Chapter 2
It was within the week that Inasa had come clean of his sins to the priest. The priest was the oldest man of the village, as many didn’t live for longer than 50. The priest himself was on the verge of 80. Many questioned why he had lasted so long.. but his only answer was ever his long lasting love for his wife. Though she was long since dead, he claimed that she spoke to him every day and never failed to remind him of her love too. Dedication was only ever his answer. Dedication to love and their gods, which guided those who lived confident and proud lives to the afterlife… and doomed those who died believing they were sinners and wrongdoers to be devoured by the kitsune.
Inasa knew as much as the books in their library had to stay about the creatures that haunted the mountains. He’d done most of his studying when he had first befriended the red and white kitsune.. finding out what they ate and how exactly they lived. He’d come to discover that to maintain their physical forms they fed on the flesh of sinners— and their power fed off their lost souls. It was also believed that with each soul that a kitsune devoured, the lifespan of what that human would have had is added to their own. The books spoke of a hall that the kitsune carried around in their mouths that contained their life force. They called these mysterious balls star balls, as a man had once claimed that he could see the universe within the contents of the glass ball. It was said that if a human were to come into ownership of said ball, they could control the kitsune and its actions… or they could destroy it with a dagger made with the rock of a living volcano. That could also be used to stab it through the heart, which would kill it… but cutting off a kitsune heads and tails was what the men of the village were taught to do. The kitsune protected their star balls and hearts with everything they had.. they’d kill even the weakest if they were trying to kill them. Villages had been set aflame because someone had shattered the ball of kitsune.. as they didn’t die immediately. There was often a period of time between then and when a kitsune finally faded into oblivion.. in which it would return to the form of a normal fox and often be killed by the villagers. This was rare, however.. Sotheby’s most common method was cutting off its tails and the head.
Though the fox that Inasa had befriended only had five tails… meaning it hadn’t yet reached the age of 1,000. It wasn’t mature.. so it was like him, in a manner of speaking. They were both young and inexperienced.
Though Inasa’s anger hadn’t diminished within the week. The priest could do nothing but watch as the young man raged through the town, demanding the attention of the general.
He knew how to capture the beast.
They trap was set by sunset the next day,
Inasa would wait in their usual spot, sitting besides the trail in a patch of golden sunlight. He’d abandoned his katana at his home, leaving it with his mother at their home— which was filled with gifts from his father's colleagues and lined with flowers around the perimeter. It was the usual ritual when someone’s loved one died at the hands of a kitsune.
It was merely an hour before the familiar fox came trotting up, ears raised and eyes wide with a strange… happiness. It made Inasa's ears fill with rushing blood of anger, seeing it so Unphased after the carnage it had produced that night.
He stood as he saw it stop a few feet in front of him, holding out the usual jerky he brought for it with a light smile. “Hey… thank you.” He whispered, the kitsune sitting down in front of him with an almost.. smug cry look. It made him sick.
“You saved us.. you know. Me and my mom.” He chuckled, patting the kitsune’s head gently as he fed it the food. He knew the kitsune would let its guard down once the sedatives the elders had hidden in the meat kicked in.. and he’d be able to track the kitsune to its den.. and kill it in its sleep. He would return to his village victorious over the kitsune that stole his father's soul.
“You must be well fed after feasting on a soul such as his, kitsune… say, what did you do with his katana? You destroyed it, right?” He chuckled, doing his best to hide the burning anger behind his voice. He felt betrayed by the beast.. his chest aching with every passing moment of it being alive.
He smiled and stood up after a moment, the kitsune backing off as it finished the final piece of jerky. It stared up at him in expectancy if more, but the boy only smiled. “That’s all I had for today, fox.. I’ll bring some more for you tomorrow, eh?” He offered a few of the kitsune's tails waving back and work as a shrill sound filled its throat. If it hadn’t killed his father, Inasa would find the creature quite cute.
It’s small size, it’s widestaring eyes, the fur that seemed to glow at all times… yet Inasa had never been blessed with the pleasure to lie his eyes on its human form. He was glad though, most people who saw the human form of a kitsune died.. and Inasa couldn’t die without avenging his father.
When he pulled away, the creature took a few steps to follow him down the path, tiny paws silent against the hard dirt of the trail. It paused after a moment though, a wide yawn causing it to give a high whine before it turned and wandered off into the woods.
It was rather easy to track a sleepy kitsune, as Inasa came to realize. It didn’t cover its tracks, the fur reflecting the light off the forest floor onto the treetops as the sky grew darker and darker.
Inasa followed the kitsune all the way to an old abandoned temple. It was overgrown and in ruins, the pillars of the entryway long since collapsed to create a small, barely wide enough entrance for inasa to fit through. The rest of it was engraved with carvings of foxes, each telling a different story of how a kitsune had once killed a man… and the surrounding bushes did nothing to deter the fact that there had been many great feedings there. Bones of blithe big and small scattered around the path leading up to the entrance.
Within the entrance was a small decline of steps that opened up into a wide cavern. The floor of it had once been a pool made to throw offerings into, a large, granite carved kitsune standing in the middle of it. The water reflected the moonlight that poured in from the opening above the statue up onto the ceiling, creating a night sky of its own.
Inasa had stared for a moment before he followed the path to the right of the pool, following the paw prints in the dusty floor. It was strange.. most kitsune couldn’t stand dust where they were living.. things were usually tidy and neat.. which was partially correct, as the walls were lined with belongings of those lost souls the kitsune had devoured. It kept one thing from each as a token of its… appreciation, somehow. Inasa couldn’t comprehend how a kitsune could be thankful for taking the lives of innocent and brave men. He was one to think it was purely a selfish drive for power and wealth.
Though the many pieces of personal belongings that lined the walls were family paintings, nearly folded clothes of children, seashells and small fossils ones had gathered throughout their lives.. all lined nearly along the walls.
Though the ceilings were low, making it hard for Inasa to find his way to the main den… but when he arrived, it was no surprise.
It was filled with large ferns and moss beds.. a small stream running through the center. The glares of shattered class and other reflective materials shone like stars in the dark, the kitsune lying in the far back on a small raise of rock, a slight dip in the moss that covered the stone to conceal the kitsune just barely enough to go unnoticed.
Though as the edge of the mossy nest, something blue reflected in the light. It caught Inasa’s attention, his emotions finally locking in as he realized what it was.
His father's blade. It was still sheathed, lying there at the base of the nest. It was surrounded by crystals that descended in size from the biggest to the smallest.
The boy quickly retrieved the katana, pulling it from its sheath. He’d kill the beast with his father's blade to truly avenge him.
He would spill the blood from the neck of the beast with the blade of the very man it had killed.. how ironic. It brought a smile to Inasa’s face, a dark smirk as he gripped it in his sweaty palms and dirtied fingertips. It was the perfect weight, the blade freshly sharpened and cleaned somehow.. so it reflected Inasa’s dark eyes in the sharp and deadly steel.
“Prepare to take your last breaths, beast.”
The kitsune didn’t wake at the sound of the humans voice, it’s five tails curled around its body as it slept. It looked so peaceful, so comfortable… all snuggled up in a next of moss and leaves and torn pieces of clothes. It made him furious.
He gave a slight growl to himself, reaching in and grabbing the kitsune by the scruff of its neck as he held the katana up. He laughed at the sound it made, the strangled, surprised yip that echoed throughout the room. It was immediately awake, but discombobulated and confused. Panic.
Inasa couldn’t help but find it funny how such a being had killed his father, it was so small and helpless in this form. Not even a full kitsune yet and it had taken the many lives.
Though his pride faded as the fur in his hand came to a burn, making him sell the creature as it was suddenly engulfed in a bright, white light. It shifted and grew, limbs extending and muzzle shrinking to the features of a man— no, a boy.
He looked like a child, almost.
Inasa gripped his fathers katana in his hands, a smirk covering his lips. “You’re so small! How could something like you take down my fa-“ he didn’t get to finish his sentence as the kitsune tackled him back, knocking the wind out of Inasa as he hit the ground.
The kitsune sat on top of him, clawed hands around his neck as he started to speak.
“I saved you, boy!” He hissed, “Your father deserved to die… he was going to have sex with a child! It would just be another addition to his list of mistresses, though.. stupid boy. Couldn’t you see? You were next. Your poor mother couldn’t have done anything. I saved both of you.”
It wasn’t until it stopped speaking that Inasa realized the beauty it had. It’s eyes shone like diamonds, hair falling in silky looking locks over its eyes and scarred face. It’s skin looked like porcelain, stretching over plump cheeks and well built muscle across its body.. or what of it he could see. The kitsune wore a usual kimono, though the chest of it was loose and undone, the rest of it was nearly tied and clean. The five tails behind it waved wildly in anger too, fire lighting off the left side of its body in small puffs of flame.
“I should kill you right now, boy.”
The words knocked Inasa out of his trance, his grip returning on his katana as he came to slice it through the pale skin of its throat.
The expression in its eyes changed immediately, the anger giving way to terror and betrayal as a choked out scream filled the cave.
Warm blood splattered across Inasa’s face as it collapsed forwards on top of him, tails still waving wildly in fear as the rest of its body seemed to go limp.
The kitsune didn’t move as Inasa rolled its. Dog off of him, standing up with a victorious grin. The look on the creature’s face wiped it away, it’s clawed hands clutching the spot over its throat tightly as blood seeped through its fingers… and tears. Tears were flowing from its eyes.
The pain in those tears was indescribable, inasa thought as he raised his blade. He needed to cut off its head. He needed to feature home with that face of pain forever ingrained into his head.
He shook his head, dropping his blade to his side. The kitsune was young. It didn’t seem to have been taught how tk protect itself yet… though it was strange that he didn’t see any other beasts. Especially with the screams this one had let out.
Though he ignored that for now, moving to raise the kitsune up, grabbing one of the tails and quickly slicing through the bone at the base. This drew another scream of pain from the kitsune, through the puddle of blood gathering around its head and staining its white hair Grew bigger with every passing moment.
Inasa looked down at it, shaking his head with a disappointed sigh. “I’m sorry, old friend… but you killed the wrong man. Enjoy the afterlife.” He said, turning to walk away with tail in hand.
He froze as a strange sound echoed through the cave though, a cracking sound as the kitsune rose to its knees, blood spraying out through its fingers as blood began to drip through its lips.
The last thing Inasa saw though, was its bloodied hand extending after him turning to… stone. The creature turned to stone, frozen in time… so Inasa could only assume it was gone for good.
He shook his head, turning and rushing back out into the courtyard in front of the small temple. It was dark, the sounds of the night echoing through the woods. He didn’t hear the usual sounds of kitsune running through the trees though, not the birds calls of distress as they were suddenly caught in the jaws of the beast.
His village was safe, finally. He had killed the last kitsune.