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(This story is technically not a Therion wisdom story. Although it is part of the oral tradition of many Therion groups, its tone and style show it to have a different source. Some Therions believe the original version was told by Kitsunay herself to those who visited her while dreaming.)
Kitsunay is the oldest of foxes, and the only animal who remains from the Age of Animals (for the dragons are no longer counted among the animals). This is her story.
Long, long ago Kitsunay the fox was the most clever and wary of animals. She was more than what you today consider a fox, since this was during the Age of Animals when all animals drank from water made special by the Six Splendid Trees. Those trees were the only plants, and that water was the only water. The animals did not drink or eat anything else.
After Big Blackie poisoned the Six Splendid Trees, Kitsunay saw the water had changed. She did not drink, but watched. All the other animals drank: some right away and some not for many days, but none were as wary as Kitsunay. Oh, her thirst was great! But she was also resolute, for she saw that the ruined water was bad for the animals and made them evil and violent.
Then the good dragons, who had not allied with Big Blackie, returned. Their leaders had tried to keep them far away, so they would not be punished as accomplices of Big Blackie. But the dragons were thirsty, so they ran past their leaders and towards the river.
Kitsunay warned the good dragons not to drink. "Look at what the water does!" she urged. The leaders of the good dragons listened, but they were having trouble restraining their less intelligent companions who did not understand the danger. So Kitsunay waved her tails and created illusions to help keep the good dragons safely distant from the river.
This was hard work for her, and for the leaders of the good dragons. Yet they endured for hours and for days. But then some of the evil animals noticed them and began to interfere. Kitsunay cried out to the Creator for aid, and the Creator appeared. He dealt with the good dragons and pronounced doom upon the evil animals. Then he sat down beside Kitsunay on the top of a lonely mountain.
She looked up at him, but he said nothing. They sat together, quietly, until the sun set and the stars appeared.
"I am so thirsty, and the night grows cold," she said.
"You wait so long before asking for help," the Creator replied. "Are you wary even of me?"
"There are no other uncorrupted animals," Kitsunay said. "I will be lonely. I will have no mate. I will miss everyone so much."
The Creator put a bowl of something warm and dark and delicious in front of her. He held another in his own hands. "Drink," he advised. "Tell me stories about all the animals. Tell me everything you remember about them." Kitsunay drank, and was much refreshed.
In the darkness Kitsunay could not see it, but as she told her stories the plants grew and the evil animals changed. As she talked about each animal the Creator gently moved its spirit into a plant and put a new spirit into its body. The new animal's habits and personality mirrored what Kitsunay recounted: bears were so very brave and loved their families dearly; mice were timid yet always getting into silly trouble, and so on. Thus the animals today do not act as their ancestors did, for not only were there ancestors made intelligent by the Six Splendid Trees but their new natures are based upon Kitsunay's memories and stories instead of actual history.
Kitsunay finished her last story as the sun rose. She noticed her bowl was still full, although she had drank often while speaking. Looking down from the mountain's peak she saw the new plants and animals, and that the river was again clean. She also saw small creatures toddling up the mountain toward where she sat, making funny noises and falling often even though they were clearly meant to walk on two legs.
"What are those?" she asked the Creator.
The Creator asked her, "Do you recall how from among the good dragons I appointed three to be the leaders of the new singing races?"
"So these things are the singers?" Kitsunay said. "They do not sing very well yet. Mostly they go whoa-o-oa-o or yay-a-ay-a without much melody."
"They will learn to sing better," said the Creator. "You will love them, not lead them. You need not be lonely, if you can learn when you need not be wary."