OLD BACKSTORY NO LONGER CANON
Deep in the Aokigahara forest in Japan, where man has dared not ventured before, thrived a tribe of foxes. They were a special subspecies, being able to control and manipulate fire at will. Some were blessed with wings, but they were extremely rare. Those with wings undergo special training as a young apprentice and are next in line to become the leader of the tribe.
One very sunny day on June 5th, a fox with wings was born. She was all white, other than her deep red eyes. The tribe was amazed. Another leader was born! Because of her being all white, she was named Mashiro, meaning pure white.
As kits are forbidden to use their fire powers when they’re young to prevent accidental forest fires, nobody knew that Mashiro’s fire was extremely weak until the 1st day of her special training. Most of the tribe was disgusted, wondering why the gods had sent down this cursed fox onto their land. She became an outcast, and one of the lowest members of the tribe. Mashiro was very lonely, so she turned to the wild crows for friendship. She snuck out every night to the outskirts of her tribe and trained until she dropped. She was so determined that she had a late start and would develop her powers soon. ...Right?
One of the crows would always watch her when she trained. One night when Mashiro went out, the same crow came again, but with something in his talons. It was…. A kitsune mask? The crow urged her to put it on during training. Mashiro hesitantly accepted, but shrugged off her suspicions as it was probably just something the crow found when he was flying around and gave it to her as a gift.
She soon realized it wasn’t any ordinary mask. When she used her fire, instead of it being weak it increased to the max. Mashiro was very inexperienced with manipulating fire, so she couldn’t control it and it spread quickly. Burning down trees, plants, and…. Half of her face. The second in command of the tribe came out to investigate the smoke to see Mashiro standing there. He banished her from the tribe, and told her to never come back.
Mashiro wandered the forest alone, only with the crow to keep her company. She decided to name him Soliel, for whatever reason. It just sounded cool. After about a moon, they came across another fox roaming the forest. She had… 8 tails. A kitsune! Kitsunes are a rarity! So rare they are often thought to be a myth. She introduced herself as Kaho, and was also able to manipulate fire. Did Kaho suffer the same fate as Mashiro? Was she kicked out of the tribe as well? She asked many questions, but Kaho was quiet. It was something she didn’t want to remember. But, beneath all of the fluffy fur, Mashiro spotted two long scars running down Kaho’s back. She decided it was a story for another day.
Trusting the Kitsune, the young Mashiro explained to Kaho what had happened recently. Her eyes widened as if she remembered something. Kaho said that she’d take Mashiro under her “wing” and would train her. Every day, they would train. Mashiro learned many fighting techniques and how she could control the fire when wearing her mask.
One day, the trio came across someone else. She introduced herself as Makkuro, a wolf from the Moon Tribe. Makkuro asked if she could travel with them, but Mashiro was wary. Her tribe, the Sun Tribe, had been in a fued with the Moon Tribe as far as they could remember. Seeing that they both were alone, Mashiro accepted. The wolf assisted her in her training any way she could. But, she never told her what had happened in the tribe a few moons back. Just to be safe....
Training continued on for more and more moons. It had been at least 6 since the incident with the Sun Tribe occurred. Makkuro was extremely helpful and didn’t show any signs of evil. However, one morning, the wolf disappeared. Mashiro and Kaho decided she went out to get food and continued on with their day.
As night approached, Makkuro came back and was furious. Mashiro’s fire had spread so far it reached the Moon Tribe’s part of the forest.. And burned much of it down. Somehow Makkuro found out about what happened with Mashiro in the past. Her friends had died in the fire. The two fought to the death. Kaho was out gathering herbs, so she wasn’t able to help. In the end, there was one winner. The other died a painful death. Makkuro had won.
Soliel had told Kaho. She was shocked, and vowed to get revenge on Makkuro one day.
A few moons after Mashiro’s death, Soliel quickly flew up to Kaho. He had Mashiro’s mask in his beak. Confused, the Kitsune followed the crow up to a ledge looking over a large body of water. At the very end of the ledge, there was a lump of… a black and white something. Soliel pecked at it a few times, and it began to move. It was Mashiro? But she looked different… Her forepaws were black, her tail tip was black, and her wings were black… Her claws and pawpads were also a shiny golden, accompanied by a golden tooth. Mashiro explained she had been “reborn” in a way. After she died, she had met the god of the stars. He explained that Mashiro was the goddess of the sun, and was reborn as she hasn't fulfilled her destiny on Earth yet. Makkuro… was the goddess of the moon. Mashiro had gained the black markings as a sign of her 1st death, and the gold was to show that she was broken but is now stronger than she was before. Feeling bad for Mashiro because of the problems that were caused with her weak fire, the god of the stars increased her fire’s power to as if she was wearing the mask.
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Things soon turned back to normal, and Kaho, Mashiro, and Soliel resumed their training. Curious, Mashiro asked Kaho of her origins and why she decided to mentor her. Kaho decided it was time and explained it all. She used to be the ruler of the Sun Tribe long ago, when the foxes were all Kitsunes and had tails ranging from 1 to 9. She made a grave mistake when she made a deal with the god of the underworld, and placed a curse upon the tribe so they became normal foxes. They deemed her unworthy of her wings, cut them off, and threw her out of the tribe. Kaho was the last of the Kitsunes of the Sun Tribe… Or so it seemed. Kaho was a demigod of several minor planets. As Mashiro and Kaho were both deities of celestial objects, they were kin. Because they are kin, Mashiro was also a Kitsune. However, she had to unlock that side of herself through extreme emotion.
Kaho put Mashiro through several tests of her strength and pushed her mental strength to the limit. One morning, they were woken up by a loud howl. Makkuro was back. And she was even more furious than last time, confused about WHY Mashiro was still alive. She killed her, after all! The wolf lunged at Mashiro’s throat, baring her teeth and ready to kill once more. Kaho had ENOUGH and stepped in front of Mashiro before Makkuro could reach her. Instead, her jaws clamped shut over Kaho’s throat with a sickening crunch, and the Kitsune dropped to the ground dead.
Mashiro was blinded with anger so much it seemed she wasn’t able to control her body anymore. It was pure rage and hatred. She roared as one tail turned into nine. Her pupils disappeared and glowed white. Mashiro was a 9-tailed Kitsune, a prodigy. She created a ring of fire around her and Makkuro that burned as hot as the sun. It slowly closed in on the wolf. Smoke filled her lungs and she burned to death.