Work Text:
There was a family consisting of just a mother and her two twin children, Hinata and Yuta. They were not wealthy people, getting by day to day was a struggle and often they needed to save for two weeks for just one week’s worth of food that they needed split. But when they split such food, the mother often gave her children the most, saying that she was strong, her food was the laughter and safety of her children.
She needed to go to the market for rice cakes, something to ward her children off of starvation for another day until she could purchase something better. In the light of a lamp, she told them what all children are told: Do not open the door to strangers, I will be back shortly. Hinata nodded, assuring that they were not small children, they have common sense. Yuta pointed to the lock on the door, saying that that shall unlock for none other than their mother. Their mother was proud, her children were growing up to be obedient, as all mothers would want their children to be.
She took off, simple rags flowing off into the breeze. It was turning dark, and with night came winds able to blow young ones off of their toes. The young ones’ mothers would tell them that night was a dangerous time, and the winds they felt were a monster’s cold breath. Of course, night did not differ all too much from the morning, for at the time they had no celestial bodies. They did not even know what they were.
The trip to the market was a long one as always. Traders attempted to barter too long, and her home was an hour away. But she was making her way back. Soon she would be able to see her children’s lit up faces at the sight of sweetened rice cakes. But the wind had gotten worse. In the dim light of night, she looked onwards, trying not to lose her step.
A growl.
No, that could not be a growl. She was merely imagining things. The tale of monsters with cool, strong breaths were not real.
But there was one right in front of her. Although not a monster, truly, it was a tiger coloured black and red, unusual colours for such a creature.
“Give me your food,” the tiger asked, licking his paws at the sight of the rice cakes. The mother was furious.
“No! These rice cakes are not for a creature like you, they are for my children!” she stood firm, not wanting to give in and have her children starve for the night. He could get food from anywhere, he was a predator. She was not.
“Perhaps just one. One will sate me. And then I will let you go.” He had a strange voice. Instead of a fierce tiger, he sounded like a cub. A cub who tried hard to become a grown tiger. But she did not point that out aloud.
She could not refuse, he was blocking her path and could chase her down if she tried to run. “Fine, mighty beast, I shall allow you one cake.”
But one cake was not enough. It was never enough for a growing tiger. He demanded more and more, getting closer to her as he did. She did not want to comply. Hinata and Yuta would surely be disappointed. But she had no choice. If faced with starving for one night, or starving because their mother died on her journey back, she would rather give the rice cakes up and see them.
But she ran out. After all, it was meant for a small family, not a tiger twice her size.
“I am sorry, but it appears I am still not satisfied.”
”Well I have nothing left to offer. If you are going to hold up my time, I shall be departing.”
“H-hold up!” the tiger shouted, breaking his scary demeanour for a second. “A house maiden as yourself…while not the most filling of meals…”
And those were the last things the mother had ever heard apart from her pleading screaming.
The tiger looked next to him, seeing that whilst eating the house maiden he left behind her clothes. A smirk came across his face as he donned the clothes.
“Haha, yes! Boss should surely be happy that I have started to get food for myself! But, now onto her children…wherever they are.”
It was dim. The lamp was almost burning dry. Their mother was not home. Yuta could not help but panic, thinking of all the tragic events that could have happened to their mother. Maybe she fell victim to a raid, maybe she could her foot on the pesky vines he neglected to clean earlier. Maybe she got whisked away by the mortal king, never to be seen again. Maybe she got eaten by a tiger. But Hinata reminded him such a thing was preposterous. Their mother would be back before the lamp blew out.
Suddenly a series of knocks came, albeit sounding more like scratches.
“Yes, it is I, your mother!” a voice exclaimed, not even attempting to sound like her. They tore a hole in the door with their claws, revealing one furry paw.
“Nay, you are not her! She does not have such a deep voice nor such furry paws! Be gone, beast, we only open this door for Mother!” the twins said shaking their heads at the creature. They sure were a fool, to believe that they would open the door for them!
The tiger huffed. So these children were old enough to understand not allowing strangers inside. But, the older they were, the bigger and better the meal would be.
I could cook them on an open flame, he thought, before remembering the last time he attempted such a thing he almost burned his paw, ruined the meal, and his Boss scolded him. Never again.
He saw a glint nearby. A knife, and a dull one at that. Likely one that the mother used to cut plants that she had neglected to sharpen over the years. But instead of cutting plants, it could be used to get him a meal.
Tigers and weapons do not mix. They do not mix when humans try – and fail – to make a meal of them, disregarding the general belief that tigers are to be respected, albeit often at a distance. They do not mix when a tiger tries to shave his fur to appear like a laboured house maiden. And they certainly do not mix when such tiger cannot get a firm grip on it to do that task.
“Aha!” the tiger finally exclaimed, examining his work. His paw now resembled that of a human hand, almost like that disrespectful mother, and now the children may allow him inside. As an extra, he tucked his tail under the mother’s dress, only the tip of it ever seeing the light of day.
Hinata sighed. The lamp already needed to have more oil added to it and his mother was not home yet. The market would already be closed by now – not that she would stay that long anyways – and their mother was swift, the trek home would have been a short one. The father, their horrible father, was already gone, how awful would it be for their mother to fail on them as well? He did not vocalize this, Yuta was already rattled as it was. Yuta was the cry baby of the two, he did not need more to cry about, although Hinata was sure Yuta was running through scenarios left and right as to why she was out this late. Every creak that rang through the home made him jump up, whispering that that might be the sound of their mother approaching the olden wooden stairs of the home. Every wisp of wind was their mother letting out a soft laugh, hoping that her children were not put off by her prolonged absence. Even when Hinata tried to distract his brother by telling jokes or attempting to get him to swing on the frame of the home Yuta still paid too much attention to those little sounds.
“Children! Children! I am home!” a voice called, presenting their hand through the door. It was smooth, covered in small cuts. It was just like their mother. Her hand was often cut from the long days working with the plants and doing odd tasks around the village.
“Mother!” Yuta called, wiping away his tears and running to the door. He stood on his tip-toes, carefully taking off each lock.
Yuta did not bother looking up, he went straight to hugging the one he assumed was his mother. The mother did not hug back.
“Y-Yuta. That is not Mother,” Hinata said, point upwards, straight at a face covered in fur. Yuta squinted, Hinata now behind him holding up the lamp. Indeed, it was not the weathered but delicate face of their mother, it was that of a tiger, and an odd one at that.
Yuta stopped embracing the tiger, feeling a heavy paw on his back, claws threatening to come out any moment. Thankfully he was small and swift, an advantage to being a playful child, and got next to his brother, locking hands as they made way for the door.
They ran around, trying to shake off the tiger, but if the children were the fast water, the tiger was the even faster wind. Every now and again the twins would feel a breath down their necks, causing them to scream in terror. Surely they could not die now, in such an unfavourable circumstance! Crickets chirped around them, as if cheering them on. The synchronized pulse of the animals who lingered in the shadows went to the same tune as the twins’ steps as they stepped on the soil, as if their run carried not just two children’s lives, but hundreds of animals. But such animals did not have their lives at stake, not right now.
Hinata ducked behind their well, discoloured over the years and vines going along the grout. Yuta followed moments after. Both of their garments were covered in dirt, for which their mother – their seemingly gone mother – would have scolded them for.
“I believe we have lost him!” Yuta said, holding onto his brother’s arm as if for dear life. He laid his back on the tree next to the well. Hinata peered above the well, seeing the tiger wander aimlessly around, paw occasionally getting caught in the sticky mud.
“Children…come out….” the tiger hissed, wiggling his way out of the clothes causing countless seams to pop. “Your mother would like to play.”
Hinata giggled. How foolish of the tiger! How could he possibly believe that they would fall for such a thing twice?
But his stifled laughter alerted the tiger to come closer to the well. Realizing what he did, Hinata grabbed Yuta, trying to get him to climb the old tree, covered in insects and small pieces of bark that crumbled in the hand. Thanking the deities for their calloused hands from long days of play, they reached a high branch, almost as wide as the stream and as strong as the traders’ nets.
“I know you are here!” the beast growled, looking down at the well, as if somehow the children had gotten in there. He was so close to getting a good meal, and showing Boss that he could get food for himself, he would not fail now! His eyes widened as he saw the children in the water’s reflection, believing that they were on the other side, looking down as he was.
“Oh what kind children, for revealing yourselves to me!” he exclaimed, getting ready to pounce.
“Oh what silly tiger, for believing in a reflection!” they said from above, back to back with each other. How fun it was to tease this creature!
The tiger huffed. These children were making a mockery of him, a tiger, believed by many to be a graceful and intelligent guardian to the populace. He looked above him to see the children were doing acrobatics on the branches, climbing ever higher as they did so. He could swear the one in the dull teal clothes was sticking his tongue out at him.
He had to be crafty. He had to find a way to get to these troublesome children. As a tiger he had no chance of climbing the tree, he was too big, if anything it would collapse-
Collapse. That is what he needed. He went off towards the house, hoping to find something to aide him.
The twins laughed. Finally, the tiger had given up! They were ready to get down when they heard a loud chop coming from below, taking slow takes at the base of the tree.
“Children, oh foolish children, the only place you can go is down. Whether you fall along with the tree or come down yourselves, there is no way for you to escape the inevitable,” the tiger mumbled with an axe in his mouth. Despite having little control of the axe, he was now at the middle of the tree, and the children could feel it slowly begin to fall.
Yuta started to cry. He was not going to end up a meal to a monster.
“Oh gods, spare me and my brother! Lend us a hand before our souls are captured in the rib of the tiger, and flesh turned to appetizer! If you do not see us as worthy of saving, let your aide crumble before us!” Hinata cried to the heavens, grabbing hold of his brother’s hand.
A rope of silk that glittered like fine jewel came before the two, leading up to the heavens. Yuta was the first one to grab hold, and once the two were on, began to climb. Yuta could not help but feel captivated, the material none of his family could ever attain by normal means has come from the gods above to save his life. And despite being soft to the touch, was easy to scale and strong to boot.
The tiger ceased chopping to see the children – his meal – escape. This was not fair, why were those children favoured more by the gods than he was?
“Gods! May you find my pursuit of these children to be of worthy cause, and allow me to have a rope as well to get them! May the rope you provide be of good quality, to support such a heavy creature as I!”
And so a rope came to him, of similar origin as the other, but it did not gleam. He took it anyways, believing that it did not matter what it appeared as, but if he could get his meal. But it was not sturdy, not in the least. Made of twig and thin twine, it could not support the tiger. He did not realize this until he was at a paw’s length from the children and the rope snapped in two.
He fell and made a heavy thump as he reached the ground. The mother’s soul was free, and the tiger made his final breath next to the well.
“Children, you have gone through many a trial on not just this day, but your whole lives. Pure hearted both of you are, so we shall allow you to become celestial beings, to look over the world with graceful smiles. To allow the harvest of all to be plentiful and tell when young ones and old ones alike must return home for their rest,” the heavens called, raising the two up.
“You,” they said, holding Yuta higher above Hinata for a moment. “You shall be the moon, to sooth others into slumber, and call upon the creatures of the night to awaken. Never shall you have to cry anymore, peace shall come to you.”
And thus Yuta rose higher and higher into the sky, becoming the moon.
“And you,” they looked upon Hinata. “For being a radiant force, for you and your brother, you shall be the sun. To look over the smiles of others during the day, and allow the rice to grow faster. Suitable for the warm person you once were.”
So Hinata rose as high as Yuta and became the sun.
But the mother of the two was not forgotten by the heavens. They chose a similar path for her. For the woman who the two looked upon as a mother, for guidance, for care, she became the stars. So others for generations to come may look upon her with the same wonder as the twins did in their mortal states.
From then on the world woke with bright and colourful mornings, and slept on cold and dark nights, accompanied by the stars to give them light.