(( Just a short little one shot, a cute little idea that sprang into my head. It's in the same world as my Storyteller Trilogy (Accidental Princess, Princess and the Plan, Nine Tales of a Storyteller) but independent from the main story. So read, enjoy, and let me know what you think! ))
The Traveler and the Kitsune
"One day, a long long time ago, in the feudal lands of Japan, a young man was traveling down a long and dusty road when he spotted an old woman prone by the side of the road. The road was very busy with travelers and merchants alike but no one had stopped to even see if the woman was all right. The young man hurried to the woman's side, lifting her head from the ground.
'Oba-san, are you all right?'
'I am so very thirsty... If only I had some water,' she answered in a trembling, reedy voice. The man withdrew a container from his pack. The road was long and dusty and he would be of want for the water in no time, but nevertheless he pressed it into the woman's knobby-knuckled hands.
'Drink, Oba-san,' he prompted.
The old woman drank his canteen down to the very last drop, then set it down. 'I am so very hungry... If only I had a bit of rice for my stomach,' she lamented in her frail voice. The man unwrapped his very own lunch of rice balls. The road was very long and dusty and he had little money for food, but still he offered them to the old woman.
'Eat, Oba-san,' he encouraged her.
The old woman ate all of his lunch, down to the very last grain of rice. When she had finished, she fanned herself. 'I am so very hot... If only there was a bit of shade to cool my aching bones under.'
The young man set his pack down on the ground. The road was very busy with travellers and merchants, any of whom could carry his worldly possessions off while he was distracted with the old woman. Regardless, he picked the old woman up and used all of his strength to carry her several yards to where a small tree hunched over a knoll, providing just a bit of shade big enough for the old woman.
When he finished, he collapsed on the ground, exhausted, hungry, and thirsty with no sign of his belongings.
Looking up at the old woman, he was astonished to find, instead, a beautiful, tall woman with eyes the color of leaping flames and silver fox ears. Her long silk robes shone with intricate patterns and from behind her he could see nine silver fox tails swishing in the breeze.
Immediately he fell prone on the ground in front of her, his face in the dirt. 'O-Kitsune-sama! Please have mercy on me!'
The Kitsune bent over him, placing one hand on his head. 'Oh human, you have shown mercy enough for both of us. You were kind to me when I was seemingly no more than a haggard old woman. In return for your water, I will grant you one request.'
The young man raised his head to the tall Kitsune, saying, 'O-Kitsune-sama, I am very thirsty...'
The Kitsune gestured with one hand and his canteen appeared in front of him. 'Then you will never be without drink, human, for whatever vessel you touch will always fill with whatever drink will quench your thirst.'
The young man seized his canteen and drank deeply of the fresh, clean, cold water within. It seemed no matter how much or how long he drank that the canteen remained as overflowing when he stopped.
'In return for your lunch, human boy, I will grant you another request,' the tall Kitsune said.
'O-Kitsune-sama,' the young man said, bowing deeply once more. 'I am very hungry...'
'Then take this, and eat, human,' the Kitsune replied, handing him a reed box. 'Never will you be hungry again.'
When he opened the bento box, the young man found it filled to the brim with all manner of delicious morsels, from onigiri to rice balls and fish. He ate his fill and when he closed it, the box was as full as if he'd not touched a single grain.
'Now,' the Kitsune said, her ruby eyes sparkling as she leaned over him. 'In return for your entire worldly possessions, I will grant you one more request. Whatever your heart desires, boy.'
The young woman thought long and hard. Finally, he bowed deeply to her once more. 'O-Kitsune-sama, if it would please you then my heart is full of thoughts of the daughter of the lord who owns these lands. If I may have what my heart desires, it is her to regard me in the same way as I regard her.'
'Hm,' the Kitsune replied thoughtfully. 'Another's heart is not mine to give, human. It is only her own to do with what she will.'
The young man looked down at the ground, dejected.
'However,' the Kitsune continued a moment later. 'You may have this instead.' Then she reached behind her and plucked from her very own backside one of the silver tails that flowed like beams of moonlight. Holding it in her palm, it shrunk into a small stone necklace. 'Take this, human. You have one month's time to use my tail to win the heart of the woman you so desire. Its magic will allow you to present her with anything you may imagine in order to woo her. However, if you do not win her affection by the time the next moon leaves the sky, then you will be alone forever.'
The young man took the necklace from the Kitsune and bowed deeply. 'Arigatou-domo, O-Kitsune-sama.'
'My name, human, is Demora.'
When he raised his head, the Kitsune was gone. The young man returned to the road and envisioned for himself a mighty steed that would carry him to the lord's lands. With a thunder of hooves, a beautiful white horse came surging over the hillside, stopping in front of him. He leapt onto its back and it carried him as swiftly as the wind down the long and dusty road to the lord's mansion.
Upon arrival, he introduced himself as a traveling magician and prince. At first, the servants thought his claims ridiculous. He seized a glass and said 'sake!' and the cup ran over. He placed his hand on a plate and cried 'rice!' and the white grains piled high on the platter. The servants were in awe and hurried to introduce him to the lord.
The lord, too, was skeptical until the young man demonstrated his abilities to him as well. Upon seeing the previously empty cup and plate brimming with food and water, the lord bowed his head deeply in welcome.
'What, praytell, would a powerful magician and prince desire in my humble stead?'
'If it would please you, lord,' the young man replied, 'I have heard great many tale of the beauty and grace of your only daughter. I have come to seek her hand in marriage, that I may truly fill my life with all that is remarkable.'
The lord lowered his head. 'Alas,' he responded. 'My daughter's grace and beauty have earned her many suitors from near and far, so many that she has decided she will only marry one that offers her something she has never been offered before. If you are willing to search for such a special and rare item, I will present you to her. However, I must warn you that our halls have seen almost every remarkable thing under the sun. It will take much to surprise and delight my daughter.'
'My lord,' the young man replied, 'I am undeterred.'
'Then return to this hall tonight and you will have your chance,' the lord answered. The young man left the hall, filled with certainty that he would have no trouble coming up with something the lord's daughter had never seen before.
He returned that evening dressed in the finest of silks, his head held high. Seated at the very end of the hall was the object of his heart's desire, the lord's beautiful daughter. Her hair shone as deep black as the darkest night, her eyes gazing forth from underneath long, dark lashes. His heart beat faster at the sight of her and he immediately bowed deeply to her.
'My lady, if it so pleases you... In return for your hand, I present you with this fine horse, whose equal is not matched anywhere in the lands of our great nation.' He gestured to the horse that he'd arrived on, a beast that outshone every horse in the lord's stables.
The lord's daughter simply shook her head no.
Undaunted, the young man thought quickly, then stood again. 'My lady... if it so pleases you, I bring you a dozen of the finest birds from far off lands, the likes of which have never been seen before!' He gestured and in to the room came a dozen servants, each bearing a cage with a bird more beautiful and exotic than the last.
The lord's daughter simply shook her head no.
The young man offered her fine silks, drinks and foods from foreign lands, the finest of jewels, even mirrors upon which she could gaze on her own reflection. For each one, the lord's daughter simply shook her head once and did not speak.
Finally, the moon was high in the sky and the lord's daughter's maid asked for reprieve, that she might retire for the night.
'I will return tomorrow night with something that will surely win the lady's hand,' the young man stated.
The next night he returned to the chamber, presenting the lord's daughter with even more exotic and incredible items. For each one, the lord's daughter simply shook her head no, uttering not a word.
For twenty days, the young man spent his days alone in his room, thinking and creating, then spent his nights showing his newest offerings to the lord's daughters. For twenty days, his gifts became increasingly incredible, to the point where every night people would come from lands far away simply to see what new marvels that the magician and prince would present to the lord's daughter next. He offered machines that spat lightning and glowed in the dark with no flint or tinder, animals that barely fit inside of the building and gripped things with their long noses or brushed the sky with their tall necks, jewels the size of her fists, and more. Whatever he could imagine, he offered her.
For twenty nights, the lord's daughter simply shook her head no.
Finally, it was the last night before the moon left the sky for her next night's rest. A vast crowd had gathered to see what marvels he would present to the lord's daughter on this, the last night of his stay. When he entered the room, however, it was dressed in plain clothes with no items except a simple necklace to adorn it.
He approached the dais that the lord's daughter sat upon, dropping to his knees in front of it.
'My lady,' he cried in a voice hoarse with emotion. 'For a month now I have had the honor and the joy of gazing upon your face every evening. I have sought to present you with marvels from far around the world, the likes of which I had imagined none other could ever show you... however, it seems that I have nothing with which to offer you that you have not already been offered.
'It is heavy in my heart that I shall leave tomorrow without your hand, for your face is all that I have dreamt of these many nights and your smile is all that has driven me to continue. I would give all that I am in order to be allowed to continue to bask in your wonderful presence, for you have completely captured my every waking thought.
'But, alas, I have nothing more to offer you save myself and my desire to see you happy and safe forever, and I imagine that many men have made that plea. Thus, I will leave tomorrow with grief that I was not able to give you that which you most truly desired.'
He rose to leave, his heart heavy in his chest. He would return the Kitsune's tail that morning and then wander the earth, alone forever.
'Wait!'
Though he had never heard her speak, there was no other being that could have uttered such a beautiful sound. The young man turned to see the lord's daughter standing, tears on her cheeks.
'No man has ever made such an offer to me. No man has ever spoken with such honesty as you. I will marry you.'
The young man was filled with joy and grasped her hands in his. 'My lady! No marvel in the entirety of the world could make me as happy or as blessed as I am right now!'
Thus, the young man and the lord's daughter were married, a celebration that was so filled with incredible sights and beauty that it was spoken of for many, many years to come. Then the young man and the lord's daughter spent many years together as husband and wife, overseeing the manor in a time of great joy and peace. For it seemed no matter how dry the spring was or how long the winter stretched, the young man's people were never want for food or water and their manor saw great wealth in his lands.
The young man and his wife grew old together, watching as their sons and daughters grew up to be as beautiful and kind and wonderful as their father and mother had been. All those who met them stated how truly kindly the gods smiled upon their family.
One spring, many, many years later, the old man was traveling upon a long and dusty road when he saw an old woman sitting by the side of the road.
He leaned upon his cane, gazing at the woman. 'O-Demora-sama,' he called. 'I believe I have something that belongs to you. I am loathe to give it up, however, for I fear my wife's anger when she realizes my deception for these many years.'
The old woman simply smiled. 'Young man,' she chided, 'your wife was never deceived. The lady knew your face as soon as you entered the hall from the fields of her father's manor, where she had seen you gazing upon her many a time. Return to me my tail then go home to your wife, for she has loved you for a very long time and should not be kept waiting anymore for her errant husband.'
The old man wept to hear the Kitsune's words, withdrawing the necklace and dropping it in the old woman's hands. Then he bowed deeply to her once more and continued down the long and dusty road towards his home, wife, and children."