Disclaimer: I don't own the setting or the cute little white things… and there really is no plot to speak of…. Not mine! All someone elses!
Rating: G, for cute little white things and deep thoughts….
Kodama
The little Kodama sat on the branch listening to the wind. The wind wound around the Kodama asking to play. To frolic in the mists that settled in around the tree roots. But the Kodama ignored it, listening, instead, for the coming night. More Kodama appeared, seemingly out of no where. The Kodama had there own reality though. One where these things didn't matter. Taste. Touch. Sight. Did not matter. Or atleast not in the sense that you and I feel them. The little Kodama looked around, not in the least surprised by the presence of the others. He had sensed their coming. There were more every minute. As the night neared, the Kodama came out of the trees. The roots. The ground. Stoping their daily activities with the creatures and spirits all around them to gaze upon one above all. The life of the forest would come. There were some Kodama climbing up the nearest tree. Time to go. The Kodama stood up and walked steadily toward the tree. All about him were the round faces of the Kodama. The little one sensed their happiness. All were happy. All was peacefull. All would be present. The little one began to climb the tree. Their were kindred Kodama, in groups. Lone Kodama, like the little one. The Kodama were of the trees. And the rocks. And the waters of the forest. All coming to the ritual. All bound in kindred by this nightly event. That's what it was to the Kodama. It was not a religion. Kodama are above such things. It was for the shear pleasure of being near to the life. The life of the Kodama. All knew it, from the time they grow from the Mother to the time they go back into her. In this being lies not the heart or life of the Kodama. In this lies the soul and the meaning. There can not be life with out meaning. Not because without it you can not live. But because with out it you do not want to live. The Kodama find their meaning in the life of the forest. For where there are rocks to play amongst. Beetles to watch. Trees to sit in. Then there is something for the Kodama to do. Other creatures found meaning in living itself. Find meaning in eating, drinking, and raising their young. That is not what the Kodama are concerned with. That's what mother is concerned with. Not Kodama. Kodama do not really think either. Or, they don't have to. Everything just IS to them. So they just DO. They already know. Mother does all the thinking, and passes it on to her children of the spirit. Mother also busies herself making children of her body. Mother is often very busy. In a sense they are Mother's eyes. Mother's ears. Mother's limbs. But mostly mother's company. It is not until she is dead and gone that her children of the body will be able to talk. And their children the same. The Kodama can not talk to mother either. But Mother does not need anyone to talk to her, as long as her children of the spirit will sit in her branches and talk to themselves. Kodama never talked to eachother. Never. They talk to themselves, but only when they have something worthwhile to say. And Mother can hear. That way Mother can know, and tell her children of the spirit while they still grow inside her. Until they leave her. To becme Kodama. The little one was almost to the top of the tree. Joyously swinging in the branches while rising steadily to the top. The moss on the branches made the bark soft. The moss hurt the tree sometimes. But the moss was nice to sit on. The Kodama never removed it. The Kodama just left it. It can not be that bad or the life would remove it. It was always there. And always would be. The Kodama never worried about anything. Mother knows that pain will pass. Mother knows everything. The Kodama know everything. The leaves hardly russled as the Kodama moved pass them in silence. A wind came. The little one could feel the wind. The others could feel it too. This is not the wind they played with. This is the wind of the life. The little one grew excited and tilted it's head as far as it could go making little popping sounds. When the little one's head had could go no further he released. His head shook and crackled and popped louder than before. The other's became excited too. They began to pop their heads. As the wind leapt through the leaves making them russle, so it leapt through the Kodama too. It leapt through everything. Every spirit in the forest responded to the wind. The water ran faster, making rushing noises around the rocks. The Trees let their leaves rustle and their trunks bend and moan in the excitement. All was in union. All eagerly awaited when the life would pass by them. When they would see it. Feel it. Know it. It happened every night. The thrill was always the same. The noise of the wind in the waters, leaves, trees and Kodama rose like a hymn to the life. The forest sang to the being with all it possessed and the life accepted this as praise. Welcomed it as it passed through. Spreading it's limbs out over the forest so that nothing was left untouched by the joy. Including the little Kodama who happily popped away with the others even after the life had passed it. They all descended from their perches. Some to follow it during the day. But most to go back to the things of life. The joy that made up the minutes in the days. Watching beetles walk through the trees. Infinitely fascinated as they are with the way they walk, the way they eat. Fascinated with the meaning of their life. They watched the flowers bloom. The leaves of plants ever reaching for the sun. Never having their fill. The meaning of their life. The butterfly that goes from flower to flower. The water bugs that walk on the surface just as the life does in the day. The birds that sing and eat the beetles that crawl. Just as taken with these facts as you are with their nightly ritual. Everything is fascinated with the meaning of life, in whatever form it is found. Including the Kodama.OK, I didn't really intend for it to be as deep as what came out of my fingers when I wrote it. Whenever I watch Mononoke I can't take my eyes off of the Kodama. I just *had* to sit down and write this ^_^