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| The Silver Fox; An SW fanfic!! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 31 2007, 05:35 PM (140 Views) | |
| Mingchan | Oct 31 2007, 05:35 PM Post #1 |
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Mental Patient
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Prologue She looked up at the night sky. The bright yellow moon looked back. The light radiated from the moon, banishing all shadows, and transforming the normal everyday garden of a palace into the playground of mischievous spirits of the night. Magic was in the air, she could feel it. The spirits were about, and she could swear that if she looked hard enough, she might catch a glimpse of a tengu or two, playing in the trees of the garden, flitting through the leaves as fast as the eye could see. She heard the mysterious flute song of the Tatarimokke, ever so cheerful, yet mournful at the same time, and the sound of laughing children long dead echoed throughout the night air. If she strained her ears, she could even hear the rumblings of the procession, and the wild shrieks and cries of youkai, who were passing through the streets she had crossed in the day light, the normal, everyday streets that were supposedly the domain of mankind in the day, but was now host to the biggest parade of the otherworldly the moment the sun disappeared, and the temple bells rang out the hour of the supernatural. Tonight is the night, there was no doubting it. She only had one chance, and she couldn’t afford to blow it. She had waited years, no, centuries, for this moment, and if she missed it, she might never get it again. Time and tide may wait for no man, and she was getting tired of waiting for the right time. It had to be tonight. She scanned the area, for signs of human life. As if there would be any. No one would go out on a night like this. They priests had announced it a week early, and the people had all retired early today. Even the guards were absent from their posts. There are too many spirits afoot, for it is the night of the Hyakki Yakou, the parade of the spirits, and woe betide any human being who dares to intrude on the night of the supernatural. And it seems that the lord of this castle rightly feared such things. All his men had been excused from night duty, and were probably in their barracks, praying with their sutras and their joss sticks. She snorted. As if that could stop the spirits on such a festive occasion like this. She jumped, propelling through the air, and managed to grab the ledge of the tilled roof. Climbing up, the moon light shone on her, exposing her to the night world. But she didn’t care. No one was going to find her anyway. She was very confident of that. She could parade around naked, and no guard would make as much as a peep. She sprinted across the roof, her foot steps making no sound. As she ran, she felt her body tingling, and then changing. It was inevitable. It WAS the Hyakki Yakou. She couldn’t expect to remain in her human form on such an occasion. She’d be scorned by all the demons for becoming so…human. For getting so attached to the mortals who were ignorant of their way of life, their culture, their heritage, while they could boast of knowing everything about the foolish and fragile beings. Almost everything. She felt her clothes melt away, replaced with the thick white robe that she hadn’t worn for so long. It almost felt…heavy to her. How long has it been? She felt so clumsy in the thick robe, she nearly lost her footing. Her footwear disappeared, and she continued on barefooted. Her hair grew, and turned the colour of silver, shinning in the brilliant light of the moon. She felt her fangs lengthening, returning to their original shape in her mouth. Sharp claws resurfaced from her pale fingers, replacing those useless human nails. Stopping to catch her breath, she nearly fell down. Her senses overpowered her. Useless human ears were replaced with sharp, fox ones, capable of hearing an owl’s silent flight and the footfall of even the most careful of cats. Her nose picked up the smell of tiny dew drops on a single blade of grass, the smoky smell of joss sticks from the temple across the palace, and even the stench of death. There had been a battle today, and the troops’ armors and weaponry still stank of blood. Her once brown eyes turned a beastly yellow, her eyes narrowed into slits. She saw things that previously she had missed out, and nearly cursed as she espied a solitary man that her bad human sight had not been able to capture. It was a man, a tall, broad and muscular one, with an aura of strength so strong, that she wasn’t even sure if he was human. She could almost see power radiating from him, overpowering the measly and pathetic auras of the usual everyday goons in the army. No wonder he was out here guarding, he was one of THOSE people…she’d better be wary of him. His eyes were sharp and alert, and he stood upright, strong and brave, and in his hand was a huge pole arm, its tip slightly gleaming in the light of the torch near him. On closer inspection, she saw something that made her quickly turned away. He was heavily laden with sutras and talismans, that to even look at him made her feel dizzy. She would have to take the other road then. She dropped down silently, taking a different corridor. She worked her way through the maze of doors, rooms and pathways. She felt uncomfortable in such small space, and she felt vulnerable. There was hardly any place to hide, and at certain moments she found that she had to waste time walking slowly and carefully, for there were plenty of nightingale corridors, corridors which would make a loud hollow sound when walked on. She did her best, but the corridors would still squeak even if she went on her tip toes, and with each squeak she prayed hard to Inari that no one would hear her. Then there were traps. A few times, she spotted such carefully hidden ones, that only with her superb kitsune sight could she has spotted them. She hurried, she had precious few moments, and she had to get this done as soon as possible, before the other realized she was missing. She dreaded facing them without accomplishing what she had been sent to do, what she HAD to do… She rounded a corner, and her ears caught a slight click sound. Immediately, her body reacted, and she rolled over to the side, her claws ready to do combat if necessary. But she saw no one, and smelt nothing either. Could she just be paranoid? As she turned her head, another soft click sounded and before she could react, suddenly, pain shot through her, such pain that she could not hold it back, and uttered a soft cry. Her hands flew to her mouth, and she prayed hard that no one heard that. After a moment of perfect stillness, with nothing but the song of the crickets coming to her ears. She felt pain, but it wasn’t on her arms, nor her legs. What was it…? Looking around, she was shocked. She had been caught by a very well designed trap, designed to catch any unwanted guests. It was like a bear trap, only the teeth were much sharper, and she knew that if a human had been caught, not only the skin, but the bone would’ve been snapped in two, as the trap had a very strong spring, and needed expert handling. The trap had caught her, yes, but it had caught her by something she had totally forgotten about. Her tail!! The most vulnerable part of any kitsune, and the trap had ensnared it, biting into the beautiful, long, furry tail with the strength of a bear’s jaw. Even now, she spotted red blood, staining the eerie silver with a crimson red. With a low growl, she waved her hand over the trap, and the teeth automatically released her. The trap reset itself, and she observed the damage. She grimaced. It was bad. If the trap had been just a smidge smaller, her tail might actually have been cut into two. She cast a healing spell, and the teeth marks slowly disappeared, the blood slowly vanishing. When she was done, there were just a couple of red marks here and there, though she still felt pain when she moved. She’d heal herself properly when she got back home. Thanks to that trap, her already limited time had just gone shorter, and she cursed her own carelessness. She’d gotten much worse, it was obvious now. All that time spent as a human had gotten to her. This time, she was more alert, and she heard the next click. Evading the trap skillfully, she found herself in front of the door she had been looking for. Triumph filled her, and she carefully phased through the door. It was the room all right. It was oddly plain, even more plainer than a simple farmer’s. Nothing decorated the bare walls, there was only a single cupboard, containing his clothes, she guessed. There wasn’t even a futon cover anywhere. Fear started to bloom inside her. Was he here!? Was she at the right place, was she too late!? Suddenly, there he was, sleeping on the window sill!! The window overlooked the garden which she had entered from. A sakura tree grew outside, with only a single flower, the ground below littered with its brothers and sisters. And even this bloom was shut. The wind played with the trees outside, rustling the leaves and causing them to dance in the air in an eerie dance of the night. To add to the magical musical of a bewitching night, the crickets lent their voices, singing their tiny hearts out to the moon. Was it a joyous aria, for that which had been awaited by those who had foreseen, who had prayed, who had hoped, in the course of creating a better world that all, be it human, spirit or god, would desire? Or was it a sorrowful lament for her, as she was about to perform a most heinous crime, one which if she is ever to be discovered, would condemn her to suffer in the worse levels of hell for an eternity? The moon shone on the man she had risked everything for, highlighting his slightly muscular body, casting half his face into the shadows, while revealing the other half in startling moonlight. The wind had blown away his cover, revealing the man of a thousand deaths. His hair, a dark brown, was tussled by the wind. His eyes close and his face, instead of the usual tension that one could see, appeared oddly peaceful; this was the first time she had seen him so at ease, so relaxed, as though he had no worries in life, as if he had reached the pinnacle point of the desires of human life, and needed nothing more… She was tempted to just go and finish her mission, but she knew better than to approach him just like that though. That’d be foolish. She’d get caught before she knew it, his reflexes were so tuned, he might even succeed in catching her, and to catch a kitsune, even a rusty one, was already a near inhuman feet. She creeped slowly, watching his chest rise and fall with his breathing. He took deep breaths, but not a sound escaped from his mouth. She carefully advanced, she could NOT mess up this time. There was no room for mistakes, no second chances. A centuries’ old prophecy was about to be fulfilled, and she felt her own heart trembling within her. Could she do it? Could she take away what can only be held once in a lifetime, in an existence? Could she snatch away that which is only granted once by the all seeing gods? And what of her? Could she handle the burden, of knowing the truth? It was her destiny, but could she go through with it? Could she condemn a man to a fate like this, a fate like no other, and a fate that only comes onto those born to be forever toyed and blown by the ill winds of bad omens? Could she live with herself, knowing the consequences of her actions? Outside, as if the natural world had sensed that the moment of truth was at hand, the wind abruptly stopped blowing, the crickets halted their performance, and even the air seemed to pause. The silence was frightening, as if the whole night had become an audience, awaiting the climax of a grand play. Yet, the light of the moon seemed to shine even more fiercer than before, till night became day, the world coloured in unearthly white and pure black, all creatures of darkness, the owls, the bats, hurried into their homes, the petals of a single sakura slowly opened, enjoying the light of the moon, the light of darkness…she lifted her numb hand, and muttered a deep slumber spell. Her target now truly slept, she could see it. If before he seemed peaceful, now he seemed dead. If before he breathed deeply, now he appeared not to breath anymore. He was truly, in a sense, lost to the world. Now it was her turn. The pieces were all in place, the final scene arranged, the audience and the musicians silent. All that remains was for her to play the part. She took a deep breath, sent a quick prayer to Inari for guidance, and then, she slowly started what she was meant to do, what she was supposed to do, what had been spoken off by those who were long dead in the past, but had known the future. Outside, the solitary sakura bloom watched, and as it did, the cherry pink slowly vanished, replaced with the lonely silver of the moon. A few minutes later, or perhaps an eternity, the kitsune fled the room, and the sakura saw the tears on her face, the blood on her robes, but said nothing to the world of the events that had just passed. The clouds came, the moon was hidden, and the world returned to normal. The night of the supernatural, the Hyakki Yakou was over, but the beginning of the day of man, was just about to start. The wind picked up speed, and the silver sakura was blown away, drifting on the wind, disappearing in the horizon, taking with it the secret of the silver fox… Ho hum, this wasn't very good. I used a few words over and over again, in the same paragraph...however, you're welcome to read it, if you wish...and try to make a guess what she did at the end of the story. |
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7:50 PM Jul 10