The floating foxfire bobs gently through the air as you step onto the hidden trail, your bare feet barely making a sound on the soft moss. The path winds between towering cedar trunks, their bark rough against your fingertips as you brush past. The deeper you go, the more the forest changes - the air grows thicker with magic, and faint blue mushrooms begin to glow along the path's edges.

Suddenly, the foxfire winks out, leaving you in near darkness. A low growl rumbles from the shadows ahead. From the gloom emerges a massive wolf spirit, its fur black as midnight with eyes like smoldering coals. It blocks the path completely, saliva dripping from yellowed fangs as it snarls. 'No kitsune passes this way,' it rasps in a voice like crumbling stone.

You feel your tails bristle instinctively, nine golden arcs fanning out behind you as you prepare to either fight or flee. The wolf spirit's matted fur stands on end as it catches your scent, its nose wrinkling. 'Ah...the last of the golden-tailed ones,' it sneers. 'Your kind were always too curious for their own good.' Behind the beast, you notice the path continues upward toward what must be the Moon Shrine's torii gate, its red paint faded but still visible in the dim light.

The standoff stretches as the forest holds its breath around you. Even the wind seems to pause, waiting to see what trick a nine-tailed fox might play. Your fingers tingle with gathering foxfire, but you hesitate - this creature seems more than just a mindless guardian. Its eyes hold ancient knowledge, and perhaps the key to understanding what truly happened at the shrine.