"Summoning Technique: Cannai!"
Smoke was suddenly everywhere and the world around Hazō shivered, making Team Uplift back away nervously. After a moment, the world calmed down and the smoke dispersed, revealing a brindled dog the size of a draft horse.
"Greetings, Summoner," Cannai said. He looked around. "And this must be your family."
Mari stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Welcome to the Human Path, Lord Cannai." The rest of the family immediately copied her bow.
"'Cannai' is sufficient," the massive dog rumbled. "Dog does not stand on ceremony unless necessary. You must be Mari?"
"I am," she said, straightening. "I take it Hazō has told you about me? Let me start by saying that I have alibis for whatever bad things he said."
Cannai barked his amusement. "Have no fear. His tales have been largely positive, and always affectionate." He looked past her. "Let's see now... I would have said that the young man with the brick-like build must be Noburi, yet it cannot be. Noburi, I am given to understand, always wears a smile. Sometimes mocking, most commonly joyful, and occasionally dreamy—the last mostly when he speaks of his beloved."
Noburi blushed furiously. "Um...hello, sir. I mean, yes, I'm Noburi."
"Ah, excellent. So glad to have that cleared up. Hmmm...speaking of your beloved, I presume that this beautiful young woman beside you is she. Yuno, yes?"
"Yes, Lord Cannai. It is an honor." The young woman bowed deeply.
"Tell me, young Yuno...human relationships are somewhat foreign to me. I am familiar with the covenant of marriage under which you and Noburi reside. How would you name your relationship with Satsuko?"
"Um..."
Cannai waited patiently. No one else dared speak.
"Satsuko and I... Um..."
"Human language can be a bit of a paucity when it comes to relationships, Lord Cannai," Mari said quickly. "Yuno, I suspect your and Satsuko's relationship is too deep to be mere 'friendship', yet 'marriage' is a legal term that is not apropos either. 'Companions through fire', perhaps?"
Yuno nodded in relief. "Yes!"
"Ah, excellent. A pleasure to meet both of you." The massive dog gave a polite nod to the woman and the axe, then moved on.
"Slim and deadly as a blade, possessed of wit as sharp, she who regularly keeps Hazō from 'doing a dumb' as he puts it... Kei, if I am not mistaken."
"A pleasure, Lord Cannai," Kei said, bowing.
"And, last but far from least, you must be Tenten. The weapon saint, the only person that Hazō's much-loved sister feels safe to touch?"
Tenten's eyebrow rose. Her eyes tracked to Hazō as though to a target. Beside her, the air around Kei burst into flames at the strength of her blush. Metaphorically, anyway.
"Cannai, please do not get me in trouble," Hazō said, smiling nervously at Tenten.
Cannai's massive chest rumbled with quiet laughter. "Would you begrudge this poor dog a moment of amusement, Summoner? So very unkind of you."
"Is it possible that you could find amusement in something that
isn't likely to have me turned into a pincushion?"
"Hmmm... Perhaps, although no method springs to mind."
"Yes, well, moving the conversation quickly along before you get me into more trouble: as promised, a variety of Human Path foods that you might like." He swept one arm towards the trio of delicacies laid out on a log to his left, each of them portioned out into a large cabbage leaf. The team did not have bowls large enough for someone as large as Cannai to use, so edible serving dishes had been a good compromise.
Cannai turned to the first dish, a shepherd's pie made with lamb. He slurped up the leaf and its contents, taking care not to get splinters from the log, and chewed thoughtfully.
"Delicious," he said. "Quite delicious. Rich, savory, and the meat is so nicely cooked it falls apart on the tongue. My compliments to your chef."
"That would be Granny Mayuka," Hazō said. "We brought that one in a storage seal from Leaf."
"Tell Granny Mayuka that the Alpha of all Dog delights at her cooking and beseeches that Lady Fortune bless her only from the onpaws."
"Uh...thank you. In that case, you might like this one." Instead of reaching for the next dish in the line, Hazō riffled through his storage seals and produced a large clay crock, which he held out to Cannai. The Dog Boss stuck his tongue out willingly enough so that Hazō could dump a massive blob of the jug's contents on it. It was a very thick stew, almost a paste, and bright red with large green leaves mixed in.
Mari went white. "Hazō, is that—"
Hazō waved her to silence, watching Cannai intently; a mad grin spread across the sealmaster's face. The redhead watched for a moment, mouth still agape, before shaking off her horror and digging frantically into her storage seals.
"Hm," Cannai said, head cocked to the side as he sampled. "That is..." He stopped and coughed. "That is—" He spat out the stew and pawed at his tongue, whimpering as tears began to flow from his enormous eyes.
Mari stepped forward, both hands supporting an enormous bowl filled with several pounds of rice. "Open, please!"
In too much pain to argue, Cannai opened his mouth so that Mari could throw the rice in. She tossed the bowl aside and immediately pulled out a waterskin, spraying it onto the rice and back into Cannai's mouth.
It took several minutes and multiple waterskins for Cannai to get rid of the pain caused by Kagome's insanity-pepper stew.
"Summoner, that was most unkind," Cannai gasped.
"Would you begrudge this poor Summoner a moment of amusement, Alpha?" Hazō asked, grinning fit to split his face. "So very unkind of you."
Author's Note: @Paperclipped will post part 2 of this chapter tomorrow. Voting remains closed.
