It is said that Caressa, the Earth diety and Guardian of the

Goddess had a strong but clashing alliance with Forgo, the Fire diety. Long ago, when humans started to populate the bare, fruitful lands, Caressa longed for the element of Fire to become in her possession. Both fastinated and fustrated at her Earth's elemental weakness, she sought to learn its secrets, to possess it's untameable qualities.

The Goddess had warned them all in the beginning to not tamper with any other element that was not theirs, that in time, the blending would occur naturally. Forced would merely bring a ruin upon them all, a natural decay in their own abilities--and hostilities would become distructive.

Ignoring the warnings, she bathed herself in night's chilling cloak, watching and waiting with batted breath for Forgo.

When at last, she spotted him flying towards her luscious newly formed forest, landing in a rather comfortable spot with soft grass and blossoming scilla.

"At last," the power-hungry kitsune growled, licking her lips. She had completely forgotten the rekindled promise of a strengthened friendship between them, thoughts of decit ran strong in her mind.

Forgo, like all dragons, was attracted by the beautiful color that the flowers had given off, and did not notice the Earth Guardian creeping towards him. It was only until he felt a sharp sting on his leathery wings did he roar in shock from his former ally's ambush.

"Foolish creature, you are as cruel and lying as your treacherous foxheart," the angry Fire God cried.

Finally forced to abandon the pretense that she could win, Caressa escaped the larger beasts claws by distracting it with plants coiled around his limbs like chains.

But all was not well for the kitsune, for she discovered that Forgo had bitten one of her tails, and it looked like a flower was dying quickly. The tail had a slightly wilted and frail look, and it was graying compared to the rest of her fur.

Panicking, she knew gravely that there was only one way to save herself. The angry Earth Goddess swore in every retelling of the story, that she could hear her all-time rival and friend's raccous laughter at the humiliating defeat.

She had lost one tail, a prideful loss, but she decided to give it a gift and a curse.

"Koki shall be your name, and you will remain here, among these lush forests and beaches. A gift that even I myself have sought for, the gift of fire; and a curse to remain here without the freedom to roam; the curse to stay chained for eternity," she blessed the newly created bundle of fur that had been transformed into a kitsune.

Koki, with fur black as coal and a heart filled with grief, created the Cresent Islands, and was forever doomed to live among the middle of the once called Earth and Fire lands.

A request for a kitsune with a tropical volcano background. I fondly remember this, I still think it was the beginning of more ambitious looking backgrounds.