Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 82 – The Roots of The Kitsune

I couldn’t look her in the eye. All I could bring myself to do was hold my breath and brace for what was coming.

What were you thinking?!

“Oh my…” Elenia muttered.

I immediately flinched, my body already trying to jump out of the chair and get to the door or maybe even the window if it was closer. It didn’t matter what it was; I just needed to get away from here!

But I couldn’t. Ava had her arm wrapped around me, and she wasn’t letting me move even an inch from where I sat.

I shouldn’t have done this!

“That’s quite a rare combination of traits you have.”

…

What?

“Your hair is such a pure shade of white that it almost seems like an illusion, but that might as well be trivial compared to your eyes…” She paused for a moment, “I don’t think I have ever seen someone with clear grey eyes like yours.”

My eyes?

Not my hair, but my eyes?

I slowly looked up at Elenia’s face, only to see her golden eyes looking back at me. She didn’t get up; she didn’t lunge at me, she didn’t try to grab me. She just… looked at me.

“The more I look at them, the more I think that you’re someone very special, even if I don’t really know what exactly that means,” She leaned back on the sofa again, “Anyway, you answered my two questions; so it’s only fair that I now answer yours.”

Is that it?

Is she really not going to do anything else?

I…

…

I was left speechless. I just couldn’t figure out what Elenia’s intentions were. Even as I looked into her eyes, I didn’t see any animosity, any anger, if anything, her gaze reminded me of-

“Hey, it’s okay. You can ask your question now,” Ava nudged me a little, “You’ve seen that nothing is going to happen to you.”

Is that really true?

…

I wasn’t sure if anyone could see them, but I could feel tears welling up in my eyes for some reason. But before they even had a chance to fall, I wiped them away with my sleeve and tried to just think about the task I had been given by Ovia.

…

“The village… c-…” The words got stuck in my throat as I tried to ask my question, “Can you… tell me about it?…”

“You want me to tell you about the village?” Just from her voice, I could tell she was very confused.

Nobody said anything after that, leaving the room in complete silence aside from the quiet ticking of a clock.

Of course, she’s confused! What did I expect?!

Ovia told me all Kitsune grow up there!

I didn’t think this through enough!

How do I fix this?!

“Were you-” Elenia finally started speaking again after what felt like a small eternity, but with each word, my heart beat faster and faster, “-born outside of the village?”

…

Everything stopped for a moment.

Do I say yes? Is that a bad thing?

…

I-I don’t want to lie… Not any more than I have to…

…

But… it isn’t a lie…

“I’m-… I don’t know,” I changed my mind at the last moment.

Elenia simply stared at me for a while before rubbing her eyes and continuing, “Alright, if you want to know about the village, I think the best place to start would be the tale of how the village came to be. It’s something that every kit is taught in the village, so it’s only right you learn about it.”

I-Is that it?

Aren’t you going to ask me anything else?

“This story takes place during the age of Myth, long, long ago now. Before the idea of a kitsune had come into existence, there were the fox beastkin,” Elenia simply started to tell the story without asking any other questions, “They were much like the other beastkin of the era, living by keeping to themselves above all else. This was particularly important for the fox beastkin, as unlike many of the other tribes, they were few in number. The best way for them to keep safe was simply not to provoke anyone else.”

Fox beastkin? Are they different from Kitsune, or is it just a different name?

Despite how I was feeling earlier, I was already being pulled in by the story Elenia was telling us.

“One day, not unlike any other, one of the hunters didn’t come back from their hunt in the nearby forest… It became a sad day, but it wasn’t something that hadn’t happened before. Life had to go on despite their sadness… And that it did. At least, it did for a few days after,” She took a deep breath before continuing, “One night, the village was attacked, not by wild animals and not by monsters, but by people. Exactly who they were has been lost to time, as was the reason for the attack; although, I don’t know if there ever was a reason for it. The slaughter was indiscriminate: adults, the elderly, even the children… If there was a reason for it, it’s beyond me.”

Even though this wasn’t my story, her words brought forth intense emotions in me. Was it sadness? Maybe it was anger… Whatever it was, it didn’t feel like my own; rather, it felt like the feelings of the person sitting across from me telling the story. Looking over at Ava, she didn’t seem to be reacting anywhere near as much as I was.

“Fortunately… No… that isn’t the right word… Thankfully, there were a few who were able to escape, albeit they were no more than a few adults and a handful of children,” Elenia paused for a moment, “I can only imagine how difficult the days were after that moment. The only place that they had known had become a place overshadowed by death over the course of a single night. Then, they were forced to roam the world with nothing but the clothes on their backs… It seems impossible… especially in those days… there wasn’t even a common tongue, so they had no one to ask for help… Not that they would have gotten any if they did… They had only a single ray of hope to hold onto. A single woman who had taken charge of those few who remained. Her name was never recorded, only her appearance through portraits and statues. Which… I feel you might be interested in. Her hair was pale as snow, yet her eyes shone a bright silver, piercing through the mists.”

Wait, that’s-

“She was special among the survivors for reasons she couldn’t explain. She was able to talk to the spirits,” I wasn’t given the time to organise my thoughts as Elenia continued to tell the story uninterrupted, “There was one spirit in particular that followed the woman, guiding them on their journey, helping them to avoid many dangers even if not all. We don’t know exactly how long they spent on this journey, nor do we remember where it started. However, we do know where it finally ended.”

“Where?” I accidentally asked before quickly covering my mouth.

“A place hidden deep in the mountains,” Elenia replied without stuttering, “It was a harsh place where none other had settled, but that made it an ideal place to hide. So, after their long journey, they finally settled down in what became their new home. That isn’t to say everything was good, far from it. It just meant they had a starting point from which they could build a future… After a few years of settling down, that place became the fox beastkin’s last and only village.”

But… what about the Kitsune village?

“However, that isn’t quite where the story ends. You see, that spirit that acted as their guide didn’t leave. Instead, they stayed with the woman they had spoken to over all those years,” Elenia’s expression softened. “Eventually, the impossible happened between the two of them, and the unnamed woman managed to conceive the child of a spirit. When that child was eventually born, they were something unique, neither wholly a fox beastkin nor a spirit, but something in between the two. They were the very first kitsune, and their mother received the title Mother of all Kitsune. It’s believed that she ascended to godhood as the Goddess that looks over all Kitsune; however, much like a lot of things in this story, the details were never recorded, maybe even at her request… at least, that’s how I think about it… The kitsune traits were very potent, so much so that a child between a fox beastkin and a kitsune would always be a kitsune, and as such, over the years, the last of the fox beastkin disappeared without any fanfare, paving the way for the kitsune village that exists today.”

…

…

I didn’t have anything to say in response to the story she had told us. It was a lot to take in. A place I had never been to yet supposedly had some connection to, even if I already knew otherwise.

“It’s not exactly a fairy tale, but there is a reason this story has been passed down throughout the years,” Elenia stood up, “You see, much like their predecessors, kitsune are few in number. This is because kitsune children are very rare, and as such, each one of them is celebrated and cherished by the whole village. It’s to say that you are something special, that you are someone that deserves to be celebrated and deserves to be cherished no matter what.”

…

While I was mulling over her words, she came up right in front of me and placed a hand on my head… yet strangely, I didn’t pull away and just accepted the gesture.

“In addition, it’s believed that the Mother of all Kitsune knows each of her children by name, watching over them as they live their lives,” She ruffled my air a little, her jewellery clattering all the while, “So that you know that you are never truly alone.”

…

Is that really true?

…

No… It can’t be…

I’m… I’m not one of her children…

I already know that…

I’m a fake.

As those thoughts crossed my mind, my mood took a downward turn. Something started to weigh down my stomach, but I knew exactly what it was. It was the guilt from hiding what I knew… from lying to everyone.

“Unfortunately, aside from the founding myth, the village isn’t all that different to any other village. It’s just a little out of the way,” Elenia said as she sat back down on the sofa opposite us, “What is special about it is the people there… and there’s someone in particular I think you would like to meet.”

“Who?” I found myself asking the question without thinking.

“The village elder,” She replied, “They have eyes that can see into the soul, or at least that’s how they explain it. If they look into your eyes, they can tell you many things, but what you might be interested in is the past. Even if you yourself can’t remember, apparently, your soul never forgets.”

The soul…

What would they see if they looked at me?

…

Would they see where I came from?

…

Would that even be a good thing?

What would they say to me?

They would know that I…

I didn’t let myself finish that thought.

“Now, I might be overstepping, but… I want to take you to the village,” Elenia said, “I don’t know what happened to you, and I won’t try to get you to tell me about it either.”

What?

“You don’t need to look so surprised. I know when it’s not appropriate to pry. Just… I want you to know what I’m thinking.”

“What do you mean you want to take her to the village?” Ava asked, pulling me close.

“It’s only an offer. I won’t force her to,” Elenia picked up one of the papers she had set on the desk, “I would only be able to do so once I’ve finished business here anyway, so it will take a while. Oh, and of course, you could come as well. I’m not in the business of splitting up families.”

…

To go to the village…

I…

“I’ll… think about it,” I eventually said.

I didn’t know what might happen to me if I went there… but… there might be answers there… No matter how I felt, I couldn’t just turn the offer down.

Elenia took a moment to respond, “I guess that’s as much as I can ask for at the moment,” She stood up again, this time walking over to the door, “No matter what your answer is, you’re free to come and go from the Volpe Rossa merchant guild, just remember to bring the ring with you.”

Both Ava and I stood up before I quickly pulled my hood back over my head. However, as soon as I did, Elenia’s expression changed.

“Now look, I understand that you don’t want to attract too much attention; trust me, I know the feeling all too well, but at least in this building, you can keep your hood off. No one will do anything to you here, especially when their boss is a kitsune herself,” She then smiled again, “And I know how stuffy it can get wearing the hood everywhere you go. Especially with how humid it gets in this town.”

I didn’t do anything and just kept my hood up.

“Then next time,” Elenia once again placed her hand on my head, “I want you to walk in here with that hood off, alright?”

“Next time?…” I asked.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

“Of course! Throughout this conversation of ours, at least if I have been keeping track properly, I seem to have asked one more question than I should have, which means I’m now in debt to you,” She chuckled a little, “You’ll need to come back here in order to collect it from me after all.”

“Thank you for having us,” Ava said as she stepped between Elenia and me.

“The pleasure was mine,” Elenia bowed slightly, “Oh, and just as a little parting gift. If you talk to Tybalt on your way out, he will be able to give you some excellent recommendations for lunch nearby.”

Ava’s face went bright red.

“A merchant has to know how to pick up on these things,” She said as she opened the door, “Just head back down the way you came. It will be a bit quieter at this hour.”

With those last words, Ava and I left the office. But just before the door closed, I managed to whisper a few words, “Thank you.”