The night of the blue spirits
A very long time ago, humans discovered the existence of beings called 'Red Pandas'.
Known for their fur and their cute appearance, Red Pandas were coveted by many, including poachers and wealthy bourgeois who displayed them publicly to show off their riches and power.
As Red Pandas became increasingly rare over the years, certain organizations and prominent families decided to build a temple to serve as a sanctuary and protect them!
But what could possibly have driven humans, originally so greedy and so full of themselves, to work for such a cause?
It all goes back a quarter of a century. As the world's oldest red panda drew its last breath during a purification ritual to help it pass on to a better world, something unusual happened!
Blue flames appeared during the ritual, first taking the form of little will-o'-the-wisps. Their shapes gradually changed into red pandas, as if the spirits of the departed had come to accompany their oldest representative in its final moments...
An unexpected inheritance
A dazzling light burst forth and rose into the star-filled night sky. Like a shooting star, it crossed the heavens, sped around the Earth and finally came to rest in a human home.
That home belonged to the rather noble Kumaneko family, but they were in distress: their only heiress was dying…
Then a sparkling blue flash filled the room where the heiress lay. Once the light faded, a seal-like mark had appeared on her stomach! What could it be?
At first, the humans did not understand. Only after nightfall, when the heiress was miraculously healed, did it all make sense: red panda ears and a tail had appeared as if by magic. It was as though a spirit had taken possession of the child's body, but her family could only be grateful, for it had saved her life.
From then on, the family drastically changed how they treated red pandas. At the heiress's order, they created an entire nature reserve to protect them, as a way of giving thanks for the strange, fortunate event. Without trying to understand her goal, the family obeyed as if hypnotized by a powerful spell.
Back to chaptersThe temple's guardian
This inheritance passed from mother to daughter for centuries, right up to the present day. Over time, the family lost much of its standing as it invested in the nature reserve protected by Temple Kumaneko.
The family's wealth dwindled with each generation, and the nature reserve that was Temple Kumaneko felt the effects. The current matriarch, Keola Kumaneko, decided to change her approach to preserve this haven of peace and protect every red panda living there!
An accident in her youth had left Keola unable to speak, but it had not weakened her. She already bore responsibility for her family and the temple; if anything, it strengthened her resolve to make the place safer and more welcoming for her kind!
Her kind? Oh yes, perhaps I forgot to mention it: as generations of the Kumaneko family inherited the special powers of the red panda spirit that shared their souls, the spirit gained more control. Its memory remained intact, and with each reincarnation into a child of the family, its hold on its host grew stronger.
By 2023, Keola Kumaneko was the personality of the female red panda living within her host. She had taken complete possession of the host's body and achieved a kind of immortality that extended to it: its appearance seemed frozen despite the passage of time.
Back to chaptersA new kind of magic: streaming
Aware of this, Keola drew on centuries of observing humans and their greedy, grasping and contemptible ways. She studied the means available to rally people to her cause and refill Temple Kumaneko's treasury, so she could renew the nature reserve and improve life for the red pandas living there.
With this in mind, Keola had everything she needed bought for streaming on a video-game entertainment platform called 'Twitch'. She learned how to host an entertaining show and combined those skills with her red panda spirit magic. She created magical bubbles that let viewers hear her while displaying her words.
Since then, Keola has surrounded herself with others in the gaming world of streaming. Thanks to their help, her wisdom and her efforts, Temple Kumaneko is gradually coming back to life. Donations from followers who discover the temple through Keola's broadcasts on the Internet are helping to restore and beautify the red pandas' habitat.
