I was always brave; I always wanted to be a fighter, a noble one. I was rewarded with a statue in the town square for my confidence, and my brave journey that saved the town, the people, and the animals. A statue of a noble boy holding a sharp sword, pointing up towards the sun, stood next to my statue. I couldn’t have done it without him. His name was Kitsune. I still remember his sweet smile, his confident voice, and his words that changed my life.
My father had always told me the legend of Jigoku before bed. I would lay there listening to him while he gently stroked my head. I would dream about fighting off dragons and the evil creatures. I would dream that I was a noble one. That everyone looked up to me. That I was standing in the town centre, everyone cheering for me as I raised my sword proudly.
My father had always told me to stay strong. And that whatever happens he will always be there for me. Father and I were really close as I had no mother. She left me when I was a baby and never came back. When my father died I was all alone. I had to carry on by myself. But I wasn’t by myself. Father had said he would always be there for me. He never left. He was always with me. Only in my heart. I would talk to myself as if I were talking to father. This helped through the rough times. Every night I would read the legend of Jigoku to myself out of the same book my father did.
“Once lived a very brave boy named Kizoku. One day he discovered a beautiful land. Which had very strange creatures living in it. As Kizoku got near one of them it pounced at him. He took out his sword and swung at it. All the others charged at him. He killed them all alone. Not a single cut on him either. After that he saw a green hole in the sky where more of the creatures dropped out. He hid in a cave and found a key which he placed on a carved stone outside the cave. It ceiled up the hole leaving only a few creatures left. He killed them all and drew a map to the carved stone outside the cave. He then got all his friends and family to move into the land with him. He named the land Unmei. Everywhere he went he would keep the map in his pocket. As he got old he stayed all alone in his little cave. One cold night while sitting on his wooden chair he had made he took out the map and stared at it. His eyes began to close…His body began to give way. And with that he died clutching onto the map. The next day his family found him and buried him outside the cave by the carved stone and key. His son took the map out of his hands before he was buried. The town grew bigger and bigger. The cave was soon lost behind vines and trees. But the key remained in place. Whoever holds the map, holds great danger.”
I read this every night. I think of my father every time I read this.
One day as I was walking to school I saw some animals heading the opposite direction to me. They were running quiet fast. Then I saw a man also running the opposite direction. “Run little girl, Run!” He shouted. “What for”? I asked. “There’s no time to explain”! He continued. “Just run”! I stud there. “What are you doing”? He asked. “Run”! I said nothing. “What’s your name”? He said. “Usagi” I answered. With that I ran. I didn’t run away from this unknown danger. I ran towards it. “What are you doing Usagi”? He shouted in horror. “You’re going to get yourself killed!” I picked up a sword someone had left on the grass and headed on. I looked back. The man was standing there. I waved at him. He turned away and started running again. As I ran I could see more and more animals and people running away. “Why are you all running”? I asked. “There’s no time to explain”! said a tall woman. “Just run”! I carried on running towards the danger. I was determined to find out what was going on. “Your mad girl”! A man said. I ignored him and carried on. Soon everyone was gone. I was the only one in the whole of Unmei. Just then I saw a young boy about the same age as me holding a sword sitting on a rock. “Who are you”? I questioned. “My name is Kitsune” He said. “What about you”? “Usagi” I said walking over to him. “Why are you still here”? He asked. “I could ask you the very same question” I said. He smiled. “I’m here to see what all the danger is about” He said. “So am I” I added. “I wonder why no one will tell us” I pointed out. “Let’s keep going” He said standing up. “Let’s”? I said puzzled. “Yes” He started. “You and me.” “We can make a good team” “Ok” I accepted. With that we ran on. Later on I spotted a small creature. Like the one that was described in the legend of Jigoku. “What is that”? He asked pointing towards it. “Have you read the legend of Jigoku?” I said. “Yes” He replied. “It’s a creature from the legend. “But” He said in shock. “That’s just a legend” “I thought so too” I said. “But it’s obviously not” I pointed to a green hole in the sky. He gulped. “Someone moved the key” he cried. “WHY”? I shouted. “Sshh” He whispered. “Keep your voice down. One of the creatures might here us” “Sorry” I whispered. “If someone moved the key” I said. “Whoever moved it must still have it” We kept on creeping around making sure we weren’t noticed by the creatures. We soon came across some vines and over grown grass…. I cut down the vines with my sword. Kitsune and I stud in shock. “How” I said stunned. “Well let’s look for the carved stone” I said. Kitsune didn’t move. He kept staring at the cave. “Come on” I hurried him. “We don’t have all day you know”. Then we started searching. I lifted up a lot of stones and leaves. But it wasn’t there. “Usagi”! He shouted. “Huh”? I said turning around to him. He was pointing to a rock. There was a sun shape carved around it. Leaving a smooth blank space in the middle where the key was supposed to be. “Now we just need to key” I said hopelessly. “Where do we find a magic key”? I sat down on one of the rocks. Kitsune lifted up a rock. “What are you doing”? I asked. “Moving this rock” He replied. “Why”? I said. “I’m bored” He mumbled. Then he placed the rock down in front of the cave. A shining light caught my eye. It was where the rock had been that Kitsune picked up. I ran over to it. It wasn’t a light. It was the sun shining on metal. I picked it up. I couldn’t believe my eyes. “It’s the key”! I yelled with delight. He ran over to me. “Yes”! He cheered. I looked at him. “You can do the honours.” I said giving him the key. “You sure”? He asked. “Sure” I smiled. With that he gently placed the key in the middle of the rock. We both looked up. The green hole began to close up. The legend really was real. We kept staring at it as it got smaller and smaller. Soon it had disappeared and the blue sky was back. We looked at each other. “We did it”! I shouted. We both high fived each other. “Should we head back and tell the others”? He asked. “Sure” I replied. As we walked back we kept running into some of the evil creatures. We just killed them as we walked on. When we got to Heiwa, the town next to Unmei we told everyone what we had done. They all ran up to us asking our names. “My name is Usagi.” I replied to everyone. “And mine is Kitsune.” answered Kitsune. After they had praised us they all walked back to Unmei. They all went their own way and carried on with what they were doing. Kitsune and I were left in the middle of Unmei. “I couldn’t have done it without you” I said. “I couldn’t have done it without you” He smiled. We shook hands and with that we both went opposite directions. I walked back to my house behind the waterfall. The next day the people started working on a statue of Kitsune and I. We met again when they were carving the statues as they needed to see our faces. After that I never saw him again.
Now here I am, old and week, sitting on the bench in front of the statues. I’ll never forget Kitsune. If it wasn’t for him, well, I think I would be dead right now. Well at least the town would be anyway. Well my dream came true, to be a fighter, to be noble, to be honoured. If only father were here to see what I’d done, to see how my dreams came true, to see how to legend was real. Well he is here. He just can’t see, or feel, or hear me. But he’s still here. Only in my heart.
