(this is all told from Kaoori's point of view. Kthx)



Maybe it was all just a dream. After hearing of what had happened I have been quite on edge. The smallest noise sends me into a panic, and even if a call of a fawn sounds the slightest bit out of the ordinary I run, only to find that they were simply playing as normal.

but still.. something is not right in this forest. There is a sense of dischord where there was not before..



I made my way to the Birch woods. They were so vast that I could lay down and gather my thoughts without risk of being found. But suddenly, it seemed, out of nowhere.. a fawn appeared. From the mist..



something about this fawn..did not smell right. In fact.. she smelled of nothing. Of air..
Every bone and muscle told my body to flee, to run.. But she seemed afraid, and scared, and how could I leave a scared fawn alone?



when the young fawn passed right through me, I had everything I could do to not bolt right there. But she seemed so upset afterward.


could this be..? the fawn...? THE fawn?
An involuntary shudder creeped through me like 1000 beetles invading my veins. But she seemed so alone, so vulnerable...

..so... still alive..
is this what ghosts were like..?

She lay down after that, and I lay beside her. In her name, I vowed to help protect the fawns of the forest from any sort of harm.


Would she ever be able to truly rest now? Or will she be doomed to wander forever now?
I watched her disappear in the rain, and I shivered. I wasn't sure if it was from the raindrops.

Kaoori will be wearing candles and poppies in her antlers this week in memory of my Grandpa.

Don't know why I posted this but I guess I felt the need to say it in case anyone wondered why she suddenly had antlers again..

"Kaoori..."
The voice continued to speak in its quiet, whisper-like voice. But Kaoori wanted to sleep.
"Kaoori, get up.. "
The young girl opened her eyes. She was floating in the air, transparent. Startled, she scrambled to her feet.
"Kaoori?"
Kaoori widened her eyes.
"Kami-sama..? Kami-sama, is that you?" she twirled around, trying desperately to find the source of the voice. Suddenly, a bright light appeared beside her, and a form appeared, which looked neither more masculine nor feminine. Kaoori fell to her knees, head touching the ground.. or the ground of the air.

Today I awoke to more fog; normally the fog does not bother me as it does other deer. I was born around Halloween, so I'm used to the fog, and the wolves' cries. I remember being a young fawn when the head Zombie deer himself was around.
This morning, however, felt strange.. there was a strange electricity to the dense fog..it made my fur stand on end. I donned my antlers and placed candles on them to help me see better.

the dream kept getting worse and worse.. sometimes she could wake herself up. Tonight, she couldn't. This is why sometimes she would stay up all night while most of her friends in the Forest would sleep. She would eat mushrooms, sometimes funny ones, to stay awake.. so she wouldn't dream this.


Kaoori reached the bottom of the stairs, tripping on her feet as she leapt off the last step and following the short dirt path to the small village adjacent to the shrine.
"How.. how could this happen?!" she whispered to herself. "This village has no warriors! What warriors they did have have already been recruited away to become samurai! There are only farmers and old men and women left! And children! I've heard of the villages being raided around us.. but I never thought.. I never thought they'd pick us.. "
She sucked in a breath, rushing into the village as fast and as stealthily as her legs would take her. She could only pray that if she could get some people to the shrine, they would be safe enough.
-----
The village was in chaos. Buildings were burning. Bodies lay everywhere. She heard moaning in the distance, screaming and horse hooves. A frightened dog scampered by her, terrified of the smoke and fighting. Kaoori's heart sank. She was too late..
Walking further, she tripped on something and fell. She hurried to her feet, heart pounding. She had tripped on an arm. It's owner was as still as a stone. Fighting back fear and nausea, Kaoori rushed forward, past a now-empty home where she could hear some cries for help. She did her best to ignore some more bodies, they not moving.
Suddenly the sound of galloping hooves came closer and she slid behind some barrels for cover, nocking an arrow in her bow. If she could get a shot and they couldn't see her, maybe they'd go after some enemy out of the village and she'd have a shot at helping some injured..

This was the part that Kaoori hated. She whimpered in her sleep, and twitched.. almost as if she were trying to wake herself up from the dream. It proved futile. The dream carried on. It would play again in her mind, as it had been, and more recently every night.

Kaoori froze in fear, eyes staring down the steps on the hill to the village down below. The screams continued, multiplied, getting louder, stronger.. what was happening? The sounds of horses' hooves and clanging metal began to fill the air, joining the screaming.

Her eyes widened, and she dropped the broom, running to the shrine. The young miko nearly forgot to breathe when she saw the head priestess.
"Sensei! You've got to come, hurry!"
"Kaoori, what is it no-"
"The village!"
When the elder female saw the panic in the other's eyes, she stood, hurrying after the girl. As they made it to the steps leading down the hill, they saw a figure coming their way. As it came closer, they saw it was a non-threatening one. And wounded.
The man stumbled up the last step, blood dripping down his brow from a head injury and from a wound in his side. As he fell forward, the elder priestess caught him.
"Ah, priestess, I don't want to dirty your kimono.. "
"Nevermind that! What's happening!?"
Kaoori swallowed, ready for the worst.

The man took a deep breath, wincing.
"You both have to get out of here, gather who is left in this shrine and run for your lives. They.. they're killing whoever gets in their way, even the women and children.."
He coughed, and slumped. Kaoori gasped, then choked in a sob.
"Sensei! Is he.."
"No, Kaoori. He is still alive, but barely. I should be able to bandage him. "
The screams down below got louder, and closer,. Kaoori could smell a burning, acrid smell-- the ronin must have started to burn some buildings.
She ran and grabbed a bow and arrow, the only weapon she knew how to use.
" I have to help somehow, sensei!"

The dream faded out, and when it returned, the two-legged seemed a bit older; time seemed to have passed in this dream. But for Kaoori, the dread was still there.
The dream continued.
"Kaoori?"
"Yes, sensei?"
"Please make sure that the steps to the shrine are swept today. You did not do it yesterday, did you? "
"Gomen nasai, sensei. I was out picking vegetables for dinner last night-- "
"Remember our shrine must stay clean. Your parents sent you here to become a priestess, and you must be taught right."

The young one stood up to leave. Her red and white shrine garb matched the purity of the place.
She walked to a room with an altar, kneeled and began to pray, closing her eyes and chanting quietly underneath her breath. She held some prayer beads in her hands. The lighted incense sticks filled the room with the smell of plumwood. Outside, the cherry blossom trees were in full flower, swaying gently in the wind. Some petals caught a breeze and slowly drifted in on the floor. Kaoori opened her eyes, gingerly picking up the petals and putting them to her nose, inhaling their scent.

Kaoori could almost smell it. A sweet fruit-like smell.

Sighing, she got up and walked to the closet, grabbing the small broom and heading outside toward the shrine's torii. She groaned at all the detritus laying around; this could be an all day job.
As she took her first sweep, the wind carried the screams up from the village down below.

------
(omg this is like pulling teeth for me.. I just am having an awful time writing this. I feel like I have it in my head but I can't get it out. )

The dream came again.
She had curled up inside the Great Oak, one of her favorite places. It was peaceful, and its gentle humming could slowly lull her to sleep on a dark empty night in the forest. Before she knew it, she had let sleep take hold.
And that dream had come.

It was of those strange two-legged creatures again. They had no fur. And one of them shared her name. It was a small one, whatever these things were called.. almost like a fawn. Long, jet black hair and skin like porcelain. Her eyes were bright blue, like the sky when it peeks through the Forest. They wore strange pelts over their no-fur.

In the dream, it all made sense...

"Kaoori?"
"Hi, Atsuko!"
"I've brought my pinwheels. Would you like to play with one?"
"Yes! I'd love to! We should go play in the field, don't you think?"
"But the boys may be flying kites.."
"Who cares about the boys?! We could watch anyway, what's the harm in that?"

The girls giggled, and they ran out towards the field, pinwheels in hand. The kimono they wore billowed in the breeze that began to gather.

It seemed like a perfect day to play.

But Kaoori knew better. She had already played out this dream hundreds of times. She twitched, her hind leg kicking out in her sleep.

Kaoori woke up to snow today.. a big suprise to her!


she was so excited she played in the snow for quite some time, chasing the snowflakes.


after a while she grew tired and decided it was time for a nap, and she curled up inside the Great Tree where it is very warm.


she dreamed of pure white deer dancing and playing in the snow and of growing up.



When she awoke... she had antlers and was bigger! She was a doe!


with some help of friends in the forest, she discovered some new forest magic to make herself look different.







by the end of the day, Kaoori had grown up.