So many lovely stories! I've been reading all of them, and will comment later. Here's a little story for the new Kitsunes.^^
The Chamnin(M) and the Child (F)
The child's bare feet made no noise against the hot stone stairs. Up and up, to many to count. Most adults would not dare such a painful experience, let alone a young one. But she gritted her teeth and ran as fast as possible. To make it even worse, the sun burned down her tender neck, burning it slowly. It would definately hurt in the morning.
After what seemed like four eternity's, the dark haired child reached the opening that knew no sunlight, exhaustedly padding into the dark room of the temple. The sand colored stones, dimmed by the lack of anything but torches. That seemed mysterious, seeing no one ever went up there anymore. It had been abandoned as the God it represented was.
But she believed. Her parents had before they had passed. A storyteller had told the village that their loving God, Chamnin, had became angered with the villagers for the lack of daily worshipping. And the only way to hold his rage was to destroy every thought of him. That is how they were all now under no protection. Except for her.
The child's unusual auburn eyes were widened in awe. Her chapped lips were parted as she walked across the room to where a bronze structure stood, shining as the flames flicked lightly. The child then reached the statue, immediately falling to her knees in the power of it all. Before her was Camnin, all nine tail's flared out. But the statue made him seem... Fierce. Gods were loving. Right?
"Oh, God Chamnin." She murmured lightly, arm's straight as an arrow before falling to her knees and making a worshipping motion. "In all your glory and love, I ask that I be forgiven for my mistakes." Eyes closed, she refused to open them. There was no way to see the red outlines against the darkness.
The creature's paws were silent, unmoving. It stayed in the shadows. The child was so innocent looking. And was his last worshipper. Oh, it was so lovely. It was almost delicious to one's tongue. As the child praised him for everything he was, the creature thought a thought. Maybe she should meet the real Chamnin.
The creature stepped into the dimmed light to make his white fur looking warm. Caring. Red marks shimmering into different shapes, the God padded across the floor before dropping to his stomach and crawling beneath the child's arms, whimpering lightly.
The girl finally opened her eyes, glaring at what had interuppted her praying. But saw it was a white and, was that red?, dog. "Oh, how'd you-" That's when she saw it's tail wag. Or nine tails. She immediately jumped up in surprise. "The Great God Chamnin!" She curtsied before straigtening up.
The dog sat up, head high in a dignified stance. His eyes were closed, but he was powerful. He didn't need them to see. The child was almost his heighth, a little taller.
My dear child, called me Cham. At this, the frigtened girl whipped her head around in fear.
I am talking to you through the power of the mind. You are a believer and completely innocent. Why not? The girl smiled, but it held no happiness. Just fear. "Cham, why have you chosen now to show yourself? Why not when you still had believers on the fence?"
The dog smirked. Could a dog smirk. But he wasn't really a dog...
If they were loyal, then they would not have abandoned me. Now there was a look of pure anger. Standing up, his tail's lashed every which way. He started pacing. It all scared the little girl.
They would not have listened. They would have been angry, not fearful. They would have killed that man for such treason! The last six words were yelled, or seemed to be in her mind. Seeing the child looked as if she'd been struck, Chamnin sat and sighed.
I apoligize. You are good to me. I should not have snapped.The girl smiled as if it had never happened. Dropping to her knees, she wrapped her arms around his neck. The fur there was so soft... Like a cloud. The child's face was pushed there too as she muttered, "Oh Cham. I'm so sorry. Is there anything,
anything, I can do to revive your followers?"
The dog looked up, as if deep in thought. The n he pulled back, letting her skinny arms fall.
Look me in the eyes. The child did, eager as a bird ready to fly. The canine padded forward, now right in front of her. He was slightly above her eye level now, so he gently put a paw under her fragile chin and inclined it.
Her eyes... So beautiful. Something, just something was held there. But it was unusual... Trust. A never breaking trust. One that was sacred and hard to rid of. The dog searched in her body, mind, soul for a sin. But there was none. She was so pure it hurt.
The dog then slowly opened his true eyes, looking right into the brown ones. The young girl was then showed terror beyond her belief in those blue eyes of fear. A woman pushed to her death by a greedy man. War making millions suffer and die. Horrors to bad to name. She let out a shaky gasp as she collapsed, frigid.
The God stood up, satisfied. Another soul was his. But the child. He felt a sort of feeling for killing her. What did the mortals call it... Ah, guilt. It gnawed his very essence. But that was easily changed. The red marks turned into bright lights, like a led light bulb but ten times the power.
There. The body now burned. Another nameless child gone. Camnin grinned, as if he enjoyed the way he had just executed an innocent. That all the rumors were true. He did.The ninetailed creature faded, in search of a new form, a new religion. And another hundred souls for his taking.
(Wow. That was dark.)
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