The forest was beautifully lush, though not as beautiful or gigantic as those I have seen at home.
I made my way through, careful not to trample upon the smaller plants. I blankly follow the path of moss and grass until I am led into an area of thicker trees, boring fruits. My stomach rumbles softly as I stare at the fruits high above.
I halt my steps. Touching my forehead to a tree trunk nearby, I said, "I hope you forgive me for taking a few pieces of your fruit. I am extremely hungry."
To my surprise, I hear a giggle. Father had told me to always ask even the trees for permission and forgiveness as they too lived. Mother didn't disapprove as she said it wouldn't be bad to accidentally gain the graces of the Nymph-kind. I think Father and Mother were right.
A vine wraps around me my waist and lifts me up to the higher branches of the tree. Partially transparent women had emerged from the trunks of nearby trees to encircle around me.
"Eat", one urged as she picked a fruit from her own tree to give me.
"How cute." Another poked my cheek teasingly.
"Eat mine too~"
"Come now, mine are far sweeter than yours!"
"What, that bitter thing~?"
"Now, now, ladies, let the boy eat quietly."
"Little boy, what's your name?"
"How come your so adorable?"
"How do you make your skin and hair white?"
"Ooh, I had also wanted to try having white hair before, you know!"
"I just said quietly", the woman who had the aura of the oldest said exasperatedly.
I stared at the bunch of different fruits in my arms, feeling sad.
Tukare would have loved this. She must have been starving for a long time like me. But she never hesitated to give me half of her food.
"Aw, don't cry."
"I'm not crying", I answered simply. "Thank you", I added quietly. "But why give me", I trailed off as I swallowed.
""Because we like you ~!""
A chorus of voices left me befuddled.
"Do you really think we wouldn't know what happens in our own territory", asked the oldest Nymph, smiling.
"I swear, those lycans kept cutting down young sampling in our area! It's making me so furious!"
"Those were the sapling I grew from my tree!"
"I don't think they know how hard it is to cultivate a good seed you can be proud of you know?"
"A good tree can expand our area movement and territory. I was so excited about those new sampling, haaa."
"That's right ne~"
"We're back to convincing those stubborn birds into dropping our seeds again at a good place."
"Aya, so troublesome."
"I saw what you did for that young sapling", another girl winked at me. My face remained blank.
"We like you the most, you know"
"That's right, that's right~"
"I'd like to see those lycans tied up and being chopped down like they did to my sapling", one of them laughed maniacally.
"Best to bury them, sister. Maybe they'd sprout a tree with dog food as fruits", another laughs just as maniacally as the previous.
I had almost forgotten that Mother warned about the craziness of Nymphs and that getting on their bad side could be annoying. I swallowed a piece of fruit hardly.
"Ne, ne~ Are you not afraid we'd feed you something that turns you into one of us~?"
I pause mid bite as I see a certain gleam in their eyes, watching me; observing me. I put the fruit down and study it.
"It wouldn't be that bad becoming a tree."
Existing with everything peacefully and uninterrupted. No killing. No bloodshed. Not being forced to do something I don't want. Just basking in the sun at morning, and basking in the moonlight at night.
Hm. Being a tree wouldn't be that bad.
The Nymphs looked delighted at my answer. I took a bite again at the fruit as the Nymphs around me laugh and chatted animatedly. I had promised to carry back water for their trees, from a nearby pond in exchange for the fruit. I should have known that there is no such thing as free lunch.
Unexpectedly, I didn't turn into a tree. I had almost expected to turn into one, given how the Nymphs are. On a more expected outcome, the Nymphs did not want me to return to the camp. A few wolves had been roaming by around a few times but a few Nymphs had masked my scent with their pungent blooming flowers, as the oldest of them twisted the trunk of her tree to create a partially hollow part in it.
"Sleep, child. You are safe here."
"Why", I asked. Why would you be willing to help a stranger?
"You must know, we don't so this sort of thing for just anyone." She smiled kindly.
It's exactly why I ask.
"But then again, we Nymphs are slaves to our impulses and emotions. What we like, we like. What we hate, we hate. It's as simple as that."
The oldest Nymph said as she vanished into the very same tree and twisted the trunk to close the entrance. I stood there in the middle and looked up, seeing mottled sunlight peeking through the leaves at the open top.
I decided not to think any more of it any longer.
I suppose I'm just as strange to be so willing to trust a stranger's word.
I sat down on the ground covered in soft thick moss and leaves. Eventually, my eyes drowsily closed.
Live.
Tukare had wanted me to live. Although I do not know exactly how I can ever move past the pain of losing the only family I had left...
For her, I will try. I will try my hardest to live with the life I owe her.
Decided, I fell deeper into sleep, as if sleeping would help heal every wound in my heart; numb every pain I felt. Shadows around me began to move restlessly. A shadow scene of two people holding hands and playing together, castes over on the inside wall of the tree, unbeknownst to me.
The Nymph came back while I was deeply sleeping and numb to my surroundings. She carried with her a strange looking fruit which she squeezed. The juice fell on my neck and suddenly, markings of a seal around my neck appeared and began to sizzle as they burned away due to the acidity of fruit's juice, though it left my skin unblemished.
"If even in anguish and anger, you show kindness, I do not see why you are undeserving of a good life, child. Thank you for watering my sapling. " She smiles at me, walking slowly backwards to the wall of the tree. "To be honest, I for one am curious to see just how powerful you'll become without that seal stopping the growth of your powers."
And then she vanished completely.