Chapter 7:

The Forest Spirit

Oddment


In the vast Frijall Forest lies an unnamed shrine. The trees around it are adorned with various symbols and connected with ropes. Like a mystical seal, warding something off, or keeping something in. In stark contrast to the rest of the forest, the ground inside the ring of trees is marked with death. At the center of the shrine stands a small dead tree.

A man from the nearby village of Muiso wanted to explore the deep forest. Always confined to the village, he was desperate to leave. Everyone else in the village was fine staying where they were. But, he was different. He wanted to explore the world. However, the rest of the world would have to wait because he could only leave for one day. The forest would have to do for now. After preparing some food, he set out on his journey. 

The scenery didn't change much after walking for a while. The man started to get a little disappointed. Nothing was different from the forest right next to the village. He had expected something else to be there. He wanted anything to be a new experience. About to head home, he spotted something in the corner of his eye. A circle of dead plants. 

When he got closer, he saw the shrine and its seal. It looked like nothing he had seen before. With the excitement of seeing something new, he went in for a closer look. He grabbed one of the ropes to move it out of the way. Instead of just lifting it a bit, the rope broke off the tree. The man figured that it was just old and didn't pay too much heed. 

He went inside the circle and looked in the shrine. All he saw was a strange dead tree. There was nothing else there that provoked any enthusiasm from him. He heard a cracking sound and looked around to find the source. It was coming from the dead tree. The tree started to twist and break from its own roots. Eventually, the tree rose from the ground with a shape vaguely resembling that of a human. 

It slowly turned and looked at the man. Now, regretting that he ever made his trip into the forest, the man ran in fear. The tree gradually made its way out of the seal. As it walked, the plants along the ground began to wither and die. The death crept along the forest floor and spread. 

Back at the village, the man recounted everything that he had seen. No one believed him. They thought that he was making up stories so everyone would think his travels were interesting. He insisted that he was telling the truth, but no one would listen. The man was always an outcast in his village. If everyone would call something black, he would be there to call it white. His thoughts and ideas went against the village's age-old traditions. 

A few days passed. The man continued to warn the village to no avail. Then, someone else came back from the woods. They said they had seen the same rot the man had described, but no tree creature. The rot was still a ways from the village, but it was still spreading. Sooner or later, it would reach the village. 

Still, not many of the villagers gave it a second thought. Most of them kept going about their regular routines. The more the sightings happened, the more they would discount them as delusions or some elaborate prank. The only ones worried about it were the ones who had seen it firsthand. Eventually, the village was split into believers and dismissers. To make matters even more complicated, a traveler arrived at Muiso Village. 

He wore a large hat and carried a golden walking stick. From just his appearance, the villagers were suspicious of him. Most of them tried to avoid him at first. They would avert their gaze or pretend to be busy anytime he was near. He noticed their strange behavior and approached a woman to ask what was going on. 

"Excuse me, miss. But did I do something to offend your people?" She tried to act like she didn't hear him, but he wasn't buying it. "Please just tell me if I've done something wrong." Before she answered, a boy ran by and knocked the traveler's hat off his head. 

The woman's eyes widened with fear and she started to run away. "A demon! A demon has come to our village!" She yelled as she ran. 

Moments later, the traveler was confronted with a group of men brandishing farming tools as weapons. One of the men stepped forward to address him. "We've heard of your kind before. The demons with red hair. Legends say that whenever a person with red hair visits a village, only bad things follow them." 

Another of the men spoke up. "You must be the one killing the forest!" 

"No, he's the one making people see things in the forest!" A different one argued. 

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a traveler passing through." 

"You shouldn't be here. Leave this place and never come back!" 

"I guess I can't help being an unwanted guest. I will take my leave, but whatever's happening in your village will only get worse from here," The traveler said as he picked up his hat and walked away. 

A man came running after the traveler as he was leaving. "Wait! I need your help!" The traveler stopped to hear the man out. "I know you didn't cause anything to go wrong in the village. It was all my fault." 

"What do you mean it was your fault?"

"I accidentally unleashed the thing that's killing the forest." 

"Accidentally?"

"I found this shrine deep in the woods. There was a sort of barrier of ropes around it. I swear I didn't mean to, but I ended up breaking it. Something came out of the shrine, and everything died where it walked." 

"You didn't tell anyone else about this?"

"I did! I told the whole village, but no one believed me. They'd never listened to me before, so that was no exception." 

"What did the thing look like that came out of the shrine?"

"It was like a tree, but twisted into the shape of a person." 

"Then it seems like you unleashed a kind of forest spirit."

"A forest spirit? It seemed more like an evil spirit to me." 

"Forest spirits come in all matter of forms. Just because this one brought death with it, doesn't mean it has to be malevolent." 

"I don't care what it is. I just need to stop it before it kills everything in the village. Can you help me?" 

"I would like to get a better look at this spirit myself. I can't guarantee that I can stop it, but I'll help you for now." 

"Thank you so much! My name's Shorri, by the way." 

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, I'm Sojou. Do you know where the spirit is right now?"

"No, but it can't move very fast. If we follow the trail of death, we should be able to find it." 

At that moment, they heard a commotion going on in the village. They went closer to investigate. They saw a group of villagers gathered together with farming tool weapons in hand. "We've spotted a demonic beast in the forest. It's most likely being controlled by that red-haired man that came here earlier. We'll split into two groups. One will go to the forest to destroy that creature. The other group will track down the red-haired man and force him to stop attacking our village." 

Shorri and Sojou exchanged looks. "Looks like they found it before us, and they're trying to find you on top of it. How are we going to get to the spirit now?"

"Easy. We'll just follow the first group. Since the second group is looking for me, they'll pay no attention to where the first group is going. Then the first group will lead us right to the spirit."

"What do we do when we get to it?"

Sojou smiled. "We improvise." 

They followed the first group of villagers through the forest. Lagging behind just enough to remain out of sight. Once they reached the dying part of the forest, it became harder to hide. They had to mostly rely on the large trees to provide them with cover. After sneaking behind the group for some time, they could hear them getting riled up. Far in the distance was the spirit, slowly making its way across the forest. 

Upon seeing it in person. Sojou could tell what it was. "That spirit's not killing the forest it's helping it." 

"How is it helping it? It's clearly killing everything in its path." 

"Not everything. Look around. All the larger trees are still alive and well. All it's doing is clearing out the forest floor to accommodate for new growth and strengthen the older trees." 

"Then why was it sealed away in that shrine?"

"Probably because of the same ignorance that these villagers have. They perceived it as a threat and locked it away to protect themselves. In reality, all they did was stunt the forest's growth." 

"Why'd they go to the trouble of sealing it up when they could've just destroyed it?" 

"Most likely because they couldn't destroy it. It is a spirit after all. Nothing good will happen if those villagers try and attack it." 

The villagers quickly caught up to the spirit and spread out to perform an attack. Just as they were going to rush it, Sojou ran out from behind them. 

"If you value your lives, don't attack this thing." 

"Are you threatening us, demon?"

"It's not a threat but a warning. You'll only be hurting yourselves if you attack this spirit." 

"Don't listen to him, men! He's trying to deceive us!" A man said as he got ready to swing his weapon at Sojou. 

Before the weapon hit Sojou, Shorri tackled him from the side, knocking him down. One of the other men ran past them to attack the spirit. He swung at it, cracking its wooden skin.  He looked triumphant at first, but he soon began to pale. He crumpled over as his skin began to shrivel. His very lifeforce was being absorbed by the spirit. After a few moments, the only thing left of him was a husk of skin and bone. 

Seeing this horrific scene, the other men dropped their weapons and ran away. Sojou and Shorri were left alone with the spirit. It seemed unfazed as it trudged along the ground. 

"What just happened to that man?" Shorri asked, still shocked. 

"It's a defense mechanism. Once it was attacked, the spirit absorbed his life essence as it does with the plants. in time it will redistribute his energy to the rest of the forest."

They watched in silence for a while longer as the spirit walked ahead. It abruptly came to a stop and planted its feet in the ground. Its body warped and twisted until it came to resemble a normal tree again. Then, flowers sprouted from its limbs. They let off a purple glow and petals began to fall off them.  The petals spread over the forest and went onto the trees. Flowers began to bloom on all of the trees, still giving off a faint purple light. 

The two of them gazed at the spectacle with wonder. After a while, the lights faded, and the trees returned to normal. After what just happened, neither of them wanted to return to the village. Before they parted ways, Shorri came up to Sojou. "Do you really travel all around the world and experience stuff like this all the time?" 

"I'm what's called a seeker. We investigate strange phenomena that usually relates to ancient artifacts. This was a bit outside the norm for me, but it's not the craziest thing I've seen." 

"Is there any way I could become a seeker?"

"it's possible, but it requires a lot of effort. You also won't be able to return to your home for a long time." 

"Where do I sign up?"

"I know a place." 

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