A Look Into The Past - Mineto

[Kiara]

Mineto's backstory, written as short moments. It's just supposed to give a bit of a deeper understanding of the character. Different drabbles from different points in his life will be added in separate posts; note that these may not be in chronological order later on. No, none of these are going to be very long.



July 13, 3294
Erune City, Ice Cap
23:01

Moriko smiled wearily as her sparkling, deep blue eyes gazed down upon her baby. Her precious bundle looked like nothing more than a fluffy, white ball, whimpering softly and snuffling as it twitched closer to its mother, the nearest source of warmth. The mother looked up, still smiling, as her husband slowly opened the door and padded on bare feet into the room.

"Look, Hitoshi... He's beautiful," Moriko murmured. She gently allowed Hitoshi to hold the pup, who squealed when he was briefly taken away from the warmth. "What should we name him?" The two parents had already agreed that Hitoshi would name the first born, and Moriko would name the second.

Hitoshi gazed at the pup, happiness gleaming in his bright green eyes. The baby reached a tiny paw up and poked his father's chest. "Mineto," Hitoshi said softly. "Our little Mineto Daichi..."

[Kiara]

July 13, 3295
12:57

It was Mineto's first birthday. The young pup had opened his eyes months ago, giving his parents quite a shock at his bright green right eye and icy blue left eye. Moriko had pointed out that it was like having both parents in his eyes.

A small tuft of purple fur was starting to grow on Mineto's head. It looked rather odd at first, but as it grew out, it was a beautiful, deep purple reminiscent of his mother's. In fact, Mineto took after his mother quite a bit - he had none of his father's light markings on his muzzle or belly, and Mineto had longer fur, unlike Hitoshi, who had short fur.

Mineto's first birthday wasn't celebrated with a huge party, as was the general habit of others. It was just him and his parents, who did little more than bake a cake. Still, the child was happy, and that made his parents happy.

"Happy birthday, son. Here's to many more..."

[Kiara]

September 14, 3298
12:30

Mineto watched the TV with interest as a detective movie was played. It was about a cat detective with an amazing sense of smell. He could scent any evidence. In the movie, the cat detective was pitted against an evil rat, who wanted to destroy the city where the story was set. Mineto had seen this movie many times before, but it never ceased to amaze him.

"How can you defeat me...?!" It was the end of the movie, and the cat detective had already defeated the evil rat. At that, the detective stood up straight, not a speck of dirt on his black suit.

"Why, quite simply, I am the cat detective. As long as I believe in myself and never become evil, nothing you can do will stop me."

Mineto cheered happily at the end of the movie. The Cat Detective was easily his favorite movie. It was so exciting!

The child began imagining himself as a character like the cat detective from the movie. I can smell evil a mile away! Evil can't hide from me! I'm the wolf detective! The pup growled playfully as he pretended the pillow was the evil rat. He tossed it off the couch and started play-fighting with it.

"Mineto, lunch is ready!"

The child quickly abandoned his game in favor of food. A growing boy needs to eat lots! That's what mommy says!

[Kiara]

July 10, 3299
13:35

"Daddy, daddy, how long till I get my baby sister?"

Mineto tugged at his father's jacket as the two got ready for an afternoon walk. Hitoshi smiled. "Only a few more weeks, Mineto. Get your shoes on; you want to go to the park, right?"

Mineto nodded vigorously and hurriedly put his shoes on, tying them sloppily. When he stood, he threw his jacket on. "Let's go! Let's go!"

Hitoshi laughed. "Of course." He opened the door, letting the frigid air of the Ice Cap flow into the room. Erune City was one of the warmer spots, but it was still freezing. Hitoshi led Mineto outside, and they made their way to the park in the center of the city, talking and laughing together.

At the park, the two were greeted by the serene sight of the trees under an artificial light, which offered heat to allow the plants to grow. Mineto threw his coat over a nearby tree branch, which was littered with coats of all sizes already, and ran to find his friends. Hitoshi chuckled to himself and tidied up Mineto's coat, then hung his own off another branch.

When Mineto found some children, he skidded to a halt. A young cheetah was being teased by other, bigger wolves and cats. In between names, the bullies were throwing things at her.

"Spotface!"

"Uglyclaws!"

"Grassbreath!"

Mineto growled. He wasn't very smart, and he wasn't very big, but he knew that bullies were bad news. The little wolf gathered up his courage and faced the bullies, standing in front of the cheetah.

"You bullies should leave her alone!" His small, squeaky voice made the bullies look at each other in amazement, then burst out laughing.

"You think you can beat us? You're barely out of your diapers! Go back home to your mommy!" a wolf sneered.

Mineto's fur stood up. As long as I believe in myself and never become evil, nothing you can do will stop me. He remembered the words of the cat detective and stood up straight. "Being bad won't help anything! There's no reason to pick on anyone, so why don't you leave her alone?"

Hitoshi entered at that moment. Mineto stood defiantly, stubbornly protecting the cheetah, who was frozen where she stood. The bullies started throwing things again, and Mineto shielded the young cat. "Alright, that's enough..." Hitoshi growled. The bullies froze and stared up at Hitoshi with wide eyes. "Mineto, come here... You too," he added, motioning to the cheetah. Both of them nodded and complied.

"W-We weren't doing anything!" one of the bullies said. "We were just having fun...!"

"Where are your parents?" Hitoshi asked smoothly. "They should know about this."

"B-But-"

"Kiyoshi, what are you doing?"

A group of parents entered the area, much to the surprise of the bullies.

Hitoshi coolly spoke to them. "I came here with my son and turned my back for one minute... The next thing I knew, he was protecting another child from the group yonder." He motioned toward the group of bullies, who shuffled their feet nervously.

The parents took the bullies away. Minutes later, an older cheetah, who looked horribly thin, walked over to the younger one. "Are you alright, Ash?" The soft-spoken cat spoke in an accent unfamiliar to Mineto.

Ash nodded and turned to Mineto. "Thank you... I'm Ash. What is your name?" She also spoke in that odd accent, which Mineto would later learn to be a Plains accent.

"Anytime! I'm Mineto." Mineto smiled. He was glad he could help someone.

After a while, Hitoshi had Mineto bid goodbye to Ash and left for home. Mineto would never see her again after that . . .

[Hally]

This is neat, by the way. I urge you to go on. <3

[Elf]

OMFG I AM COMPLETELY ENTHRALLED. MOAR PLEEZE, MOAR.

[Kiara]

This one is set slightly before the last one.

June 28, 3299
13:00

"Mineto, I have something for you."

The pup perked up instantly when he heard his mother's voice. A present? For him? He tore over to her, skidding to a halt right in front of her. His father was next to his mother, and both were smiling, amused by his antics.

"What is it? What is it?" Mineto jumped up and down.

Hitoshi chuckled and put one hand on Mineto's head, stopping the bouncing. "Now, Mineto..."

Moriko smiled, her tired eyes sparkling. "I've got something to give you that my mother gave to me, and her mother gave to her..." The mother handed a dark green scarf to the mystified pup. "It's very special. In fact, do you know what my mom told me? She said that this scarf was sewn using magic thread!"

Mineto looked up at his mother in awe. "Magic?" he breathed. "Wow..."

"That's right," Moriko said. "It even brought your father and me together. That scarf really is magic."

Mineto smiled brightly and ran up to Moriko, hugging her as well as he could without disturbing her swollen belly too much. "Thank you, mommy!"

Hitoshi and Moriko smiled as the pup, now clad in his new scarf, ran back to the living room to play once again. "That scarf has gone through so much," Hitoshi pointed out, chuckling softly. "I'm amazed it's still in such good condition."

Moriko turned to her husband. "Well... The scarf is magic, after all."

[Kiara]

August 20, 3298
11:48

Bright lights! Loud noises! Funny smells!

Those were some of the first thoughts racing through Mineto's mind as the pup's parents drove their car to Station Square. It was Mineto's first time going there, and he was obviously excited. He was bouncing up and down in his seat, not even bothering to contain his excitement. Mineto had been bouncing and excited ever since the family had begun their road trip, and he showed no signs of tiring.

"Goodness, Mineto," Moriko chuckled. "You're going to bounce out of the car at this rate."

"I hope not!" Hitoshi laughed. "That'd ruin his vacation!"

Mineto paid no attention to his parents. "Let's go, let's go! I wanna see Aki, I wanna see Aki!"

Moriko smiled. "Mineto really loves his cousin."

Hitoshi shot a quick glance at Moriko before turning his eyes back on the road, smiling as well. "Akio and Mineto are more like long-distance brothers than cousins."

"It's only natural. Akio did visit him often when he was young. Still..." Moriko lowered her voice. "I am worried about Akio's family's current state..."

"I'm sure they'll sort it out," Hitoshi soothed. "They've always been resilient."

With that, Hitoshi parked their car, and the family got out to head for the home of Mineto's cousin and best friend.