Shimmering Sands let me be your killer king

The beast was idled by his thoughts, slow to form as they were. He imagined the places he had been, the faces he had once studied in the hopes of finding a master among them; of the packs and families he had marched for, protected, and left behind.

This stranger was alone.

He did not appear to have a family to root him, nor a kingdom to defend, yet there had to be a reason for this spontaneous meeting—such things did not occur to Tetsubo often. It was peculiar too, that his own explanation did not arise some kind of apprehension in the stranger. Not even an inkling of doubt appeared within the foreign man before the boy. It was entirely possible that he was too addled by his malady to notice such things. Still, he was eager, and when the dark beast spoke of paths and some disembodied force which may have struck him on a new course, Tetsubo listened. It was not unlike the old shaman of his birthplace—the kannushi of the family shrine—and strangely, Tetsubo felt more at ease because of this. He had never been particularly close to anyone among that place; always training, always alone, nurtured by the world around him and not the assistance of a pack. They were there, but he was in the background, always—bettering himself, learning the ways of the warrior, until being set on this path.

This path. It led him here—forced him in to this position of weakness, with this particular beast to guide him to the next stage. Of his life? Perhaps. Or maybe just the next stage of his training. Either way, the boy had nowhere else to go, and the offer—subtle though it was—intrigued him. Perhaps, his voice rumbled in response, monotonous as always. He paused for a moment as if to think, to consider whether he should accept the offer or not, but in truth he was figuring out the new logic behind his body. With his depth perception muddied by his concussion, Tetsubo took an extra few seconds to get to his feet, and staggered towards the dark figure—he was mindful enough to face him with his good eye, just in case this was all a trick. He had to be ready for anything.

I have long awaited a master to serve, he murmured next, as an aside to himself more than anything. He sighed those words, and the sea crashed in response behind him. Then, closing his eyes and bowing his head, he reached with his snout to touch the sand by the stranger's paws and purposefully extend his neck before the beast. I am Tetsubō — warrior, wanderer, and I pledge myself to you, to be your weapon. He did not move from that spot, not until the offer was taken up by this man. It was a peculiar ritual, but one that had been taught to him (and others) within Minpei no oka.