Chapter 2
When I open my eyes everything is so bright, so much so that I have to cover my eyes with… a paw?
I stare at it for way too long, not understanding why my hand is a furry 4 digit paw, it has light orange fur on most of the “arm” length with brown over the actual paw, and it has nails like that of a dog.
I give out a sigh that sounds like a whine as my sight adjusts to the light and I can finally see what is around me.
The first thing I can see is a semi-clear blue sky, only a few small clouds interfering with the clearness of it; then I notice trees, sadly I never had any interest in tree types so “tree” is the best explanation I can give, they are big brown and with green leaves. As I move my gaze to the side I can see grass, plain tall grass.
I decide that laying on the ground isn’t productive so I try to get up, but have trouble doing so.
Looking over at my body and... Of course, it isn’t just my hands that have changed but my whole body… I calmly look at it, trying to figure out what I am and, well, my most educated guess is that I am a fox; my underbelly is white, the rest is light orange, except the tip of my 2 tails and all 4 of my paws, which are brown.
For some reason, I have 2 tails… I don’t remember seeing any fox with 2 tails when I was human, maybe just in games… Alas, there is no point in wasting time on that now, it is time to get up and figure out how to move on 4 legs.
It was surprisingly not that hard to balance, and I guess I probably have some kind of instinct helping me but I’m not one to question when things go well.
When I get up on my feet I immediately hear a male voice say: <Oh! The queen finally decided to get up I see.>
I look around and see a blue fire floating, just a paw length away from my face, I answer <Queen? What? I’m a dude.>
<Well, king then, not one to judge when its highness changes its form> The fire replies, he was being sarcastic.
<No, I mean my name is Ivo, I was a human just some time ago, I have no idea what’s happening.> I reply, trying to explain the situation.
The wisp takes a long pause, almost seeming to ponder over or doubt what I just said to him, and then he replies: <If that’s true, then it seems like the fight she had might have been way worse than I thought. Well, Ivo, if you are indeed new to your body I should probably introduce myself. I’m Dento, your “Guardian Spirit”.>
I stare at Dento, the wisp that’s floating in front of me, a bit dumbfounded and ask: <Guardian spirit? Are you like my grandfather or something?>
Dento almost breaks into a hearty laugh but stops himself: <No, no, oh dear Gods no! Nothing of that. I was a demon hunter, one dumb enough to square up to a 5 tailed fox alone. She gave me the option to either die or serve her for eternity, and, well, serving her seemed like a better option than becoming lunch… Most demons devour the life energy of other living beings to grow their power, which means no afterlife.>
I give a sigh of relief but then realize the implication of what he’s saying and ask, alarmed: <Wait a minute! Am I gonna have to eat life energy too?! I don’t wanna kill people!>
Dento then replies: <You should worry about killing people when you can hunt them, As with the power you have now, mice and rabbits are the only things you can “clash” with.>
"purified" by one who "advised" him. His ninth tail would be the same method, but with the life and blood of another 9-tailed kitsune ... he failed and in the battle the truth of his corrupted power and that he was deceived was revealed (in the fight his white fur turned black and her powers had been corrupted by all the malice and dark powers of the elements "purified" by the demon who deceived her)
Kitsuns are fox spirits or "foxes whose life is longer than a common fox. Each tail is a representation of its years of life as its power (one tail every 100 years ... unless they have accumulated enough" virtue "and other things more), they are cunning and with generally playful attitudes, but their jokes never get to claim the lives of others.
Also famous for their habits of changing shape (in the stories some are mentioned with the forms of Jobenes women, old passers-by among others), even having children with humans.
That is, both are the "two sides of a coin", the yin and yang but without being the same thing.
albeit well, I separate it between nogitsune and kitsune. Perhaps the author of the story puts the protagonist and / or the fox spirit of this story in a "neutral" point. Since he does not have black fur like a nogitsune, even though it is mentioned that he consumes life energy from other beings.
ps: the ninth tail means this one step away from having the strength of a god. A realm of the quasi-divine, so to speak, to pass that last "step" in theory must pass one last "test." On that subject, I don't really know what it consists of.
But considering the kind of legends like that of the imuji (a snake on the way to turning into a dragon), if one fails the test, one dies.