Ellyn lifted the book from the table to show it off to Akane. It was thin with a cover that was black and only contained an old style milk bottle on it. "It's called Crooked. It's about some teenager girl with a crooked nose and a milkman's son who befriend each other. Then these two thugs terrorize the boy. It's pretty good."
She blushed. "It's not exactly study material, but I was taking a break and found myself lost in it nonetheless. Not the best written or anything, but it does keep the attention."
Akane giggled. "Well, considering how much study material you have there, there is no doubt you'd want to take a break from time to time and do something just for entertainment. That book sounds interesting, I think I'm gonna read it as soon as I settle down properly and find some free time." She added the title to her notebook.
"Done - it's on my list now!" She smiled.
"Done - it's on my list now!" She smiled.
Ellyn's smile was gentle as she again set the book away from her person. She folded her hands and rested her chin on them as she stared at Akane. "So you came to the library to learn a bit about Manta Carlos? Well, it was founded by pirates in the 1400's, but it wasn't until the late 1800's that the Academy was built, and it took until the 1900's for Manta Carlos to flourish. The history of this place is really cool, yeah, but I love learning about its local wildlife."
Akane nodded when Ellyn asked about her reason for visiting library that day. She looked at her paying full attention to what she said about Manta Carlos. Ellyn's mentioning of local wildlife especially piqued Akane's interest. She didn't know much about it and Ellyn seemed to know a lot.
"Local wildlife you say? I'm very interested to hear all about it! I've only heard of so called Twintails. Priestess said such foxes exist here... It's weird - they have two tails! I mean, you can't find a kitsune with even number of tails." She grinned. "I'd like to see them. But they're savage, right? I was advised not to approach them."
"Local wildlife you say? I'm very interested to hear all about it! I've only heard of so called Twintails. Priestess said such foxes exist here... It's weird - they have two tails! I mean, you can't find a kitsune with even number of tails." She grinned. "I'd like to see them. But they're savage, right? I was advised not to approach them."
"You can't find a Kitsune with an even number of tails?" Ellyn asked, perplexed. "I thought their tails could go up to nine? Doesn't that mean they could have anything in between?" She nodded. "Yeah, the twintails are a piece of work. They're protected, too, so no hunting them. Beyond that, we have some large spiders and some predatory plant life. I think the most interesting find is magic eating leeches in the swamps of the forbidden forest."
"It's true that kitsune can have as many as nine tails, but I doubt you'll ever find one with even number of them. Even three tails are rare, the most common are five and seven tails. The number of tails indicates their age and level of strength, but it doesn't mean that additional tails appear as soon as those features go up..." She paused thinking of something.
"I've never even seen Inari Okami with all her tails now that I think about it! Although each Inari is gifted with exceeding powers followed by the formation of tenth tail, they always tend to hide it and appear as nine tails in front of other kitsune, merely as a gesture of respect towards them. You know, although Inari are dieities they still consider themselves equal to other kitsune." She smiled proud of her ancestors.
The thought of leeches Ellyn has mentioned gave Akane shivers, and she closed her eyes and shook her body slightly. "Th.. those leeches sound... scary... I guess I'll stay away from the forbidden forest no matter what! I've heard that there was some incident with tsunami here recently and many people were forced to flee away from the danger. But if I were here at the time, I'd probably choose to encounter whatever came with tsunami rather than those leeches in the forbidden forest" She laughed at the thought of it.
"I've never even seen Inari Okami with all her tails now that I think about it! Although each Inari is gifted with exceeding powers followed by the formation of tenth tail, they always tend to hide it and appear as nine tails in front of other kitsune, merely as a gesture of respect towards them. You know, although Inari are dieities they still consider themselves equal to other kitsune." She smiled proud of her ancestors.
The thought of leeches Ellyn has mentioned gave Akane shivers, and she closed her eyes and shook her body slightly. "Th.. those leeches sound... scary... I guess I'll stay away from the forbidden forest no matter what! I've heard that there was some incident with tsunami here recently and many people were forced to flee away from the danger. But if I were here at the time, I'd probably choose to encounter whatever came with tsunami rather than those leeches in the forbidden forest" She laughed at the thought of it.
This utterly confused Ellyn. She had never heard of such a thing, so she stored it away in the recesses of her mind as Akane explained. "Why won't you see lesser tails before you see more? I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to see more weak Kitsune than strong ones? And if age doesn't define the tail, what does? Sorry, I just have a lot of questions." It was Ellyn's turn to look wide-eyed and new. "Okami have ten tails?" Yup, Ellyn didn't get it. Maybe she was just incapable of understanding?
Then they were back on the tsunami, which had been terrible, yes. "Most people went to the mountains, which isn't through the forbidden forest. The forbidden forest has a lot of nasties, yeah. I was actually in the tsunami; I would highly suggest not trying to tread one. Not at all." It did make Ellyn wonder how Ophion was doing.
Akane was glad she wasn't the only one asking questions, because she wanted to somehow repay for all the information she was offered by Ellyn.
"Well let me explain it. As they age kitsune grow wiser and stronger and with each higher level they gain a tail. However it doesn't appear as soon as they jump to the new level.
For example, new kitsune have only one tail and they don't grow a new one until they reach the level of three tails, or even more likely the level of five tails. At that time all new tails appear at once.
Of course kitsune are prominently stronger at their second and fourth level of strength, though it's not something represented by the number of tails they have but by their behavior."
She tried to find a proper explanation for why they grow tails in such a weird order, but she couldn't. That must have been one of many riddles she was left to figure out herself and prove that she was the right person to succeed the throne.
"I never really asked Okami why it works that way, but I can assume it has something to do with number four. If they grew each tail as soon as they reach next level, they'd inevitably have four tails at one point and four is unlucky number. It's pronounced shi in Japanese and shi also means death. That's why both people and spirits of Japan avoid having four pieces of anything." That sounded funny even to Akane herself and she giggled, but she was pretty much sure about it. "You probably think it sounds weird, but that's most likely the reason why kitsune naturally change from one tail to five tails when the right time comes.
As for Okami, yes they are the only ten tails among the kitsune. It's a long story, there was a war and our creators have chosen the strongest and the most benevolent yokai of each kind. They made them even stronger, raising them to the level of kami with a mission to bring back and preserve peace in spiritual realm. That's when first Inari was chosen and she achieved new powers and an additional tail with it. Every next Inari possessed the same traits as the first one right from birth or the moment they disposed of their human body."
"Well let me explain it. As they age kitsune grow wiser and stronger and with each higher level they gain a tail. However it doesn't appear as soon as they jump to the new level.
For example, new kitsune have only one tail and they don't grow a new one until they reach the level of three tails, or even more likely the level of five tails. At that time all new tails appear at once.
Of course kitsune are prominently stronger at their second and fourth level of strength, though it's not something represented by the number of tails they have but by their behavior."
She tried to find a proper explanation for why they grow tails in such a weird order, but she couldn't. That must have been one of many riddles she was left to figure out herself and prove that she was the right person to succeed the throne.
"I never really asked Okami why it works that way, but I can assume it has something to do with number four. If they grew each tail as soon as they reach next level, they'd inevitably have four tails at one point and four is unlucky number. It's pronounced shi in Japanese and shi also means death. That's why both people and spirits of Japan avoid having four pieces of anything." That sounded funny even to Akane herself and she giggled, but she was pretty much sure about it. "You probably think it sounds weird, but that's most likely the reason why kitsune naturally change from one tail to five tails when the right time comes.
As for Okami, yes they are the only ten tails among the kitsune. It's a long story, there was a war and our creators have chosen the strongest and the most benevolent yokai of each kind. They made them even stronger, raising them to the level of kami with a mission to bring back and preserve peace in spiritual realm. That's when first Inari was chosen and she achieved new powers and an additional tail with it. Every next Inari possessed the same traits as the first one right from birth or the moment they disposed of their human body."
Nope, it made no sense to Ellyn, but she'd take Akane's word for it. "What about Kitsune not from Japan? Do they work the same way, or do you know? Are Okami their guardians, too?"
Ellyn leaned her elbow on the table as she watched Akane, trying to piece it all together in her head, but the rules just seemed arbitrary to her. She couldn't understand why something would work culturally when it wasn't, in and of itself, brought about by culture. Confusing as hell. Was all magic this confusing?
"So the Okami are born? Why are they born human? Are they a reincarnation of one and other?"
Akane was surprised about how interested Ellyn was in kitsune. That was the first time she would talk about her kind this much.
"Well this is complicated but I'll try to simplify. As you most likely know, different gods have created different places, people and spiritual entities. The stories of those creations have long ago become only myths for humankind, but as you can assume, most of them are actually true - otherwise I wouldn't exist, right?" She grinned and continued.
"Just imagine the groups of spiritual beings around the world as many different nations. Each nation has its own main deity, and for Japanese spiritual realm that would be a pair of deities, Izanami and Izanagi - the seventh generation kami. They are creators of Japan and its inhabitants. But they can't do all the work alone, so they have their local representatives - the kami of yokai groups.
Now, those kami have duty to ensure peace and well-being within their own group and cooperate on preserving peace of the entire realm." Akane excused herself with a bow as she paused to grab a small bottle of water kept in her sleeve and take a sip to clear her throat.
"Migrating is similar to humans' too. When kitsune migrate to another spiritual realm, they are subjected to its laws so Inari has nothing to do with them as long as they're away from Japan. However, as long as they are originally pure kitsune, they function on the same manner as those who stay in homeland. I hope I'm not confusing you even more than I already have." She smiled kindly and tried to read Ellyn's reaction to the explanation she gave her.
"As for Okami, most of them were born half-humans, not all of them. But that's another very long story."
Akane's relaxed expression changed as she was brought back to the topic of tsunami. "Why didn't you move to the mountains with others, why did you choose to expose yourself to such a risk? I mean, I thought teachers were supposed to protect the place and students..."
"Well this is complicated but I'll try to simplify. As you most likely know, different gods have created different places, people and spiritual entities. The stories of those creations have long ago become only myths for humankind, but as you can assume, most of them are actually true - otherwise I wouldn't exist, right?" She grinned and continued.
"Just imagine the groups of spiritual beings around the world as many different nations. Each nation has its own main deity, and for Japanese spiritual realm that would be a pair of deities, Izanami and Izanagi - the seventh generation kami. They are creators of Japan and its inhabitants. But they can't do all the work alone, so they have their local representatives - the kami of yokai groups.
Now, those kami have duty to ensure peace and well-being within their own group and cooperate on preserving peace of the entire realm." Akane excused herself with a bow as she paused to grab a small bottle of water kept in her sleeve and take a sip to clear her throat.
"Migrating is similar to humans' too. When kitsune migrate to another spiritual realm, they are subjected to its laws so Inari has nothing to do with them as long as they're away from Japan. However, as long as they are originally pure kitsune, they function on the same manner as those who stay in homeland. I hope I'm not confusing you even more than I already have." She smiled kindly and tried to read Ellyn's reaction to the explanation she gave her.
"As for Okami, most of them were born half-humans, not all of them. But that's another very long story."
Akane's relaxed expression changed as she was brought back to the topic of tsunami. "Why didn't you move to the mountains with others, why did you choose to expose yourself to such a risk? I mean, I thought teachers were supposed to protect the place and students..."