literature

Tailed Beast Tails: Prologue

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Literature Text

The Tailed Beasts.

All know of them; nine monstrous constructs of chakra-demons, some call them-that have existed since before the rise of the five ninja villages. Their might is feared, their ferociousness dreaded…for in the wake of their rampages, they have left swathes of destruction, entire villages and settlements leveled to the ground. Countless lives, lost before their wrath…and those who survive have told tales of their might.

The One-Tail, Shukaku, demon tanuki of the desert, whose bloodlust knows little equal.

The Two-Tailed Demon Cat, a being of flame and ferocity.

The Three-Tailed turtle, which has dragged many a merchant ship to a watery grave.

The Four-Tailed ape, its Lava Release burning whatever it touched to cinders.

The Five-Tailed horse, swift-hooved dweller of the deep forests.

The Six-Tailed slug, whose acidic secretions leave nothing, not even bones and rubble, behind.

The Seven-Tailed rhinoceros beetle, whose mighty shadow upon the ground is the last thing many ever see.

And the Eight-Tailed Ox, bearing the characteristics of both bull and octopus, and whose tentacled limbs swipe away all that stand before it.

None are more feared or reviled, though, than the terrible Nine-Tailed Fox, mightiest and cruelest of all its brethren. And it is a reputation well-earned, for its rage, its malice, its pure, unadulterated hatred for humanity is such that even the vilest cesspools of humanity have come to fear it…for that is where it strikes. Places where hatred runs rampant, where discontent, greed, and violence fester…the fox is drawn to these places, and such is its disdain and hatred for the humans who dare allow such things to thrive that nothing-and no one-is left standing. And, for those fortunate enough to survive, they have recounted its seeming arrogance, its utter self-assuredness that its power was second to none.

But was it always so? Did these nine fearsome beasts come into existence wreaking havoc and detesting the humans who got in their way? And, did the Nine-Tails in particular always hold such wrath and arrogance within its heart? The short answer is: No.

The long answer? Well, that’s a bit more complicated….

A wise king of another world and a bygone era once said, “Nothing is evil in the beginning.” And so it was for the Tailed Beasts. When they were brought into the world by a man known as the Sage of the Six Paths, they were, in both appearance and mind, children. Despite having been created from the Ten Tails, a primordial force of pure destruction, they inherited none of their predecessor’s mindless propensity for destruction. In its place were thoughts, emotions, feelings, personalities….in short, they were little different from other young creatures.

But I get ahead of myself. Upon their creation, the Sage bequeathed a name upon each of them, to further stress that they were not merely masses of chakra, but individuals with lives and minds of their own:

Shukaku the One-Tail.

Matatabi the Two-Tails.

Isobu the Three-Tails.

Son Goku the Four-Tails.

Kokuo the Five-Tails.

Saiken the Six-Tails.

Chomei the Seven-Tails.

Gyuki the Eight-Tails.

And Kurama, the Nine-Tails.

The Sage then cared for and raised these nine young creatures, treating them as though they were his own. He taught them many things: right from wrong, the way the seasons ran, the nature of the energy that composed their bodies, and did so until the years took their toll, and he vanished from this world.

But let’s not end on such a morose note. Let us, instead, turn back the clock, to when the Sage was very much alive, the nine were together and under his care, and the future was filled with little else but hope and promise. Let us see what came before the arrogance, the hate, the destruction.

Sit, then, and listen to the tales of the young Tailed Beasts.
Hi. :) I know I have a ridiculous amount of other stuff to do, but this is an idea I've wanted to do for quite a while.

During one of the final arcs of the Naruto manga, I was quite pleased to find out that the Tailed Beasts, who had basically been little more than living WMD's up to this point, and the Kyuubi, a self-proclaimed "living mass of malevolence", had only become such because of humanity fearing and hating them, and hunting them down to use as weapons or power sources. My delight only increased when a flashback showed them as young Tailed Beasts. The Kyuubi in particular...Mein GOTT, I don't think I've ever seen anything so adorable. Don't believe me? Take a look:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf5CLG…

(Yes, he IS crying there...)

Long story short, I wanted to write a story about the Tailed Beasts' early days as children, before they became the monsters that so many feared. I struggled with the exact HOW, until I decided: I'd do a series of one-shots/short stories.

Some will be funny, some will be fun, others will be sad and full of feels, others will be HAPPY and full of feels, and some...well, some MIGHT just tie into a longer arc. ^_0

Anyway, hope the intro piques your interest...because we're just gettin' started....
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Mothman64's avatar
Indeed, my interest has been piqued! :D

Nothing like a mythical narrative to make for a compelling prologue.