Moon-Born Fox of Tang
Characters
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Create your own story with WhatIf!
Characters in this story
- Crystal — Jayden’s brown-skinned red-eyed Yin-water kitsune sister, a cheerful ninja who gets faster when pushed.
Story transcript
Lady Mei: Why is the room so cold? The rain is outside, but the water is floating around the baby.
Midwife: Lady Mei, the child is here, but... please look at her ears. And that little tail.
Crystal's Mind: Wait. Why can I hear strangers? Why am I tiny? Why is somebody holding my tail? I would like to file several complaints.
Midwife: That is a fox tail. No human child has a tail that curls like that.
Lady Mei: She has my face, but those eyes are red. Is she my daughter, or did something come wearing her shape?
Crystal's Mind: I am fully conscious, thank you. Unfortunately, I cannot control my neck, my hands, or the person currently inspecting my ears.
Lady Mei's Husband: Bar the door. Hang the talisman. Do not let the yokai touch Mei or anyone else in this house.
Crystal's Mind: I am not touching anyone. I am being held. There is a very important difference between those two things.
Midwife: It squeaked at him. I have delivered many babies, and none of them have ever looked so offended.
Crystal's Mind: I remember Edo. I remember Jayden shouting, 'Crystal, do not hit the bell!' I remember hitting the bell anyway.
Crystal's Mind: The crescent struck the bronze, the moon split open, and something on the other side pulled me through. I was falling, then drowning, then... born.
Unknown Voice: Cross over, little fox of water. Your second life is waiting beneath the autumn moon.
Taoist Scholar: A basket made of water? No rope, no wood, no footprints. It is still floating above the well.
Taoist Scholar: The child was carried here before the mother finished giving birth. That means the storm brought more than rain.
Crystal's Mind: That is the first sensible thing anyone has said. Also, please stop calling me child like I cannot hear you.
Taoist Scholar: The mark is a fox beneath a river wave. This is Huxian's seal, the sign of the Fox Immortal.
Lady Mei: You are saying my daughter is a god?
Taoist Scholar: I am saying she may become one. She is a new incarnation, not an ordinary demon, and she already dislikes my sleeve.
Crystal's Mind: Correct. Your sleeve smells like old incense, wet wool, and panic.
Crystal's Mind: Step one, move the ears. Good. Step two, summon water. Tiny splash. Step three, sit up and escape this cradle.
Crystal's Mind: I have been defeated by gravity. I used to fight monsters. Now I cannot escape a blanket.
Midwife: Look at her face. She is smiling at us.
Crystal's Mind: I am not smiling. I am planning.
Villager: The foxfire means the demon must be surrendered before it brings a flood on every house.
Taoist Scholar: The foxfire appeared above the roof, not inside the cradle. If you kill a divine incarnation, the river may answer you.
Lady Mei: She is my baby. Nobody takes her from this house while I am still standing.
Crystal's Mind: Oh. New mother has chosen violence. I respect her already.
Lady Mei: Before she was born, the water in our bowls climbed toward the window. Every drop moved toward this room.
Taoist Scholar: A river chooses its guardian by moving against the mountain. The water came to her, not the other way around.
Villager: Or the demon is calling the flood. We should burn the house before the sign becomes a disaster.
Crystal's Mind: Everyone here has a theory. Nobody has asked whether I agreed to be reborn in the middle of a public argument.
Crystal's Mind: Jayden... if you can hear me, I am alive. I am just very small, very hungry, and surrounded by people with torches.
Crystal's Mind: Come on, water. One move. Protect the woman who held me. Then maybe stop making everybody scream.
Lady Mei: The water is wrapping around my wrists. It feels warm, like a hand telling me not to be afraid.
Taoist Scholar: It is answering her heart. Look at the floor. The child is writing the river character.
Taoist Scholar: At sunrise, the basket becomes a lotus pool. The sign is complete. She is Huxian's new vessel, a fox-and-river immortal in the making.
Lady Mei: Then she is my daughter before she is anybody's legend. You may call her a goddess after she has been fed and wrapped in a dry blanket.
Crystal's Mind: Good. Someone finally said the correct thing.
Crystal: Hungry.
Lady Mei: She spoke! The divine child has spoken. What sacred name did you hear?
Taoist Scholar: A name from heaven, perhaps. A title. A prophecy.
Crystal's Mind: Food first. Then Jayden. Then I am going to learn why a river thinks it owns me.