YAMA-VIEW (author's note)

This script is basically free writing so you the reader can help me guide the story into awesomeness!! The glossary is constantly being updated, and when I feel some clarifications are necessary I'll post this Author's Note!!
Thanks to those of you who have taking there time to read this tale, I hope you're enjoying it so far, any ideas, please don't hesitate to cantact me at: yukinoeternanl.blizzard@gmail.com or living your comments in the blog!!


Thanks again to those reading this, :P

Chapter I: Kitsune Through the mirror

Once the pack agreed to search for the local gods, they waited till dusk to resume their march. A few minutes after night fall, the kitsune gathered in the outskirts of the village. It is from this moment on that my clan starts taking a leading role in this tale!

The pack leader Maki, called three kitsune to lead the search for the local deities. In case they got separated from them those squad leader could take control of the group and continue their endeavor. One of the kitsune called to lead was Yuki, a member of my clan and Maki’s youngest sibling. She was tasked with guiding the pack in this search, since gods live on a separate plane from humans and even yokai have a hard time finding local gods. Even amongst my clan Yuki was a special one. After only 300 years she was able to travel freely through water and other reflecting surfaces, such an accomplishment as most commonly achieved after at least 600 years, so basically those in my clan that can do that are generally roku-bi or shishi-bi. Since gods live outside of the human realm, the only way to reach them was through ponds and mirrors in their shrines. 

Even though Maki was a kyu-bi she had a hard time with this technique, that’s why she chose for that important role her most talented and youngest sibling. Yuki was best known for her completely white fur and her dark eyes and playful attitude. While Maki was known for her cool and collected way of being and seriousness as well by her golden fur and grey eyes, by all accounts an excellent leader. Yuki was responsible for transporting everyone through the mirrors in the shrines to land were the gods dwelled. That night Yuki led a group to search for the closest shrine, with a sufficiently large mirror so the whole pack could move through. About an hour into their excursion, the group returned with news, saying they found a good mirror and a pond that could be of use in a temple a couple miles away. 

Close enough to reach before dawn and far enough from the nearest village that the kitsune could use it in broad daylight. And so they ran through the land into the temple were the mirror and pond were said to be. When the group arrived the temple was empty, since it was just before dawn, at least that what they thought. The night before the king of Ren, arrived to the temple with her ill daughter, whose condition was diagnosed as terminal by the palace medics. So in a desperate tempt the imperial family traveled to the temple to pray for the health and life of the princess, whose name was Yukari. When the pack arrived the princess was playing near the pond when she saw Yuki, who was scouting the area.

Chapter I: Kitsune Through the mirror

Both groups parted ways as the mantle of the night approached them, one to north while to other pack went to the east in search for a place to rest and await news for as long as they could from the scouts. The territories to the east where the most peaceful ones, while the ones at the north east and south west were the ones most affect by the conflicts. As I’ve been told-as many times as I heard this tale-the trading routes, from ages before the kitsune arrival, were controlled by the small island kingdoms in the North East and South West, since those kingdoms were rich in precious material, mainly minerals essential for the trade and elaborations for the emperors and empresses garments used during ceremonies and daily life, all of them of course finely crafted. Ren was known throughout the world for its craftsmanship and the precious minerals found in its territory. Its mayor allies and trading partners were the neighboring kingdoms of Kio and Sai which are found in a northerly direction from Ren.

The now separated kitsune packs, tasked each one with an important labor, after moment of sadness and heartfelt goodbyes, between members of the different clans, we can say that our story truly begins. Now on their way to discover and understand the situation in the world that they arrived at, headed to unknown in search of answers and full of curiosity.

After several hours of travel, the group reached the kingdom of Ren. Several of the eldest kitsune transformed into human figures to move freely around the crowds while they searched for details of the status of the world. After several hours in a small town, which was a fishing community, they returned to the group and reported what they were told by the locals. They also took to the pack a newspaper whose main article was titled INPENDING WAR. We kitsune are yokai, so we normally don’t mingle with human affairs, thought it was a normal occurrence. But the group that went to town, moved and convinced by the arguments of the villagers argued that this was more than just a war period, but a time of chaos and unbalance that was harming not only humans but the entire realm. After hearing this, that expedition leader a female kitsune called Maki-the only kyu-bi on the group-asked the members: “then what do you propose we do?” After a small discussion amongst the intelligence gatherers, they proposed to seek the local deities and talk to them, that way both the kitsune’s and human interest could balance each other, which would later prove to be the foundation of long lasting symbiosis, between yokai, gods and humans.

CHAPTER I: KITSUNE THROUGH THE MIRROR

Hi, I’m Shirou the kitsune, also this story commentator and narrator. Before we start talking about what happened, we must start by understanding where this tale comes from. As yokai we kitsune posses several magical capabilities, which allow us to do very awesome things like travel through realms! This tale happened long ago in a realm called Ren. My family and I came from Ren in the early Muromachi period, these events took place during what would be the beginning of the Heian period-for this realm that is! You’re probably wondering how we managed to get here and why-yes that’s the good part-we left Ren.

To state the first, we kitsune are a special class of yokai, it’s pretty interesting how we have similar reputation in this realm as the one I remembered we had there. But even amongst kitsune my kin and I are special, for we can travel through mirrors or water, and yes this story lead kitsune is one of my kin, and was considered to be the top kitsune of its time and very playful one some say. Normally yokai are feared and considered a bad omen or bringers of problems by people, but at the same they, they seek us-yeah humans-when they need luck and our abilities, persecute us when harm befalls there way. You may say something like that happened in Ren. So once we considered that it was safe for a group to move out, secretly in the night with only our kitsune-bi as guidance we went to the Sakura temple near the imperial palace to use its large mirror, cause the bigger the mirror the greater our magical abilities are amplified. And we traveled to this place, humans call Nihon.

I was just a cub on those days, so what I’m going to tell you is what my mother and the elder kitsune told us, this kitsune tale talks about the apex of the kitsune in Ren until our group left. Beginning now I’m telling everyone what happened in those days of glory and the ones of darkness and mist for us.

 

The kingdom of Ren as remembered by the older generation was a vast island realm that prospered through commerce and good government. Though it had an emperor, the order of succession wasn’t determined by the bloodline, but by the will of the goddesses of the Sun and Moon, who each nominated a person they considered the best possible choice to lead the kingdom once an emperor passes away. Though if a ruler is graced by either of the twin goddesses, the gift of immortality may be bestowed upon and they could also return said individual to his mortal status. As I said immortality was bestowed to an emperor by the goddesses which mean not all emperors and empresses were granted such grace. For this a ruler was tested by the goddesses to see if the person in question was a capable governor for the kingdom. When the first kitsune arrived  to realm where Ren is, several kingdoms where engulfed in turmoil; bad leaders had seized power and invaded other kingdoms to increase their wealth and power. The god of Heaven and his daughters the twins goddesses were in absolute distraught over how their predictions didn’t match the reality the humans created at their own accord. The newly arrived ktisune saw the chaos and decided to investigated, where they had arrived. My ancestors were the leaders of this sort of kitsune expedition-which by the was at its 15^th generation, I’ve been told they left from this realm at the last days of the Kofun period on this journey-and separated the group in two packs, one was going to investigate the realm and the other pack was to be ready to leave to another one, if the order was issued, becoming in fact an independent pack in relationship to the investigation group.

Glossary

Heian Period (794-1185): is the last division of classical Japanese history.The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyo, or modern Kyoto.

Muromachi Period (1336-1573): The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate.

Yokai: are a class of supernatural monsters in Japanese folklore. The word yōkai is made up of the kanji for "otherworldly" and "weird". Yōkai range eclectically from the malevolent to the mischievous, or occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them. Often they possess animal features, other times they can appear mostly human, some look like inanimate objects and others have no discernible shape. Yōkai usually have a spiritual supernatural power, with shape-shifting being one of the most common.

Kitsune: is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom.

Kitsune-bi: supernatural ability commonly attributed to the kitsune-possession, mouths or tails that generate fire or lightning-. Also known as Will-o'-the-wisp

Kofun period(250-538): The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato period. The Kofun period is the oldest era of recorded history in Japan; as the chronology of its historical sources tends to be very distorted, studies of this period require deliberate criticism and the aid of archaeology. The Kofun period is characterized by a Shinto culture which existed prior to the introduction of Buddhism.
Kyu-bi: the kitsune as it grows older it grows tails, as many as nine. The divergence amongst ancient texts, its on the period for a fox to grow a new tail. Some say 50 years and others state its 100 years. A kyu-bi is 9 nine tailed kitsune.
Shishi-bi: a kitsune with 7 tails. The number 7 in japanese is pronounced either nana or shishi.
Roku-bi: a kitsune with 6 tials. The number 6 in japanese is pronounced roku.
Miko: is a Shinto term in Japan, indicating a shrine maiden (jinja) or a supplementary priestess who was once likely seen as a shaman[4] but in modern Japanese culture is understood to be an institutionalized role in daily shrine life, trained to perform various tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the Kagura, a sacred dance.

FOREWORD

First of all the typical and annoying disclaimer everybody knows, stating: THIS AN ORIGINAL WORK OF FICTION, any resemblance to real life is 100% unintended coincidence. Now that that’s settled, there are just two things I'd like to point out, to maximise the experience of this novel:

1.   A glossary of unfamiliar/unknown terms is a must for this novel, since I'm going to use many terms relating to Japanese folklore that are new to many readers, so this is going to ease understanding.

2.   I would like you the reader to be part of this work, by commenting on the chapters and sending me your ideas on how to improve the story. Who knows, maybe your idea will be the one used on a future chapter.

So this how it goes: This novel is written by me, with your help. I always felt certain books, as I advanced on the story, became boring and lost interest, so to make my own project different from the many books in stores and bookshelf’s in homes worldwide; I came with the idea to go directly to the audience and get direct feedback from them, I sincerely hope to write an excellent piece of fiction and fantasy, for that I need your cooperation and sincere opinion.

Thanks for coming aboard this project; I hope you really enjoy it!!!

Sincerely yours

                                                                                       Yamazaki Shizuka
PD: Your ideas send them to this e-mail: yukinoeternal.blizzard@gmail.com