i've gained freedom and yet... its lonesome

Exploration was exhausting. Especially for a pup. A pup that found himself to be rather lazy than adventurous. Not that he couldn't or wouldn't because that was exactly what he was doing, but he could still complain about it. And unfortunately, it was Hattori's cat that had to deal with it. Droning on and on about how the mud stuck between his toes or the rocks poked at the tender skin of his paw pads, Jiro hadn't really shut up until the cat finally bapped him good on the snout.

Finally taking the hint as they reached the edge of the massive oak forest, Jiro only hesitated a moment. Looking to the cat who looked back at him, he wondered how much trouble he would get into for leaving Tojo lands. Eh, oh well! "C'mon whiskers, we got some looking to do!" He didn't actually, but it was a good excuse. It was an even better excuse when a large purple flower bush started to pop up along the walls of the deep canyon. As he ventured farther down into the rocky valley, he noticed more and more of these fragrant plants. "Okāsan hasn't mentioned these before," Jiro mentions while wandering over to a particularly large bush that is buzzing with bees and butterflies. "Smells good. Wonder if its edible," the pup muses to himself as he sticks his nose deeper into the plant.