The sun was in the middle of the sky, a blazing hot circle warming everything around it. Birds chattered in the trees' and squirrels hopped from branch to branch, collecting nuts. A badger scuffled around at the roots of a tree, looking for something to eat. It scrambled away as it heard approaching footsteps. A boy of about fifteen or sixteen, with brown hair and pale skin, was picking his way through the forest, on his way to the river. He held a bucket in his hand, but had a weapons pouch and a leaf headband. The boy was grumbling about something as he walked along.
"Hmph! I'm in the middle of training and Gramps 'asks' me to get a bucket of water. And not from the well either! From the river! He says, "Ryu, would you be so kind as to get me a bucket of water from the river? That's a good boy." Really!"
He pushed a branch away from his face as he stepped out onto the riverbank. Ryu walked over to the edge of the river and dipped his bucket into the water, filling it to the top. As he got up to leave, he saw something intriguing at the edge of the river. He went over to investigate, and found, to his extreme astonishment , a girl and a tiger cub. The tiger cub seemed to be guarding the girl, because when he approached, it growled warningly. He looked at the girl. She was pale and had shoulder length black hair. Her clothes were tattered and worn, barely concealing her body. A large piece was torn away from her right arm, and he could see a strange mark on it. On her other arm she had a deep wound, from which blood was dripping. On her head was another wound, the crimson blood sliding down her face. She was shivering uncontrollably even though it was noon and sweltering hot. Ryu knew enough to know that the girl would die if left out much longer. She most likely had a high fever, and must have lost a lot of blood from the wounds on her arm and head. She might also have a concussion from the wound on her head. She needed attention immediately.
Ryu slowly approached the girl, keeping his eyes on the cub.
"It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt your friend. She needs attention immediately, and my gramps can give her that."
The tiger seemed to relax, and yawned, giving Ryu a great view of her sharp and dangerous, if not large, teeth.
Ryu bent down and picked up the girl gently. His hand on her back felt that a few of the bones were broken, and fractured. Careful not to jolt the girl, he ran home, jumping from branch to branch. Below him he could see the tiger following him. In front of his house, he jumped down and went in through the front door. The tiger followed, and Ryu eyed her nervously. She seemed to know that he wasn't going to harm the girl, but what if she decided to sharpen her claws?
He called his Gramps loudly.
"Gramps! Gramps! Get your medicine bag, I've got an injured girl here that needs immediate attention."
A small man shuffled out of a small room. He took one look at the girl and pointed towards the guest bedroom.
"Take her in there."
Ryu gently laid her on the bed and stepped back, studying her carefully. Her clothes were torn and she didn't seem to have anything on her that would help them find her family. She seemed to be about nine or ten years old, five or six years younger than him. Gramps walked quickly into the room, carrying a large bag and gesturing for Ryu to get out.
Then, he noticed the tiger curled up next to the bed and let out a small exclamation.
"What's that thing doing there?"
"She was guarding the girl. I assumed that she is the girls pet." Ryu answered from the doorway.
The old man waved him away, closing the door behind him, saying as he did so, "Get the water."
Ryu gritted his teeth and banged his head against the wall. Hrmm! Gramps!
Later, the old man came out of the room and washed his hands in the bucket.
"She is awakening. Go feed her and the animal." the old man ordered.
"Wha-but!" Ryu protested loudly. "Why me?"
"Oh, Ryu," the old man said, putting on a soulful look. "While your poor old Grandfather was trying his best to save a young girl's life, you were off throwing knifes at a tree. Can't you at least do this one small thing for me, this miniscule-"
"Oh, alright." Ryu said, cutting him off and getting a plate of fruit and chicken. He went into the room. The girl was indeed awake, sitting up in bed. Her old clothes had been discarded, and she was wearing some of Ryu's clothes. I wonder when Gramps took that, he wondered.
The shirt was short sleeved, and he could see that her whole left arm was bandaged, stopping just above her wrist. She had bandages also wrapped around her forehead.
The girl started when he entered, and stared at him with large onyx eyes.
"Hello." Ryu said softly. "My name is Ryu. I found you near the river, unconscious. How are you? What is your name?"
The girl looked puzzled and didn't say anything.
"Are you mute? Can you understand me?"
"No, I am 'not' mute," the girl answered suddenly and crossly. Then, her voice softening, she said, " I feel fine. But, I don't know who I am. I can't remember."
Ryu stared at the girl, his mouth open. Arhn! She didn't know who she was, she was crippled for at least a week, and Ryu had to take care of her!
The girl looked at Ryu and said dryly, "If you don't close your mouth, a fly is going to fly in. And what is a tiger cub doing in the room? Is she your pet?"
Ryu shook his head, and noticed that the girls canines were unusually sharp and long. He looked at the tiger and said, "It was guarding you, and it followed me here. I think its yours." He gave the plate to the girl and lay the chicken down in front of the tiger.
The tiger looked up and mrrowed softly. The girl's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't say anything.
Ryu looked towards the doorway, and saw his Gramps there.
"Girl, meet Gramps. Gramps, meet girl."
The girl glared at him and said,, "I know I don't remember my name, but I'm not going to be called "girl"."
Gramps smiled at the girl and said, "What about Yumi?"
The girl thought for a moment, and then said, "Okay. Now leave the room."
Gramps and Ryu left, closing the door behind them. There was silence, broken only by the sounds of crunching, chewing, and swallowing, coming from both the girl and the tiger as they ate.
After Yumi was done eating, she put the plate aside and stared at the tiger.
"Who are you, why were you guarding me, and why did I understand you before? I distinctly heard you say 'I'm not an it, I'm a girl and my name is Luna.'"
The tiger looked up at the girl for a moment, contemplating, than said, " So the jutsu makes her able to talk with us, hmm."
"What jutsu? And I'm right in front of you, no need to talk like I'm not."
Luna jumped up onto the bed and settled into a comfortable position. She then said, "Listen to my story and you will understand."
"I was with my mother and brothers, and we were heading towards the gathering place, and I got lost. I had been chasing a hare, and I had been led far away from my mother. It was getting dark, and I heard sounds coming nearby. I followed the sounds to a cliff overlooking a river. Suddenly, a man threw a Kunai knife at me, and you jumped out and grabbed me before the knife could hit me. You and the man talked for a moment, and he kept on saying Kokoro. I assume that that is your name. Then, the man threw another Kunai knife, and this time it got you on the arm. You fell off the cliff, me in your arms, and landed in the water. Then your head hit a rock and you became unconscious."
"After you became unconscious, your arms went limp, but they were still holding me tight. Because of that, my head stayed above the water. Suddenly, the water became faster and more rough. Your body hit a log and I heard a loud crack, and series of smaller ones. Thinking fast, I grabbed the log with my teeth and paws, holding on for dear life. The river tossed us about and I was afraid that we might die. Then, after what seemed like ages, the river began to slow down and become more calm. The log latched onto a rock near shore, and I saw my mother and the Wise One. The Wise One is a very old tiger, and he is very wise, as his name suggests. They both looked surprised, and pulled us out of the river. Mother had just been talking to the Wise One about my disappearance, and asked of my whereabouts. I than told her the story thus far. The Wise One looked very thoughtful, and then he roared loudly. My uncle and my aunt came out from the bushes after a while, and the Wise One told them to examine you. The two both shook their heads and said that you would die. The Wise One suggested doing 'that' jutsu, and everyone gathered round and did it."
"What is 'that' jutsu?" asked Kokoro, interrupting.
Luna glared at Kokoro before continuing huffily. "'That' jutsu is a very rare jutsu. It is hardly used, and can only be done by our clan of tigers. It can only been used when the person the jutsu is being performed upon is near death. It has only been don twice before, and both times similar things happened. In a way, the human the jutsu is performed upon turns half-tiger."
Kokoro gasped but said nothing.
"The jutsu is performed by more than one tiger. The tigers gather around the human and pour some of their life energy into the human. The life energy transforms the human. For example, if you had a kekkei genkai, like the Hyuuga clan which has the byaku gan. The byaku gan allows the user to see the chakra points in ones body and target them. If 'that' jutsu was performed upon a byaku gan user, then that person's byaku gan would be, in a way, gone. The byaku gan user wouldn't be able to use the byaku gan, instead, the byaku gan would be replaced by a different, tiger like jutsu and ability. That ability allows the user to begin to resemble a tiger, and have the abilities of a tiger. Only, the user must learn how to harness his or her power, or during a battle the user might be overwhelmed by its tiger self and go berserk. Are you following me so far?"
Kokoro nodded and said, "So, in short, I am half-tiger and if I had any kekkei genkai it would be replaced by a strange tiger jutsu, which, if overwhelms the my body, will cause me to go berserk? Also, my real name is Kokoro."
Luna indicated her approval with a tilt of her head. "Yes. But there is more. To complete the jutsu, one tiger must share his or her blood with the person the jutsu is being performed upon. Thereafter, that tiger will be the person's companion for the rest of his or her life. The tiger and the person may be trained by another older and wiser tiger to harness their abilities. Since, as you have probably guessed by now, you and I have each other's blood in our body, we have a special bond, and we will be trained by the Wise One when you are fit."
Kokoro stared at the tiger, her brain not responding properly.
"Hmm, you are taking this better than I expected. Oh, and Ryu, you can come out now. Kokoro, that boy has been standing outside that door this whole time, listening to every word you say, since obviously, he can't understand a word I'm saying." Luna then proceeded to yawn, stretch, and curl up into a ball.
"You might be wondering why I'm so serious, even though I'm just a cub. Well, I'm more mature than most cubs my age. Good night."
Kokoro stared blankly at the slumbering feline for a moment, before calling out, "Ryu!"
The boy opened the door and stood in the doorway, his tall frame blocking the light from outside.
"So you know I'm here, huh. I heard what you said, but I didn't understand a thing of what the cat said. All I could here from her were mrrowls. Care to clear things up for me? I already know part of it."
He sat down on the edge of the bed, examining Kokoro intently. Kokoro examined him just as intently, then decided to trust him. After telling him everything she knew, she sat back, sighing.
Ryu sighed as well. "So all we learned from this is your name, that you are half tiger. Hunh. I guess you have to stay here for now. None of this is of any use, and we won't be able to find your family with just a name. oh well. Guess you're stuck with us, and we are stuck with you. Get some sleep, miss Kokoro."
He got up, patting Kokoro on the head fondly. He was already getting attached to her. Oh well. She was going to stay with them here on after, after all.
Kokoro smiled at the gesture, a sudden image of a dark eyed, black haired boy rising unbidden to her mind. She shook her head, wondering whether he had something to do with her past, and curled up into a ball, exhaustion taking her away to the land of dreams..
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