The clouds were black as crows, and the rain poured down on Beatrix’s head with rapid pitter patters. His kitsune skulk, the kasai skulk, was in the midst of an ambush from the Kukan army, a devilish group of creatures with the goal of becoming the leaders of this world. 

As Beatrix watched in horror, his tall slender legs quaking, his skulk leader rammed into his side and bit his scruff. The tall muscular kitsune dragged him through the thick bush of the rainforest. 

“Astrid! Astrid! What’s going on?” Beatrix squealed. His tail and butt were muddy and wet from being pulled in the rain. He could hear his skulk growling, crying, screaming, and even dying. 

Far away from the skulk border, Astrid stopped and let go of him, panting. 

“Astrid, what’s happening? Who are they?” He cried, confused by the attack and even more confused by his leader's actions. 

Astrid did not speak for a long moment, until something in him snapped and he began to bark at Beatrix.

“Leave! Get out of here! You can never return, you hear me?” Astrid growled in his face, his muzzle contorted in aggressive wrinkles. 

Beatrix sat there in the cold mud, shaking from head to toe with wide, delicate eyes about to burst out of his head.

“Get away from this place!” Astrid barked, “Run far away and don’t look back!” Astrid bit at his face, and he scurried up, his paws fumbling in the mud. He turned away from him and ran, as well as he could with the slippery muck beneath him. He ran and ran, his legs barely able to keep up with him. His eyes darted around the trees and through the leaves, he looked for any kind of hiding place or path to follow. 

He ran out of breath a long ways away from his skulk’s territory and started walking. While he walked he stared at the ground, panting and sore. It was now the middle of the night, and he was dragging his feet and holding his head low.  From the corner of his eye he saw a hollow tree root, just big enough for him to fit inside. He crawled in, and he went as deep as he could. The root was long and seemed to go on forever. He couldn’t tell if he was going underground or to the other side.

Eventually, his head popped out of the root and into a wide, spacious hollow tree. It was amazing, he could see the leaves outside and feel the breeze come in from the top. Obviously this meant that it was a tad bit wet inside, but the leaves caught most of the rain. There were ants and beetles crawling inside the wood and birds in the branches. The sweet sounds of frogs and crickets outside put Beatrix to sleep as soon as he laid down. 

Beatrix’s muscles were taut and sleep carried him far away from his stresses. A deep sleep kept his dreams blank, a void of darkness.

Until, Beatrix awoke, but not to reality, but to a message. A kitsune made of pure white, with nine tails, and swirl patterns, stood in front of him. The kitsune was stoic and tall, much larger than any kitsune he had ever met. 

“I have a message from the eleven Tengoku,” The kitsune's voice boomed. Beatrix had heard many stories of the eleven Tengoku gods before from his mother, but never thought he would meet them, not until he died.

“Am I dead?” He screamed,the thought hit him abruptly before he could let the kitsune speakmore.

“No, young one.You have much more life to live, and here I will tell you where to go from now,” The kitsune began, “First, I need you to gather me supplies, so I may make you your gifts for your journey, so listen carefully,” Beatrix’s eyes widened as he leaned in with his ears targeted at the kitsune. 

“When you wake up, you must first go outside and gather me bark from this tree, use your claws and scrape off the bark. Then, you must find a deer and kill it. And last I need purple jems from the river towards the rising sun. You must bring these things back to this tree before midnight,”

Beatrix stared at the kitsune with his wide ocean blue eyes, until the kitsune let out a questioning “Hmm?” and he gathered his thoughts. 

“Yes, of course! I will do that as soon as I wake up,” he stated with a vigorous nod of his head. The kitsune smiled and let Beatrix sleep for the rest of the night.

Beatrix awoke to the drip of a raindrop on his nose. He scrunched his white mizzle and shook his head, his white and blue ears slapping his head. He yawned and stretched like a house cat, and rolled onto his back. 

He only lay down for a moment before he remembered his mission, find the supplies for his gifts. He stood up and crawled through the root tunnel and out into the forest. It smelled of fresh rain, and the sound of water dripping off of the leaves and into small puddles echoed in his ears. 

First off, he had to gather some tree bark. He followed the root back to the tree he had just come out of. He looked up and saw the tree was tall and it swayed as if the hand of god was picking at its leaves. He faced the tree and put his paws up on the tree, then raked his claws down it. He found it was easier to get bigger pieces if he clawed in between the cracks of the bark. 

After a small bit of time, he had about five chunks of brown bark. He walked back to the root entrance of the tree and placed the bark inside. 

He decided to find the river first because he might find a deer along the way, and he wasn’t too sure about his hunting skills. He found the rising sun in the north and followed its heat on the way to the river. The sun was a kind contrast of heat from the cold and wet ground on his paws. The sun glistened on his pure white back, and warmed the fire blue sides of his stomach. 

He came to the riverside and stared down into the glimmering water. The rocks at the bottom glowed all kinds of purples, greens, oranges, and blues. The sight was beautiful, and Beatrix took his time collecting the most precious gems. His favorites were the blue and purple ones. 

He carried three gems in his mouth and started his way back to the tree. He passed birds and butterflies of all different colours. The leaves were bright and shiny from the rain and the ground was bustling with the life of bugs. 

A rustling in the bushes caused Beatrix to stop and look around. He crouched down and went towards the bush that rumbled. The scent of a deer pierced his nose, but this scent was one he had never smelled before. The closer he got the more the smell stung in his nose, he scrunched his muzzle to hold in a sneeze. 

He was right at the foot of the bush when a white antlered head poked out above him. He stared up in awe as he saw something only from legends. It was a snawfus. The magnificent deer continued to munch on the leaves without noticing him. 

Beatrix stood still for a few long moments, he knew he was allowed to kill this deer, but was he supposed to? As he pondered the question, a flash of the image of a white leather book shone in his mind. He had his answer. 

He concentrated on the animal's neck, keeping his gaze off of its eyes. The deer had its head buried in the bush, using its teeth to scrape at the leaves. It lifted its head to chew, and that was the moment. Beatrix launched himself into the snawfus’s neck, his teeth sunk into its flesh, he could feel the deers heartbeat race as he clawed at its chest. He bit in many different spots on its neck, leaving holes in its arteries. It soon fell down and died.

He stuffed the gems into the deer's mouth and closed its stiff jaw. He dragged its body through the leaves and flowers to the tree. 

Once he got to the tree, there was a challenge, the deer wouldn’t fit into the root entrance. He sat beside the body, in thought. How was he going to fit the deer into the root? Was there a different, bigger entrance? He looked around the tree and around the roots but there were no holes or entrances. He resorted to ripping and tearing at the snawfus, bringing in one large chunk of meat into the tree. He went back out to collect the gems and bring them back inside. 

He sat inside the tree, in front of the pile of resources, waiting for the kitsune to return. He became bored and hungry so he went outside to eat the snawfus, he remembered his mothers words, “Never waste a life, if you kill it, you use all it has to give,” So he ate until he was full. 

Beatrix looked weary, his eyes almost fluttering shut with every blink. He didn’t understand why the kitsune hadn’t returned, but he figured he should stay up just in case. But soon his body and mind succumbed to sleep and he passed out inside the darkness of the tree. 

Beatrix awoke, but once again, it was in his dream. The kitsune stood in front of him once again, with its fluffy tails and its flaming gaze. 

“You have done well, young one,” Beatrix’s tail wagged in response. “I will use these resources to make you the most devine gifts I can offer,” The kitsune's voice boomed. Its eyes glowed pure white and the resources began to float. The kitsune took a deep breath, then a cluster of hot flames shot out of its mouth and burned the resources. Beatrix’s fur went flat back as the wind of the fire pressed on him. His eyes were wide and his heart was racing. He had never seen such a powerful flame before. 

The kitsune closed its mouth and the flames disappeared, revealing three things. The first thing Beatrix noticed was a big white satchel with an outstanding colorful imprinted design. The second thing was a large book with brown paper and white leather, it too had colorful imprints, the cover said, “The True Stories”. The last item was a roll of brown paper, which he could not tell if there was anything in it because he was too far away. 

“Come close, little one,” The kitsune commanded. Beatrix obeyed excitedly and ran over to the roll. The kitsune laughed as Beatrix tripped over his own paws. He opened the roll and discovered it was a map. It showed a small white light blue dot inside a forest. Around the forest there were other places, and one of them was the Kasai skulk territory. His body went limp and his eyes stared at the words. Kasai skulk. The massive kitsune wrapped Beatrix in his tail and began to comfort him, liking his forehead and ears. 

“What do I do now? Am I really not allowed back home?” His voice quivered. The kitsune let out a sigh and pressed its head against Beatrix’s. 

“You will return home, I promise,” The kitsune whispered. “But first there are a few things you need to do for us,”

“Who?” Beatrix’s head tilted. He was no longer staring at the map, but up into the kitsune's orange eyes. 

“You know of the Tengoku, God's perfect pets, the leaders of our world,” The kitsune stared right into Beatrix’s eyes as they widened. “They need you,” Beatrix had no words, he only stared at the kitsune with sparkling eyes. 

Until a million questions popped into his mind and exploded out of his mouth. “Why me? What do they need? Am I strong enough? I’m not a very good fighter. How do they know I can do it? When will I go back home? Why can’t I go home Now? Why-”

“Hear me, little one, don't be frantic,” The kitsune’s voice echoed. “You will find the answer to all of your questions along the way, but for now you must trust us and believe what I say,” Beatrix still looked discombobulated, but he had calmed down and was once again holding eye contact with the kitsune, its gaze seemed to comfort him. 

“What do I do?” He asked, and he was determined to go home to see his mother.

As Beatrix’s body continued to sleep, his spirit and the kitsune talked about what was next.