Bo had decided. If he was going to protect his friends and family, he needed to be better at fighting.

At first, he approached Michi, but the fox was busy. He tried asking Brutus for help, too, but the falcon shooed him away before he could get his question out. That only left one other option:

Mr. Coyote.

The only problem was Bo had no idea where he was. Wandering around was a no-go because he was guaranteed to get lost. Should he just shout out his name? But Mr. Coyote probably wasn't his actual name and besides, he'd draw unnecessary attention to himself.

Sighing, Bo did the only thing that worked when he couldn't think of anything to do: hitting his head on a rock. Unfortunately, this foolproof plan brought nothing but pain, which only worsened when he did it again and again and again-

'Why are you hitting your head on a rock?'

Bo looked up and then promptly fell. Hitting yourself multiple times in the head was good for getting dizzy, not for looking like the brilliant gentle-hare that he was.

When the stars finally stopped spinning around his head, Bo sat up and looked at his questioner. It was a squirrel. Bo knew what a squirrel looked like because of the pictures in Michi's books. They had thick tails like Lima Bean but when he'd asked her about it, she got mad and wouldn't talk to him for a while. Maybe Mice didn't like being compared to Squirrels?

'I'm trying to get an idea,' he said.

The Squirrel tilted her head. 'And banging your head on a rock is gonna help you?'

Bo shrugged. 'It did before.'

'Silly hare. Hitting your head on things makes you dumber. You don't want to be dumb, do you?'

Bo shook his head vigorously. He had so much Intelligence! No way could he lose that! It was his one ace in the hole!

The Squirrel clicked her claws against the ground. 'That's right, you don't. What's your name?'

'Bo.'

'Bo...Nice name. So, tell me, silly hare, what you need an idea for.'

'I need to find a coyote who can teach me how to be a good fighter but I don't know where he is.'

She clacked her claws on the ground once more. 'I see. Why do you want to be a good fighter?'

'So I can protect my friends. Duh.'

'You're only a leveret. What could you possibly do to protect them?'

Bo puffed out his chest as he glared at the Squirrel. 'I'm plenty strong! I'm already level 15!'

The Squirrel arched an eyebrow and strode closer to him. 'Level 15, you say?' She walked around him in circles, studying his small physique. 'You don't look like much.'

He deflated somewhat as scratched at his head. 'Well...I had some help getting there...'

'Hmph. No wonder you need someone to train you.'

Bo wholeheartedly agreed with her. Ever since Lima Bean had started spending more time with Michi, the old fox just told him to chase his tail and stop bothering him. Sure, chasing his tail was fun, but he wanted to fight! And he just knew Michi could teach him. It seemed like all the beasts in the area knew how to fight but him.

Wait a minute...

'Squirrel, do you think you could teach me how to fight?'

'Hmm? Where would you get such a ridiculous idea?'

'Well, you're an adult and all adults know how to do stuff. Michi said so!'

The Squirrel's eye twitched and she poked him roughly. 'Michi? You mean that cu-er, that coward is keeping you?'

'Hey! Michi's not a coward! He's super brave!'

She snorted. 'Of course, you would think that. You spend every waking moment with him. He probably never lets you out of his sight.'

'Not really. He lets me go out all the time. Aunt Aris told him that getting experience was the best way for me to grow.'

'So what you're saying is...the fox is nowhere around here?'

Bo nodded.

With a grin, the Squirrel stuck out a paw. 'The name's Branut Cashew. How'd you like to become Squirrel Kin?'