coming and going from the village for documentation and contraband, receiving and delivering reports from and to other guards respectively, and other things like learning terminology for guard practices. Dracoso looked forward to the possibility of running into Chap and Pert if they were on duty. If not, he could make a few new acquaintances. 

Dracoso was met at the village front gate by the guard in charge. He introduced himself as Kober. Something about him reminded Dracoso of a large bear, but he shook his head and let the image fall away. Kober gave Dracoso the rundown for the day. Most of the activities matched what was already on the mission, except one about hints towards the wolves being rather active nearby for some reason. Kober would sign off on each activity when it was completed and would score him on how well he did and how seriously he took the job. 

Their first task was to handle individuals coming and going from the village. Dracoso and Kober stood opposite one another in front of the open gates, watching the pathway that led into the village. Dracoso was there to 'assist' Kober, so he would handle the initial interaction and have Dracoso follow up with any further actions. As villagers came to the gate, Kober would check in with them and confirm their identities through the normal village pass or paperwork from other villages. It was rather uneventful, up until one young academy student who had been out late tried to pass off as an elderly woman. Kober carried the boy off and left Dracoso in charge for a short time.

Many of the villagers were rather pleasant and only shinobi came back who passed by with his paperwork out. Sutsui seemed to rustle at the back of his neck and Dracoso asked the ninja to wait. They slowed down and turned back to look at him silently. Dracoso took the paperwork and looked it over and noticed that it seemed to have expired some time ago. He nodded with a smile and showed the paperwork to another guard just as Kober returned. He looked over the situation and at the ninja before giving a big smile and crushing them in a hug. A female voice escaped the shinobi as he lifted her. 

Kober introduced her as Maia and said that it was his wife. She liked to slip in and out easily since he was usually the main guard on duty at the gate. She apologized for trying to slip by so easily and asked what made her stand out. He realized that she had some blood droplets staining her legs and pointed out that his familiar picked up on a bit of tense air around her. The woman looked curious at the mention of a familiar but gave a curt nod and explained that she had just returned from a bloody mission. Kober instantly became protective and began to ask her about her psychological and physical health, to which she held a hand up to him and said they would talk tonight. Kober looked dejected, and she gave him a hug before jogging off. She thanked them again as they resumed their work.

Once Kober had signed off on this task, he was impressed that Dracoso and his familiar had caught those details. He showed a bit of ongoing concern for his wife but focused back on the task at hand. The next task was for Dracoso to deliver reports to the other guards in a timely fashion. They headed into the barracks while another pair took over the front gate. There was a map on the wall showing all the specific posts and patrolling pathways. Kober ran him down on how the military clock worked to help avoid confusion on times and they discussed how the four cardinal directions worked. He also pointed to a timesheet near the map showing names written for who was handling each shift. Dracoso came to understand that he was to use this system to determine when and how to deliver messages to specific individuals.

With a nod, Dracoso was sent out with three messages and told to return swiftly once each was delivered. Each message received a stamp from the guard house and each guard carried a small stamp with them to mark the order to make sure it had been received before returning with it. These stamps had chakra markings in them that could not be easily copied in a short time. The message was then burned upon return. 

He checked the map and the times for each of the three people, before heading out across the rooftops. He had plotted out the quickest course and felt himself enjoying the movement after being stuck in place for so many hours. The air felt crisp against his skin as he floated across the village. He could feel Sutsui shifting softly under his clothes. Taking glimpses out of his sleeves and neckline to see the take in the village. She had been stuck so low on the ground all her life that he could feel small bouts of curiosity and excitement run through her with each new view.

As he reached the first person, he nearly toppled into her. She caught him by the shoulders as he slid to a stop. With a quirked eyebrow, she gave him a small shove back to make space. He took out the message and handed it to her. Once opened, she became quite animated over the fact that she was being told to do a double shift today. Dracoso could only shrug and apologize for the bad news before she stamped it and handed it back. "Don't kill the messenger, I guess they say," was all she could say before he took off.

The second individual was a bit more relieved as it was news that his child was only sick with a cold, nothing too extreme. He thanked Dracoso for the news and asked him to come by sometime to meet his family. Dracoso nodded respectfully, unsure how appropriate it would be, and took off for the last person.

As he arrived, he didn't find anyone at the post. He checked with the post nearby for them to tell him to look around carefully nearby. As he scanned the area, he didn't notice anything at first. He felt an odd warm spot a few meters off of the wall and, with Sutsui giving him a soft tug on his earlobe, he looked down to find an oddly shaped bush. The bush seemed to be slowly shivering every few seconds and, as he jumped down, seemed to be making a small amount of wind. Dracoso gave the bush a small push with his foot and it suddenly seemed to snore loudly, before becoming quiet again. 

He realized there was an odd bit of chakra going on here, and so he overturned the bush slowly. As he did, the loud snoring returned, along with a large woman who was creating the snoring in what appeared to be a nap. Dracoso shooked his head and patted the woman on her shoulder, trying to wake her. she was firmly out cold. He bristled with irritation and Sutsui simply sent a sensation of calm and an image of water flowing. In the image, it abruptly flowed into the woman's face. He chuckled softly at the thought and shrugged, opening his hip flask and spritzing some water on the woman's face.

She shot up, looking at him in anger as he crossed his arms. She stood up as she faced him, "who do you think you are, waking me up with a splash of cold water to the-" Sutsui slid up into sight at his shoulder, her eyes gleaming in the sun. The woman paled as she saw the snake and took a step back. Dracoso saw a touch of fear in her eyes and reached up to softly pet Sutsui, making it seem like he was keeping her there. The woman took a slow breath and asked, "s-so, what d-do you want?!" "I'm a guard intern for the day, delivering you a message. You seemed to be enjoying a nap, but I need this letter marked for approval," he explained to her.

She relaxed, the tension flowing out of her, "well why didn't you just start there?!" she said, as if it was obvious. He handed her the letter and she mumbled to herself as she read, "hmm... hmm... report to them... don't take naps... stop teasing male guards... night duty... yup, sounds about the same as usual." She quickly stamped it off and handed it off before taking a leap back up onto the wall, easing herself up with her arms. Dracoso watched as he realized just how muscular she was and climbed back up himself using his surface walking. She glanced back and raised an eyebrow with a smirk, "don't go falling in love now. I don't date fellow guards." Dracoso just shook his head as Sutsui bristled and sent images of biting her hands off. Dracoso sent sensations back of calm himself before thanking the woman for her stamp and heading back.

Once he had returned to the barracks, Kober reviewed the notes. He chuckled as he looked at the last one and smiled, "You sure got this one done fast. Most times, when we have a message for Perya, people either can't find her or she just refuses to wake up." Dracoso explained the situation, to which Kober laughed at how he woke her up with a spritzing. Kober had expected her to crush him, to which Dracoso just said, "well she didn't seem too big a fan of snakes." Kober asked him what he meant and Dracoso introduced Sutsui, who only peeked out of his neckline for the number of scents and sounds occurring in the barracks. The guard nodded to him and gave him a couple more messages to deliver. He was glad when he saw one was addressed to Chap.

He decided to knock out the first message, which was delivered to an elderly guard who shared a bit of advice with him. "Make sure to alert the guard as they come into sight so that they know you are heading for them with good intention. Otherwise, they may not always react calmly," he said. Dracoso took that bit of advice to heart and gave him a respectful nod before heading off to see his friend. He hadn't gotten to see his friend for a bit of time now and figured surprising him like this would be fun.

Dracoso slipped down to the bottom edge of the wall a little way away and ran as quietly as possible along the wall. Once he was under the post, he climbed up slowly, taking some memories from how Sutsui moved to work his way up using his weight to create as little noise as possible. As he peeked up, he saw Chap near the wall, peering out. he looked tired and worn down. A thought ran through his mind as he slipped up onto the wall and walked over, patting the guard on the shoulder. Chap looked up at him, a forlorn look in his eyes.

"Everything ok Chap? You look like part of the world fell away," Dracoso asked. Chap regarded him for a moment before letting out a sigh and responding, "I guess you could say that. The man we buried was a bit of a friend of mine. I had started around the same time he had become a ninja. A few days later, Pert got injured and didn't recover as easily as he used to. I guess I am just feeling a bit old right now." Dracoso gave the man a slow nod and patted his shoulder, "time does carry on, no matter how we live. Just remember that until we run out of time, there is still more time to share." 

Chap nodded and gave a tired smile, "sound advice. Sounds like something my mother might say." He stood and gave himself a small shake before turning to Dracoso, "so what brings you here to visit?" Dracoso showed him the message which detailed that Pert would recover in a day or two and be back for guard duty. It also let him know that he was being put in for a promotion for his hard work recently and to report back once his shift was over. Dracoso congratulated him on the promotion, and they agreed to celebrate later. Dracoso had not spent time with anyone he had met recently outside of his missions and figured he needed a bit more time getting around.

He returned and let Kober know the details for each and Kober signed off on the task. He also signed off on learning guard rotations, terminology, and shift identification. "It makes it easier to bundle them all together, so they more make sense to the new guard recruits. You seem to pick up on this kind of things pretty quickly, so it looks like we are on to the final task of the day," Kober said as he stood. Dracoso asked, "Something about dealing with the wolves that are showing up nearby, right? I saw few of them during my patrol training a few weeks back." Kober chuckled, "You mean you saw one of them. Chap and Pert filled us in on the details. That pretty much covers the gist of it. These wolves keep coming back, watching the walls as if expecting something to explode or come charging out of it. We are to observe them and determine if they are a threat to the village."

Dracoso nodded as he trailed Kober out of the barracks and through the front gate. Kober took a steady pace as they jogged out towards a spot not too far off from where Dracoso had seen the wolves with the other two guards. "They show up generally in the late afternoon to evening around this area almost every night. Whether the guards are alone or in groups, the wolves seem to stare them down for a time before pulling back. We have found some of the local wildlife has also been taken by these wolves, so the hunting has been impacted. I say it's a good thing since we only have so many hunters lately and so it is keeping the populations in check," Kober explained.

The area near where they stood showed very few signs of disturbance. Even near where Dracoso had seen the wolves that night, only the repeated appearance of what looked like rabbit scratching could be seen. How could they appear and disappear with so few traces? Kober strode out in the direction the wolves always left towards, as he explained to Dracoso, and they followed as far as they could out into the nearby forest. As they worked their way deeper, Kober spoke, "we have had other guards comes out here, looking for signs of these wolves. Most come back without anything while others think they saw or heard something, but never made contact. I heard from Chap about your dealings with boarlings and other animals-" he paused to glance at Dracoso's neckline before continuing, "-and thought you might be a good person to investigate with."

The compliment seemed more like a comment on how animals always seemed to get involved with him more than the other way around. Dracoso sighed with a nod. "So how are we to determine if they are a threat?" he asked as they moved deeper into the forest. "Well, if they attack on first sight. If they are aggressive to us on first contact. Pretty much depends on how they react to us being out here. Most guards wandered and never found them. I figured the wolves were avoiding them. Maybe they are just waiting for something, or someone." He talked more softly as the light of the sun streamed less and less through the dense foliage. They were moving out into an explored portion of the forest and he could feel the stillness of the air.

The first sensation he received was from Sutsui sending a tense wave of caution into his mind. He stopped where he was. Kober took notice and slowed to a stop a few feet away. The guard looked to him, before slowly scanning the nearby area. Dracoso fed a sensation of questioning to Sutsui, who returned an image of shadows of grass blades surrounding them. He stood, breathing slowly and deeply, letting himself focus fully. She shifted along his back, sensing the nearby area as they fed sensations of focus and clarity to one another to remain on guard.

Silence held the area they stood in. It was almost as if the forest was holding its breath around them. As quickly as it came, their eyes only saw it appear. A large dark gray wolf with dull gray eyes stared at them. It was suddenly standing at the edge of the clearing, watching them. Dracoso and Kober returned its stare as they turned to face it fully. The wolf took two steps forward and looked at them. Kober settled himself into a stance, preparing himself in case of a fight. Something tickled at Dracoso's mind, and he felt Sutsui flicker an image of two wolves facing one another.

Taking her lead, Dracoso took two steps towards the wolf and stood his ground. The wolf stood at least a head above his own and looked down on Dracoso. They stared each other down in silence for a minute before the wolf took a deep breath and howled. Moments into his howl, dozens of howls mirrored it. It became a chorus that rang through the forest. Kober quickly scanned the area but saw nothing. He realized there was no use to fighting, so did his best to stand at ease. Though, he couldn't let go of the tension in him.

The wolf finished and lowered its head, looking at Dracoso through large pupils. He looked back and sent a sensation to Sutsui, confusion mixed with worry. Sutsui sent back a wave of confidence and an image showing himself possibly singing or dancing. Dracoso instinctively looked towards where she was and asked softly, "Seriously?!" The wolf tilted its head slightly at this and dug at the ground with a claw. Dracoso saw this and took a deep breath. Better something than nothing, he thought to himself as he let out the best howl of his own that he could. It sounded strained and flat, and he held it as long as he could. As he finished, catching his breath, the wolf stared at him for a minute. It felt almost like the wolf was trying to dissect him with its eyes. The wolf leaned back on its haunches, staring right at Dracoso, and began to laugh. 

Dracoso was shocked. The wolf wasn't cackling or laughing through growling, it sounded like a person laughing. A deep, rough laugh, but still a laugh like any human would make. Its body seemed to shake with the laughter, and he thought he heard Kober covering up some soft chuckles behind him. The wolf shook its head as it finished and looked to him, "well that is one way to introduce yourself. I didn't expect humans to howl." Even the laughter seemed reasonable to this. He stood speechless as the wolf took him in with a curious eye. He recovered himself enough to say through his stutter, "w-well, I d-didn't expect w-wolves to speak." The wolf gave a chuckle and a nod and looked between him and the guard.

The wolf seemed to minutely tip its nose down and back up. Moments later, other wolves of different sizes appeared from the shadows. A seemingly intentional amount of shuffling occurred, alerting the two to the wolves appearing. From silence to sudden presence, the clearing felt somewhat crowded, yet every wolf was well placed to handle every exit. They all stared from the shadows, as if tracking every moment that passed within the area.

"We have seen you and some of your more recent travels, young one," he said as he stared at Dracoso. "From the boarlings and birds, to the very snake you carry. You do not harm creatures of nature, which seems odd to us. You also seem to protect lives, rather than act aggressively. Many of your kind have been very... deadly as of late. You do not seem to follow their pattern. Why is that?" he asked, peering into Dracoso's eyes.

Dracoso thought through all he had been through and instinctively gave a shrug, "I just want to learn all I can so that I can take the world apart and put it back together, better than it was. I see no reason to kill simply to achieve my goals. After all, it is easier to work with something intact than it is to break it due to lack of caring and having to put it back together again." 

The wolf watched him with each word he said and slowly nodded. "Life that is lost cannot be returned with ease. That is what our leader teaches the young. Sustenance is gained through the hunt of deer. Security is gained through slaying our foes. We do not kill beyond necessity either." Kober spoke up from his silence, "then why do you watch our walls? We are no enemies to those who do not seek a fight." The wolf slowly turned its gaze to Kober and growled at him before speaking, "those who do not seek a fight? Like the boars you chased down for sport many years ago?"

It was Kober's turn to show shock. "I was just a teenager. It was just a way to improve our skills with our parents," what all he said softly. The wolf shook his head and looked back to Dracoso, "we watch your walls to see if there are any who we might ally ourselves with. Our clan looks for those to connect with to create bonds so that we might share our strengths and efforts. Those who cannot accept their own faults only find weakness when they fight alongside our packs." Dracoso nodded softly and asked, "how do you ally yourselves with us? I can't imagine you would be comfortable living in our village or our people living out in the woods. The wolf chuckled again at the mention of wolves living in the village and shook his head.

"A contract, boy. One where you sign yourself to be responsible for the lives of those you draw from our home to fight alongside you," The wolf explained. Dracoso's mind flickered back to mentions of summons in the books he read back at the academy. He realized that he never thought of how one might connect with a summoning group. The wolves here seemed so tangible compared to how the summons were described in books. Maybe one too many liberties in flowery description took away the reality of it.

Dracoso focused back on the wolf and looked into its eyes. "I take it that since you have revealed yourself and explained this to us, you want to make us your allies?" Kober walked up, shaking his head and said, "I don't think both of us Dracoso. I am not a shinobi, in my own right, so I probably don't have the ability to summon as you do. I think they are expecting you to sign." Dracoso felt uneasy with how quickly this was moving forward but steeled himself. With a small confidence push from Sutsui, he stepped forward and nodded to the wolf, only standing a few feet from it. The wolf smiled a soft wolfish grin, and said, "well before we sign, we may follow a human tradition as well. My name is Sansuen, and I lead many of the excursions in these lands." Dracoso responded, "I am Dracoso. I..." he paused midsentence, "I hope to heal and protect many people of these lands one day."

The wolf's grin grew at his words, and it nodded, "a good goal to have with so many blades at the ready in these lands." The wolf stood and shifted, the scroll moving along its body and slipping down its side to land in front it. With a claw, he rolled it open where a sheet outlined the bond of summoning between the summoner and the summoned. Dracoso checked for some kind of writing implement and found he was without one. The guard shrugged saying, "we just our stamp for anything to expedite things" and had no solution. The wolf chuckled as he watched and waited.

Dracoso thought and felt a prick at his finger. Sutsui had softly bit the tip of his finger, to which he looked down at her. She looked back up and sent an image of him waving his finger. Deciding that there was no better way, he wrote his name carefully in his blood upon the sheet. Upon finishing, the wolf gave another grin and said, "I do carry the matching brush with me, but I did want to see what you might do. Next time, ask for some help." Dracoso looked at him a bit irritated, before chuckling at himself. Sutsui softly sucked at the blood coming from his finger and coated it in some of her excretions, causing it to clot instantly. The wolf rolled the scroll back up, leaving a different scroll in Dracoso's hand.

"It will be quite interesting to see what you do with this bond. Make sure you care well for our young ones as well, as we will be keeping an eye on who comes back. For now, though, we consider you a friend of the Ōkamis of the Haze." The wolf finished and turned, seeming to shimmer as it stepped away. The rest of the wolves seemed to melt back into the shadows and darkness of their surroundings. As silence returned, Kober looked at Dracoso as he held the scroll. "Well, that isn't usually how guard duty goes, but at least we finished the last task. Let's report back in and see about finishing up for the day," the guard said. Dracoso just nodded, still processing what had just happened. It felt like it had come so quickly and gone, like a dream.

As they made their way back to the village, he wondered just how many more animals he would be getting involved with in the future. It might even be possible that his mother doesn't try to adopt the majority of them.

{Exit}

D-Rank Mission: Guard Duty Intern
Rewards: 2000 Ryo + 10 AP

WC Total: 6653 (rounded to 6650)
All 6650 WC given to Familiar - Sutsui
Familiar Stats Claimed - +66 (+32 Chakra, +30 Vigor, +4 Speed)

Familiar Jutsu Claimed:
Rank C - Suiton: Mizu Senbon - 1000
Rank C - Water Release: Snake's Mouth - 1000
Rank B - Water Clone - 1500
Rank E - Cat Eyes - 250
Rank D - Spine Chill - 500
Rank E - Water Release: Fish Spit - 250
Rank D - Body Flicker - 500
Rank C - Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field - 1100
Rank A - Suiton: Bubble Drift - 550/2500

Also claiming access to summoning the Ōkamis of the Haze - 10,000 Ryo deducted for signing summoning contract (once given full approval)

Approved except for summoning claim, you may not claim anything that is not fully approved