The Tale of Two Brothers

The Nightmare

Listen closely, and don't breath. If you do, I cannot guarantee you will hear. Once it is said, it cannot be spoken again.
Are you ready?
Good. Because we're starting at the beginning...

Once upon a time, I was a kit. I, along with my brother and sister, were born in a dark cavern. Only the bats knew of our entrance into this world. We didn't know it then, our frail, tiny newborn bodies couldn't possibly know, but we were destined for something far greater than living in a cavern beneath Ting Wu Dai. The land there was lush and green. All manner of life lived above. Their songs flowed down into our little nook, and my sister would find herself sitting within the entrance, gazing out upon the fields. I and my brother on the other hand, preferred the pastime of wrestling. Her curious ways astounded me. And I took no notice of them. That is, until that day.

Mother was a huntress. A daughter of kings. She would leave us for weeks on end, her father calling her to the hunt. The hunt where she would escort foul beasts back into the underworld where they belonged. And when I say escort, I mean banish. The fox pack was the only guardian of Ting Wu Dai, keeping the nightmares away from the humans. The humans didn't know. They couldn't know. And they might never have found out, except for my sister's death.

"Brother, I long to hunt with mother." She would say as she gazed out into the blue sky.

"And you know better, sister," brother said, "than to dream silly fantasies. We shall never be welcome on the hunt."

"And why not? After all, we are just as capable of banishing a nightmare as most of those ruffians are." She snarled.

"Sister you dream too much," I laughed as I gnawed on a bone. "go catch a bat and hunt that."

"Oh, the bats are no fun." She scratched at the ground. As her claws glided across a rough stone, her face lit up. Not an excited expression, no. An actual light lit up her face. She froze, her nails still touching the stone. My tail fluffed up, and brother stood at my side. No one spoke. The light, which was now growing larger, eventually lit up the whole cavern. I turned around, and there before me was a nightmare. A dark, hissing creature with no face and long, hideous, sinuous arms that scraped the floor. Its bony legs lumbered along as it held a lantern in its raised hand.

"Run!!" I barked, and the three of us ran side by side through the cavern entrance. Out in the fields we found ourselves, stumbling through tall, waving grass. Screaming out for our mother. We had no idea where to find her. The hunt traveled for miles, and they could be anywhere. But we searched. The nightmares had found our dark home, and now we couldn't return. Not until the hunt banished them.

We soon found ourselves coming upon the human cemetery. A large, garden-like area where they would bury their dearly departed. It was a solemn place, full of the spirits of the dead. Chills ran up my spine as we walked through it.

"Do not walk upon the stones," brother said, "For they are consecrated. Do not foul them with your presence."

And so we did as he said. It wasn't hard to stay away from the moss covered stones that made up the monuments for the dead.

The nightmare continued its pursuit. We continued our frightened run. And yet, we couldn't outrun the creature. No matter how hard we pushed ourselves, no matter how much fear coursed through our veins, sending us farther and faster than ever before. As we neared the large shrine of the temple guardian, something felt odd. Brother skidded to a stop before us, and I slammed into the back of him.

"Brother, why do you hold back?" I said.

"Look behind you." He replied.

Sister and I turned round to see what brother saw. The nightmare lay on the ground; an arrow stuck within its chest. And a human stood over it. He smirked at the nightmare then glanced up at the three of us. Brother tensed up, but sister's tale began to wag.

"That skin man saved us!"

"Human man, sister," brother said, "and no human is to know of this. We must be rid of him." He bared his teeth.

"No brother! He has saved us! You would not kill him! Not now!"

The man approached the three of us. Now dirty and grass-stained, he probably took us for ordinary fox pups. Not that I could blame him. He was human, after all. He didn't know better. He lifted sister by the scruff of her neck and studied her, then he placed her in a small basket he held at his side. He picked up brother, whose teeth had been bared and he growled loudly. He too, he placed into the basket. And then it was my turn.

So there we were, three pups, being taken to none of us knew where.

"I hope you two realize that humans are terrifying" brother curled himself up in the corner of the basket.

"Every creature has a right to be terrifying. How else can they scare away the nightmares?" sister said.

"Sister, you have much to learn." He shook his head, then lay it down upon his paws. "No. You two risk your lives. But I am going to find mother as soon as I get out of this basket."

Soon his moment came. The human had set the basket down. We three fell down as it hit the floor. And someone spoke in humanish outside. None of us could understand the strange language, for it was something only the elders could learn. And use. The lid to the basket opened, blinding our unadjusted eyes with a bright candlelight. The human lifted us out of the basket and set us on a wooden floor. Our claws click-clacked against it as we walked to eachothers sides.

"Brother, I thought you were leaving as soon as you got out of the basket?" Sister said.

Brother didn't answer, only glared over at her. She smiled.

The human whistled, and two smaller humans burst around a corner. They ran up to the bigger human and bowed. Then they threw their arms around him. Strange behavior. The two little ones sat down beside us, and the female picked sister up. She pet her softly on the head, and muttered a strange noise, "Kaiya"

The small male human echoed this noise, "Kaiya", then pet sister's head.

"I think they named me." Sister said.

"This is no good. We cannot stay here." Brother looked around. The boy lifted him up, but brother bit down hard into his hand. The boy shrieked and dropped brother.

"Oni!!" The little male yelled and pointed at brother.

"Is that your name?" I asked.

"I will accept it gladly. If he does not like me, so be it. I am Oni." Brother growled.

"No brother, do not cause trouble!" Sister cried.

But brother heeded her not. He ran around the room, dodging the humans as they chased him, frantically waving their arms and shouting. I sat quietly. For brother, I knew, would get us all in trouble this time.

After some struggle, the large human caught brother. He lifted him, squirming and writhing, muttered some strange words, followed by "Oni" once again. Then he carried brother to the door.

"No! Brother no!" Sister ran after him.

"Sister!" I ran after sister.

The human opened the door and tossed brother out into the darkness. Then he closed the door, leaving brother outside.

As the humans returned to sister and I, the little male picked me up. I licked his hand; a sign of mutual cooperation, and the boy held me to his chest.

"Eiji!" He looked into my eyes, and I into his. He was no more an adult than I was. Brother had bitten a child! Mother would certainly scold him when she returned.