Hojijiran, Of Embracing Emptiness

Summary

In a world without a sun or stars, darkness is a way of life, full of wonders all on its own. Yet, even it has its own nightmares and fears, none more so than the vast emptiness living within the Underworld. A wrong turn here, a sudden disappearance there, one who was with another now suddenly not; such happenings come swift and without warning. Endless turns, twists, pitfalls, and ever more predators, quieter than a whisper when they steal their prey away. A life once warmed by purpose and kindred, now empty and terrified of what may be there.   Such fear had a name: Hojijiran.   The zoaen‌ spoke of it first, recounting tales of a shifting, living darkness that desired their faces. It would kidnap them, taking each face with a wondrous awe and gleeful ecstasy. But, no matter how many it took, no face ever suited it for long. Hojijiran would come again, stalking the lonesome souls who dared leave the safety of their homes. Woe be to those who left without a friend or lantern, for they might never return again.   Other tales paint it differently, a visceral force rushing through caverns and tunnels with ravenous abandon. Howling with delight at finding prey, Hojijiran rampaged after people, one hand after another, a thousand armed body launching across stony floors and ceilings. Grabbing any part of a person it could, it dragged whatever them found into itself, enveloping them in its endless embrace. The few to escape can only sputter in terror, foretelling of a void colder than the coldest stones, empty yet full of desire.   It neither bled nor wept, hurt nor joyed, yet lived all the same. No warrior could defeat it, and no weapon could harm it, and so it came to be its power swelled all the more. Did it feed upon fear itself? Or did it need their flesh and blood? None could agree on why it did what it did, but all knew it had a reason for doing so.   Some spoke of Hojijiran as a broken child, a misbegotten pregnancy not kind enough to kill. Why else did it have such simple desires, unmarred by anything else? A few foretold of a lonesome wanderer, delving into the deepest, emptiest of places, only to be overtaken by the unrelenting truth of such a place. Driven with a need to find themself again, they came back, but nothing they found filled them again. Perhaps that is why it wears the faces it does?   No longer flesh, those it took could be found in its ever-shifting stony visage; the only discernible part of a body otherwise made of nothingness. One eye; two; four; sixteen: it mattered not, for there wasn't anything at all to see in them. All the same something stared back out, a powerful will without words to speak, but everyone understood what it wanted. Why, then, were there those who went to it willingly? An unspoken deal made? A misplaced kindness that foretold only doom and despair? They all became fools, for no one but Hojijiran knows what it desires.   So all who see it fear, and tread lightly beyond the boundaries of their home.   It can lurk in any unseen corner and unfelt air, eternally patient.   Always looking.