Trial Of Yoshimune

Chapter 6. Ranmaru

Ranmaru was a simple tanuki, had always been. He liked to do things that tanukis generally enjoyed; pranking people, drinking sake, lazing around and just have plain fun.

Oh, maybe having a wife and get kids would be nice at some point too, but not now since he, the great Ranmaru was living the life of the go-
"GET OUT OF HERE YOU FOOD STEALING DRUNKARD!!" Ranmaru sighed to himself as he got (once again) kicked out of the house he was staying in. The whole point of being tanuki was to deceive humans.

In his case, he made people think that he was a horrible person. Man. Tanuki. Yokai. When in reality, he wasn't.

He gambled the money of rich families and seemed to bring them misfortune by losing, but he actually never lost. He just placed the money into something good. In this case, an orphanage.

That was full of children of the families he'd accidentally ruined.... Uhh... Just don't think about it too hard. He hadn't known better back then Ahahahaha ha. Pleasedontcallthecoppersonhim.

Ranmaru sighed once again as he was left without a roof above his head, not that he minded, he just preferred to have a samt place to sleep in and rice as dinner. The trickster started his long travel towards the next place when he felt that something was severely off.

Now normally, tanuki would do everything in his or her power to get the hell away from the line of danger, but Ranmaru was a different case. Mainly because he'd learned early on that the people who were desperate enough to search for a tanuki were near the trouble. And he was one cunning tanuki.

Ranmaru started to move towards the commotion and the odd aura that surrounded the mountain. The closer he got, the more his instincts kept screaming for him to take cover and to stay safe, but he ignored it because he was also growing curious of what could be the reason for the sudden impulses. As he reached the forest, a dark creature dashed from it, destroying everything around it. He faintly recognised another tanuki being thrown in the air like a toy by the creature when something in him snapped.

Tanukis hated taking risks, when their own lives were at stake that is, but upon seeing the helpless tanuki screaming for help, the male had to do something. And fast.

He threw a leaf he'd taken from nearby tree at the creature, making it look like the helpless tanuki did and rushed towards the real one. Grabbing it from the midsection, he managed somehow to land into a tree from which he glanced back in order to see if the monster was still there. "Oh... I think... I think its gone...", he said when he froze upon feeling someone nuzzling against his chest. He blinked couple times before realising that it was the other tanuki. "My hero~", at this moment a realisation dawned upon the confused male tanuki. The other one was female. Female tanuki. He saved. Female. Tanuki.

Ranmaru looked at the she-tanuki with mild panic, asking from himself what to do now.

Another power impulse went through the forest and dropped the duo into the bushes. Sitting up quickly, they saw that the spots where the creature had been was dead, turned to stone. Ranmaru jumped onto the newly carved "road" quickly followed by the female that seemed to have taken liking to him. Great. Just what he needed.

"So. Woman. What do you think caused this?" he asked, unsure of what to call the female. "Momoko", was her confusing answer.
"Pardon?"
"My name is Momoko"

Ranmaru stared at Momoko with a poker face, great now he can't get rid of it, it's attached already, before turning back to the stone path. His hypothetical heart had started to pound strongly in his chest and he wasn't sure if it was a good sign. The tanuki's eyes narrowed as he saw that the leaf had turned into ash, it was a good thing that he managed to get Momoko to safety before anything happened he wouldn't have been able to take it if she had-

Upon realising what he was thinking, Ranmaru proceeded to hit his forehead against the nearest tree repeatedly while Momoko kept watching at him with confused look. Ah, young love.

Shock waves caused by the impulses started to happen more frequently, Ranmaru wiped the blood off of his forehead and turned towards the direction they were coming from. He then proceeded to move once again towards them, Momoko following close behind.

When they arrived, the only thing they saw was the black creature catching on fire while a ghost was apparently having some serious migraine. Though the tanuki was very sure that it wasn't normal of humans to suddenly start getting new features on themselves but you know... Nature is a wondrous thing.

They watched how the male got up and bowed to him for they both felt his power resonating and recognised him to be daiyokai before following after him up to the hill to the shrine. There he met another wolf, who explained to him what had happened and he was now. From how he glenched his fists, you could see that he wasn't entirely happy about it. They felt the earth shake as panicking pack of inugamis arrived to the shrine, telling them of what had happened to their leader and the rest. The okami patted the young daiyokai and told him that he needed to defeat him.

So the younger attempted to assume his wolf form for the first time.

......except that he didn't know how.

Ranmaru face palmed at this and climbed onto a rock. He then waved inorder to catch their attention. "Excuse me My Lords, but may I attempt to teach quickly?" the elder nodded in approval and Ranmaru turned towards the younger. "You see, as a Yokai, your form is what you wish it to be, but how you become that is all about your imagination", the young man blinked at his explanation but seemed to understand somewhat.

"Now, imagine a wolf", he said to the man who immediately closed his eyes in concentration, "Slide inside that picture kiddo". The transformation was a slow one, but then again it was his first time, so it was to be expected. As the man's paws touched the ground, he reopened his eyes and immediately left the shrine in hunt for the corrupt one.

Ranmaru stared after him and felt a hand on his head. He looked to the side and saw Okami Daio, who smiled at him. "Him learning to do proper transformation is up to you", wait... What? The wolf man only winked and put his thumb up while his tongue peeked from between his lips, "I'm too lazy to teach him myself~"
"HOLD ON NOW MY LO- and he's gone.... Daiyokais."

Ranmaru was happily napping in the house made for him and his wife Momoko (to whom he always referred to as mochi) when he heard a familiar voice to mutter about his habit of leaving sake bottles all over the place. He smirked to himself as he got up and turned to the door. "Would you prefer me to switch to energy drinks instead, Kae?"
"Anything else would be an improvement stupid tanuki. Alcohol is going to destroy your liver", huh... He didn't know that... Energy drinks it is.