The Fox Princess And Her White Dog

8: Remember Me

Snow goggled at the majestic creature standing before her, breathing tiny plumes of smoke from its nostrils.

Balls of fire danced in rings around the antlers on its dragon-like head and deer-like body. As the flames floated around it, the fish-like scales on its coat glittered like brilliant sapphires. Long whiskers framed its snout, and its luminous tail left a trail of sparks as it swished slowly from side to side.

Her eyes travelled from the tip of its antlers, all the way down to its tiny hooves hovering above the charred ground.

Heaven have mercy, it's a Qilin! she thought, awestruck. I can't believe there's one right in front of me!

Strangely enough, she felt unafraid of it. Despite its fearsome, otherworldly appearance, there was a gentleness in its expression as it looked directly at her.

The Qilin slowly blinked its doe-like eyes at her, then turned to nudge a figure crouching next to it with its snout. Snow had been so awed by the sight of the Qilin that she had not noticed there was someone with it.

This person had nearly tipped over at the Qilin's nudging and he put out a pale hand to steady himself. She heard him cough, before he got to his feet and straightened up.

Skeins of white smoke curled from his shoulders, as softly crackling lightning bolts jumped across his pearly white robes. His white hair, which was dark at the roots, obscured his face from her view. When he tossed his hair back, she found herself looking at the most ethereally beautiful face she had ever seen.

He's so beautiful! Is he a celestial being? He certainly looks like one.

In the light emanating from the fireballs around the Qilin and the lightning bolts, his skin glowed like translucent white jade and his eyes shone an adularescent blue. When his gaze fell upon her, she saw his dark brows rise as his lips parted.

"Princess!" he exclaimed.

Huh?

He took a couple of steps towards her, but then he stopped in his tracks, as if he suddenly remembered something. He whirled back towards the Qilin, put his fist and palm together in salute and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, I owe you one," she heard him say.

The Qilin bowed its head in response, before glancing at her again. She thought she saw it wink at her.

Ah? It winked at me? Is this for real?

It slowly disappeared into the pine forest, leaving a trail of embers in its wake. The sound of tinkling bells that accompanied it faded to silence, and the world was dark again.

They watched it leave, and then he turned to face her.

She stared dazedly as he ran to where she sat under the pine tree, and noted how his shoulder length hair bounced like a lion's mane in the wind.

He's got such nice hair! Oh, I must have knocked my head pretty hard.  I've just narrowly escaped being eaten alive by wolves and all I'm thinking about is hair, she thought to herself.

His pristine white boots came to a stop by her knee. When he knelt by her side, his long sleeve and the hem of his outer robes fluttered over the length of her leg. Pale light emanated from the swirling clouds embroidered on his robes and the waves pattern on his wide sash belt.

"Princess, you're hurt," he said, his face and voice full of concern. His eyes moved over her stinging cheek and her torn clothes. Up close, she saw that the irises in his eyes no longer glowed blue like moonstones; instead, they had become black as night.