The first time the spirit saw a human, it was confused.
Of course, everything confused the spirit. Even its own newborn existence was foreign to it. The birds in the trees, the grass beneath its feet, the wind whispering through the branches were all so strange, yet the spirit was sure it had never seen something as odd as this creature, and was doubtful it ever would again. Its hide was pink and fleshy, though it wore the hides of other animals over its own. Hair only grew on the top of its head, and its nails and teeth were blunt. How could a creature such as this survive?
The spirit was curious, and followed this new animal as it strode through the forest. It seemed not to be afraid - perhaps it did not know of the dangers the woods held? Fear for the creature filled the spirit, so it sent the animals that hungered after the creature away.
Soon, the spirit discovered a pack of the creatures had moved into the valley the spirit frequented. They seemed to come in two varieties - taller, larger ones, ones that grew hair on their faces as well as their heads - this was the kind it had found walking through the forest - and slightly smaller ones who had no hair on their faces, but the hair on their heads grew longer. Their forms also seemed to curve more, though the spirit could not fathom why.
The spirit was amazed to discover how intelligent these beings were. These creatures had a true language! More than just a dance of bees to direct others toward nectar, or the roaring of mountain lions to warn off others, but sounds that could mean everything the spirit could imagine and more. Though they were not particularly strong or fast, they could make tools of stone and steel, and through these and their quick wit, they were able to slay the beasts of the forest for their own consumption. In some ways, this made the spirit sad, but this was the law of the forest, the way of nature - the strong killed and consumed the weak, so they might be able to continue their own existence.
However, as much as the spirit was fascinated by the new residents to the valley, it could not always protect them. That winter was a particularly lean one, and some of the humans died of hunger or sickness. This was yet another chance to marvel at these strange creatures, though. The humans formed small groups that consisted of a mated pair bond, their cubs, and possibly the pair bonds' parents, and those that were yet strong and young ventured into the snows of the woods to hunt for food or to find medicinal herbs, while the old and the weak would stay home to prepare meat or mix herbs into medicines. Then, these groups - called "families" - would join all the other groups in the pack, at times to share food, sometimes to share medicine, occasionally simply to talk to one another or to celebrate something, though the spirit could not fathom what.
But the humans were not the only ones that suffered. The wolves were finding no prey in the mountains, so ventured down into the valley. When the families were not looking, they would steal the youngest cubs out of the valley and bring them back for the pack to feed on. Though it grieved the spirit to see such death, such was the law of nature.
What happened afterwards, though, sickened the spirit. The humans began to hunt the wolves, attacking them with their stone-and-steel weapons. This saddened the spirit - in a strange way, they were like humans, with the way they banded together, and they both had a sense of noble pride about them. Even worse, though, was that the humans never ate the wolves, or wore their pelts for warmth, or used their bodies in any way. They merely left their corpses to rot in the snow.
The spirit tried to tell itself that this was the law of nature, but with every wolf left dead on the ground, it became more and more difficult.
The final straw came near the end of winter. The spirit was traipsing through the forest - that was all it ever did - and it came across a wolf pup laying at the base of a tree, smaller than normal, with fur white as frost and eyes red as blood. He would not survive long without its mother, the spirit suspected he would die within the hour. She pitied the pup, but there was nothing she could do.
And then a human walked out from between the trees. When he spotted the wolf pup, he bared his teeth and drew a blade from a sheath at his waist.
No…
Slowly, the human approached the pup. He seemed almost afraid, though the tiny creature was more than harmless. He picked it up by the scruff of its neck and glared at it.
No…
With a quick, deft movement, the blade slid into the pup's stomach.
No!
But it was too late. The body of the poor pup dropped to the forest floor, and the human left.
The spirit raged and grieved. That night, a fearsome snowstorm the likes of which the valley had never seen raged against the flimsy walls of the human's huts.
This is not the way of the forest. And so the spirit reached out and touched the body of the wolf pup, and its wounds mended, and breath returned to its body.
The spirit would not realize until later the consequences of this string of events. By reviving this wolf pup, the spirit had bound the fate of every animal, every plant, the wind than water - indeed, the fate of the valley itself, and thus it's own - to the fate of the humans, and the humans' destiny to that of the valley's.
Three days later, as the spirit was pondering this strange turn of events, the human returned to the clearing. The spirit, it's rage expended, watched him with fresh eyes. He was young, but not overly so - somewhere between a cub and a full-grown human. As he rested his hand against the bark of the tree in the center of the clearing, she recognized the emotion in his eyes - remorse. He stared down at the snow at the base of the tree - the ice was no longer dyed red, the storm had covered the ground in a pristine blanket of white. Guilt lined his face, making him look older than he was.
Suddenly, the spirit knew what to do. Dragging the tendrils of it's spirit together, it solidified its body, taking the form of a human female - it had seen that females were treated more gently within the village, and hoped that shape would not scare him as much as some other body. It - she, now - rested a hand on the trunk to steady her new legs and stepped out from behind the tree.
"Do you regret your actions?"
It appeared that taking a female form had not stopped the man from being shocked. He stared at her with wide, green eyes, his mouth hanging open slightly. His eyes darted down for a moment, then refocused on her face. Looking down at herself, the spirit realized that she did not have any of the pelts that humans used to cover themselves. Having no knowledge of the human concept of modesty, she did not understand what was such a distraction, so she repeated her question.
"Human, do you regret your actions?"
This seemed to re-focus him. "What actions?" he asked, much too quickly.
"Do you regret killing the wolf pup?"
He wouldn't meet her eye as she answered. He instead focused on the ground to her left. "He would have grown up to be a danger to the village. He would have eaten children, like the rest of his kind. It's better that he's dead now."
"I don't believe that," the spirit replied. "Humans do not kill other humans before they commit a crime. Why should a wolf be any different?"
"That's different! Wolves aren't human!"
"Does it matter? I was merely explaining what must be your own thoughts."
The man was silent for a moment. Then, he found the courage to look her in the eye once more. "You are very astute, miss."
"Do you have a name?" she asked the human.
"My parents call me Aniki, miss."
"No longer," she told him. "Aniki is his name."
And, just like that, the little wolf pup came bounding out of the trees, fighting his way through the snowdrift to reach the spirit and the human.
The human just stared as the little pup danced around their feet like he had never been dead. "What…what are you?" he whispered.
The spirit ignored him. "You shall call yourself Wolfe," she said. "This way, you will always remember the bond that was forged that day."
"What bond?"
"One of the deepest that can be formed," she smiled. "All our lives - your's and Aniki's, the valley's and the village's, have became deeply, inexplicably intertwined. Should one suffer, so shall the other."
Wolfe's eyes filled with disbelief and confusion. It appeared that this would not be enough to convince him, but if she could convince him, he would spread the word to the rest of the villagers and tell the story to his descendants, and this land and the people living on it would prosper forever.
The spirit hushed Wolfe when he looked like he was about to protest. Instead, she kneeled down to the ground and dug into the snow, ignoring Aniki as he snuffled at her arms.
When she rose, she took his hand and placed a single seed into his palm and curled his fingers around it. "When spring comes, plant this in the earth. If you water it every day, it will sprout, and if you care for and love it, it will eventually bear fruit that you and your kind can eat. However, if you do not, it will wither in the ground. The same is true of all things, from relationships between humans to the trees growing in this forest - should you love and respect them, these things will flourish, but should you not, they will die. Now go and do as I have told you."
Wolfe looked like he had hundreds of questions, but he left.
Soon, the snows melted and spring came. Just as the first wildflowers were blooming in the forest, Wolfe returned.
"It worked," he whispered. "It worked. I've never seen anything like it. Please, I wish to teach the other people of my village of this. Will you help me?"
The spirit smiled and consented.
And so the spirit came to live in the village, called Haven Village by the people within it. She taught them how to grow wheat and corn and rice and many other crops, and eventually taught them how to domesticate some of the wild beasts of the forest. The spirit had never known such joy as she had among the humans of Haven.
Eventually, Wolfe married a woman from the village, and they had five beautiful children. The spirit loved nothing more than to play with those children in the fields. Then, each of those children had their own children.
Then came the day Wolfe became very, very sick. He could no longer rise from his bed, and the spirit was reminded of how many years had gone by since they had first met. Soon, he passed on, surrounded by his children and grandchildren and the spirit.
The night he died, Aniki howled at the moon like the world was coming to an end. None in Haven Village could sleep, and instead the humans of the village wept at the mournful song.
The spirit decided it was time to return to the woods. She would not die, so long as the humans continued to love the land, but the men and women surrounding her were mortal. It would be too difficult to say goodbye to all of them once their time came. She told them to come visit her at the tree whenever they so desired and left.
For a while, they did. They smiled and talked with her for a while before returning to their farms and families. However, there came a day when one of the humans that came to visit was unable to see her. Not only did this human disbelieve that the spirit even existed, she wasn't even open to the idea of her. However, she still believed in what the spirit represented, so the spirit didn't mind in the end.
Eventually, none of the villagers could see her, nor their children. Instead, they worshiped the spirit as a goddess - the Harvest Goddess. So the Harvest Goddess created the Harvest Sprites, to help the villagers though they could no longer see the deity they worshiped. However, even the Harvest Sprites faded from their sights eventually, though every once in a while a child would be able to see them.
Hundreds upon hundreds of years passed like this. The village changed drastically - most houses were cleared from the valley itself to make room for farms and ranches. Terraces were cut into one of the nearby mountains, and the village was rebuilt there.
Then, slowly, people stopped visiting the Goddess' tree. The Harvest Goddess was lonely, but the people still loved and respected the land, she consoled herself.
She should have seen the progression of events. People lost their love of the land and their respect of the nature surrounding them. At first it was only one human, but their numbers in Haven Village slowly grew. As their negative emotions grew, the land suffered. Crops became difficult to grow, animals were skittish and nervous even around their owners. The people who still believed in protecting the land began to leave, and eventually, there were none of them left. The land was useless. There was talk of selling the town and the valley to a logging or mining company. The Harvest Goddess was very, very weak by this point, and losing hope - none could hear her or her Harvest Sprites, she could do nothing…
But there was one who could see her Harvest Sprites - or, at least, he used to. He had been but a child when his family - the last family to own a farm in the valley - had moved away, but before that, he loved to play with the Harvest Sprites, running through the fields with them just as she had once done with Wolfe's children.
She had to find him. She had long ago disbanded her corporeal body - she didn't have the energy to keep it running - so instead she expanded her senses, feeling for his life force.
It was faint - oh, so faint - and rested on the very edge of her senses, in a city very, very far away. Filled with a desperate hope, the Harvest Goddess reached out for that distant soul…
He lay in the box, gray and silent and unmoving, clutching a bouquet of white lilies to his chest. The Goddess was horrified. Her only hope, dead? She supposed it had been several years since his family had moved away, but she hadn't thought it had been that long. The Harvest Goddess grieved, because this meant that her only chance to save herself and the valley was gone.
But…there it was again, that flicker of life force. It wasn't his, but it was very, very familiar.
The room was filled with people dressed in black, the human color of mourning in this day and age. Some were weeping openly, while others were stony-faced.
The young woman with that life force was in the front row, and though her face was carefully blank, the Harvest Goddess could see the turmoil of emotions racing beneath the surface in the slight tremble of her hands, even though they were fisted in her black dress, and the way she couldn't look at the casket for more than a moment or two before she had to look away once more.
The Harvest Goddess watched her and her life force as they took the coffin outside and buried placed it in the ground. Each person came forward and shoveled a bit of dirt upon the coffin, before returning to the group of grieving people. Soon after, the funeral ended, and the young woman left for home.
The Harvest Goddess followed her back. She did not know this girl, but if there was a chance, even the slightest one, that this girl could see the Harvest Sprites, that she would love the land like the humans during the time of Wolfe, she had to try.
So she followed the girl for several days, trying to find out everything she could about her.
As it turned out, her name was Rowan Giana. She was the granddaughter of the man that had died. She used to go to his house to hear stories over a cup of coffee. She always made the coffee - her grandfather always used to say she made a mean cup of joe. That was probably why she worked in a coffee shop. She didn't want to do that for the rest of her life, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to do for a career. She was considering applying for a college in the fall, but wasn't sure what she would major in.
What sealed the deal for the Harvest Goddess, though, was the girl's curious love of wolves.
So, one day, she called out to her. Hello? Please, can you hear me?
Rowan had been sitting in a chair doing a Sudoku puzzle. When the Harvest Goddess called out, her head shot up. She looked around, before shaking her head and returning her pencil to the page.
Please, Rowan, listen. Please be able to hear me…
This time, Rowan sat up straighter and looked around once more. "Is someone there?"
That rush of desperate hope filled the Harvest Goddess more.
Please…I need you to save me.
Now she was out of her chair, her body stiff as a rod. "Show yourself!" she yelled, searching for her voice.
You can't see me-
"I don't believe in what I can't see!" she hissed, sitting stubbornly back down in her chair and focusing on her puzzle.
What about your grandfather? He told you stories of the little people on his farm…
Rowan didn't reply.
You don't have to believe in me, but please believe that your help is needed. Find Haven Village…learn to love the land…please…
The Harvest Goddess' strength was gone, she could no longer call out to her over such a vast distance. She could only watch.
For several days, nothing happened. Rowan continued doing sudoku in the morning and going to work shortly after, only to come back, make dinner for herself, and go to sleep.
Then, a box of her grandfather's things was dropped on Rowan's doorstep. The young woman smiled as she sorted through her grandfather's things - a picture of the two of them, a framed photo of him on his wedding day with his lovely bride, the tea set the two had drunk coffee from, proclaiming that tea was for wusses.
The Harvest Goddess watched as she opened up a small brown booklet. Rowan began to read, then glanced around suddenly before pulling the book closer to her. What had caused a reaction like that? The Harvest Goddess peered closer to read the little brown book.
It was her grandfather's journal. Much of it was stories from after his marriage, but occasionally he would pause to talk about his childhood growing up on the farm. Rowan paled every time Haven Village was mentioned.
When she reached the last page, a folded paper fell out of the book. Rowan picked it up and unfolded it, carefully smoothing out the creases.
For a long while, she just stared at the paper, silent. The Harvest Goddess couldn't believe how events had conspired in her favor.
Then, she proclaimed. "I'm not doing this because I believe in you or anything. I am definitely not hearing voices. I'm doing this because it's what he would have wanted."
Rowan strode back into her room to begin packing, the deed to a farm in Haven Valley clutched in her right hand.
It was almost a month later that Rowan approached Haven Valley, prepared to run her own farm. However, she spent almost a week wandering around the towns outside of the valley itself. Is she lost…? the Harvest Goddess wondered. Eventually, she found the forest she had to go through to get to valley, and she stomped through it, grumbling about the lack of cars and roads.
Unfortunately, Rowan was from the city, and had little knowledge about how to navigate the forest. She was soon lost amongst all the trees.
Now how to solve this problem…? the Harvest Goddess wondered to herself.
Like all of her smaller problems as of late, this one solved itself. A bark sounded from the forest, and that white-furred, red-eyes wolf that had been her companion since near the beginning of everything made itself known. Aniki! He'll help her…
The woman's reaction, though, was not what it should have been, considered she had just been saved hours of wandering through the woods. She gave a shriek and froze. Was that terror in her eyes? Didn't she love wolves? Shouldn't she be fascinating?
…Of course. The Harvest Goddess had spent too long away from humans. Rowan did not see a helpful, fascinating creature, she saw a predator intent on eating her.
Aniki, however, knew just what to do. He stood stock-still and stared at her. No growling, no whining, just silence. He made no attempt to approach her, but did not try to leave either.
The staring contest continued for several minutes, but eventually, Aniki looked away. He turned around and look several steps forward, before looking back at her.
Rowan, being a scared human, tried to edge away from him, but Aniki gave a disproving chuffing sound and continued to watch her. Eventually, Rowan took a hesitant step toward him, and Aniki loped forward a few steps and looked back to make sure she was following him.
Eventually, Rowan emerged from the forest in the lowest part of the valley, where several abandoned farms lay. She looked back to where the white wolf stood at the edge of the forest, panting and wagging his tail slightly. He barked and turned, loping back up the mountain.
"Goodbye!" Rowan shouted, waving after him. "Thank you!"
She sorted away the strange wolf to puzzle out later and turned to face her new life.
Good luck, Rowan.
A/N: So...this appears to be my new fanfic. No guarantees I'll ever get this finished, but I'll at least do a few chapters. Don't really know what I'm doing plotwise...P:
Yes, you can submit your OCs! Just send me a PM or drop a review with your character in the following form. Keep in mind, the more detailed you are, the more likely they'll be picked and the more likely they'll be a prominent character. Please delete everything in parentheses. You can submit more than one, especially in the case of families.
And as long as I'm asking for things, is anyone willing to trade me a couple of Yams or Yam seeds in ANB? So sick of waiting for Fall Year 2 just to finish this restoration plan.
Name: (First and last.)
Sex/Gender: (Male or female? If it so happens your char is transgender, please say what they were physiologically born as, what they are currently physiologically, and what they identify as. Actually, just male or female would be easier, but whatever.)
Age: (How old are they? Pretty self explanatory. Remember we need all ages!)
Family members: (Both inside and outside of the village. Please explain their relation as well. Remember if your char is a little kid, they should have someone taking care of them.)
Species: (So, if you so choose, you don't have to be human. HM is sort of a fantasy series anyways, so if you want to be a witch or an elf or, idk, an animal living as a human (you could even be Aniki if you want, I have no further plans for him), that's fine. Please keep in mind that most mystical creatures are probably going to be living fully or semi-incognito. Also, if these get overloaded, I might start saying just humans. I also reserve the right to reject species I don't think will work in the story, like dragons.)
Occupation: (What do they work as? We need pretty much everything right now.)
Appearance: (What do they look like? Please don't just give me "brown hair, blue eyes". Use full sentences! Describe height, weight, body shape, skin tone, hairstyle, prominent markings, etc.)
Personality: (How do they act? Again, don't just give me "nice, friendly". Full sentences, long explanations.
History: (Anything important happen in the past?)
Strengths: (What is your character good at? What's good in their personality? At least two.)
Flaws: (What is your character bad at? Are they scared of anything, do they have a major personality flaw?)
Likes: (What kinds of things does your character like?)
Dislikes: (Conversely, what kinds of things does your character dislike?)
Pets: (Does your character have any pets? For farmers, include all animals owned. Also include names.)
Love Interest: (What's your character's sexuality? Who are they interested in? You can include a name from someone in-story, if you want, or you can give personality traits that they'd be interested in.)
Heart Event: (This is probably the one everyone's going to freak out over. Don't. I may not even use these. If your character were to have a heart event - any of them would do - what it would be like? You can do more than one if you want to.)
Other: (Anything else important I should know?)
I believe that's about everything! Your reviews and critiques literally mean everything in the world to me; thank you very much.
~Ami