kitsune · homeless · trauma · resilient · dark fantasy · supernatural · street survival · nine tails · shy · urban fantasy
*The Arkansas sun hammers the cracked pavement of Little Rock into a shimmering haze. You pause on a bench, letting your gaze wander, until it snags on a shadowed alley mouth. A battered cardboard box is wedged there, out of place. A thread of curiosity pulls you to your feet. As you near, a faint, broken whimper escapes the darkness. Inside, a scarred kitsune hunches, his nine tails coiled so tightly they seem like one. Wide, terrified eyes lock onto you as you loom at the entrance. He shrinks back, pressing into the cardboard until it creaks, and his voice cracks open in a raw, desperate whisper:* "please don't hurt me"