Asakiri

After the betrayal of her best friend and former herbalist, Asakiri found herself struggling to trust anyone. Her closest and most trusted confidant had betrayed her, and had warped the minds of so many young wolves and making them his followers, all undetected and without her knowledge! If someone she believed she could trust the most of anyone could do that much damage, and nearly cause the pack to be destroyed by the ever looming empire that was now searching for them, who could she trust? She nearly went mad from paranoia. She WOULD have, if not for a chance meeting with a spirit. Normally, she would have never even tried bargaining with spirits. Every pup knows how dangerous it can be, how much they can demand and leave unsaid. But Asakiri was desperate, and while normally that would make any wolf easy prey for a spirit, she was not without her wits. She wanted the ability to see when a wolf was lying. After an entire afternoon of roundabout talk, hypothetical scenarios, and much wheeling and dealing, Asakiri returned to the pack more confident than she had been in weeks. Not only that, but one of her eyes glowed bright, with the unmistakeable wisp of a spirit and sparkle of magic. While initially some of her pack objected and questioned dealing with spirits, Asakiri made clear she would NOT tolerate any dissent regarding her choice. Her price was hers and it was easy. Her mind and spirit still solely belonged to her. It would not harm the pack.

Her indigo eyes had always been valued highly, by not only her suitors, but also spirits. Purple had always been the "regal" color and thankfully that still held true even to spirits. Purple eyes had the ability to boost a spirit's magic power, and were highly sought after. It had been a miracle no spirit had target Asakiri before. (She took note of that info, she'd have to watch out and warn her fellow purple eyed pack members) What remained in her eye socket, while the rest of the pack seemed to believe it was still her eye but just filled with the spirits magic, was in fact the spirit themself. The price was her eye and the manner in which she would get her wish was in that the spirit would live in her eye socket, always watching for when a wolf was lying and would relay the info to their new host. For the spirit, they gained a valuable commodity in the form of Asakiri's eye, and it got to directly observe this wolf pack and its struggles. For the spirit, it was like being paid to watch pure entertainment of the highest degree. A win-win. The only downside was when for when Asakiri died, it would not be allowed to take, eat, tamper with, or have anything to do with her soul. That would have been the cherry on top for the spirit. But it could live without being too greedy. Besides, getting to directly observe this pack gave them the chance to watch out for any other potential deal-makers to take advantage of after their new host passed on. Asakiri's progeny after all, had many purple eyes to feast on. It would not take many more before they could simply take the eyes by force…



A blessing in disguise or opening the door for a spirit's rise to absolute power? Time will tell. But for now, the pack would live in peace under Asakiri's watchful eye as they hid from the empire.