Not Your Dog

K-9 I

It was the first time he didn't forget.

Once Okami had been pulled into the dark space he felt a nostalgic panic. Purely through instinct he clung to the memory of piercing golden eyes. He desperately recalled everything he and Asukai had gone through. From the stern face that softened ever so slightly when looking at him to the warm lips pressing against his own.

Okami drowned himself in the memories. He felt that, if he didn't immerse himself with the raw emotions he had, he would lose everything.

His tension eased when he noticed that none of his memories were slipping away. Finally the last shred of doubt left- something had changed with the system.

[Calculating results of previous world...
Success rate one hundred percent.

Loading rewards.

Four points of soul force rewarded. Total soul force equals seven points, encouraging host to work hard.]

Okami felt his eye twitch. With the pace of gathering soul force... He sighed. He wasn't even completely sure what soul force could even be used for.

[Checking database for compatible skills...

Skills available:
Music
Cooking
Painting
Crafting
Farming
Hacking
Sword arts
Sharp shooting

Please choose two skills you would like to learn.]

Okami studied the options. He had previously learnt Healing- he seemed to have recovered parts of that memory- but he was not sure of what skill he could have learnt before that. He deduced that he had experienced four worlds and would be moving on to the fifth. Logically speaking he should have two other skills apart from healing.

He decided to take a gamble and directly ask the system about it.

[Hosts skills include:

Advanced survival
Advanced military tactics
Brawling
Pain reduction
Healing]

Okami was briefly surprised by A) the fact he had received an answer and B) the number of skills he supposedly had. After contemplating for a while he decided to supplement his skills with sharp shooting and farming. He didn't try investigate why he had more skills then expected. His thought process was along the lines of "maybe some are innate or maybe the previous world's success rate was high and I was gifted with more then one option like I had been after this world".

[Host has chosen option 'Sharp shooting'. Host has chosen option 'Farming'. Loading simulation...
Simulation ready. Accessing simulation...]

After confirming his decision Okami was sent into the skill simulator, only emerging after mastering the skills he chose. He felt a little conflicted by how much of an identity he had. There was still confusion, a sense of loss, but he was not as lost as he had felt when he had awoken as Okami for the first time.

"I'm ready to enter the next world." He said softly to the system.

[Initiating transfer to new world...
Transfer complete.]

There was a tugging sensation and then he awoke in a new body. As his consciousness slipped into the new body, he felt an excruciating pain. The world was dark and filled with the smell of burning. As he weakly glanced around all he could see was burning buildings. There were people rushing around chaotically. His eyes widened as he watched a burning tower crash down. The screams were piercing and his eyes widened in horror at the gruesome scene of people being crushed under burning rubble.

He struggled to push himself off the ground, however ended up whimpering in pain. Through sheer determination he pulled himself to his feet. Taking a quick analysis of his situation, he determined his wrist was sprained and his right leg was broken. He took stock of what was available to him. His skills for healing and survival were paying off and he hadn't even entered the world for more then a few minutes.

He noticed a ripped up metal pipe a few steps ahead. He struggled to reach the pipe, tearing the material of his shirt into strips as he moved. When he reached the pipe, he swiftly used it as a splint for his leg. He winced in pain as he worked, trying hard to ignore the pain in his wrist.

Once he felt ready, he slowly tried to navigate his way out of the maelstrom of crumbling buildings and fire. The world was very strange compared to the previous one. The buildings were tall, narrow and packed together like a forest of concrete. The trees were sparse and there were horseless carriages? cluttering the roads.

As he stumbled forward, he had to stifle the nausea he felt. There were many bodies littering the way. There was no compromise for either women or children- all humans were equal in death. In the lifeless apocalypse around him, he heard a faint whimpering.

Okami felt a sense of camaraderie with the soft pleading. He turned to follow the sound, stumbling through a dark alleyway. The smell of garbage made his eyes water but he had discovered the source of the whimpering. A small black dog was crying piteously while nudging at the corpse of a larger dog. The larger dog was very obviously deceased, leaving the puppy to fend for itself.

When he saw the futile actions of the dog, a wave of nausea hit him. Brief flashes of memory quickly flew past in his mind. Fluttering robes... A desperate urge to reach someone... a pair of golden eyes. "Don't forget. You must never forget."

Reaching up, he felt tears slipping down his cheeks. That pair of golden eyes were so similar to Asukai's eyes, yet very different.

Slowly he slid down, resting against the wall of the alley. He gently reached out to pick up the puppy. "Don't worry, everything will be fine." He whispered. He was consoling himself more then anything. Once he had regained emotional stability and the puppy had stopped struggling in his arms, he finally turned his attention to the system.

"System, what is the situation in this world?" He asked through the mental communication platform.

A.N.

Yoooo a bit of a cliffhanger... Can my dear readers handle it? (Laughs coquettishly)