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Hi! MikomiTheKitsune here! This is my first story on here (please have mercy) I will put in parentheses what certain terms mean when I first use them, but I will also have a glossary on my profile so…yeah! And I recommend reading the prologue...it does explain a lot :P
Disclaimer: All characters in this story were created by ME, and this story is MINE! MY OWN! My…PRECIOUS!...OK, and that line belongs to Sméagol of Lord of the Rings, which belongs to Tolkien and not me. XP
The Curse Of the Hoshi No Tama Necklace
Prologue: Legend of the Two Worlds
Mirai, the land of technology and complexity...
Aozora Tsuki, the land of mystery and fantasy...
Long ago, these two worlds were one...a war, however, awakened Kyubi, a powerful kitsune (fox spirit)...
Angered for being awakened in such a way, the kitsune split the world into two...but, by doing so, he broke an ancient taboo...
For punishment, the Katasura elders sealed his powers into an ancient charm known as the Hoshi No Tama Necklace.
With that being done, the necklace disappeared from existence...or so everyone thought...
1000 years passed since that fateful day when Kyubi was sealed away...and Mirai and Aozora Tsuki existed undisturbed and unaware of each other's existence.
However, that peace wouldn't last long...
The wheels of fate turn ever so slowly as the protagonist of this tale, the young half-kitsune girl Mikomi Toyoshima, continues her journey home...
Unknown to her, however, whom she was about to meet on the road would change her life forever...
Chapter 1: Accepting an Unknown Fate
Mikomi sighed a big breath of relief when her gleaming green eyes came to the path that led to her home in Shikimori Forest, her destination. Just a little further and I’ll be home…Mikomi thought as she continued on through the thick forest.
Mikomi was a bright young girl, average height, with short wavy red hair that always looked a bit messy. She wore a deep royal blue kimono, faded from her travels, and had a dim yellow backpack slung on her back. Her deep orange kitsune ears stuck out of the top of her head and her two white-tipped tails came out the back of her pants, identifying her as a half-kitsune, a fact she was not very proud of. It would prove useful from time to time, if she ever got into a squabble she could shapeshift into someone or something and make her escape, or she could form a ball of kitsune-bi, or foxfire, as a means of attack. What annoyed her was that despite these abilities, she would get into trouble for the fact that she was half-kitsune in the first place. All thanks to that stupid Kyubi faerie tale, which was tabooed knowledge. She never understood how a faerie tale, supposedly fake, could be restricted knowledge, especially if it was always used in retaliation against kitsune and half-kitsune alike. Not to mention no one ever said who exactly tabooed it.
Shaking that thought from her mind, she continued onward through the forest. She had just traveled to the continent of Oceania, a place thought by many to be impossible to reach by oneself, and, even if you were to make it there, you’d be ripped apart either by the extreme climate conditions or the twisted monsters that dwelled there. Mikomi, however, didn’t believe such accusations; she felt they were the same as the negative accusations of the kitsune: totally false.
Her sisters, Kamino and Kyoko, refused to let Mikomi go, worried that these rumors could be true. But Mikomi, having the blood of a kitsune flowing in her veins, couldn’t and wouldn’t let these rumors stand, and called as she left that they would owe her a Nekoian soda if she was able to go there and back in one piece in a certain amount of time (and Mikomi, who is making good time, is happily awaiting the moment where she can finally get her hands on this rare delicacy).
Her mind set towards getting home, she continued on her quest…until she heard a deep grunt rumble nearby. The sudden noise made her jump, and she almost lost her balance. After she regained her composure, she glanced towards where the noise came from. “What was that?” she asked herself as she neared an area that obviously wasn’t peaceful. “Maybe something’s going on over there…?”
She snuck closer to the scene, where she saw an innocent old lady being attacked by a large worm-like creature unlike anything Mikomi had ever seen before. The old lady’s kimono was torn, and she was on the ground, struggling to get up. Its large unusual blue scales reflected the fear on the her face as it cackled, “Give me the Hoshi No Tama Necklace. Give me infinite power! GEE!”
Whoa…either I’m seeing things…Mikomi rubbed her eyes and blinked. Or that’s one ugly monster! But…monsters don’t show up in these parts…But though this whole thing baffled her, she wasn’t about to let this freaky thing kill that poor old lady. “Well, whatever the case, I better go help her!”
With that, she threw off her backpack and leapt in front of the old lady. “Hey YOU! Monster! Stop right there!”
She caught the old lady and the worm-like creature by surprise, but the monster cackled, “I am no monster. I am a DEMON! Stand aside, mortal. That old woman has something I want.”
Mikomi couldn’t help but laugh at what she was hearing. “Demon?” She cleared her throat in arrogance. “Yeah, right. Demons died out in this world a thousand years ago when Kyubi was sealed away. You certainly think highly of yourself, don’tcha?”
The creature spat right back. “Look who’s talking, half-breed. Now stand aside.”
Mikomi growled and narrowed her eyes at it. “Hey, watch it. Don’t push your luck with me…”
It ignored her and taunted, “So you think being half kitsune will save you? The very blood that bans you from Nekotoshi town?”
Mikomi’s temper wasn’t very tolerant of discriminating remarks…but to remind her of negative experiences in the past? Four words: Not a good idea. “OK, THAT’S IT!” She leapt in the air, charged a blue kitsune-bi ball in her hands and screamed, “FIERY FURY!”
The last thing the creature saw was the girl’s glaring face as it blew up in a raging flame blast, screaming for its life. When the smoke cleared, it was gone. Mikomi blew some sparks off of her knuckles. “Never call me half-breed,” she chuckled.
She turned to the old woman who had just come out of hiding. “Are you OK?”
“Yes, thanks to you.” The old woman bowed. “You’re very brave, Mikomi.”
Mikomi was caught off-guard by this. “Wha? Wait…how do you know my—“
“Name? They talked about you all the time in Nekotoshi town, you know—“ the old woman pulled out what appeared to be a wanted poster out of her kimono sleeve”—‘Wanted Dead or Alive: Mikomi Toyoshima for the kidnapping and possible murder of Princess Miko (‘priestess’) Kari Katasura. Reward…ten million kane or so?”
Mikomi grabbed the ad out of her hand and read it over to confirm it. She sighed and crossed her arms in frustration. Yup, that was about right. But… “…He upped the price. Huh.”
Yet another example of kitsune discrimination. When she had come across Nekotoshi town in her travels, she was ambushed by thugs and saved by the town’s princess, Kari Katasura. They became fast friends and Kari led Mikomi to her village. At that time, spirits and half-spirits were welcome in the town. But when the king and queen mysteriously disappeared one night and never returned, it left Princess Kari and her little brother Prince Riyo in charge of town. Riyo, being the obnoxious brat he was known to be, accused Mikomi, the half-kitsune, of kidnapping his parents and, when Kari was kidnapped, accused Mikomi of that crime as well. Finally, the irritating ten year old mysteriously got the whole town to believe that Mikomi was some kind of demonic creature and drove her and her sisters out of town. With no place else to go, Mikomi, Kamino, and Kyoko had hidden themselves in Shikimori Forest, which was right next to town with the theory, ‘The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm.’
Ever since then, Riyo decided he wanted revenge on Mikomi, and started to hunt for her…and so far Mikomi’s danger theory proved effective. “Still, I gotta say… Riyo must really want my head… I guess ‘home sweet home’ hasn’t changed much…” Mikomi sighed, then chuckled at Riyo’s ridiculous reward. Mikomi’s cheer faded away when she realized the old woman had the wanted poster in her hands. “…Wait, you’re not going to turn me in, are you…?”
The old woman shook her head. “No; think of it as thanks for saving me.”
Mikomi sighed in relief. “Whew…thanks. Who are you, anyway?”
“You may call me Jueru. Jueru Kouken.”
“OK, Jueru…” Mikomi asked, “Why was that monster after you? It seemed like you had something it wanted…”
Jueru shook her head again. “That was no ordinary monster. That was a demon.”
“WHAT?” Mikomi couldn’t believe this, not for a second. “There’s no way it could’ve been…it wasn’t lying then…?”
“No, and I must say, you know a lot more than other people do, Mikomi.” Jueru turned with a suspicious look on her face. “You said this world, did you not? And you know about Kyubi being sealed away?”
Mikomi panicked slightly. “Dammit…”
“No, no…it’s OK, I know too. Even if it's restricted knowledge…we can be hanged together, eh?” Jueru smiled at the nervous girl.
Mikomi narrowed her eyes in irritation at that remark. Again with the restricted! “Restricted, restricted, restricted…” she muttered under her breath. Trying to keep her cool, she changed the subject. “You were saying?”
“Oh yes…That. You know of the Hoshi No Tama Necklace?” Jueru’s face lost its previous cheer.
Mikomi cocked her head in confusion. “Yeah…So?”
“Well...” Jueru pulled out an unusual-looking trinket out of one of her kimono sleeves. It looked like an old necklace, with a glowing blood red pear-shaped ruby with nine golden tips embedded into it, strung together by a line of deep black pearls. A dark aura radiated from it, and Mikomi recognized it as one thing…the thing she dreaded the most. “No way…is that really the Hoshi No Tama Necklace?” Mikomi gulped with her stomach in a knot, hoping it wasn’t true.
Jueru nodded solemnly. “Indeed, it is; the one and only. You know the story, do you not?”
Mikomi recited it as the traditional scripts went: “1000 years ago, a fierce war broke out between two lands…the war, however, woke Kyubi the kitsune from his supposedly eternal slumber… and in a rage he split the world into the two we know today…then the Katasura elders sealed Kyubi’s power into the Hoshi No Tama necklace...although, no one said what happened to his soul... “
Mikomi sighed in sadness as she gazed up at the clouds and continued, “Part of me always said that they would tell that faerie tale to people to keep them away from me, me being half-kitsune myself…but then, part of me had a weird feeling it could be true...”
Jueru chuckled in astonishment. “Ah! You really do know the story well. Well, it's no faerie tale; it's true.”
Mikomi started to get a little suspicious. “...So what are you doing with the necklace, anyhow? You don't look like someone craving power...”
Jueru put her hands on Mikomi’s shoulders. “Indeed...you must take this burden from me...”
Mikomi stepped away in shock at Jueru’s request. ”W-what? You want ME to take it?”
“Yes.”
“But—“
“Please, you'll do this for an old woman, won't you...?”
Mikomi was unsure of what to do, but something possessed her to accept. “...OK, I'll take it...”
Jueru smiled. “Good, good. But remember this Mikomi,” she looked gravely in her eyes, “NEVER PUT IT ON. Ever. Unless it is an emergency...” With those words being said, Jueru gave the cursed charm to Mikomi, which Mikomi immediately put in her backpack. “Gotcha. Never put it on unless it's an emergency.”
“I guess I better go now…” Mikomi slung the backpack over her shoulders and turned to depart.
“WAIT! I have one more thing I wish to give you Mikomi…” Mikomi stopped and turned back to Jueru. “Would you mind taking this bow and quiver for me too?” Jueru made a huge silver bow with golden jewels embedded in it and a quiver full of golden arrows out of thin air, which shocked Mikomi enough as it is…then Jueru handed it all to Mikomi and she almost fell because of the weight of all of it.
“AAH! J-Jueru, t-this is kinda heavy...” Mikomi just barely managed to get the bow on her back when she noticed that Jueru had vanished! ”Wha? Jueru? Jueru!”
Mikomi could hear Jueru’s voice echo through her mind: Please give that to the girl who resembles Princess Miko Kari but wears unusual green armor...And guard that necklace with your life…
“What? Jueru? Wait!” Tried as she might, Mikomi couldn’t hear Jueru anymore. “…She's gone...huh…this is really weird…oh well, I can’t waste my time standing around here…I better go.” With that being her last thought, she continued through the thick Ushinatta woods in the hopes that she’d make it home soon.
