"Otosan, Otosan!!" the boy shouted as he ran towards the lake. He and his family had been traveling towards Kyoto for the yearly festival for three days. The boy loved the trip.

Despite the fear of thieves, the roads were safe and many others had also joined the caravan of carts and horses.

He found his father kneeling on the lake's bank. His head was bowed and his hands clasped together in a stance of prayer. On the lake's surface a sole candle was floating, an offering the boy could tell. When the man got up and turned, he smiled at his son, who had watched him in silence.

"Sakamoto, son have they settled the camp already?"

"Hai, otosan. To whom were you offering prayers?"

The man's dark brown eyes wrinkled from smiling. He shared the same ones with his son as also the black hair and he was proud of the boy's thirst for knowledge.

"I will tell you at the camp. Now, let's head back. Your mother and sister are expecting us." He hugged his boy from the shoulders and pulled him away from the sparkling waters of the lake.

When night fell and the travelers gathered around the fire, the man's family made a circle around their own fire. Sakamoto hugged his sister, Sakura, the girl's smile wide with affection, and eagerly waited for his father to settle down, close to his wife and begin.

The man caught his son's expression and smiled. He kissed his wife's temple and took a deep breath.

"It began at the times of the past when people and spirits walked side by side..."

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Japan was shared between lords whose families were ruling with an iron fist and sometimes they preferred war instead of peace. It was at the times of peace when the lord of a certain area, at the south, learned that he was going to be a father. He loved his wife dearly and for years they were trying to have children. Lord Nishimura and Lady Ame were respected by their peasants and the families of the nobles.

When the time came, Lord Nishimura found out that his wife had disappeared from their home. He sent his troops to search the province even the borders from fear that she was a captive. He feared and despaired and prayed to the gods to bring his wife back.

On a night of the full moon, which hung on the sky like a mirror, illuminating even the thickest darkness, Lady Ame returned.

She couldn't remember what had happened to her and the physicians had assured the Lord that both woman and unborn child were healthy.

"But she was spirited away, my Lord." The councilors would say.

"The kitsune had made their magic and we fear that the child will not be human!"

"Nonsense. For all, I care is the safety of my wife." The Lord would insist and he had spent time on his wife's chambers reassuring her that she was safe.

One month later, the baby was born.

The women screamed.

Lord Nishimura entered the room and gasped at the sight. Lady Ame held the baby girl with tenderness and love; but the baby's hair was shining white and her skin was pale, like a ghost. He walked slowly towards his wife, with terror written on his face. He leaned and watched the baby opening her eyes.

"Blue, pale like the moon." He whispered, thinking that his council wasn't so wrong after all.

"She is beautiful, my love. Like the moon." Ame lifted the bundled baby and she smiled. "Her name will be Yuki." She gave the baby to her husband and after a long look and a kiss to Lord Nishimura, she left her last breath.

Yuki grew into a wonderful child. After her mother's death, Lord Nishimura cursed and wailed for the loss of his wife. He would kill the baby, if the thought that Yuki bore a part of his wife, hadn't stopped him. So, he gave the baby into the servants and spent the rest of the years, trying to live on, either by marrying again or usually by adopting children and training them into brave youths.

And all this time Yuki was secluded into the deepest parts of the long mansion, growing with each day, her skin glowing at night and her eyes shining like the moon. Her pale white hair had grown after all these years, the servants were too afraid to tend to her, but Lord Nishimura had taken care of her from afar, despite the grief Yuki resembled him.

The child became a girl of sixteen, grown in silence and seclusion. The scholars her father had brought had taught her how to read and write and usually, after having passed the shock of her appearance, they would tell her stories of the out world.

"And the people travel all the way for a festival?" she had asked the last of her teachers.

"Yes, Yuki-sama and they dance and pray and exchange gifts with each other." The old man would point at the maps, placed before them and trail the route.

"I wish I could join them..." Yuki muttered and the man looked at her with sadness.

Goto-sama was respected by Yuki's father and had known the lord for years. He couldn't help but notice the sadness in Yuki's eyes. He had heard the rumors; how her mother had disappeared on a full moon, maybe spirited away by the fox demons or how strange she looked from close.

"Well, it is a festival for the commoners and a lady like you has a higher place."

"Of course..." Yuki spoke and bowed before her teacher thanking him.

Later, that night Yuki walked across the wooden floor of her room, a part separate from the house. Her deep blue kimono was swirling as she walked, her hair tied close to her nape in a bun. She watched the servants eye her, then walk away, not daring to speak to her. She felt sadness, not spite so she walked to the only person who at least was looking at her in the eyes.

Lord Nishimura was discussing with two of his generals when Yuki knocked the door and opened it kneeling at the same time.

The generals looked at her for a moment then lowered their heads. "Yuki, what are you doing at this time?" he father spoke harsher than usual.

"I wanted to speak to you Father." Her blue eyes locked with her father's dark brown.

"Leave Yuki. I have no wish to speak to you."

Yuki got up and in an instant, she grabbed the katana, which was lying close to one of the generals. The men looked at her with horror while Nishimura shouted at her to put the sword down.

"If you can't even stand on looking at me then I am not worthy of being called your daughter." Yuki brought the sword close to her hair. If she were to cut them, then exile was her punishment. For she would not have honored her body.

"No, Yuki!"

The blade made a soft sound as it cut her long white hair.

Everyone stayed still as they watched the strands falling to the floor.

And becoming pure gold.

Yuki stared at the miracle before her and then she looked at her father. She had no idea that she bore such a gift.

But as she gazed the faces of the men in the room, she didn't find horror written on their faces.

No, she saw wonder.

Surprise.

Fear.

Greed.

Lord Nishimura became the wealthiest lord of all Japan. And the other lords envied him for his new power. Many tried to alliance themselves by offering weeding propositions to him and Yuki but the Lord never accepted them. While he spent most of his time either organizing the lives of his people and occasionally spending his daughter's golden hair on luxuries, Yuki found a way to escape.

She used the long doors of the servants' corridors and since no one ever paid any attention to her, she easily slipped away, climbed the wall and fell to the other side. Her hair, short from the constant cutting, was covered with a dark cloth and short leggings and kimono shirt were covering her body. A cape was the finishing detail as Yuki lowered her head, clutched the bag she had on her back and ran into the darkness away from her prison.

She had no destination, only the need to live alone and explore the lands. She would work and keep low in case her father's people would look for her. She ran and ran, getting out from the roads and into the forest. The night was dark but the illumination of her body was casting a faint hue around her.

Yuki fell many times on the uneven ground, scraping her arms and feet but she still managed to get up and continue. The forest cleared into s wide meadow.

A lake was in front of her, the waters dark and ominous. Yuki fell to her knees and after offering a thankful prayer and drank some of the water.

The sound of broken twigs snapped Yuki to attention. She got up and looked around her. But nobody appeared. A tiny sound, like meowing, was heard and when Yuki looked down, she saw three small furs of white.