God of The Chinese Zodiac

This figure takes the form of a pale-skinned individual whose white hair falls in a straight sheet all the way past the feet. Simple bangs cut a line across the brow, and a plain, pale haori drapes the body in every scene. One detail holds constant across the whole tale: the face stays hidden, obscured so that its features are never once shown to the reader.

Isolation defined this being, who withdrew from the world after being burdened with the strength, the lifetimes, and the accumulated memories of a thousand people. Knowing they stood apart from everyone else bred a deep dread, of themselves, of other people, and of the pain that closeness might bring, so they turned to animals for companionship instead. Beneath that wariness lay a tender, giving nature that treasured its friends above all. It was love for those friends, paired with a terror of loneliness, that drove them to weave a spell meant to hold the group together forever. They never imagined the bond would curdle into generations of cruelty within the Sohma line.

For countless years the figure dwelt atop a mountain in total solitude, carrying a thousand lifetimes and a thousand powers, certain that ordinary humans could only bring harm. That changed when a cat wandered up to visit. The animal admitted it had long been watching from afar, unable to resist drawing near, and it pledged to remain at the lonely one's side. True to its word, the cat never left, and its devotion brought real joy.

In time the other creatures of the zodiac made their own way up the mountain, and from then on the thirteen animals and their friend held a banquet every moonlit night, filling the dark with song, dance, and laughter. The happiness broke when the cat suddenly collapsed. The sight forced everyone to grasp that all living things must one day die and that their gatherings could not last. Unwilling to let the friendship end, the god traced a circle into a cup of water with a fingertip, creating a spell that promised endless rebirth and an unbroken bond across every lifetime.

The still-unconscious cat was made to drink first, unaware of what the water held, while the rest of the animals swallowed it willingly with the Rat leading the way. The cat briefly stirred and was horrified to learn it had been given no choice; it insisted it never wished to be reborn again and again, holding firm that everything ought to reach a natural end before it died. The others refused to heed its warning and had already decided the cat had betrayed them. When the god's own death finally came, they met it without fear, trusting that the animals would be waiting to reunite with them once more.