The sound of footfall was getting ever closer although Nick was running at top speed; the birds he had caught were weighing him down. The roots were perpetually threatening to trip him, and the branches smacking and clawing at his face. He had to make a tough decision: get taken down by the anbu or drop the fowl and morph. Both had horrible consequences however morphing seemed to be the better decision. He transitioned from two to four legs in an instant. Nick was always the top of his class in nearly everything but his specialty was morphing. His enhanced werewolf legs pushed him far ahead of his pursuers. The autumn forest started flying by becoming a mixture of browns, reds, and yellows. The konahakagure's elite hunter raced ahead of the group lunging for him. He felt the kunai slice his Achilles tendon just as he burst through the borders of Albion. The pain from his leg was so excruciating he wished he could curl up and go to sleep forever .Nick was fading in and out of consciousness. He heard the clanking as the soldiers aimed their rifles at the Anbu and open fire on them; the howls of pain were heard throughout the city.
"Get out of our city" one of the guards yelled,
"Yeah, next time we won't be so nice." "And we'll use chakra bullets." another screamed. However during the chaos an old man walked over and said,
"Your wounds aren't fatal, but they are deep; we should get you to a hospital."
"Drip drip drip" the sound of the saline bag they hooked him up to. Nick's eyes fluttered then opened. His heart rate began to rise, as he was trying to figure out where he was. Nick looked around franticly and saw empty cots all around him. He began to piece together that it was a medical facility. As what happened began to come back to him someone walked in the door.
"Ah you are finally awake." The stranger said. He turned on the lights and they began to slowly flicker on. He had to shield his eyes from the harsh glow.
"Elder Bantin." Nick exclaimed
"Yes Nick" elder bantin replied.
"I am sorry I went out of city bounds without permission." he said.
"We will not talk about it now." The elder said softly. Nick tried to get out of the bed, and the elder just made three seals with his hands, then Nick felt himself lie back down against his will, and start to become drowsy. He heard the elder say "be careful" he felt the hands of sleep grip him, and then he drifted off.
Nick awoke once more, but this time he knew where he was. Nick tried to rise out of the bed, but was held there by wires and tubes filled with colorful liquids. Some of the liquids he could distinguish, but most he could not. He tried to get up once again, this time ripping the tubes out of his body. Grimacing at the pain of ripping the ones out of his hurt leg, which was halfway healed already. Nick had always had extraordinary healing abilities. He successfully made it to the door limping less and less as he hobbled down the hall. He passed a nurse in the hallway that abruptly turned and scolded him for being out of bed, and she ushered him back to his room. The nurse examined his leg; she stood there for a second and said
"You may go."
"Really?" Nick asked
"Yes your leg is almost completely healed." Nick looked at his leg in disbelief. The only marks on his leg were from where he had pulled out the wires, and those were nothing but shallow scabs. Nick walked out of the space and down the hallway again when the nurse called "oh yeah I was told you had to go see the counsel of elders as soon as you woke up."
"Thanks." Nick called back.
Nick took off running down the narrow streets, and back alleyways his leg no longer hurting. He tuned the corner onto the main street. Nick slowed to a walk so he could see all of the people trying to make an honest living, and some who aren't. He always loved walking down these types of places, the smell of greasy pungent food sold from the roadside vendors. He strolled leisurely down the road taking time to inspect the wares of each merchant. Nick felt a bump as someone walked into him; instinctively he checked his pockets and he found that his golden wolf pendant had been stolen. The pendant had been passed down throughout his family. There are words written on it in a lost language that no one knew how to translate. He turned around but the pickpocket had disappeared into the mass of people. Nick closed his eyes and focused on the pendant while he used the jutsu he had learned in school, he located it in an instant. Nick ran towards the accessory. He reached the thief and tackled him to the ground. The thief pulled a knife on him and Nick grabbed his wrist, and put his palm at the pickpockets elbow. The sickening sound thief's bones cracking echoed in the alley as he lifted him off of the ground; pivoting himself nick flipped the man over his head. There was a metallic clang as he dropped his knife. He reached into the man's pockets, and retrieved the lost pendant. Nick whistled as he walked out of the alley nonchalantly but not before he stuffed the thief behind the dumpsters; he was happy to have the amulet back around his neck. Before he knew it he had arrived at the front of the massive building called "the catacombs" because of the never ending passageways underneath it filled with the bones of the wolves that had been infected by the mites. With the tall spires, intricate deigns on the sides made from a shimmering gold, and the ancient feel the building almost looked like a chapel. Nick had never been this close to anything like it before since this was only the first time he had been in a large city. Almost all of the major cities had something like this within them, usually at the center. Nick was almost hesitant to open the door, but his curiosity forced him to go inside. Once he opened the door he was assaulted by the musky smell of old leather, dusty chairs, and long forgotten books. As he was admiring the beautifully hand painted murals all over the walls, floors, and ceiling an older man probably in his late thirties came to see who had entered the catacombs, and for what reason.
"What are you doing here; you are not supposed to be here without an invitation." "Well?" asked the gentleman hurriedly.
"I am Nick; you know the one who has an "appointment" with the counsel of elders."
"Oh, I'm sorry about that." "Not the yelling part the appointment thing." The man said with a rueful smile. "By the way, my name is John."
"Nick" Nick replied.
"Follow me." John said.
As they walked through the maze of hallways Nick began noticing that it seemed to become more, and more ancient the farther they walked in. John stopped, knocked on the door, and said "Remember these are the Elders whatever you do don't argue with them they can have you executed or worse, and good luck." "Thanks" Nick replied sounding more positive that he felt. He hadn't known how nervous he had been until they arrived. He had
"Fine then, Nick." The High elder Zhoke said like he was bored. "You been preoccupied with the edifice itself and all of its Grandeur. Nick heard a loud voice boom "enter." He tentatively opened the door and shuffled in. The room had high ceilings, no features that he could tell other than the fact that it was dark except for a circle of light meant for the accused to stand in.
"Dominick James" The five council members said in complete unison.
"Nick" Nick replied "sirs" he added quickly.
You have been accused of leaving the borders of your home province Shentin, trespassing on enemy territory, and coming to Albion without permission" Zhoke said in a superior tone. "How do you plead?"
"I plead guilty of all accusations, your honors."
"Great." The council said gleefully
"But if I may explain?"
"Fine" Zhoke said in an exasperated voice.
"Okay here is what happened."
"You know as well as I do that winter is coming, and that many people are going to die of hunger. The grain from last years harvest had ran out, and most of the game inside of the borders begins to hibernate, so I had to go outside of the border."
"We get that, but that doesn't explain why you went into the konahakagure territory"
"I was chasing a very large buck that could feed my family for an entire week, and it jumped over the fence into the territory." "I decided that it would be worth it to go after it, and I hopped it."