Slowly and deliberately, Bokuden ran his hand over the back of the wild beast before him. It was a wolf, one of the inhabitants of the Endless Dunes that extended further than the eyes could see in all directions around the Village Hidden in the Sands. It was out to the dunes he had travelled that night, with no intentions other than seeking out the solitude of the desert. It frightened most people, the sheer vastness of the desert. Bokuden understood where this fear might come from. The conditions were harsh; sweltering heat under the high noon sun, chilling winds in the desert nights, an eerily haunting emptiness. But it was in the silence of the seemingly neverending expanse of emptiness that he found peace.

It didn’t hurt that during the nights it was rather commonplace to run into the wolf packs that roamed the dunes if you knew where to look. Coated in fur, with fangs that could tear through flesh, these were the dreaded hunters of the sands that struck fear in the hearts of traveling merchants and the uninitiated, but Bokuden feared no wolf. How long had it been since he had left Satomi behind in Kumo? He knew it was what was best for her, but there were times that even he felt the sharp teeth of regret nipping at his heels. She wanted to come with him, but it was simply unfair to expect her to take on the life that he had cast himself into through his actions. The blood that swept the Ryuzoji along his path flowed from his hands, not her paws.

As Bokuden had taken a seat on a half-buried stone during his midnight walk through the sands, a group of wolves had surrounded him. Teeth bared, they circled his location, hungrily approaching as if they had found their next meal. Within moments they would find their will to hunt and their aggression broken by tranquility by the former shinobi. He had lived with a wolf his entire life, even if the breed was different, the alpha could make even the most vicious canine docile. The sect of wolves that once had seen him as prey now lay at his feet, behaving life little more than domesticated dogs as Bokuden petted them and fed them bits of what food he had brought with him.

It always did amaze him, how easily even a wolf could be made harmless with the right knowledge and temperment. No… perhaps harmless was the wrong word. Wolves were dangerous by nature. No amount of petting or wagging tails could change that. Wolves could be fought, they could be broken, they could be led, but they could never truly be tamed. Maybe it was that aspect of them that Bokuden admired most and hoped he could emulate in himself.

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474~

Earlier in the Day

A figure who's face and appearance were concealed by a light tan cloak was pulling a wooden wagon. Leaving behind two sets of tracks in the sand those of the figure's feet and those of the wooden wheels. The figure was moving slowly and almost sad as even turtles would make fun of how slow he was moving. In the wooden wagon there rested a body covered in a bloody cloth only a the ends of two black wings poked out. At the front of the wagon there are sticks and some boards of wood the strange figure wanted to give the black winged woman a proper going away funeral pyre. It was the least he could do for his betrayal of her. About thirty minutes have passed as he walked aimlessly in the dessert. Only sand dunes that seemed to go on endlessly as he continued to walk in the desert with the heat of the sun beaming down from above. The figured continued to move pulling the wagon into the heart of the dunes where it would be almost imposable to see as there would be no body around for miles. There the figured removed his cloak reviling his silver hair and his red and blue eyes that were blood shot thanks to the tears he had shed during his journey into the heart of the desert. There he would set everything up for the ceremony for Mikasa he removed his bloody cloth and saw the place where he his claw has wounded her. The sight made Sozo feel far more worst than ever he now was unsure about his clan's power. Sozo kissed Mikasa hand one last time "Fair well my goddess you are gone but never for gotten." Sozo was able to choke out the words while trying his best to hold back his tears. He set up the boards and placed them around the wagon and set the sticks around Mikasa. She looked more beautiful now then the first time they met at the lake in Takigakur no Sato. Sozo stepped back and did the hand signs and used the fire ball jutsu to set the wagon and Mikasa on fire. Sozo fell to his knees and tears started flowing down his face. "I'm so sorry that i killed you. If i could i would take it back and try to go about it in a different way. I wish I could trade places with you. But why...why did you have to thank me? That just made it all the more worst for me to deal with". Sozo repeated over and over in a trance like state. He was all alone again the common saying back at square one would be appropriate but he was back at negative square once. He lost everything when it seemed like all was going great for him he had someone he could say was dear to him he made friends with a green haired boy called Noel. He even helped Noel with a few missions. But they were all taken away from him he was lost and hurt unsure where to go or what to do.

Some time around midnight

Sozo was still on his knees his eyes dried of tears but the pain and sorrow still strong in his mind and body. The felling of returning back to his lonely life he thought he found the thing to fill the void and he did but he was a fool and took it away from himself. The pain in sorrow that was building up inside himself and no way to let it out made Sozo let out a long howl into hte full moon. Once his eyes met with the moon something began to happen that never happened to Sozo before. He got on all fours his arms began to get silver fur on them. It wasnt like his normal transformation this was more like a animal and less of a beast. His nose began to grow out and a tail broke out from his pants. It scared Sozo yet at the same time excited him as it was a new experiance for him. Once the transformation was done. Sozo looked like a normal wolf with silver fur and his eyes stayed the same so they were also red and sky blue. The only differance was he was a bit bigger than normal wolves but nothing to drastic. Sozo's mind became that of a animal running in the desert leaving his paw prints in the sand. He ran around looking for a pack to join or just to converse with. Sozo ran around in the desert with no clear place to go or any real goal. When he found a rather large dune he ran to the top adn let out a howl under the moon light. Hopping that it would attract some wolves that might be around the endless dunes. As he had heard that wolves like to travel around this place hopefully some have heard it. But he continued to let out his howls as they were a way to let out his pain.

WC 877