Matatabi was the two tailed beast. He was a beast that was very much… a pretty powerful creature. He understood this of course and as a result treated those around him with much more respect since he understood just how fragile they were.
It would not matter if he treated them nicely, they were going to die in a few decades and he would lose nothing as a result. That was what he was really, a good guy. He was a nice guy, a very nice guy.
Matatabi felt that out of the Tailed Beasts he was the most… mature perhaps.
The one that was understanding his situation, the one that knew that the world was very fragile and he was a very powerful and dominant new form that had been introduced to it. So much so that he knew that when it came down to it, he would be able to destroy and burn and maim so much more than the mortals ever could. None except his father had been able to match up and he felt that when it came down to it… none ever would.
And so he wandered the land, trying not to damage anything, trying not to impact the world in any way. He wanted things to be… nice after all. That was what he was.
The mediator between the others. The more timid Isobu, the jokesters, the angry Kurama, the pacifists and the sulleness of Shukaku.
He was the voice of reason and he felt that sometimes he wanted to be able to… not have to deal with that.
He wasn't exactly meant for this role, the fact that he was coated in flames tended to void any possible friendly contact that he came across. It was unfortunate really, he rather liked to talk to the mortals, his own throat being mammalian in nature, allowing for him to take care of things quite easily in the language department.
Even if it meant that every time he woke up he would need to learn a new language because the humans couldn't make up their minds.
He was a vagrant as they called it, the eternal wanderer that had decided to explore the world, doing it alone since it was quite obvious that if he had tried to do it otherwise, he would have killed whoever it was that came with him. What with him being on literal fire all the time. It was unfortunate, but it was what he had been born as.
If he had a choice then perhaps he would have chosen to be something else, something… less on fire… but he didn't and so he dealt with it.
He couldn't stay in one place for too long, the wild-life being destroyed, the flora being destroyed, the everything being burnt to the ground. He was a walking catastrophe he understood that, even if he didn't like it as much.
Being able to stay in the same place for any length of time was something that he had desired for a great deal of time now and to have it so close but so far was something that ate at him.
He had been captured and then sealed within a human. It had been inside of here that he understood that things weren't as bad as he thought they could be. Inside here he could sit and listen to the outside world without worrying about the fact that he could possibly be destroying all of it if he let his flames run unchecked for any period of time.
It was something that was… nice.
Being in the same place, hearing the same voices, hearing the same sounds, a routine, something he never had before.
It wasn't so bad being in here he had thought, in fact, it had been pretty nice. He would have liked for it to continue really, there was no reason why it couldn't, only for that dream to be shattered quite abruptly. The sound of the angry shouts, of the sheer hatred in them, the slight drawing of his chakra and then suddenly… he was free.
There had been a weakening of the seal he knew, it had been enough that while not even trying he had broken free and was out, his body bounding away from the scene that shocked him. The area that he had assumed to be peaceful was utterly destroyed, two different sides wearing two different kinds of clothing standing over each other, fighting, or rather they had stopped now.
His sudden appearance had them all looking on with shock and Matatabi felt a little guilty about that. He hadn't meant to interrupt them, but it wasn't his fault that they were fighting right in the middle of all of this.
Feeling some of his chakra still leaving his container, Matatabi looked down and… oh. She was dead. That… that was not something that he thought would be the case.
He knelt down, gave her one lick and bounded away, a thanks for the brief period of contentment that she had given him, and an escape so that he wouldn't burn her body. He wanted for her to be at least a little intact, something to be buried. He knew the humans tended to do things like that, they certainly enjoyed doing rituals for those that died, for those that were about to die, those that might be dying and so forth.
Burning her body would disrupt that and he wanted for her to at least be able to move to the next life intact. He knew they placed great importance on that idea.
As for the fight, he had bowed his head at them and simply said "please continue, I will be leaving now," and left. It wasn't as if he didn't understand that humans enjoyed fighting and killing each other.
It was just something that they did.
He shook his head at that thought, he had been bound by the humans and now he was free.
Free to once again roam the world alone.
He sighed and started trotting.
Matatabi was facing a strange situation.
One that he had never faced before in his long years as a Tailed Beast.
Or perhaps he had… he had just forgotten given how long it had been.
Either way, he was here now and he was… experiencing something new.
Novelty, it felt great.
Looking down at the human who was asking why he was trespassing, Matatabi could only feel amusement.
A human that was asking a Tailed Beast why it was doing anything? That was something that took courage, he decided to answer the human, perhaps he would have someone to talk to.
"A place that is interesting." He said.
Which was true.
He was indeed looking for something that was going to be interesting, something that would allow for him to perhaps forget that he was alone for a little while, for him to indulge his senses and forget that there was an outside world.
Something rare for him… peace with himself.
The human had said something about summoning the Mitsugo and for Matatabi to wait for a bit, he would be back soon.
Or not.
Matatabi watched the human amble away as if the mortal had all the time in the world, not even caring that there was a Tailed Beast staring right at him.
He had laughed at that, perhaps this was an interesting place after all.
Deciding to wait, Matatabi curled himself up and settled down, it wasn't as if the weather would actually do anything to him anyway. The fire that burned on him kept the wind away, the water, the hail, the snow, everything and anything evaporating or dissipating before it reached him.
He wondered what it would feel like to have snow touch the skin, perhaps it would explain why the humans loved it so much, something to explain their little peculiarities. Something that he would never be able to experience now that he thought about it.
...
He had dozed lightly.
Very lightly in fact.
Because the next thing he knew, he was being woken up by… Isobu?
He could recognize that chakra signature anywhere… that and Isobu… kind of big and ugly.
Or maybe he was beautiful in his own way if he was trying to be nice. Which he should since Isobu was his brother and he should always try and be nice to his Brother… right?
That was how things worked?
He wasn't too sure actually, but hey, why not.
Sure he had seen how humans were always kind of strange and killing their own brothers and the like, but like… if he killed his own brother, he would just pop up again so that was a no go. So they might as well be nice to each other, right?
He wasn't too sure on the intricacies of human interaction, but that certainly seemed like it was the way to go.
Right.
Still… what was he doing here?
"Isobu. What's going on?" He asked.
"Brother, please. I am Mr Isobu now. I have a job."
What.
"A job?" He asked, looking mighty confused.
"Yes, I work and they pay me in food and let me rent a house on their lands." He said… looking as smug as a turtle without a proper face could look.
"You work and you get to eat food… why? Cannot you just steal it?" Matatabi asked. He didn't condone stealing… but he was a Tailed Beast, what was the point of having food at all? It made so very little sense and he was having a hard time trying to understand it all.
Just what was going on here?
"Brother let me tell you a secret. The food we used to eat? Not proper food. Father couldn't actually cook and because of that, we have been lied to for these thousand years. Food is not meant to be black, brother. Trust me, once you try some of the proper food, you will understand why I am doing this." Isobu said in all seriousness.
Matatabi couldn't shake the feeling that maybe something was wrong and for the time being decided to trust his brother. It wasn't like there was anything that could be done to them regardless.
"Here. The humans have brought out some food for you to try. Just have a bite and tell me what you think." Isobu said, motioning for the humans to bring out… a cow. Only it looked as if it were brown, like the way the humans cooked their food so they wouldn't die of disease. Only this looked… much more… plump than their cows. This one looked as if it had simply had the head cut off, the feet, and everything else was still possibly delicious.
Possibly.
He had heard humans use the word and he wasn't too sure what it meant, father's cooking was certainly never delicious.
He shook his head and then gobbled up the entire cow with a single chomp.
Chewing it, he paused as he felt the flavours drift into his mouth, over his tongue, infusing every cell of his being.
Wow.
That.
That was something else.
This… this is what Isobu was working for the humans over? He could see the possibility but… that was just one meal.
"That was the simplest of their meals, they have so much more brother. If you sign up to work for them as well, we could split the cost of our meals and try even more things!"
Matatabi thought for a second and agreed. The possibilities for his tastebuds were endless!
And with Isobu around he could mitigate the effects of his fire… that was nice.
Matatabi came back from a hard day at work, chasing around the massive beasts that they called Super Cows that were half his size… so cows the sizes of human buildings. They were his favourite food and he had one every week.
As he came back, he turned and settled into the bath that was his bed, it was sooooo comfortable. The way the water lapped at his fur, the way they just kept pumping in more water.
Mmmm.
They were using the water as a heating system throughout the City of Rice so that was nice… that and for Saunas…
As in people were paying to bathe themselves in his bathwater.
Something about him being a divine beast and that bathing in his water would infuse them with some of that divinity or something. He saw them advertising it, the Mitsugo always trying to make more money.
Matatabi thought humans were weird… but their food was delicious.