00. Beithe
The Forest Through the Trees00 Beitheby Assilsasta(¯·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨·~-.,-(Donovan Hunter)-,.-~´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯)Donovan Hunter had been hiking for three weeks without encountering one sign of intelligent life. The young lynx sat on the fallen tree by the simple fire as she boiled the water from the nearby river to kill all the germs and bacteria. While he sat and waited for the water he looked at his GPS as he compared it to his map. He had a plan to climb over the mountains as he worked his way to Denver. If he was right he figured that he should reach the town of Winter Creek in the next few days. From what he had read about the place it was a primarily pagan community. He had read some about the pagan culture and thought it would be interesting to see what they were like. He folded his map and tucked it back into the pocket of the large over stuffed hiking pack before he glanced at his pot of water. It was now boiling and needed would soon be ready to be cooled off and drink. He laid back on the log and stretched out and looked up at the canopy of leaves that shielded him from the direct sun. Even though he knew he was going alone, he did not realize just how lonely it would be. He missed his younger sisters' laughs and giggles as the two ran through the house and played. Three weeks ago he thought that was one of the reasons he was leaving, to get out of the house and get some peace and quiet to think. Now he wished he could hear them again. As he laid there and listened to the sounds of nature his eyelids began to grow heavy and his vision blurred just a little. As he slowly drifted in and out of consciousness the melodic sound of a girl's voice flowed with the wind into his ears. The sound was lulling and magical as it continued its wordless assault on him mind. He listened in the peace he had been searching for, only to jerk awake as he realized there was someone else in the woods with him. He sat up as he tried to figure out which direction the
sound was coming from. The lynx listened as he tried to match the sound to anything he had heard before. This was nothing from nature, not any kind of song bird he could think of. He sat up and poured the boiling water into his canteen and kicked dirt into the small fire smothering the flame, before he retrieved some more water to dose it out for certain. He stirred through the wet dirt and twigs to make sure there were no embers left before he turned to lift his pack and toss it on his back. He smiled as the distant song continued uninterrupted. Donovan turned to where he thought it was coming from and began to walk cautiously to avoid interrupting the melodic tones that drifted through the forest. The early autumn breeze carried the sound to him as his curiosity grew. The lynx froze in his tracks at the sight of the young deer girl knelt by some wild flowers singing. The sound of a stick snapping under his paw caught her attention and she looked over in his direction. Her golden brown eyes met his as time seemed to stand still around him. She had flowers weaved and tangled into her long brown hair. The light brown of her bare chest and spots on her shoulders stood out against the darker brown of her back and arms. The sight was only intensified by the fact that she was completely nude. The eternal instant was broken as she bolted deeper into the woods. Dumbfounded, Donovan watched as she disappeared into the distance, her long fluffy tail wagging behind her. He took a step forward as if a spell was lifted from him as she vanished. The strange sensation was something he had never felt before. She was younger than him by a few years at least, and the sight of her nude was nothing like looking through the porn mags he managed to hide from his parents and sisters for the past few years. He wasn't really aroused by the thought, but she was beautiful, as if she belonged right there in the wild with the feral deer and animals, like she was part of the world, not just living in it like he was. As he regained control of his body he forced himself to follow her. The young lynx did
not want to spook her any more than he already had, he just wanted to see her again, maybe find out her name. 'Stupid, that's just stupid,' he thought to himself as he employed the simple tracking skills he had learned from his uncle when they would go out hunting for the past two years. He learned most of what he knew about wilderness survival from his uncle, and he knew that a spooked animal could be dangerous if cornered. He followed the broken twigs and hoof prints as they wound through the trees. (¯·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨·~-.,-(Sonet Windchaser)-,.-~´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯) The young doe husky hybrid slammed the door to the small earthen shut as she tried to catch her breath. She had never seen whatever that was back there. it looked like a bobcat but was something different. It wore clothing like her grandfather often did when he said he was going to town. 'Was that thing from town?' she thought to herself. in all of her fourteen summers she had never been to town, never really thought about going. 'Town" whatever it was never appealed to her the way her grandfather described it. He spoke of cars and building and 'paved' paths called roads. He told her how they covered the ground and made it hard so the plants could not grow. Any place like that had to be horrible and frightening. But now this thing had come from town to her sanctuary, her place in nature, untouched by the defiled hands of those from town. 'Are there more?' she worried as she slipped the cross bar over the door to hold it closed before she went over to the table and grabbed the last of her dried bread. It had only been four months since her grandfather had passed through the veil, but her supplies were starting to run low. She had an easy enough time gathering most of what she needed in the woods, but winter was fast approaching and she would need to find a way to bet more bread and meat soon. She walked over to the straw bed in the corner of the cottage as she pulled off small chunks of bread to nibble on. 'I need to go to town,' she thought to herself, 'but I don't know where it is or
how things work there.' she thought about what her grandfather told her about bartering with the people in town. Through the year they made trinkets, charms and herb mixed for tea and ritual use. He told her there were people in town that would trade food and supplies for these things that they just collected in the forest. He said that many of the herbs are hard to find and some they even planted and cultivated themselves. She looked over at the shelf covered with jars, each filled with different dried plants. 'Maybe I can barter,' she told herself, 'but I need to do it before the frost sets in.' He grandfather had told her many times about the markings for the path to town, he said one day she may need them and he might not be there to help her. She now regretted not listening more intently back then. Now she had to rack her brain to think about what they were. She squeaked and huddled into the corner of the bed as a knock came at the door. "Hello, Is anyone home?" came a male voice form the other side of the door. She sat quietly, as her heart raced, eyes locked on the door. "I... I didn't mean to scare you like that. I... I just had to see where the singing was coming from," he said," you have a beautiful voice." She heard footsteps as he started to walk away. She suddenly felt moved to take action, there was a reason he was brought to her, and she could not ignore it. Sonet jumped from the bed and bolted to the door. She left is shut as she said, "Wait... Please." She fell silent as she listened for him to stop. Silence filled the air , broken only by the rustle of leaves in the breeze. She held her breath as the footsteps came back to the porch. "Okay," the voice said, "I'll wait." (¯·._.··¸.-~*´¨¯¨·~-.,-(Convocation)-,.-~´¨¯¨`*·~-.¸··._.·´¯) Donovan stood near the round wooden door of the earth mound cottage. the small dwelling blended into the clearing so well that he would have missed it completely if he had approached from any other angle. The sight was straight out of the hobbit. He heard the sound of something being lifted away from the door. She opened it slowly to reveal the golden brown eyes that he had seen before. She smiled softly at the young doe as her face came into view through the crack in the door. "Hi," he said as softly as possible in an attempt to calm her down, "I'm Donovan." She looked at him closely for the first time and she maintained her guard to close the door quickly if he moved too fast. He was five and a half feet tall with light gray fur that faded to white on his belly and snout. Long tufts of black fur flared out form the tips of his pointed ears to match the black spots the dotted what she could see of his arms and the rounded tip of his short tail. She froze as her eyes met the ice blue of his. He was only a little taller than she was but he looked muscular even under the garments. She still thought it strange for him to cover up with the freeze still weeks away. The weather was nice and he blocked out the loving light of the sun. She was snapped back to reality as she spoke again. Softly he asked, "Do you have a name, or am I just supposed to call you beautiful?" Sonet looked at him, stunned by his comment, as she stammered, "So, Sonet. My name is Sonet." "Is anyone else home, Sonet?" he asked inquisitively. "It... It's been four moons since Grandfather passed to the other side," She said softly. She thought about how her grandfather had told her that she couldn't trust anyone from town. The last one to come out his far had hurt her mother in a bad way. As
the through rushed through her mind, she swiftly slammed the door shut again and let the cross bar fall into place. He ran to the door just too late as the bar blocked it shut, 'NO... don't. I'm not going to hurt you." He was unsure of why he said that as if you defend himself from an unspoken accusation. "Look, Sonet, I want to help." he thought about what he had just said. 'Help her with what? She has been living for four months with no help.' He was confused by whatever it was that drew him to her. From the other side of the door came the melodic voice that enchanted him to follow. "How... how can you help?" She asked, "Do you know the way to town?" "The way to town?" he asked, "Which town?" "I... I don't know," She felt foolish and lost, unaware of how the world worked outside their forest, "Gr.. grandfather always went to town. I... I don't ever remember going." He suddenly realized just how sheltered this girl was, and how frightened of him she might be. "Sonet," he said softly, "I can help you get to town to get what you need." He thought for a moment about whether she knew anything about money. "How do you pay for what you need?" he asked as he thumbed through the few bills in his wallet. 'why am I even going to this trouble? I don't even know this girl,' he thought to himself. "Gr.. grandfather had a list of people he barters with. He... he made me memorize it if I ever needed to go to town." She felt foolish and unprepared for this. Her grandfather had always said he would not be around forever, but she never really considered it would have been so soon. "I... I just need help finding the way once. I know
the trail marks, if that helps." He sat his pack down by the cottage door as he pulled out his map and GPS. "The closest town I see on my map is about a two day hike from here. Did your grandfather have a car?" "A what?" she asked the total confusion evident in her voice. "How did he get to town when he went?" "He walked; it would take him a full week sometimes. But he always came back with enough food for the winter." She thought for a moment, "Sometimes just before winter some men helped him bring the supplies back." He slumped against the door as he spoke, "I'll help you bring the stuff back. Or, if you want I can help you find a place in town where they can help you," he said. She couldn't be much older than thirteen or fourteen. She didn't need to be left out here all by herself. They have programs to help kids who've lost their parents." "I didn't lose my grandfather," She said softly, "I know right where he is. I don't want to go to town where they kill and lay waste to the Mother. Grandfather told me of how they poison the air and and make the ground so that plants cannot grow. Why would anyone want to live in such a place? I just need the supplies for the winter then I will come home." He thought about what she had said, she was sheltered farm more than he had originally thought. She only had stories from her grandfather about the outside world. "Sonet," he started out, "If you don't want to
go, I am sure I can sent someone back with the supplies, or bring them back myself." He truly feared what the sudden exposure to the 'civilized world' might do to the young deer. "No, I.. I need to be able to find the way myself. I just want help the first time," she said as he turned to open the door again. The boy seemed to be nice and she did not hear anything odd in his voice. When she looked at him before she could see no ill omen or aura about him. You can trust your eyes, he grandfather had away told her, and you have the gift of discernment. A man's spirit is exposed to you and their soul an open book. She opened the door again and looked at him through the crack his spirit glowed with a turquoise hue. "You... you can come in," she said as she looked him over again, set more at ease with her by the truthful compassionate energies weaved in his aura. The strange soft look in his ice blue eyes sent a shiver down her spine. As he walked cottage he marveled at the place. Dried bundles of herbs hung from the beams, the shelves built into the wall were covered with mason jars filled with strange powders and liquids. His mouth hung open as his eyes rolled over the roll before they came to rest on her still nude body. The young deer hybrid had the fluffy long tail of some other species he was mesmerized the flip at the end of her tail and the lighter brown spots that conceal her hind quarters. He watched her dumbfounded at the fact that she made no move to cover herself from his view. She moved around the cottage and gathered things from dried herbs to jars and trinkets and placed them in a large leather and fur bag. She turned to him and tilted her head at the strange expression on his face. She let the bag drop away from her chest, still in her paw. Her small budding breasts now fully in his view yet her nether still blocked by her paws and the bag, as asked, "Is something wrong?" "Y... You... You're naked," he stammered as she felt his shaft begin to slip from his sheath in his pants. He stared at her young budding body unable to take his eyes off her. She glanced down at her body as she asked, "Am I ugly, should I hide what the mother gave me from her? She already knows us all." she looked back at him as she continued, "Why do you cover yourself? Are you ashamed of your body?" "N... No, it's just..." he trailed of as he tried to think of a way to explain it to her. "You... you'll need to wear clothing to go to town. They will put you in jail if you go looking like that." She tilted her head the other way ash she asked, "Why?" "That... that..." he struggled with how to tell her, "That's just the way it is. Its a rule." "I know it's a rule," she said softly, "Grandfather told me that, which is one reason I never went. I want to know why it's a rule." She turned and sat the bag down as she walked over to a pile of furs and rummaged through them. She turned back to him, fully exposed for a moment as she tossed the hand stitched fur cloak around her body. "Is that better?" He looked at her wrapped in the patchwork fur. he could not get the fact that the cloak was the only thing shielding her sensuality from his view. her pert little breasts still burned into his vision as he looked at her. she struggled to get the words out as she asked, "D.. do y.. you ha.. ave anything else you put one?" She looked at him strangely again as she said, "Grandfather brought me a dress a few years ago, but I don't think it will fit now. I didn't like the way it felt against my
fur... it ... it felt wrong." His mind reeled with the thought of the young deer roaming to forest nude for years. She had just told him she didn't have a stitch of clothing to her name. He turn to look away from her as he tried to speak, "Wh... what do you do in the winter?" the images of porn videos rolled through is mine as the thought of cold stiff nipples dominated his mind. "We have the furs, the old bear passed to the other side a few years ago and this past winter a littler of wolves did not make it to the thaw," she said without hesitation, "We thanked their spirits for their gift of warmth to us and we passed the fruits of their bodies on the the others if it was more than we needed." The young doe seemed to be grounded in everything she said. The soft innocent look in her golden eyes did not change as she spoke of death and spirits. His mind raced as the young girls answers rolled through his head. Her grandfather raised her to live with nature, where his uncle taught him how to survive in nature. They were from two completely different worlds and She needed his help to deal with his. She was innocent and untouched by the world, and he knew that it would chew her up and spit her out. "We should go now," she said as she placed the bag over her shoulder to the point to held the fur cloak open exposing her chest and belly to him. He covered his eyes out of habit seeing the young girl's nude body again. The thought that she did not care if he saw did not register fully in his mind. He felt as if he was doing something wrong every time he saw her soft belly am budding breasts exposed to him. She giggled at him; her soft satin voice drew him out of his mild hiding place as he asked, "What... What are you laughing at?" "You," she said, "If you cover your eyes every time you look at me you're going to run into a tree. Why do you do that? You didn't when you first saw me, or when you first came in." She watched as his yellow glow flickered and weaved with streaks of pink. She giggled again as he fidgeted uncomfortably and looked at the floor. "It's... Its just not right for a boy to see a girl nude," he replied sheepishly. "Here," he continued, "let me carry the back so you can stay covered." She continued to look at him with the curious, unknowing expression as she asked him again, "Why is it wrong? We don't force the ferals to cover themselves, why should we cover ourselves?" Lost for words, Donovan just looked at her for a moment. The thoughts raced through his head as he couldn't find a good reason from his request other than the fact that looking at her aroused him. he had a hard time concentrating on how to say what he was thinking to the girl without sounding like a perverted creep. "I... um... it's just..." he stammered as he tried to think and talk as the young doe stood there unashamed of her body. "I'll... just let me carry that, it's what guys are supposed to do." She tilted her head as she let the bad drop from her shoulder to hand it to him, "You're strange. Is everyone from town like you?" "Well, um..." he thought through his answer as he took the bag from her paw, "No, not everyone. I've never been to the town we are going to , so I don't know what they are like." He stopped again as she started to leave the cottage, "Aren't you going to pack up some food for the trip? You said it was like, two days or something." She looked back at him from the door as she asked, "Why? There is plenty of things to eat on the way. Grandfather never packed any food." She turned and walked out of the cottage, the furs finally concealing her body from his view once again. The lynx breathed a sigh of relief as he exited the cottage himself. Once back on the porch he took the time to strap the bag of goods to his pack and lift it onto his back. She looked over at Sonet as she knelt by a tree and pick a few leafy green sprouts from the ground. "So, I guess you and your Grandpa lived off the land mostly," he said trying to strike up a conversation to get his mind off the fact that there was still nothing but a lay of furs that blocked her from his view. "Grandfather said it's important to live in harmony with the mother. She will provide everything you need as long as you don't take more than you need, and you give back what you have that she needs." She looked up at him with another strange expression on her face as she asked, "Why are you carrying all that?" "Well, I'm hiking across the country and I need to carry enough supplies to get between each town," he said as he thought about the fact that she was right about there being eatable food along the way, "I really don't know that much about what plants I can and shouldn't eat, so I have to carry food with me." The young doe stood and turned toward him, the furs lifting as she did. "Where do you get food if not from the mother? It grows all around you." "Well, um..." he tried to figure out how to explain things to her as he started walking back in the direction of the town, "There are people called farmers, and they grow the food for the people that do other things. And the rest of us go to the store and buy the food so
we don't have to spend the time growing it." She stayed a little behind the lynx as she watched him walk with the heavy load. "So some people gather more than they need so others don't have to? That doesn't sound right." "Some people don't have time to do that, because they are busy with their jobs," he said as he continued to look down the path as he tried to not look at her, "Some people do things for the farmers that they don't have time to do themselves. So it's kind of like when you Grandpa would go down to town and trade stuff for supplies." "Oh," she said as she bounced past him to a tree. She examined it for a moment as she talked, "So what do you do for a ... job?" 'I.. um.. I don't have a job," he said a little ashamed of the fact for the first time. How could he be expected to explain a system that he didn't fully take part in. "I just graduated from school and decided to go soul searching before I go to college." She turned to look at him as she asked, "What is college?" Donovan was caught off guard again by her lack of knowledge he asked, "How old are you?" "My fourteenth summer has just passed," she said as he started down the path again, "That's two heats; my next one should be in a few moons." The lynx choked at the unexpected candor of the young doe, "Um... Sonet," he started to say, "That's not something that people share normally." "But, you asked," she said matter-of-factly. "Um," he had no idea how to say what he wanted to, "You... could have just stopped at you're fourteen." "We should be a little quieter," she said as they continued, "We're disturbing the others. You're too loud and strange." she said in an almost scolding tone, "It's frightening to the little ones." She stopped talking and started to hum the same melodic tune that had drawn him to her before. He walked in his clumsy silence as she listened to her. As the hum rose to singing he heard the birds join in with their own songs. He suddenly marveled at his surroundings as they came to life in a way he had not seen in the three weeks that he had been out in nature. The world seemed suddenly different, almost alien to him as he saw feral deer out the corner of his eye. they walked for what seemed like eternity, stopping only momentarily as she picked random fruits and barriers for them to sneak one and the rare checking and examining of the trees and rocks along the way. It dawned on him that he had not checked his GPS or the map their entire walk as the sky began to darken around them. Sonet stopped for a moment and knelt by a rock. Donovan watched her as she stood back up and looked off the path into the trees. "This should be where the camp is," she said as she started to walk into the forest. "Wait," she blurted out, "How do you know?""The gray moss on the white stone," she replied, "Grandfather said that a camp would be near a white stone with gray moss." "I thought you said you didn't know the way," he nearly shouted after her as she started to follow. She stopped in a small clearing with several large stones, "I don't know the way, I know the trail markings, some of them at least." she sat on one of the stones and added, "I hope I'm following the right ones." Donovan let his pack down to the ground as she pulled out his GPS and map. As he let the handheld device tell him where they were, the young doe walked over curios of the strange tools he had. She knelt by him as she asked, "What is that?" She looked up for the little digital screen, "It's a GPS. It tells us where we are. So I can see where we need to go." he pointed to the numbers on the screen, "These tell me where we are, and I can look it up on this map." as he looked at the map he was surprised at just how close they were to the path he would have taken. "Wow!" he exclaimed, "We're closer than I thought we would be." Sonet sat on the ground by him as she looked at the strange device and asked, "Ho... how does it work?" "It's... um.." he thought again trying to figure out how to explain the technology to the sheltered doe, "There are these things in space call satellites. They sent information down to this and it uses that to triangulate our position on the earth." "Triangulate?" "Yeah, it like uses the known distance from three places," he picked up a stick and started to draw circles in the dirt, "See, if you know how far you are from one place, it gives you an area you have to be in. When you have two locations it means you have to be where they overlap so it gets smaller. If you add a third you have the smallest, almost exact spot you are in." He smiled as she watched intently at his explanation. "Now this thing uses up to fifteen satellites to tell it where we are, and it will get as close as ten feet to our exact location." "How does it make those marks on it change like that?" she asked He smiled at her complete innocence. he never imagined meeting anyone how had never seen something like that. "That's a little harder to explain," he said as he started to put them away, "we need to get a fire started so that we can eat." Sonet gasped as he mentioned starting a fire, "No, we can't. I didn't bring any offerings for the trees." "What?" he asked confused by her again, "I have an axe we can just cut off a few branches and it'll be fine." Sonet stood up with a look of pure horror on her face as she stared at him in disbelief. "You... you would harm a living tree? Why... why would you do such a thing?" she watched as his innocent yellow aura shifted to a mix so swirling red. She saw the sudden fear and confusion well up in his ice blue eyes as she accused him of an horrific act. He stammered as he tried to speak, "I.. I'm sorry... I..." She didn't let up on her verbal assault as her arms flung the cloak away from her body, "These trees have stood here for generations, they have more right to live unharmed, un... molested than you. How dare you come into our forest and hack at our living brothers and sisters for your own gain." He watched as her golden brown eyes burned with anger that did not match the young, beautiful form in front of him, "You fools take form the mother and our brethren without thought, without concern, and with nothing to give in exchange, no balance, no trade. It is no wonder that you have to work to make the fruits of the land come forth to feed yourselves. How would you feel if we came into your two, your home, where you live in peace and tranquility, and balance to take what we want from you? What if I just chop off a few of your limbs to make me comfortable?" She started to walk toward him as she scooted across the ground away from her. "You pillage, and plunder the land, then you ask why things are dying around you. You wonder why I don't want to go to town. You are no better than them, you take what you want without regard to who man need it or how to care for it. The world left in your paws would die and as life withered around you the Mother would certainly come to the aid of her children. Grandfather has told me of the attacks of thee mother and you, and you still refuse to heed her warning. Floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, she wounds and kills you by the hundreds and you continue to turn a blind eye to the damage you cause." "I... I'm sorry, I didn't know, I didn't think..." he struggled as he watched her unleash a torrent of pent up hate at him. He was powerless to do anything to stop her. "You didn't think?" she said the animosity still in her voice, "Your kind never thinks, you only take, hurt, and destroy...." she trailed off as she saw the tears start to form in his eyes. She watched as his aura shifted to a dark muddy blue. She had stuck true fear into the older boy, Confusion washed over him as she started to step
away. "You... you really don't understand, do you?" She sat across the small gap between them, "I... we can't cut the tree, we can gather that which is fallen. And we must give offering in return for what we take. Every branch, leaf, and root, whether fallen or alive feeds into the forest. Those that are fallen are food for those that yet live. When we take from them it is no better than taking food from another person without giving anything in return. We work with and nurture the plants that we harvest from, we feed them and prune only what is needed for their health and our consumption." she paused for a moment before looking at him again, "We don't need a fire tonight," she said, "It is still early and we can keep warm with the furs and ourselves. And we can eat the fruits and berries. I have the offerings for those." "I..." Donovan tried to think of what to say. He was overwhelmed by her display, and her sudden withdrawal. "I have some dried meat I can eat, it... it doesn't need cooked." He slowly sat up again as his eyes started to drift, the young doe had once again displayed her feminine form to him. The cloak all bot tossed off her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were..." he trailed off not knowing the word he was looking for. Together they sat in silence as the light slowly faded from the sky. He leaned against his pack on the ground as he watched her move around the small clearing, sprinkling some dust around as she moved. She softly sang to the air ass he gently picks the few berries she nibbled on, the sound of her voice slowly lulled him to sleep.