A six-part story.
Vague inspiration from Rapis-Razuri's Feathers on Snow from the (verywellwritten) Blossoms & Brynhildr collection, in that this started as another folktale adaption. I don't know what it is now. Help what have I done get me out
This was supposed to be done over four weeks ago, but then I had exams, and then I hit a wall, and then [bad joke]. It's still not complete, actually, but I'm putting myself on a timer to get this done before it drags out for three months again.
1-1 . Dancing.
A pretty pink-haired girl, appearing to be just over the cusp of adulthood, spun and twirled her way elegantly through an ethereal garden. There were clusters of beautiful trees bearing fruit and flowers, and tulips, violets, and lilies growing nearby in bunches. Koi fish swam in clear blue springs, and glittering gems lay far beneath the surface of the water. She laughed, a sound reminiscent of the wind rushing through leaves, as small animals came out from underneath the bushes and scampered past her feet.
"Don't stray too far from the garden, alright?" came a voice from the distance.
"Okay, Mother," the girl called back over her shoulder. Her pace slowed to a walk as she left behind the busier sections of the grounds. The diverse flora and fauna of the garden never ceased to amaze her, but her absolute favourite place to be was the tops of the cliffs. Whenever the clouds cleared up, the view below her was breathtaking. Endless grassy plains, winding rivers, and dark forests dotted the landscape. Admittedly, it wasn't nearly as vibrant as her home, but the sharp contrast still captured her attention time and time again.
She sat down, kicking her feet out over the edge. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like to go down there.
1-2 . Falling.
Leo needed to clear his head. He could never sleep immediately after one of his evening study sessions. There was just so much information to soak in that rest was as far from his thoughts as possible. In the morning, certainly, he would regret this late night, but in the moment he was borderline giddy as his mind processed all that he had just learned.
Books were his guilty pleasure. There were so many better ways that he could be spending his hard-earned money, but the scholar inside of him could not resist. Sciences, mathematics, history, anything that Leo could get his hands on, he would absorb as soon as he could. After he taught himself how to read at the age of eight, he had become obsessed.
As he got older, he realized that his childhood dream of becoming an academic in a far off city was not at all possible as a rural-born young man destined for a life of hard, physical labour. But that didn't stop him sending off for copies of manuscripts, papers, and journals with whatever extra funds he had each month.
The night was quiet, save for the chirping of crickets in the distance. The moon had already peaked and was slowly edging towards the west. Out in the open, there was nothing for Leo to fear. Any animal that came close changed direction at the sight of his burning lantern. He was walking along a rough dirt path that gradually wound its way into a grove of thickening trees, when a gleam, far above him and moving too fast to be a star, caught his attention.
It was a faint white streak, slowly getting larger as it seemingly fell from the sky. Before Leo could even wonder what it could be, the light extinguished suddenly, and a dark shape plummeted into the forest below.
"What in the world..."
Curious, he picked up his pace, and moved deeper into the wood. One of his previous readings came to mind as he jogged. Meteorites were fragments of rock and metal that fell to earth in a blaze of light. Personally, he didn't believe the outlandish idea that they were lost belongings of heavenly beings, but there wasn't a better explanation he could find.
The foliage started to become much more dense, and the path narrowed, but Leo was undeterred. He ducked and wove his way through, taking care not to trip over errant branches. For a good five minutes, there was nothing. And then he found her.
A slender young woman, maybe even just a girl, as it was difficult to judge her age, was sprawled unconscious in a shallow depression just off of the path. She was garbed in a mantle of white silk, with a blouse of similar material, a red skirt, white leggings and strange sandals. Her shoulder length pink hair was secured by a white headband. Her head faced towards Leo, and her eyes were closed. Somehow, she managed to look graceful, even while blood leaked from a narrow laceration on her forehead. Tiny scratches peppered her arms from where she had come into contact with bits of rock scattered throughout the grass.
All thoughts of searching for the meteorite were forgotten as Leo cautiously approached the the girl. Her chest rose and fell steadily, as though she had simply decided to take a nap on the ground. In actuality, she had probably tripped, hitting the side of her head hard on the ground and knocking herself out. Her injuries didn't seem to be life-threatening. Still, the blood oozing from her forehead would likely attract the attention of certain animals, and she clearly was in no shape to defend herself. Leo knew what he should do.
She seemed to be eerily light, even for someone so thin, but perhaps his increasingly sleep-deprived mind was playing tricks on him. Awkwardly holding his lantern by two fingers and the girl in his arms, Leo began his walk homeward.
1-3 . Meeting.
He set the girl down on top of an old bedroll. With a cloth soaked in cool water, he began to gently clean the smattering of cuts across her skin. Despite his best attempts not to wake her, she stirred slightly as he next dabbed alcohol on her forehead wound.
The blond man cautiously sat back on his heels. After shifting around fitfully on the rough cloth for a few seconds, the woman relaxed again, shrinking back against the bedroll, soundly asleep. Leo kept a watchful eye on her face as he completed his ministrations by wrapping a clean length of linen around her head, over the largest laceration.
Carrying someone such a long way in his arms, and treating her injuries, not to mention the fact that he should have been sleeping when instead he was doing those things, had sucked out the rest of Leo's energy. He hazily stood, and stumbled off into his own room, barely remembering to change his clothes before falling onto the bed.
As always, he rose the next morning in time with the sun. To his surprise, his unexpected guest was also up, looking around the main room of his house in bewilderment.
"I see that you're awake now," Leo said casually, as he walked in, rubbing his eyes.
"Uh, um... Who a-are you? Wh-wh-where am I?" she stuttered in reply.
"My name is Leo. This is my home," he responded, gesturing to his surroundings. "I found you lying unconscious and injured in the middle of the forest at night, and figured that waking up surrounded by wolves would not be a pleasant experience. Just how did you end up like that, anyway?"
The girl's face scrunched up in confusion. "I... honestly can't r-recall what happened."
"Well, where do you live? It has to be around here, right?"
Her face now began to display a bit of panic. "I d-don't know. I c-couldn't even take a guess as to w-where I am right now."
Amnesia. Leo had read about the condition a few months ago. It was often caused by a physical injury to the head, like the one he had treated just a few hours ago, that resulted in a concussion. Usually it was temporary, but sometimes it was permanent. "Then is there anything that you do remember? Anything at all?"
She was lost in thought for a few seconds, and then perked up. "Y-yes. My name. I-it's Sakura."
Word choice is a bit of a mess. Some parts were written or edited weeks apart and out of order, so the style will be inconsistent. Also plot holes, there will be many.