Harukahime-syo, the Princess of Spring, comes to melt the icy winter of her cousin, Shirahime-syo. In this set of stories, the tragic tales from Shirahime-syo are continued with a touch of warmth melting the ice of tradgedy.
Harukahime-Syo
Humboldt Penguin
Chapter 1
Prelude: Ringo Akai
Touch of Healing
The small girl lay fallen in the snow. Her small body shivered in the cold as she lay in the icy snow. Then she felt warmth seeping on the edge of the biting cold. Someone warm picked her up. The warmth flooded in and the girl stopped shivering and opened her eyes. She looked up and saw a woman's face looking down kindly at her.
The woman had delicate rosebud skin, white as snow, tinged with pink. Her lips were perfectly formed and her hair was black as night with sakura buds sewn in like little diamonds. The woman smiled kindly down at her, giving Ringo all the warmth she had to offer.
Ringo bowed her head. "Arigato, Refujin," Ringo said in a small voice.
"Child, everyone needs a bit of help every now and then," The woman replied softly.
Ringo stared up into the woman's eyes and was surprised to see that they were not brown or black, but field green. Clear bright green.
The woman broke Ringo's gaze and looked off into the landscape.
"What do you see, Reifujin?" Ringo asked.
"I see many things, dear child," The woman vaguely elaborated.
"But what do you see now, Reifijin?" Ringo asked tentatively.
"I see the time to rise," The woman replied.
"I see spring melting a path for summer to rise," the woman finished.
"But is not spring a season of its own?" Ringo asked.
The woman placed a pale slender finger to Ringo's small lips.
"Dear Child, speak not, for you are not yet recovered," The woman said in a soft but bright voice.
Ringo nodded and looked at the sakura blossoms in the woman's hair as the woman helped her up. Ringo looked at the woman's kimono and found that it was delicately formed for many rose petals.
The woman gently kissed Ringo's forehead and Ringo fell into blackness.