Sacred Breeding Ground

Land of Lightning

Animals as far as the eye could see. Mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians of all shapes and sizes, all in their own habitats and kennels. Here, the Fenrick clan would bring their young to select companions as future shinobi of the Hidden Cloud. Today was the fourth birthday for one Rashir Fenrick, and so he came with his father, Raizou, for his birthday present. As a Land of Lightning native, Rashir had naturally dark skin, as well as short, white hair. As most children his age were, he was timid and nervous to be around other people, especially ones he had never met before.

There were four elders looking over the breeding grounds, each was feeding their respective class of animal when Rashir and his father arrived. As one of them approached, Rashir hid his face behind his father's dog companion. The elder was slowly followed by a large tortoise, which was one of his companions. As the distance between them was closed, he knelt down so that he was almost eye-level with Rashir. The boy was almost completely hidden by the hound. His father looked down at his son, then the dog, and it moved out of the way of the elder.

"Lord Elder," Raizou spoke up, "This is my son, Rashir. He turned four today and I figured that the best birthday present he could get today would be his own companions." He placed his hand upon Rashir's head and gave him a few pats to try and brighten his mood slightly.

"Raizou, eh?" the elder replied in a brittle, old voice looking up at the father, "I thought I recognized that face. I remember when you first came here so many years ago. You weren't much bigger than little Rashir here." He smiled and looked down to Rashir, "Hello, Rashir, and happy birthday! My name is Kittan, and I helped your dad meet your furry friend there when he was your age." This made Rashir's eyes widen in both surprise and excitement. Kittan's smile grew, "That's right. I knew your father back when I wasn't so old. Although, I have been old for longer than your dad has been around." Rashir laughed at the elder's joke, becoming slightly more comfortable with being around him and the others. Kittan stood back up and held out one hand for Rashir to take, "Now how about we go find you some friends of your own so your dad doesn't have to share anymore?"

"Okay," the only word the still frail Rashir could muster out as he took Kittan's hand. They first walked over to the mammal section of the breeding grounds.

"These breeding grounds are very different than most in other parts of the world," the elder explained as they approached the kennel of puppies. "From birth, until the point they find their human counterparts, all of the animals here don't show much of a personality like you and I have. That's what makes them so special. Parents bring their children here at a young age, when they are just as impressionable as our animals here. This is so they can form a bond that no other clan can. Most of the children only form a bond with one animal. There have been a few that did so with two. And in rare cases, three." He bent over and looked from Rashir to the pups. "Take a good look at the puppies we have here. See if you can feel something special about any of them." Rashir gave a long look at each of the puppies, but shook his head at Kittan. "It seems to be we have a special case here today. Come, we will look at others."

Kittan led Rashir from the dogs, to the slightly more advanced fox pups, but Rashir could feel no difference. The more advanced wolves, still nothing. "A very special case indeed," Kittan said surprisingly. "Most of our kids find a pup of some sort, and the majority take normal hounds or foxes. I don't think we've had many not bond with them or the wolves. Let's move on." They went on to the otter habitat, but to no avail. Deer, weasels, apes, bears, all seemed to look past Rashir when he inspected them. After nearly and hour and a half of looking, they came upon the big cats. Lions, tigers, and all. Rashir looked at all of the kittens, when he was approached by a baby black panther. It lifted its front legs and placed them on Rashir's shirt and looked into his eyes. Rashir stood there and gazed into the panther's eyes, and he could faintly hear an excited 'Hi' run through his mind. This warmed the boy up inside. He looked back to Kittan with a large smile.

"He talked to me," Rashir said as the kitten lowered itself and stood next to him. He had never felt so happy in his short life.

"That's how we know which ones are right for us," Kittan happily replied. "What are you gonna name him?"

"Hmm," Rashir wondered as he knelt down to the kitten, "How about Shadow?" The panther rubbed its head against Rashir's leg and the words 'I like that' came into his mind. He looked back up to Kittan, "He likes that one, I'll name him Shadow." He picked up Shadow and stood back up with a very large smile.

"Do you think you want to try for another one?" Kittan asked Rashir, who nodded without a second thought. "Which kind of animal do you want to try next?" Rashir looked down at Shadow.

"What do you think, boy?" He looked deep into Shadow's eyes before turning his head back to the elder, "Shadow wants to go to the birdies."

"Well alright then," the elder replied and led the two of them towards the birds. "Luckily our 'birdies' can already fly by the time they're ready for children to come by and find them." He showed the child both smaller birds, as well as the larger ones.

The eagles are where Rashir's interest peaked. He watched them fly between trees, and go from sky to ground when he was startled by a golden eagle landing in front of him. He placed Shadow on the ground and held out his hands. The tiny eagle jumped into his hands and Rashir looked deep into the bird's brown eyes. Much like before, Rashir heard a 'Hello' in the back of his mind. He had felt the same warmth when he found Shadow, and looked down to tell his panther. Before he could say anything, however, 'We should name him Arden' ran through his mind, followed by 'Yeah! I want that one!' and a high-pitched tweet.

"Arden!" Rashir exclaimed looking back to the elder, "That's what Shadow wanted to name him." Arden then jumped out of Rashir's hands and landed in front of Shadow. He could hear the two talk to each other back and forth in his mind. It was all jumbled up and he couldn't tell who was saying what. It gave him a slight headache.

"I know what you're thinking, little one." Kittan rubbed Rashir's head, "It's weird hearing them talk in your head, but that's what makes us all so special. You three have become part of each other, and have a bond nobody can break. What do you guys think about going for the super special third one?" Rashir shook his head, hurting to speak up. "Alright," Kittan replied, "Your dad will explain how everything works to you another time, now go on and run back to him so you can show off your new friends."

"Okay!" Rashir got extra excited as the headache slowly subsided. "Come on guys!" Rashir began to run back to where his dad was at the entrance to the breeding grounds, and his new companions followed behind. "Dad! I got two of them!"

"Is that so?" Raizou asked even though he had watched Rashir meet them off in the distance. "What are their names?"

"The kitty is Shadow," Rashir replied. "He named the birdie Arden." Rashir was more energetic about this than he had been with anything else, and his father could see just why. He was a special case. Not only had he not bonded with a canine of any sort, but with two animals as well. The three of them began to play around with each other. Rashir did a small wrestling match with Shadow while Arden commented in excitement with his chirps and tweets.

"Well let's not waste any time here," Raizou stepped in, "Let's go show your mom! She'll be super excited too meet your new friends."

"Yeah!" Rashir stood up and dusted himself off slightly, "Come on guys! Mom's waiting!" He turned back to the elders and waved. "Bye! Thanks for the friends!" Rashir's father then patted his head again and the five of them left the grounds and headed back to the Hidden Cloud Village.