For Esakris; Tsintah: The Complete Series
Sunlight trickled down through the emerald leaves, beaming rays of visible light illuminating the ground in shimmering light, now that winter was truly over. Dancing lightly on the ears came the notes of birdsong, as potential mates found each other and young birds were chirping for food from their parents. Deer seemed to glide as they leaped through the air with their fawns; bears emerged from their dens, eyes blinking in the sunlight, as they shook off the drowsiness of their long winter sleep. The animals never took long to adapt to the gradual change of temperature, an act of bestial instinct.
Spring is also the time when apples began to mature; in this forest, fruit blossomed early as the guardians of the forest, giant tree-men, also stirred from their winter slumber. As long as these guardians lived, the forest would always prosper earlier than the other forests in the noisy lands of humans. This forest, and the land around it, existed in a place that could not be reached by the usual transport that existed in the world of humans. It was here that there existed magic, and as long as the guardians existed, this ‘separate’ world was isolated and kept safe.
The denizens of the forest were, of course, nearly all unaware of the existence of multiple worlds, kept busy by their own schedules of day-to-day life, innocent and unaware to any threats, if any existed, that involved anything more dangerous than a natural predator or disaster. The girl that ran and leaped through the forest, one of these innocent citizens of the forest, was more concerned about filling her basket with apples than anything else. Her aptitude at climbing was suited more to rocky hills than tree trunks, hooves caused such trouble and luckily her jumping made up for such a flaw, either jumping up to shake branches or knock apples out of their perches with a well-aimed rock or two. This task occupied Tsintah’s morning as small tufts of white fur, leftover from the winter, fell off her body as they caught on branches, bushes, or on their own.
As noon approached, her basket was nearly full! Following her routine route that she had memorized since she could remember, rushing towards that final tree. Skipping forward towards a row of bushes, excitement welled up inside Tsintah as she anticipated the taste of ripe apples; and even more, sharing them with Dyani. She skidded to a halt, suddenly, as the excitement was snatched away, viciously, and replaced with a tense feeling of danger. She caught the sight of an unfamiliar thing, draped in a dark brown and green robe and hood, as she slid across the grass and slipped, falling into the row of foliage. She would have jumped over it under normal occasions, but she fell onto her back into the pointy sticks, apples and basket soared over the bushes and in front of the robed figure. Tsintah tried to wiggle free, the bushes rustling more furiously as the brown figure rose, slowly stepping forward to pick up the basket woven out of river reeds.
No! No, no, no! Dyani had made that basket just for her! Tsintah shivered as the figure gazed in her direction, stepping forward as her fearful imagination took flight. Through the leaves, it looked as if it were towering over the world itself, a face shrouded in darkness and despair. She could smell fresh earth, herbs, and flowers as a gloved leather hand reached out of the robe for her. This was when Tsintah, filled with fright, began to struggle the most, but the branches and thorns poked her in sensitive places and pulled her into an embrace that she didn’t want. Tsintah let out a bleat, as the soft leather gloved touched her arm and gave her a hefty pull out of the thorny bushes.
Tsintah expected the worst, peering through her hair for the nearest escape. Her imagination was pushed away by reality, though the figure was still taller than her and, she thought, even taller than Dyani. The figure was masculine in shape, not as wraith-like as he seemed from where she was in the bushes, with the edges of a dark brown beard, even darker than the earthy color of his robe, peeking out of his cowl. His touch as she was lifted to her hooves felt gentle and sincere, though her face still turned a bright red. Covering herself up, she swiftly took the basket that the man offered her, and ran away into the forest. Leaving the apples behind, fear of the man had overcome any thought of retrieving the apples. The robed man watched her leave, gathering up the apples that the goat-girl had dropped, and set the fruits down beside him as he returned to his seat by the base of the apple tree. Closing his eyes, the man returned to his silent meditation. His brown robes seemed to melt into the grass and earth, as the forest continued to ignore him… except for Tsintah.
Prone on the ground, she peered around a tree, watching the strange man. Had she seen him before? Remember as far back as she could, she retrieved nothing. The sun glided two hours past noon and she still observed. The robed, and hooded, stranger was as still and solid as a tree, it was as if he was a tree, a strange one at that. Inching forward on her belly, with basket in hand, Tsintah made her way towards the pile of apples. The man never moved, even when she was close enough to reach the apples. At a hurried pace, she pulled each ripe apple into the woven basket, glancing back and forth between man and fruit. Did she just saw him twitch? She would stare and he would do nothing, this would last a few minutes before she returned to the urgent task at hand: get all the apples back!
Just as she was about to grab the last apple, the gloved hand appeared again! Tsintah jumped as the man grabbed the apple. “You are much sneakier than most I know, I almost didn’t see you.” He chuckled as her face turned a bright red at being caught. He continued, “And you would make a good apple, yourself, being so red all the time.”
The joke flew over her head, as she reached for the apple. “P-Please?”
He shook his head, “What is your name?” The man pulled the apple away, barely out of her reach.
Tsintah squirmed, hesitating to answer, bleating a moment before answering, “Ts-Tsintah.”
The robed man set the apple in his lap. Tsintah died a little inside, both reaching for it and trying to cover herself up at once, but pulling back her hand as the man moved again. “I am Ogrun.” The man picked up the apple, again, tossing it gently into the basket. “Those are good apples,” he pointed upward, Tsintah’s eyes followed, “I had a few.”
Staring up at the empty branches of the tree, and then down at the man that smelled of earth, herbs, and flowers, Tsintah frowned. Picking herself up, her hands covering up her personal parts, she turned and dashed furiously into the forest.
Ogrun watched her leave, shrugging lightly, “Good to meet you, too.” He pulled back his hood to scratch his scalp, his hair draping down just past his shoulders. His dark eyes admiring the forest around him with a few glances, before he reached into his rope for the last apple that came from the tree above him.
A few days passed after the ‘incident’ with the strange robed man. Since then, Tsintah had been more careful around her apples, even going so far as to take her time and keep an eye out for any strangers, any animals were ignored since they didn’t stare at her like others did; this lasted for two days. Tsintah eventually relaxed about being watched or her fruits being stolen. With Dyani’s basket in hand, she continued frolicking through the forest to collect berries, pears, apples, and other fruits that grew within the large forest.
With a basket full of fruits, Tsintah eventually reached a river. Her ears twitched at the babbling current of water, the crystal clear image that could be seen through the river’s surface. The goat-girl paused, glanced around, and then paused again. Did Dyani say something about the river once? Oh! It was about how dirty she gets running around in the forest; probably a sideways comment, though Tsintah took it as criticism. Setting her basket down, she leaped into the river with a splash before the cold stream sent a sharp shiver up her spine. Dashing for the shore, she slipped on some stones, submerging herself in the water, before reaching dry ground. Huffing a bit, Tsintah decided that washing in the river was not worth the cold water, taking a roll or two in the grass to dry off.
Then, she heard a voice that she didn’t hear too long ago. “Ah, nice berries you’ve picked.”
After a tense moment, she slowly glanced up. The robe man from before; except without a hood! He smiled with a small wave, his long hair was a light brown that reached down just past his shoulders and his beard was at least two inches long. “Hello again.”
In reply, Tsintah let out a panicked bleat, lying belly down on the ground. Ogrun took an apple, and offered it to her, “Here, relax a bit.”
The goat-girl took the apple slowly, covering her chest with her other arm. Biting into the apple, she stared at the man as she ate, watching every move carefully. She didn’t want to leave Dyani’s basket behind again, nor did she want to go back for it. Tsintah had a gut feeling that this stranger wouldn’t leave the basket all alone, since he’s already helping himself to a pear.
A few minutes after she had finished her apple, the robed man reached into a bag underneath his cloak. “You might find this interesting.” Ogrun casually remarked, glancing up to see he caught Tsintah’s interest. He pulled out a strange pair of leather straps, it looked like nothing that Tsintah had ever seen before. “Try it on.” Tsintah stared at the two leather pieces, they were like straps put together in the strangest way; two soft maple leaves were sewn into one piece and the other had only one maple leaf. Very strange things. “I thought that since you’re so shy, this might help. Not that I’m looking, I’m not interested.” He chuckled, though the reason for his chuckled soared over Tsintah’s head.
She was silent, trying to figure out how these leather objects worked. She struck an arm through one loop, then another… No, that’s not right. She tried again, turned away from Ogrun, of course, as the gears in her head worked to figure out this mystery. One arm went through this way, and another… This time seemed all right after so many tries; the two leaves covered her chest. It felt strange and a little itchy. At the leftover leather piece, it didn’t take long to figure that out… Then it was backwards. The second attempt was much more successful, though still feeling strange. Tsintah let out another bleat, her face blushed red, not enjoying this gift at all. Turning around, and still covering herself, she took the basket and left Ogrun by the tree.
Now alone, the man shrugged, “She didn’t like it, I can tell…” Staying relaxed, the man blended into the tree that he leaned against and into the wilderness surrounding him; none of the animals or anyone were any wiser about the druid’s presence.
Behind some bushes, Tsintah pulled off the strange leather cords and straps. Staring at them both in her hand, she bit her lip. She had no use for these… Then an idea came. Maybe Dyani will know what to do with these! With that idea, she continued on her way through the forest, excited about seeing Dyani again and what she would think about these strange items.
