DarkEyedDemon: Let me say now, no, I have not stopped writing for any of my other fics…for whoever on this mortal world that reads them.
Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast owns all characters and places in this fic, not me. I just own the plot, but who cares about that?
Sensei Golden-Tail sat on the tatami mats of a small wooden hut on the outer rim of the Jukai forest. He had been meditating the entire day, searching his soul for the answer to a conflict he knew could only be resolved one way. It had been five days since the first signs had been shown; someone was hunting him. The kitsune samurai closed his eyes and leveled his long ears with the top of his head, retreating once more into the depths of his mind, and reliving memories of a happier time.
Sun-Paw and Moon-Ear, two young kitsune, ran side by side through the wooded area around their village. The pair had been good friends for as long as either of them could remember, and they were nearly inseparable. They moved with the natural speed of their kind, a yellow and white blur through the haze of green. Sun-Paw and Moon-Ear never took to worrying about the world outside of their village, for to them it made no impact. The entirety of Kamigawa could've fallen down around them and they never would've noticed. The kitsune only stopped when they came upon a group of travelers in the forest being harassed by a gang of orochi outcasts. The snake folk attacked the hapless men with blinding speed before retreating back to the camouflage of the woods, only to return and strike again. Moon-Ear stepped forwards, as if to offer aid to the men, but was stopped by Sun-Paw's hand on his shoulder.
"No, we are not strong enough to fight with a band of full grown orochi-bito," reasoned Sun-Paw.
"But we cannot leave those men there to die!" Moon-Ear shook off his companion's hand and ran to the aid of the travelers while Sun-Paw ran in the opposite direction, towards their village to get help. Although Moon-Ear was unable to save the men, Sun-Paw returned with kitsune warriors in enough time to save his friend from more than a few cuts and a night's worth of paralysis.
Golden-Tail opened his eyes slowly. That was the day that proved the difference between himself and Moon-Ear, a difference that would steadily grow over time. Reaching out towards his two katanas, he picked up the blades and stood. As he stepped out of the hut, the serene sounds of the Jukai greeted him. Golden-Tail had spent a great deal of training learning how to navigate through the Jukai. He had learned that to move through the forest with speed, you had to accept the forest's rhythm as your own. He let every sound and smell enter him as his entire body became one with the forest. He began moving at a speed that put his youth to shame, the two swords attached safely at his side. The flash of gold moved throughout the forest, though neither man nor beast was there to witness it. As Golden-Tail came to the end of the line of thick trees, he could see the large protrusion against the horizon that was the fortress Eiganjo. The mighty castle brought back another flood of memories.
Yellow-Paw and Gray-Ear stood side by side at the edge of the forest, staring out at the vast plains between the Jukai and Eiganjo. A massive army was marching out from the fortress, the Daimyo Konda mobilizing his forces to combat the recent kami manifestations. For nearly a decade now, the spirits that inhabited every aspect of Kamigawa had been rising up, taking on twisted and warped forms and attacking mortals wherever they found them. Both kitsune were much taller than the days when they were still called Sun and Moon, and Gray-Ear had two long scars on the side of his neck left over from the orochi incident. Yellow-Paw had been given his new name at his coming of age, as had his companion.
Yellow-Paw folded his arms into the sleeves of his robe. "How can Konda even think about battling the kami? Our time would be put to better use trying to find the source of the kami's anger and solving it."
Gray-Ear gave his friend a quizzical look. "So you would let the kami continue to slaughter the innocent to try and study their behavior? The answer is clear, Yellow-Paw, we must fight our gods."
"Did you even listen to yourself? We cannot hope to fight our gods, they outrank us in both strength and numbers." No sooner did Yellow-Paw finish his sentence the wind began to pick up around the two kitsune, signaling a kami manifestation. A large form appeared in front of them, looking like a cross between a large cat and a cluster of swords. The kami did not roar, but instead let out a long hiss as its sword-tail swayed dangerously behind it. While Gray-Ear drew his katana, Yellow-Paw turned back towards the safety of the Jukai. The two kitsune turned their heads to stare into eachother's eyes. A silent understanding was passed between them then in the brief moment before Yellow-Paw ran into the forest and Gray-Ear rushed the kami, in the end earning himself several more scars without anything to show for it.
By the time Golden-Tail had been brought back from his memories, the full moon in the night sky was beginning its decent towards the horizon. The kitsune samurai was further brought back to the present by the sound of a figure approaching from the Jukai. It was Flight-Tail, a young female kitsune that was one of Golden-Tail's pupils. Her family had been killed when she was at an even younger age and he had taken her in, teaching her the art of the samurai along with a few other kitsune students. She blinked her crystal blue eyes sadly as she approached her master.
"Sensei," she pleaded. "Please do not go. Whoever is chasing you, you will stand more of a chance against them in the Jukai!"
Golden-Tail stared at his young student a moment before speaking. "I must meet him where we parted, it is only fitting."
"Sensei, no!" Flight-Tail was near tears by this moment.
Golden-Tail approached her and laid his hands on her shoulders, leaning down so that he was eye-level with her. "Flight-Tail, I will be fine. You must return to the others, they will need your guidance." The kitsune nodded shakily before dashing back into the forest. Golden-Tail continued on his way along the edge of the Jukai. At long last he came to the place where he had left his best friend.
"I suppose this is goodbye, then," said Yellow-Tail to Gray-Tail. The two Kitsune faced each other at the outer fringes of the Jukai. Gray-Tail was dressed in a black and gray robe while Yellow-Tail had a white and yellow one.
"You realize that our paths may lead us against one another if we part like this," spoke Gray-Tail, his black eyes focused on his friend intently. The scars that the blade-cat kami had left covered a good portion of the right side of Gray-Tail's face.
"I realize that our lives are different now, just as we are different," said Yellow-Tail calmly. "Just as each day the moon and sun drift farther apart, we have drifted."
"That is what separates us, Yellow-Tail. You would rather find out why an enemy attacks rather than stop them, would rather find someone else to help you fight than rely on your own strengths."
Yellow-Tail shook his head sadly. "I only pray that we do not meet at the ends of each other's blades, my friend." The white and yellow-robed kitsune extended his hand towards Gray-Tail but was only replied to by a stoic gaze.
"I wish I could say the same to my friend, but my friend was left behind several years ago." With that, Gray-Tail turned and walked away; away from the Jukai, away from his home, away from his friend. Yellow-Tail turned back towards the forest and walked towards it. On that day, the moon had been out with the sun. And at that moment, both of them set, the moon disappearing behind the horizon of the plains, and the sun falling behind the forest.
Through their separate trainings, Yellow-Tail earned the name Golden-Tail, and became a samurai, teaching other kitsune the fighting art he had learned. Gray-Tail, though, became known as Silver-Tail, and was trained as a shinobi. Although he had no pupils, he became one of the most feared assassins in all of Kamigawa.
Sensei Golden-Tail stopped at the spot where he had left his friend all those years ago. The sound of a rapidly approaching being came to his long ears from across the plains, and he turned his short muzzle up to sniff the air. One of Golden-Tail's katana whipped out in front of him from its sheath just in time to block a swift sword stroke from the black-clad figure. Golden-Tail pushed the attacker back and drew his other weapon, taking up a fighting stance. His opponent charged once more with blinding speed, his weapons only becoming visible in mid-stroke. The other person, apparently kitsune, had two katana almost identical to Golden-Tail's own, but the style in which he used them was exactly the opposite. The two kitsune traded blows and parries for quite some time, neither seeming to gain an advantage. Each fighter battled for the ideals they had grown up with, and the difference between them only made them fight more ferociously. Golden-Tail swung from the right side and was blocked as he had expected, but quickly brought up his other katana across his opponent's chest. The successful attack would've felt like much more of a victory, had Golden-Tail not been able to tell that his opponent could've blocked the attack easily. The other kitsune fell to the ground, blood staining his chest.
Golden-Tail stood over his grounded enemy, katana pointed at his throat. The other kitsune narrowed his black eyes for a moment before they returned to normal, and a silent understanding passed between the two warriors, the same understanding that had passed between them all those years ago. They, sun and moon, were not all that different. Golden-Tail closed his eyes and pushed down on his blade, ending the life of his friend Silver-Tail. Just as the sword pierced his flesh, the moon set over the forest, and the sun rose over the plains. Golden-Tail understood the sign. Silver-Tail's journey ends with the forest, and Golden-Tail's was to begin with the rest of the world. He had heard that most of the soldiers serving in the Kami War were mostly farmers and merchants that were called upon in absolute desperation. They would need someone to train them the proper way to fight if the mortal world had any hope of prevailing over the spirit one, and Golden-Tail knew he was the one who could offer them such a service. Pulling his katana from Silver-Tail, he sheathed both of his weapons at his side and set off towards the rising sun.
DED: So there ya go! This is my first fic with the Kamigawa series, so I hope I did well with it. To clarify now, I'm sure there's some confusion about the moon and sun setting/rising in semi-different locations. But then again, this is in a world where foxes and snakes stand on two feet, talk and fight with swords, so I think I can stretch that minor reality slightly. Please review!