I will be remembered

The Prince and His Wolf

I was free. Free to enjoy the feeling of grass tickling my skin tentatively, free to feel the breeze ruffle my hair, making it the messiest it has ever been and free to hear the hushed sounds of everyday life and be unusually soothed by them all, unlike ever before.

The little boy had always considered the woods a source of infinite interest. He had so many questions regarding the various plants and animals present, questions that his parents nor his tutors or guardians could always answer. So had he the time and opportunity, the youth would sneak away, his little legs carrying him outside of the village through a secret hole he had found in the wall, and into the forests where he felt instantly at home. It was his Senju blood perhaps that made him feel so very secure among trees and wildlife. Of course, such a small thing as himself was hardly a threat to any of the animals present, hence why he was mostly ignored if not outright inspected by the various undomesticated species. At one time, a deer had tried to eat his hair, and was scared away by his screams of alarm; at another, a boar got dangerously close, within striking range in fact, but was rather perplexed and astonished when the boy walked up a tree and sat among its branches, completely unafraid. The youth had once played with squirrels, though was later chastised for this and never did so again. All in all, his time spent in the woods was innocent enough and, though perhaps it wasn't visible to the eye that saw him so curiously inspect and taste plants as well follow tracks in the mud and provoke animals to chase him, he was lonely.

One day however, the little adventurer came to find that none of the usual animals were to be found, where he had last left them. His escapes had become frequent enough for the creatures to grow increasingly accustomed to him, so that his arrival upon the foresty-scene was an expected occurrence. Rarely was the area empty, or as quiet as it was today, and so the boy took out his spyglass and looked around for tracks, as he sometimes did, recognizing the familiar patterns. All led away from his favourite place, all except for one. A dog's tracks. That was unusual for dogs rarely played so far deep in to the forest; "Perhaps one of those dog-people (for that was the term he used for the Inuzuka) had been in the area", the youth mused. Curious of the truth, the boy followed the tracks as best as he could. Of course, he was merely nine summers or so, and though a young scientist no doubt, he was still a child and prone to make mistakes. Every now and again, he would get side tracked or go off on a tangent, though he would always come back to the matter at hand and continue his search for this big dog that had scared away all of his animals. It was surprising to see no human tracks alongside the canine's, but the boy's brain was yet unable to grasp the significance of this realisation. Indeed, the significance of discovering of a cave, to which evidently the tracks lead to, was also downplayed by his childish mind. All things were pointing towards the creature not being a dog at all, but the boy persisted.

Inside, almost instantly as he crossed the rocky-doorstep, a low snoring sound could be heard. It was very much unlike a dog, the boy mused, but then if it wasn't a dog, just what was it? Such questions demanded answers and little Kazuhiko had gone too far to turn back now. Whatever the source of the sound was, it was definitely something he had never seen before and that was completely unacceptable for the boy wished to see and know everything. That was one of his goals in life. So he crept on, the cave growing increasingly darker and colder, as he moved away from the safety and warmth of the sun light and into its depths. As he came closer to the source, the sound grew stronger, though also echoed terribly so that the boy was soon unaware of which direction it was coming from nor of its true volume or origin. He stumbled on and on for what felt like decades, though really, amounted to a few minutes, the time prolonged due to the size of his little legs. An intense dog-like smell alarmed the boy to the nearby presence of the creature he was chasing; inspired and motivated by this, he broke into a run, naively hoping to see the beast illuminated by a hole in the cave. But there was no such hole nor was there any warning either regarding the creature's location. It was only when he tripped over something soft and landed in something equally comfortable, a warm something that was breathing slowly, that the boy had come to learn of the beast's sleeping place. Of course, the wolf woke up instantly.

Many would consider the following tale an outright lie, but here is what the boy related back to his parents, when he came back home, his golden eyes aglow and his voice louder and more excited than ever. What the boy told his enraged kin, was that upon walking into the creature, it awoke instantly. That was a logical and believable enough development. Obviously, though small, a boy was still a boy and considerably large and heavy from the perspective of many animals. This animal happened to be a child also, a lonely one at that, much like the youth himself. It growled away at the darkness, for the youth backed away instantly, allowing its golden eyes - just like the boy's - to get used to the darkness. And then the wolf, for that was what the creature was, saw the little boy and the little boy looked back at the golden eyes that had appeared in the dark. "Hello creature" he spoke, his voice wonderfully tuneful for a human or so the wolf thought for it was compelled to reply. "Hello boy" it had responded, its voice husky and wolf-like, however one would imagine a wolf to sound when speaking human. This surprised the youth greatly, for he had never heard of creatures who could speak. Indeed this shock translated into his next words, which were the first question he planted on the animal; the animal was not surprised. "How is it that you can speak!?" the boy exclaimed, coming closer, as if worried that his eyes were deceiving him. In fact, his eyes weren't doing much at all, for the darkness was intense and the golden animal irises were all he could see. "I'm a summoning" the creature proclaimed, though the term was alien to the boy.

"What are you?"
"A wolf"
"Of what kind?"
"Of wolfkind"
"What colour is your fur?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes because I like the colour grey"
"Well, my fur is grey in parts"
"Well then you will be my pet!"
"I am no one's pet"
"Then you'll be my friend. What is your name?"
"Arashi. What is yours?"
"Call me Kazuhiko"

Was the general gist of the conversation that followed. As aforementioned, many disbelieve the youth's story and perhaps he disbelieved it himself for upon many occasions, he would ask the wolf to remind him of their meeting, especially as he got older and became a teen and then a young adult. But the wolf, much like his master, matured also and grew bigger and wiser, though always had a selective memory or perhaps at the time, thought little of the weird raven-haired boy which had claimed him in the midst of his own lair. But this was what they had put together and patched up, as to attain the tale of the instance when the wolf and the boy had met. It was only when the boy had brought back the wolf to his home, that everything became clear and the term summoning finally made sense.

tag - arashi, the wolf || words - 1296 || notes - little kazuhiko

CREATED BY FRAPPLE OF LS & BtN