Akari's Story

Takeshi bounded across the wooden bridge in Kusa Village that lead to the Satomi House, his mind racing. Who else would be there? What would they be like? Would they get along right off the bat? Would anyone have a power as spectacular as his? Yes, Take was a bit full of himself when it came to his fighting skills, but he knew there would always have to be someone just as skilled as him, if not better. The Akita's loud paw steps came to a halt as he reached the steps to the building, obliviously passing by Yukari. He looked up at the Satomi House and took in a deep breath before walking inside, ignoring all the dogs on the sidelines as they murmured amongst one another.

The room smelled of burning incense, and there were assigned cushions lined up against the walls that lead to a small platform for Princess Fuse. Takeshi looked for the cushion that had his name by it and sat down. It was so soft and comfy he almost fell asleep until another dog came in. A black and white husky with a scar on her right eye silently padded by him, staring down at her paws as to avoid eye contact. Coincidentally, her cushion was one away from his.

"Hey there!" Take greeted warmly, his tail wagging. "My name's Takeshi."

"Hello," The Husky replied.

Take waited for her to introduce herself, but instead she lay down and rested her head on her paws, keeping her gaze straight forward.
"Tired from the journey over here, eh?"

"Yes. Very." She sighed.

"Where are you from?" Take prodded.

"Wep'keer."

Takeshi nodded in acceptance, deciding to let the Husky rest. She clearly didn't want to talk to anyone. It made him wonder if she thought she was too good to talk to him, or if she was just shy. He shrugged it off and turned his attention to the door, waiting for more recruits to enter.

Mizuki's ears flattened against her head as Nobu suddenly turned and left. Now that was something she wasn't expecting at all.
"Oh no," She whimpered. "Look what we've done."
The Pomeranian stood up and immediately headed for the door.

Takeshi remained where he was and snorted.
"If he can't handle a small joke then he's better off not becoming a warrior."
Suddenly a thin layer of ice made its way around his muzzle so the Akita could no longer speak.
He looked around with a frantic look in his eyes.

Akari lifted her head and looked at him with a cold glare.
"Shut up," Was all she said before going back to sleep.

Take lowered his head in shame, not bothering to try and remove the ice.

As Mizuki exited the Satomi House, she heard an overwhelming amount of dogs laughing and making fun.

"Aaw, looks like the little rat got rejected too," One said.

Mizuki glared at the crowd, trying to spot out the dog who had made the remark.
"I'd like to see any of you gather up the courage to come in here and become a warrior!" She squeaked angrily.
This small outburst only caused the crowd to laugh even harder. It took all she had to contain her voice and not deafen everyone. Thankfully, there was at least one nice dog in the crowd.

"If you're looking for the Pitbull who left earlier, he went towards the village."

"Thank you!" Mizuki yipped in the general direction of wherever the voice came from.
She followed the Pitbull's scent all the way to the bridge and saw him padding away.
"Hey! Please, wait!" She called out to him, her stubby little legs moving as fast as they could.

Mizuki slowly came to a stop in front of Nobu, panting her small pink tongue as she listened to what he was saying. The Pomeranian took a moment to look back at the house, which was still barely in their line of view. What he just told her may be true though. What if this took longer than expected, and the princess refused to accept Mizuki for coming in late? She sighed and turned her gaze back to the Pitbull, deciding to take the chance. If she was made into a warrior without Nobu, who had presumably left because of her or one of the others, she would've felt no honor in it at all.
"Don't leave," She pleaded softly. "You look like you have great warrior potential. Everyone must just be on their haunches because today is very important, so you shouldn't take anything they say to heart."
The small female hoped Nobu was starting to reconsider, and that she wasn't unintentionally insulting him even further. Not only because it looked like he could snap her neck in one bite, but because she really wanted him to come back for some reason. Something inside her felt they would be needing this Pitbull.

Takeshi rolled his eyes as Yukari commended the Husky for icing his muzzle. He struggled to open his jaw and break the thin layer of ice. Once it was gone the Akita looked quite pleased. He then looked back at Yukari and Akari. He wanted to try and start over, but he knew the others already thought he had spoken enough, and he didn't know how else to begin a friendly conversation. So the large dog remained quiet and looked around the room, as though he expected the princess to pop out of nowhere at any second. 'What's taking so long? Is this even everyone that is coming to this thing?'

Akari's head shot back up once again as she heard footsteps on the platform. She slowly sat upright and presented herself respectfully. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Take do the same.

"Welcome everyone," Princess Fuse began, her voice warm and gentle. "Thank you all for coming."
She emanated a certain charm that caused both Takeshi and Akari to immediately take a liking to her. Two small cowlicks resembling dog ears sat atop her head, and several orbs floated around her, slowly rotating in a circle.

'Those must be the orbs she's going to assign to us,' Take thought excitedly. His tail had subconsciously began wagging again, making a loud thumping noise as it hit the floor. After a few wags the Akita bashfully sat on his tail in order to silence it.

"I see you're happy to be here," The princess giggled, looking at Takeshi, Akari, and then Yukari. "Hm...so there are only three of you?" She murmured.

OC- I'm thinking we should start the ceremony now, and Yorda can join in whenever.
If she misses the ceremony we can always just pretend her character was there, but I'll pm her beforehand just incase.

Mizuki's eyes shown with a glint of hope as Nobu offered to walk her back to the Satomi House. However, once they were at the door she trotted up the stairs, but he did not follow. She turned to look at him, her expression a tad bit irritable now. How could this Pitbull change his mind so easily?
"Be a good girl and stay," He said.
The little Pomeranian saw that there was no convincing him now. She was disappointed that she couldn't make him reconsider, and looked down at her paws.
"Ok," Was the only word that escaped from her maw before she turned around and reentered the building.

Once she was inside, Mizuki was heartbroken to find that Princess Fuse was already there and waiting. She bowed respectfully.
"Princess Fuse, I'm sorry, I-"

"It's quite alright," The princess cut in. "Someone has explained your absence for you," She gestured to Yukari.
"Please, take a seat." She looked at Hiroshi and smiled. "You too."
The princess was glad that she had more recruits now, which compensated for a couple of them being late. They were expected to be more punctual once they became warriors anyways.

Mizuki was surprised, but managed to nod gratefully at Yukari before taking her original place. On her way to her seat, she couldn't help but notice a new dog had joined them. Once the princess began speaking again, she focused her attention solely on her.

Princess Fuse suddenly held up a blue bandana.
"These bandanas bear the mark of the Satomi House. Keep them on at all times, and everyone will know who you are."
She then gestured to the orbs circling around her. "These satomi power orbs will give you strength."

Takeshi cocked his head to the side. How could a glass sphere give one strength?

"Akari," The princess called out. "Please step forward."

Akari quietly padded up to the platform and stood still as the princess suddenly began wrapping the blue bandana around the Husky's neck.

Then, the princess plucked one of the satomi orbs from its orbit and placed it in front of Akari's bandana. She closed her eyes as she touched it with her fingertips, and a dim light began to glow from the inside.
"May your resilience and wisdom help guide you on your journey," She murmured.

Akari suddenly felt a wave of energy surge through her. She waited for the princess to finish before padding back to her spot. The Husky sat down and stared into her orb.

Mizuki was next. She restrained herself not to run on over to the platform. When she made it up, she was handed an orange bandana and pink orb. The Pomeranian stared down at it as the princess made it glow, reading the kanji symbol that was engraved into it.
"Life," She whispered to herself.

"May your kindness and determination help guide you on your journey," The princess added quietly.
As Mizuki scurried back to her seat, Princess Fuse called the next name.
"Yukari."

Mizuki tore her gaze from her beautiful pink orb to watch Yukari. The two had gotten off to a rough start so far, but at least the mutt was nice enough to mention why Mizu was absent during the beginning of the ceremony. However, as Yukari got up to approach the platform, Mizuki couldn't help but feel a tinge of envy. The little Pomeranian had always wished she were a large, potent dog. If she were bigger, nobody would pick on her, especially not humans.

"He's not here anymore," Akari explained simply.

Mizuki was glad someone had finally spoken up. She watched as the princess nodded somewhat disapprovingly, then went back to her normal state as she called the next name.

"Hiroshi."

Takeshi watched Yukari walk back to her place looking as though she were concentrating very hard on something. Like e others, he couldn't help but notice both her orb and bandana were black. It looked strange, but the Akita didn't read too much into it. After all, his orb was black as well.

Mizuki withheld a giggle as Hiroshi fell to the floor. She felt bad that he had embarrassed himself like that, but nobody else seemed to care, except for Take, who had a slight grin on his face. The Pomeranian set her gaze back on the Kai-Ken. He would be the last one called up before the ceremony ended.

Princess Fuse wrapped his assigned bandana around him and presented him with his orb. It lit up as she touched it, but for some reason there was a slight pause before she spoke. Was it because she was hesitant? Or was it for dramatic effect?
"May your bravery and geniality help guide you throughout your journey," She uttered.

Takeshi cocked his head to the side, noticing that the princess's attitude was slightly off, but it went back to normal as she had finished.

"Well, I suppose that is everyone then," Princess Fuse announced as she gazed at the door.
"Thank you all for offering yourselves as warriors today."

Akari remained sitting. She wondered what their first mission would be, but it seemed as though the princess might have been stalling.

"Alright everyone," Princess Fuse went on.
She noticed Yukari leave, but just assumed the canine thought the ceremony had officially ended, and that someone that was still inside would inform her later.
"Your first mission is to head towards Kamiki Village. There's a lot of talk about strange things happening there."

"We'll get right on it!" Takeshi promised. His tail began wagging again.

The princess nodded and smiled.
"Thank you all once again, and good luck to each of you!"
She bowed to the Canine Warriors gratefully, signaling that the meeting was now adjourned.

Mizuki, Akari, and Take all bowed in return before leaving the building.

Takeshi trotted over to where Yukari was.
"Hey Yukari, before we left the princess said we should head towards Kamiki."

"I wonder what could possibly be going on there," Mizuki wondered aloud.

Akari stood silently, waiting for everyone to be ready.

"So is there anything anyone needs to do here first before we head out?" Take asked.
The Pomeranian and Husky shook their heads.

Mizuki and Akari both turned their heads to Hiroshi as he scooted closer to them. Akari remained quiet, deciding to keep her reasons to herself. On the other hand, Mizuki figured the Kai Ken was only trying to redeem himself, or at least make things less awkward between everyone at the moment.

"To be completely honest," The Pomeranian began, "I joined so I could get a better paw at fighting. Sounds a bit selfish, but I've had a bit of a rough past where knowing how to defend myself would've come in handy."
Not wanting Hiroshi to feel inclined to delve any deeper, she retaliated, "What about you?" And flashed him a faint smile.

"No problem," Takeshi grinned. He looked around the village for a moment. Nobody else had said they needed anything, but he was actually pretty hungry. The Akita hadn't even eaten breakfast because he was so intent on getting to the ceremony in time.
"If you guys don't mind, I want to stop at the merchant's stand on our way out to get some Holy Bones."
He then confidentally began moving forward in the direction of the village.


OC- Holy Bones are treats the main protagonist from Okami eats in order to restore health.

"I don't think I'm doing good so far."

Mizuki couldn't help but scoff a bit at this.
"So you tripped during the ceremony, it could've happened to anyone!"
Maybe the Pomeranian had too much self esteem, but she certainly wouldn't let one minor slip up bother her too much.
"Besides, we haven't even begun our mission yet. I'm sure you'll be a great warrior," She yipped reassuringly.

Just then, Takeshi and Yukari had joined them and breakfast was mentioned.

"Bones?" Mizuki tilted her head to the side questioningly before looking at the small Kusa Inn that was in the center of the village.
"I think I'll just stop by the inn and ask for something there. I'll meet you guys at the exit though!"
Without waiting for any response, the small dog ran off towards the inn.

"Ooh, she's not going to like what she gets there," Takeshi chuckled mischievously.

"Why not?" Akari asked.

"The inn keeper lady is really mean, trust me," Take replied.
Neverthless, he kept going straight forward, as though he had no intention of stopping Mizuki.
"But that's what the little pooch gets for being picky. A warrior should learn to take what they can get."

Akari's ears flattened a bit. She felt bad imagining little Mizuki getting scolded, but the Husky wasn't usually one to speak out of line. She continued following the Akita over to the merchant stand.

Angel gave a little squeak when she was unexpectedly snagged and tossed onto the larger dog's back. It took the ball of fluff a moment to get her barring, but soon she was giggling and wagging her tail. "It's nice to meet you, Nobutoshi!" She announced happily. Angel had never ridden on the back of another dog before, but it didn't take long for her to lay down and get comfortable.

The new view was so distracting that Angel almost missed Nobu's question. "Oh! Orochi and his minions mostly.. but any baddie that threatens Nippon should be taken care of! Don'cha think?" Angel added the last bit as an after thought, tilting her head and looking at Nobu.. or at least looking at the back of his head. Assuming -everyone- knew about Orochi, Angel didn't elaborate on the demon.

The tiny dog was quite enjoying the right Nobu had decided to give her. Her tail wagged the whole time the walked. However, she was eventually distracted by a group of dogs heading down the dirt road with bandannas and glowing orbs. "Are those the warriors?! They are aren't they?!" Then the white dogs ears and tail drooped. "Does that mean Angel's to late...?" Angel had gone from her normally happy self, to super excited, then to sad in about two seconds flat.

Princess Fuse had been standing outside as she watched the newly acclaimed Canine Warriors pad off into the distance to begin their adventure. She noticed that at almost the same time, two other dogs on the horizon were approaching the house. Were they here hoping to become warriors at last minute? Or were they simply passing by? The Princess waited curiously.

Meanwhile, the Canine Warriors finally made it to the merchant stand and Takeshi realized he had no money to pay for the bones.
"Crud...how am I gonna pay for them? I can't just steal them...that's not warrior like," He mumbled to himself.

"You must be the new Canine Warriors!" The merchant beamed as he admired their orbs. He must have overheard Take's conversation with himself.
"Don't worry about money, you can take a few treats for free this time. It's the least I can do for a few brave dogs willing to risk their lives for Nippon!"

"Thanks, man!" Take wagged his tail and grabbed some bones, stashing them in his bandana.

Mizuki did the same, but noticed Akari take nothing. This merchant seemed much kinder than the lady at the inn, but e Pomeranian was still convinced all humans were the same.