Late at night, during spring's Flower Moon Festival the local villagers had gathered near the Yokai Wood to offer their blessings for the next year to ensure their village's safety and to pray for a fertile harvest to the local Yokai. This blessing was held every year for generations. But this year was an extraordinary year. Every generation or so, a new Lord of the Yokai Wood is chosen, a young Yokai to continue the traditions of the past.
During the founding of the local village, the Chief had approached the woods seeking the blessings of the land to protect their tiny village from harm. During this ceremony the Chief had come across a young Yokai. The Chief, out of fear took a step back for what stood before him he had only heard of in legend. It was a full moon and the light from the moon had cast the creature before him in shadow, all he could see where deep, piercing yellow eyes that seemed to glow. He realized what he was looking at was a yokai, a demon of the woods. As he turned to flee the yokai called out to him in a gentle voice. "Do not be afraid"
The Chief had stopped in his tracks and turned back to the demon behind him as clouds crossed over the moon, dimming everything around them into muted dark tones. His eyes were entranced by the demon he could finally see before him. His hair was black as ink, his ears were long and well dished as they turned and twitched with every sound around them. A long black, bottle tail twitched and swayed from side to side. He was tall and lean with fine muscle that could be seen through his ornate clothing, denoting his status. His long fingers came to a point with will kept claws. The demon's face was expressionless but serene and his eyes, though intimidating were kind. He stepped with eerie silence towards the Chief whose heart beat strongly through his chest. He watched in frozen awe as the yokai knelt before him "What is it you seek from us?"
The Chief, coming to his senses, explained what they were doing and what they wanted from the spirits of the land. The demon's lips curled into a mischievous, wry grin and his eyes narrowed with playful demure. His lips finally parted as he let a quiet chuckle escape his throat. "You ask for protection and prosperity, yet you bring nothing to trade?" the kind yokai teased.
The Chief explained that he had nothing to offer to the yokai of the wood as all their resources were necessary to get started. The yokai's ears perked forward at the sound of a branch breaking. His eyes looked over the Chief to someone standing in the distance behind him. It was a young woman, the demon's eyes were fixated on her for a long moment until the Chief interrupted and introduced the young woman as his daughter. The yokai approached her curiously eyeing her. He ran a slender finger through her long hair and lifted it to his sensitive nose before dropping it. The young woman ran to her father, unsure of what the demon was going to do to her. The Chief hugged her close. The yokai chuckled. "I meant no harm. I was just gathering some information. Your daughter is virtuous and pure, like the snow. Her heart and body are untainted by the ways of man." the yokai explained his findings. The Chief nodded in agreement. The yokai looked at the Chief with a serious expression. "You want the spirits of this land to protect you. But i'm afraid the only spirits here are us yokai. We can offer you what you seek, but it'll come at a price, a price fair for what we offer." the yokai crossed his arms and swished his tail playfully. "I am the lord of these woods, All the yokai do as I dictate. If I tell them to leave your village in peace, they will, I offer to do this, plus to have my land bound underlings see to it that your fields are always fertile, we will offer you the protections you need from other natural forces but the affairs of man stay with man. We will not get caught up in your petty turf wars...in exchange for these services and protections I ask for one thing." the yokai held up one finger and then approached the two humans. The Chief eagerly begged and promised he could have anything he wanted. He looked to the young woman he was holding in his arms and pointed.
"Her. In exchange for our services, I seek a mate. Your daughter would do nicely." The Chief gripped his daughter close and objected. But the young woman shook her head and begged her father to reconsider, she explained it was for the good of the village, against her father's wishes she walked towards the yokai and agreed to his terms. In return the yokai promised that she would be well cared for. The Yokai stepped back and allowed the two to say their farewells before both human and yokai disappeared deep into the woods. The pact they had made had been honored and every spring the Chief visited the wood bringing blessings for the yokai who protected them. The Chief and Lord met every year to ensure the village's safety, and every year the Chief was able to see his daughter, as proof of his promise to keep her well.
The village and the woods coexisted well with the pact, at the end of the woman's life the new Chief and Lord agreed that the pact would continue from generation to generation to honor the love between human and yokai.
During this spring's Flower Moon Festival, the village celebrated the rise of a new Lord of the Yokai Wood. The new Lord was the topic on everyone's minds, not just because he was the new Lord, but because little was known about him. Very few people have seen him before or since his rise as Lord of the Yokai Wood, he kept to himself and those who were able to catch sight of him, their glimpses were fleeting, just a blur of spun gold and silver.
Villagers talked about how the only noise that could be heard was the faint rustle as he disappeared into cover. But few talked about how they had been able to steel long glances of him only on nights of the full moon. He was always found down by the river viewing the moon as he drank his sake.
Mogami Kyoko, a young maiden from the village, sat in the seat of honor, as she was the chosen offering to the new Lord. She sat next to the Chief and sighed, she found this ritual demeaning and wrong. Offering a young girl as the companion to a yokai Lord for the rest of her life. She drummed her fingers on the table she was leaning on as she watched the villagers happily enjoy the festival.
The Chief just looked at her kindly. "Oh come now, look happy. You don't want the new Lord to think you hate him do you?" he pleaded with her, trying to cheer her up out of her funk. She sat up and crossed her arms, pouting.
She averted her gaze stubbornly. "...maybe I do..." the chief hung his head and sighed.
"Kyoko" he said with concern. "You know why we do this. It keeps the village-" she waved off his story.
"Ya, ya, I know...it keeps the village safe and happy...but why does it have to be me? There are several girls raised for this...why was I picked?" she demanded under her breath with a sidelong glare at the Chief.
The Chief sighed. "It's simple. He liked you. All new lords pick their companion personally. It isn't random. They have to feel some kind of connection. This lord though...he's a strange one. I've heard stories of all the past lords. They were all warm and friendly...this one though...it's not that he's unsociable...he's just quiet. He doesn't seem to care to deal with humans...so it's even more important that you make him like you." The Chief explained.
Kyoko just groaned and rested her forehead against the table. "Great...I have to deal with a lord who doesn't like humans. This will be...fun…" she muttered.
She shot straight up in surprise when she heard a deep, intimidating laugh from behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder. There stood a pale, tall, yokai with piercing violet eyes. He had long, platinum silver hair that swayed with every movement. His skin was as pale as moonlight and he had a small dark mole under his left eye. He wore a devilish smirk that set his general ethereal, beautiful appearance with a hint of danger. Kyoko felt her blood freeze in her veins as she stared at him. She got an impression that this man was more dangerous then he let on. He was dressed in an opulent kimono that denoted his high status. It seemed to glimmer like newly fallen snow in the moonlight, it was almost as pale as his complexion, but with deeper, colder tones of silver and blue.
He walked over and sat next to Kyoko. She felt her heart race at how close he was to her, she just wanted to get away from him but knew she couldn't leave. She hid her anxiety with a straight glare right back at him. His wry smile deepened at her glare as he sat next to her. He leaned in close to her, she didn't flinch or move. He reached out and grabbed her chin with his thumb and finger to hold her still as he looked deep into her eyes. She could feel his icy, cold touch. It chilled her skin even more so than his glare. He parted his lips in a wicked smile. "That's a good look you have on you face. That look could get you in trouble." he teased as he let go of her. Turning his attention back to the Chief.
"My Lord apologizes for not coming himself to collect his new pet." He stated playfully. As he stroked Kyoko's hair. She tensed up at his touch before batting his hand away. The young yokai just grinned as he continued. "He had other duties to attend to tonight...he's a very busy Lord." He turned his attention back to Kyoko for a moment. "He's going to have his hands full with this one though...such spirit...I wonder what he'll do with you?" He looked back at the Chief.
The Chief cleared his throat, catching the man's attention. "And who are you? Exactly...We've never seen a Lord not come personally for his offering before." The Chief eyed him carefully, unsure about the yokai who sat before him and Kyoko.
"My name is Reino, I am the snow yokai of the woods...I'm the one who ensures your farmland gets the frost it needs before the coming spring. As well as all the outlying areas. Lord Tsuruga sent me to fill his spot. He's not fond of gathering places. He prefers to keep to himself...But tonight, he truly does have other duties to attend to. It is a full moon after all...and that's when he does his best work. I'll see that she makes it back to him safely." He ran the back of his fingers across her cheek teasingly.
"Reino? That's an odd name for a yokai...usually you go by your birth names not given names." the Chief leaned forward and narrowed his eyes seriously. "What's your birth name...Reino?"
Reino scoffed. "I don't have one. Elemental yokai's are not 'born' like other creatures. We just exist. We are born differently, the land manages how and when we are born. For example, a snow yokai lives a solitary life. We can have children or take brides, but not many want to bed a man or woman who is as cold as ice...and the children we do have rarely are born with elemental abilities. When an elemental dies, a new one is born from a human death. For instance...When I was human...I froze to death in these mountains long ago. I have no recollection of who I was back then...it's very much like a rebirth. This is the case for all elementals...we take the form of the element that killed us. So, a water yokai was a human who drowned, a snow yokai froze, etc…" he waved off the conversation as he was clearly done explaining such a mundane topic.
"Humans value such petty things like names, or lineage….though I guess it's no different for the other yokai as well...the non-elementals seem to be no different. Even the Tsuruga's value lineage above all else. Which makes our Lord's predicament even more intriguing...a well-bred Kitsune like him...with a little human pet...his father will be quite furious I believe. But I suppose this is not by choice...it's the pact." He sighed and poured himself a cup of sake. He rose from his seat and joined the villagers as he curiously examined the festival.
Kyoko shuddered. "I don't like that man...he feels...dangerous." she sighed out of relief, finally being freed from his presence.
The Chief just sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't like him either. But it looks like we have no choice. You will have to leave with him. Just don't let your guard down. If he tries anything, get away as soon as you can. I'm sure Lord Tsuruga will find you...or you will find him. He's in tune with the woods, he'll know if something's wrong."
Kyoko nodded in agreement as she watched him look on the festival with mild curiosity. She wrapped her hands around her arms at the thought of being alone with that demon. It sent a cold shiver down her spine. She then set her gaze into a glare on the yokai and muttered. "I'm nobody's pet…"