Wandering in The Slums ( Maikeru and hito. pm to join)

Maikeru was concerned for a moment, but then realized because Hito was already dead, he probably had nothing to worry about.

"Haha, its called a black widow because the female often kills the male after having children, making it a widow.
See anything else up there that might be a good pet? Shout if you find something, ill look down here on the ground!"

Maikeru lowered himself to the ground and looked sharply, using his miragan to slowly move bushes and leaves aside without disturbing anything nearby. He found a rabbit, but as he went to get close it bolted. He also found a rather inquisitive squirrel, but when Maikeru got too close it too ran away. He tried to stay within sight of Hito, but the animals were making it difficult. As Maiku continued to search, he remembered a similar experience that happened to him where he was helping his little brother find a ladybug. Maiku smiled as he remembered how he had found one and given it to him, his brother laughing and smiling. Maybe thats why Maiku liked Hito so much, his enthusiasm reminded him of his brothers. He saw a nearby creek, and used a little of its water to wash some of the dirt of of his face and out of his hair, then looked back towards the tree tops where Hito was, and smiled.

Hito hopped from one tree to the other, crawling in plain sight of the animals and always looked down from their eyes. He came nose to nose with an upsidedown squrrel while he was also in that position, when hito swung back up the squrrel continued to gather food for the winter, though soon began to guzzle down some of his fallen trail-mix. Hito then caught a spider the saize of his head, which is where it was crawling. Hito turned to Maikeru and smiled underneath the spider. " How about this one? He's fuzzy."

Maikeru wasnt too keen on a spider, considering he was still alive and if it could bite him it could kill him, but if meeting Hito taught him anything, it was that not everything was as it appeared to be.

"I dont know, does he bite? I dont mind spiders so much, but I am alive and it could kill me if it bites me. Maybe another pet would be better, though he does kinda look cute."

Hito smiled, afraid that if he nodded the spider would fall off. " The eyes look nice." Hito placed his head against the tree trunk so the spider would walk off. He then let go completely and plummeted to the ground. He landed on the pine needles and stared face to face with a growling bader. " ooo...he looks nice." hito went on all fours and crawled backwards, putting his head on the ground and avoiding his eyes. the bedger then felt better and then started to sniff at hito's sweater. " that tickles." he giggled, tryng to stay still. the large striped head was fuzzy and the grey and black body looked like it would make a good furry friend. but it had an angry attitude if someone hurt him or got too close that he didnt know. " how about him?"

Maikeru laughed at how the Badger warmed up so quickly to Hito.

"Sure, he looks perfect. But like you said, its not how i see him, its how he sees me."

Maikeru slowly walked towards the badger until he was about three feet away, then (making sure not to make direct eye contact) looked at the little guy and put out his hand. The badger walked towards him slowly, then sniffed his hand. The badger then started to growl, and instinctivly Maiku pulled his hand back. Suprised by the sudden movement, the badger bit him, which caused Maiku to cry out. At the loud sound the badger ran, and dissapeared into the bush. Maiku walked over to the stream and put his hand in the water to make it feel better. When his hand stopped throbbing, he turned to Hito and said...

"See? You are lucky. You have such a way with animals. I feel sorry for the little guy, i didnt mean to scare it, and im sure if we met again id do it right this time."

Maiku then weakly smiled.

Hito laughed. " Its cause you were standing up, he was scared. Come on, let crawl after him. That way he knows that he's stronger than us.Or do you want to find something that wont bite as good? like a parrot? I found a nest a week ago." Hito was still chin-deep in the dirt and his feet were getting more dirty-if that was possible. " they're more freindly when you bring some bananas and some nuts." Hito held out the bag of trail mix, shifting the fat possum aside so he could grab some.

Maikeru smiled. Hito was trying so hard, he couldnt help but feel happy and proud. This kid has such drive.

"Actually, a bird does sound good, but i think a parrot would keep me up at night. How about a Hawk or Bluebird?"

Maikeru began searching the skies for a bird, and saw a hawk in the distance. He was going to try and jump up to catch it in its nest, until he remembered something his father had told him about his grandfather. "Maikeru, did you know your grandfather had a pet hawk?" "No i didnt! How cool! Can i have one dad?" "Haha, not today Maiku, but maybe when your older youll be able to get your own." "How? Should i buy a net?" "Haha, no, a net wont be effective. Hawks are birds of prey, and their beak would cut through a net. No what you should do is call it, and if it comes to you, hold out your arm like a branch. If the hawk likes you, it will land on your arm. At that point, if you like it, give it some meat. Cooked will work but it prefers raw. If the hawk takes the meat, slowly rub it on the head, be careful not to mess up the feathers." "Is that how Grandfather caught his?" "Yes Maiku."

Maikeru used the Hawk-call he had practiced in case he ever wanted one. The hawk heard this and came close, landing on a branch not too far away, looking at him. Continuing with the call, he held out his arm until his forearm was about sholder height and level. The hawk sat for a while without moving, then jumped out of the branch then flew onto his arm. Carefully he pulled out a small piece of dried meat he had for lunch, and held it out to the hawk. The hawk grabbed it and ate it, all the while looking at Maiku. Maiku slowly brought his hand up to pet the hawk, and when it got close, the hawk snapped at it. This time Maiku held his ground and didnt move the hand away, and saw that it was a warning, not an attack. Still using the call, he slowly brought his hand closer, and found there was no resistance this time. Finally his hand reached the head, and slowly he petted the head of the hawk, making sure to move his hand in the direction the feathers were already laying, and the hawk actually closed his eyes like he liked it. When Maiku brought his hand away, the hawk jumped up onto his shoulder and put his head under his wing and went to sleep. Maikeru looked over at Hito, who was positivley beaming with pleasure.

Hito was careful not to get too close and grinned, hiding his possum in the trail mix so the hawk wouldnt munch it. " You got a pet! you got a pet! what kind of name do you want?" this time, Hito asked the Hawk directly. His shiny eyes reflecting the birds face. " i would show you gravy, but im afraid you might eat him cause he's fat." hito turned to Maikeru and bounced up and down, dislodging some dirt from his hair and flew into the air.

Maikeru was pleased that Hito was so excited, and he felt excited to. His own hawk! He looked more closely at the hawk and decided that it did indeed need a name. After making sure of its gender (it was male) he looked more closely at the pattern of feathers. It had a white streak going down its back starting from the neck and ending on the tip of the tail feathers.

"How about Streak? It matches your white stripe pattern on your feathers."

The hawk tilted his head, then rubbed it against Maikeru's extended hand.

"Haha, ill take that as a yes. And dont worry about Streak eating Gravy, Gravy is too big for Streak to eat, and it hasnt been that long since Streak ate anyways, otherwise he would go out hunting. By the way streak, feel free to go do that whenever you want, but when i call you, i do want you to come, okay?"

Maikeru could almost swear he saw Streak nod his head.

Hito nodded and stared at the bird, he never saw any birds up close because he was usually scared of them, but this one seemed nice. He was glad that he had helped his new friend and to give him a pet in the same day. Hito sniffed slightly and then crawled up a tree, still sniffing. He was getting close to a bee's nest and stuck his hand right in the nest to get some of the gooey honey. He grabbed a handful and jumped off, landing flat on his back. Hito held out the gooey hand and looked around while he was still horizonal. " Do you know where we can get a bowl?" he grinned, being nice was getting fun.

Maikeru laughed again. For a dead person, er.. undead person, Hito sure had a lot of life.

" Sure, i have one right here."

Maikeru held the bowl to catch the honey. Maikeru also grabbed his bread loaf out of his pack, and a kunai to cut it with. After the honey fell into the bowl, he set it down and started cutting the bread. After he did, he started spreading honey on each slice, giving the first to Hito before taking one for himself. He broke off a chunk and offered it to Streak, who ignored it, so he gave it to Gravy instead.

Hito stared at the slice of bread with honey on it for a long time, watching it soak and move the little air bubbles. It was a funny yellow and interesting to look at for a piece of food. Hito looked up with a bit of confusion, people usually gave him things for him to use. " Whats this for besides looking nice?" he asked

Maikeru was confused.

"Its for eating, dont you eat?"

Maikeru bit into his again to show Hito what he meant.

"Honey tastes really good on bread, i thought you would like it. If you dont, you can give it to Gravy, he seemed to like the chunk i gave him."

Hito looked at the demonstration and at Gravy, so thats what he was doing all the time. Hito stared at awe how the jaws went up and down. He looked at Maikeru with a straight face. " I don't remember ever 'eating'." He said, slightly distracted by how the bread was shrinking in Maikeru's hand. It was almost like magic.

Maikeru laughed. It did make sense that a dead person wouldnt (or possibly couldnt) eat.

"Thats too bad, because eating is a wonderful experience.

Maikeru stuck out his tongue for a second.

"This is my tongue, you probably have one too. I use it to talk, because it changes how air moves out of my mouth, producing different sound. But what i love using it for is actually eating. There are little ball shaped knobs on my tongue called taste buds, and they allow me to see how something tastes. My teeth are actually used to chew the food while my tongue tastes it, then after i've chewed it up enough, i swallow and it goes down my throat into my stomach, where the food is taken apart and spread througout my body, which helps keep it alive. Gravy does it as well, but because he is smaller, he doesnt need to eat quite as much. Maybe you could ask the person who operated on you after you inhaled the mist to give you a tongue, so you could taste food at least, even if you cant actually eat it."

"Thats amazing!!" Hito searched his mouth with his sticky hand and found a tongue, though it wasnt pink but black. Hito stuck his out too and tried looking at it, but he couldn't. Hito then went farther and pulled out his recorder. It was very small with little latches to go against his moldy throat. There was a wire that went to the roof of his mouth, through it and to his mettalic brain. " I never heard of such magic, but this recorder helps me talk. it goes directly from my artificial brain to this little speaker." hitos mouth was completely closed and the recorder was slightly vibrating from the lack of tissued obstacles. " you can have the bread honey." hito set the bread on top of the bowl.

Maikeru was suprised to find that hito couldnt talk by himself.

"It isnt magic, its called biology, which is the study of life. Hmm, actually now that you mention it, biology is a lot like magic... the scientist who operated on you must have been a genius to create something like you."

Maikeru smiled.

"You know, I think that you and i have a little in common. We dont know how the other one works. I dont know how you move, you dont know how i eat. I dont know how you talk, You dont know how i breathe. We are each others mystery, and im sure your just as excited about learning about me as i am about you. Maybe someday ill find a medical ninja's manual and let you read it, it has a lot of this kinda stuff explained in it."

Hito's eyes lit up again. Another thing that he could give his friend. He put back his speaker and pressed the latch to keep it there, he then pulled up his shirt his ribs sticking out painfully and placed a finger underneath his skin and pulled it up like a hidden door. which was exactly what it was. there was a petrified wooden cabinet underneath all of the skin with a little door too. Hito opend the door and pulled out a scroll. Hito gave the scroll over to maikeru, he could get another one.

After that, he closed the door and pulled the skin over with his shirt following suit.

Name:medical scroll
Rank:C
Element:--
Description: a scroll located in the stomach compartment that is a normal first-aid kit.

Maikeru's Eyes lit up when he saw the scroll, of course it was slightly odd that he pulled it out of his body.

"This is perfect!"

Maikeru opened the scroll up and looked around at it, then activated it, releasing the kit.

"For example, this is guaze, its used to bind a deep wound to keep too much blood from escaping. Blood allows living people to distribute air and food to the rest of the body, allowing all of it to live, rather than just keeping it in the stomach and lungs. This Needle is used to sew up a wound before hand to help it heal. This spray is used to disinfect a wound so tiny animals called Germs dont mess up the body. This stuff was meant to keep the body alive, and is full of Biology. This is a special medicine to cure a cough, and this one clears the lungs so people can breathe. This needle is different from the other one, because it isnt for sewing, but for injecting. Oh wait, you probably know about that."

Maikeru started laughing then realized he might be explaining things too fast. He turned back to Hito.

"If your dead, why do you have this?"

Hito's eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he was explaining this, humans were so complicated he really did think it was magic at this moment. they had so many things to keep them running, to help them survive and to let them breathe air instead of mist. After the question, Hito tried remembering what the crazy man said. Hito scrunched up his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them. " The crazy man said that since i can't die, i need to help others not die too."

Maikeru looked at Hito with newfound respect for his creator (if that is the right term for him).

"Then you better get studying, you will need to know the living body if you want to heal people. Speaking of which, what kind of jutsu do you use anyways? I dont mean to be pushy, but if thats what your creator wants, we probably should focus on this."

Maikeru looked over the scroll again, then put everything back into the kit, and found that a small book had fallen out as well, explaining how each item was used. He put the book aside, then re sealed the kit to the scroll, rolled it up, and gave it back to Hito. He then pulled out a pen he had in his pack, and wrote in the book: Keep up the good work Hito! Just because im not here doesnt mean you cant still study! -Maikeru. He then gave the book and the scroll back to Hito.

"Make sure to study up, Im sure youll be great at it."

Hito stared at the book, not opening it but slowly putting it away with the rest of the stuff. He would look at it later to see the inscription. Hito looked at Maikeru with a bit of pride. " I will try my best, Mai. Only if you promise to do your best. Okay?" Hito placed the book in its compartment and petted his little possum for comfort.