Kitsune: A Little Mermaid Retelling

Chapter 6 (Part 1)

"My lady, what are you doing out here this late?" Hikaru asked.

She shook her head back and forth slowly, then returned to an eerie, still state.

He took a step closer to her. She did not move. Her shoulders were taut as a bowstring and her eyes followed him. She threaded her fingers together in front of her. He held up his hands, showing that he meant her no harm.

"Are you hurt?"

She only shook her head once again. He could see her clearer as he drew closer. Her hair, a dark ebony, was piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Despite her fine clothes, there was no care or artifice done to her appearance. Yet her raw beauty shone through. Her round face, almond eyes and rosebud mouth were well formed. On closer inspection, she could not be the fox woman. She did not have ears and a tail, for one thing, and for another, the fox woman had coppery hair. He wanted to shake himself. There was no such thing as Kitsune! It had all been a hallucination brought on by a panicked mind. He must have imagined the woman. The resemblance was uncanny, however.

I jumped to the wrong conclusion because I found her alone in the dark. Where did she come from? He looked around; there wasn't anyone around for miles. How did a woman so well dressed end up at the edge of a forest? They tell stories about women appearing to travelers. They seduce men and drain them of their life force.

When he looked back at her, she had moved closer to him. She looked at him with her head cocked to the side. She regarded him for a moment. He may have imagined it, but it seemed she recognized him as well.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked.

She looked past him to the forest. He turned to look over his shoulder. This is the part in stories where the woman would transform into a monster and eat me. He shivered. When did he start believing in such superstitious nonsense?

"Are you hurt, is that why you do not speak?" Hikaru asked, trying to coax something out of her. Anything to offset this twisting feeling of dread coiling in his stomach.

She stared at him for a moment; then she raised her hands. Bringing them close to her face, she examined her flesh as if seeing it for the first time. After she had scanned both hands, she shook her head.

He frowned. She is very strange. "Are you unable to speak?"

She touched her throat and nodded.

He sighed. "Well, this could prove difficult." He looked around as if the night would offer up the answers he sought. "Are you from around here?"

She smiled, a coy sort of smile. It was different than the smile of court ladies, it was playful and secretive. It caught him off guard. Though her clothes indicated she was, he wondered if she was a noble lady. What noble lady would be traveling alone and in the dark?

"Well, I suppose there is no use in standing out here in the cold. I'll take you back to the palace and we can try to figure this out." He held out his hand to her. She stared at it for a moment, hesitant to take it. He got the impression once more of a wild animal, but the thought passed quickly.

He helped her into the saddle of his horse and swung up behind her. He held his hands up, unsure where to rest them. It was not often that he was this close to a woman. He decided to rest one hand on his thigh and the other grasped the reins. She brushed against him by accident, and he could not help but notice how soft her skin was or how she smelled sweet like a blooming flower.

She leaned forward and pressed her nose against his arm. He jerked his hand back. Did she just smell me?

"Is anything the matter?" he asked. He looked at the back of her head, wondering if this was the right thing to do. Perhaps she was addled in the mind. It would certainly explain a few things.

She shook her head in response.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. She did not seem simpleminded. One of his father's tenant farmers had a son that was born simple. He often smiled at Hikaru when he rode through the countryside. He was harmless enough, but one could tell upon meeting him that he was not in full control of his mind. This woman was different. Though strange, to be certain, she seemed to be aware of her surroundings. Maybe she was confused.

She touched his arm with her fingertips, and just the innocent brush of her skin against his ignited his flesh in a way he had never felt before. He wanted to pull away, as was proper, but could not bring himself to do so. His arm brushed against hers when he twitched the reins, closing her into a tight embrace. She flinched and he snapped it back, bowing out his arm to avoid any further unintentional touches. She glanced at him over her shoulder.

He avoided her gaze by looking over the dark countryside. "It's not much farther," he said, his voice cracking.

She turned back around, a smile ghosting along her lips. She's laughing at me, I am sure of it. If only I could share in the joke.

"I'm sure it seems strange that I keep talking. I know you cannot speak—or at least I hope this is not a cruel joke." He paused. The plodding sound of the horse's hooves filled the silence for a moment.

"You're not tricking me, right?" He hated how vulnerable he sounded.

She shook her head and her shoulders shook as if she were laughing silently. His neck burned and he was thankful she was facing the other way so she could not see his mortification. Perhaps Hotaru paid her to humiliate me. He looked about, expecting to find his younger brother and his men hiding in the rice paddies. Hikaru and the strange woman were alone but for the moon's reflection on the water of the rice paddies. He eased back in the saddle.

"Of course not," he sighed, more to convince himself than her. Her secrets were locked tight within her silence. Which he had to believe was genuine. Unless her voice will reveal she is some terrifying Yokai intent on eating me. As much as he wanted to discard the terrifying notion, after the events earlier today, his long-held beliefs were shaken. The night birds called to one another in the dark and the wind brushed over them. He studied the back of her head, expecting a mouth to appear there.

The palace was in sight when he found the courage to ask, "This is going to sound insane, but you're not an evil spirit, are you?"

Her body vibrated.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to offend."

Then she snorted.

Hikaru laughed, he could not hold it back. It was a rolling sound that erupted deep within him and shook his entire frame. She touched his hand and he stiffened all over. When she peeked at him from over her shoulder with a grin, whatever fear he had before dissipated. The stress of the treaty had been playing tricks with his mind. Evil spirits, Kitsune, and Yokai were all just myths. Nothing he had to worry about.