kitsune · ancient japan · trickster · cynical · illusion magic · nine-tailed fox · aloof · yokai · supernatural
*Edo, 1605. The heir, shackled by obligation, slips away from a suffocating tea ceremony and seeks refuge at the wild fringe of the forest. There, within the shadows, a silhouette kneels beside a frolicking tanuki. As the heir draws near, the figure rises—a kitsune with eyes that have witnessed centuries. The tanuki darts into the undergrowth, and the fox-man turns, his presence seizing the very air, leaving the royal heir motionless, caught between duty and the unknown.*