>How much do we know about feral youkai in general? For that matter, what were we like in our early days after we transformed?
>It depends a great deal on the kind of youkai, and of course there are individual differences in temperament even among youkai of the same type. Animal youkai tend to inherit traits and temperaments similar to the animal they once were, although this is not universal, and years of life as a youkai may change this further. But a youkai that had recently awakened from a territorial and predatory animal might still respond savagely to perceived incursions. Not all wild youkai awakened from animals, of course, but for the many youkai that defy blanket categorization, there's no easy way to predict their temperament in advance. Perhaps if you had a better idea what you were dealing with...
>Many youkai born in the wild, be they animal or otherwise, do eventually choose to integrate themselves into society in some fashion. A complex mind is rarely content living the same existence as an animal forever. Yet, some remain aloof, either choosing consciously to live among the wilds, or simply not ascending far beyond their instincts. Attacks from wild youkai are rare in most places, but not unheard of. These can range from simply driving others from their territory to actual attempts to prey upon humans as youkai did in ancient times, although the latter is very rare indeed.
>The earliest days of your own existence as a youkai are hazy now, from a time before your mind had grown comfortable with its new complexity. When you awakened, you gradually found yourself aware of language, and of complex thoughts that would have been impossible for you earlier, although you lacked knowledge. In many ways, you were only a few steps removed from the instincts that had ruled your life as a simple mouse. But it was with new eyes that you viewed the world now and you found yourself noticing and pondering things about it which would have been irrelevant to you before. And then you met Ichirin, who showed you more things than you'd ever realized you hadn't known. In many ways, when you look back on your earliest days as a youkai, they feel as though they belonged to a different person altogether.
