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I awoke, peering through the many eyes of the forest dwellers. An intruder had appeared, a small intruder, but potentially still dangerous. The species it came from was capable of both great harm, and great good. There was no telling what this one would do.

Watching through a sleepy owl, I chuckled making the owl hoot softly. Apparently, what this intruder would do, was stumble around making enough noise to raise all the hunters in the forest. Gently, I extended my consciousness, warning them away, sending them easier prey so they left the intruder alone. No one wanted the retaliation that would come if this was a loved child, and it was found dead.

The night shifted to day, and still, the child stumbled. Still, it tried to find food, reaching for poisonous berries on more than one occasion. Watching through the eyes of a chipmunk, I pushed the berries out of the intruder's reach; convinced the plants to pull their branches out of the way. This child was worse than useless.

As day turned to night once again, I watched the child push its way deeper and deeper into the forest. It had long passed the point where it would be easily found by any searchers. And with an almost uncanny trajectory, it was headed straight towards my residence, towards the heart. After once again warning the predators away, I withdrew my consciousness from the animals and coalesced into a non-threatening physical form.

I would have to deal with the intruder personally. At least teach it how to survive inside the forest, so I didn't have to keep intervening. And I had just been planning to go down for a hundred-year nap. This would not be fun.

— — — — — — —

"What are you doing? It's a baby bird that fell out of the nest. Leave it to the first predator that comes along." I huffed at my charge. The child had grown larger, though it was still short of a full-grown adult. But it was old enough to communicate properly and was learning survival quite well. I could probably leave it alone now, but... it was nice having someone to talk to. Someone who could understand concepts and ideas that the animals of the forest could not.

"But I want to help it." The child said, hands gently lifting the peeping bundle of fluff. "It needs help."

"Yes, but the natural order of things means you are taking food away from a predator by saving its prey. Upsetting the balance of the forest. That sort of thing." I said.

"You saved me." The child frowned up at me, cradling the baby bird. "Shouldn't I have been a predator's meal?"

I sighed, turning away.

"Come on then, we'll have to go look for things to feed it while you raise it. And I will not be helping you, you will do it all on your own." The child scampered after me, moving with quiet speed, the first thing I'd trained it in; how to move through the forest without calling the wrong attention to yourself. I didn't answer the question and knew the child wouldn't ask again, it knew better than to pester me. But the question wormed its way deep into my heart, waiting for the day it would need an answer.

— — — — — — —

"Come quick, come quick!" The child— though now full-grown, I couldn't bring myself to call it anything else— ran into our sanctum at the heart of the forest. A raven sat on its shoulder, the adult version of the chick it had rescued. I raised my head, frowning at the child.

"What is it?"

"I've been to the edge of the forest and there are men there."

"I know, I felt them step into the trees—"

"They have fire!" The three words dropped from the child's lips and into my ears like stones. Fire. Rising, I moved towards the child, growing as I did so, until I doubled its size. With wide eyes, it stared up at me, as I growled.

"Stay here. You will be safe. I will be back."

I ran through the forest, the trees bending and shifting around my passage, the animals and birds fleeing towards the heart, away from the edges, away from the danger. The noise of their passage was the only sound that reached my ears until I drew closer to the forest's boundary. Fire crackled up the trees, small dark figures moving behind the flames.

"YOU DARE SET FIRE TO THE FOREST!" I shouted, my voice the sound of trees cracking in the winter, the rush of rivers, the loud screams of agonized prey and the triumphant screech of a hunter. The men ran, racing away from the forest, retreating. In two strides I left the forest, reaching towards the figures, all anger and vengeance, determined to destroy.

Arms outstretched, a smaller figure dashed in front of me, a raven swooping in, and landing on its shoulder.

"Stop!" The child shouted, glaring up at me.

"They destroy the forest!" I yelled back, though tempering the volume. "They deserve to die!"

"They will kill you." Motioning behind, the child pointed at the massed ranks of men just cresting over the hill. "Your power is tied to the forest, is it not? Out here..."

I looked at the army arrayed against me, then at the child in front of me. Anger still distorted my features, still powered my desire to kill the attackers.

"Why did you stop me? They are your kind." I lashed out, knowing the words would hurt the child, knowing it might let me pass if I hurt it enough.

"Why did you save me? I am not your kind." It stared up at me, water forming on its face. Human tears. "Why did you keep me safe, why did you train me, why do any of it?" Looking down at the child, memories of our time together flooded over me, taking me back to that first helpless moment I saw it stumbling through the forest.

"Love." It was a word the child had taught me, even though I had felt it before I knew what it was. "Because of love."

"And I stop you because of the same. Because of love." The child paused, as if summoning up courage. "Because I love you... Mother." I staggered back, the weight of that word slamming into my chest. Mother? I was a god, a force of nature, I had no children, except— Staring down at the small tear-stained face, I held out my hand, shrinking down to a more regular size.

"Daughter. Let's go home."

The child slipped her hand into mine and we turned away from the human army, back to the forest, where the fire had begun to die. She had been right, it had been a trap, destruction to draw me out. I smiled as we walked through the trees. The forest would heal, and we would remain inside. Alive, and together. Mother and daughter.

— — — — — — —

Visit r/Mel_Rose_Writes for more stories!

Sjorgün leaned down next to the deer carcass, a knife in his hand. He uttered a quick prayer for the animal, not to any god-really, praying to a god while he himself was one felt quite silly-but to the universe itself, the infinite and indifferent void that would outlast all of them, even the gods, for the animal's safe travels to the after life, before then beginning the grisly business of skinning the animal.

It only took him a few minutes, barely 3 or 2. Even the largest and meanest bear he could find in these woods only took him 5 or so minutes to skin and process. He gingerly rolled the pelt to clean for later, before then taking out another knife to begin butchering the animal for further use. Before he could, however, his attention was snatched away by the sound of something being knocked over.

Sjorgün turned, knife in hand, displeased at the fact something had actually managed to sneak up on him-but was met with the sight of something small and pink and pathetic looking at the now spilled contents of one of the salt barrels he'd brought with him. The god sheathed his knife at grumbled at the spilled salt, before then walking over to the barrel.

The small, pink creature looked up to him-a human, he realized. The god almost shriveled his nose in disgust. He did not like humans. They had a habit of trampling over his lands, slaughtering it's inhabitants and then complaining when they found nothing of the land to sustain themselves. His sister, gentler Frøya, was obsessed with them-but he absolutely could not stand them.

The child gaped at him, the vague approximation for what passed as a smile for its people. He grunted and picked up the now empty barrel, before then moving to the deer and beginning the process of butchering it.

~

It was some time before Sjorgün was out hunting again. Meetings with the council, his insufferable brothers and sisters, took some time and almost always yielded nothing productive, but as lord of the wilds he was of course obligated to attend. He travelled now with his lieutenant, the wolf god Glornir as they set out after a boar.

Glornir bent down and sniffed the ground, before then turning back to his master, frowning. "Boar's that way, I'm sure, but there's.. something else. I'm not sure what it is."

Sjorgün raised an eyebrow. It was rare that Glornir didn't recognize a scent. He walked over to his lieutenant and kneeled down on the ground, finding plenty of evidence of boar activity, rustled leaves and twigs, but nothing else.. strange.

"Well, let's find out then." He said, shrugging his bow from his shoulder. Glornir nodded and padded after his master, slow and steady now as they crept closer to their prey. An ear piercing shriek sounded above them, and they abruptly stopped. The gutteral sound of boar, mixed with something else...a cry.

A human child's cry.

Shit.

The god broke into a run and Glornir followed him-though mumbling something about complete disregard for stealth or other, Sjorgün didn't really hear-and then they burst out of the woods, to be greeted with an absolutely huge boar towering offer a sniffling, cowering child.

"PROTECT THE CHILD!" Sjorgün bellowed, and though Glornir grumbled he followed suit, oath sword to his master, putting himself between the huge boar and the child, who only wailed louder at the wolf god's approach, growling at the boar, daring it to come closer. The boar was about to oblige him, before an arrow whistled through the air and lodged itself into the beast's shoulder. With a shriek of pain it turned toward's it's assailant, murder in it's eyes.

Sjorgün set his jaw and unsheathed his hunting knife. The boar bellowed and charged, and with his superhuman reflexes the god side stepped and sliced through the boar's throat. Arterial blood gushed as the huge beast collapsed, it's breath growing labored and shallow before finally giving out.

Glornir walked over to the god, ignoring the wails of the child behind him. "Reckless.." he stated, more a growl than a coherent word.

Sjorgün rolled his eyes. "It's also the biggest boar we caught this month."

"With the biggest tusks, and hooves, and desire to trample and gore you!"

"Relax, old man. It's not like its anything I can't walk off." He turned away-deciding that the conversation was over-and unsheathing his knife to skin the animal-but his eyes landed on the child, looking up at him with fear and wonder in his eyes in equal measure.

The god grit his teeth and tried to ignore it, but that irksome, foolish urge to protect grew in him, like a troublesome weed. He sighed and sheathed his knife, walking over to the child, who backed away from him fearfully. Something about those eyes, fearful and wondrous, seemed so familiar..then it hit him.

The same child of before.

He sighed and leaned down to pick up the child, who only wailed louder. He did his best to ignore it.

"What are you doing..." Glornir demanded as he walked over.

"Taking it back to the cave. It'll die If we leave it out here."

"And that's none of our concern!" Glornir growled again. "If we took every single baby animal that was about to get eaten or trampled back, we'd damn near take every baby animal in the forest!"

Sjorgün didn't have an answer to that. Instead, he looked the wolf god dead in the eye, and said. "My decision on this is final. You are welcome to help me or not, wolf god."

Glornir visibly deflated, knowing now the conversation was over. Glornir had much leeway with the younger god-as he'd practically raised him-but it was impossible to changed Sjorgün's mind once he was set on something. Sjorgün's face blackened with guilt at his reaction. "Look, Glornir, I'm sorry, just...you know how you found me and my sister, back when we were babies?? Out in the woods? If you'd left us then-"

"You would've died." Glornir finished. "I very nearly did, you know." He said, chuckling, before then shaking his head. "You were always a stubborn child, you know that? But fine, if you wish to do..whatever it is you want, with the child, I shall help you."

Sjorgün beamed and nodded at the wolf. "Race to the cave?"

"What, with that wailing thing on your back? Do you want to attract every predator from here to Iskidian?"

Sjorgün looked like someone had slapped him in the face. "Well, no.."

"I thought so. The predator does not run. Now let's go before that things blows our eardrums off." He said, gesturing to the baby, and they walked back to the cave.

~

And so they ran the forest, Sjorgün, god of the hunt, and his lieutenant, the wolf god, and along their side, the first of the human hunters. Not just one who exploited the woods like her peers, but one who took only what she needed. The first of the human hunters, who would go on to teach her peers the way of the woods.

And they called her Artemis.

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Nothing that seemed natural was natural as far as the carriage passing through the woods was concerned. The carriage did not have any windows, nor did it have a coachman, and the horses that drove the carriage were as black as obsidian. There was something unnatural about it. The carriage stopped near the stream, and out of it came four priest-like men, in black mantles, who held a mask so that they could not be seen. They were looking for something. Or someone. Later I asked the trees what they were saying. Of course I could talk to the trees, because I was the god of the forest. I prepared a spell, and decided to drive them out of the forest with such gusts of wind that their carriage almost overturned.

Later, in a mare by the lake I found a boy. he had blonde hair and was wearing nothing but some kind of cloth wrapped around him like a diaper. The boy was all terrified, and the chains were still hanging on his hands. When he saw me, the boy got scared, but I soon convinced him that I meant no harm. When I would walk the earth's paths, I had green boots and a green tunic, and a long strong brown beard.

• What's your name, boy?
• Growel, sir. Please don't hurt me.-

I laughed and decided to take Growel home, in a cabin near the lake. It wasnt much but it was comfy. I cooked some stew, and gave him to eat. While Growel was eating the food, I took the flute and played some soothing forest tones. From his stories I discovered that the hooded men were a sect of necromancers who kidnapped him from his family and decided to sacrifice him for their god of death. The god of death and I did not get along well.

Years passed, and I decided to take Growel under my wing. I taught him how to hunt, and I taught him to gather berries. I taught him how to communicate with animals and how to navigate the waters on a boat. In the end, he befriended the bear Lengan, with whom he would often explore the forest.

People would often pass by on the road, but I advised the boy that it was best to hide from them. People are greedy and easily corruptible bunch. I didn't like them, because their loggers would often destroy my forest.

But one day, people were passing by, according to their clothes, it seems to me that they are of a high class. I asked the wind what they were talking about, and the wind answered that they were looking for their son. The way they described him, it appears to have been Growel.

With a sad face I had to tell Growel what I saw. Through all these years I became like a father to a boy and it was sad to part with him. Growel didn't want to go to his parents, he persuaded me to stay, but in the end I barely got him to send him away.

But Growel has become more cunning over the years than I thought. He was lying under a tree by the side of the road so that his parents could find him more easily. When his father saw him, he ran to him. But in a moment he stepped on an invisible trap that wrapped around his leg, and he started to hang from the tree. The rest of his family, his mother and guards ran to help but were stopped by the bear Lengan.

• Son, it's me, don't you recognize me? Your father-

• I recognized you, father. But I can't let you go. - The mother answered: - Son, what are you saying, the years in the wilderness have clouded your mind - But at those words, the bear stood up on its hind legs and the mother and the other guards retreated.

• Father, I wish you wouldn't appear here anymore. Why? Well, because I know, the priests didn't kidnap me. You sold me to them. - Father, red in the face from being lifted upside down: - No, son, that's not true. Where did you get that from?

• From where? Well, I overheard your conversation. While you thought I was sleeping I was hiding in the kitchen and I saw the priests giving you gold coins. I heard my mother say you can take me -

The mother answered: - Son, you have to understand. We were heavily in debt. Our family business would go bankrupt. We had to do something in honor of our family. But now we regret it, and we want you to come with us -

• Do you regret it? Well, good. I repent with you. - Growel took a knife and cut the trap that held his father in the air. There was a thump soud when it fells to the ground. - Now get out of this forest so I never see you again. You are not my parents.
• But, son - the bear growled and the father and mother together with the guards fled into the carriage and headed towards the city.

From that day on, Growel gained the reputation of a ranger in these forests. His adventures with Lengan the bear will make him a forest legend. But that's for another story.

“Please…”, a ragged voice pleaded out to a God she hoped existed, “whoever may be listening, protect our child…”

An elven woman named Fillius used the last of her strength to embrace her young child. The blood from her wound was beginning to slow as the last of her life force drained like the sands of an hourglass. Fillius struggled to keep her eyes open; the time between each blink became longer until they finally stopped opening at all.

The half-elf half-human child she held her in arms, Scraton, did not make a sound. Too young perhaps to completely understand why his parents were murdered by the clan his mother once belonged to, but certainly not too young to understand the concept of death of a loved one. The slightest pang of curiosity sparked in my chest, but I smothered the feeling.

Scraton stood up in that awkward way that young mortals do before they gain any sort of dexterity or awareness of their limbs. He stared down at his mother. No tears. Not so much as a sniffle. He looked back towards the way they had come from. The silence, one of the few friends I had, loomed over us.

Scraton turned my way.

There was spirit behind those eyes.

Can this child see me?

I looked at him, but he looked at where my chest would be if he could see me.

The child turned his head away from me and walked. There did not seem to be any reason to this decision, this direction, but on Scraton trod.

With more glide then walk, I stepped over to Fillius.

“Was she one of yours?”, a figure adorned with jewels that did not sparkle or shine appeared beside me: Death. Light bent inward as if their very presence made it fall into them.

“Her and her betrothed were followers of mine, yes.”

With their fingers, Death tore open a hole through the empty space in front of us and pulled out a small leather bound book. Flicking through more pages than the book visibly would have had room for, they stopped.

“They were murdered by-”

“Hunted”, I attempted to correct with coldness in my voice.

“They were murdered. Just because they’re yours doesn’t mean they’re yours”

I glowered back at Death not saying a word. I received a sigh in response that seemed more theatrical than anything.

“Yes, well, I’ll tell you what. Since we’re just such great pals”, they pulled out a jet black stick the same way they pulled out the book and began to scratch something down, “I’ll take their souls and you can figure out what to do with their physical forms. Sound fair?”

I relented with a nod.

“Right. Now if you’ll allow me, I’ve no more time to waste. Mortals keep me rather busy”, the merry tone they had spoken that last sentence with was unsettling.

With a twirl of their fingers, a string of liquid silver and stars rose up from Fillius’ mouth and affixed itself as a pearl along a string that Death kept at their waist. Without any further words, Death removed themselves from the situation.

I felt the trees looming over me, waiting with bated breath about what I’d do next. With a flourish of my hands, I sculpted the land around Fillius, allowing her frame to be swallowed by the Earth and protected by roots. I sprang flowers where her blood had flowed freely unto my domain. Periwinkle - a favorite of her and her betrothed.

I was sure that soon, I was going to need to do the same for the boy.

I had found him quite easily, but even without powers of Godhood it would not have been hard with him tramping about. Twigs and sticks snapping, leaves crunching underfoot, stumbling over roots and rocks alike.

Scraton, whether he knew it or not, walked in circles. The forest was vast and his mother took him way off the path. Perhaps him being lost was a good thing. A last attempt at a mother’s mercy - allowing the forest to take him rather than be swallowed by steel and xenophobia.

Finally, the child tripped over a rather large stone, and let themselves fall. They made no attempt at catching themselves and instead just laid on their back staring up at the canopy of trees.

“Can… Can you help me?”

He couldn’t. He couldn’t, could he?

“Nar…? My mother said if I ever needed help I could ask you.”

I laughed at my own silly worry that this child could somehow perceive me but I was cut off.

“Don’t laugh at me”

Scraton sat up and looked straight at me with purpose.

“You can see me?”, I asked incredulously

“Of course I can", I wasn't sure if I liked the matter-of-fact way he said that, "Mom and Dad would always talk about you like they couldn’t, but I always thought they were fibbing…”, he trailed off for a moment and hunched forward, “...they weren’t fibbing were they?”

I could see fresh tears start to form at the corners of Scraton’s eyes. Ones that he was desperately trying to hold back. I felt a mixture of pity, interest, and dare I say caring take root in me. His parents were very devoted followers after all.

I crouched next to the child, “allow your tears to fall. Let them nourish both the earth around you and your soul. Cry as much as you need until the ache has dulled. Then, once the tears in your heart have run dry, we can begin to heal and grow”

Cry Scraton did. Deep, heaving sobs that bounced off of the woods. The deep, heaving sobs soon became a mournful cry. The mournful cry then became sniffles. Then the sniffles became hiccups until those too subsided.

“Done?”, I finally asked.

Scraton gave a slight nod. I reached out my hand.

“Good”, I gave as big of a smile as I could muster. It had been a while since I had reason to.

“Let us take leave of this place”, and with a swirling whisper of breezes that appeared from between the trees, we were swept away.

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A child with a frail looking body staggered through the thick flora of the forest. Sunlight dancing through the thick canopy up above serving to make the shadows of already dark areas jump out more. A twig suddenly snapping right beneath them making them flinch and look around, their terrified expression becoming more prevalent.

"H...Hello..?" The child cried out, I had been stalking them for a few minutes now unsure of how to approach a lost and terrified child. While I did have a soft spot for children, it was a completely different matter when they were scared like this. How do you approach something that will not listen no matter what?

Furthermore, from what I could gather from the child's high end clothing and a crashed carriage I had found on my hunt. This may have been what people called "Nobility".

I kept a low profile, moving a fair distance ahead and stepped out into the open. My bow secured behind my back along with my quiver.

"I can see you are lost. I can guide you out." I spoke softly, not daring to approach the child. Children would sometimes get lost, and when they were terrified like this could be just as aggressive as any animal.

The child looked at me and clumsily staggered backwards, falling onto his back letting out a weak groan. Usually, they had some inkling on how to tread the ground of a forest. But this kid simply didn't, whether he had been extremely sheltered or was just highly clumsy I couldn't tell.

"Don't worry. I'm just a lowly hunter, I'm very familiar with this place." I offered out a hand, the child looking at it then rapidly glancing around. The child then scrambling to reach for it as he jumped at the sight of a shadow. Once we locked hands I pulled the child up. I at the very least wanted to teach this poor soul some basic survival tricks.

"Child, what's your name?" I asked with the child staying very close to me, uncomfortably so.

"C-Constantine...m-ma'am!"

"Constantine? Very well, I'm Art...Ariadne."

I lead the kid deeper into the woods, to where my residence would be. Through previous encounters with lost people, I had figured out my true name was a word of alarm. They would effectively prostrate themselves in the presence of someone they found out to be a God.

"What's your story, Constantine? How did you get out here?"

Constantine shifted his gaze and trembled.

"My...My carriage was attacked on my way back home. And...And it crashed. No one was...was around when I woke up..."

I had to think for a moment. Was he just unfortunate and attacked by bandits? But then, why not just take him as ransom?

"Did you see anyone?"

Constantine shook his head.

"The curtains were...were drawn."

So was he just abandoned then?

"I see. Because you were attacked, perhaps you should pick up a few survival skills. I'll teach you."

Constantine seemed shocked

"But...But isn't that barbaric?"

"Survival isn't anywhere near barbaric. Who instilled that idea into your head?"

"My...My...My parents and instructor..." He murmured

"Then they are wrong."

Constantine immediately recoiled and remained silent, even as we reached the cabin I resided in. It was deep within the wilderness, and obscured by the local floral but was in a clearing which exposed it to the sunlight.

"Other...buildings..?" Constantine asked puzzled

"I don't reside here alone. They are some of my dearest friends, so please be nice to them."

He nodded slowly and looked around. A beautiful young woman, one of my Forest Nymphs named Aypio, gracefully approached me almost gliding across the floor.

"My, my. This has to be the first time I've seen you not guide a lost child out. Did you perhaps take pity on him, Artemis?" Aypio spoke, people would often describe her voice as sweet honeydew, and it was annoying that she knew me well.

Constantine immediately going pale and freezing in place staring at me with fear. Humans called it reverence, but I knew better. I knew that people were terrified of Gods. And I hated it, ^(even if I had turned people into deer in the past for certain reasons.)

"Aypio..!"

"Oh...OH! You were trying to be covert again? Better he finds out now rather than later if you intend on teaching him~" She smiled waving and starting to walk to the direction of the hot spring.

She may have been right, but I still though it could've been done in a better way. The kid was already terrified as is.

Constantine flinging open the door of my cabin and tripping into it.

"Are you ok..?"

He nodded yes but still held the same fear in his eyes.

"Are you mad that I lied? And, sorry to say, but I don't think you'll be seeing your parents for a while."

Constantine's eyes beginning to water and he began shaking.

"You...You intend on kidnapping me..? Am I a sacrifice? Am I going to die..?"

"I'm trying to make sure you survive. Your parents abandoned you, I'm sure of it." I spoke sitting down to be on level with him.

"They...They...What..?"

Constantine looked at me in disbelief.

Time began to pass, as Constantine accepted what may have been the truth. He wanted answers, and even though I didn't have them he studied as hard as he could.

I taught him how to use a bow, and even though he was awful at first he gradually became a master. Although, nowhere near the talent that I had. He must've been one of the finest archers humanity ever managed.

The forest nymphs helped to teach him survival, how to track down animals, how to tame them, how to confront them, and how to flee. Aypio teaching him how to blend into the environment and wait patiently for hours on end. Callisto teaching him how to make a fire, use every bit of a kill, and how to cook. He had slowly shed his noble origins, even giving himself a new name: Scamandrius

However, he never gave up his desire for answers.

The once frail child stood on a hill on the outskirts of the forest, he had strengthened his body and became a proud young man. His bow made from a sturdy branch he snapped off a tree years ago when accompanied by a nymph. With arrows inside a quiver he had made himself.

"I hope you find your answer, one way or another." I spoke, from behind him.

"Thanks Lady Artemis. I really am thankful for everything you...everyone. Did for me, as far as I'm concerned this place is my home."

"Callisto said to keep us in your heart, she's really going to miss you."

He chuckled and seemed to reminisce.

"Tell her that I'll miss her too. I'll miss you all."

"But you already said that to them."

"I know. But I just want them to hear it one more time."

"Very well. Now go forth, you frail, frail child. Return at any time." I spoke as he walked out of the forest.

Every fletching leaves the nest eventually, so I wonder what will become of that one. Will the truth be what he wanted? Will he carve another path for himself? Whatever it may be, I am glad I got to be a small part of it.

this is beautiful! you always write my favorite stories here.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it!

Growel and Lengan sound like they would have amazing storys, would you write some?

The god of the forest had no pity for the weak. His realm was never meant to be without pain and when his prey creatures were hunted down or his trees were felled by storms he would mourn those who were lost instead of saving them. There was a violent balance contained within the forest borders and it had never been his way to try to overcome it.

The arrival of the child was the first thing that could be seen as a change in that.

The forest lord never learned why the child was abandoned. Humans would sometimes walk in the land which was rightfully his and he either regarded them with contempt or did not regard them at all. The child had been lost for some time when he finally noticed her and she was cold, thirsty and afraid. All of these things can kill and if the child was to be left to her own devices then she would be dead before tomorrow's dawn.

He could have left her alone and he considered doing so but something gave him pause. This child would be going to die only because she wasn't in her own realm. The god of the forest knew of the kingdom of the humans and despised its greyness and smoothed edges but he hated it at least in part because of how unthinkingly it would destroy his own subjects who strayed too far. Wild plants seen as weeds and killed, wild animals quite unprepared for the mechanical dangers humans had created.

The god could choose to be different to the humans. And so, he did.

The first night was easy. Before darkness the forest god moved brambles aside so the child could more easily find a stream of safe water. He allowed tempting berries to coax her towards an old den that the child was smart enough to climb inside to face the chilled air of night. He did all these things to care for her and waited for the humans that the child had arrived with to come and collect her.

He didn't expect that they simply wouldn't come back.

Days turned to weeks and the god decided to lead her outside of the forest with the same gentle suggestion as before. She followed his subtle prompting and reached the edge of the trees without issue. She realised where she was and looked at the field ahead of her, even able to see the town in the distance.

And then she turned around.

It was only at this point, the point at which the small and determined child walked back into the cold forest where she had been abandoned, that the god began to love her. He would stop leaving hints occasionally, just to see which lessons she'd truly learned. He accepted her as one of his own and even though part of him expected her to change her mind and leave one day, he was still pleased that he had chosen to stay for now.

As months turned to years though, he realised that the child had no intention on leaving. At first he wasn't sure what this meant - she was not a native animal but he didn't see her as an intruder anymore either. She was the only one of her kind and it took him awhile to decide exactly what that meant.

Eventually, he decided that the creature in the forest that she was most like was himself. Instead of a subject, he began to see her as a daughter, a potential successor. She wasn't a god yet, but these things can change.

Even though she was almost an adult now, the god have her suggestions in much the same way he had when she'd first been lost. He moved brambles and left tempting berries and coaxed her into performing a ritual that humans had forgotten long ago and had never realised the full potential of anyway.

Carrying out ritual steps that had been enough to make witches out of her ancestors, the girl heard the forest god's voice for the first time. Fulfilling further steps that no human had learned, the girl developed powers that the forest god had kept for centuries.

She sat, she listened and she learned.

She would be a worthy successor.

Thanks, Artemis.

Good job.

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With a grace, haiku

This life to be accepted

Nature in it's glory

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Oh I loved this so much. I have read a few stories that speak in the first voice and never liked this. This was the first and only exception. Thank you! I got goosebumps several times 💞

What a beautiful haiku! Thank you for posting it!

Thank you! And thank you for reading!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the story, even in a voice you don't usually enjoy! I have the same thing with 2nd person voice/point of view, and am still looking for a story that I would like with it being utilized.

can't *bear.

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Would like to hear more of this.

It had been a long time since I was able to look at something an experience something akin to pity. Though this one was gravebound, I had decided to take the lost child under my wing, guiding him to the nearest patch of water with naught but a breeze. Though he never saw me, he always felt my prescense.

When was the last time i had the opportunity to thoroughly watch a human grow and suffer? To that end, I do not recall, but I always enjoyed seeing its triumphs, no matter how small they may have been at first. A kinder god would have revealed itself and taught the child. However, that is not the way i work. For every passed test, his food got easier to hunt the next day. A hapless deer here, a half blind rabbit there. He needed to keep his strength up. But woth every gift comes a test. To the child's credit, it learned rather quick.

He felt the seasons change, and moved with those that migrated. It learned to feel my prescense and began trying to communicate via offerings like the old way of worship.

But what could a child offer a God that had everything?

Adaption is king when it comes to surviving out here, and over the last few years, the child has grown considerably. One might even call it an adult. Lanky, fast, with a keen sight and very sensitive hearing. It's sense of smell has grown immensely and it's ability to run long distances to run its prey down was borderline astonishing for a human. No bear, wolf or jaguar I sent it's way could best it. It learned quickly how to survive in almost every single circumstance.

There is a part of me that is proud of the little hunter, but the other part of me knows that one day, that human will need to part this earth. Would it be fitting for it to die in a gruesome way? A part of me dwelled on this for quite some time. Being torn apart by jaguars and bears is... painful. Is this what sympathy is? Maybe.

It was time. The human has been wandering my lands for too long. It is turning out a lot like the others of his kind. Greedy. He is now leaving bits of the animal unused and hunting way more than it needs to. It is not replanting what it reaps. Most of this forest has been cut in an attempt to settle and farm. This is not what I taught it. This is not why I kept it around. I tried warning it by making its farm fallow. It kept trying to replant and drained the soil of its precious nutrients.

I needed to do something, if only to save what remains of the Forest. It started seeing me in the form of a large scarred bear. It was startled at first, but it noticed something off about me. I didn't smell like bear or sound like one.

"It is time for you to go, little one."

It didn't respond, as it had forgotten speech a long time ago. It's emotions, however where clear on display. Bared teeth, trying to make itself look bigger. I couldn't help but feel agitated. The wind began to blow, and I felt the other side of me begin to come out.

It wasn't time to run. It was time to hunt.

Thanks!

I was inspired