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The little one was at it again....
Shiromori didn't know the girls name, but she could tell that this little girl certainly had a green thumb. She loved to spend almost the entire day in the garden with Shiromori, the resident tree spirit. The girl and her family couldn't see Shiromori but Shiromori was sure the girl could sense her presence.
"I'm going to make all of your leaves super pretty." The girl would say to no one in particular. Shiromori guessed the words were for her, she appreciated the thought.
Once the sun started going down the girl's mother would call her back into the house. Begrudgingly, the girl would follow back into the lights of the rather mediocre home and turn and wave to the large sakura tree in the center of the family garden. Shiromori would, of course, wave back, despite not being seen. Nights were rather lonely without the girl in her company. Many yokai would try and come around the property, but Shiromori made sure they never got any farther than the fence. But there was one night that she felt something else... Something strong, but it was gone before she could get a good read on it. If that yokai tried to come back again Shiromori would make sure it got the beating of a lifetime. At the crack of dawn the mother would step out of the house and get things ready for the day, sweeping the tatami mats, starting rice for breakfast, kiss her husband goodbye and goodluck, and wake up the little girl and her grandmother. It was actually quite fulfilling to watch, it swelled pride within Shiromori. She had watched the mother grow up from a little girl to a beautiful young woman. Shiromori didn't know how long she had been connected to the sakura tree, but it has been a long time. The land changed, families changed, and this family settled down. The "Nakamura's" if Shiromori remembered correctly. The long years have been a blur.
After a few days she felt the same energy again, it was powerful...and reeked of mutt. The little girl was none the wiser to Shiromori's uneasiness. Suddenly, a bark was heard from the front of the house. The girl looked toward the house in confusion. Shiromori could slightly hear the sounds of the mother opening the front door and talking to the grandmother. The girl quickly got up and ran into the house with a quick "I'll be back".
No, no, no, no..... This is bad, if they allow that mutt in here Shiromori couldn't possibly protect them completely.
Her worries were founded. The girl came back to the garden with a smile, and a white, black, and red mutt in her hands.
"Let's say 'hello' to the plants, doggie."
The girl could not see what Shiromori could. That was no dog, it was a kitsune. A young one at that, with only two tails. The tree spirit knew that the mutt wasn't what it was trying to be, and she knew it knew.
"This is our sakura tree, doggie," The girl put the mutt down into the dirt. "Mother says I have an imagination, but I know that there is a spirit there. Be nice, okay?" The girl continued with her preening of the plants. The mutt didn't encroach further into the garden. It's red eyes staring right into her own, never wavering. When the girl's mother called her back into the house for the night the girl took the mutt with her. But when the mutt stepped back into the house it looked back at Shiromori, a smirk on its face.
A month.
A month of the mutt being around.
With every day it inched closer to the sakura tree, mocking Shiromori. The family had given the mutt a name, but a mutt was always a mutt.
Shiromori could see he, she finally at least learned the mutt's gender, was getting tired of this game of his.
With every day he got more nippy.
With every day he got more aggressive.
On the last day of the month, all hell was unleashed.
Shiromori wasn't sure how it all started but it was just a red spark. Then the house was becoming engulfed in red flame. Shiromori could only look in object horror as her mortal pride burned in agony. The screams of the mother, father, and grandmother could be heard in shrilling detail, like metal scraping within an empty corridor. The mutt's viscous barking could be heard, echoing.
Was the girl alright?
Shiromori got her answer when the girl ran out from the back door to the garden, right to Shiromori.
"You should leave, leave now!" Shiromori warned. The girl gave no sign to the warning, instead she huddled in tears at the base of the sakura tree.
Before the spirit could even think about going to the girl's side, a loud howl was heard. Looking to the house Shiromori could see that the mutt had shifted to it's original form, a large fox with two tails. He began to run around the house, laughing. With every lap the flames grew larger and burned brighter and hotter. All the while laughter and glee spewed from the jaws of the mutt. The girl had started sobbing louder at the mutt's display. Shiromori went to the girl's side, attempting to block out the monstrous vision of the fox fire from the girl's view. It would have been easier if Shiromori had killed the mutt when she had the chance. The girl and her family never left an opening however, the mutt made sure of that. He always stayed close to them. The girl's loud sobs finally got the attention of the mutt. The sick smile was still present on his face, growing a little wider as he came closer to the tree.
"Stop," The vile smile dropped from the mutt's face. "You need to leave!"
The mutt chuckled at Shiromori's order.
"You can't stop me, Shiromori." Her name sounded toxic on the mutt's tongue.
"You won't harm this little girl." Shiromori blocked the girl from the mutt's sight.
"Oh," The mutt began to circle the duo slowly. "And what makes you so sure of that? You are a tree spirit, and I am a not. You'll burn before she even feels the heat."
Once Shiromori noticed what he was doing, it was too late. When the circle was completed his illusion was activated. Shiromori could mostly see through the illusion, but the girl could not. The girl's mother stood in place of the mutt, a light of promise and kindness.
"Mother...." The girl stood and began walking toward the mutt.
"No!" Shiromori attempted to grab the girl only to be stopped by the sudden pain of a red flame landing on one of the many bonsai trees in the garden.
"Come. Suzuno," The mutt spoke in the mother's kind voice. "Everything will be alright."
The girl followed with no questions asked. She gripped onto the mutt's leg and followed him into the burning house, right to her demise.
Shiromori didn't bother to look as the house burned to ash.
Shiromori didn't bother to look as she heard a sickening scream of a young life ending.
Shiromori didn't bother to look as the vile laughter of a mutt filled the night.
Shiromori only bothered to look as the sounds of paws came toward her.
"Are you going to kill me next?" She asked, voice hollow.
"No."
"Why not? Why even do this, mutt?"
"I just wanted to test some things..."
Test? This mutt caused all of this chaos just to understand his own powers?
"I will never forgive you for this," Shiromori clarified to the fox spirit. "I will kill you for this."
Shiromori's words were met with silence from the mutt. She looked into his infernal red eyes, seeing only puzzlement. Of course the mutt wouldn't understand the actions he just committed, as one would expect from a fox. Cunning and deceptive? Yes. Wise and good? No. Never.
"I should go, the sun is rising." The mutt started to turn away from Shiromori.
Shiromori couldn't just let him leave. She grabbed the shears she usually kept hidden within her robe and grabbed one of the mutt's tails. Pulling roughly, she plunged one of the shears into the hip of the mutt. Hearing a pained growl she stepped away just in time, for flame-filled jaws snapped shut where she would have been. Red eyes met her own, a rivalry to last for centuries starting with the shared glares. Shiromori got a another cut in when the mutt lunged for her with his red fueled maw. As this fight of spirits continued the garden slowly grew more consumed in red flames. As the fire claimed the plants, Shiromori buckled. This left an opportunity for the mutt to wrap his powerful jaws around the arm of the distracted tree spirit. With a quick tug the limb was burned and torn off, being thrown into forgotten remains of the Nakamura household. Shiromori gripped with all of her strength onto the white fur around the mutt's jaws with her remaining hand. With her remaining strength she ripped out as much fur as she could, another pained growl escaping the mutt. Before the mutt could tear off another limb Shiromori burrowed underground and dug away from the property. She stopped when she got to the hill that wasn't far from the former Nakamura household.
Panting, she regenerated her arm and looked over at the smoldering embers and rising smoke of the garden and saw that the mutt was looking for her. He glanced around and found her at the hill; narrowing his eyes, but not charging towards the tree spirit. Instead, he turned and limped towards the burnt sakura tree. Lifting himself to his hind legs he knocked down the burnt remains of what used to be a large and beautiful tree. An unspoken message clear to Shiromori; "This is over". Afterwards, he disappeared into the rising smoke and ash.
He thinks he can run after that?
Shiromori would never let him.
Shiromori could never let him.
This isn't over.
Looking down at the bloody fur still in her grasp she focused and lifted her newly regenerated arm. Within the palm of her raised hand a large, bright, and beautiful red lotus bloomed.
A red lotus, huh?
Interesting.
She blew on the petals of the lotus in her hand. The petals immediately began in the direction in which the mutt went. Shiromori smirked in the direction of the petals before following the trail. A mantra repeating over and over in her head;
"You can't run forever, but I can chase you forever, mutt."