The Spirit of Villainy

Every shadowdancer, upon their twentieth year, is required to go on a "spirit quest." Whenever a creature is born, a spirit stands beside them to guide the way. Finding one's spirit guide tells a person who they truly are. It's a journey of a lifetime, struggling against the elements, the hunger, and the self.

Thala, viewed as a particularly soft and modest vixen, inhaled the sacred smoke and left for two weeks with nothing but her red kimono to keep her company. Using her extensive skills and training, she had to find her own food. She had to find her own way.

Everyone predicted she would find the great vixen goddess, being that she was a vixen herself, but no. On the first night, Thala's visage terrified the first animal ward. The great vixen, faithful companion to the guardian unicorn of the forest, crept close to get a better view. When it saw her purple eyes gleaming in the darkness, the vixen knew that, although Thala was secretive and extremely patient, she had no emotion in her heart... let alone love or joy.

Thala spent a few hours fashioning a long stick she found into a crude spear. She found some fruit and ate as much as she could, but it somehow didn't satisfy.

On the second night, after traveling deeper into the woods, she arrived at a cave. At seeing her, the bear spirit retired. He saw Thala scurry past the cave. He saw she lacked courage.

A herd of goats became her next target, for they were hoofed animals and, like the birds, were unintelligent. She killed as many as she could, hoping it would slow down whoever else would go on the spirit quest next. She knew the spirit quest was not a competition, but she enjoyed playing games such as this. She took the fattest one and feasted on its beating heart.

Ten miles deeper, and she found herself in a clearing of waist high grass. After examining her with an air of disdain, the lion spirit walked away. It had seen Thala take the fattest goat for herself and thereby forsake the rest of her clan. She had no honor.

She crept upon a nest of eagles with a net she created out of moss and vines. She ate the mother first.

The great bird spirit, who traversed the night and gave wings to the weary, was horrified beyond belief at her depravity and would have attacked if it could have.

On the fourth night, after traveling into a cave that carved its way through the Central Mountain, the spider skittered away. It enjoyed the net that Thala had made, but saw that she threw it away immediately afterwards. She had no sense of work ethic.

A vine trap she made had caught the leg of a stag. They were considered sacred. Its eyes tasted a little like runny fried eggs.

On the fifth night, deeper in the cave, the centipede ran for cover. The centipede spirit is considered the most alien of the spirits. It saw Thala wander the cave as though she belonged there. This offended its sense of propriety.

She was reduced to scrounging moss from the walls. She tested it first on a female deer she had brought with her from the forest to make sure it wasn't poison.

On the sixth night, after emerging on the other side, she saw the great venom dragon. It sneered in disgust at Thala, and took flight. Although her heart was made of venom, Thala was a bottom feeder. She was covered in slime and did not care about her looks. This tiny creature had no standards. Others had been chosen by the venom dragon, it would not have been a shame.

This is when she noticed her doe. These were considered the guardians of the forest, second to the mythical unicorn that stalked among the leaves. She cut out its tongue which was rough and hewed, holy and full of purity. She was sure not to kill it right off, and instead it spasmed and convulsed, dying of shock and blood loss. Thala looked directly into its eyes as it began to suffocate on its own blood. She satisfied her hunger on the tender heart of the doe. Thala then draped herself in its filthy entrails, drenching her fur in gore, resembling an ancient priestess of murder.

The seventh night: a black waterfall flowing upwards into a sky black as pitch. Thala ran her hand through it. She felt a voice, tempting her. A monster emerged from the flow. It was a half-eaten buck, a look of vanity in its face... Thala thought it was beautiful.

"At last, my disciple..." it said as it limped towards her, its skin dessicated and wrinkled. "AT LAST! You are sick, broken... hideoussssssss... filled with llllliiiiiiiiiieeeeeeesssss, haw haw haw, yeeessssss... I see you have no past, and no future. You can blend and mold yourself to any situation, a perfect acolyte!"

"...Come," it continued, "follow me to all the fresh meat a being such as you could ever want..."

When Thala returned to camp a week later she was dirty, her clothes in tatters. She was breathing heavily, gulping in between spits, and wiping something from her lips. Her fur was mottled with stains. In spite of all this, she looked well fed and had gotten a few extra muscles since she had left. Her eyes gleamed with a brightness that only a gorging could bring.

"Water!" For that is what she was called. "Water, what news?!"

Each of her shadowdancer masters had a name related to nature that conveyed some central personality trait. She was not yet a master herself, but was called "Water" out of respect.

"Yes, who chose you?" asked a young male wolf. The women were jealous of her luck and beauty. They were not aware of how ugly she truly was.

"What creature chose you?" gushed another one, this time a master, a lion, called Master Tree.

"The vixen, Master Tree," she said. The audience that had gathered nodded in admiration. "Gorgeous animal, she nuzzled up to me on the first night and guided me to food."

"I hate to bring a serious note to this celebration, Water," interrupted Master Wind, an old male weasel, "but there were reports of murders in the countryside, did you see anything?"

"No! Oh my gosh!" Thala said with concern. "What happened, master?"

"They said something was killing and... *ahem* Well, in any case, some children around the Western Reaches are dead."

"Awww! I'm so sorry master Wind, I wish I could say! I wish I could have helped! Perhaps some creature from the deep woods? I was guided by the great vixen to the East... she guided me to food."

"She certainly did! You seem refreshed!"

"...Yessss," Thala said slowly as she brushed her hair back arrogantly, licking her bloody chops, "I do, don't I?"