So for the final assignment in my Medieval Japanese course, we were allowed to do another creative piece~
I really wanted to break from the confines of reality and add a dash of the fantastic to the muromachi period. Thankfully, there are plenty of tales of kami, mononoke and youkai to go around!
So, if a kemonomimi kirino isn't enough of a giveaway, lets get right to it!
Raising his head from the mossy earth of the moonlit forest, Kishisada brought a hand to his chin, wiping away the dirt. He winced slightly, feeling a sharp pain in his side. The fall had been worse than he thought. His eyes strained to find a way to climb the slope he had just tumbled down, but even if he weren’t hindered by the dark of night, the man knew it would be no use. At least he had managed to escape his pursuers, if only for the time being. Normally, he would have sought comfort in this, but the more he tried to get his bearings, the more he came to realize he was hopelessly lost. He dreaded the thought that he had thrown his life away, that the tears of a simple village woman had driven him to his death.
Forcing his legs to move, using the wooden butt of his scabbard to steady himself, he lifted his ragged form to his feet. Perhaps it was his good fortune that the night sky was clear, allowing the tender light of the moon to poke through the leaves of the ancient trees that seemed to stretch on for miles all around him, but the constant sounds of swaying branches, rustling underbrush and the unmistakably otherworldly cries of beasts Kishisada had once thought lived only in the nightmares of man did little to calm his racing heart. He no longer walked the realm of man, but was hopelessly lost in the domain of the spirits.
He kept his curved tachi buried in its sheath, for fear of tripping, or worse, being tripped by the twisted roots that snaked across the ground. It had lasted but a moment, but as soon as the suns light had dipped below the canopy, and the forest surrendered itself to the night, the wandering man was certain he saw the glow of eyes close in all around him. He wasn’t a particularly religious man, let alone one that placed much stock in superstitions and village tales, but even he could feel the heavy, murderous intent of the trees and their kodama spirits bearing down on him.
Perhaps if he had listened to the villagers, and instead of giving in to the sentimental pleas of his long broken heart, used his head for once, he may have avoided this cruel twist of fate, and not become prey to spirits that stalk in the shadows. If he hadn’t been forced to remember the look in his daughter’s eyes as she died in his arms, or the sound of her sweet, soft voice calling out to him while he worked in the fields. If the mother from the village hadn’t worn a kimono of a similar colour and pattern to the one his wife had worn the day the army marched past his home, then maybe he would still live to enjoy another night’s sake. But such was not his fate.
Kishisada shook his head vigorously. Now wasn’t the time to dredge up the past. He needed to find his way back to the path, find that idiot of a girl, and get the hell out of these woods.
Pushing back the thick boughs barring his path, the wanderer noticed the ground suddenly disappear in front of him. He inched closer to the edge, looking down into the darkness of presumably another ravine. Of course, it would be just his luck if he stood on the precipice of hell itself. And honestly, even that wouldn’t surprise him anymore.
Not far off in the distance, the moonlight revealed a small stream. His eyes followed its path into the trees and back around the bend. He did his best to map a course through the shadows from his vantage point, but without a lantern, he was practically defenceless.
He had been walking along the path through the forest since well before sunset, but only upon hearing the gentle whispers of the stream did he realize just how weary he had become. Practically collapsing on all fours, he greedily scooped the water with both hands, drinking deeply until forced to gasp for air. In the dim light of the moon, bent over the shallow woodland stream, water dripping from his nose and the tips of his unkempt hair, Kishisada was greeted by his reflection. The sad eyes of a man scarred, weary beyond his years, stared back from below the surface of the water. His clothes torn and frayed at the edges, his sandals repaired one too many times, his facial hair long been neglected. He looked more like a mountain hermit than a man who until just months ago tended land in the western provinces. He didn’t look like a man who until recently had a loving wife and daughter, nor like a man who would be found wandering between villages asking for scraps and odd jobs to do. But such was his fate.
The sight that greeted him brought a wry smile to his cracked lips. Would anyone notice he was gone? Would anyone mourn his passing? Probably not.
With little warning, in the distance, Kishisada heard the splash of water, and without giving it a moment’s thought, pulled his sword to the ready. He squinted into the trees in the direction of the sound, but saw nothing. It was the deep splash of something being submerged, rather than the shallow sound of footsteps in the stream. A pond? Was the village girl who had been foolish enough to wander away from her mother up ahead?
Hedging his bets, the man ventured into the darkness, using his left to navigate his ways though the trees, his right never straying far from the hilt of his blade.
* * * * * * * * *
The further he walked from the stream, the more apparent the sound became. He could make out the sounds of a waterfall, and before he knew it, emerged from the foliage into a clearing dominated by a large pool at the base of a cliff. As if by some sort of strange unseen magic, the light of the moon graced the water, letting it’s shimmering reflection dance across the surrounding trees. Kishisada squinted, almost needing to avert his gaze from the brilliantly rippling pool.
He stepped closer, letting his eyes wander the rocky clearing, the cliff top waterfall and the illuminated tree line. Finally, his eyes fell on a large rock at the edge of the water, where draped over it was the fine silk kazami kimono of a lady. He hurried over to it, and ran his rough hand over the fine embroidered cloth, draped out neatly across the surface. Not far were fine wooden sandals, and laid on smaller rocks the other layers of her dress. This was the outfit of a grown woman, not a small child.
Before he could turn away, a sudden ripple from the pond made the man jump back. He spun to the water and there, standing with her legs half submerged at the edge of the pool was a woman. His eyes traced her slender form from her thighs up to her hips, her arms crossed over her chest, her hair cascading over her shoulders. Unsure if it was the gentle moonlight or the shimmering reflection of the water, but the milky whiteness of her skin and the unmistakeable redness of her hair left the wanderer speechless.
He let his gaze catch hers and in the moment when their eyes met, he felt the weight of his body slip from memory. Eyes blue like the sky, pale like the misty mornings of early winter, met his gaze, looking through him, looking into him, looking at him in a way that could only be described as otherworldly.
He tried to say something, to apologize, or to explain why he was standing over her clothing, or at the very least ask her about the girl he sought, but his head was engulfed by a stupefying fog. No sound left his lips.
Unable to look away, he watched the moonlit woman lower her arms and slowly, seductively, move towards him. One step at a time, she slid from the water, gliding across ground until she stood inches away.
Kishisada tried to step back but his feet refused to budge. It was as if his mind were detached from his body. A chill permeated his consciousness, a sinking feeling as he stared deep into the chilling eyes of the pale woman.
He felt his soul sinking deeper into her gaze, the piercing blue of her irises pulling him in, pulling him under. He felt as if he was drowning.
And then, right before his eyes, he watched as her form began to shift. Perched atop her reddish hair, long ears with matching fur, poking out from behind her a luscious red tail, tipped white, and from the tips of her long slender fingers grew claws. Her eyes betrayed her bestial nature masked by the beauty of her human form. She had the eyes of a predator. She was a kitsune.
Her hand extended and brushed against his cheek. Her skin was soft. Her touch sent a wave of pleasure through the man’s body. Were he not bound by some unseen force he surely would have been overcome.
She caressed his face, slipping her hand down the back of his neck, drawing her face closer to his, whispering in his ear. “Don’t worry. It’ll be over quickly.”
Perhaps death at the hands of a beautiful woman would prove satisfying to some, but not to Kishisada. He wasn’t ready to die yet, not here, not at the hands of this… monster. He screamed at the top of his lungs, cursed and battered his frozen legs. But his form remained motionless, trapped by the gaze of the fox.
Every fibre of his being screamed in frustration, in agony, straining his nerves to feel something, anything. He watched hopelessly as the woman raised a clawed hand, level with his stomach, poised to puncture his flesh.
Backed into a corner, helpless before the best, he summoned all of his strength and mustered whatever courage was left in him. He roared and pushed his body forward, urging anything to move, anything at all.
Kishisada’s fingers began to twitch. He could feel the faintest of sensations returning.
The fox’s brilliantly blue eyes narrowed, her claws tightened around the back of his neck, keeping him in place.
In one swift, excruciatingly painful motion, the man was able to force himself free of her spell, his nerves burning under the strain, his body feeling as if it were being torn apart at the seams. His arm shot out uncontrollably, striking her before she could react.
Stunned, she gritted her teeth, the blow sending her stumbling backwards.
With the fox’s concentration broken, the man felt sensation surge through his body once more. He spun and dashed off to the tree line as fast as he could.
He had moved not five paces before his foot slipped on the hem of one of her many kimono layers, laid across the rocks. The ground rushed up to towards his face, and in an instant he found himself on all fours.
His sword had fallen from his grasp, and in the dark of night he scrambled to find it. His fingers clawed at the ground, striking against the stone and earth, but finding nothing.
He turned onto his back, seeing his assailant’s pale naked form closing on him, claws catching the shimmering moonlight.
“Now, now. Where do you think you’re going?” Her silken voice sent a chill down his spine. She arched her back, ready to pounce.
He threw his arm out into the darkness. His sword had to be there, it just had to be. He felt his hand wrap around something firm. A rock? Pulling it close he brought it between them.
In the pale light of the moon, the red haired fox, and the beaten traveller stood frozen, if but for a moment. Clutched in his hand was a small glowing orb, no bigger than an apple. Like the moon, it gave off a pale glow. Its smooth surface was cool to the touch.
The fox’s eye’s widened. Her arms lowered, her body stunned. And then in an instant, a boiling rage erupted from within. She snarled, revealing the sharp canine teeth behind her soft lips, and in a furor, leapt at the man.
Desperately, Kishisada rolled out of the way, keeping hold of the ball in his right hand, kicking the ground with all his might, fighting to stand. His foot struck something. A familiar metallic clatter echoed off the rocks.
His assailant, drew up from the ground, her anger far from subsided, her ears pulled back as she poised to strike once more.
But before she could leap at him, the man’s sword had sprung from its scabbard, the curved blade filling the space between them.
She growled and snapped at him, looking more beast than woman by the second.
To Kishisada, their eyes were locked for what felt like an eternity. He knew not what he held, or why the fox suddenly flew into a fit of rage, but he knew that one wrong move would mean death for either of them. The night air grew still.
Slowly, the fox’s fangs receded and her bestial growls formed words in her seductive silken voice. “Give me the orb, and I might let you live.”
“Silence!” His voice sounded much weaker than he had hoped. It took everything he had to keep it from wavering. “You… you’re in no place to bargain, Fox.”
He raised the tip of his sword, moving it in line with her neck. “I meant you no harm, but you force my hand.”
“You tread far from where you belong, human. Your words won’t fool me. I’ve lived among your kind long enough to know the darkness that infects your heart.” Her voice dropped, every syllable filled with hatred.
“I-I merely seek a young girl from the village to the south of here, that’s all.” He didn’t know why he was bothering to explain himself. He knew she was a fox. He knew her words were lined with lies and deceit. He knew she meant to kill him. And yet, her womanly form, fierce and untamed as it may be, betrayed a softness under the glow of the moon he had not admired since he lay with his wife.
“This is your last warning, human. Give me the orb or die where you stand!” Her claws inched forward, her tail tensed behind her.
“Y-y-you will surrender or I’ll destroy the orb! Don’t think I won’t! I’ll crush it underfoot before your feet even leave the ground!” Kishisada no longer knew what he was saying. His mouth just seemed to move on its own. He was bluffing. He hoped he was bluffing. He hoped the fear in his voice had gone unnoticed.
The fox looked unconvinced, but at the same time, he could have sworn a bead of sweat trickled down her pale skin. She hesitated.
“Like I said, I’ve only come to find a lost girl from the village to the south… I don’t want to kill you, Fox.”
“…Give me the orb and I’ll help you find her.”
“Help me find her. Then I’ll give you the orb.”
The fox cursed inwardly, her eyes fixated on the glowing ball clenched in his hand. Slowly, she relaxed her body and stood straight, claws retracted, eyes fixed in a cold stare.
Kishisada hesitated, but slowly lowered his weapon, still unsure whether he could trust her or not. He remained silent but finally spoke once more. “I-in any case, those are your clothes right? How long are you going to stand there naked…”
Turning away violently, arms retracted to her chest, the fox glared at the man and shifted off towards her now scattered garments. She never took her eyes off the man as she slid into her kosode, its white fabric almost matching her skin.
With an elegant motion, she shrugged the thick red silk kazami kimono over her shoulders, and flipped her long red hair out behind her. Now, standing clothed with the shimmering reflection of the water dancing across her features, it was unmistakable. Her hair and skin coloration, her sharp feminine facial features. She was unlike any woman he had ever seen.
Not bothering to hide her fox-like features, she turned to him once more, and looked him over with her eyes. A sense of disbelief, that she had been extorted by a man who looked little more than a beggar was painfully apparent. “So… are all human’s this slack-jawed?” Her tone was as blunt as a hammer. If her claws couldn't cut him, she would ensure her words more than made up for it.
Scowling, Kishisada slid the orb into the fold of his shirt, keeping it close to his heart, just in case. “For one assuming the guise of a noble lady, you sure don’t sound like one.”
“And for a warrior wielding a sword, you seem to be awfully spineless. Now hurry up and tell me what it is you want. Or do you intend on torturing me with your company?”
“I’m looking for a girl, she’s about this tall.” He lowered his free hand, gesturing above the ground. “And she was playing in the forest before sundown.”
“Well then she’s dead. Its that simple.” The fox interjected before the man could finish speaking. “Give me my orb.”
“No! I won’t accept that. We have to find her, she can’t have gotten far.”
“We no longer live in a time of peace, people die. Get over it. All you humans care about is your name and your pride, even if your hands are steeped in blood. A few less of you and the world would be better off—”
“Shut up! She can’t be dead… I won’t let that happen, I won’t…” Kishisada, too worked up to notice the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, reached out and grabbed the woman by the wrist.
She raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to protest but was silenced.
“If you ever want to see your precious orb again, you’ll help me find that girl, do you hear me?”
His raised voice echoed through the clearing, leaving them in a silence only broken by the gentle sounds of the waterfall and the sway of leaves in the night breeze.
“…Fine, I’ll find her, but don’t blame me if the mononoke found her first…” The fox looked away, not wanting to meet the man’s desperate gaze. “…or will you insist on keeping me restrained like this?” She tugged at her wrist, still clutched tightly in his hand.
Forgotten that he still held her, he slowly let her slip from his fingers, doing his best to reel in his emotions.
She turned and started walking towards the lake and as soon as her wooden sandals made contact with the shimmering surface of the water, a powerful ripple pulsed outward, and she stepped confidently across the water's surface as if it were a pane of glass.
Kishisada reached out towards her, still holding his sword in his other hand. “H…how do I know I can trust you?”
She turned and smirked. “You don’t, human.” Glowing blue flame flickered into existence all around her, hovering in mid air like ghostly lanterns. It was the first time the wanderer had seen the kitsunebi with his own eyes.
The man stood still, in silent awe. He watched as the fox’s red hair fluttered in a wind only she could feel, her pale, beautiful skin illuminated by the dancing flames.
She held her hands out in front of her, and in the space between her palms, another glowing ball of spectral fire emerged, pulsing brighter than the others. It slowly hovered forwards, drifting around in the air like a dog pacing with its nose to the ground. Finally, it picked a course and as if carried on an ethereal wind, drifted off towards the tree line.
She crossed the pond, following the glow of her spell. As her sandals stepped back onto the rocks with a dull clack, she turned to the man once more. “If you want to find her you better keep up, human.”
Shaking himself, Kishisada jogged the water’s edge, catching up with his mysterious guide, and realizing he still held his blade, reluctantly returned it to its scabbard.
* * * * * * * * *
The two disappeared into the foliage, following the lead of the dancing blue flame. Thanks to the kitsunebi still suspended around the woman, Kishisada was able to see the ground for once, but gingerly stepping over root, rock and all manner of terrain was proving no easy task. He struggled to keep up with her, who despite the long trailing cloth of her kimono somehow managed to effortlessly hop between tree root and step from rock to rock. Her flowing sleeves fluttered behind her as she walked with a grace no mortal woman could muster.
After walking in silence for what could have been an hour, she threw her voice behind her. “So… is this your daughter?”
“…No… but its someone’s…”
“Then why do you care? You don’t smell like you’re from these parts, why are you so incessant on finding her?”
“Of course I care! I… I just do. Now keep walking.”
The fox scoffed to herself. “Well then you’re either the bravest or the stupidest human I’ve ever seen, wandering into the forest at night, after the meaningless life of a child still young enough to be at the mercy of the gods.”
“What do you know! You're not even human, so how could you understand us, butt the hell out!”
She stopped in her tracks, perching motionlessness atop a rock too steep for Kishisada to even step on. “Know nothing about humans? Me?” She turned to face him.
He, stopping to avoid stumbling in to her, raised his head, ready to yell once more, but was rendered speechless.
Her eyes, a blue more striking than the crisp autumn sky, glistened with tears. Her soft lips twisted with hate as she stared down at him. “My clan lived in these woods for centuries, only to be hunted by your kind. Don’t tell me I know nothing of the twisted machinations of you humans.”
Kishisada tried opening his mouth to protest but his words caught in his throat.
“You humans, who would cling so desperately to your hollow seat of power even if it meant plunging these lands into civil war. You humans who would, without a second thought, kill one another to the last man in the name of what, honour? Don’t make me laugh. Your kind makes me sick.”
The night air once more lay still. Tears streaked down the face of the Fox, looking down at the speechless wanderer, her contempt burning a hole in his chest.
She cast her gaze skyward, staring longingly at the moon. “…But how could a warrior like you care for the life of a Fox. All you care about is your petty reward and empty titles adorning the name of your house.”
Her words dug deeply into Kishisada’s heart. Her tears weighed heavily on his eyes, pulling them down to the dark forest earth.
“I’m no warrior…. so don’t lump me with bastards like that…” He spoke softly at first, but as the words left his mouth, he felt he could no longer hold his emotions in check. “And don’t think that you’re the only one who’s lost something! I held my daughter in my arms as she died, shot by an arrow from samurai drunk with ambition and blinded by greed! I stared into the flames and the charred remains of my house, where my wife’s body lay trapped, left to die, so don’t lecture me on loss, Fox!”
The man’s tear-filled words echoed into the night, bringing the woman’s eyes down upon him once more. The contempt lining her gaze was replaced with a look of reluctant understanding. She opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated.
“And I know it was a death wish to run into the forest before nightfall, but I can’t just sit by and let that girl die like this!”
She turned away from him, back towards the swaying fox-fire, awaiting its master. “… Saving this girl won’t bring back your daughter you know…”
“I know that! I—”
“It wasn’t your fault… that they died…” Her words were flat, but for the first time, Kishisada felt a subtle sense of compassion from the mysterious Fox.
She continued walking ahead, not waiting for him to follow.
* * * * * * * * *
They moved in silence for quite some time, going deeper and deeper into the woods. The terrain grew more mountainous, and Kishisada kept wondering what would have possessed the girl to have gone so deep into the forest alone. Emerging from the trees once more, they stood in front of an old rope bridge. It extended the width of a deep chasm, a stream rushing down below, presumably connected to the waterfall.
“Monks once walked this path to a shrine not far from here. They abandoned it not long ago… when the mononoke started growing restless. When the war broke out between the North and South.”
The wanderer reached out and tugged at the rope. It was old, but seemed secure. He peered over the edge once more, before gingerly stepping onto the swaying wooden planks.
Already many paces ahead of him, the woman turned. “Whats that matter, human, afraid of heights?”
He scowled. “I have a name you know. Kishisada, Ishida Kishisada.”
“Good for you, Ishida Kishisada-kun. Now keep up if you want to make it to the shrine before sunrise. The girl you seek has undoubtedly found her way there.” Her eyes looked forward across the bridge into the forest. Her brow furrowed with concern.
“Why would she go all the way there on her own? How even? I barely made it into the forest once night fell without being chased by the mononoke. How could a little girl—”
“She’s been possessed, theres no question about it. Why, I don’t know, but if we don’t hurry, it may be too late.”
Kishisada gritted his teeth and doubled his pace. He looked silently down at the rushing stream below. His hands tightened around the ropes suspended across the chasm. “So, what do I call you anyway?”
The fox raised an eyebrow, tilted her head and looked back at him, her wooden sandals finding the soft earth at the other side of the bridge with ease.
“A name. Surely you have one, right? I’ve told you mine, whats yours”
The woman laughed. “Of course I have one. Whats it to you?”
Having kept his eyes fixed on the swaying planks for balance, the man looked up at her, surprise written across his face. “To me? nothing, its just… I don't want to keep calling you ‘Fox’, that’s all.”
“And if I refuse to tell you? Will you threaten me with the destruction of my hoshi no tama?” The woman turned fully, arms flung down at her sides.
“Threaten you? What? No! …Look, I just want to know who you are, what’s so wrong about that?”
Again, she laughed. “A human, wanting to know me? Now thats a laugh… All you need to know is that my kind was once loved by the humans of this province, but because we were too… naive, I’m all thats left!”
“… Thats…”
“What? ‘Thats so sad?’ Don’t make me laugh. I don’t want your pity. That’s the cold hard truth. I’m a monster and I live alone in the forest so I can be free of the scorn of your kind.”
“I don’t think you’re a monster…” Kishisada’s voice rang through the air, its softness catching the woman off guard. “I don't think you're a monster…”
She opened her mouth to scorn him but stopped as her cheeks reddened with a familiar, embarrassing warmth.
“A woman as beautiful as you can’t be a monster… I mean… you’re not human, that’s true, but a monster… no, you’re too kind for that.”
She turned from him. Kind. A word she had only heard, never spoken. Her world was cruel, unforgiving and cold. There was no way she could be described as kind. No way. She moved towards the forest.
“But in any case, your name. What is—”
Barely able to finish his sentence, Kishisada’s foot pressed down against a loose board and in an instant, his leg plunged through the bridge, his weight pulling him down through the gaping hole.
Frantically, he cried out, arms flailing, grabbing for the ropes, but his fingers merely grazed the surface. He fell.
He felt a weightless sensation, a rush of wind, and the sinking fear that he was about to die. His eyes jammed shut.
He felt a sharp tug and the familiar sensation of fingers, tight like steel wrapped around his hand. He opened his eyes, and above him, gripping the planks with a clawed hand was the woman. Through gritted teeth, she strained to support his weight, doing her best to keep her claws from digging into his flesh.
Kishisada was in shock. The beautiful pale face of his guide, always so cold and distant, contorted as she strained herself to pull him up.
“Are you just going to… hang there, or are you going to… pull yourself up?” She groaned through gritted teeth.
He narrowed his eyes, threw his free arm up to hers, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and pulled with all his might.
Together, after a painfully slow moment, they fell back onto the bridge, lying next to each other, panting.
Kishisada wrapped his hands around the ropes and carefully lifted himself to his feet, still in shock that not only moments ago, he could have fallen to his death, but more so that she was there to save him. “I-I… thanks… you saved—”
“Please. I only saved you because you have my jewel. Thats all.” She stepped back over the bridge, not looking back as she spoke.
He followed quickly, bending over and resting on his knees once his feet felt the comfort of solid ground.
“Its Tamako… by the way.”
He looked up, eyes resting on her long flowing hair, red like the fur of a fox as it rested on the elegant silk of her kimono.
“My name, that is.”
Again, even if just for a moment, Kishisada felt a glimmer of humanity in her voice. A gentle hint of fragility, like a snowflake perched on a finger, ready to melt at any moment.
“Now be quick about it, sunrise can’t be far off, and the shrine is just through here.”
Pushing the branch of a low hanging maple aside, Kishisada squinted up ahead. The shrine the fox had mentioned earlier was certainly bigger than he had imagined. Its low walls stretched a considerable distance, their white facade stained with dirt and grime, and missing tiles plagued the roof as if the building itself were afflicted by some kind of malignant disease.
Tamako pushed past him, not wasting any time. “Make haste, the girl is inside the main building of the shrine. I can sense her presence.” The kitsune’s sandals gingerly padding across the soft ground, and with a single graceful motion, she took to the air, leaping up onto the slanted tiles of the wall.
Kishisada watched in awe as her kimono seemed to hang in mid air, fluttering gently in the wind as she leapt higher than any human could. Her body straightened, and with the moon perched behind her, casting its subtle glow over the ears resting atop her head, he once again was captivated by her beauty.
She turned and held out a hand, beckoning him to follow her.
Nodding, the man readied himself, before running as fast as he could towards the wall, leaping, pressing the worn straw of his waraji sandals against the aging wall, and threw his arm up towards her extended hand.
Once more, she caught him, and pulled him up.
From their perch, Kishisada let his eyes roam the courtyard. Weeds sprung up from the stone walkway, the trees, once pruned immaculately now lay wild and overgrown, and cobwebs could be seen hanging between the rafters of the main building.
Hopping down on the other side, Tamako watched her flame flutter off in the direction of the main building, and immediately, with a wave of her hand, dismissed it. “Be on your guard, something isn’t right about this place…”
Landing with a much greater thud, the wanderer slide his sword free from its scabbard. They had come this far together, he wasn’t going to let himself be killed now.
The two companions walked the creaking wooden steps leading to the main room, and with a shudder, managed to slide the wooden door open, its white paper windows yellowed and torn.
Kishisada strained his eyes, peering into the darkness of the wide open room. He tried to tread lightly, but each passing footfall creaked the splintering floorboards.
Acknowledging their need for light, Tamako lit a single kitsunebi, keeping it hovering above her open palm like a lantern.
There, kneeling as if locked in prayer at the other side of the room sat a young girl, her clothing slightly tattered and her feet still dirty, no doubt from traversing the forest paths.
The wanderer, overcome with joy cried out to her, and ran ahead, eager to scoop her up and be free of this place.
Tamako, catching a foul scent on the air, paused. Her ears twitched and she could feel the fur on her tail stand on end. Something was wrong.
She leapt forward, grabbing Kishisada by the collar of his kosode shirt, yanking him backwards. “Watch out! There’s danger!”
Falling backwards at the perfect time, a thin, almost invisible thread shot out, imbedding itself in the wooden floor where he stood only a moment ago.
“W-what’s going on…” The man’s eyes grew wide. The closer he looked at the girl across from him, the more he noticed them. Thin, web-like strands, snaking all across her body, trailing up towards the ceiling.
The pair looked up into the darkness of the rafters, and even though the bluish glow of the fox-fire held in the woman’s hand barely reached, they could see the faint, inhuman movements of a beast with many legs.
A monstrous hiss filled their ears, and with a gust of foul air circling through the room, the wooden door, previously stiff with age and neglect, slid shut with a loud bang. They were trapped.
They could hear the sickeningly gentle sounds of hundreds of tiny feet scurrying all around them, and looking frantically from side to side, they saw the tiny black forms of hundred of spiders crawling down, circling, closing in around them.
“On your feet! Quickly!” Tamako spun so her back faced his, not waiting for him to rise from the floor. She extended her claws, and in an instant, the air around her became filled with sputtering blue orbs of fire.
Kishisada quickly readied his blade, holding the curved tachi in front of him. His eyes darted from left to right. Fear gripped him. What could could a sword do against so many hundred of tiny bodies?
Closing her eyes and whispering arcane words her companion could barely hear, the fox whipped her hands from left to right, raking the air with her claws. Her beautiful silk sleeves fluttering behind her, drawing a continuous wave of cloth around her body.
Obeying her command, the wisps shot out in a wide arc in front of her, slamming into the walls, erupting in a shower of sputtering blue flames. They incinerated any spider they touched, but there were simply too many to keep up with.
It was hopeless. The man knew this, and despite the efforts of his companion to clear away the beasts that surrounded them, there was little she could do. Steeling his courage, he charged headfirst through the room.
Ignoring the shifting, crawling wave that carpeted the floor, he headed straight for the girl. If he could just cut her free, they could break through the door, or force their way though a crack somewhere. Something, anything was better than being eaten alive by wave after wave of spider!
He crushed countless underfoot, but countless more began crawling up his legs, biting into his flesh. He winced but refused to slow, and with a wide sweeping motion, he severed the strands above the girls head.
Like a puppet free from its master’s grasp, the girl slumped down to the floor, scooped up into Kishisada’s arm. She was limp, but from what he could tell, still lived.
“I've got her, we need to hurry! Find a way out!” He dashed over to a wall and battered the wooden doors with the pommel of his blade. They rattled in their track, but refused to budge. It was no use.
Seeing the endless wave of spiders shifting direction towards her companion, Tamako cursed loudly, and slammed her palms together in front of her. Crying out in a language Kishisada assumed only known to kitsune, she threw he arms apart, and a tidal wave of blue flames swept the ground, crashing against the wall where he stood.
The screech of dying spider was painfully audible, but miraculously, the flames that washed over the man’s body were painless. He noticed the spiders latched firmly onto his clothing sputter into cinders and fall harmlessly to the ground around him.
The woman, smiling through the corner of her mouth, collapsed onto one knee. Her palm braced her body against her knee, fox-like red hair falling in front of her face. “That… should do it.” Her voice was weak with exhaustion. Her magic seemed to take a toll on her body.
Kishisada ran towards her, cradling the limp girl in his left, his sword in his right. But before he could make it to the centre of the room, a sinister cackle filled the air.
“To think that my babies would be taken care of so easily… I misjudged you, kitsune.”
The man paused and threw his head left and right, searching for the noise.
Through clenched teeth, Tamako spat “Kishisada! Above you!”
And in that moment, before he had a chance to react, a white strand flew like an arrow, slamming into the man’s shoulder. It clung to his body right though the cloth of his shirt like a barbed hook, and with a sharp tug, he was sent flying through the air, careening into the door they had entered through.
His body went numb, his head smacking hard against the solid wood. The girl slid from his arms, and his broken body crumpled in a heap against the wall.
The woman cried out as she saw him thrown, stretching an arm out futilely trying to catch him from where she struggled to catch her breath. She cursed and looked up, watching as the ceiling seemed to shift, and a colossal spider lowered itself from the rafters.
“Silly me, silly me. Oh well, I won’t make the same mistake twice.” The spider’s words grated on the woman’s ears. It’s high-pitch chattering was barely intelligible, through the eager movements of its hairy mandibles.
It stood taller than any man, wider than any cart, its legs as thick as tree trunks and its large black eyes the size of a human head. It laughed, moving slowly towards the defenceless fox.
With a groan, Kishisada forced his eyes open. He tried to move, but the pain in his side caused him to cry out. This time his ribs must have snapped. He clawed a hand at the floorboards, watching the beast slide across the floor towards the woman. His voice was weak and hoarse, and every word rasped from his damaged lungs. “T…Tamako! Run!”
He strained ever fibre of his body, praying to the buddha, to the kami of the forest, to anything he could think of, to give him the strength to stand once more. Through gritted teeth, leaning against the tip of his blade, which by some miracle remained clenched in his fist, Kishisada rose to his feet.
“Poor, poor girl. She prayed to the kami of the forest, thinking they would keep her village safe from the flames of war… Its so sweet I could almost shed a tear.” The spider drew up over its prey, its mandibles furiously fidgeting, able to taste the flesh of the woman kneeling before it.
“Luring it into my web was all too easy, all too easy. But to think that you would come to my nest and interfere with my dinner, foolish, foolish fox!” The spider raised a gargantuan limb and slammed it down over the back of its prey. She collapsed under its weight, howling in pain.
“You should have left well enough alone, yes you should have. I’ll make sure to take my time and enjoy feasting on your bones!”
Enthralled by its prey, the spider failed to notice the hunched form of the man as he rose off the ground, and ran towards it. But, once the spider heard the thud of his straw sandals across the splintering floorboards it was too late.
With a piercing cry, the man thrust his blade into one of the bulbous black eyes of the beast, causing it to reel backwards in shrieking agony. Its thrashing was almost enough to wrench his hands from the hilt of his tachi, but through gritted teeth he clung to it.
“You’re mine, you monster!” The man, not born a warrior, nor having killed a man before in his life, dragged the tip of the blade through the beast’s flesh, carving its way out the bottom of its head.
The spider leapt backwards, slamming into the rear wall, freeing the fox from under its grasp.
Tamako looked up at the man, bent over her, hand on her shoulder, tugging at her kimono.
“Tamako, Tamako! Come on, snap out of it! We need to go!” His voice sounded distant, and her body felt weak beyond belief.
Before he had time to raise his head, the spider was upon them. Flailing its limbs at the man once more, he was unable to duck under the blow, and was knocked backwards. He let out a gasp as the wind left his body. He bounced against the floor, sword flung from his grasp and blood seeping through the folds of his kosode.
The world slowly faded into blackness and Kishisada’s body went limp. His grasping hand relaxed and fell loosely to the floor beside him, motionless.
Tamako’s eyes slowly began to focus on the blurred shape of her companion. She could smell the blood seeping out of his body and slipping through the cracks of the floor. She could hear his breathe grow faint and finally stop. She could even, with the aide of her animalistic senses, hear the gentle thud of his heart, finally subside. Her eyes grew wide, she slipped onto all fours and once more, as if caught in a gust of ethereal wind, her fox-like hair fluttered around her slumped form.
With a thundering shriek, the colossal spider that loomed over the fallen body of the fox was blown back by an invisible wave of force. It scrambled to regain its balance, but before it had a chance to react, the woman had already begun to move.
Her blue eyes streaked with tears. The shrieks and mingled curses of the spider fell on deaf ears. All she could hear was Kishisada’s soft voice through the night air. “…You’re too kind for that…”
With a howl, she raked her claws through the air in front of the spider, in a wide arc all the way down to the floorboards. Blue glowing flame tore through its rank flesh and shattered the wood, sending a shower of splinters in all directions.
Paying the rips and tears in her clothing no heed, Tamako continued her rampage, swinging wildly, left, right, up, down. She was going to kill the beast, no matter what. Her head filled with rage, her eyes constantly seeing flashes of that idiot of a man.The uncharacteristically gentle smile that spread across his face as they talked, the look of fear in his eyes as he dangled from the bridge. The steely resolution burning inside him as he plunged his sword into the spider.
She was going to kill it. No matter what.
I’m dead. The only though left in Kishisada’s head as he felt the last breath escape his lips. He could feel his heart stop beating, and in a moment of infinite stillness, he closed his eyes. So this was how he was going to meet his end…
He tried to smile and give a greeting to his wife and daughter. He was coming to see them, but the only image that he could conjure to mind was the piercing blue stare of the fox woman. The only name that could escape his lips was Tamako. The liquid-smooth feeling of her silk kimono, the soft tenderness of her lips, and the glistening tears that fell from her cheeks, betraying her strong facade, revealing her humanity.
He, feeling his existence in a world of endless white, curled into a ball.
He was going to die, he was going to die having brought her with him. He was going to let another person die while powerless to do anything about it. Regret washed over him in a wave of tears.
As his mind began to slip, and the world became foggy, he felt a warm, calming sensation coming from inside the fold of his shirt. Moving his limbs, he reached in and pulled out the orb he had taken from his companion earlier that night, the hoshi no tama.
There, amidst the endless white, he could feel the glow of the orb pulse outwards, engulfing him, filling him with a radiant warmth. He could feel breath enter his lungs and a hammering in his chest. He could feel sensation return to his body, and slowly, the white receded and he was greeted by the stench of death and the sounds of battle.
From the corner where Kishisada lay, the glowing of the orb streaked outwards, its rays piercing the shadows in even the highest corners of the room.
The spider shrieked, pushing back its assailant and covering its eyes.
Tamako spun towards it, holding a sleeve up to shield herself. “The hoshi no tama… Kishisada!”
Pulled to his feet by unseen strings, the man regained consciousness. He put a hand over his ribs that once lay broken, but felt no pain. The wound that stained his kosode had vanished.
He looked to his left, his tachi, the last remaining memento from his village, lay snapped in two. It was more than enough. He reached out and grasped the worn hilt with both hands, looking tenderly at the cracking tsuba.
He smiled, remembering the day he had purchased it, the smile on his wife’s face as he pulled it from its scabbard, promising to keep her safe. He smiled, and watched as the memory receded, and his eyes refocused on the colossal spider writhing in pain before him.
“Tamako!” His roar reverberated through the room, his feet sliding into a warrior’s stance.
“Right!” His companion regained her composure, and with a fierce howl, threw herself against the spider once more. Her claws met its hairy tree-trunk legs, digging into its flesh.
Her feet, one missing its ornate wooden sandal, dug into the wooden floor, the boards cracking and giving way under the force of the battle raging on.
Through gritted teeth, and with a surge of renewed strength behind her, the fox heaved the spider backwards, pushing it off balance, exposing its soft underbelly. “Kishisada, now!”
Her cry was met with the thunder of his feet. The wanderer hurtled himself towards the beast, and with every ounce of his strength, plunged the broken blade into its abdomen.
The spider’s piercing cry was deafening, but unfazed, Kishisada met it with a war cry of his own, grasping the blade’s hilt tightly, pulling down with all his might, slowly but surely rending the flesh of the spider, gutting it, and finally silencing its foul voice once and for all.
As the last painful sound left the beast’s lips, its limbs curled in towards its body violently, and with a shudder, a wave of human skulls poured from its open wound.
Kishisada was barely able to avoid being buried alive, a familiar sensation tugging at his collar, sending him falling onto his back.
On the floor, he looked up and standing over him, illuminated by the faint blue glow of her kitsunebi, knelt Tamako. Her crisp blue eyes filled with tears, and were it not for the red ears perched atop her head, anyone would have mistaken the quivering softness of her lips and immaculate beauty of her skin to belong to the most noble of women.
He coughed, and before he had a chance to speak her name, the beautiful fox bent down and kissed him.
Prepared to push all of his weight against the thick wooden door, Kishisada heaved, only to be swept off balance as it slid effortlessly through the track on the floor, as if magically repaired.
The dawns first rays poked through the foliage surrounding the remote forest shrine, and together, wanderer and guide, sleeping child in arm, stepped out into the cool morning air and breathed deeply.
Before their eyes, the weeds began to shrink back into the earth, the cobwebs infesting the rafters and even the dirt on the white walls of the compound, all began to recede.
“The evil that hung over this place is starting to dissipate…” Tamako’s nose sniffed the air, her eyes closed. A smile spread across her face. “Maybe now the monks will return.”
“And maybe the spirits of the forest will be at peace…” Kishisada chimed in, looking down at the girl cradled in his arms. Beyond a few rips and scratches, she lay unharmed, her innocent face unmarred by the battle that had raged on not an hour ago.
The fox bit her lip and looked away. “If only that were true…” She looked off into the distance, in the direction of the village. “So long as the hearts of men are filled with greed and hatred…”
She turned to face her companion, sadness in her eyes. “… The spirits of the land won’t be at peace.”
The man could feel his fist tighten. He looked at his feet, toenails chipped and sandals barely still strung together. “Are we truly so petty, that we would fight and fight and fight… until there is nothing left but ash? Are we that pitiable, us humans…”
A soft hand brushed up against his fist, intertwining its fingers with his.
He looked up and straight into the the eyes of the fox, feeling her gaze look straight through him once again. She was smiling.
“Not all men are bad…”
The two walked the forest path mostly in silence, stopping only at the edge of the woods, within view of the village. Kishisada, a few paces ahead turned and noticed she had stopped walking.
Leaning her hand against a tree trunk, the woman looked off into the distance longingly. “You know I can’t come with you…” Her words lost themselves in the morning breeze, muffled by the rustling of leaves and the sway of the trees.
Kishisada tenderly lay the village girl down on the grass and walked towards the woman, slowly. He slipped his hand under hers and held her.
She tried to avoid his gaze, feeling a familiar warmth in her cheeks.
“I lost my family to the war. I thought… I thought that there was nothing left for me in this life, so I wandered. I walked from village to village, eking out what meager existence I could. I thought I had lost everything, and that no matter where I went, or what I did, I would never find anything worth living for.”
Tamako could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She knew what he was trying to say, and it moved her, but she knew his words were nothing but a fantasy. No good could come of their union. A human and a… a monster, could never be together. “Please… I… I—”
Not letting her finish, Kishisada squeezed her hands tighter. “I thought that I had to atone for my past. I blamed myself for my weakness, for not being able to save my family.” He paused and moved until he caught her eyes. “You showed me the truth. You saved me. Your light gave me a second chance.”
He reached into his shirt and pulled out the shimmering white orb, as immaculate as it had been when he first laid eyes on it.
“I love you, Tamako.” He watched as tears rolled down the woman’s cheeks. She had never imagined, never dared to dream, that a mere human would be able to accept her, to see her as anything but a beast.
Unable to hold back any longer, the fox leapt into the arms of her companion, burying her face into his neck. They stood there in embrace for quite some time. Long enough for the village girl to awaken from her slumber, rub her eyes and pass off the night’s adventure as little more than a bad dream.
Watching her scamper off along the road home, the two lovers looked back into each others eyes.
Moving ahead, in the direction the girl had run, Kishisada pulled Tamako by the hand.
“Lets go home.”
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