Lonely.
That was the only word it knew that could so completely encompass its entire existence.
What was it? It didn't know. What was anything? Was anything really able to be defined? It didn't know. All it knew was that it could do nothing but wander.
This world was strange in more ways than one. Rock shaped by wind and rain dominated the landscape, while the few rivers it came across on its journey were surrounded in long-bladed grasses and rattails jutting from the soil.
This world was not empty, but it certainly felt as though there was nothing here. The grass could not provide an interesting conversation, the reeds were quiet, the little furred creatures scurried when it came close.
It, too, could not speak. It had no mouth, nor any opening with which to make sound. The best that it could do was to allow the wind to blow through its body and produce a single simple sound.
"Ah."
That was it. It was disappointed in itself. What a useless creature, unable to do anything. It didn't even leave prints behind where it walked, so it was also unable to navigate. Everywhere looked the same, and it must have gone the same path hundreds of times, though it only ever walked forward.
Being unable to speak didn't mean that it was silent, however. Its mind was filled with words, confusion and questions that only growed with every passing hour as it met new things it didn't understand. What were the little creatures buzzing around it when it walked through a swamp? How could running water cut through rock to form a canyon?
It had seen the world changing around it as it wandered. Rock turned to grass turned to trees. How did it know the names of these things? Just another question it never would know the answer to.
It was formless, an amorphous collection of semi-transparent organs wrapped in a shroud that faded in and out of existence. It had no arms, no legs, no definable features at all. If it ever did find someone able to communicate, they would no doubt ignore it completely, or try to squash it out of existence.
Why did it exist? Why did it bother to wander? Why not root itself in place and wait for the earth to grow over it, never to be seen again? It was lonely, and it knew that there was little chance of finding someone to fill its time with.
It gave up. No more wandering, no more wishing for an answer to its wordless pleas. It simply sat itself down at the bank of a river and went silent. It had no purpose in its existence, and it saw no end to the life it lead. It knew its wish for a friend would go unanswered, so now, it would simply listen to the world around it.
It never understood how it could see and hear without any eyes or ears, but it felt no desire any longer to answer those questions. Perhaps it simply was not given the ability to learn the truth of this world. It was simply there to exist.
Now, it no longer cared about its own existence. It listened intently, carefully observing the world around this river's bank. It would never move from this spot again.
The river was slow-moving, creating small currents as it broke over rocks and flowed over soil. It could see small fish flittering about in the water, but when it reached to them, they swam away.
It was sad. Even the fish didn't want to be around it. At least the grass didn't run away from it. The grass simply whistled as the breeze passed through the blades, creating a symphony of sound that helped to calm it.
It heard a scratching sound from behind it too, a sound that made it curious. This was not a sound of nature. It was a sound that it did not recognize, and so it turned, though it had no true direction to face in anyway. It had no form after all, simply a dark stain on the earth.
A new creature, one that it didn't recognize. The creature sat on a rock, holding a board made of stretched animal skin attached to a wood frame and running a small stick whose end was covered in animal fur across the skin. Her curly brown hair framed her angled face as she worked intently on her painting, ignoring its presence in front of her.
The creature lowered the board in order to turn to her side, dipping the tip of the brush onto a flat board covered in many colored paints, and it saw that this creature, unlike all others it had met, was not naked.
The skins that she wore were clearly not of her own body, wrapped around her and tied with straps made of some kind of fiber. The section around her waist was loose, but as it looked up her body, it grew tighter, stretching at the curve of her chest. Was she not uncomfortable like that? Why did she wear clothing?
Perhaps the clothing was like its shroud, protecting the creature's body from the environment. She appeared happy, at least. Her mouth was curved upward as she returned to her work.
It watched in silence for several hours, sitting still as the creature continued to paint, before she suddenly stood, sighing in relief as she help up the board, smiling in satisfaction.
"Finished." it said, in a high-pitched voice, and it flinched at the sound of the word. This was the first time it had ever heard someone speak, and so its hearing was not used to the odd sound.
It stayed still. Its hopes of communication had been crushed long ago, it had no reason to believe that it may be able to befriend this girl.
Its body shifted as she walked towards it, much to its surprise. Had she noticed it? Why was she-
Oh. She passed it. She was simply going to stand on the riverbank, her bare feet sinking into the mud as she held the painting up.
It was a beautiful painting, perfectly capturing the detail of the river, and it shifted again in surprise as it realized that, there, in the bottom center, laid a purple and black representation of its formless body...Why had she bothered to include it? It was an ugly shape on an otherwise pretty scene.
"Hmm...It needs a name." she said, grinning as she turned to it. "What do you think I should call it? Something ridiculously complicated!"
It was surprised. She was no doubt looking at it now. Was she asking its opinion of the painting? It couldn't speak, it had no way to answer her.
But it decided to try. She was the first to acknowledge it. Maybe she could be its friend, though it was terrified that its hope would be dashed again. Nevertheless, it shook its body in an attempt to speak. It had no mouth, but it would try anyway.
It felt the breeze flow through its body, and attempted to direct it in an approximation of voice. It spent several seconds manipulating it inside its body, before exuding it in its attempt at its first word…
"Ah."
That was it. It was the same as always. It sunk back to the ground, ashamed at failing once again to speak. Now the girl would ignore it, and it would have lost its chance.
To its surprise, she didn't turn away. She simply smiled and sat down, crossing her legs to sit on the mud, grinning at it. "You don't talk much, do you?" she asked, cradling the painting in her lap, and she looked down at it. "Nigihayami Kohaku Nushi." she said. "That'll be its name."
A long name. Did it mean something? It wished to ask, but once again, all it could say was "Ah?".
She looked at it and smiled again. "An unnecessarily long name for a simple thing...I'll call it Kohaku for short." she said. "Do you have a name? Mine's Megami."
Megami. It now had a name for her face...but it had no name, and no face. It had nothing to give her as a reply.
She sat still for over a minute as she waited patiently for it to reply, but as she realized it wasn't going to answer, she laughed. "No name, huh?" she asked. "Of course, maybe you just can't talk. You don't have a face either…" She laughed again. "I'll call you Kaonashi. 'No Face' in my language." She frowned. "Is that insensitive?" she asked. "Sorry if that made you sad…"
No! It was not sad! It loved this gift that she'd given it. A name of its own. It never knew it was deserving of a name...It couldn't just ignore her like this, it had to find a way to show its gratitude…
Its body shifted as it forced itself to move, lifting off the ground, and after adjusting, it found itself able to stand upright, though looking down at itself, its body faded and disappeared toward the ground.
It was nothing but a shroud. It had no features for her to see, but now, it could at least be as tall as she was. It hoped she understood its efforts, and as she smiled, it was happy as well.
She pressed her hand into her knee as she stood up, holding the painting in her other hand, and as she stood, she laughed, holding her free hand up to its head level as she compared their heights.
"So you can stand." she said, staring at it. Her eyes felt like they were boring into its body, but perhaps that was true. It had no form even now, and its body was all but faded away. It felt that it was simply this girl's shadow, and the look she gave it made that assumption feel all the more true.
Her laugh cut away the thoughts as it watched her. "You're just as tall as me!" she said, jumping back a few steps and grinning, crossing her arms behind her, the painting facing away from her body as she bent over to study its body, her face twisting to a frown. "That has to be taking a lot of effort, are you okay? You're so thin, I can see right through you…"
No, it was fine! This took little energy, and it felt more comfortable now than it ever did before! She had no reason to worry!
"Ah!"
She blinked, before laughing. "I'll take that as you saying you're fine." she said, standing straight again and looking at the river. "Well, I'd better head home. Sayonara, Kohaku!" she said, waving to the river, which naturally did not respond.
She was several meters away when she turned around again. "Aren't you coming, Kaonashi?" she asked, and it stared.
Was she inviting it to go with her? Was she really willing to be around a meaningless spirit like it? It had no body, and it could not paint as beautifully as she could. It had no body to imprint the ground with its weight, and it had no hands to wave as she did. She had a purpose, it did not.
But she still stood there, as if waiting for it. Was she serious about letting such a useless thing follow her?
It decided to accept the offer. She was its friend, even if it was not hers. She was Megumi, the first thing that had ever spoken to it. It was Kaonashi, the first thing she had named.
Well, she'd named the river first, but it liked to believe that she felt it more important than a mindless body of water.
It followed behind her, leaving no trail as it passed over her footprints, and she looked back at it, smiling.
"It's nice to have a friend here." she said. "I haven't met anyone in so long since I got taken to this world...It's quite boring here, isn't it? There isn't even a good place to take a bath except the river!"
