Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Blood of the Gods: Part One- When the Sun Sets ❯ A Tale From Before the Beginning ( Chapter 1 )

A Tale from Before the Beginning

 

 

 

A small fire crackled, dimly lighting the ominous dark hovering around the pine trees that surrounded the small clearing. An old man sat by the fire, his aged face illuminated by the flames. He prodded the red embers with a small stick, sparks flying off with the breeze. His bright green eyes stood out against his pale image and his robes fell off of his frail body in folds. “Come here and rest.” Nothing moved. “I know that you are there young one. Come and sit.” A boy came cautiously from his hiding place in the mass of trees around the old man. He paused to watch the man. “Rest and I will tell you a story young one.” He gestured to the fire, his voice gravelly, “Come and warm yourself.” The boy timidly sat down by the fire, peering at the old man through the dancing flames. “What are you doing out here old man?” He chuckled, “I am sitting by a fire with a stranger.” He looked up at the boy, long years in his eyes, “Now, will you listen to my story?” The boy looked skeptically at him. “Come now. You would not deprive an old man of some simple company would you?” The boy sighed, “Alright.” The man looked into the flames, “My story is old. Older then you or me. My story is long and some of it, unbelievable.” “I will listen.” “Good.” His bright green eyes glazed over as he began to speak…

“The beginning of this tale was woven long ago, in an earlier era of this land. Man was few and their settlements were small and far between. Dense forests still covered the lands and rivers were still clear. Dragons flew in the skies over the hills and herds of white elk roamed the deep valleys. The forest was home to many animals, many of which are gone today. The wolf, the leopard, the monkey, the impala, the panther, the wild dog, the snake, the black eagle, the wild cat, and so many different birds, you could never see the same one twice. And, hidden deep in the forests, were the gods. Ferocious to all who would do their forests harm, and gentle to any one who asked it. These gods came in many forms, though all were an animal at heart. They were rarely seen by man, but you could hear them in the forest in you listened close enough.

Mind you, this was a different age. An era when man gave praise to the earth for the life it gave them. The gods fought the horrific demons of the netherworld to keep their homes and the realm of the living safe. When the gods heard of how some of the humans wanted to help them in their battles, they gave them a task. The human would have to find their way to a god and beg for acceptance. If the god deemed the human worthy and of good heart, a great gift was bestowed on the human. The human became a child of the forest. They became a child of the gods and thus, a god themselves. The soul of an animal would be chosen and this soul would become a part of the human, granting them power, and instinct beyond what any mortal could ever hope to achieve. But now, many humans are weak. The unknown is their greatest fear. When those who made the journey returned home, they were greeted with fear, hate and violence. They were driven out of their villages by those whom they had once called friend. The humans called them cursed, demon kin, hellions. They ran to the forest, their sanctuary. They were forced to hide like common animals. Fewer and fewer humans ventured into the forest, for fear of becoming like those who they had exiled, until they were so afraid, that man began to cut down the trees of the forest. Gods died trying to protect their homes and their kin. Those who had been exiled and had taken up refuge in the forest were forced to flee with the gods or be slain by man's swords. They all fled over the hills in search of safer refuge. They only met more men and harsher hostilities. Almost all were killed off. Those who managed to survive fled back to the animal gods who had given them power and these gods protected their children. The numbers of man soon grew and with it, the number of trees they chopped down. The gods and their children were finally forced to leave their forests and flee to the eastern mountains, a place still unpopulated by humans. There, the gods created a forest. I have heard many tales about how it came to be, so this is unclear. All I know for sure is that it appeared in only a day and a night. The great forest stood hidden between the mountains, hidden from man.

The forest of the gods was beautiful, unlike any other place in man's world. Many of the animals that had fled with the gods had made their homes in the forest, secure in the knowledge that the animal gods and their children would protect this place and shield it from the destruction of man. For many generations, the gods lived in peace, far from their former homes. No one dared leave, for fear that they might never return once they entered the human world again.

Time passed and the world of man changed beyond their borders. How has the world changed? Is it even the same world they fled from so long ago? No one knew. So, one of the animal god's children, a boy, was told to return to the human world. I know not the spirit he carried, but I know that he moved with great speed into man's world. It had changed so much in the centuries since the gods had left. The land was lifeless; all the dragons and white elk were gone from the world and the forests were mere courtyards compared to what they had once been. Animals grew smaller as the rivers and ponds they drank from grew darker and filthier with each passing season. Man was slowly killing the land that he walked on. The gods had told him to find more like him, if any were left. He found none. Time passed and he grew into a man. He came to a village, deep in the dwindling forest beyond the Yu Mountains. There he met a woman. She was beautiful and longed to be part of the forest. He fell in love with her. She knew of what he was, and still, she returned his love. He pleaded with the gods to grant his lover the same power and immortality as he so that they could always be together. They did and she accepted the gift with great gratitude. One night, she returned to her village to share the excitement with her sister, only to she shunned by the people she had always known. They did everything they could to run her off; they threw rocks, shot arrows and ran after her with torches until she escaped into the surrounding wood. That night, when she lay in the protection of her lover's embrace, the gods told her that she was to bear her lover's child. It was a bittersweet happiness for her child could never grow up in a village with other children like she had because they were exiled to the forest. The gods called the man back to their forest, but he pleaded with the gods to let him remain until his child was born. They agreed.

The couple stayed for many seasons in the forest and they had two children. On the anniversary of their first child's birth, the gods called for the lovers to return to the forest in the Yu Mountains. But the children were too young. They could not make such a journey and the woman refused to leave her children. The man pleaded with her, but still, she refused to go. In their wrath, the gods threatened to kill the two children if the lovers did not return. They granted until the next sunset until the lovers had to leave for the god's forest. The woman begged the gods to reconsider. When they would not, the woman agreed to leave on the condition that the gods take away any god- like abilities that may reside in her children so they could be left in the village with the woman's sister and live normally among the humans. The gods agreed, but there was a catch to the deal; it could not last. When the children reached ten summers in age, they would begin to grow away from everyone except each other and once they came in contact with anything to do with an animal god in any way, they would return to their true forms, the forms of their birth. Then they would be hunted and forced to flee, they would live a hard life and on their journeys to find their place in the world, they will gather to them, those of their own kind. They would never feel as though they belonged until they reached to forest of the animal gods. The woman agreed. Her children would grow without her, but she would see them again. It was the hardest choice she had ever been forced to make in all of her life, but she left her children with her sister that night, only telling the names they were given, then, her and her mate fled from the forest to return to the forest of the gods.

In her grief, the woman cried out and wailed every night, howling for her children. The animal gods felt guilty for her and granted her a small gift. Once, every year, when the moon was full and blue in the night sky, she could take the form of any animal of her choosing, and visit her children, as long as she returned before the sun rose. The woman was grateful and so, every year, she visited her children. The children grew over the years and the parents were proud. When the woman returned on the twelfth summer of her first child's birth, she found that her children were once again, children of the forest. She was overjoyed to see that her children were once again how they should be, but horrified at how the villagers treated them. In her fury, she attacked one of the village men who had thrown a stone at her youngest, and killed him. The gods forbade her from returning for many years after what she did. On the summer she was finally allowed to return, the village her children had lived in was burnt to the ground; all that remained was a gravesite. Her children could not be found. The woman was frantic and every season, she searched and searched for the missing children. After many long summers, she had all but lost hope when a rumor reached her ears of two rouges that were traveling through the forests. The very next summer when she returned, she found them. Her children had survived. She was overjoyed. When she returned to the god's forest to tell the news to her mate, the gods forbade her or her mate from leaving again. The numbers of man was growing again and it was now to dangerous for anyone to leave. The woman pleaded to the gods but they simply told her that the children were now on their own. They were certain that the children would find their way from the human world, all they had to do was wait.”

“The rest of this story has yet to be written.” The boy groaned. “Are you sure?” The old man chuckled, “Yes young one. Now, return to your mother.” He stood. “Thank you old man. I will come to visit you again.” He turned and ran into the dark forest, never seeing how the old man watched him with a sad, knowing smile on his face. The old man prodded the fire once more, his voice soft and raspy, “No Atama, we shall never meet again. In fact, I was only destined to meet you once.” He blew on the fire and it vanished, wood and all, “But I am sorry for you. Your birth mother will die this night because she was searching for you. You will have to raise your small sister, but remember; you will find another in time and she will save you from being alone and give you a family. She may even die for you, but that event is unclear.” He stood on frail and shaky legs to walk into the forest, his body melting into the dark. The sun soon rose and there was no evidence anyone had been to that clearing, not even a scent remained.

 

* * * * *

The forest was thick with the darkness of night fall. Night birds sang out someplace off in the distance and something howled into the air, the sounds creating a strange melody that was being carried on the slow winds to every corner of the forest. Despite all of this, the air was serene and calm.

A woman comfortably sat on a large stone that was jutting out from a cliff high above the tree tops, her sea blue eyes looking out over the endless expanse of forest and past the bordering horizon. Her noticeably long new moon black hair danced lightly behind her with the breeze, softly contrasting with the robes she wore. Her robes were long and elegant in an animalistic way, the fabric sewn from light brown fur; the hip- high splits up the sides of her robes were decorated with wooden beads and tastefully placed white rabbit fur. Her robe sleeves were cut short, ending at her shoulders while her arms were wrapped in a reddish fur, panning from her wrist to her elbow. A strip of blood stained white wolf fur was tied tight around her slim waist, the reddish brown of the old blood contrasting slightly with her odd eyes. Her flawless skin was tanned and her beautifully sculpted face was set in a look of underlying longing. Shiromori shifted so that her long legs were dangling over the edge of the stone, her robes fluttering around her legs, caught in the breeze.

Shiromori sat solemnly until the moon began its slow decent into the horizon. She watched for glimpses of other gods and for any sign that her mate was near. She watched the moon and the stars in the sky, she looked for her kin that were down in the forest and she listened to the soft melody the winds created when they danced fondly around her. She turned her face up to the sky. Her eyes flashed with lightning, her power dancing along her skin in small blue sparks. Moments later, thunder cracked in the sky, the sound echoing through the air sending birds flying from their perches, screaming in fright. Heavy clouds seemed to pour out of the sky and lightning flashed, lighting up the world in its ferocity. Heavy drops of water began to fall from the sky, pelting into the earth. Winds blew harder, sending her hair into the sky and rattling the trees. Her eyes continued to flash, brighter then the lightning in the sky as she weaved her storm.

A long howl drifted up to her ears from somewhere in the dark forest below, the sound barely audible above the roar of her storm. Dark grey feline ears shot up from their place in her river of hair to stand erect, drinking in the sound. Her flashing eyes hardened with a look of annoyance as the howl faded. She rose to her knees; a sleek black panther tail uncoiled itself from its resting place under her legs to become still again in the empty space behind her. Her lush lips parted slightly, revealing fangs as she howled out into the night, the feminine sound piercing the air with a soft, dominating presence. As her howl came to an end, she could hear the rapid clicks of claws on the wet stone behind her. An oddly large black dog walked cautiously up to sit and wait for her to acknowledge his presence, his fur soaked with the rain. She turned her head to look at him, staring for a long moment before nodding slightly. Shiromori stood, her claws scraping lightly against the rock beneath her as she moved. She wasn't as tall as her mate, but she was taller then most women that lived in man's world. The dog turned and leapt down from the stone and proceeded to pad away through the mud, sure in the knowledge that she would follow. Shiromori paused to look back out beyond the horizon, her face losing all signs of annoyance and is once again filled with a soft longing, “I will return soon my children.” Her voice was like silk, warm and loving as she spoke, “I will return to wait for your return to me. Until then my daughters.” With a flick of her tail, the winds changed to carry her voice past the forest to someplace in the west. One last glance and she turned and vanished into the black of the surrounding night, her storm still raging.

 

* * * * *

Moriko's long obsidian black panther tail lashed angrily behind her, whispering against the grass. Her bright yellow eyes flashed, a sincere promise of death buried just beneath the surface. She leveled her gaze on the young man in front of her, “Get out.” She bared her fangs, hoping that he got the message. He stepped back, his eyes quickly losing their spark of defiance, “You cannot tell me to leave. This is not your land.” Moriko smiled widely, a frightening sight. “You do not belong here.” Her voice dropped, determination threading her brightly hued eyes, “This is my home and I will protect it from any threat.” One of her black feline ears flicked backwards as tree branches rustled behind her, Aki dropping out of the dark to stand beside her sister. She snarled, “Leave.” Her yellow- green eyes glowed ominously in the dark. He backed up again, “I will tell everyone that you are here! They will come for you!” He turned and ran franticly away, “I will see you all killed!” They watched him silently for a few moments, his words sinking in. Moriko turned with a small dejected sigh and walked back, deeper into the forest, her tail drooping slightly. Aki turned, “What is wrong?” Moriko stopped to look up at the sea of stars above them, her tail coming up to rest on her waist, “He is right. Others will come and then just keep coming.” Aki walked up next to her, “We can fight.” “No. We do not belong here Aki. We have no right to fight for a place we do not belong.” Aki looked up to the stars as well, eyes searching for the answer, her face somber. “If not here, then where do we go sister?” “I do not know, but if we look for it, I am sure that we will find it.” She walked forward again. Aki gazed up at the sky a moment longer, searching for the answers. Yes Moriko. We follow our instincts and wonder aimlessly into the world. But where will that lead? A soft wind blew past her ears and she paused, almost certain she just heard someone speak to her. Aki shrugged it off and walked after her sister, vanishing into the dark. Far off into the distance, dark storm clouds drifted in the great expanse of sky.