After blinking a couple of times, Eva found herself sitting in the middle of a small clearing. The bamboo surrounding her was filled with dense fog. Which made it impossible to make anything out even just half a meter beyond the first few plants.
As she looked around, she saw a woman kneeling before her, with nine snow white tails flicking around slowly behind her. The elderly woman was wearing the traditional garb of a Miko, a white kimono and red hakama. She had her white hair tied back into a style Eva couldn’t quite make out from her position, with two fox ears poking through it.
Noticing her waking up, the elderly woman picked up a bundle of vibrantly painted fabric that had sat next to her and approached Eva.
“I must thank you for the care you gave me young one.” The elderly Foxwoman addressed Eva as she held out the bundle of fabric for Eva to take. “So let me use what is left of my time to repay at least this debt.”
“Who are you?” The younger woman inquired confused as she hesitantly took hold of the bundle of fabric offered to her. As it touched her hands she failed to notice the strands of white fur pushing out of her scalp. “And what care?”
“I am Mumei[1], the old fox you tried to save.” The old woman explained, the tips of her tails turning slightly translucent. “Would you do an old woman one last favour and let me see you wear my old uchikake?” She requested as she pulled on the string holding the bundle closed, which immediately unfurled into what looked like a kimono, a beautiful scene of a fox dragging a boar into the ruins of a fishing village painted across it. Beyond that it was embroidered heavily, some parts even with actual gold and silver.
“This this must be worth a fortune.” Eva mumbled as she took in every detail of the garment, noticing neither the slow transformation of her own clothes into ones identical to the old woman’s, nor the fox ears twitching on her head. “How could I just accept such a gift?”
“Do not worry about the value of a priceless gift given freely.” The old lady said with a friendly smile, her tails vanishing more and more by the second. Grabbing hold of the garment she stepped around Eva. “Here let me help you put it on.” She said as she slipped it over the German’s arms and shoulders. She was careful not to step on the two tiny tails poking out of a small hole in the red hakama Eva was now wearing.
Unwilling to risk harming the old woman by resisting, Eva let herself be dressed up without complaint. When the woman stepped in front of Eva again, her white hair had turned grey, and her ears and tails had fully vanished.
“You look splendid, I am sure you will make a fine Kami in the centuries to come.” The old lady said with a tired smile.
“Wait what?!” Eva shouted in utter surprise at what the woman had told her.
“It was my gift to you.” The old woman said as she summoned a silver mirror so Eva could see her new appearance. Two snow white fox ears were sitting atop her head, parting the light brown strands of hair surrounding them. Her clothes were now a perfect mirror of the older woman’s, except for the lavish uchikake she was wearing on top of them. Behind her, two white fox tails were flicking from side to side excitedly.
“But why me?”
“Because you were the only one who cared about an old fox that had been hit by a car. And while your care came too late for me, a Zenko like me can not let such a debt go unpaid.[2]” The old Kitsune explained as her body slowly began to dissolve as well starting with her feet and sandals.
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“No, that, that can’t be, just, just try to make it till sunrise, I am sure the doctor will be able to help you.” Eva said filled with sorrow and panic, her eyes wide as she watched more and more of the other woman drift away and join the fog around them.
“Do not weep for me child, I have grown so weary of living in Edo over the centuries. I still remember the olden days, when all it was were a few huts on the coast.” The Old woman tried to comfort Eva, scratching her behind her new ears with her slowly vanishing hands.
“But the city has been rebuilt after one fire to many. I dread the next time the Namazu wakes, and the devastation that will follow.[3]”
When Eva opened her mouth to interrupt, the old woman placed a translucent finger on the former humans lips.
“Just take good care of your shrine, you are the Mumeikitsune now.”
“Wait my shrine?”
“Yes, it shouldn’t be to much work for you though, Komaki does a lot of the work anyways. Just make sure he doesn’t waste it all watching the young women working under him”
“Where is it even?”
“Do not worry, with taking over my duties as divine messenger, you will find you will never get lost again, so finding your home will pose no problem. Now, I’ll finally learn the answer to one last riddle.” Were the woman’s final words as she vanished completely, joining the pure white mist around Eva as it seemed to close in on her.
Slowly getting up from the floor of her floor, it took Eva a moment to realize that she was still wearing the shrinemaiden outfit from her dream. As she slowly stood up, she heard a crash behind her. Turning around quickly, she flinched as pain shot up her spine. Looking behind her, she saw a pair of white furred tails wedged between the wall and her back.
As she carefully picked up the things her tails had knocked down, there was a knock at her window. Walking up to it carefully, so she didn’t knock anything over with her tails again, Eva wasn’t even surprised anymore when she spotted the white ears on top of her reflection's head. What was surprising was the squirrel knocking on her window.
“You going to open up young Vixen? I need to talk to Mumei, she was here last I checked.”
Hearing the squirrel talk was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Eva stumbled back shocked more than she had ever imagined to be possible. To further her utter confusion for a moment her vision filled with a puff of smoke. Not expecting this in the least she awkwardly landed on her paws. Which gave her the next shock, as she had turned into a white furred, two tailed fox. Which was also the moment her mind demanded a reboot to preserve some semblance of sanity.
Seeing the young kitsune collapse inside the flat, the squirrel just began to cackle to himself as he sat outside the window. “Oh Loki, Mumei has surpassed herself with this. This new fangled spirit shocked herself into unconciousness.”Taking a small talisman given to him by the aforementioned god of trickery, Ratatoskr dissolved the glass in the window and hopped down, beginning to look for clues as to where his old friend had ended up.