Lauahi: A Modern Folktake concept

Lauahi: A Modern Folktale concept summary

Plot Summary

During the influx of Japanese immigration to Hawaii  in late 19th century, a human meets a yako (kitsune) and both fall in "love."  However, the love wasn't true, for it was only infatuation and lust. Despite this, the kitsune birthed what the gods of both archipelagos believed to be a bastard child, a complete abomination. Hybrids usually turn out to be monsters. As punishment, one god cursed the child with a terrible hunger to manifest the problems caused by her parents' lust.

Neither of them wanted the responsibility of raising  the child nor did they want anymore punishment, so they used the lava from a volcano to imprison the baby, forming an egg-shaped stone by a river. Over time, as Hawaii gets modernized, the spirits fade, and the humans go extinct. The gods head up to the clouds over the volcano from which the lava was taken to "retire." Almost twenty years before the story, the stone gets eroded enough to reveal the baby to passerby, two of which raise her as their own.

At the time of the story, the child (named Lauahi) is a postman who's near constant eating brought her parents trouble with all kinds of people, including the CEO under which they work. The kitsune (named Sasaki) discovers her and immediately figures out that the baby has been released. Should Lauahi reach the top of the volcano, the gods would see her and realize that they (the parents) did not owe up to their mistake. Sasaki goes up to the child and tells her that should she go on top of volcano X, the latter would become a ghost like she.

The child stays away, but when the corrupt CEO steals her parents*, the child goes looking for a rare fruit with which to pay off their debt. If she fails to find any in the next 2 weeks, her parents will get the axe and the CEO will get away with it because he's a CEO. At first, she wanders populated areas in her mail truck, but after getting chased by the CEO's henchman/assassin, she bails and goes deeper into the island. After finding out about where Lauahi's going, Sasaki grows alarmed. Her attempts to steer the child away increase in intensity, effort, and frequency (Some of these attempts actually help Lauahi. In one scene where her hunger symptoms nearly set the jungle ablaze, Sasaki manages to calm her down.) Along with this, the child struggles with her hunger, immaturity, and insecurity associated with being a bastard child. (Note: To avoid getting sidetracked, Lauahi put food in some crates in the back of her mail truck. When she finally gets out, she brings only one crate, which is eventually used to carry the fruit.)

Still, she learns about her abilities and gradually develops into a more disciplined and mature person. Along the way, she runs into her dad, a ghost, and his army. Eventually, though, her hunger and exhaustion catch up to her and pressure her. When the child finds the fruit, she refrains from eating it despite her hunger. She runs into a human named Mana, who's been kept alive by the fruit. Mana confirms that the fruit is something special, and wants Lauahi's so she can keep on living. She offers her charms and even a spell that could stop her hunger for good at the price of all the fruit. Even when conflicted and slipping towards eating the damn things, Lauahi rejects the offers and runs off, enraging Mana. But soon after that, Lauahi snaps and eats one of them, only to find that just one helped her. She rests and reflects before getting back to work. Eventually, she finds the volcano and was about to climb when Sasaki panics and tells her that she is Lauahi's real mother. Thinking that she has to find her parents, she continues, and Sasaki, the dad, and Mana go after her. The witch uses charms that turn the Dad into his original, solid form. Despite the illusions, charms, and the dad's strength, Lauahi succeeds. She even uses her new-found abilities to trick them. Frightened, Sasaki performs her last trick; she creates an enormous monster for Lauahi to fight. However, the child saw through it, and makes her way to the top, where her parents truly are. Mana ragequits, and the child offers the fruit and collapses, exhausted. Her parents are released.

 Suddenly, one of the gods arrive, just as Sasaki expected. The CEO goes "Fuck this" and leaves. Both birth parents break down, with the yako telling the child that she shouldn't have been born and that she truly was a bastard child. The god fades, being an illusion. The real god was behind Sasaki all along, a spirit much like herself. As punishment, the kitsune shall be sealed in a stone for 200+ years (or maybe just slowly dissolve her or something. Living a lonely life for 100+ years and watching your race and world disappear seems like enough.), much like she sealed the child. Lauahi goes home with her parents as a true adult, but is unsure what to do with her life.

*When Lauahi was a high schooler, she'd steal from his company regularly in an attempt to preserve her parents' livelihoods, avoid getting taken advantage of, and keep herself satisfied at the same time. Eventually, the CEO wizened up, and had her parents arrested. Upon hearing this, Lauahi went to him herself and begged him to let them go in exchange for her services, however she can pay back. He accepted, giving her a delivery job, and all the money she earned goes straight to stores she stole from.*

Characters

Lauahi Momotarō: Human/Kitsune hybrid. About 19 years old biologically. Although she is friendly, receptive, and somewhat kind, she's rather childish, has low-self esteem (especially when it comes to her intelligence), and is easily frustrated. Self-conscious and not particularly assertive, her low self-esteem and frustration tolerance stems from many things; from her inability to control her eating and emotions, to the fact that she has no idea what she is or what she can actually do besides breathe fire and eat, to her awareness of her place and life and how she's responsible for her parents' financial problems and disappointment. She cares about her parents and knows that she's giving them a terrible name, but tends to get in fights with people and would throw tantrums when she feels deprived. This impulsiveness also gives her the impression of being a dumb savage, despite her average intelligence (in fact, she can be clever when she needs to be, and has nature/world knowledge). This also factors into her insecurity about her intelligence, which is why she tends to go along with others and takes their orders/beliefs/etc without question. Despite this, she strives to be better, even if it doesn't always bring results. She can breathe fire and is unusually athletic, but her body is very dependent on food. After going without food for too long, she starts glowing from yellow to orange to red, getting more aggravated with each stage. Her kitsune essence enables her to create illusions if she concentrates hard on something, but her lack of discipline results in them being temporary, fuzzy clouds. (Unlike normal kitsunes, her potential is limited. As a mortal hybrid, her lifespan is unknown. She can only breathe fire and create illusions. Hence, only 1 tail.)

Leo Momotarō: Red fox. 45 -50 years old. Quick-witted, and assertive, he values self-reliance and self-respect heavily. He's also very confident in himself and his finances. *Leo is much more involved with Lauahi than his wife is. He refuses to sell Lauahi out (to the media) to cure their debt and still has faith in her.* He's not afraid of anybody, not even a hippo-sized welfare recipient or a crazed gunman. He works as the sales manager at one of the CEO's stores. He considers himself to be a local Hawaiian; separate from the mainland, but separate from his Japanese ancestors. Unlike Mary, he's interested in politics and economics.

Mary Momotarō:`I'iwi bird. 43-45 years old. Very lethargic and quiet, Mary used to be gentle and tender. Now she lies on the family couch whenever she can, as she's tired of life. She talks only when it's necessary, and when she does, she drones short, curt, and to-the-point. Despite this, she still loves her husband and sticks around only for him. She's the human resource (labor resource?) manager at the same store Leo works. *Mary used to be interested in history and nature, teaching Lauahi about the island's heritage. She also tried her best to give Lauahi guidance, hoping that her compassion will let Lauahi grow as a person. But as Lauahi showed less progress than she wanted and caused problems for both her and her husband, Mom grew to resent her and hopes for the day that Lauahi either becomes an adult or leaves them alone for good.*

Sasaki? (or some other Nippon name): Kitsune. 220+ years old. She looks more like traditional kitsunes, paws included. She even has all nine tails, but they're all wispy because she's a fucking ghost. Because her race dwindled and the Japanese stopped believing in spirits (many spirits, gods included, are powered by the belief of mortals. How much belief affects them varies.), gradually lost her magic and became a ghost. For the longest time, she wandered the world, looking for a way to restore her body and her powers. Sasaki has so little magic that she can only be visible to one person at a time, and there's only enough people that believe in her existence to keep her alive. Calm and refined, she can be calculating. She puts on a wise sage act to "guide" Lauahi and lead her away from the volcano, with mixed results. While bored with life as an observer, she still fears the gods and prefers a calm existence to a dire one.

Human Night marcher (Chief ghost, alii (ruler) spirit): 230+ years old. Very large and imposing, complete with glowing tattoos (Tats were a very important art form in ancient Hawaii. They can mark religious devotion, bravery in war, status, etc.) Leads an army of night crawlers. As a "true" ghost, if he touches fire, he evaporates and dies. However, Mana's charm turns him into a human before that happens. As a human, he's crazy strong and durable. Usually silent, he can only speak Hawaiian, forgetting what little Japanese and English he learned before he passed on. However, he still remembers the gods and knows what it means if Lauahi reaches the volcano. Unlike Sasaki, however, his motivation is to stay with his army and wait with them to go peacefully.

CEO: Rat (chimpanzee?), middle age, Lex Luthor-like. Open minded, yet pragmatic, his highest priority is the company. He's very cool-headed, almost emotionless, but he's merciful in his own way, and is willing to listen and give people many chances.

B33-SWCWS-WSC aka "Craig" and "Sniper": A weasel/human hybrid (he was created using Finnish, Saami, and Eastern European snipers) secretly created by the CEO to handle his "dirty business" as a sniper. Although arrogant, curt and short-tempered, he appears to be a loyal and obedient subordinate to the CEO. However, he's been genetically engineered to kill, and thus can get incredibly obsessive and blood-thirsty, especially when it comes to people he can't easily snipe. He is pragmatic and an excellent tactician, but has never had to kill anyone with more tools than a secret agent. Also he takes anti-psychotics.