~~This will be a brief explanation chapter about The Watchers and their role. (I will mention them in the main novel at some point as well)~~
*The main purpose of The Watchers, is guarding and spiritually binding the Four Great Animal Spirits. There is a dedicated 'shrine' where The Watchers live most of the time, and use their nature and spiritual energy to bind the spirits. The Animal Spirits need to be bound due to many different reasons, which I cannot explain just yet.
Haruki, The Silver Fox of the West, and Remo, The Black Bear of the South, are the only two that have been mentioned in Volume 1 of the novel. Without giving too much away regarding the Animal Spirits, there are only ever 4 alive at one time, they vary in type of animal and color, they can live a very long time, and after a certain amount of time/life, they can transform into a human form. There will be 1 if not 2 chapters better explaining the Animal Spirits in Volume 2.
There are 4 Watchers per shine, and include 1 Fire Unit member, 1 Lunar Unit member, and 1-2 council members or 1 Water Unit member, at all times. The Watchers are gate/record keepers of the Animal Spirits. They keep track of any changes to their spirits and any problems they may encounter. The shrine is situated within a small house that all of these people share. They can go and visit their family from time to time, but their "replacement" or "substitute" has to be present before they can leave so the binding is not broken.
If something happens to one of the Guard Unit members, this weakens the spiritual binding and gives the Great Animal Spirit a chance to escape and cause a ruckus, hence Haruki causing problems with Wren. If an Animal Spirit is able to escape, The Watchers are tasked with tracking them down and suppressing their energy once again. If it is a more serious situation, again like with Haruki, other Guard Unit members may be called in to help The Watchers find them.
The only Watcher mentioned by name so far is Sam. I cannot say much more, but he is related in some way to Naya and she cares for him greatly. The Watchers can be any age, gender, etc., it depends more on their abilities than anything else. Sam is the Fire Unit member, there is also a female not yet mentioned in the Lunar Unit member, there is one council member than has yet to be introduced, and 1 Water Unit member, also unnamed at the moment.
There is a short 'school' and 'test' that anyone has to go through and pass, for them to be able to become a Watcher. Due to them being rather secluded, it can be fairly difficult for some people to handle. Hence the need for some training/tests to make sure they have the physical and mental capability. There is a 'shrine' in each of the territories, and each have the same amount of Watchers.
I'm sure it is a bit strange but that will be it on the information for now. I know its not a typical ending, but yeah. Hope it wasn't completely confusing or annoying. Thanks :)