They went around their silly flicker lives without a care for the natural world.
The Balance of things was there, maintained by the spirits, while humans built their great metal behemoths, shot themselves into deep space with rockets, and blew each other away with laser beams.
But the world was self-sustaining beyond their auspices. Always there but just out of sight, spirits and gods of nature swayed too and fro, performing their seemingly incomprehensible but deceptively simple tasks.
For the kami, life was generally straightforward. Gather faith, use faith to perform function, be it a plant kami causing flowers to bloom or a wind spirit causing a cooling breeze on a hot summer day. Perhaps sometimes, it was challenging now that humanity had spread it's presence, and indeed, that of the spirits, across multiple worlds.
Indeed, humanity had grown ignorant of the natural and proper way of things. Lost it's belief, outgrown superstitions it should have been paying close attention to, so it came down to others to gather the faith the gods needed...
Fortunately there were Foxes!
In orbit over New Berlin, moored with the Eponymous Ring, an out-of-place looking Shinto shrine, built into a small former luxury yacht sat in stark contrast to the utilitarian and industrial haphazardry surrounding it. Indeed, a series of conspiracies had brought it to this place, but that was something the inhabitants took with a grain of salt.
The shrine was as humble as it was ornate. It's decorations an example of placid simplicity and tranquility, a series of corridors, a small bamboo garden, a few trinkets here and there, and a number of hidden compartments hiding various odds and ends. What made this all different, however (aside from a Kusari shrine being in Rheinland in the first place) was the nature of it's residents...
To the casual observer, the one lacking superstition or knowledge of the old Kusari legends, it would seem like a normal staff of Shrinemaidens and Priestesses, young girls who took time out of their days to clean the shrine, perform rituals, and extort donations from visitors. But the odd number of foxes roaming the shrine told a different tale...
See, this is the Shrine of Inari Okami. An ancient shrine dating back thousands of years, formerly being located on old Earth, but having been packed up and carted off to Sirius when the time came. The waning belief of humans meant that Inari's true servants, the Kitsune, were forced to step in. Fortunately, Humans were silly and didn't know the differance~
---
In a small geodesic sphere aft of the Shrine's main tower, sat a small zen garden. A place of meditation, with a few terrestrial plants growing around a central open area. A place of stargazing and communion for the more open-minded of the fox-priestesses. Within the center, sat a young girl, or what looked like one atleast... She sat, wearing the traditional uniform of a Miko, with the only obvious signs of her unusual nature being the fox-like ears jutting from atop her blonde head, and the nine large, fluffy, fox-like tails she was balancing on while meditating.
Fox-Priestess cast upon the Stars
~Satomi-no-Kitsune~
Deep in a trance-like meditation, Satomi was quite clairvoyant. Aware of the world around her, yet connecting to spirit realms beyond. Most humans took such things as heaven, hell, reincarnation, gods, and things figuratively. Silly them~
Within Satomi's mind, stars were born and died, flowers and seasons passed with the wink of an eye, the entire history of mankind was there and accessible to the 800 year old fox-priestess, however this was not particularly relevant. Satomi's mind floated off to the realms of someone important to her and to the others, her body floating above the clouds of a distant world.
The gravity here was noticeable but not important, as Satomi could easily float around this place, which was neither a dream world nor truly tangible, but for perception's sake, it was there. She floated ahead, toward a large palace, traditionally designed in what Sirian denizens would recognize as Ancient Kusarian Architecture. She passed the stone lanterns, burning with strange green flames, and through the Torii sitting at the gate of the palace, and finally into the gate.
The girl stepped lightly, pausing to bow at the small offertory boxes and insert a few coins (which only really existed in her mind, but the symbolism and faith were more important). She walked forward, to a lone figure which stood before her, bowing gracefully in deep reverence to the one who stood before her, she then stood up, with a dignified posture (in contrast to her normal behavior).
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your summoning me, Inari~sama?"
---
The Goddess and the Fox-priestess sat, enjoying the tea-cerimony in the celestial house. Inari Okami, the very fox goddess worshiped and served by the Inari Shrine, indeed looked very human, atleast at the moment. True, Kami such as Inari could take any form they pleased, but typically assumed a humanoid form when dealing in matters with mortals, or in this case, Kitsunes.
"I have calculated the amount of faith Received by the Inari Shrine in Sirius. Most Excellent~. The faith will due us well in these times." Inari spoke, her voice was soft, but not definitively male or female sounding.
"Ah, gomen. We have worked long and hard, sadly the only god sirius knows is money. But... I believe that the economic strength is as much faith as any~" Satomi replied, sipping her tea slightly. "But... I sense that wasn't the reason you wanted me here..."
Inari's expression changed, from one of warmth and happiness to one of concern. "It is about the reason we sent you to Sirius. You know what we were anticipating, correct?"
Satomi's ears flicked, her expression changed to one of worry. "You mean... the Emperor right? This has to do with keeping the proper order going in his absence?"
"Not him. There is another Pariah. Something has begun blocking our sight and we cannot see past the boundary. But it is a familiar darkness with which we deal."
"I don't quite understand?" Satomi mused, quietly thinking to herself. As long as it dosen't involve Ame-chan.
"Unfortunately, it may involve Ame-chan." Inari replied, able to read the Kitsune's thoughts clearly.
Satomi's composure fell apart quite abruptly as she fell on her behind reeling. "EHHH!? Please, please, PLEASE tell me she isn't coming back!"
"We cannot be sure. She was sealed within the YoukaiRealm. And we have started to see Youkai not of our employ in Sirius. Boundaries being manipulated. There are only a few beings powerful enough to do this.
I will be frank. We need you to return to Kusari as fast as possible and gather information, as there is a veil through which we cannot see."
Satomi managed to recompose herself, considering what, beyond the gods' direct involvement, could open such barriers. "I shall do so, of course. But I wanna know what we'll be up against. We can handle the Humans and any Youkai but... anything powerful enough to go from the Yokai realm to Sirius..."
"I understand your concern. We shall protect the Shrine. And considering the magnitude of the potential threat, we will intervene if needs be. We can't rely on the Humans to solve this one."
It started to strike home, as there were only a few things that could cause the Gods to mobilize directly against a given threats.
"I shall prepare the shrine immediately! We will do our best. Anything for you, Inari~sama."
Inari smiled, it was a warm and reassuring smile. Knowing well the danger involved, and secretly knowing the stakes were much, much higher then she let on. As Satomi bowed on reverence once more and stepped out of the tea house, she returned to her duties as the Fox-Goddess.
If either of them, Mikaboshi or Elohim are involved... this is the beginning of the end.
---
Back in Sirius
Satomi awoke from her meditation as she usually did... falling off of her tails and faceplanting into the floor. There was almost a kitsune-shaped dent there from the frequency of such a thing. It took her a moment to recognize what had happened, like awakening from a dream almost.
She quickly got up and ran to the Inari Shrine Central Command Center™ (actually just the ship's cockpit), put on her captian's hat, and spoke to the two girls diligently manning (READ: sleeping at) the helm.
"Inari Sama has spoken! We must make ready to depart! We need to sneak back into Kusari. It's an Important mission! ~kon"
The half-dressed fox girls lounging about the command center groaned in displeasure at the sight and sound of Satomi's babbling.
"Ugh... not nooow, it's still the middle of the day" spoke the girl named Kimiko, noting how foxes were nocturnal.
"Super Important Inari Mission! Kon~ Get up now!" Satomi demanded, waving her Gohei around threateningly.
Reluctantly, the girls started to wake up. "Fine, but I'm getting coffee first." Kimiko stated.
Satomi, however, had already swiftly left the room and was happily running through the shrine waking up the staff and forcing them to battle stations.
The lack of visitors to the Shrine in Rheinland meant that most of the staff could take a number of liberties in daily life, and, being foxes, were generally happy to simply sleep wherever they wanted and mostly laze around. Then, along comes Satomi, yelling and flailing her Gohei around ordering them to get dressed and prepare the shrine for launch.
How bothersome.
Eventually, Satomi decided to simply us the intercom, arriving at one of the terminals and speaking into it.
"Ahem. Attention all Inari Shrine staff! This is Satomi speaking! We have a new mission direct from Inari Herself. We must load up on supplies and weapons and prepare to return to Kusari. There is a mysterious boundary being manipulated and Inari~sama wants us to find out why. Get your disguises ready and put some damned clothes on!"
Satomi's popularity with the shrine staff dropped several points that day.