Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Kitsune-tsuki ❯ Prologue

Title: Kitsune-tsuki
Author: Sylvia Spivey (SS.)
Warnings: Alternate Universe
Summary: Duo meets two strange travelers.
Note: This was written for the October 2002 Demonic fic contest hosted by SDDI. I wanted to try something in the style of an old Japanese legend. The kitsune, or fox spirit, is often depicted in Japanese lore as possessing a sleeping human, extending its own lifespan through a kind of psychic vampirism. Kitsune may assume the form of a beautiful woman in order to seduce a man, and often play cruel pranks. However, legends say that if treated well, a kitsune can also be kind …

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There was a hunter, named Duo, who lived in the Tamura-no-Go district of Mutsu province. One day he was called to visit a friend in who lived near Akanuma, and packing a small bag he began his journey. Akanuma was a full two day's walk from Tamura-no-Go, but Duo was young and fit and looked forward to the trip. So it was that he began his journey. But as he entered the forest surrounding the marsh, through which his path wound, he encountered a young woman who was weeping bitterly. [1]

Inquiring about her tears, he heard a sad tale of woe. The young woman, Hilde, was traveling with her family. The sky was so blue, the flowers so wildly in bloom, that she stepped from the path in joy. She lost herself in quiet thought for an hour, and suddenly remembering that her family must be waiting for her, she pulled herself from her reverie and hurried to rejoin them. But they were nowhere to be found, and she became lost. The slender woman raised her tearstained face to Duo, and begged him to allow her to travel with him through the wood. He could not refuse her, and she joined him in his journey.

Duo was an orphan, and lived alone. He was a friendly and compassionate man but had little contact with other people. For this reason, perhaps, he did not notice the crafty gleam that lit the young woman's almond-shaped eyes.

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Footnote! [1] Opening style and locations borrowed from a short story called Oshidori by Lafcadio Hearn, an author from the late 1800s who wrote many oriental ghost stories.