Sniffing high up in the air with the use of his tiny black nose, Shiro then began trotting off further and further, following the trail his nose was guiding him to. Not far following behind were the two brothers themselves. And from the looks of it, wherever they were going, the expert tracker of a pup led them into a densely forested area.
That's until the little shiba suddenly stopped in his tracks and began dangerously growling to a certain area before him.
"What is it, litte buddy?"
As some sort of odd response to the young brunette's question, both he and his older brother soon after heard what sounded to be a couple voices belonging to men.
"Ashura!" The older male quietly exclaimed as he whipped his head towards the young boy, his eyes sending him a silent message.
In response, the boy immediately understood his elder's message by giving him a slight nod and hum.
"Shhh! Quiet down, boy!" He whispered as he quickly knelt down in one knee to swipe the dog and held him in his arms.
Thankfully also, little Shiro obeyed his master's command and stopped growling. Soon after, with light footsteps against the grassy floor, both Indra and Ashura began to silently followed to where they thought the voices were coming from. The further they tiptoed, the louder and more clear the voices became, allowing the brothers to finally make out what they were saying.
"Lads, let us rejoice!"
"Not only did we found the source, but we found the princess herself!"
Hearing this made the brothers shoot glances at each other, having the same assumption on whomever the voices referred to as...
"Princess?" Ashura quietly said in a confusing tone and an arched eyebrow.
Whatever the case, it also made them two hurriedly but still quietly follow the voices. That's when they finally found the source, making the pair quickly hide behind a nearby tree large enough to hide them both to avoid detection.
Slowly and carefully poking their heads out to see, both brunettes finally spotted their albino companion, whom was surprisingly did not look scared at all, just confused as she calmly sat at a large stump.
"Sis!" Ashura whispered in shock and was about to run towards her, only to be stopped by his older brother's hand lightly pressed against his chest.
"Ashura, wait!"
What he was referring to were the familiar two men surrounding her, blocking her from any chance for her to escape. But what's only worse was when they found two more men surrounding her. Unlike the first two men, the other two were rather smaller and thinner of lean build.
There was one wearing a kasa hat and the other looked to be dressed like a monk.
"This doesen't make any sense, they're just random people!" Indra whispered in disbelief.
"Whoever they are, they sure got some guts taking Sis away like that!"
The brunettes then fell into silence in order to carefully listen and watch the scene carry out before them, trying to find out what on earth was going on and why these four men took her to begin with.
"Anyhow, now that we finally found her, and now standing in the middle of nowhere, is it already safe for us to now...you know?" Asked the man in the hat.
For some reason, this made the monk smack the back of his head before sneering "Be patient you idiot, we may not know that there might still be people lurking all around here."
"He's right!" Agreed thd buff man beside the monk. "After all, we've been chased down by two young lads and nearly escaped with our lives."
"Indeed! But thankfully, we were able to outrun those little brats and delivered the princess here safe and sound" laughed the obese one as he patted the completely bewildered albino's head.
As for the two peepers however, they had this irritated looks on their faces and had nerves popping out at some parts of their faces, regarding the fact the man just basically insulted them.
Why is he talking like we're the bad guys?! Both Indra and Ashura internally sneered in their minds as they continued to shoot glares at the seemingly annoying one out of all of them.
"Speaking of which, where is that big buffoon anyway?" Irritatingly said the monk as he rested both his hands on either sides of his waist. "We deliberately ordered him to scout the area for any people around here and scare them off!"
"He's probably having too much fun scaring the living daylights out of those villagers. So relax, I think it's alright for us to turn back now!" Said the man with the hat with a wave of his hand.
Crossing his arms over his chest, the monk then sighed "Well, this disguise is quite getting very uncomfortable, so I guess it's alright to reveal ourselves now!"
"Thank God, we can finally get out of these horrid outfits!"
Indra and Ashura likely assumed what the obese man was referring to was their choice of clothing just so they can easily blend into the crowd. That's until suddenly, a cloud of smoke exploded and completely obscured the man. And as soon as the the smoke finally dispersed, the brothers were they were soon proven wrong and were left with widened eyes and hanging jaws when the man was nowhere to be seen.
Beacuse standing in his place was a surprisingly humongous racoon dog, but the weirdest part was the fact that said vermin was wearing the same outfit as the obese man from before. Soon after, the other three men were too surrounded by a puff of smoke. And just like from the first, a series of animals then appeared in their places.
Specifically, what replaced the buff shirtless man was a large badger, the man with the hat by an otter and lastly, the monk as a weasel. And every single one of these creatures too wore the exact same clothes as the very people that stood in their places. This looked to be far too much for the brothers to believe to be real and made them quickly hid behind the tree, their backs pressed against the hard wood.
With mild blinking eyes, Indra then quietly spoke in disbelief "Ashura, did we just saw four men turn into a racoon dog, a badger, an otter and a weasel? Or am I just crazy?"
"Who knows? But whatever the case, if you can see it too, then I believe I'm as crazy as you are!"
They were a bit hesitant at first, but they finally found the courage to poke their heads out of their hiding spot and back at the unbelievable scene before them.
They then watched as the badger placed a hand, paw rather at the girl's shoulder and calmly asked "We deeply apologize if we ever frightened you, Princess!"
Even the mammal's voice matched with their desired person. Anyhow, Krishna was left a bit lost on what to respond to the...badger, why they keep calling her 'Princess' as well. So all she could do was just simply smile from behind her bandages and wave at the mammal as a form of her forgiveness.
"Are you an idiot!" Glared the racoon at the badger. "The only reason why the Princess was frightened to begin with was because of those two rascals chasing us of course."
And once again, both Indra and Ashura had this utterly pissed look at their faces as their minds glared once again Seriously, this guy!
Back to the scene, the monk...weasel actually with his paws behind his back, he said "Besides, you have no idea what we've been through to make this meeting possible."
Hearing this led the girl into even more confusion as she tilted her head to the side and arched an eyebrow.
Suddenly from out of nowhere, the otter then appeared beside the girl with what looked to be a shamisen in his paws and chimed "But first, we shall entertain you, Princess, with a song!"
"Great idea!" Agreed the badger as he whipped out what looked to be kokyu behind his back.
Slapping a paw on his face, the weasel then growled "Absolutely not! We have no time for this. Remember, we are here to-"
"Oh come on!" The racoon grunted as from our of nowhere, a tsudzumi drum then appeared from within his enormous stomach. "One song won't hurt, right? Besides, don't deny it, you love to play as well!"
Releasing a frustrated growl, the weasel then exclaimed "Fine, just one song. And make sure it's something that can lighten the mood up a bit!"
The weasel then took out from within his sleeve what looks to be a shakuhachi. Afterwards, the badger then placed his bow against his instrument and began playing a merry tone. Soon after, the weasel too placed the instrument close to his snout and began playing in sync with the violin's music.
With the racoon dog using his two paws to strike the very same merry tone on the drum attached to his stomach, he then began to sing:
"Oh powerful Mother of all, grant the world true peace
Oh gentle Princess of flowers, grant the world with love."
All four creatures then sang in unison:
"With the magic of Fire and Lightning and Wind and Earth and Water
Grant the world with power, prosperity and life."
The mammals then immediately stopped playing their musical instruments to let out a laugh. And surprising enough, this indeed cheered the girl up as she released a light giggle and began clapping at the wonderful performance. Upon hearing this song, for some odd reason, this made Indra's eyes widened a bit on how surprisingly familiar it was to him.
That song!
"Lovely duet everyone, I can hear the residents of the forest cheering us on!" Chimed the badger as he cheerfully raised his arms in the air.
As some sort of odd response, the soft forest wind merrily blew past them all. Once more, the four mammals, including the girl began laughing happily.
"My turn!" Drawing himself close towards the albino, the otter then asked "Tell us your name, Princess!"
With an anxious look on her face, Krishna panicked a bit on how on earth was she going to respond to a question like this.
"Go on, don't be shy, tell us!"
"Now, now, let us not startle the girl even more than we already had!" Worriedly said the badger.
"For the last time, it was those two human boys who frightened her not us!" Retorted the racoon.
Releasing an exasperated growl, young Ashura, a rather strange choice to do, shouted "Her name's Krishna!"
Sharply gasping, Indra then quickly slapped both his hands over his little brother's mouth and quickly hid behind the tree before shooting the boy an 'Are you serious?!' look to which he simply raised his shoulders into a shrug. Upon hearing this, with surprised mixed with confused looks on their faces, the animals then turned their heads in all directions to search for whomever said those words, even the girl herself.
Actually, that's except for the otter when he cheerfully exclaimed "Krishna!" Using his bachi to strum the strings of his shamisen, he then sang:
"Krishna, the beautiful Princess of flowers! The great animal spirits who rescued her will cheer and celebrate!"
Deciding to just simply shrug it off, all three other mammals too continued to play and sing, and this time, the pale girl joined in with the music by clapping and humming alongside the merry tune.
"With the magic of Fire and Lightning and Wind and Earth and Water
Grant the world with power, prosperity and life."
"Wait, everyone, stop!"
Hearing the racoon dog's words made the rest immediately stop and shoot him glances.
"What is it? You literally ruined the moment!" Sneered the weasel as he threateningly pointed his flute at the racoon.
"I've forgotten the last verse, how did I manage that!"
"That's it?! You, buffoon! What an utterly horrid thing to do to ruin the fun!"
"Hey, it's not like you remember the last verse!" Retorted the racoon dog as he harshly tapped a finger on the weasel's chest.
"Of course I do! It's...It's uhhh...I think it goes like...uhhh..."
From within their hiding spot, heaving out a deep sigh, with a gentle smile on his lips, Indra sang:
"Long, long we prayed to hear the horned one's lullaby, and now we pray again for her serenade to never end!"
Realizing his mistake made him slap both his hands on his own mouth this time, earning the turn for his little brother to shoot him the very same 'Are you serious?!' look, to which he mirrored the boy's actions by simply raising his shoulders to shrug.
As for the animals, the otter then chimed "Yahoo, that's it! Thank you mysterious strange voice that appeared out of nowhere! Anyways, on with the music!"
All animals, including the girl continued to sing:
"With the magic of Fire and Lightning and Wind and Earth and Water
Grant the world with power, prosperity and life."
The very moment the song ended an array of more laughter and cheerful chimes then surrounded the area.
Turning back towards the two hidden brothers, Indra then whispered to his young sibbling "Ashura, listen! You and Shiro should stay here!"
"Elder Brother! What about you?!"
"I'll go try and get Krishna back!"
"About that, it's honestly really weird for me to say. Those guys may have somewhat kidnapped Sis. Plus, it turns out their basically supernatural creatures, but I don't think they look like bad guys at all. I mean, they barely even laid a finger at her."
"Except for the racoon dog!"
"Yeah, except for the racoon dog, he's basically a jerk!"
"Anyways, I'll just try and talk to them peacefully. And just in case if they're not any reasonable, guess I'll just have to use force. And I don't want you to end up getting involved. That's why I want you and Shiro to stay here, got it?"
"Fine!"
Switching back to the scene between the girl and the animals, the badger then said "Now it's your turn, Princess!"
The panic and anxiety was back in the girl's face upon realizing what he meant by so.
"Go on ahead, Princess! Sing!"
Alas, not even the racoon dog's words was enough to calm her down.
"Oh, I know! Maybe it's because of those things covering her lips that's keeping her from singing!"
Hearing the otter say that horrified her this time.
Raising both his paws to slowly reach out for the now quivering girl, the weasel then said "Then what are we waiting for, let's go and get these off of-"
"Wait!"
This made every single one of the animals, including the albino to turn towards the source of such desperate voice, all their eyes soon landed upon a long haired brunette standing nearby from where they stood.
"She can't sing, she can't even talk!"
"A human child!" The weasel exclaimed as he pointed a finger towards said creature.
Seeing that all too familiar boy made Krishna happy and was about to hop off from the stump she sat on to approach him, but she was stopped by the backs of the four mammals that surrounded her.
"Fear not, Princess!" The otter said, seemingly using his shamisen as a weapon as he posed a fighting stance.
Raising both his hands in defense, Indra frantically explained "Wait, hang on a minute! Easy now, I'm just here to talk. I'm actually a-"
"Stand back, Princess! We'll protect you from this vermin of a human!" The racoon said as he too did a fighting stance, his tsudzumi drum as his desired weapon.
The same goes for both the badger and the weasel, using their musical instruments as their form of weapons as well. Witnessing all this left the girl once again in bewilderment, arching an eyebrow letting out a confused hum.
Heaving out an annoyed sigh, Indra growled "Seriously, you guys are really making me look like the bad guy here!" Cracking each of his two knuckles, he then continued "Well, if you guys want to do it the hard way, then so be it!"
"Enough talk, let's fight!" Was all the racoon dog exclaim before they all lunged right at him with musical instrument weapons in hand and yelling out battlecries in unison.
------------------------------------------------------------
"How in the world did things end this way for us?" The weasel angrily whispered to himself with one eye twitching.
What the mammal was specifically referring to was the fact that he including his three other animal companions were now tightly bound together by a single rope.
"How the hell did us, the great animal spirits end up being defeated by a mere human boy?!" The racoon dog loudly complained, causing a tantrum and began violently thumping his heels against the ground.
As for said human child, he was currently brushing his two palms together to rid of the dust lingering there.
Resting both his hands on either sides of his waist, Indra then said "There, I believe that will teach you who the real vermin is. And just because I'm a kid, that doesen't mean you have the right to underestimate me!"
Soon after, a familiar humming noise then caught his attention and making spin himself, finding the girl he was so desperately searching for running towards him with both her arms wide open.
"Krishna!" He exclaimed as he too spread his arms wide open.
This allowed the albino to land against his chest and wrap her arms around the male.
Returning the embrace by wrapping his very own around her smaller form, he chimed "Krishna, I was so worried!" Slowly pulling away from each other, Indra then continued "I was afraid that they might turn you into a cup or a pot or something."
All she could do was cheerfully smile from behind her bandages and let out a light giggle.
"Wait a minute! Princess, you know this human child?!" The pair then presumed that it was the badger whom said that and turned to meet gazes with the now tied up mammals.
In response, Krishna replied by simply humming and nodding.
"Then why didn't you say so, especially you, human boy?! Then all this violence wouldn't have been necessary!" Sneered the otter.
"Hey, I was trying to. But your animal instincts got the best of yourselves and ended up being your downfall!" Indra sneered, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Hey, let me go, let me go!"
Hearing that all too familiar squeaky voice alarmed both the Indra and Krishna and made them turn towards where they thought it was coming from. With shocked and terrified looks in their two faces, the brunette and the albino indeed found the familiar dunce the voice belonged to. But what had actually made them two make such faces was the fact that the boy was now being hung upside by the ankle.
The same goes for his poor little mutt, whom was now too hung upside down by it's tail. Speaking of which, the very one that was now holding the boy and his dog up in such way was shockingly a large black bear. Indra may have not yet seen a bear in real life, but Indra still had no doubt that it looked to be quite larger than the size of an average one.
"Ashura!"
"Elder Brother, Sis!"
"I found these two hiding nearby, Sir!" The bear spoke with such masculine voice. "You wouldn't mind if I eat them, would ya?"
Upon hearing what the bear was planning to do to him as well as his pet, of course the young human boy would panic and frantically flail his arms and legs like so, a desperate and sad attempt for him to escape the humongous animal's clutches.
"Please, don't eat us! If you'll eat us, then you'll surely regret it and end up having a bad stomach. Believe me, none of us honestly taste that good, I even tried it myself!"
In spite of the fact that one of their most prescious loved one was basically threatened to be devoured, both Indra and Krishna couldn't help but shoot utterly confused glances at the boy on what the heck did he just said.
"Put the human boy and his mutt down you big buffoon!"
Hearing this honestly surprised every single one and creature whom heard of such demanding tone and made them turn to see whom said that, soon realizing that it was none other than the weasel himself.
"You have already lived for far too many centuries to know it is unwise for us to devour humans, or maybe it's because your brain is slowly deteriorating throughout the years!"
"Sorry, I was only joking you know!" The bear pouted as he do as I was told, carefully placed both the boy and his dog back on the ground. "How did you guys end up being tied up anyway?"
"Dear God, please don't ask!" Seethed the weasel as multiple beads of sweat could be seen dripping from the back of his head.
Anyhow, the very moment Ashura as well as his pet were now freed from the bear's clawed clutches, the two then immediately sprinted towards the older brunette. The young boy then tightly embraced his older brother and began crying his eyes out like a newborn baby. The pup too made whimpered noises that made it sound like it was crying as it quickly hid underneath the girl's skirt, but his tail and bum were left to stick out of the fabric.
"Elder Brother, he said he was going to eat me!"
In order to calm down his poor baby brother, Indra returned the embrace, soothingly rub one hand on his back and reassuringly said "There, there Ashura! It's alright, you're not going to get eaten!"
Krishna too joined in calming down the hysterically crying boy by simply patting and ruffling his spiky brown hair.
"Wait, I know you two!"
Hearing this made the trio turn to see, discovering that the one whom said that was the undoubtedly annoying racoon dog.
"You are the two vermins who chased me and frightened the Princess!"
"Alright, that's it! You really are trying to make me and my brother look like the bad guys here!" Angrily sneered Indra as he stabbed a finger right at the racoon dog.
"Yeah!" Agreed young Ashura, whom was surprisingly now back into his normal usual self from all that crying. "You guys are the ones who basically kidnapped, Sis, you fatty!"
The nickname seems to have irritated the animal and made him yell "Oh, I'll show you fat! How the hell have you even found us anyway?! We basically made sure that we are not being followed by covering our tracks."
"That's too bad, if you mentioned that you made sure to cover your tracks, then I believe you missed one!" Indra explained as he took out from his sleeve a familiar black and white striped sash. With his lips curling into what looks to be a smug smirk and chuckled in the same way "I guess it turns out raccoons are far more smarter than raccoon dogs after all."
Upon realizing that the monochromatic headband was indeed not tied around his head, he was then very much certain that the fabric in the human's dirty hands were indeed his. Whatever the human was trying to achieve from the raccoon dog, one thing's for certain that he successfully pissed the mammal.
"Listen here you little-"
"Don't you dare say such cursed word before these children, you big moron!" Sneered the weasel as he elbowed the raccoon dog.
"Calm down for once, will ya!" Averting his attention towards the three young trio, the otter then continued "Hey, human boy with the long hair, you're voice sounds oddly familiar. Are you the one who gave us the last verse?"
Indra knew all too well that whom the mammal was talking about was obviously him and left him a bit confused.
"Yeah, my mother and I used to sing it together. She said it was a Yokai's prayer?"
"That's right!" The badger replied.
With an ecstatic look on his face, the older brunette then asked "So, that would make you..."
"We prefer to call ourselves the guardians of the forest!" The weasel corrected.
"The great animal spirits of the forest!" Inquired the otter.
"The great Gods of the earthly land!" The badger added.
"I can't believe it, the Guardians of the forest. That's what mother called Yokai Spirits" Indra chimed, glitter filled his young dark eyes and a large beaming smile was on his face as he grabbed on to his little brother's shoulders and began uncontrollably shaking the poor boy. "You guys are actually real, not just stories! Then that would mean-"
"Yes, human child!" The badger replied.
"If we are real..." The otter added.
"Then so are a handful of many others!" The weasel inquired.
"Wait a minute, what is the reason why you benevolent spirits kidnap Krishna to begin with? Scratch that, I have far too many questions!"
As Indra continued rambling out his nonsensical questions regarding yokai, demons ayakashi, the unkown and their world. This honestly made both the younger ones feeling embarrassed, young Ashura having a hand covering his face out of shame and Krishna had this nervously happy look in her eyes as a small sweat dropped from the back of her head. In spite of the fact these four animal spirits are regarded as gods, they had these shocked look on their faces on how hyper this intelligent boy was the very moment he finally discovered the existence of such supernatural creatures.
"OK, kid! Slow down!" The weasel yelled, making the boy finally shut his mouth from all of his rambling of questions. "Can you for the love of God please shut up and give us a moment?!"
"Oh, sorry!" Awkwardly apologized as he raised his hands in defense. "Go ahead, I'll shut up!"
The mammals then began to quietly whisper amongst each other. A few seconds later, all four then nodded in agreement before turning back to look at the human boy.
"Alright, we'll answer all your questions, under one condition! Untie us!"
Of course, what they were referring to were the ropes tying them four together.
"Very well then, just don't do anything funny once you're free, got it? " Indra said as he made his way towards the four spirits and began untying the tie that bounded them. "Just because I respect you guys as yokai spirits, that doesn't mean I am well aware of your tricks!"
"Uhhh...Don't mean to be rude, kid! But to tell you honestly, I find it rather odd for a young human child like you to be keeping a rope!" Said the otter.
"You see, a long time ago, we were attacked and I was nearly killed by a psycho with a knife. And so from then on, I always keep a rope with me just in case for emergencies like this!"
And with that, the rope then fell off from the animals' bodies, allowing them to now properly stand.
Abruptly standing up from his place, the raccoon dog began angrily stomping his way towards the human boy.
"Didn't your parents ever tell you not to take things that are not yours?!" That was all he sneered before snatching back his headband from the boy before tying it around his head and began walking away.
"Sheesh, angry that much! You seriously remind of a certain monk kid who's definitely not looking forward in seeing me again!" Taking a few steps backwards, Indra then continued "Anyways, I believe I deserve answers."
"Yes, yes! The questions we promised to answer in exchange for our freedom" the weasel said. "But before that, I too have a few questions to ask you, human child!"
"What? But I-"
"Yes, you did! However, I only said that I will answer your questions if you untie us. But never said after you untie us!" The weasel continued, there was this small but smug toothy smirk plastered across his lips.
The human boy opened his mouth and was about retort, only to close it back when he realized that one important thing he basically forgot regarding how tricky these supernatural creatures can be.
"Ugh, damn yokai spirits! You guys may be bound to the truth, but there is no rule that cannot allow you bastards to twist your words! I can't believe forgot about that, especially a weasel like you!" Indra hissed as he slapped a hand over his face.
"You are a far more intelligent little human boy than I thought! I assure you, I have only one question to ask, so there's no need to rush. Where did you learn that song?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean the Yokai's Prayer? I told you, my Mother used to sing it to me when I was younger." Suddenly, a sad expression then appeared on his face when he continued in the same low tone "Before she passed away!"
The depressing moment was broken when the weasel suddenly drew his face close towards the boy, startling him in the process. For some strange reason, the weasel had an arched eyebrow as he loudly hummed and sharply starred right at the boy's mild and confused dark ones, the brunette even needed to bend back a bit on how close the weasel's snout was.
"Now that you mentioned it, you actually look oddly familiar!"
Drifting his eyes to the side for a moment only to turn back, he muttered in an unsure tone "Really?"
Drawing himself away from the human boy, the weasel then said "Nevermind! As promised, I asked my question, now it's yours. Go ahead, human boy! Ask as many questions you like regarding our kind."
"Are you sure? Because some of my questions could probably end up being a bit offensive to you guys!"
"My boy, this is a time of self-discovery. Think about it, this may be the only chance for you to receive the answers to all the questions you've been asking yourself, mankind has been asking so to speak. You, human child, have just discovered the existence of our kind. So don't waste it, and choose your questions wisely."
Oddly enough, the weasel's wise words had honestly got Indra's curiosity nerves kicking in.
"Alright, choose your questions wisely huh? So, important questions first before questions I've been dying to ask for a long time then. OK, What made you all go to such great length just so you can capture her? Why go through all this just so you can meet her? And...why do you keep calling her 'Princess'?"
"As expected, a young curious boy with far too many questions." Dusting off the few bits of dust lingering on his robes, the weasel then explained "Well, you see, Human Child! The truth is, that girl is actually a-"
"Everyone quiet down, listen!"
The moment the black bear had said those very words, all the animals, including the three children immediately silenced themselves and closely listened to what on earth was the bear talking about. With a twitching ear, the weasel finally knows what his furry companion was talking about, and this was in the form of a loud howl he can hear from a few miles away from where they were. Whatever sound that was, for some strange reason, it actually terrified the creature.
Quickly turning towards the bear, he then frantically ordered "You, take the Princess and her two companions back to their village as fast as you can, before it's too late!" Averting his attention towards the older brunette, he then continued "Human Child, listen carefully! The Princess' safety is our main priority at the very moment, please, keep her safe! And most importantly, forget everything I said about self-discovery and everything else regarding that topic. You must forget this meeting ever happened and you must forget that you ever met us! You must forget everything! And most importantly, you must never tell this to anyone! Otherwise, you'll put them in grave danger!"
"What?! Why?! What is going on?! Why are you guys suddenly acting like this?!"
Indra suddenly let out a shriek when he felt himself being grabbed by the back of his collar and pulled away. Afterwards, he was then dropped into what felt like a cuddly and hairy surface, also finding the albino, the little shiba in her arms and his brother beside him somehow. It took a moment for him to realize that it was the bear, and what he and his two companions were now sitting on was on the enormous mammal's black back.
"Wait, you still haven't answered my questions yet!"
"Listen here, human child! There is a reason why the phrase 'Curiosity killed the cat!' is a thing. For your own sakes, it's most likely for the best for you humans to not seek the answers you're looking for. Or else, you children may end up regretting the day you finally answered the questions you've been asking. That is the reason why there are some questions that are better left to be unanswered!"
"But-"
What caught the boy off from his own words was when he felt the weasel's paw resting against his shoulder.
"Human child, I can see it in your eyes how much you want to know all the answers of this world. Just please, don't make the same mistake she did!"
That's when it hit him.
"It makes sense now, you must be her-"
What interrupted the weasel was the sound of that very same howling noise they heard earlier, only louder.
"Wait! Who are you-"
Indra was not given the chance to say something when the bear began sprinting away, taking the children away with him.
"Boy, you must protect the Princess at all cost!" That was all the weasel said as he watched the children along with his enormous companions disappear into the forest. Averting his attention towards his three other furry companions, he then said, his voice filled with seriousness and determination "My fellow spirits, we greatly feared that this day may come. Yet, we made a vow to do our duty as spirits of the forest. So, get ready, we too must protect the Princess!"
"...And that human boy as well, for he is..."
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Trivia:
The tanuki rivals the kitsune for the most well-known animal yōkai.
Mujina are badgers who have developed magical powers and become yōkai.
Kawauso are fond of playing pranks on humans, especially by mimicking sounds and words.
Itachi are tricksters and pranksters, but generally shy away from interaction with humans.
Onikuma is a bear which has lived for a very long time and transformed into a yōkai is called an onikuma, or demon bear.