WHEN THE WORLD CATCHES FIRE

WHEN A CANDLE BECOMES A BLAZE

That night, Reyna sat at the place she promised to meet with Ginnon. She waited for several hours in hopes that he was only running late but he never showed. Little did she know that Akane had stopped him on his way over and lied. She told him that Reyna had made up her mind to stay and that she wouldn't be returning to Saiiba. Heartbroken, Reyna made her way back home.

Halfway through her walk back, she noticed large plumes of smoke coming from the forest. With fear rising in her chest, she changed into her fox form and raced home. Running through the underbrush and changing forms to leap high into the trees to see further ahead. Letting adrenaline guide her through her well-known paths, she ran faster than she ever had before.

 When she returned home, breathless, she returned to find her village in flames. Homes burning to the ground, trees blazing with a heat that even her natural resistance couldn't handle. Women and kits screaming in agony. The men fought at the cost of their lives trying to distract the intruders to give others a chance to flee. Bodies littered the ground, the dead with their tails missing. Kits were either being corralled or killed. Banners of The Rusted Flame waved wildly in the wind of the fires. Her heart sunk at the sight and she swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.

As she stood horrified looking at the scene in front of her, her father grabbed her by her shoulders tightly, fear and anger flashing across his face, demanding to know what she had done.

Who had she told?

How could she have been so careless?

They trusted her.

And it was at that very moment a whip sounded as it wrapped around her father's neck, tearing through the skin of his throat. Blood splattered across her face. With shaking hands, she reached up to touch her face where the blood had landed. With a wail trapped in her throat, she tried to run away but with the crack of another whip, it connected with Reyna, tearing the skin across her face. Falling to the ground in agony, she tried to crawl away. With another crack of a whip, it slashed across her back. Tearing through her skin, the scream that was trapped in her throat was let loose. A blood-curdling scream was heard throughout the entire forest. Having lost all hope of getting away at that moment, Reyna laid her face on the warm ground and accepted that this would be the end of her life and the lives of her entire village.

This was her fate.

Before she could give up entirely, her sister Akane ran to her. Grabbing her by the arms, she lifted Reyna and pushed her, willing her to run. With another crack, Akane screamed out in pain as the whip tore across her back, tearing the clothing to shreds. Reyna stopped and turned around to see the wicked smile of the leader as he gleefully thanked 'Ginnon' for the wonderful catch. Her heart sank at the mention of Ginnon's name, thinking that his not showing up that night was because he had betrayed her and was here, destroying her home, not knowing that the leader had recognized Akane and was using the name she had given him. Akane's screams tore her away from her thoughts, and she finally found the will to run. She ran until her lungs burned and her legs became weak.

For the next 50 years, she continues to run and hide. Blaming herself for the destruction of her village. Telling herself that if she had never fallen in love, just followed the rules, she'd still have her home; her family.

However, there is a rumor that the first ever Kitsune still live to this day, or at least their magic does, on a planet, tucked far away from the reach of outside lifeforms.

It is said that this planet is guarded by the Goddess Xue, the first and only nine-tailed fox of the heavens. Xue is also the servant of the God Inari, a protector of rice cultivation and prosperity. She is an all-white fox. Her surrounding aura is gold and visible even to the untrained eye.

Xue is known in lore and religion to guard a place called Sherutā, and it is the one and only place Reyna has her heart set on. If any of her family or friends made it out alive, they would be there.