Okuri stared at the approaching man. He did not appear to be armed or armored in any way, and it struck Okuri as odd. Most warriors did that favor to themselves. The man abruptly stopped and took out a scroll from inside his fur coat. Okuri recognized the man. He worked for Masanori Tadaka. He was the Mammoth Herder. The man placed the scroll in the nook of a tree, looked around, and then ran away. Okuri waited a few seconds, and then started moving. It took him 12 jumps, each approximately 5 meters, to get to the tree with the scroll in it.
Kiba sniffed the air. No, still no sign of deer. He sighed. While mammoths provided much more meat, deer was easier to catch, and he would prefer variety in his diet. Akamaru gnawed on the leg bone of a long dead giant bird. “Don’t chew on that Akamaru. It’ll splinter on you.” Kiba said. The half demon wolf promptly spat out the bone and started looking for something else to chew on. Kiba sniffed the air again, hoping to find something larger than a rabbit, but no luck.
Okuri leaped out of the forest into the clearing. He threw Kiba the scroll in his hand. “Masanori’s mammoth herder just left this out in the woods. Take a look.”
Kiba grabbed the scroll midair, unrolled it and began to read:
Dear Okami Brothers,
I am Toho Iwata, the Mammoth Breeder from whom Masanori Tadaka contracts all his animal labor.
It has come to my attention that you have some particularly large, strong bull mammoths in the north end of your territory. Procuring the largest among them would benefit my breeding purposes greatly. While the speed at which Masanori’s project is built might not be noticeably affected (the gestation period of mammoths is 22 months), I would be willing to offer up many things (including but not limited to any mammoth from my herd) to obtain such an animal, and I believe we can arrange a bargain that would be worthwhile for the both of us.
Sincerely,
Toho Iwata
“And he expects a positive response?” snorted Kiba, throwing the scroll back to Okuri.
“Who knows? Anyways, we’re going to see Masanori tonight, so we may as well talk to this Toho guy.” Okuri caught the scroll and started sniffing the air. “Humans. 5 of them. All female.”
Akamaru and Kiba started sniffing the air as well. Akamaru barked. “Yes, 6 scents but 5 humans.” Kiba answered. “I don’t get it, her scent is so familiar, but I can’t recognize it.”
“She’s one of us.”
First there was silence. Then the 3 brothers moved in synchronization, to find the source of this scent, and see what it looked like.
