Hmmm....okay what I'm going to do then is re-type out the prologue, as Horo is technically speaking through the whole thing.....just to show it in format. Then I will put it under the original prologue.
EDIT: I decided to forgo the prologue and just do a bit of chapter 1. Here is the text from Chapter 1, from when Horo comes in, to a bit later, so you can get the feel for how it would look.
"Auuoooooooooooooooooo~"
A great fear gripped Lawrence's heart, as if a sudden wind had just come and taken his body away.
The howl was used by a wolf or a dog to call for its companions; a prelude in preparation for an attack on the humans.
It was a real wolf's howl, not the one imitated by Yarei that Lawrence had heard earlier on. He jumped back in shock, and the piece of dried meat in his mouth fell to the ground. Feelings of fear suddenly filled Lawrence after that.
The silhouette of the girl, enveloped by the moonlight, the ears on her head; those animal ears.
"......ooh, what a beauteful moon, do you have any wine?"
The girl concluded her howling, and grinned at him. Her voice made Lawrence come back to his senses. What was in front of him, however, wasn't a wolf or a dog. Rather, it was a beautiful girl who possessed their ears.
"No. Besides, who are you anyway? Why are you sleeping on my cart? Surely you didn't run away because you'd be sold to the city otherwise, did you?"
Lawrence tried his best to put on a harsh expression, yet the girl showed no reaction at all.
"What is this, no wine? That piece of food……oyo, what a waste."
The girl said so lazily, and raised her small nose to smell around. When it looked like she had found the dried meat that Lawrence had bitten on earlier, she picked it up from the goods platform and put it into her mouth. As she bit into the meat, Lawrence saw the two sharp canines that resided in her mouth.
"You couldn't possibly be a possessing demon, could you?"
Lawrence put his hand on the silver dagger that was fastened around his waist as he said so.
Because of the changing value of money, traveling merchants would usually change the money they earned for a valuable object to bring around with them. The silver dagger was the most popular item, as silver was considered a godly metal, and it was said to be able to banish demons and monsters.
The girl was at first taken aback by Lawrence's words, but she burst into peals of laughter shortly after:
"Hahahahaha. Me, a demon?"
Her laughter was so cute and irresistible, and the meat in her mouth was about to fall off. The two sharp canines that showed looked rather charming now. Yet, because of her attractiveness, Lawrence felt like he was being mocked, and thus became rather angry.
"Hey! What's there to laugh at?"
"Of course it is funny. It's the fierst time I have been called a demon."
As the girl continued to laugh, she picked up the dried meat off the ground and once again put it into her mouth. One could be sure that she was not a normal human, as she had those sharp canines and strange ears.
"Who are you?"[[Image:Okami_037.jpg|thumb]]
"Are youe asking me?"
"Well who else is there other than you!"
"That horse."
"......"
Lawrence pulled out the dagger, the girl's smile was wiped off her face instantly, and she squinted her amber eyes, which had a bit of red in them.
"Who the hell are you?"
"What manners, daring to point a daggere at me."
"What did you say?"
"Hm? Oh right, I managed to escape. My apologies, I forgot all about it."
A smile reappeared on the girl's face after she said so. Her innocent and naive smiling face was too cute for words.
Lawrence was not going to be bought over by that smile so easily, but he did feel that pointing a dagger at a girl was not what a man would do, so he kept it away.
"My naime is Horo, and I have not taken this form in quite awhile. Hm, it's still not too bad."
The girl was sizing herself up as she said this. Even though Lawrence did not completely understand what she said, the front portion was sufficient to set him thinking.
"Horo?"
"Mm, Horo. Good naime, no?"
Lawrence was familiar with the many countries he had gone to, and there was only one place he had heard of this name.
And it belonged to the god of harvest, who resided in the village of Pasroe he had just visited.
"What a coincidence, I also know someone called Horo."
This girl was pretty daring, to use a god's name as her own. However, this also indicated that she probably was one of the villagers there. Who knows, her parents might have hid her away at home because of her abnormally sharp canines. With this train of thought, it was not so hard now to imagine now why she ran away from home.
Lawrence had heard of such abnormal births now and then. The people would say that when these children were born, the demons or monsters would possess their bodies. If the church got wind of them, the whole family would very likely be persecuted as satanics, and would be burnt at the stake. Therefore, these children would either spend their entire life at home, or be left to die deep in the mountains. This was the first time Lawrence had seen such a person, and he had even thought they would look like extremely hideous monsters. However, just by looking at the girl's forward appearance, he would not be surprised if she was really a goddess.
"Oh, youe know someone with the same naime as me? Wherever does that person come from?"
Horo, who was continuously chewing at the dried meat all this time, did not look in anyway a liar. However, Lawrence felt that after so many years of being locked up in her home, it would not be impossible if she misled herself into thinking she was a god anyway.
"That's the name of the god of harvest who resides nearby. Are you a god?"
Horo, bathed under the moonlight, showed a perplexed expression when Lawrence had asked that question, and then reverted to her smiling face again.
"Although I have been regarded for many years as one, and have furthermore been bound to this land, I am actually no great goddess. I am just myself. I am Horo."
Lawrence speculated that indeed, the girl had been locked up at home for her entire life, and as such, he could not help but feel a slight bit of pity for her.
"By that long a time, do you mean it was ever since you were born?"
"No."
The girl's answer was rather unexpected.
"My birthplace is in the lands far to the north."
"The north?"
"Mm. It is a world where everything sparkles silvery white, where the summers are shorte and the winters long."
Horo suddenly looked into the distance. She did not look at all like she was lying. It would be too natural an act to believe if she really was just playing out her "reminiscence" of her home to the north.
"Have you been there before?"
The girl questioned Lawrence. Although he felt that he was being somewhat countered, if he continued to go with this conversation, he would be able to tell immediately whether Horo was telling the truth, or just making up stories on the spot. Because Lawrence was most experienced in traveling about far in the north.
"The furthest I've been to is Arohitosutokku, where the cold winds blow all year round."
Upon hearing his words, Horo tilted her head slightly, and proceeded to reply:
"Oh, I have never hearde of it."
Lawrence was surprised at her answer. He had expected her to fake knowledge of the place.
"Then which places have you been to?"
"I have been to Yoitsu, what about it?"
Lawrence mumbled a soft "nothing", concealing his indecisiveness. He had heard about Yoitsu in old tales told in the inns of the north.
"You were born there?"
"Indeed. I do not know what has become of it now; I wonder how everyone is doing?"
Horo's shoulders slumped slightly after she said so, and her manner looked rather hollow. It was definitely not acting at all. However, Lawrence could not bring himself to believe her words.
Because in the tales, the town called Yoitsu had long been destroyed six hundred years ago.
"Can you still recall any other places?"
"Hm......it hass been centuries already......let me think, ah yes! There is another towne called Niyotsuhira. There are these unbelievable hot springs there, and I would go there often to have a nice soak.
Up till today, Niyotsuhira was still the hot springs resort of the north, and the aristocrats from other countries would go there for their holidays.
But there wouldn't be anyone in this area who would know of its existence.
Horo completely ignored Lawrence's train of thought; she spoke as if she was enjoying a warm soak in the warm waters of the hot springs for real. Horo's body suddenly pulled back, and she sneezed lightly.
Just then, Lawrence suddenly remembered the fact that Horo was completely naked.
"Whew......even thoughe I do not really hate this human form, it is simply too cold, there is barely any fur."
Horo giggled as she said so, and dug her way back into the pile of furs.
Looking at Horo's figure, Lawrence's mouth could not help but open. However, there still was one thing on his mind, so he turned to Horo, who was buried underneath the furs, and said:
"You've just been talking about this form and that form, what exactly do you mean?"
Upon hearing Lawrence's question, Horo popped her head out of the pile and replied:
"It is just as I have said. I have not appeared in this form in awhile, looks very cute right?"
I am using Michigan University's online "Olde English Dictionary" to double check and reference words.
What do you think so far? I'm working out some kinks and stuff....but I think at least a word should be done the olde way every once in a while, (maybe not as often as I am doing it), and a note at the beginning to remind people, just so it keeps the feel up.