This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.
All work is fiction intended for fantasy only, regardless of content, and consent must always be acquired when engaging in any sex act with another adult.
Please note that all characters are clearly over eighteen and written as such in all stories.
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The shrine maiden bowed before the guardian statue, the leonine-like creature towering where she knew they would stand, forever in protection of the shrine. Aika murmured a prayer, her head respectfully lowered, though her duties for the day still lay ahead. The body of her dress was red, falling all the way down to her ankles, with long, flowing white sleeves that draped and swished with the motion of her body.
It was just the way she wanted to be, content in her existence. Aika knew what her purpose was in life, her long, brown hair kept loose but tucked back from her face, her bodice modestly covered at all times, and was happy with that.
Until everything changed.
Aika didn't expect to come across a demon fox on the way into town, the path narrow, trapping her between the cliffs where she could not even scramble up the bank to the overarching tree line up there to escape. And he knew who she was and where she had come from, his fur blistering between black and white, representing the two halves of his nature. Nine tails flickered back and forth behind him, though the edges of his form seemed to have no discernible, solid shape or substance, leaving her eye darting back and forth, not quite knowing where to fix her attention.
Cursed fox...
Not a youkai of the usual calibre that she was used to dealing with, but it was her mission and duty to protect those around her, the warmth and power of her shrine. Her staff was in hand, her basket cast aside, a battle-cry bursting from her lips, lunging for him with all the might and power in her body.
He whipped past and the battle was on, fast and furious, fur flying. He sliced free a lock of Aika's hair as a shriek tore from her, though her eyes were as hard as ever, passionate in her defence of her shrine. Infusing the staff with power, she whirled it in a circle, blocking his attacks, only bearing through and striking the butt into his shoulder when he dropped the offence. Putting him on the back foot in such a narrow, enclosed space was all she could do, battling as if her life depended on it. For all Aika knew, it very well could.
There was only one outcome that she could accept as a shrine maiden, the carer of the shrine, and she howled as she struck the fox, beating him back and back. Maybe he did not have the space to fight properly there but it had been him that had attacked her and the demon that would have to pay the ultimate price. In a flash of her staff, lancing out with her power, he howled out his broken gasp, faded, essence shuddering, a wound so grievous in his abdomen that there was no coming back from it as he slumped to the ground.
In a breath, the deed was done, the demon fox slain and splayed out across the ground. She did not look at the wound that had ended his reign but placed her hand flat on his fur, blessing him, helping him pass on.
"I grant thee passage to a lighter afterlife," she intoned softly, head bowed, a stray flicker of air fluttering out against her face. "Be more than a demon, be free your soul."
The fox closed his eyes, appearing like an ordinary, white fox with multiple tails in that moment, but what Aika did not realise that as his last breath rattled forth that it contained something more in that breath of expelled air. It wrapped around her, something that was a blessing and a curse, and she shivered, not knowing what was happening. Yet his essence slipped into her like it had always been meant to be a part of her, Aika settling back on her heels, eyes wide.
"What was that?"
She did not know, but neither did she make it into town that day, retreating to care for the shrine and reinforce its defences.
The next morning came with a strangeness to it, her hair a little longer than it had been and lighter too. She shook it off and managed to get into the town that day, fetching supplies for herself and the shrine, though her stride did not feel as it had before, her step less sure. Yet everything was fine... Or was it?