Inariko was a fox with a mission, but up until today she hadn’t known what that mission was. She’d found herself at the house with the radio tower and the three cats one day, not quite sure how she’d gotten there, or for that matter where she’d come from. She did recall that things like this had happened before, and usually when there was something she was supposed to do.
You see, Inariko wasn’t an ordinary fox, although she looked like one. She was a kitsune, or fox spirit. As far as she knew she was the only kitsune in the United States, or at least in New Jersey. Her kind were from the far east and most lived in Japan. As a spirit, she could do things of which real foxes could only dream. Her favorite was disappearing. She could make herself vanish at will. After many long years of using this skill, she realized it was most effective if she did it just out of sight of the beings she was trying to fool. That way they weren’t sure what happened. If she just up and vanished in front of someone, there was a good chance it would be passed off as some sort of hallucination or dream. Just because she was a fox spirit, that didn’t mean she didn’t have the same tricksy nature real foxes had.
All in all, Inariko was a kind kitsune. Most were, but some used their abilities to lead others to harm, probably just because they were totally unpleasant spirits. Another ability kitsune had was to be able to appear as another type of being. Most commonly kitsune would appear as beautiful human women, but they could appear to be human children or even men if they preferred. They could also appear as other animals, and Inariko had experimented with many of these, sometimes just for fun.
Soon after she’d arrived at Peep, LT and Rudy’s house, Inariko had realized that they were very special cats. Not special like her, they were just mortal housecats, but the way they cared about each other and their humans was quite extraordinary. Witness the way LT and the others had been patrolling the property for bees and other stingy things. Other cats might chase flying bugs, but not monitor the property to keep them away. Another example was how they care about each other’s feelings. They were so good about how they’d told Greymalkin they didn’t want to be bossed around, and then made sure she knew they liked her for herself. They also had an incredible sense of humor. Inariko was still laughing about the ‘delicacies’ Rudy and Peep had made the other day.
But now Inariko’s mission was clear, well kind of clear. She was there to protect this household against some sort of threat. She’d awakened in the night to a sure knowledge that something bad was going to happen to this household, human and cat alike, and it was up to Inariko to make sure it didn’t harm them. Unfortunately she didn’t know if it was some sort of disaster, like a fire, or perhaps an attack by a wild animal. She just knew she needed to act when it happened, and in order to do that she had to be on the lookout for whatever it was. So, it was time for action and more action. First to watch for whatever it was, and then to do everything in her power to counter it. She’d come to love the beings in this household, and she didn’t want anything to happen to them.
You see, Inariko wasn’t an ordinary fox, although she looked like one. She was a kitsune, or fox spirit. As far as she knew she was the only kitsune in the United States, or at least in New Jersey. Her kind were from the far east and most lived in Japan. As a spirit, she could do things of which real foxes could only dream. Her favorite was disappearing. She could make herself vanish at will. After many long years of using this skill, she realized it was most effective if she did it just out of sight of the beings she was trying to fool. That way they weren’t sure what happened. If she just up and vanished in front of someone, there was a good chance it would be passed off as some sort of hallucination or dream. Just because she was a fox spirit, that didn’t mean she didn’t have the same tricksy nature real foxes had.
All in all, Inariko was a kind kitsune. Most were, but some used their abilities to lead others to harm, probably just because they were totally unpleasant spirits. Another ability kitsune had was to be able to appear as another type of being. Most commonly kitsune would appear as beautiful human women, but they could appear to be human children or even men if they preferred. They could also appear as other animals, and Inariko had experimented with many of these, sometimes just for fun.
Soon after she’d arrived at Peep, LT and Rudy’s house, Inariko had realized that they were very special cats. Not special like her, they were just mortal housecats, but the way they cared about each other and their humans was quite extraordinary. Witness the way LT and the others had been patrolling the property for bees and other stingy things. Other cats might chase flying bugs, but not monitor the property to keep them away. Another example was how they care about each other’s feelings. They were so good about how they’d told Greymalkin they didn’t want to be bossed around, and then made sure she knew they liked her for herself. They also had an incredible sense of humor. Inariko was still laughing about the ‘delicacies’ Rudy and Peep had made the other day.
But now Inariko’s mission was clear, well kind of clear. She was there to protect this household against some sort of threat. She’d awakened in the night to a sure knowledge that something bad was going to happen to this household, human and cat alike, and it was up to Inariko to make sure it didn’t harm them. Unfortunately she didn’t know if it was some sort of disaster, like a fire, or perhaps an attack by a wild animal. She just knew she needed to act when it happened, and in order to do that she had to be on the lookout for whatever it was. So, it was time for action and more action. First to watch for whatever it was, and then to do everything in her power to counter it. She’d come to love the beings in this household, and she didn’t want anything to happen to them.
Image courtesy of Ron Dunnington - http://www.flickr.com/photos/manager_2000/3163060196/
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