//-------------------------------------------------------// Kitsune : A Tail of Two Bloods -by ThatHiddenFox- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Nightmare Fox //-------------------------------------------------------// Nightmare Fox Celestia has been having nightmares... One of the most terrifying nightmares she had ever had... A room, a rather blank room with black colored walls with nothing on them. It appeared to Celestia as if she were hovering above a pit of eternal void. Am i dreaming? It just feels so real... Celestia asked herself. All the sudden a white light started to glow from behind her, coloring the black walls in a hue of grey light as the two colors merged. Celestia turned around to see a Fox like creature bending over some kind of corpse. Celestia immediately realized who's corpse it was... It was the corpse of her sister, Luna. All torn up with one entire leg missing off her dead body. Celestia couldn't move, nor cry out as she saw this mangled ball of flesh that was her sister. She didn't notice before, but upon further inspection, the Fox creature was Chewing on Luna's severed leg. Splats of blood sprung out of Luna's several wounds and the now almost devoured severed leg, covering the walls in solid red blood. Celestia couldn't realize what was happening, after seeing her own sisters corpse she felt mortified. The sounds of the Fox creature eating her own sister tormented her even more then the sight of Luna's corpse. Somewhere deep inside Celestia, something sprung to life. Bringing back memories she had long forgotten. Memories of the endless slaughter and deaths of her subjects. Memories of the Kitsune. Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!!! Celestia screamed to herself in her head. But she felt as if some kind of outside force was holding her, binding her to this nightmare. She wished she could be back, back in Caterlot with her sister and many other Ponies. After the Fox creature had completely devoured Luna's leg, it turned and stared at Celestia as if staring into her soul. The creature started towards her, blood Luna's Blood almost completely covering this creature's face. Contrasting amazingly with it's white fur as if it was a cruel joke to Celestia. As the creature came closer, Celestia realized it was no ordinary Fox creature, for it was a Kitsune. Painful memories of blood and gore returned to Celestia with each step this creature took. The Kitsune's many tails dragging along the now blood stained floor. the Kitsune bore a horrifying smirk on its face as it drew ever closer to Celestia. Celestia, unable to move, had to face this Kitsune head on. She tried using magic but to no avail, it was like her horn didn't even exist in this realm of Nightmares. A few steps away from Celestia the Kitsune stopped, and all it said was "I'm coming for you, oh sweet sunshine." Celestia jolted awake. She looked around and saw that everything was normal. But one name was burned into her mind... Kurou Celestia, ran to find her sister. To make sure she was alright and UN- hurt. She ran into some Royal Guards on her way to find her sister. But these guards assured her, everything is O.K and they hadn't seen any Fox creatures while they were on their watch. They must think i'm insane! But i know what i saw, i just wish i knew what it meant After this though she gave into the guard's plea to return to her quarters and return to sleep. But Celestia couldn't sleep, for what she saw had terrified her to the bone. //-------------------------------------------------------// Village Of Vulpes //-------------------------------------------------------// Village Of Vulpes Kurou the Kitsune woke up in his bed in the middle of the night. He'd been having nightmares about a white and gold Kitsune taunting him to Hunt. Although, Kurou knew that this was normal among the Kitsune as they got closer to gaining their next tail. Kurou asked his mother if she had ever had them but some how, she never has had a nightmare before. Being the leader of the Kitsune, Kurou's mother was able to manipulate the minds of others to her will, to a certain extent... so she had been able to see this nightmare from other Kitsune and was able to talk to Kurou about his nightmare. Kurou looked up, out the window. Into the night, to the white and brown trunks of the many trees that surrounded his village. He was thinking of how the trees felt when they lost their leaves. Did it hurt? Did they even know they were losing leaves? Did they feel sad when they lost their leaves? Kurou asked himself, he had always wanted to know more about his surroundings. "Kurou!!" He heard his mother calling for him from down stairs. He got out of bed and went to see what she wanted. "Yes mother?" He asked politely as was customary when speaking to an elder. "I've been thinking about your nightmare you've been telling me about... What did the two look like again?" She asked, concerned about her son. Kurou was extremely confused on why she was asking him this but he answered anyways. "Uh, one was a pure gold color and one was white with red markings on its head... why are you as-" Kurou didn't finish his sentence before his   mother interrupted him. "Interesting.... What did they tell you to do?" "Uh, they told me to Hunt them all what ever that means.... If that's what your asking..." Kurou waited for a reasponce but none came until minuets later. "Just as i thought... Tell you what kitten, ill remove this nightmare from your head so you can return to sleep, i need you to run some arriands tomarrow." Kurou hated whenever she called him Kitten, it just made him feel childish, but it didn't bother him too much because he was still a Kit according to Kitsune law. Kurou accepted her offer graciously. After she finished, she sent him back up to bed where he was easily able to fall back to sleep. In the morning, Kurou's mother gave him a list of four things he had to gather for her. As he walked to get his first item, he stopped to watch a Kitsune Marriage ritual. The two were fighting relentlessly with each other but Kurou knew that it was customary for two lovers to fight to assert their place in their new formed family. Loser of this fight becomes the care- giver of the family. Winner becomes the new family's Hunter to supply them with food. As he walked away from the group watching the ritual, he shouted back "Congratulations!" To congratulate the two lovers on their accomplishment of marriage. First thing on the list, a vial of Boiled Rabbit Blood. Kurou felt that this was by far the most useless use of money he had ever seen. He could go kill a bird and put its blood into a vial and there would be no difference, but he did as he was told. After his awkward encounter with the Kitsune who sold him the vial, he continued to get his second item. Second item, a new metal pot. When he read this, Kurou laughed a little because he remembered how his mother left their old pot on the fire and it melted a hole clean through. Kurou went to the Steel Smith to see if she had any pots to sell. Luckily, she did and he paid for the pot with the rest of his money. Kurou Again, continued to his third thing on his list. Third on his list was Fresh Ginger. Kurou has hated ginger with a passion since he was small but he still had to do as told. He didn't realize it before but he had no money to pay for the Ginger so the Herbalist he was buying it from gave him a letter to deliver. After delivering this letter all the way across town he finally got the ginger and could move on to the the forth item. Kurou was happy this was his last item to get. The forth item was Mint leaves and he had to go into the forest to find them. After hours of searching along the ground he spotted a small family of rabbits. Drawing his dagger , Kurou hid in a bush and waited for these Rabbits to get closer. After an hour of waiting, the family of three had come close enough. In less then a second, Kurou had stabbed one of them through the neck, killing it almost instantly. Kurou watched as the other two ran away as fast as possible, never once looking back at their fallen brethren. Kurou spent several minutes skinning the rabbit and lighting a fire to cook it on. After he eventually ate the cooked rabbit... He remembered... He hadn't found any mint! He looked at the sun to see it just touching the horizon. If i'm not back before sun down... She'll have my head! Kurou said to himself, feeling like an idiot for forgetting his tasks. He scrambled until he eventually found some of the shiny green leaves on the forest floor. After he checked if it was Poison or not he clarified it was indeed mint. He put it in this pot- bag and started on back to the village. Kurou had walked much farther then he thought... it took him almost a full hour to find the village again. After he did he ran through the village, almost knocking over several kitsune and made it to his home. He had completed his tasks, now he needed to find out why his mother needed these things. Kurou entered the house to find that the white fox that was his mother was no where to be found. He looked all around the house but still couldn't find her. Until he checked their back room... He saw that his mother was bathing in a pool of animal blood on the floor. Kurou stood in the door way in silence until he was spoken too. "Come in Kurou" Kurou entered the room, dogging around the smaller pools of blood as he approached the White Fox. When he was finally in reaching distance his mother got up from her position on the floor and put her paw in a small pool of far darker-red blood. His mother made a mark with her paw on the top of his head. It was very hard to see because of Kurou's own red- orange fur but it was still legible. The mark looked like a question mark with six dots all around it with a triangle on top. "This will protect you from all evil Kurou, when i'm gone i want you to be safe." Her words scared Kurou a little "What do you mean 'When you are gone'"? "Nothing, now, go up to sleep Kurou ill see you in the morning." After she said this Kurou went to his room to sleep, but with every step he took up the stairs, it felt as if the top of his head where the mark was was burning like acid. He thought he should go wash it off but it felt as if he Knew that wouldn't work. When Kurou tried going to sleep, the Nightmare he had been having the past month wasn't present. It was as if it had been forced out of his mind, leaving a big void of nothing but wonder. Because of this, he sleep peacefully all through the night. //-------------------------------------------------------// Blades and Powers //-------------------------------------------------------// Blades and Powers Kurou woke up as he always did. In his room, in his warm wooden home. Heated by the coals of the past night's cooking fire. The burning sensation from where Kurou's mother made her mark was gone and was replaced with a cold, chilling sensation. This feeling rattled Kurou to the bone and it wouldn't go away. Kurou tried sticking his head in hot water but the mark and the feeling wouldn't go away. "What did you mark me with? I get that its a charm or something but what Is the mark made out of?" Kurou had confronted his mother in the same back room, now with no pools of red liquid everywhere. It was as if they were never there. "The mark i bore on your head is of you father's blood Kurou, i saved his blood right before he passed on." In any other circumstance, Kurou would have found this very strange and disgusting but usually, when one of the two married Kitsune dies, the other saves a vial of their blood so they and their children could always remember them. "But, uh, isn't his blood supposed to be, uh, sacred and never to be used for anything?" "Normally, yes. But dark clouds are forming around our forest Kurou, and i believe you will be the answer." Kurou felt that what she said was alot of weight to put on a twelve winter old kit, but he felt prideful that his mother had so much faith in him. Although he couldn't stop himself from thinking of literal dark clouds surrounding the large forest as if attempting to invade. Before Kurou's mother returned to her Leader duties, she sent him to go to the Blade Smith to attend his class on swordsfoxship. It didn't take Kurou long to make it to the old blade smith's hut. While he was approaching the door, Kurou could hear the clashing of steel from the area behind the hut. Instead of knocking on the door, he went around the hut into the back area. "Ah! Kurou! Nice timing, we just started!" Said the golden furred Blade Smith. Kurou hasn't liked the old blade smith very much, he looked so similar to the golden fox in his nightmares. Kurou has always wondered why the blade smith wasn't the leader of his tribe, being the sword master of all things... But Kurou was happy how things were. "Now." The blade smith started. "Remember to always clean your blade and sharpen them! Blood can rust and cause your blade's iron harm and a dull blade is like using a stick to slice through a tree!" Kurou felt very bored, but he usually never was... He felt as if heKnew all this material and that he's heard this so many times. "Everyone choose a sparing partner!" The blade smith said without quite noticing there were only three kits in front of him. "Err.. um... OK! we'll do a a Truel! Every Kitsune for them self! The three kits took their position in the wide open area. Each looking at each other like they wanted to rid their heart out. Staring each other down for minutes, waiting for the truel to start. "Go!" Kurou watched as one of the other kit's leg mussels extended and then contracted as they entered a full two legged sprint towards him. Kurou couldn't believe how he felt, he felt calm as if he was Counting on this curtain kit to make their first move on him. He watched the kit get closer and closer until it was less then five meters away. When the kit was less then a meter away, it leaped at Kurou. Kurou saw the world almost in slow motion, as if his Kitsune instincts were kicking in, overriding his will. He ducked to dodge the aerial attack and made a long cut on the length of the attacking kit's leg. One down, One to go! Kurou thought, celebrating his victory over the kit. The other kit looked at Kurou with fear in its eyes as it had watched Kurou defeat the other kit with ease. The kit had no choice but to wait for Kurou to attack them first. Realizing this, Kurou did just that, he attack straight on. Running at the other Kit was the best feeling. He felt as if he were running in a open field with flowers all around him. But he had blood to draw. When he finally got to the other kit, it was ready for him. Both their blades met in a very loud Clashing noise. Both kits kept making small cuts on each other but Kurou was able to trip the other kit, thus assuring his victory. "Well done Kurou! You really are your mother's son." The blade smith said, congratulating Kurou. Kurou left the class to return home. He had new found abilities he'd never had before, he felt as if the mark had something to do with it... //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue They came from deep inside the Frozen Nurth 1,460 years ago. A tribe of Fox People who called themselves the Kitsune. These Kitsune were the most elite warriors you would ever see, only you would hope they never turn up at your door. They were lead by two horrible leaders who would stop at nothing until they watch all of Equestria burned to ash. The leaders had their most elite warriors go out and slaughter family after family of ponies all around Equestria. This slaughter put Celestia and Luna into a horrible panic, they knew nothing of this new race and none of their weaknesses. The only way to stop the death toll from climbing... was to attack them at their heart. Celestia and Luna lead a small group of guards to set fire to the homes of the Kitsune, the ones killed, were only kits. The Kitsune backed off from the ponies for two hundred years. But the winter of the last year of peace, the Kitsune attacked Canterlot. The Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasai, and Earth ponies alike were murdered by the hundreds within twenty minutes. Celestia and Luna had to put an end to this mindless killing, they had to destroy the two leaders. Again, the two sisters attacked the Kitsune but this time... they knew what they were doing. A young Kitsune named Taishite helped the two sisters by giving them information on the Kitsune. Instead of running in and getting destroyed, the two sisters challenged the two leaders to combat. Forced by their culture and pride, the two accepted this battle... What was on the line? Winners get all of Equestria, Losers have to Leave Equestria. The fight went on twenty six days and twenty six nights. Eventually, Celestia and Luna emerged victorious over the Kitsune leaders. Keeping their bet, the two leaders and most of their tribe left Equestria, never to be seen again. Or did they? Legend has it that the two never left Equestria, but hid inside of it where nopony would ever look.