Feed the Tiger(Free-Yanjirou)

[Kagetsu Yuii]

As promised, Yuii found Yanjirou.

Or at least her message did; carried gently in the teeth of a small calico cat that dropped it's burden and scampered off the moment it knew it had been seen. The tiny scroll, which was unsealed and slightly damp from its deliverer's mouth, was a short and neatly printed request for Byakko's descendant to meet her at the edge of the Ancient Forest that afternoon. Also, he should dress for the weather, it reminded him, as it was not a warm day. Tucked alongside as an afterthought was a small map with directions to where "the forest" was.

The blue haired woman herself would be early for their meeting, as she had more than just talking in mind.

At the edge of the treeline, Yuii sat perched on a flat slate boulder dressed in her old, lumpy but warm green wool coat, thick leggings and calf height soft leather boots. Her usual scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck and chin to keep the chill at bay. She was overdressed by a local's standard but the Sennin hated the cold. She was better suited to warm climates and had on occasion thought about taking a mission that took her to them. Fire country HAD to be warmer, and she could only imagine what wind was like. It was one thing to read about the radiating, scorching heat of the sun on a dry, hot afternoon and another to experience it.

Sadly there wouldn't be a tonne of opportunity for her to get away from Lightning country now. Fate seemed determined to keep Yuii off the road and so she would need to content herself with finding the few temperate, nearby gems of her homeland.

In her lap rested a small, unstrung lemonwood composite bow and a bowstring as of yet left unknotted. A second smaller bow bent under her strength as she tested the wood, bone and sinew for damage. The small, traditional weapon was not a favourite amongst most fighters of any discipline anymore but augmented with chakra it could kill as well as any kunai. It had the added advantage of being very quiet which was an advantage to her planned activity but the materials in these ones could succumb to the elements easily. These two had seemed alright when she pulled them out of storage and she was satisfied to find her initial check had been correct.

Oniyuri lay stretched at Yuii's feet, her large striped body soaking up the bare warmth of the morning sun. Her triangular ears flicked to and fro to catch the interesting sounds from the quiet wall of trees behind them. There was a birdsong here, the snap of a branch there but nothing out of the ordinary this close to the village. One had to go deep to find most of the wood's inhabitants.

"Keep an eye out for him, Yuri," Yuii reminded as she peered down the shaft of the second bow and scratched off tiny splinters of wood, "You can have the first rabbit if you do."

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou had woken up early to ensure he had the most time possible to explore the village, and the difference in climate was already apparent... The light jacket he wore in the scorching hot deserts of sand wasn't working, which really shouldn't have been a surprise considering his ability to.. Not die of heatstroke wearing it. Shivering as he walked, the boy was surprised to find his morning walk interrupted by a small cat. Not for long, however, as it quickly dropped a letter and ran off. As he picked up the parchment, Yanji was astonished that the moisture from the cat's mouth hadn't frozen over in the cold. Maybe he was just wasn't used to any temperatures below certain death.

Smiling as he read the letter, the boy immediately started following the map, before realizing that his excitement would only allow him to ignore the cold for so long before he began suffering again. Thankfully, he'd found a place to stay near Dawnbringer's Plaza, and had no lack of shops around to find warmer clothing before heading out to the forest.

After stopping by several stores, Yanji was now dressed in a thick black jacket with an even thicker wool undershirt, his usual pants with long undergarments, and actual socks and shoes to replace his sandals, the boy was ready (and running rather late after and hour of shopping.) Now he could finally got to the forest, which works well for multiple reasons. Assuming this was the same forest he was thinking of, it was on his list of things to see. Not only that, but he might be able to gather some information on the state of Kumo, due to the agreement he and the woman had.

It took him some time to properly read the map and find his way, and he could only imagine how long he'd kept the woman waiting. Of course, it didn't help that he felt the need to freak out about how large each tree was, and the sheer amount of them only made that worse. There was no way for him to tell what time it was due to the unchanging temperature. At least in Wind country it would slowly climb from slightly less hot to hot... Then you could actually tell what time it was by paying attention to how hot you were. Regardless, by the time he arrived, he noticed several things first. The bows in the woman's lap, the contract beast that he'd met before, and the unusually large rock she sat upon. Now that he was in the company of someone he intended to spend time with, he had to contain his excitement until later, but his eyes began to glow slightly as he had a minor mental breakdown.

As usual, the boy wore a hood, assuming that the native population would be unable to accept his appearance. Especially after the comment the woman had made about demons, it would take far too long to explain the difference between his branch and the rest of the clan. It would practically be a history lesson...

To avoid any awkward silence, the boy spoke first, giving a deep, formal bow and reintroducing himself to the woman, "Since I never gave a proper introduction, my name is Byakko Yanjirou." He stood back up, "I don't believe I ever caught your name at the gate, my apologies if I simply forgot." After he was finished speaking, he would allow the woman to give her name, and any explanation she might have for why they were meeting in such a gargantuan forest.

MFT

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Oniyuri's ears swivelled away from the forest and twitched. "Byakko's Cub is here," she announced as the blond youngster came into view. At Yuii's nod, the tiger stood, stretched and languidly strolled to meet their guest and escort him the short trip. She did not speak but made certain her head was positioned suggestively under his hands. One of the greatest benefits of interacting with humans was their ability to scratch one's head.

Meanwhile, Yuii finished the last of her bow prep, retrieved her materials and hopped down from her perch with all the grace of her feline friend. "Good afternoon," she chirped cheerfully, bending to pick up a quiver of arrows Oniyuri had been protecting."Oh, I'm Yuii. Sorry to make you walk so far but I figured you didn't come all this way just to sit around and hear stories." "I owe Yuri a few rabbits and if we're lucky we can pull a deer."

"Can the Cub hunt?" Oniyuri inquired, baring her teeth in an attempt at a human smile. She circled Yanjirou and scanned over him with her black rimmed eyes curiously. Oniyuri knew a fair bit about human adults after signing so many contracts with them but their young were often useless to her. She knew this one wasn't fully grown yet, she could smell it the same was she could smell her own cubs. "He is old enough to be away from his mother; he should know how to hunt." She announced.

Decided, she circled back to where Yuii stood and stooped to pick up a second quiver gently with her teeth. Careful not to drop the arrows, she returned to Yanjirou and offered them up to him.

"If he can't he'll learn," Yuii agreed with a grin. She tossed the second bow for Yanjirou to catch then turned to scan the treeline while he dealt with the hunting weapons, "Do they have forests in Wind Country, Byakko-ko, or is it all sand?"

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou smiled at Yuri's non-verbal request for a head scratch, and happily obliged. Already, he could see the value you in keeping a contract beast around as a companion, and couldn't wait to begin putting his own contract to use. Of course, there was an order to things, and the meeting at hand took priority.

"No worries, Yuii." The boy explained, "I intended to visit this forest at some point anyways, and having the company of a local can only make things better. I'd imagine." Observing the woman finish her preparations, Yanji was amused by the act. He'd never seen a bow in person, and it was intriguing to see how one strung them. Seeing that there were two, he could only assume that one was meant for him, and he would happily accept a lesson in how to use it. Unless she used some technique that allowed her to use both at once, which would be equally acceptable. The mention of his inability to hunt turned the Byakko kin's attention toward Yuri, slightly annoyed at the comment. Any negative comment about his abilities were typically unfavorable, but he made an exception after seeing the beast's "smile."

"Actually, I never spent much time with my family back in the village, either. I'm more of a silent observer usually." Yanji was very "matter-of-fact" without realizing it, his habit of correcting people, or elaborating on something that didn't need it getting the best of him. "But I will admit that I am inexperienced with hunting. I have had spars, and have even bested a demon sword that terrorized my clan for centuries, however, so the act of killing a wild beast should be... Tolerable." This hopefully gave the two some faith in his ability, but it would be very clear how little he knew about hunting very soon...

He accepted the quiver, slinging it over his shoulder after a moment of observing, then turned his attention back to Yuii. Yanjirou did not see her throw the bow, and it ended up smacking him in the face on its approach. Thankfully the woman had already begun scanning the trees, but he had no doubt that the tiger would find his failure comical. After picking the bow up off the ground, he drew an arrow from the quiver and knocked it - or tried - to begin testing how to use it. He quickly learned that balancing the shaft of the arrow on the fingers which held the bow was the most efficient way to keep it steady, but when he pulled back the string, he only succeeded in firing the arrow into the ground beneath him after accidentally releasing it. This would take some getting used to, but he had to at least try before asking for any amount of help!

Once he'd removed the arrow from the ground and returned it to his quiver, the boy ran to meet the woman and answer her question. "Aside from the occasional oasis - which vary in size - it's mostly just sand. And most of our village is underground, so there's really not much in the way of vegetation there either. He paused for a moment, thinking of a question he could ask in return. "While we're on the subject of nature, what exactly is a rabbit and a deer? What do they look like, rather. I've read about them, but imagery can only go so far."

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

Oniyuri laid on the ground, crossed her paws daintily and patiently watched as he tried to notch his arrow. Watching the young human think was fascinating. They were so like her own young, and yet so different. For instance, her cubs watched their adults hunting before they attempted their first strike, but her young also began learning with their first steps. The human way seemed to be, try, fail, then ask for help if caught failing. At least, that was this one's method. She nearly cheered aloud when he managed to shoot the arrow, but she was too busy scrambling to dodge it.

"He does not know how to hunt," Oniyuri grumbled, from the safety several meters away, "He will hurt himself."

Yuii had missed his shot entirely, but she didn't seem concerned one way or another if Yanjirou knew how to shoot. She believed greatly in learning by observation and experience. He would pick things up. "He's a shinobi, Yuri. He will be fine," Yuii called back over her shoulder from where she knelt engrossed in scanning an imprint of hooves in the dark earth. "I think there is a trail here. Check it for me."

The tiger muttered under her breath about someone losing an eye and being ordered, not asked while loping lazily to the place Yuii stood. She sniffed at the air cautiously then nodded. "I will chase it so you do not make the scent stink." Oniyuri eyed Yanjirou like a teacher would their troublesome student. No one had made her responsible for the little hybrid, but she had a weak spot for odd humans. "Don't die, Byakko cub, you would be a failure to us all." With that bit of advice she ran ahead, disappearing into the shaded darkness of evergreens and leafless poplar to find the poor creature at the end of the tracks.

Yuii only sighed, too engrossed in trying to think of a description for two of the most common woodland animals to apologize for the summon's sass.

"Well, rabbits are hopping mice the size of cats with long ears. Deer are like a thinner, graceful horses, which I'm sure you've seen. Some have antlers. My descriptions are bad, you'll have to see for yourself. Lots of things live in the forest. What is an oasis?" She led the way in, ducking under and shoving aside the thick bushes that thrived on the sunlight of the forest edge. They would not need to walk far before the vegitation lightened and the path became easy to walk single file.

"You can see, if you look closely, that we're following a very small path or deer path as it has been created by our quarry," she explained without being asked, "I suppose tracking would be different in the sand, wouldn't it?"

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanji sighed as he watched the tiger scramble. He really wasn't cut out for using this kind of weapon, perhaps it would better to resort to more... Personal means, when they came across their first target. For now, the young Byakko placed the bow over his shoulder - still ready to be drawn should the need arise - and approached Yuii, trying his best to ignore Yuri's comments.

"I suppose they'll just need a demonstration..." The boy mumbled to himself when he believed he was out of earshot. Even though the woman was defending him, even her comment sounded disappointed to his ears. Nearly chuckling as the tiger begrudgingly followed the order it was given, Yanji looked for the signs of a trail. It was clear to see that he was unaccustomed to this environment, because even with his enhanced vision, he was unable to see what Yuii had.

Catching the comment about not messing up or dying, the boy returned a glance at the tiger. He figured it wouldn't be noticed, but that sort of action made him feel better about himself at least. Thankfully, a quick - yet obscure - explanation was given about each of the animals he'd asked about. This took his mind off of the snide attitude of the woman's summon, and caused him to imagine giant mice with ears to match, and horses with freakish horns. It was a strange sight, and almost made him wonder how the residents of regions like this have survived faced with such monstrosities... Good thing he knew he had a bit of an active imagination and likely wouldn't see anything so grotesque on their little hunt.

"An oasis is like a forest in the middle of the desert. It's one of the few places in the endless expanse of sand that you'll find fertile soil and water, and could easily save your life if you happen across one. They vary in sizes, being the size of a small apartment, or even an entire village. Though I'm sure you can assume the larger ones aren't excluded from any maps." Yanjirou wasn't entirely confident in his explanation either, but he felt he'd gotten the point across.

As they walked, the young Byakko struggled to keep up with Yuii as the vegetation continuously blocked his path. The clearing that came soon after the thickets felt much like the oasis's from his explanation... After finally catching up, he listened to an uncalled for, but welcome explanation of how they were tracking the deer. Now that it had been pointed out, the boy could finally see how they knew where to go.

"Absolutely," Yanji replied to the woman's question, "Although I have never hunted or tracked anything in the desert myself, simply trying to follow your traveling partners can prove difficult should you get separated. A slight shift in the wind, or the sand, and any tracks that might have been present are gone. You have to be able to follow the most extreme subtleties." Some of his answer was assumption, but the young Byakko figured it was good enough for the moment.

"So what is the scent of these deer? Yuri said she would follow the scent, but I smell nothing different from when we first entered the forest.

MFT

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Perhaps a more notable scent to Yanjirou would be the scent of a Komora. It had been a long time since she had bathed, and she hadn’t seem Yuii since the academy class they had together all that time again. Komora had been a few years younger at that time. Now she was a prepubescent young woman who didn’t seem to care at all for her hygiene. Nor did she seem to be aware of the way her hips were beginning to widen and her chest was starting to grow. Her hair was rust red, and her shoulders were covered with the pelt of a bear. Her jaws were coated in blood as she rent flesh from bone with her teeth alone. The blood dripped from her mouth and splattered onto the white, almost yellow really, cloth chest wrap. Her legs were covered in a dark Hakama that was ripped up by leaves and brambles. She probably would have been naked but it seemed that someone was had at least in recent days tried to make her wear something. She looked vicious as she was eating the deer raw that the tiger and the two humans were tracking. And also was clearly in need of a bath if her natural scent was any indicator.


She had a keen nose as well, and had also learned how to sense chakra. It was almost baffling how talented Komora had become as a tracker. She was very sensitive to very slight movements in the brush. The moment the group had begun to close on the deer Komora knew. She lifted her head up and spat out a piece of skin as she hunched down on all fours and growled at the approaching tiger. This was her deer and she wasn’t going to share it was with a tiger. Of course she was mostly ignoring the humans, since humans could didn’t usually attack her - but the predatory scent let her know that she may need to defend her prize from another hunter. Meanwhile tired looking doggo was laying down with his paws over his eyes.


”Komora - if he was here to steal your deer he wouldn’t be guiding a pair of humans.” He didn’t even look up. He could smell the approaching humans and tiger about as well as Komora could. He was a tired old wolf with a bandana over one eye and much of her fur around his nose and ears turning white for age. His coat looked like it could have been almost a solid black at one point but these days it was mostly gray.He had made it a personal task to get this girl out of the forest and back to civilization where she belonged, but right now he was feeling exhausted from the task. The forest belonged to the Inuzuka and she was messing things up by hunting all the big game. She kept attacking bears and packs of wolves that lived here in the forest and it was messing up the habitat more than any weird experiment ever had.


He felt Komora to be a very tiring ward, and now that she was in one spot he was going to make the most of it. He was planning on convincing her to take a bath soon, it had taken a lot of work to build the relationship that he was with Komora, and just a little frustrating that she seemed to be picking up on the Inuzuka clan techniques he knew even though he wasn’t trying to teach her. She was making his fur turn white. What a mess. The bath can come later. A nap first.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

It was difficult to picture a landscape that was not her familiar forests and mountains of earth and stone. An ocean of the soft land and little islands of trees was just so alien and unbelievable. She was familiar with sand, there was a carefully raked peace garden filled with it in her clan's compound, but that was the size of a pond. She nodded politely, but she couldn't be bothered to ask any follow-up questions. If said they were forests, they were forests but the trees she pictured were exactly like the ones they navigated now.

"I'm sorry about Yuri. I don't know what she's so sour about. She has a funny relationship with the rest of her kin, but I don't ask for details," she offered instead, trying to make up for the tigress' surly comments about his hunting ability. Summons were funny, they seemed to fixate on things they expected you to know or have and Yuii's companion was no exception. She probably wasn't trying to be rude but was expecting a high standard from someone connected to her own species. "She can be a bitch about some things."

The blue haired woman raised her hand then knelt to investigate the ground. There was a small, almost invisible path through the underbrush that cut across their own. She crooked a finger to invite Yanjirou to have a look then poked at the moss and brush. "Rabbit droppings," she explained, nudging at a round pellet, "looks like a well-used trail. I'll set a trap." Fishing a piece of wire already tied into a small noose, Yuii attached it to the branches of a bush then added another brightly coloured ribbon and a bell above it. "This is a very basic trap, but it works pretty well on small animals. They'll run into it and get their head trapped. Usually, they go quickly, but if not we'll hear it trying to escape." She pulled out a second and offered it for him to look "The ribbon is to help us find the traps again. Other hunters get pretty mad if they come across an abandoned or unchecked trap."

That done, she continued to lead them down the nearly invisible pathway. "Well, I don't know how good your nose is, kitten, but I don't think you'll be able to smell it. Yuri's got a pretty powerful sense of smell so she can pick up the scent of anything that has wandered nearby and follow it. I'm not so sure how that works myself, but she's pretty great." Even as she said that an odd smell tickled at her nose and Yuii glanced around quickly to see if a bear or other critter had snuck up on them. That was definitely NOT a deer smell, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Like a skinner's cabin maybe?

They arrived at the edge of a grassy clearing to find Oniyuri sulking under the cover oh a twisted hedge. Her tail thumped angrily against the ground as she watched a half obscured creature tear at the flesh of what had been a deer. When she realised they had caught up, the cross feline whipped her head around and made an incredibly human-like screech of frustration. "It took my deer!" the tigress snarled, pouting like a swindled toddler, "It's one of YOUR young, it smells and it has a dog. It's eating the GOOD parts."

"Mine? I'm not sure what you-" Yuii, whispered back, inching from the cover of the forest to have a look. It was at that moment the wind graces her with the full force of Komora's stench."Oh god, that is wretched," she gagged. lucky for her breakfast had been hours ago it would be making a grand re-entry onto the forest floor. Judging by the snarls their presence had been noticed and was not approved of.

"Do something about it," Yuri insisted, burying her nose in a pile of moss, "I can't take it!"

Yuii didn't really want to look. Whatever the animal was- it stunk like a bear but was far too small, it had gotten Oniyuri's deer fairly. Sadly, as sennin, it was her job to protect the village and if something new and dangerous had spawned in the ancient forest she would be remiss if she didn't investigate. With that thought, Yuii inched from the tree cover to get a better look.

Much to her horror, she recognised the stenchy deer thief immediately. "Komora? What in Shinbatsu's gold plated ballsack are you doing out here- oh Raiden are you eating that- raw!?"

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Notable scent was right... It seemed like the discussion of rabbit droppings had never happened as what was likely the most atrocious scent Yanjirou's senses had ever had to endure invaded his system. His body forced a gag, and much like Yuri did, he buried his nose in the closest haven in an attempt to combat it. Never in his wildest dreams did the boy imagine he would encounter a smell that could match, or perhaps even out-smell the stench of burning bodies, but somehow he'd found one. It was difficult to see the creature before them as a human, and it seemed his companions thought the same way. Even Yuii seemed cautious in its presence. The general unease of the situation caused the young Byakko to crouch slightly, in case things went south and it became fight or flight - but it was quickly defused as Yuii addressed the "child" before them.

"That thing is a girl?" Even with the hopes to see new things when he left the village, perhaps this is an example of why some people find change scary... Allowing himself a moment to gather his thoughts, Yanji would begin looking over the girl, as she suddenly took priority over the new creature that she was eating. The slums of Sunagakure didn't even contain people so... Vile. It was clear to see that she was covered in various different animal's intestines and blood, mixed with dirt that didn't seem easy to get off even with a great deal of effort. It was as if all of it was apart of her. Usually, the boy would begin questioning this "Komora" in an attempt to learn more, but he simply assumed she was incapable of speech, and moved on to the deer.

Despite the excessive amounts of growling coming from the little beastie, Yanji approached without a second thought, determined to gain some first hand knowledge of the animal's systems. He crouched down beside the corpse, nose still buried in his sleeve and all attention on the deer, and began looking over what was left of its body. After a quick observation of the intestines - which were mostly mutilated - he looked at its mouth and antlers, taking note of its flat teeth. It didn't take long for him to decide that the antlers were made of bone, and after he was finished looking over the body, the boy snapped off one of the antlers. It took quite a bit of effort, but thankfully years of taijutsu training came with quite a bit of strength... He placed the antler in his pack and backed away from corpse, assuming he wasn't assaulted by its killer.

"I think I understand your horse explanation now... To an extent." He said to Yuii before looking back to Komora. Perhaps he would soon learn if it was capable of communicating with them. If it had a name, perhaps it wasn't too farfetched.

MFT

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Komora eyed the tiger suspiciously as it dug its nose into the moss. She wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to relent her stance or not. Her attention went to one of the humans whom had entered the area with the tiger. ”Komora? What in Shinbatsu's gold plated ballsack are you doing out here- oh Raiden are you eating that- raw!?” Komora knew that voice. The blue hair was unmistakable. It was her old Academy teacher! Oh she was excited to see her again. Her eyes lit up like a puppy’s. ”Yuii!” She called back happily. She jumped up from the carcass and ran over to Yuii and tackle hugged whether she wanted it or not. Yuii might notice that she was much faster and taller than she was when she was a nine year old fighting spiders in the dungeons beneath the Torre Celeste. The doggo that had been trying to rest peacefully raised an eyelid. It took his blurry eyes a moment to recognize whom was present. He immediately sat bolt up right. ”Kagetsu-sama!” He barked out the name in the tongue common to humans. ”Komora! Let go of her, you’ll make her dirty!”

Akio hopped to his feet and bit Komora’s bottom and tugged her off of Yuii. Komora yiped, and suddenly the two were wrestling in the brush. Komora growled at the dog as she spun in the signature Inuzuka technique, with Akio countering her spin. ”Down!” Akio ordered. The experienced Inuzuka dog came out on top and loomed over Komora. ”Show some respect. This is the Main Branch Sennin Kagetsu-sama.” There was a sudden bout of dark energy as power surged through Komora’s body. ”Get off of Komora!” She shouted at the dog. Eerie markings began to congregate across her flesh as she overpowered the Inuzuka dog from beneath him and tossed him to the side. Yet he was an experienced Inuzuka pup. Those hairs weren’t gray for nothing, and he pounced off a tree and was back on all fours. Almost as quickly as the cursed mark had appeared it had vanished.

Komora didn’t seem to notice or care about its presence. ”Ah Kagetsu-sama, I’m so sorry about all this. I am Akio - Retired Nin-dog. The Inuzuka have me guarding the forest and making sure academy students don’t get lost in here recently since its become such an epidemic… As of yet I haven’t been able to convince one stinky hairball to leave.” He shot a glance at Komora who was now watching Yanjirou curiously as he examined the deer carcass.She frowned at him when broke the deer’s antlers. ”No! You can’t eat that!” She told him matter of factly. Her claw like nails dug through the flesh of its shoulder and she tore out a red and raw chunk of gore and presented it to Yanjirou. It was still warm. ”Meat is for eating.” She explained to the survival challenged ninja from the sand village.She tried to help him by stuffing the raw meat into his face.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

The cheerful cry confirmed it; the death covered youth was her past student. Much to her horror, the ex-academy teacher found herself the unwanted victim of Komora's affection. Yuii blanched, wretched silently and resisted the urge to shove Komora across the clearing. The smell was invading her every sense, starting with taste, and for once in her life she could confidently say she was not hungry. "H-hey there. Wow, aren't you, uh, growing?" she stuttered out, trying not to breath at all. Sadly, one needed oxygen to live, dooming her to continue smelling, tasting and practically bathing in stink.

To distract herself, Yuii gave Komora a curious look over. The raw and bloody meat seemed to be keeping her healthy at least- Komora was definitely bigger and heavier than the spider bitten child she had carried up from the Torre basement. Thankfully, Komora's dog babysitter decided that Yuii was too good to have arms off of pre-teen filth and relieved her of the close up horror of Komora.

Well, now that cat was out of the bag. Hopefully, Yanjirou didn't go weird on her- she didn't want a struggle while picking his brain. "No, no it's fine. I prefer just Yuii," she said weakly as Komora and the dog fought it out. The Sennin wasn't about to get in the middle of their squabble, as the dog seemed to be trying to keep Komora in line, but she made a half-hearted effort of waving her arms to try and calm things down. Of course, it didn't work, but their rough play ran its course quick enough.

"That seems like a pretty big job," Yuii addressed the Akio, not sure if she'd seen what she'd seen on Komora, "she's been missing here awhile, hasn't she? I get the odd report, we put in a vague effort, she gets back out here again."

She hadn't even notice Yanjirou had braved approaching the deer until their short fight ended, and only then because he spoke. She turned to apologise for the interruption of their hunt but was meant with a much more horrifying scene. "Ah, no Komora!" It was Oniyuri who decided then to get off her striped behind and help. She had been keeping half an eye on Yanji and swooped in to save the Cub from a face full of flesh, as humans usually didn't like that. With all the gentleness of a mama-cat she wrapped her mouth around Komora's hand and sucked the meat from her grubby hands.

"'hat was my 'eer!" she admonished around a mouth full of flesh, "'augh'y!"

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

The conversation happening behind Yanjirou was like white noise as he poked and prodded the beast before him, even Komora's surge of energy passed without the typically keen Byakko noticing. Though that may have been for the best, otherwise she would have ended up as his subject of study... His attention returned to the happenings outside of his focus the moment a chunk of raw meat was shoved into his space, causing him to give an awkward smile to Komora as she tried to explain that the meat was for eating. Thankfully, before anything could be force fed to him, Yuri swooped in and saved the day. It still perplexed him how one so old - and seemingly skilled - could be so... Primitive. The more time he spent near her, the more it became clear to him that he would be unable to get any answers from her.

Perhaps a conversation would have to be had with Yuii later on, as she seemed to know her. For now, however, he would need to return to the social world. "Thank you for that Yuri.." He said to the tiger, hoping Komora would not hear what he said and take it as some form of insult. Remembering the girl's canine companion, he turned to him and immediately recognized how he might be speaking. He'd read about, and encountered, Inuzuka in his own village on multiple occasions, but he'd never seen a partnership quite so strange as theirs.

"So how'd you come to be in charge of such a girl? Based on your interactions with her, I can't imagine it was voluntary, or at the very least intentional." Yanji questioned, hoping to hear some intricate explanation of how their paths crossed. Of course, that was just his belief that everything had some intricate explanation in the first place, some things were simply as simple as the seemed. Once - if - he was satisfied with the information he may or may not be given, he would turn back to Yuii.

"Now what was that other forest creature you spoke of, a rabbit? I've seen and collected enough from the 'deer' I think, and you did mention you saw a rabbit trail before." Hunting was foreign to the boy, so any concept of patience or difficulty relating to the act were irrelevant. He simply wanted to see the new creatures and gather what he can to play with later.

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Akio shrugged at Yuii’s comments about Komora being lost here for a while. ”I suppose she has. I don’t really know how long she’s been living here. She’s been here at least long enough for me to believe that she isn’t playing pretend. I’ve seen kill a bear and eat it.” Akio shuddered. The battle would have been terrifyingly fierce if it hadn’t been for the comically small Komora ripping a bear into shreds of gore with her hands. ”Yeah. I haven’t seen anyone come and fetch her since I’ve been out here. I took her to the academy once and she nearly got murdered by her sister.” Akio shook his head. ”I don’t know what keeps her bones glued together.” The Dog sighed as he reached the end of his point. ”Yeah - its been hard to convince her to go back to the academy ever since that event. She doesn’t show her emotions very well, but I can tell its something that bothers her since she gets frustrated whenever I try.
”

Komora looked at the tiger as it slurped the raw flesh from her hand. It said that this was her deer and something else, but she couldn’t understand the beast with a mouth full of gore as it had. She spared a look at Yanji with a blank expression, that said that she either didn’t care about what he said, or didn’t understand. She then looked back to the tiger. ”No.” Komora answered the tiger. ”This is Komora’s.” she didn’t gestured, not at the deer, but at the forest as a whole. ”Chou said to listen to Yuii.” She finished, as though that was the entire explanation.

As Yanji joined Yuii and began to question Akio he briefly scratched his ears before answering. ”Well, as I was saying - My master was KIA a few years ago and I was forced to retire, so the clan had me act as a steward over the woods to give me something to do...”

”When bears started leaving the forest and attacking people on the outer reaches I came to investigate. You see, it seemed that some new apex predator was scaring them off - You can’t imagine my chagrin when I learned it was this little stinkbug.” Akio nodded his head at Komora. The girl began pat Yuri’s head as she examined the Tiger’s beautiful orange coat. A coat that was completely unnatural in forest.

Akio paused when Yanji mentioned the rabbit. ”What? You’ve never seen a rabbit?.”

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

"I'll have to look into that. Thank-you for looking after her." Yuii sighed with frustration. He'd tried and failed to get her back? What kind of family did Komora have if they went beating up on her to the point that the odd girl was afraid of returning? She had heard there had been an awful accident surrounding Komora's absence, but she had never really followed up on the information.

The dog was as surprised as Yuii had been that Yanji had never seen a rabbit. The long haired critters and their tiny offspring were as common as raindrops in the gardens at spring time and it was hard to imagine being without. "He has not. Byakko, Yanjirou is visiting from the west lands, where the wildlife is quite different from our own. That is, in part, why we are out here. He wants to learn about Lightning country and I thought that seeing the forest would be a good step." she explained, shooting a grin at Yanji. She was coming to think of him as an odd kid. The way he spoke was incredibly formal, and he asked questions even she was slow to think up. It was becoming less and less of a surprise that Sunagakure had let him travel at his young age.

A sudden wave of nausea hit as Yuii breathed a little too deeply. Komora's stench was horrifying.

Beside her, Oniyuri swallowed the chunk of meat and broke into a throaty laugh. "Silly human, you can't own a forest!" she admonished, eyeing the deer behind Komora. She arched her neck to allow for head pets. Tigers liked the strong, and Komora had proven herself as such, so she would tolerate the smelly human as long as she continued to be interesting. The large tiger fixed Yanjirou with a sly grin and tilted her head, "This one knows how to hunt, and she's a runt. I thought human males weren't lazy like lions and contributed. Tigers have to be able to survive on their own, you know, but if you're a lion you should hurry up and get a mate like this to take care of you."

"Yuri, that's enough, stop teasing him," Yuii muttered, struggling to regain her composure. She couldn't help it, her stomach wanted to empty in protest.

"Am I? Humans are so strange." she took the chance to swipe a piece of the deer with her paw and picked at it daintily, "In any event, the Komora needs a bath if we are going to find a rabbit for the Cub. She stinks worse than twenty humans. I am surprised she caught -my- deer at all while so rancid. The dog couldn't even manage to keep one human clean, so useless." she stood and stretched, offering her back to Komora, "Climb on, I will take you somewhere and get you clean, then we will get tasty rabbits."

Yuii sighed and offered Akihiko a pat. "Yuri, that's rude too, he'd been trying his best with her. I really should take her back to the village or something, shouldn't I..." the blue haired woman hummed and glanced at Yanjirou. She didn't want to cut their hunt short, and she definitely wasn't looking forward to the mountain of paperwork that would come from all this. At least for a little while she wanted to put it off, "...but there's no harm in finishing the hunt first, is there? Yuri is right, you smell pretty bad Komora. Let's get you cleaned up." This was life. One went into the forest for a simple hunt and ended up finding lost children instead. At least it was her who had found Komora. There were criminals that used the shrouding ancient forest with its deep maze of trees for a hideout. The smelly adolescent was strong, but not all powerful and there were a lot of awful men in the world.

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

The boy still wondered why Akio would decide to care for Komora despite his true role being the keeper of the forest, but decided not to ask any further into it. After all, it shouldn't be too difficult to come up with a number of theories for why an individual would choose the company of one who is even the slightest bit competent over the solidarity of the forest. There's no doubt that several years spent alone would feel lonely.

Yanjirou nodded at the explanation Yuii gave to the dog, thankful that she saved him the trouble. "We typically see more scaly and reptilian creatures, ones better suited for surviving on the opposite end of the weather spectrum than the beasts you'd encounter here." He added, ensuring they would both have a reasonable idea of what they might see. Surely Lightning Country had lizards and snakes of some sort. The young Byakko glared back at Yuri when she commented on his own laziness, and he began to hope for the chance to prove the beast wrong. He had originally planned to show his abilities to the two once they'd found the deer, but obviously there was a change of plans when they, instead, discovered a dirty girl that was treating herself to rotten flesh.

If there had ever been a time, then it had been a long time, since the last time that Yanjirou had felt such a strong urge to prove his strength the someone else. He was always typically so willing to learn, that he never really felt the need to show off, and instead took every fight as a chance to expand his knowledge instead. Yet this tiger seemed to know exactly how to irk him...

"Just you wait, tiger.." He mumbled under his breath. Perhaps it was the lack of a parental presence in his upbringing that caused him to act so unfavorably towards one - mostly at his own fault. The boy always preferred to study on his own, whether he was people watching to try and learn how other's interacted, or reading text books to learn as much as he could about something he couldn't experience within the confines of Sunagakure.

Regardless of the cause, Yanji simply knew that the constant evaluation and judgement of his actions was beginning to make him lose his cool. He may need to put more effort toward blocking out what Yuri says...

MFT
Sorry again for taking so long x.x I felt good writing this though, so maybe no more month long writer's block?

 

[Shinrya Riko]

“No I’m pretty sure there are rabbits in the desert.” Akio chirped at Yuii and Yanjirou’s explanation. “Desert Cottontail. I even hunted a few when me and my master went to sand...” He looked at Yanjirou. “Although maybe I shouldn’t say more about that.” He looked over at Komroa who was… Wait a minute. “Crap. I saw to Raiden I’m going to put that girl on a leash.” She was gone. Although she was easy enough to track with her scent. “Anyway Kagetsu-sama, I promise to fufill your wish of giving her a good bath.”

Akio immediately jumped onto her trail and began to sniff her out. He was thinking about maybe dragging her back to the town and putting an end to the legendary stench for good. “Ja ne.” He barked to Yanji when he caught the scent and began to burst through the trees in earnest.

[exit]

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

"H-hey hold on a mo-" Yuii hesitated, and in that moment of indecision knew she had lost the girl and dog in the maze of the forest. Oniyuri could track their scents, but the oversized tiger threw her weight down next to the deer's remains and gave no indication of getting back up. By the pleased, rumbling purr the sassy feline was making her desire to continue gorging herself on deer meat was greater than Yuii's need for her to chase down the smelly child. She wouldn't bother to ask.

With a great sigh and no regard for the mix of snow, blood and dirt, Yuii collapsed to sitting against Oniyuri's side. She propped her bow against Yuri's leg and stole a moment to rest. The air cleared of Komora's smell, and Yuii felt her nausea ebb with it. It was good to feel well again, but the Sennin could not help but feel disappointed that her tiny student had run off so suddenly. It had been her hope that she could triumphantly bring the missing student back to the adulation of her underlings who would finally see she could do SOMETHING right, but it was not meant to be.

"It should have let me take it for a bath," Oniyuri chimed, then pulling the fat and muscle from hindquarter with her front teeth. The feline narrowed her yellow slitted eyes at Yanjirou but said nothing. Did she even need to at this point?

There would be no guilt now over choosing whether to take Yanji further into the forest or return Komora home now, at least. They could try for their rabbit with leisure and see what else the forest had to offer.

Yuii rubbed at her neck and turned to ask if the cat boy wanted to continue when rustling at the edge of the clearing caught her eye. From the trees trotted three large, round bear cubs, each with their noses raised and following the scent of meat. Each was at least double the size of a normal cub, and all had a unique swirled pattern across their back. Akio had said Komora was killing off the bears, but it seemed they were procreating quickly in response. As with most baby animals, the trio merely hesitated at the sight of two humans and a tiger and lumbered happily towards their free meal.

Oniyuri and Yuii both tensed. "We need to go now," Yuii ordered in a low voice, "right now."

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou dropped to his knees... How could he have possibly failed to make that connection!? His whole life, he'd read about "rabbits," he just never once heard them referred to as "rabbits!" The departure of Komora and her animal companion went unnoticed as the boy sulked, rethinking his studies up till now. How many things that Yuii has told him about were already seen in his books? That thought unsettled him.. But he reassured himself that he was still learning, even if it was just local slang. Unless, of course, he'd simply never heard such a common term as that.

When the young Byakko finally managed to calm himself, he realized that their girl and dog companions were no where to be seen. Turning back to Yuri and Yuii, he watched as the two rested together. He was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to get on with their hunt, but just before he asked, he noticed the worried look that overcame Yuii's face. His eyes followed hers, and locked on the three cubs that had came from the trees, but all sense of danger dissipated the moment Yanjirou saw them.

"These creatures seem harmless, why look so worried?" The boy questioned, not understanding just how dire the situation could become. Once the cubs began helping themselves to the kill, he approached them and observed, trying to avoid touching them for the time being. These creatures were equally as fascinating as the deer they feasted on, already the boy was witnessing the food chain at work, and yet it was clear to see that these three were not fully grown. Their actions were too careless, too innocent, so where was their guardian? Surely this species, despite its size, wouldn't simply leave its young to fend for themselves...

"Would it be their mother that has you two so worried? I can't possibly imagine any animal being a match for a shinobi. Unless of course that animal were a shinobi themselves.." He said, speaking of the inuzuka clans of course. He would mention sand worms, but those beasts can't possibly be considered animals...

MFT

 

[Uragaeshi Riyoji]

Yanjirou dropped to his knees... How could he have possibly failed to make that connection!? His whole life, he'd read about "rabbits," he just never once heard them referred to as "rabbits!" The departure of Komora and her animal companion went unnoticed as the boy sulked, rethinking his studies up till now. How many things that Yuii has told him about were already seen in his books? That thought unsettled him.. But he reassured himself that he was still learning, even if it was just local slang. Unless, of course, he'd simply never heard such a common term as that.

When the young Byakko finally managed to calm himself, he realized that their girl and dog companions were no where to be seen. Turning back to Yuri and Yuii, he watched as the two rested together. He was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to get on with their hunt, but just before he asked, he noticed the worried look that overcame Yuii's face. His eyes followed hers, and locked on the three cubs that had came from the trees, but all sense of danger dissipated the moment Yanjirou saw them.

"These creatures seem harmless, why look so worried?" The boy questioned, not understanding just how dire the situation could become. Once the cubs began helping themselves to the kill, he approached them and observed, trying to avoid touching them for the time being. These creatures were equally as fascinating as the deer they feasted on, already the boy was witnessing the food chain at work, and yet it was clear to see that these three were not fully grown. Their actions were too careless, too innocent, so where was their guardian? Surely this species, despite its size, wouldn't simply leave its young to fend for themselves...

"Would it be their mother that has you two so worried? I can't possibly imagine any animal being a match for a shinobi. Unless of course that animal were a shinobi themselves.." He said, speaking of the inuzuka clans of course. He would mention sand worms, but those beasts can't possibly be considered animals...

MFT

<i></i>

accidental double post.

 

[Kagetsu Yuii]

"Not good," Yuii muttered, rolling to her feet. Yuri let out a low warning snarl but the 'small' bears ignored her with confidence. He was right, the babies weren't the issue, it was what followed in their wake. "They're a genetically changed experiment," Yuii explained, grabbing Yanjirou roughly by the back of his shirt to get him away from the cubs. He was just like them, a bumbling baby animal in a forest he didn't understand the danger of. At that moment, Yuii understood Yuri's catty frustration with the boy. Likely the tigress had been concerned all along that Yuii was leading around the equivalent of one of her blind cubs through a known danger zone. "Those idiots in the medical branch dump their experiments in my forest. They're bears, but the travel in packs and hunt like lions." Yuii explained, dashing towards the treeline.

The sennin was too late. Dark shadows lumbered between the trees, their eyes glowing an unusual red. First, a few in front of them then more and more until it seemed the whole clearing was encircled. Perhaps they had been hunting Komora, the bear killer, or maybe they had been drawn by the easy meat but regardless of the reason they were pretty screwed."Shit, there are so many. Yuri?" back peddling, she kept a strong hold on Yanji to make sure the cat boy didn't wander off. She hoped, no pleaded, with her gods that he understood this was a dire situation. Oniyuri circled them, snarling protectively, and began to grow in size until Yuii could just see over the back of her companion.

"I told you hunting was stupid," the tigress rumbled, her ears turning rapidly as the bears closed in. The first to reach the clearing gave off a loud, sickening roar that sounded unnaturally like a blend of the predators Yuii had named before. The rest of the pack picked up and howled with it, making the very trees shake. Oniyuri returned the challenge with her own roar. "There's a gap to your left. Run." the feline commanded, bouncing forward onto the first bear and signalling the beginning of the battle.

"Go, get up into the trees and head north," Yuii screamed over the noise while pulling a blade from the air itself, "we've got this."