At the edge of the village, near the harbor, a chubby man with a very large estate stands with the wolf and the girl. He seemed very upset, in fact he was blubbering and making quite a scene. "Oh you just have to return Ruru!" He took a moment to blow his nose. "He is my pride and joy!" The sobbing returned and Chihiro looked at the man with her hands on her hips. She understood loving a pet dearly, (Pun) seeing how much she treasured Mother.

Chihiro looked proud as she spoke. "Don't you worry, sir! Mother and I are the best trackers in the village. We'll get your deer back safe and sound!"

"No! No! No! No! No!!!!" The man shouted. One of Chihiro's hair tufts fell over in confusion. The man explained himself. "That wolf will eat my little Ruru right up! It must stay here!"

" My wolf is a well trained ninja companion. She isn't going to hurt your pet, sir." Chihiro said, trying to reassure the man. In the end, he wasn't having it.

Mother whimpered and softly barked at Chihiro from the man's yard as Chihiro began to walk towards the harbor on her own. There was a pain in the pit of Chihiro's stomach. She hated being apart from Mother. Mother hated being a part from Chihiro. However, this was a paying customer, and she would have to agree to his request. In her mind, however, Chihiro continued to argue her point. We would complete this stupid mission as a team better! 2 wolves in pack formation chasing prey! That is what we are designed to do! Much more ground could be covered with 2 members rather than just 1. In the end she simply sighed.

She got to the harbor, what was more eerie at night. Even the ships in shape looked like ghost ships at this hour. Chihiro shivered. A slight case of the Willies. She pulled the piece of bedding out of her bag. It was from the deer's room, which frankly was much nicer than her own. She closed her eyes and took in quick wifs of the bedding.

Her eyes opened,now seeing in shades of grey, other than the yellow mist stream, that was the trail of this deer. Chihiro lightly growled and chased the light stream. The sooner the deer was caught, the sooner she could return to her Mother.

Her ears were perked, and her body was close to the ground. The girl was currently still on 2 feet. No need to go full force as of just yet. It was a good thing she could scent track, as the fog was thick on this night.

There was a slight sound of movement. Chihiro instinctively stopped dead in her tracks, standing completely still. She did not even dare to take in or release a breath. The deer was close. Despite her efforts the deer came to notice her and shot off.

The chase was on! Chihiro shot after it, stil on two legs. This deer in nature was designed to be able to escape a canine. On her own this would be a task. The deer bobbed and weaved, causing Chihiro to become more focused on her instincts, which wanted her to not catch but kill.

Chihiro growled loudly, and she reached with a swift swipe with her left hand claws. Luckily, it was a miss and Chihiro came to the realization she was losing the ideals of this mission. She gave up the chase and let the deer pan off.

She stood with her hands on her head, catching her breath. She shook her head violently, trying to shake off the ideology of the kill. This was supposed to be a capture. She would have to avoid any further beast mimicry for a bit.

Her eyes gazed in the direction the deer had speeded off to. It was used to being stuck in a house, and she, herself was out of breath for a bit. That deer had to be bedding up somewhere.

She swallowed her spit for a bit of relief on her throat and began to walk after the darn thing. Small hoof prints tracked off of the wooden harbor and into the land behind it. Chihiro got on all 4s and crept quietly.

There it was Curled up under a barren tree, resting. Chihiro froze and had to think of a plan. Capture without injury. She leaped up into the air at it, and as the deer began to struggle to its feet, Chihiro landed in front of it and pinned it on its side to the ground. "Finally, you little shit." Chihiro thought to herself.

She gently bound the thing's legs with tape, and hung it around her neck like a tacky fox skin. Her arms wrapped around the deer's legs for security, and she began her journey back to the fat man's large estate.

As she walked up to the premises, Mother rose from her laying position to greet her partner, but even faster than her, much to Chihiro's surprise, that fat man ran across the yard to be reunited with his damn deer. He was trying to pet it and grab it from her arms, but Chihiro made sure she promptly took the thing into the house, and locked it inside. She was not about to chase that thing down again.

The man was very thankful and send the pair, now reunited as well, on their way. Back to report another successful mission. Happy to be back with her beloved Mother, Chihiro rode on the wolf's back.

~1029 words~