Author's Note: This was my first attempt at a chapter that didn't primarily take from canon. I'm not particularly happy with it, to be honest
Kiba's normal day consisted of getting up early to take care of all of the Hound of Lugh's pups, maybe after some passive-aggressive sniping from his mother. She had never really adjusted to being a single mother, or to having her mortal life uprooted to join the Clans, and took out her anger on its perceived source, much to his frequent chagrin. However, then he got to train among the Tuatha da Danaan, and that was much better. They were tough, and demanding, but they were fair. Unlike his mother, who always seemed to be lashing out in bitterness, they were tough because they wanted him to be better. He never felt their disdain, even when he got the worst bed or lost the competition to get the best pick of the meat at family meals.
Still, the small wooden hut they set him and his mother up with was cramped in all the wrong places, which is why it shocked him to wake up in a comfortable bed surrounded by marble walls inlaid with images of lightning bolts and what looked like ancient warriors from the World-That-Was in the…Greek?…style. They definitely weren't Irish.
The bedroom he woke up in was so much more opulent than the one he had went to sleep in the night before that he didn't notice the difference in himself. Notably, his reduced height, his altered hair, his lack of even the pathetic fuzz he barely managed to grow, and, even more notable once he actually started to see this happening, the weight on (no, coming from) his chest and the absence of something between his legs.
"Okay, I have switched bodies with a girl. Is this some kind of weird dream?" Speaking out loud, his voice sounded all wrong; it was like his inflections but with a mousy, weird pitch…like Hinata's.
Jumping out of bed and finding a mirror, he found that he had in fact taken his Bandmate's physical form. And that she wasn't wearing much in terms of nightwear. After an embarrassingly brutal conflict between the fact he respected her privacy and the fact that he was a curious teenage boy, Kiba eventually managed to tear his eye's away and try to get dressed.
After a lengthy time struggling with his embarrassment over seeing her underwear and figuring out that he had no idea how to put on a bra, he eventually remembered that she wore that overcoat that covered up everything anyways and just went without.
Eventually, he had the peace of mind to start testing things out. "Enech Purview: Brehon's Eye." Not that there was anything to see anyway, but he felt no reaction from his (her?) Ichor. It was her body, and she had no connection to the Irish Gods' unique purview. Instead, he tried hers. "Awareness Arete." His (her?) Ichor reacted, and he felt all of his senses, not improved but more focused, like he was better attuned to the details…then he lost it. He may have had her powers, but he had no training in using them.
A knock on Hinata's door distracted him from his thoughts. "Big sister, a message from your Guide." Maybe Kurenai knew what was going on…or was responsible for this. All I will tell you is that you should get to know each other very well. He thought of his Guide using many words that he couldn't personally imagine Hinata using as he opened the door and took the letter from…Hani, was it?
The girl smiled up at him, then seemed disappointed when he merely turned away to read the message. 'Your mission is to grab an item from the following location. That part should be simple enough. The real test is whether you can go about it without anyone finding out about your current condition…I think it should be obvious what I'm talking about.' His mind repeated those impolite words.
--
Hinata didn't like a lot of things about her house. It was too large, too distant, too cold. It constantly reminded her of her own inadequacies. Plus, her father lived there, staring at her with those disapproving eyes, and all of the Roman children with their brands, and her cousin Neji with his brutal put-downs, never actually hurting her, no, a mere Scion of a Roman God would never dare against a Greek, but he knew how to hurt her in other ways, and saw every opportunity.
In spite of the luxury it afforded, which on some level she knew many in the world would kill for (and then hated herself more being so selfish), it was a bitter place.
Thus, waking up in the still large but wooden room lined with green paintings of Celtic Knots was first dismissed as a wishful dream. Then she started noticing all the odd physical sensations, the itching, the numb arm from having slept on her side, that really weird feeling from the thing between her legs…that last one prompted her to wake up, look down upon herself, and nearly die from embarrassment from what she saw.
After fighting off a fainting spell, and some temptations that she would never admit to existing, she eventually found where her clothing apparently was. There was no mirror in this room, so she had to wait until she found his clothes that she realized this was Shino's body. Just as she was about to freak out anew, probably undergoing the fainting spell she barely avoided previously, a knock came on her (his?) door.
"Shino, your Guide sent you a message." Suppressing a panic attack, she opened the door and gingerly took the letter from her Bandmate's father. She went through several exercises to calm herself when she learned of its contents.
--
In spite of being one of the more powerful Clans, the Tuatha da Danaan didn't really enforce opulence on its membership in the way some others did. Oh, they didn't deliberately embrace discomfort, and were hardly about to reject the vast wealth they could otherwise amass, but keeping a level of modesty in their holdings was standard.
Thus, Shino wasn't that surprised when he woke up in a bed that wasn't particularly comfortable. It took him a second of rubbing off the morning grogginess to notice that the wooden walls surrounding him were way too small and cramped for his normal room, and smelled like dog hair.
Have I been kidnapped? Was his first thought, which prompted him to immediately leap to his feet and shock himself by clumsily stumbling forward when he proved to be stronger than expected. While he was normally no slouch, he hadn't been the best at physical arts among his peers, and his current body was definitely among those in the upper echelons of mortal strength, or perhaps even within the domain of a Strength Knack.
He also, once he got over the initial shock of that fact, noticed that he was shorter than he had been. That prompted him to examine himself, then his surroundings, and come to the conclusion that he was currently in Kiba's room, and quite possibly in said boy's body. "Hey, Kiba! Open up. Your Guide sent you a letter." Oh, this could get annoying, he thought once he realized what had happened.
--
Apparently, Hinata ate breakfast with the Clan Head, the husband of her mother and thus more-or-less her father, as well as her half-sister, every morning. He knew this because a servant had been sent to ask why he was late.
Going with the excuse that he had overslept, which seemed to surprise the servant because apparently Hinata wasn't known to do that, he now realized that he would only draw suspicion, and thus fail the conditions of the test, if he asked for directions. Hinata knew where they ate breakfast. There was no reason for her to ask.
"I will be right there," a statement which seemed to satisfy the servant in question. He even put in the effort to make sure his inflection matched Hinata's, which wasn't actually that difficult since he was working with her vocal cords and had always been good with hearing.
Now, he just had to eat breakfast without her family noticing anything weird. That…shouldn't actually be too difficult. Eating with a Clan was something he'd done before, and Hinata was normally quiet and reserved enough that he doubted it would be odd for her to remain silent. Yes, he was absolutely certain that he could make it through breakfast…if he could find wherever in the Middle World it was supposed to take place.
It wasn't that the Dodekatheon compound was labyrinthine or confusing, it was that it was so huge and uniform. Everything was this marble hallway with repeated columns and they all looked the same. He could easily see himself walking in circles. It wouldn't surprise him to learn that he already had. Were Fionnadh Dearg with him, he could have looked for the smell of food, but he doubted they could even communicate in Hinata's body…he tried to use Awareness Arete again.
Supposedly, it didn't actually enhance the senses, just the mind's ability to pick out which details were important and notice things that would otherwise be missed, and he had no training with it anyways, but Hinata's own muscle memory slightly aided him as he realized that, of the servants traveling around him, a few had stains from prepared food on their clothing, so small that it would be easy to ignore. He decided to follow them.
--
Hinata knew from their conversations over the week that Shino's first activity every morning was to feed his crows. Technically, they were every child of Morrigan's, at least the ones who used the Animal Purview, crows, or even more technically were the Morrigan's herself entrusted to her children (Hinata had noticed that 'Morrigan' and 'The Morrigan' were used interchangeably, and that that seemed to occur with a number of Irish Gods; she didn't know if Shino asking about it would be weird, so she resolved to ask him later once this was all over with).
She also knew that the next part was Brehonna training; it was a tradition to have several Clan members dedicated to enforcing a series of codes and principles, which was normal for the Clans. What wasn't normal was that the Tuatha da Danaan, based on some tradition from the World-That-Was, maintained that their internal codes and laws should never be written down (supposedly there was difference between the sanctity of the spoken word and the written word), so those who enforced the laws had to memorize the entire legal code.
As a potential future Clan Head, Shino was also expected dedicate at least a large portion to memory so that he could keep the Clan under control. Not knowing any of the legal code, it occurred to her that the best she could hope for while keeping to the parameters of Kurenai's test was to embarrass him and show how far behind in memorization he was; much farther than he presumably actually was.
--
Fionnadh Dearg immediately realized that there was something wrong with his master, which did not endear Shino to the rest of the Kennel Masters. Not having Kiba's ability to speak with the dog directly, he tried to console the pup with requests to just go along with him for now, which, whether the dog understood it or not, only made Fionnadh Dearg more suspicious. It then occurred to him that Kiba had various ways of keeping his dog happy, several of which Shino had seen before. So, he reached down and rubbed the creature's tummy in exactly the same way Kiba always did.
At first, the pup looked like it was about to bite, but then it accepted his hand and whined in appreciation. Kiba's mother walked up as he was doing this.
"Wow, it almost looked like it might be mad at you. The stupid mutt might've actually gained a sense of character."
Shino understood the test to be about fooling people into thinking he actually was Kiba, and from what he'd observed from their interactions that Kiba was not one to let a slight go by, and definitely not one to let a slight against his dog go unchallenged. "Why don't you shut up! Pick a fight with me, and I'll make you regret it. Pick a fight with Fionnadh Dearg, and I'll really make you sorry!"
She looked utterly shocked. Remember, Shino, you're a hothead. Be hotheaded. "What would you know, anyway? Have a child, have free ride in with the Clans, get a life most of the mortals in the Village would crave, and you do what with it? Complain? Give out insults?"
Fionnadh Dearg was barking excitedly, showing that uncanny ability to understand what was going on in ways a dog shouldn't. Not that Shino should be surprised, as his crows were often similar.
"Kiba, you've never spoken to me this way before." He immediately realized his mistake. Sure, Kiba might not have let anyone else get away with a comment like that, but he was always weird about his mom.
"I…I…" rather than suspect anything awry, she just stared at him, seeming to think about things that didn't make her happy.
--
Hinata's father (it was the easiest way to think of him) glared at Kiba as he entered for breakfast, but said nothing. Bowing in apology, he sat down to eat…whatever it was in front of him. Dammit, the stereotype about rich people having different types of silverware was true.
The Tuatha da Danaan weren't too picky even when he ate with the leaders, and the mortal restaurants all used chopsticks, apparently a relic from whichever country in the World-That-Was most of their ancestors had come from. While he vaguely recalled it being the one the Amatsukami were worshipped in, thus why their Clan was so prominent before the massacre, he also knew that history lesson wouldn't help him figure whether to start with the spoon on top or the spoon on the side.
He was so nervous that he didn't even notice that Hinata's sister had already given him the answer. So when he grabbed the wrong one, and everyone glared at him oddly, he already found himself hopelessly lost. Her father sighed.
"Things must have been stressful for you lately. I don't know about whatever test that Kurenai woman cooked up, but if it's anything like mine it can't be easy, and I can see how you might pick up mannerisms from those Tuatha da Danaan you now associate with…".
"Whats wrong with the Tuatha da Danaan?," Kiba shouted without thinking, before internally wincing. That did not sound like Hinata.
"As people, nothing. They are a largely honorable group and loyal to the Village. However, as a potential heir to the Clan, you have responsibilities when it comes to outside contamination, and the Elders, mortal and Scion alike, will hold you to those standards. Stay loyal and good to them, of course, they are your Bandmates and you'll have to count on one another in order to stay alive, and let them influence you if it's to become stronger or more courageous. Just…don't let them turn you into something a Dodekatheon isn't."
The fact that Kiba didn't like this guy was really not helping him to focus and figure out the fork situation. Luckily, they only seemed to care a small amount more than he did, as in spite of the raised eyebrows at his obvious continual mistakes, that was all he got for the rest of breakfast. It was actually quite tasty, once he got over the presentation.
At least, that would have been the worst part of the breakfast had he not leaned his elbows on the table, accidentally caught the edge of a bowl, and sent some spicy goo he couldn't identify all over…Hanabi! That was her name!
--
Shino's crows immediately knew something was wrong. They had always looked so friendly to Hinata when he interacted with them, so cute and cuddly in spite of their pitch black plumage and creepy cawing. Now, she could see their beaks and talons up close and in full detail, and she was absolutely terrified. The cawing that she had gotten used to after a week hanging out with Shino suddenly became ominous again.
Her hands shook. Her knees knocked. Holding out the bag of feed to the nearest crow, it screeched at her, causing her to panic and fall down on her backside. So, that's what that feels like. Outside of fainting spells, she actually hadn't fallen in quite a while, as her control of the Sky Purview meant the wind would save her. She almost felt naked hitting the ground like this.
"What's wrong, Shino?" Someone from his Clan, she didn't know who, asked. "The crows seem to have turned on you." The unknown man's voice became serious. "Have you violated your Geas?"
While she did know the basics of Geasa, the vows the children of Irish Gods could take to increase their strength and powers in exchange for the fact that, if the vow were broken, they'd be left off in a worse state than before the taking, she also knew that such children were highly secretive about it. If their enemies knew them, they could be exploited. Thus, Shino had never told her about his, though he said they might trust each other enough one day, while Kiba tried to be evasive while also pretty much telling her that his was to never harm a dog.
Had Shino violated his Geas? Almost certainly not. How could she say that in a way that would assuage this man's suspicions, however?
"I don't recall having done so," she answered, trying to keep Shino's even tone in her voice as she did so. The man still looked concerned.
"That's the Brehonna's concern, not mine, but I would look into it if I were you. Restoring Enech when it's been lost is important."
That seemed to be all as he moved on. Huh. Going for the obvious answer was the right solution. She really did overthink that.
--
Fionnadh Dearg still didn't treat him the way he would've treated Kiba, but he did seem to approve of Shino. That was good. Others, who had seen him speak with his mother, seemed to approve of him as well.
That…might be bad for Kiba in the long run. Shino had evidently brought about a change in the two's relationship, and while guessing from their looks those that knew the pair best thought it to be a change for the better, it was still an alteration to his friend's life that he had no right to make.
It would have to be discussed later. For now, he had done enough caring for the dogs to go out and wait for the others. He knew that whoever was in his body had Brehonna training, which meant that they, at least, wouldn't be there for a bit, and who knows what family obligations Hinata had in the morning…whoever was in his body had Brehonna training. Shino had worked hard to impress his instructors and get to where he was in their eyes. Kiba couldn't be trusted to remember the few laws he'd heard, and Hinata never knew them in the first place. He had to fix this.
--
After breakfast, the Dodekatheon family had training sessions. As a Hero, Hinata was allowed to claim she had duties to attend to and avoid it for the day, and that was technically true today, but Kiba didn't want to behave oddly. Besides, this sounded like it could be fun.
"What would I normally do?" He asked, hoping it came off as more of 'I choose the regular' instead of a sincere question.
"Very well, take a blunted Xiphos and face Hanabi."
He was very glad that there weren't a multitude of weapons to choose from, as he had never heard the term 'Xiphos' in his life. It seemed to be a regular-enough sword, so he grabbed it and steadied it.
"Normal rules. Fight until knock-down, but since Hinata can't really be knocked down, go for five good strikes against the torso. Begin."
"Melee Arete," Hanabi shouted before coming at him with far more skill and ferocity than such a small girl should be capable of.
"Awareness Arete," he responded, using the only of Hinata's abilities he had managed to get a hang on. Now that he could see the slightest telegraphs, he was able to call on his own training to catch her sword with his own, then hold it there until Fionnadh Dearg could…until he could use his Strength Knacks to….dammit, he was too used to his own fighting style.
Hanabi realized something was wrong and seized the initiative, broke away from his hold, and then knocked him to the ground.
"Hanabi wins…through knockout." Her father glared at her. "Hinata, your sister isn't going to benefit if you choose to lose."
Hinata, of course, was skilled with the Sky Purview. Skilled enough that she could summon a strong enough wind to push her back up whenever knocked back, something he had actually seen when she tripped in town. Using her body, he could technically do that, but he had no experience with the Sky Purview. Hanabi looked miffed. He guess he could understand, since from her point-of-view it looked like he wasn't even trying, but it was that damn Kurenai…he made up even ruder words to describe her.
Okay, Awareness Arete had muscle memory, or at least the Ichor equivalent, behind it, so maybe Sky does too?
Trying to imitate what he had seen Hinata do, he felt the wind moving beneath him and pushing him up, to promptly drop him back down onto the ground. This wasn't working.
"I'm sorry, Kurenai has had us working under the Magic Purview to see what we could do when our abilities were messed with, and I forgot to ask her to fix it. In fact, I should do that right now."
Hinata's father looked thoughtful, and, was that concern? It was an odd look on his face. "If it's Magic, then I can deal with it. Just let me look at your Fate Strand."
Kiba had no desire to see what the man would see if he looked at the Fate coming from his daughter's body right now, as he was certain he would be exposed and thus fail the test at best and be imprisoned as an infiltrator at worst.
"No, I've wasted enough of your time today. I'll go see Kurenai about it." He then ran from the compound before they could respond. Then promptly ran into three dead ends before someone with 'Romane' branded onto their forehead (that was weird, he'd have to ask Hinata about it once this was all done) pointed him to the exit.
--
Hiashi, in spite of his daughter's request, did in fact look at her Fated connections, only to find the Fate of a…boy?
--
Hinata briefly wondered about the fact that she technically had the perfect opportunity to steal the secrets of the Riastradth Boon. It was a War Purview ability, so any Pantheon could use it, but the Tuatha da Danaan still held it as a Clan secret. Even if they were technically allies in the Village, the Dodekatheon would still love to get their hands on it. Her father might actually approve of her…no, it was stupid for too many reasons, not the least of which that would it be an awful betrayal of her Bandmates.
Instead, she went to the Brehonna as expected of Shino, and then knelt in terror when they asked her to recite the Laws. "Um…be dutiful, be honorable, be pious…."
They looked at her in confusion. "Yes, that's the overall gist of them, but you've been trained to know the specifics. Tell us, what crime should be punished with banishment from the Clan Fields, otherwise workable by all." Not having the slightest clue, she merely stared at the sky in a futile request for help when Kiba of all people came running up.
"Hey, Shino, I hope you're not lying to them! You want to eat the harvest of the Clan Fields, don't you?"
"Lying to a Brehonna," she hopefully pleaded.
"You should know the proper wording of the Law, but we'll let that slide for now."
"Let it slide? He guessed from the interloper's words."
"I know this boy, and he has been diligent. Now, tell me what crimes we, even if left to the Clan to resolve, cannot judge, but only the Clan Head?"
"Boy, Fionnadh Dearg, this place is boring. Let's go see if the Clan Head has any murder trials happening."
"Murder?" Hinata noted innocently.
"Get that kid out of here until the instruction is complete," one Brehon complained. "And consider him for future training," another noted. Without Shino's help, the fact that she was utterly hopeless became apparent very quickly.
--
Once they were free to find the object in question, none of them had any difficulty with it. It was almost insultingly easy, so once they found Kurenai they were more than ready to give her a piece of their minds.
"What have you learned about each other?" She asked instead of responding to their anger.
"Shino has such strict standards to live under," Hinata noted, "but he doesn't buckle under them. He remains calm, collected, and in control…unlike me. Maybe…I could learn something from that."
"Kiba gets very little respect. Everyone looks down on him, assumes the worst of him intellectually. It…doesn't seem deserved, and explains quite a bit," Shino jumped in.
"Hinata's life is so uncomfortable. There's all these arbitrary rules, all these odd demands, and even though everything is surrounded by luxury it still feels so cold and uncomfortable."
They looked to one another, seeming to find a new understanding about each of their situations.
Kurenai smiled. "You are a Band, and you have to know one another. That doesn't just mean your fighting styles. In order to work together, you must know one another's life, their hopes, their dreams, their flaws, their scars. It seems that you came to some comprehension, as I had hoped, and thus, you pass."
They were excited as she undid the spell and they returned to their own bodies, an elation that was only interrupted by Hinata asking Kiba why she wasn't wearing any underwear.
--
Everything had worked out alright in the end, until the next day when Shino learned he was to intensify his Brehonna training and be tested for a broken Geas, Kiba learned he had been recommended for Brehonna training, and Hinata had an awkward talk with the Clan Elders about her options for changing gender within the Village.
--
Techniques Used or Referenced
Enech Purview: Brehon's Eye-allows one to see the virtues others claim to hold and how they hold to them. Does not give specific information.
Arete-allows one to do something that a mortal could do to a greater degree of skill than a mortal can achieve. One must already be above-average in the skill to apply its Arete levels. Awareness Arete-enhances one's ability to notice and discern what they're senses are telling them, figuring out what's important to note and what's to be dismissed. It does not physically improve one's senses, though it may seem like it. Melee Arete-enhances one's skill with close-quarters weapons.
Sky Purview: Wind's Grace-summons a wind directly behind the user, allowing them to increase their forward momentum or, with skill, the forward movement of a specific body part during an attack. Those who use it frequently find themselves automatically using it whenever they fall backwards to upright themselves.