She who can talk with animal

The young man knelt down, examining the blood trail and the prints that lead away, it was his prey. He looked around wearily, having gone deeper into the forest. This place was forbidden by the village he lived in, it was sacred to a spirit, and if the spirit caught anyone in this area, they were never heard from again. He sighed before trekking deeper, he would get his prey, and get the heck out as fast as possible, that stag would finish the needed supplies for the upcoming winter, so he had to hurry and get it. As he trekked deeper and deeper into the forest, following the trail, he noticed that it was also getting wilder and wilder. This was no longer the normal wild, flowers seemed to blossom to amazing sizes, the trees seem laden with fruits that made his mouth water. He had to ignore the changes to focus on his trail. Ahead he heard a sound, it was the stag and it was making noises of pain. He slowed to almost a crawl, staying as quiet as he could as he slipped further and further into the forest. Drawing his bow he stopped at the edge of a clearing, there was the stag, laying beside a lake. Its brown fur darkened by the blood that oozed from a wound in its side, the arrow was no longer in the wound though. The young man noticed beside the stag was a pile of something white, it looked like…bandages. He knocked his bow aiming at the stag.

“I’m back.” Came a female voice as a young woman suddenly came into view, she wore a dirty brown dress, no shoes and her thick blond hair was wild with some plant life poking out of it. She had tan skin and freckles, her eyes though, were a color he hadn’t seen on anyone before, an ice blue. No one in his village had that color of eyes, most were maybe green, and a lot of brown, no blue, especially no blue that looked like ice. She settled by the deer, dabbing at the wound with one of the cloth, having put something on it, a salve maybe? The stag made noises, looking around wildly. “He won’t come in here, no one does, it’s my little sacred area, and they believe me to be a spirit…” She continued to talk, as if the deer could understand her…or she could understand it. The stag settled down, still making noises, but less panicky noises. The young man lowered his bow, unknocking his arrow as he watched her tend to the injured deer, was this the spirit? She looked human, all but the eyes, maybe that’s how you could tell a spirit from a human? He watched as she wrapped the wound. “You must stay here, Oakstep, if you wish to heal properly.” She had named it? Wait, if she was a spirit, there was a chance that it merely told her its name, if it had one. He honestly didn’t know. Suddenly there was a loud screech and he felt claws grab his arm and yank at him, he looked up to see a huge black bird, snapping its beak at him and trying to drag him out from his hiding spot, he cursed under his breath, having allowed himself to stop being alert and pay attention to his surroundings. His father would be ashamed of him.

           “Who is there?” He looked up to see the woman running over. He tried to swat the bird away, to get loose so he could run, but no matter how hard he tried, the bird held on, even gave him some wounds for trying. “What are you doing here!” He looked to the woman who stopped a little bit away, a long spear in her hands now, she held it as if she knew what she was doing, and held the sharp black rocked tip at him. He threw his hands up, dropping his bow.

“I mean you no harm!” He said quickly, hoping this would work. “I merely was following my prey.”

“Prey?” She glanced back, then to him. “Oakstep?” He nodded hesitantly.

“I…I hunt for my family, my father can no longer do so, and my siblings are still too young…my mother.” He paused biting his lip, thinking about his mother who had passed in the fall. “Passed before the leaves started to fall.” He finished, he had heard a spirit could tell if you were lying, and he knew it was unwise to deceive such a creature. She lowered her spear slowly.

“You speak the truth, or at least as far as Nightwing can tell.” She said. She sighed rubbing her face slightly. “You do not overhunt? Destroy nature needlessly?” She asked. He shook his head.

“Only enough to survive, I only ever over hunt before the first fall of snow, and only enough to survive the winter.” He explained. She chewed on her lip, glancing at him, then back to the Stag.

“…Hold on, Nightwing, watch him.” She then walked over to the stag, laying down her spear. She whispered to it, it made noises of distress before quieting down and laying it’s head in her hands, she took it by the antlers…and then violently twisted its head, a loud crack filled the woods, and the stag went limp, eyes rolling back into its head. She looked to him before signaling him to come over. He hesitantly came over, but only after checking and making sure his ward was undamaged. It had been the last thing his mother gave him. “Here,” She said. “Take this and feed your family.” She heaved the dead stag over to him.

“What…what did you tell it?” He asked softly.

“I told him that I believed it was time for him to leave this earth, and to return to the cycle of nature. I told him that his death would feed others and allow them to live long, he was scared, as all creatures are, of death, but I told him he wouldn’t feel a thing, so he allowed me to kill him.” She explained, tucking the bandages she hadn’t used in a bag, she cut off the ones she had placed on the stag.

“He could understand you?” He asked. She nodded.

“Yes, as I him.” She explained. “I was born understanding animals…I had been chased out of my village, deemed a monster for something that to me, was so trivial, it is no different that you speaking to me.” She said.

“You…aren’t a spirit?” She shook her head.

“Just a young woman.” She said. “I am Rosalind, what is your name?”

“I…I am Conor.” He said, he glanced at her. “May…May I visit again?” She blinked surprise.

“If you keep my secret.” She finally said after thinking about it.

“What secret is that?” He asked.

“Well, that I am human…that I speak to animals…” She said. “And where I live.” Conor nodded.

“I will, I don’t dare brag about being the only one that escaped your land alive, they may think me changed.” She gave a small giggle.

“True, wait, what do you mean you would be the only one left alive? I don’t know of anyone coming into this part of the forest.” A caw came and she looked to the large black bird. “What do you mean he kills other humans?” He frowned now confused as she talked with the bird. She finally grabbed her bag and dug out a small leather strip with an odd stone on it, it looked like a normal stone but it was etched with an odd design. “Here, apparently, one of the wolf packs that roam this part of the woods, my pack to be truthful, attack humans that dare to tred here, if they see or smell this, they will leave you be, just make sure they can see it. You can lift your arm up and show them.” She explained. “They probably are fearful that I will be harmed.”

“Why are they your wolf pack?” She gave a grin.

“They raised me after I was chased from my village, the Alpha took me in, claiming I was a wolf trapped in a humans body. Then again, all the animals think I am their kind trapped in a humans body, I don’t correct them, I very much could be.” Conor nodded grabbing his bow, he looked to her, hesitating again, part of him was glad his dad couldn’t see this, he hated it when Conor hesitated, ‘your as good as dead if you hesistate.’ Was his fathers favorite phrase.

“I will not be back until sometime after the first flower.” She smiled and nodded.

“I would hope so, you help plant, correct?” He nodded. “I will see you then, Conor, Nightwing will lead you to the border.” He nodded heaving the deer over his shoulder, it was heavy, but years of hulling large chunks of wood made it easier for him. He waved goodbye before following the large bird out of the clearing and into the forest. Rosalind watched him leave, before sighing slightly. She turned to the other side of the clearing and heading towards it, going to where she slept for the night. She couldn’t wait until he visited again.