"Ha! Yah!" Shujinkou valiantly swung a twig around like a sword as he strolled around a forest blanketed by the darkness of night. Despite being called weird for it, there was something about taking a stroll after the sun went down that felt natural and soothing to him. He knew it made him different, but he was used to other thinking that way about him.

"Hah!" Shujinkou thrust the twig forward, unintentionally driving it into a tree. The child silently brought what was left of his pretend sword to his face, blankly staring at where the point used to be. "I can't wait to get a real sword one day…"

He tossed the twig over his shoulder before suddenly hearing a loud sound not too far away. It sounded like someone dropping an anvil from a very high height. His instincts taking charge, the child curiously ran to the source of the sound and found a young girl in the middle of a crater that matched perfectly matched her figure.

The child's curiosity shot up, persuading him to approach the young girl. As he slowly moved closer, Shujinkou began to notice a few unusual features she had. Two fox-like ears sat atop her head and a single fluffy tail slowly wagged from side to side before crashing on the ground like a meteor.

"She's a monster…" Shujinkou thought aloud.

Looking past that revelation, the child then noticed that the girl was covered in cuts and bruises. There was also a bright blue crystal tied around her neck. Before he could process anything further, a several lines of rope fell into his field of vision. Shujinkou glanced up and watched a few figures begin to repel down the nearby cliff wall.

Once again falling back on his instincts, Shujinkou wasted no time picking the girl up and ran deeper into the forest.

"Hang on. I'll get you somewhere safe and get you some help," he promised the unconscious girl.

He headed further and further into the darkness ahead of him, focused only on getting the stranger out of danger.

"Shiko!"

A bright voice pierced through the darkness, guiding Shujinkou back to reality.

"Shiko!"

A large yawn plowed through his lips as the young man sat up in his bed. Suddenly, his bedroom door flew open and a familiar figure lunged at him. Landing perfectly on top of him, Shujinkou soon found himself face to face with his childhood friend: Sayori.

"Morning, Shiko," she beamed, her fluffy tail happily wagging back and forth over his covered legs.

"Morning, Sayori," Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek. It was kind of embarrassing seeing his oldest friend so soon after having a dream about her. "Did you need me for something?"

"Eh?" Sayori shot him a perplexed look. "You told me to make sure you don't sleep in today, remember?"

"Oh, right…" the young man rubbed his eyes and slid out of bed. "It'd be pretty dumb if I slept in on my own departure day."

"It seems pretty natural from what I heard… Anyway, I'll see you downstairs!"

After watching his friend run out of his room, Shujinkou walked to his closet, grabbed the outfit he set out for today and got dressed.

Once he was ready, Shujinkou walked down a set of stairs and found Sayori happily stuffing her face at the kitchen table.

"Good evening, Shujinkou," his mother, Hiro, soon entered his field of vision and set a plate down at the table. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah…" Shujinkou replied as he curiously glanced at Sayori.

"What's wrong?" the fox girl asked.

"N-Nothing," he scratched his cheek as he finished his response in his head. It's just kinda weird I would dream about our first meeting today of all days.

"Do you think you have time to eat before you leave?" Hiro asked.

"I think I have to take it to go. I'm pretty sure that it's going to be a long walk to the next town."

The young man looked around and noticed the backpack he had prepared for today hanging off the front door. It was a good spot to leave it so there would be no way he could forget it. The only issue was, that wasn't where he left it at.

Shujinkou picked the bag up, surprised by how light it was. He quickly unzipped his backpack to find that it was completely empty.

"What happened to all my stuff?" he wondered aloud.

"Wait… that was your traveling bag?" Sayori quickly averted her gaze as she let out a short nervous chuckle.

"Sayori?"

"I may have gotten hungry around midnight…"

"But… But what about everything else?"

"I don't really remember… I was in a 'blinded by hunger' mindset."

Shujinkou silently stared at Sayori, causing her cheeks to grow red. He knew there was more to her story than she was letting on.

"Guess I'll just have to restock again," the young man walked towards the kitchen table, reached under and pulled out another backpack. "Ready to go."

"You had another bag ready just in case?" Sayori gasped.

"Yep."

"Oh…" sorrow was on full display on her face as she lowered her head in defeat.

Shujinkou opened the backpack, his eyes widening with shock upon discovering that his backup was filled with books.

"My backup plan failed…" he mumbled under his breath.

A smile crssed his mother's face as she brushed her light brown hair away from her deep blue eyes. "You know, Shujinkou, you still have some time before you're intended departure time. Why don't you and Sayori go and restock your bag."

"Yeah, okay." Shujinkou pulled the books out of the bag and slung the straps over his shoulder. "You don't mind do you, Sayori?"

Sayori shook her head and eagerly followed Shujinkou through the front door.

"Where to first, Shiko?"

"Um… I guess we should visit Guss's item shop first."

The two walked through their home village and stepped into a small shop. They could hear a jazz-like song behind the door. Pushing it open, they found a bearded man lounging on a lawn chair.

"Guss," Shujinkou called.

The man lifted the sunglasses over his eyes and turned towards the two.

"Shujinkou. Sayori. I didn't expect to see you two together for awhile," Guss chuckled as he sat up. "What brings you two to my second humble abode?"

Though it was embarrassing, Shujinkou answered, "I kind of need a restock of some of the items I got here…"

"What? Even the backups I lent you?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright."

Guss shrugged and walked behind his counter. "Let's see, a whole bunch of herbs, low wage antidotes and a map. Toss me your bag, little 19-year old dude."

Shujinkou did as he was instructed and watched as Guss quickly stuffed everything in his backpack before tossing it back to him. Despite the speed and seemingly rough approached, everything was neatly organized inside.

That never stops being impressive.

Shujinkou re-zipped his bag and slung it behind his back. "So, how muc-"

"I told you the first and second time, Shujinkou, I'm not taking your money," Guss interjected. "As many times you've helped me out, I should be paying you."

Shujinkou awkwardly scratched his right cheek.

"Do you have Monster Infestation in your home town?"

Shujinkou, Sayori and Guss turned towards the store radio.

"Do you wish to enjoy you day without constantly worrying about monster attacks? Then remember to call Saisei Corporation and subscribe to our security program. We'll keep you safe as we either rid monsters from your home or domesticate monsters for your leisure. Remember to cal-"

Guss violently ripped the radio's cord from the wall. "Damn corporations and their protection rackets! Interrupting my music and me time and spouting such skewed politics!"

Shujinkou glanced at Sayori with a worried look on his face.

"I still get chills whenever I hear their name…" she said.

"Um…" Shujinkou turned his attention back to Guss." Thanks for the stuff Guss. We gotta get going to Althea's place so…"

"Yeah, I get it. Good luck on your journey, Shujinkou."

"Thanks."

Shujinkou hurriedly walked out of the store and Sayori followed.

"I'm not 'domesticated', am I?" she asked.

Shujinkou continued to star ahead as he answered, "Yes, Sayori, you are."

"Eh?!"

Shujinkou chuckled at her shocked reaction.

"Just kidding, but you already know the answer. You keep asking it to hear it."

"It's assuring."

Shujinkou simply stared at her.

"It's nice to hear."

"You're not domesticated, you're my best friend."

Sayori beamed until a pig rammed into her. Shujinkou was deprived of every word he ever learned as he watched the pig carry Sayori around. It looked like it was trying to shake her off.

"Dang it! Stop running you swine!"

A young woman, the same age as Shujinkou, stopped running just short of him. She was breathing heavily and looked like she was about to collapse.

"Althea."

The woman raised her finger at him as she continued to try and catch her breath. She sighed before turning towards Shujinkou.

"Hey, Shujinkou. Didn't expect to see you for awhile considering you already gave everyone an emotional goodbye."

"I kinda need to restock…"

"Well, give me a second," Althea turned her gaze towards Sayori and clapped her hands around her mouth. "Sayori, bring em on home!"

"Got it!"

The kitsune girl swiftly wrapped her tail around the pig and flung it into the air. She then stretched her arms forward, catching the animal before it could hit the ground.

"Nice," Althea complimented. "Maybe you could help me around the farm while Shujinkou's gone. Life knows I could use some."

She eyes lowered, drawing attention to a small baby strapped to her chest.

"Oo, I thought I smelled little Altear."

"I swear the animals are taking advantage of me having to pay attention to this little one. Speaking of which… Shujinkou make sure you behave yourself out there."

"I'm not going to be doing anything like that…" he awkwardly chuckled.

"You're right. I should be saying that you should be careful about the women out in the world. You have an innocent aura around you and they may try to take advantage of that."

"I seriously doubt I have to worry about any girl problems."

"That's what you think… At least you don't have to worry about the Dark Goddess. That would be the ultimate girl problem."

"Dark Goddess?" Shujinkou asked with a confused look on his face.

"You don't know?"

"No."

"Essentially she's the leader of all monsters and shows up every now and then. I heard there's been more than one, but it's not like people this side of the globe would get concrete information about the topic."

"But she's not around now?"

"From what I heard, there hasn't been any sightings of her. Plus, if she was around, I doubt phrases lime Monster infestations and domestication would be thrown around without any issues."

"That's true."

"Dark Goddess…" Sayori had a contemplative look on her face. Her tail wagged back and forward before she suddenly chuckled. "I got nothing."

"Anyway, just follow me guys and I'll get you the things you need," Althea instructed.

The two followed her to her farm on the edge of the village. Once there, Sayori gently placed the pig in its designated pin.

"Alright, here you go," Althea handed Shujinkou a small sack. "There's your third bag of… you knw what's inside."

"Thanks, Althea."

He waved goodbye to them and walked out of the farm.

"Wonder how big Altear will get when I get back."

"You think you'll be gone that long…?" Sayori asked.

"I… I don't really know how long I'll be gone."

An awkward atmosphere hung over the two until they eventually made it back home. Hiro was waiting outside with a small present box in her hands.

"What's that, Mom?"

"A gift to commemorate your departure," his mother smiled as she handed the box to him.

He opened the gift and pulled out a metallic gray rectangular object. "What's this?"

"It's something your father carried with him during his past journeys. It was his sword."

"Sword?" the young man couldn't hide his confusion as he stared at his gift.

"Just imagine a sword in your mind." she advised.

"Okay?"

Shujinkou did as he was told and watched the object transform into a sword.

"Whoa! Dad had a magical sword?!"

"Mm-hmm," Hiro nodded.

The young man excitedly raised the sword over his and marveled at it. "Wow… How do I make it go back to normal?"

"Just imagine it."

He did just that and the sword returned to its original shape. "Thanks, Mom."

"Mm." Hiro approached her son and drew him into a gentle embrace. "Have a safe journey."

"I'll try," Shujinkou assured her, hugging her back.

He knew this moment was coming, but it was still hard to actually say goodbye. Even tougher, he had to do it twice.

The moment their embrace ended, Shujinkou turned his attention to Sayori.

"See you when I get back, Sayori," he said.

Sayori sorrowfully stared at Shujinkou before suddenly wrapping her arms around him. "See ya, Shiko…"

Her grip tightened to an increasingly unbearable degree as a single tear crawled down her face.

"S-Sayori…" he winced.

Her grip tightened and tightened, causing a brief cry of pain to leak out. Upon hearing that, Sayori immediately released her grip on him.

"Sorry…" she apologized with a weak chuckle.

"You don't have to apologize," Shujinkou assured her as he scratched his right cheek. Instinctively looking away, he noticed the sky beginning to darken. "Well… I guess it's time for me to go now."

The young man threw the straps of his backpack over his shoulders and waved goodbye. He had to give more goodbyes and waves as before delving into the forest that surrounded his home village.

Various emotions swirled in him as he started his journey. He thought starting his journey at night would help keep any negative emotions at bay, but it didn't work. Already, he was beginning to miss home and wonder if he was ready for what he was starting.

"I wonder if other travelers feel like this when they leave home?" he thought aloud.

As he continued to stroll through the forest, Shujinkou glanced up at the night sky and marveled at the seemingly infinite number of star sprinkled up there. Suddenly, a human shaped figure flew into his view. Sprouting wings and letting out an almost ear-piercing roar, there was only one thing it could be.

"A dragon?!" he exclaimed as the monster swooped down at him.

His mind paralyzed by fear and disbelief, his body instinctively dove out of the way from the dragon's slashing claws, his eyes widening with shock as he watched the winged creature effortlessly cut through the trees like a knife through hot butter.

I know dragons are supposed to be strong, but this is ridiculous.

The dragon turned around and glared at him. Now able to view the creature closer, Shujinkou was shocked to find tattered clothes wrapped barely covering its feminine attributes. Cuts and bruises were lined across her body and her eyes were as red as a demon's. But despite her glare, he felt like there wasn't anyone really there.

The female dragon roared, causing him to push those thoughts aside. "No choice; have to defend myself!"

Shujinkou quickly reached into pocket and pulled out the metallic rectangular object his mother had given him. "Got to visualize a sword in my mind…"

With a single focused thought, the strange object swiftly transformed into a sword.

"That's still so cool," Shujinkou marveled.

But he didn't have long to gush as the dragon girl flew towards him again at break-neck speed. With no idea what to do, the young man held his sword in front of him as if it were a shield. The dragon tackled the rookie adventurer, knocking off his feet and into a tree.

Before he could get his wits back, the traveler noticed from the corner of his eyes a fist coming his way and quickly rolled out of the way. As the dragon girl struggled to free her hand, Shujinkou spotted a small square device centered on her neck.

What's that?

His curiosity was quickly replaced with admiration and horror as his assailant spew fire out of her mouth. She then turned her attention to him, spewing more fire at the young adventurer. Paralyzed by fear, Shujinkou could do nothing but sit there until something tackled him out of the way.

"Huh?" Surprised, Shujinkou glanced up to discover something even more surprising. "Sayori?!"

"Hey, Shiko," she beamed.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"I'm here because-"

Before she could finish her response, Sayori latched onto Shujinkou and rolled them away from another fiery assault.

"What's a dragon doing down here?" she wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Shujinkou replied. "Dragons don't just wordlessly lash out like a wild animal right?"

"Only when super mad, but that's usually because they're breathing fire by then."

"I thought so."

Sayori suddenly rolled them away from another stream of fire.

"Sayori, do you think you can help me get on her back?" Shujinkou requested.

A giant smile formed on the fox's face. "You bet!"

She then threw him up into the air as the dragon girl flew by and jumped up after him. Once close enough, the excited kitsune grabbed her friend and effortlessly threw him at their attacker.

Clumsily latching on to the girl as she flew through the trees, Shujinkou was beginning to wonder if his plan was a smart one. Despite those doubts, he raised his sword and slammed the hilt on the device, destroying it. With the device gone, the dragon girl immediately lost consciousness and crashed into the ground.

With his assailant subdued, Shujinkou breathed a sigh of relief.

"You okay, Shiko?" Sayori worriedly asked.

"Yeah…" he confirmed.

Suddenly, the dragon girl woke up to find Shujinkou and his sword.

"Human!" she exclaimed.

Her now blue eyes looked at him as if he was the most evil thing in the world.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Sayori quickly jumped in between the two. "He's not going to hurt you."

"But he's a human. With a sword," the dragon girl shot Sayori a perplexed look. It was like she couldn't understand why Sayori was defending him. "Has he domesticated you?"

"Domesticated? I'm not domesticated. We're best friends," Sayori proudly answered.

"Best… Friends?" the dragon shot Sayori a disbelieving look.

"Plus, you attacked Shiko first."

"I did?"

"Yeah."

"I think something was making you lash out," Shujinkou interjected. "But we got rid of it."

"You… You helped me?" the dragon girl asked, perplexed. "Why?"

"Because you looked like you needed help."

The dragon girl blankly stared at Shujinkou before suddenly flying off.

"She just flew off…" Sayori noted.

"Well, at least she's back to normal," Shujinkou accepted. "By the way, Sayori, how long have you been following me?"

"Eh? I wasn't following you! I was just wandering around smelled fire breath!" Sayori stammered.

Shujinkou simply stared her.

"…Pretty much after you left," she admitted. "I know you wanted me to look after Auntie H and everyone while you were gone, but I really didn't want to be left behind. Plus, Auntie H and everyone else gave me their blessings to go ahead."

Sayori anxiously averted her gaze. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"Mad? Sayori you just saved me from getting singed. Why would I be anything but mad that you're here? Plus, if everyone is cool that you're here than I'm more than happy to have my best friend come with me," Shujinkou assured her.

Sayori's cheeks grew bright red as a giant smile formed on her face. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Without saying a word, Sayori wrapped her arms around Shujinkou, her grip tightening with each passing second.

"S-Sayori… Monster strength…" he winced.

She immediately released her grip on him and nervously chuckled. "Sorry… So, what should we do know?"

"Well, I guess we should probably set up camp to rest after what just happened," Shujinkou advised.

"Alright, out first camp out outside of town!" Sayori cheered.

He was too exhausted to show it, but Shujinkou was excited too. But at the same time, he wondered why the dragon girl had a device that seemed to strip her of all control. It was strange, but thinking about that brought back the memory of his first encounter with Sayori and the people who were seemingly after her.

I wonder if something's happening out there in the world.

He felt a sense of foreboding as he looked up at the night sky. A sight that usually filled him with wonder now gave filled him with uncertainty.