The god of the mountain did not begin as a god, but an egg.
A crow's egg.
Legends speak of shapeshifters, of animals that can change shape from bestial to human form at will, who can bend the will of reality to change their appearance. They say that certain conditions must be met for an animal to be able to do this; they must reach a certain age, or weight, or they must have their tails split. This is not true.
They can all change their faces, from the tadpole in the pond to the tiger in the forest. But they are all still just animals, and that is how they behave.
It is lucky for humanity that animals tend to choose to remain animals.
But sometimes, not so much.
"Don't touch it."
The medicine seller paused, hand just inches away from the mossy stone marker. Very slowly, he turned towards the voice.
A girl stood in the clearing behind him, dressed in a short red kimono. Her hair was wavy and long, and worn partly tied back in a ribbon. She had cat ears, and a cat tail, wrapped in a bandage towards the end. Her eyes were yellow, and she wore sandals but no socks. Her knees were dirty, and she did not look pleased with him.
"Why not?" he asked quietly.
"It is bad luck," she said fiercely. "You're bad luck."
"Is that so?" he murmured, turning to face her fully. He was not smiling, but the paint on the corners of his lips almost made it seem so.
"We've all heard the stories. You aren't our friend," she said stiffly, tail lashing.
"Spirits of your kind are of no interest to me," he said blandly. Neither of them had blinked for several minutes, and there was no sign that either of them would. "It is the vengeful, the corrupted, the human spirits, that I hunt."
"The children of men catch us and make us ugly," she said. "You kill guilty humans, but innocent demons."
He did smile, at that.
"Some… thing… on this mountain," he began. "Has been stealing children from the village."
She stiffened even more, the fur on her tail standing on end.
"I had heard," she said, looking away at last. "We don't know who it is."
"The villagers blame the mountain god," he continued.
She looked up at him again, eyes fierce, expression stricken.
"The god of the mountain would do no such thing," she said. "The villagers tell each other that so that they can sleep at night, even while they know that it truly is one of their own gone mad."
"Do you know the mountain god, then?" he asked.
"No one knows the mountain god anymore," she said quietly. "He is dead. He lies under that stone."
The medicine seller turned around again, to look at the stone she indicated, the one he had almost touched.
"Mountain gods… do not die… every day," he said softly.
"Nor do their sons," she replied. "But his did."
"Ah," said the medicine seller, nodding. "I see."
"I would search under the floorboards of the houses in the village for the missing children, before I would blame the god of the mountain," she said. He nodded again.
"Indeed." He paused, tilting his head, looking at her a little askance. "Of course, were I to find corpses beneath the floorboards of a house, a bakeneko would be the first I would blame."
She breathed in sharply, eyes narrowing at him, and for a moment, he saw a small black cat, puffed up and hissing.
"No," he continued, putting his hand on his chin, gaze lighting on the bandage on her tail. "I suppose I would… have to blame… a nekomata, this time."
"A farmer tried to kill me when I was small," she said sharply. "He thought I was a bakeneko, because I liked the taste of the lantern oil. He missed, and split the tip of my tail."
"And you carry no grudge?" he drawled.
"Why would I?" she snorted, tossing her head. "I ran away. I found the mountain, and because of that I can stand before you, instead of your ankles."
"The mountain…" he murmured. "Or the mountain god?"
She looked away, and he did not think she needed to answer.
"I still have goods I can sell in the village," he said, beginning the walk back to the main path. "I will be there a few days yet."
"Or until the Mononoke shows its face," she finished.
"That is so," he said.
"I would check beneath the floorboards of the missing childrens' houses, first," she called after him.
He was already on the main path, but he stopped, and turned towards her.
"I sell lantern oil," he said. "When I am in the village, you might come to buy some. For your lamps."
There was the ghost of a smile in his voice, to match the ghost of the smile that was painted on his face.
She did not smile back.
"I might," she did concede.
The mountain god had a son.
The mountain god's son fell in love with a beautiful human girl. He came to her by the banks of the stream from the mountain, and told her he would take her away, to be a princess.
But she was already promised to marry another man, and her parents did not believe her tales of a tengu boy promising her luxury and adoration.
On the day of her wedding, the mountain god's son went down into the village, to sweep her away, but he arrived too late.
Although he could not have her, he was not an ungracious loser. As a wedding gift, he gave her a fan, with the instructions to whisper her name into it, if she were to ever need him.
The mountain god himself did not forbid it, because he did not know it had been done.
Disclaimer: Not making any money, etc.
First time writing for Mononoke, but I think I might actually end up finishing this one. It isn't based on any legend specifically, though, so I'm definitely making it all up as I go along. Aheh. Wish me luck.
Reviews welcomed and appreciated.