"A long time ago humans and animals lived together in harmony and all was at peace. In a hidden city, in a hidden kingdom sat a mighty emperor and his wife who ruled fairly and justly. The Emperor along with the noble Monkey King, Sun Wu Kong created a guard consisting of the strongest and wisest animals to protect humans and animals alike; tiger, rat, ox, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, rooster, dog and pig with the monkey king as their leader. For generations all was at peace until a demon from hottest hell threatened to destroy their way of life. The demon easily overpowered the animal guards and turned them to stone. In desperation Sun Wu Kong sought the two strongest human warriors, a husband and wife named Yin and Yang.
Yin was a strikingly beautiful young woman with hair as dark as a starless night with one eye as yellow as the sun and one as blue as the deep vast ocean. She was strict and rigid but deep inside she was a kind, gentle soul who cared deeply for her husband and her animal companion, a dog named Bǎohù zhě. Yang was a gentle man who wished no ill will upon anyone, not even his greatest enemy. His hair was as white the freshly fallen mountain snow with one eye as purple as newly blossomed iris and one as red as freshly shed blood. Though kind, Yang could be overly dramatic and quick to anger but never against his wife or cat, Qīnlüè zhě. Together they complemented and protected each other and their home.
Sun Wu Kong poured all his remaining power into two identical staffs and gave them to Yin and Yang, instructing them to use them to defeat the demon and return their world to harmony. An epic battle erupted between the warring sides with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, both sides taking serious losses and leaving Yin and Yang the only ones left against the demon. With their powers combined they banished the demon back to the deepest pits of Hell, but a great cost.
Yin soon fell ill from her injuries from the battle and was nearing death. Yang pleaded with all the deities in the heavens to save her but only the moon goddess had any pity for Moon Goddess proclaimed that if Yang left Yin to bathe in the light of the full moon every month that she would fully heal by the new year. Yang did as he was instructed and took his wife to a clearing to bathe in the moonlight every month, but the healing was too slow. Eventually Yang began to get desperate and turned to dark magic and soon came face to face with the demon he cast into hell so many moons ago and the two struck a deal. In exchange for the man's heart the demon would heal Yin, but she and her husband would forever be at war.
When the Moon Goddess heard about the deal with the demon she gave Yin the power of the moon itself, carving the moon into her hands and face. She then changed Bǎohù zhě into a nine tailed fox and Qīnlüè zhě into a white tiger. The three battled against the now demonic Yang, but the battle came to a standstill with both Yin and Yang dying in the process. The two lovers were buried with their staffs on opposite sides of the hidden kingdom in fear that if the staffs were ever used again it would bring forth a new age of darkness if fallen into the wrong hands. Sun Wu Kong turned the two animal companions into statues to forever guard their masters' tombs. As gift for helping Yin and Yang in their original quest the Moon Goddess gave him a thousand year sleep to regain his power.``
An old man took a deep breath as closed the story book he was reading to his young granddaughter. "And that's the end."
The granddaughter, a small red-headed five year old with bright green eyes, huffed and pouted. "Grandpa, that isn't how a story ends! The ending needs to be happy!"
The oldman raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how would you have ended the story?"
The little girl stood up and smiled brightly, her two front teeth missing as she proclaimed her version of the ending. "They saved Yang and they had a baby and they all lived happily ever after!"
The grandpa laughed. "Well when you slay a demon you can write your own ending, how about that?"
"Okay!"
TEN YEARS LATER
Fifteen year old Autumn Moon ran down the street as fast as her legs could carry her, a hoard of teenage boys on bicycles throwing leftover food and trash at her as she ran. They called her cruel names like 'miss piggy' and 'wide load' while making onking noises at her.
"LEAVE ME ALONE OR I'LL SPRAY YOU WITH MY HOSE!" She yelled as she reached the front porch of her family home.
"Bet you won't you fat bi-" The bully was cut off by Autumn turning the garden hose on full blast and hitting him in the face. The rest of the bullies took off, not wanting to get soaked with their wet friend not far behind them.
"AND I'M NOT FAT YOU SON OF MOTHER FU-"
"AUTUMN!"
Autumn jumped and turned around to find her grandfather and their neighbor standing in the neighbor's yard. Turning beet red, the young girl quickly shut off the hose and looked down sheepishly.
"What have I told you about cussing out people?" He scolded.
"Do it in another language so they have to look it up so they'll actually learn something." Autumn sighed.
"Because?"
"Because if they're dumb enough to harass an ex-marine's granddaughter then they obviously have a peanut sized brain."
Grandpa smiled as the neighbor laughed. "That's my girl. Now let's head inside, I made chili."
Autumn smiled and helped her grandfather back inside. The two of them had lived alone in this house for five years. Autumn's grandmother had passed before she was born, her mother died in Iraq, her father had gone MIA in the Ukraine and her brothers were training overseas in the United states air force. The two lived alone, and that's how they liked it, except for grandpa's crusty musty coyote dog Tempest. He swore Tempest was a domestic coydog, not actually a coyote but the local animal control had other ideas.
"So how was the last day of school?" Grandpa asked as he poured the chili into bowls for the two of them.
"Fine, same old same old. Principal Roach gave his typical end of the year speech but this year someone started playing Hell is Forever over the intercom and they spent the rest of the day trying to find the prankster." Autumn recounted how she pet Tempest's shaggy head.
"Was the prankster you?" He asked suspiciously.
Autumn smiled coily. "Wasn't my prank but perhaps someone made a mural of Principal Roach as an actual cockroach in the school's parking lot."
"Autumn…."
"What? It's chalk, it'll wash away, and I wouldn't have done it if he didn't encourage bullying! Freedom of speech!"
Grandpa sighed and handed the bowl to his granddaughter. "You're a smart kid Autumn, I don't understand where you get this rebellious attitude from."
"Says the man who painted government buildings with 'make love not war' during the vietnam draft. Besides, it's not like anyone at that school likes me and I don't like them."
"You'll find your place honey, we all do eventually."
Later that night Autumn sat on her back porch sketching the large pine trees that littered her back yard. She had almost finished her sketch when she heard Tempest howling in pain in the woods.
"Tempest?! Gramps something's wrong!" She yelled.
There was no response.
"Dang it, he's probably watching TV." she muttered, grabbing a large stick they used for knocking down wasps nests during the summer months and took off for the woods with the light of the full moon to guide her path.
The forest floor was slick with mud from the recent rain showers and mist hung in the air like thick curtains. The usual sounds of crickets and other woodland critters were strangely absent as though they were trying to tell her that she shouldn't be there. The cracking of twigs under her feet echoed even louder in the still air, letting every critter know she was coming. Taking a deep breath she screamed;
"TEMPEST!"
A howl came as a response from a nearby abandoned mine shaft. "The dumb dog must have fallen in while chasing a rabbit or something." Autumn guessed as she approached the mine's opening. Faded no trespassing and danger signs hung loosely on the rotting wood beams that blocked the entrance. She could see the hole that Tempest had used to get inside along with a slightly bigger hole that she could use to get inside. Throwing her stick through the hole attempted to squeeze herself through, only for her chubby tummy and hips to get her wedged in between the pieces of wood.
"Mother fluffer…." Autumn muttered as she began to wiggle to get loose. Unfortunately with her weight and the age of wood it ended up breaking, causing Autumn to fall on her face and into a muddy puddle, ripping her shirt and cutting herself in the process. Muttering curses she forced herself up with the help of her stick.
"I'm starting to think this dog is more trouble than he's worth." Autumn muttered as she wiped the blood and mud off her face and stomach."Maybe I am fat.."
A pained howl rang through the mine, snapping Autumn of her pity party. "Right, dog first, diet later." She said as she trekked on. Little did she know she had left a trail of blood for an expected guest to follow her.
Using her phone to light her way Autumn made pasted decommissioned mining equipment and forgotten safety helmets until she came to Tempest. The coydog had gotten himself trapped under a mining cart. Setting down her phone and stick Autumn tried to lift the cart up enough for Tempest to crawl out.
"After this you're going on a leash!" Autumn yelled as she strained to keep the cart up.
Once the cart was lifted enough Tempest slipped out with his tail wagging in appreciation. Autumn soon dropped the cart and fell to the ground, breathing heavily.
"I need to join a gym!" She grunted as she pushed herself off the ground and grabbed her stuff. "Tempest you're getting a bath for this!"
Tempest growled in response and backed up with his fur standing on end. Autumn was annoyed that the dog was growling at her until she realized something. He wasn't growling at her, he was growling at something behind her. She slowly turned around until she came face to face with the largest grizzly bear she had ever seen. It had bits of her blood on its muzzle and was looking at her like a stack of pancakes at an IHOP.
"Shit! Tempest run!" She yelled as she wacked the bear with her stick before turning to run like a bat out of Hell deeper into the mine. The bear, undeterred by the assault, gave chase to the duo, wanting its dog appetizer and human entree. The trio soon came to a massive pit, trapping Autumn and Tempest against the bear.
The red head turned around, weighing her options. Option one she could grab Tempest and jump, hopefully it wasn't too deep and she could call for help. Option two was either to try and fight or out maneuver the bear and escape. Unfortunately she didn't get to choose either as the bear slashed her back with its claws and the last thing she remembered was falling into the pit.
When Autumn woke up she found herself laying on what appeared to be a mass of fluffy clouds with a beautiful young woman smiling down at her.
"It looks like someone's awake." She said gently.
The woman had long black hair and striking bright blue eyes with skin as white as moon light. She wore a long gown that seemed to be woven from the stars themselves. She was extremely beautiful and made Autumn feel like a slug.
Autumn's brain took a while to boot up and the first words out her mouth was; "I'm dead aren't I?"
The woman laughed. "Pretty much."
"Are you death?" she asked.
The woman laughed once again and shook her head. " No, you can call me Chang'e. You died a valiant death young hero, and for that I'm giving you another chance at life."
Autumn's brain once again took a second to process the information but the woman just kept talking about how Autumn would be reincarnated into another world and be given a great purpose and stuff of that sort. Chang'e seemed to be excited to isekai Autumn while the redhead laid there, semi horrified about the sudden changes in her life.
Autumn didn't want to Isekai! She wanted to go to school, play video games and be with her family! Not go on epic quests and life threatening missions! She had seen enough anime to know better at this point! Worst case scenario she would end up as some Demon Lord and get killed by the hero, or best case scenario she would be given really strong magic but still be sent on dangerous magical quests where she'd be traumatized by the deaths of her teammates! Nope nope nope! This was not happening, this had to be a dream, it was not real.
"Now as for a power set, I think we can have some fun with your name sake," Chang'e said as two books appeared in her hands. The first book was dark blue with the phases of the moon etched into the cover and spine and the second was bound in red leather with five circles on the spine. "This is the book of the moon and the book of the five rings. You will use these on your journey. The book of the moon is a copy of my personal spell book while the book of the five rings is an ancient guide on combat methods. Of course every magical girl needs magic and a companion."
Before her eyes Tempest materialized infront of her, but this time having a crescent moon shaped patch of white fur on his chest. Autumn suddenly felt a burning sensation in her hands and head. She watched in panic as two crescent moons were burned into her hands and then hardened, turning into yellow crystals. The same was done to the one on her forehead.
"Wait stop I-"
"Oh don't worry, you won't remember any of this, or your old life on your earth." Chang'e said as she waved her hand. Autumn and Tempest faded into dust as Chang'e sighed.
"Lets hope you can help fix this mess.."