wild youth

It is as if he is a shadow of the bamboo. Hard to see but easy to maneuver. He knows someone else is there. Pressed tightly against the stalks, just barely evading his sight. This one must also live among the bamboo and be around his size and shape. Brother? Morg? Someone else that was small? Fuji, perhaps? His nose turns up and his ears flick from one side to the other. No, it is male, it has to be. So not Morg, not Fuji, not Kiriko. There isn’t many females so that doesn’t narrow it down much.

Ah, there. He freezes with his mouth open slightly to help his breathing stay impossible to hear. There, just slightly, he hears a rock shift against the dirt. A ruffle of some grass as a body careens around the bamboo. He’s getting closer. Darting forward, Akito stays close to the ground as he pushes through the shadows. Brushing by the thick stalks of bamboo, he charges toward the sound before stopping on a dime. His paws pushing down into the earth as his body lurches forward.

It is gone now but he knows he is close. Lowering his nose back toward the ground, he continues to creep forward once more. He will find this other… He knows he will.