Kitsune: The Beginning

A tragedy in the woods conducted by a series of armed men travelling across the lands to find its prey. The prey that could only be found in Hillington’s Woods, is known by legend as the Moonlight Hunter. With its white fur and extreme predatory instincts, it has claimed many victims from huntsmen to families. Many sightings of this creature have appeared online, tarnishing the reputation of Hillington’s Woods. The public and rangers were drawn away from the woods, fearing for their lives. The government had dispatched skilled army men to investigate the woods but they had returned with nothing but their tents and water. No corpses were found and no creature was sighted or sensed, so they closed down the woods, hoping it would deter those who seek out the famed creature. They condemned the woods and had made countless investigations in it, but all of them came out empty. Until, the year 2018, the men who paraded themselves as the Journeymen, caught the Moonlight Hunter.

“The Moonlight Hunter, huh?” I looked back at my supervisor, Joseph, as he though out loud. “A creature straight out of fairy tales, they said.”

I looked to the creature that was sound asleep in a glass cage. It was just like what the report said, a creature who’s fur was as silver as moonlight. It had 5 tails, and was shaped like a fox. A creature of pure mythic. I stared in awe of the creature and beheld its magnificence. The creature awoke suddenly, and turned its head towards me. I flinched, did it sense my astonishment? The fox then looked to its new surroundings, seemingly studying the ins and outs of this confinement unit. It placed its paw onto the glass casing of the cage. The fox looked to me and stared intently, a chill ran down my spine. Its yellowish eyes pierced through my soul, as I feel myself being trapped in its gaze. A voice, no less than a whisper, alluring me to the fox, enchanting my very existence to its core. I find myself moving slowly towards the glass cage, there was something it wanted from me and I had to give it to it. I felt a hefty weight on my shoulder, and I snapped back to reality. I turned around to see Joseph staring at me with a curious yet concerned gaze.

“Hailey, are you alright?” Joseph’s fatherly voice spoke.

“Y..yes, I just feel a bit… light-headed…”

Joseph’s gaze turned into a look of intrigue as he seemingly scanned the look on my face. After a moment of silence, Joseph returned to his normal bubbly self.

“Well, we have lots of time to study this creature and I need you to be in tip-top shape! So, get lots of rest! For now, we’ll give this big guy a break.”

The fox snarled and we turned around to see it curling up into a resting position.

“Looks like IT got offended.” Joseph laughed.

Joseph waddled off to the door. I gave the creature one last look before following Joseph to the break room.

The break room was empty, no one was here. Joseph went to the counter and poured himself a cup of coffee. I walked towards the middle of the room where the coffee table was and sat down on the coach. After pouring his coffee, Joseph turned to me and threw a file in front of me. Joseph gestured me to read it, and I did as told.

“Inside contains all the knowledge gathered from this creature over the years, as you can see, we do not know a lot of about it.”

I flipped through the file, there were pictures of the area where the creature was hiding, a cave in the woods.

“It’s strange, it isn’t like a fox. There were no claw marks on the trees near that very cave, and as I went into it, there were no signs that it was feeding in it.”

I flipped to another page, a rock of some sort that had carvings ridden all over it. Joseph sipped his coffee and gave me a moment to review the content in the file. It wasn’t long before I finished looking over the details. I stared at Joseph, and he gave a knowing look.

“This fox has remained elusive for 3 whole years, carefully hiding its tracks and making sure its existence isn’t known,” Joseph spoke as he placed his coffee down, “it has the intelligence of a modern human and seems to understand human speech, this is no ordinary creature.”

“A fox with human intelligence and a cunning of a fox, sounds like the Kitsune in Japanese mythology…” I spoke out loud.

“Exactly, we are dealing with a potential mythical creature here and we have to be cautious.”

“How many people know?”

Joseph’s eyes averted mine, “Only us, and the government.”

I returned to the compound where the fox was waiting patiently, its eyes seemingly glued to the door. It emanated an aura that filled the air and gave me a rather curious glance. I met its gaze, acknowledging it. I began walking towards it while remembering the instructions given to me, I was to examine and study this creature while Joseph went away on an errand. I neared the glass cage, expecting a reaction from the creature, but I was only met with a cold and calm gaze. It seemed confident about something, but what? Before I knew it, I was standing right in front of it, and it was staring straight at me with that elegant look. I took in a deep breath, and began taking down the down the details of its anatomy. I took out a pen and noticed a slight change in me, my hand was trembling, and I couldn’t think straight. No information was passing through my head. I instinctively looked at the creature standing before me, and realised what was going on. I was being intoxicated. The creature was ready to leave, and all it needed was someone to be here. My body moved on its own accord as I slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

I was awakened to the sound of birds chirping and morning dew covering my body. The bright sun greeted me with its flares as I slowly rose up from my slumber. I turned to my surroundings, trying to figure out where on the world I was. An abundance of trees surrounded me. As I scanned my surroundings, I heard a soft humming coming from my left. I stood up and cautiously walked towards the sound. I brushed aside the wild bushes and was met with a lake. The sun shone on the water surface making the lake sparkle enchantingly. I looked towards the direction of humming and found a young woman, bathing in the light. However, this woman was no human, fox-like ears were sticking out of her silver hair and she had white fluffy tails protruding from her back. I took a step forward and a *crack* echoed through the air. The woman turned towards me and I instinctively ducked for cover. The sound of water moving captured my attention, the woman had noticed me, but after a short while, it stopped and silence followed. I popped my head from the hiding spot and scanned the area for the woman. She was gone. I turned around and I knocked straight into a fleshy object. I flinched and fell backwards. I looked up to see what had blocked my path, but it was not and object, but a woman soaked from head to toe. She had the same distinct features as the woman from the lake. I looked at her in fear as she stared at me sternly. After a moment tension, she starts to giggle uncontrollably.

“I didn’t take you for such a pervert, Hailey. Spying on a lady while she’s taking a bath.”

I looked at her in bewilderment. Her giggling stopped as she extended her hand out for me. I hesitantly accepted it as I rose cautiously from the ground. The woman had amber coloured eyes with sharp pupils, her face even had whiskers running across her cheek. As I stared curiously into the details of her face, the woman smiled sheepishly.

“Don’t stare too much, dear, your soul will get lost in it.”

I took a step back and flinched. The woman laughed heartily and signalled me to follow her. Seeing how I had nowhere to go, I followed warily. She led me towards a clearing in the forest where a strikingly familiar cave resided. A cave that confirms my suspicions on who this woman is. As obvious as it was, how was it possible for a creature of that size to turn into a woman?

“It is Magic my dear, the very essence of all creatures!”

I snapped out of my train of thought, and looked at the woman.

“What?”

“Yes, I have transformed into another being through Magic!”

Did she just read my mind?

“Yes, Hailey, I did just read your mind.”

I looked at her with a dumbfounded gaze as she giggled girlishly.

“H-How? I-I mean, what?”

“Magic!”

“I know its Magic, but how the hell did you obtain such a power?”

“it isn’t a power, sweetie, its sort of like a, how would you humans call it. A spell! Yes, a spell. I could read your mind through a spell!”

I turned my back towards her.

This isn’t going anywhere, I thought.

“Aw, but we were having so much fun!”

I glanced back at her, once more, realising that she was still reading my mind.

“Right, could you turn off that mind-reading spell thingy.”

“Why, of course, but could you please take off your clothes, I would like to see if I got my breasts right.”

I flustered and flinched.

“No way in hell, am I going to do that!”

The fox laughed teasingly.

“Alright, alright, dear, don’t need to be so shy!”

The fox turned her back towards me.

“Besides, I’ve already checked how big you are.”

The fox then walked off, laughing triumphantly. Meanwhile, my face grew beet red, realising that I had been violated of my personal space. So, I chased after her in a fury.

“Alright, fox, where did you come from?” I asked angrily as I caught up.

“I came from a place called, Val’Kalar, or in your tongue, Valikier.”

“So what is that place supposed to be? Your home or something.”

“Well, it’s a place where all my people roam and live in, so I guess you could call it my home.”

“Well then, fox, how the hell did you obtain this ‘Magic’?”

The fox looked at me blankly.

“Didn’t I tell you? Magic is the essence of every lifeform, without it you and I wouldn’t be standing here today.”

I stared at her in confusion. Realising that I still didn’t understand what this ‘Magic’ is, she gave up explaining to me. The fox stopped at the entrance of the cave, opening her arms in the form of a hug.

“Here it is!”

She turned and gave me a welcoming gesture.

“Welcome to my humble abode!”

Before I could say anything else, she grabbed my hand and dragged me into the cave. As I was pulled along the damp cave floor, I caught a glimpse of a light shining through the darkness. The light grew brighter and brighter, almost blindingly. Then, in a flash of light, we were transported into a mystical land that glowed a pale green. The land resembled a meadow of sorts, with butterflies and flowers claiming the landscape. The smell of pollen filled the air, signifying a sense of spring. It was surreal. How did this even appear? What kind of power does she have?

“Beautiful, isn’t it.” The fox smiled, as she noticed my awe.

I nod my head in agreement.

“Well, I did a great job didn’t I? I made an exact replica of my own home!” The fox declared with pride.

“How did you manage to make something like this out of thin air? It’s like a whole new dimension.”

The fox, satisfied with my growing curiosity, brought me further into the world. We had arrived in the centre, as I noticed a glowing blue crystal etched into the ground. I immediately went closer to inspect it, trying to figure out how it works.

“This crystal here is made of pure Magic, a perfect conductor to fulfil any sort of task involving spells. With this, all I needed to do was imbue my memory of my homeland into it and cast an illusion spell. The result is what you see here.”

I was amazed, this crystal could do so much for humanity, it could power up entire cities, or even send a rocket to the moon with just a single piece!

“Unfortunately, no, you can’t do that. The crystal only reacts to Magic and nothing else, and looking at how your people haven’t even come close to being in touch with your own magic, I doubt you would be able to use it at all for the few centuries.”

I looked at her, forgetting again that she could read my mind.

“Way to crush my dreams.” I said, demoralised.

“Well, better to tell you now than to have you steal it while I wasn’t looking.”

I groaned at her as she smiled sheepishly.

As I got up, I looked to her direction examining her from head to toe.

“Okay, Fo-“

“Before you ask, could you please stop calling me that, that words is sort of… racist of in my world.”

“Okay… What do I call you then?”

The fox looked to the sky as she thought of a name.

“Hmmm… How about… Shiro?”

“Shiro?”

“Yeah! Shiro means white in Japanese, and they have a folklore that revolves around a fox-like ghost. It sounds like a perfect fit since my hair and tails are white.”

“Alright then, Shiro, why did you come here?”

Shiro looked at me in a confused manner.

“Why wouldn’t I come here? This is my home. Did you expect me to sleep in that stinky old cave?”

“No I mean, why come here, to Earth?”

Shiro’s gaze turned from a playful one into a morbid one.

“I was.. chased away from my home….”

Shiro looked down at her feet.

“My people pride themselves as the masters of Magic, and we have rules to keep us from doing any harm to our society. One of those rules was to never use spells on the other races that roamed the lands.”

Shiro then moved to the crystal, and touched it. The crystal reacted to her and produced an image of a fox girl.

“This cute girl here, is my sister. If only I could see her smile again.”

I walked to her side and sat down beside her. The girl in the image looked like she was 8.

“Bandits had been roaming the lands for a long time, waiting to capture a young Astrian for a huge amount of profit. Unfortunately for me, it just had to be my sister.”

The crystal moved to another image, just then, a man of the age of 22 appeared, smiling maniacally.

“This evil man here, was a nobleman of the famed Uluk race. The Uluk race is a similar to yours, just that they have 4 fingers instead of 5. This man wanted to harness the Magic within our race. Somehow, he had deduced that a young Astrian had the largest amount of Magic.”

The image transformed into one of a girl getting a tube stabbed into her.

“So, they had captured my sister, and sucked her of her Magic. If only I had been there sooner, I would have rescued her and prevented her death.”

I looked at Shiro, a solemn face replacing her playful demeanour.

“After that whole ordeal, all I could see was his head on a stake. I couldn’t remember what I did, but I came to his dismembered body tied to a cross. His head was in my hands, from what I remembered.”

The solemn Shiro, gave a saddening smile.

“After that, my race had exiled me from my home, and I managed to create a portal that allowed me to come here.”

Shiro turned her head to me while avoiding eye contact.

“You’re probably afraid of me, right?”

She was right, I am afraid of her. Afraid of what she would do if left alone. I grabbed her shoulder, and looked at her with the most confident gaze I’ve ever gave anyone. Shiro’s eyes reveals a moment of surprise followed by a comforted and relieved gaze.

“You’re a weird human…” Shiro mumbled.

As fast as a teenager on a mood swing, Shiro jumped out of her seat. Shiro then extended her hand out, offering me to follow her. Seeing as how I had no say in this, I accepted begrudgingly. As tradition, she dragged me along with her. After being wilfully dragged along, we had entered a forest where the trees were as high as the skies. In the centre, was a small community that housed the missing people in it. Shiro flamboyantly waltz into the community as they all cheered for her return.

“Master! You have returned!”

I looked to Shiro as she smiled sheepishly.

“Master?”

“Yeah, I kinda casted a charming spell on them to serve me and call me master.”

“Why?”

“Because, I’m lonely?”

“Shiro..”

“Alright, alright! I’ll break the spell.”

Shiro unwillingly snapped her fingers and the people immediately went limp. They fell to the floor, and remained unconscious. I looked at Shiro with an accusing look.

“What? All beings under the spell would fall asleep as soon as it’s broken.”

Shiro then started walking to the home in front of her. I followed her. As I entered the house, It was glazed with Medieval styled housing filled with mysterious ornaments. Shiro then went to a bed beside a wooden table and yawned. She stretched her arms as she yawned together with her fluffy ears that were on her head. I could not help but smile at how cute she looked as she did it. As she had yawned, she laid on the bed and immediately fell asleep. I sat down on the wooden chair at the dining table and pondered the events that had transpired today. I had met a shape shifting fox, made unconscious by it, woke up in a forest, and travelled into a illusion that seems all too real. What a day. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder, when will she go back home?

I looked at Shiro, snoozing comfortably.

“When will they come?” I mumbled to myself.