Kira had a rather restless dream, she once again found herself running in a forest fully turned into a fox, hunting rabbits her heart was racing with the joy of the hunt once again, this time however there was a slight difference as the forest now seemed to reside in its own void in space, the cosmos was illuminating the forest only trough the light shining from stars and nearby planets, normally would one like have gotten lost in the breath taking sight, but Kira hadn't even noticed it as she had been completely absorbed in her hunt of the ever elusive rabbit, now for the second time in a dream Kira chomped down at the neck of her pray.
Kira woke up having bit into her pillow and partially ripped it apart, feathers practically flying everywhere, initially had she felt deeply confused about where her pray had dissappeared off to, until she realised she had pounced on her own pillow and much to her horror saw the now rather sad state it was in, her initial reaction was a mixture of both confused surprise and embarrassment.
The confusion was mainly from the fact that she had managed to rip the pillow apart so completely with her teeth, as the pillow in front of her looked more like someone had been attacking it with a knife, and embarrassment from not quite knowing how she was supposed to explain why she would like a replacement pillow.
Yin was slowly stirring awake beside her probably due to the commotion Kira had made which only made the situation worse
with a groggy glance Yin had looked at Kira and simply smirked.
"So the great Kira have conquered her first pray, the mighty pillow."
in case Kiras face wasn't red before it most definitely was now.
"I'm sorry I can explain.. I was dreaming and ..."
Yin smiled and cut her off
"Relax we have all done it, we are all cooped up here and eventually our bodies let our instincts take control of our subconscious dreams to alleviate the stress, the dreams are often personal but it will often give you a pray to hunt or someone to play with and prank, it really depends on the stimulation you need the most
besides before ascending or being born from Inaris realm when was last time you hunted?"
Kira thought for a moment?
"Quite frankly beside something you could consider imaginative play a bit like a fast moving board game, do I not believe that falls under anything I've ever done?"
Yins eyes widened
"Didn't you say you were caring for lost cubs didn't you feed them and teach them how to hunt, you can't tell me you sheltered them all without giving them ways to blow off some energy, how did you manage to prevent them from not destroying everything around them?"
Kira thought for a bit before giving an answer the could possibly appease Yin.
"I didn't exactly let them hunt physically as it was much too dangerous, but I did provide them what could be an elaborate mental hunt, it was a very complicated board game known by the name Dungeons and Dragons"
"Dragons!!!" Yin yelled out before calming herself again and apologising. "Please go on"
Kira continued.
"Yes Dungeons and Dragons was one of the most popular games we used to stimulate the kids... I mean cubs, in short the idea is that you took your strengths and weaknesses and then wrote them down in a number format on a paper, and moving along the crafted scenario would each player have to decide what actions they desired to take to resolve the problem at hand, then we used a ball with the sides cut and numbers etched on to it to determine if the person had a positive or negative outcome, making choices based on their strengths would require less luck, where doing things that wasn't something their strength would support would require more luck sometimes impossible much luck, they could get unlucky at times where they should have succeed and vice versa, this game helped the cubs try to think of solutions for tough situations and think on the fly while having a lot of fun at the same time"
at this point was Yins eyes sparkling with a glimmer Kira hadn't quite seen before.
"To come up with an intricate game like this to stimulate the cubs is only another testament to how amazing you are Lady Kira
One day, might I inquire you also teach me this game, I believe it will be an invaluable learning tool for the other cubs as well, to think you thought of a way to even let cubs mentally prepare to battle Dragons, since if they could be prepared for that they could be prepared for anyone, and would be able to maximise their chances of survival, I had heard rumors of how smart Inari is, but your way of thinking of the future and ways to prepare even pubs trough games for anything truly have proven it isn't idle talk."
.... Rolling her eyes Kira stopped Yins ramblings which was simply going further and further off the track.
"First would you stop with the lady honorifics you quite literally look older than me
and you're blowing it out of proportion I'm really not that amazing or anyone that special.
to get back on point, you said that my dream was a need for hunting, is this a physical or mental need?"
"Uhm mental ofcourse, running after it does add to the fun, but otherwise would it just have been about needing to run which seems a bit silly"
Kira nodded her head, she did have a few ideas how she might be able to de-stress later and she really wasn't keen in the idea of chomping down on a real animal either.
"Well then shall we go, I believe I was granted permissions to oversee Mr. Shinjis class"
"But..." Yin said in a frustrated tone
"Why would you of all Kitsune, waste your time with someone less knowledgeable and weaker than yourself, Shinji is Smart and I still have things to learn but because he need to allow the other cubs to catch up is there really not much value to be gained from his lessons"
Smiling Kira went over and patted Yin on her head, even though she has to slightly tiptoe to achieve it, but the bliss on Yins face when she stroked her head was confirmation the war had been won.
"Who knows, maybe he got a surprise prepared"
It took them a bit to head to the temple building, but upon arriving Yin was greeted by every kid and Shinji standing in a line outside greeting her arrival, Yin and Kira was then lead to a chair and table positioned in the middle of the room pointing towards Shinjis desk, and the rest of the class sitting in a U shape around her.
Kira had suspected Shinji would pull something given yesterday's reaction, but rather than throwing a fit she decided to simply comply.
"Everyone please hear me out, today I have a special lesson prepared and one I hope all of you will take to heart
With us today is Lady Kira who is the spitting image of what all of you should strive to achieve, Ascension!
This lesson is normally not taught before you're much older and you can understand the significance more, but today I will make am exception."
Shinji looked around and everyone had gone silent, even Yin was starring at Shinji with wide eyes in anticipation.
"Today's lesson will be a History lesson of how we Kitsune came to be.
A long time ago when the higher beings created this land they seeded creation and allowed life to grow, this was a joint effort between all of them to allow equal distribution of power between the races that would be born into this world.
our race was that of the simple fox, a race that had been brought along from the lost realm to get a new chance at life, with the new world we were all given the capacity for growth and for magic.
Initially was our race nothing much more than unintelligent beasts but as we hunted pray and became stronger we slowly evolved to a new race that can be called spirit foxes, this is a similar evolution most of the other races in the spirit beast category went trough, however our tale diverts from the rest here.
After many years our race had hit a natural cap of how much more we could grow and facing hardship being unable to stand up to some of the other spirit beasts along with the other races that had emerged we pleaded for help.
We still don't know the true reason Lady Inari reached out to us, some say it was loneliness, other say she took pity on us, and others say it was simply in her nature to Foster growth.
That day Inari provided us with a small part of her power that she merged with our being and we evolved into the Kitsune, unfortunately the power we were capable of holding and the power she wanted to give was mountains away from each other.
So to make sure we didn't come to harm Inari deluded her power and allowed a small fraction of the power of different abilities to manifest, this was what granted us both our foxfire, our increases wit and our Human like form to better blend in.
We would have been more than happy to receive the gifts and powers she bestowed upon us, but Inari wasn't content and instead made it so that the power within us is sealed to a certain degree and can be unlocked when we have enough capacity to handle it.
Ascension is when you become a True kitsune right now we still limited because we wouldn't be strong enough to handle it the full power of the gift given by Lady inari.
when we become strong enough to have our powers unlocked will it further grow along with us but remember there is no quick way to asencion this is why everyone who achieve the feat is revered.
You might wonder why Ascending changes your fur color to white, and it is a natural question.
the answer is it didn't originally, but it was a request from the first Kitsune who managed to ascend to have his fur changed to appear more like that of Inaris in her honour and she obliged, since then have it been a hereditary trait passed down, along with the powers, if one desires it strongly enough can you keep your normal fur even after ascending, but most choose to let their fur change to honor the tradition and the first ascended Kitsunes wishes, similarly is the act of going to Inaris realm to help serve her while we train also something that we do out of respect and honor of our tradition, Inari have never once demanded anything from us.
She provided our salvation and allowed us the capacity to become one of the strongest races around even while our powers is still locked, we have a duty and a honor to repay that kindness back to Lady Inari, and I don't think it needs to be said that anyone who chooses to ignore what we owe her as a race, will be looked upon with disdain, Inari will never force you and we will respect that but you should be aware of the shame you brings our race and be prepared to loose any and all support, luckily only a few Kitsune have chosen this path, they are commonly referred to as Nogitsune.
While we don't openly attack each other out of respect for Inari, do we also not provide them any favors, as we feel they have deeply dishonored our race by not following in our ancestors footsteps and done their own share to thank Inari for the gift she provided."
Kira did most definitely not regret going to the lesson, she likely could have learned this information from her mom, but it was something else to hear it from Shinji seeing he would better represent the Kitsunes view on it.
"Mom, is this why my foxfire is a different color than anyone I've seen around?
because their powers are locked?"
"Yes sweetie, but not quite!
Their powers is all in all only a copy and not the true thing, and a weakened version at that as I further had to adjust it for what their capacity could handle"
Kira was zoning out Shinjis continuation as he was discussing the names and achievements of some of the most famous ascended Kitsune of the past.
"Sorry... copy?
I'm not sure I quite get what you mean
wouldn't my power also just be a copy of yours?"
"No dear, you are my daughter to so you are inheriting the genuine thing, their powers is something I created from scratch in the likeness of my own abilities but it isn't and will never be the same, just like they technically are a completely different race from you, only you exist as my kin, you will notice more differences over time, I gave them a copy of some of my basic skills I learned when I was young and had found useful, but you will not be bound by what you have and what you don't have, you will likely find some things more natural to do than others however...."
"You're not playing Fair Inari!"
Inaris voice in Kiras mind suddenly got interrupted by Chaos.
"I believe I told you to write in the letter to contact US, so why is it that she only contacted you?"
before Kira knew it she was whisked away from her current location and found herself in an elaborate room seemingly made of marbles, with Both Inari and Chaos sitting across from her with a table in between them what appeared to be tea cups and steaming tea.
"How... what?" Kira was looking around frantically.
"Kira dear, we are just in a mindspace you haven't actually physically gone anywhere, we are higher beings and as such also capable at operating mentally at a higher plan, so I figured it would be better to drag you to a mindspace and allow a proper discussion without you missing your dear new teachers entire lesson" Chaos said.
"Now Chaos don't you think this was being a bit forceful, you didn't even give her a choice or warning before dragging us both into your created mindspace, although I have to admit you have nice taste, I enjoy the simplicity and I won't turn down an excuse to spend quality time with my daughter given the opportunity!" Inari said.
"We! can spend some quality time with our dear Kira" Chaos almost immediately corrected Inari.
"Uhm excuse me, can you slow down for a moment!?"
in return both Inari and Chaos stopped their bickering and looked at her.
"Sorry dear, its just the first opportunity we have both had to spend some time with you" Inari said.
"You mentioned not missing Shinjis lecture, am I to assume that time outside here passes slower?"
"Not quite my dear, it would be more accurate to say that we simply think and act in here at an accelerated rate that allows us to convey information incredibly fast, while it might seem normal to you would your dear Yin and Shino never be able to keep up as they are enough about this boring stuff though"
Chaos immediately got up went over and picked Kira up and held her up like a trophy in front of Inari.
"See i told you the design would suit her perfectly and look she even obtained the trait of my hair!
I would never have expected her compatibility was so high, she have taken more of my true traits than my own kids, although she kind of at this point is also my..."
Inari had gotten up and in one fell swoop grabbed Kira into a hug, and kicked Chaos away with an extreme force.
"She is my daughter, and you're her aunt, don't forget that my seed is the dominant one!"
The hostility that Inari was directing towards Chaos was nothing to be trifeled with.
"Uhm mom.... Aunt Chaos.... was this the purpose of bringing me here to fight amongst yourselves?"
Chaos immediately got back up from where she had landed and moved gracefully towards the chairs, and Inari put Kira down and also headed for her own chair.
"I'm sorry, I got a bit prideful seeing how closely you've been adapting my true traits instead of changing them to better fit, it requires extremely high compatibility with the person you receive the seed from to adapt their traits as close as you have. opposed to changing them to fit you, all of my children have changed my trait to fit them you are the first person to inherit my traits in such a pure form."
Inari interrupted before Chaos could continue.
"You have all rights to take pride in Kira but you're forgetting how many of my traits she is also showcasing in a pure form, but you are indeed right, as much as I loathe to admit it is very much also your child now, I will however not relinquish the role to you, and I will only admit it in the technical sense in regards to her heritage.
we are both her parents, and it succeeded much better than I had even dared to hope, but seeing you as you are now will it be extremely hard to refute Chaos claim to parenthood, and her kids will likely not accept you as anything less than a sister.
I did act rash before, but I hope you accept that I insist on retaining the right of remaining your primary parent, if you decide to see her as a bonus mom I will oblige but we both agreed her role was that of an aunt before all of this, I hadn't in my wildest dreams imagined you would adapt her traits so purely, especially considering hers seed is acting as a sub seed to mine"
Inari was currently doing her best to keep herself calm, it was obvious she was shaken but only during her speech could you see how agitated she was.
"Pardon me, I did step over bounds as to the original agreement, I was just extremely surprised to see how purely she was merging with my seed, I will not threaten your claim to motherhood, but with this it will be undeniable that she is also my child, we both love her so I don't think we should make it hard on her, my children will likely desire to see their new sister, but let's do it like this.
I relinquish the primary responsibility of raising her and making decisions on her behalf to you, all I ask is you let me have some time with her every once in a while and that you will consider my input?"
Kiras mouth fell open..
Did they seriously just act out arranged child custody of divorced parents in front of her?
with Chaos taking the side of the loosing dad who just requested to see her every 2nd weekend?
Seriously, what the fuck?
Kira did however notice that Inari was visibly relaxing as Chaos was summoning a parchment out of basically nowhere, stating the rough terms of their agreement and they both signed it .... with blood talk about drama....
"Little one, sorry if I made you feel like an object, but without this contract would Inari never be able to sleep, you are the first she can call her own kin and her only family, while I would want some quality time with you and your sisters are likely to seek you out trough their connection, do I not have the heart to rob Inari of her happiness, please understand that the contract is only a formality to give your primary mom some piece of mind, considering me a bonus mom or call me aunt it's all fine, but know I do also consider you my child, I was willing to take the role of aunt before, but after seeing you now I realise that is going to be impossible so my deepest apologies"
Kira heard Chaos say in her head inside the mindspace... talk about layers.
"Mom, I think you're worrying to much, You're the one who saved me and gave me a second chance, and you're the one who brought me here, it was also your request to become kin I accepted first.
while I have to admit the validity of Chaos claim to parenthood if her traits truly is such a big part of me. however her role will also regardless of what any of you say or do fall into a secondary role, I will not deny her but do understand that you're the person I originally accepted, you don't need that contract to loom over Aunt Chaos to make her back off or fear she will steal me away, please trust her to do what she feels is best.
Inari looked at Kira for a long while
before taking her contract and burning it
"You're right my dear, emotions once again got the better of me, she was willing to sign a blood packt just to make me feel at ease, and I still distrusted her, she have rights to her claim of parenthood and I will respect that, but in return hope she will respect that I will retain primary rights in this regard."
Chaos beamed at Kira
"Thanks dear"
Chaos again swooped over the table to pick Kira up, "look at her though her fur is magnificent, and notice how well our present suits her, hephaestus really outdid himself with this"
this time Inari nodded.
"Wait, Kira look me in the eyes"
Kira did as Inari requested, and Inaris reaction was immediate.
"Chaos, hurry try to look her in the eyes"
Chaos turned Kira around in her hands and gasped, "she got the sight! how is that even possible!"
"what!?"
Kira was getting just a bit frustrated how did some simple questions to Inari turn into this, next time I'll write the questions down and wait, she thought.
"Sorry my dear, it might be better for you to see it yourself"
Inari Spawned a mirror the full size of Kira in front of her and all Kira could do was gasp in astonishment.