Tsuki woke in a panic, her hands reaching forward in a protective motion. Beads of sweat and tears were rolling down her face as she screamed like a rusty train. Her voice was raspy from her dry throat, and she billowed out painful coughs one after the other. Her cough contrasted the calming ringing that began to somehow annoy her. It was glass, it should break from the constant impacts after all. For some reason, the idea of ramming herself into the temple to destroy it went through her mind, but she soon realized that it would be impossible for multiple reasons. The first was her leg which was caked in dry blood caused by the monster who bit her and the pain she felt from it indicated that running would now be impossible. She was thankful for her blood to be as disgusting and thick as it was since it might have been the thing that allowed her to not die from blood loss. The second issue was a giant wolf with porcupine quills on its back that was sitting just in front of Tsuki.

It stood in front of the temple, blood dripping from its mouth, and the wolf pup laying in front of it while breathing with difficulty. The giant wolf looked serene as verdant fur on its side floated in the wind and its protective eyes looked at Tsuki.

Tsuki didn’t know what had transpired after getting bitten by the disgusting monster. It had injected her with its saliva which acted like anesthesia. The side which was bitten still felt fluffy and lacked most of its responsiveness. If she could have seen her droopy face or her sleepy eyes in a mirror, she might have died from embarrassment. As she was still taking her time to stand back up, the wolf took this opportunity to move toward her with a small limp. Some of the quills on its right-side hind legs were broken and the leg showed a large gnarly wound. It took Tsuki by the back of her cloth with its bloody mouth to then drag her just in front of the glass temple. She tried to fight against the wolf with lazy movement until she heard a small ‘screash’ from her cloth which made her stop any and all movement. Hopefully, she didn’t tear her cloth too much.

“Destination, the temple made of strong glass reached. Please, softly unload the very delicate passenger on th – Blehb!” Tsuki tried to communicate her hope but be it that the wolf didn’t understand her or that it simply didn’t care, it simply dropped her to the ground. She was thankful for still being under anesthesia since she didn’t feel much pain.

She had landed in a way that the wolf pup was just in front of her. It had a hole in its chest that showed part of its ribs. That is for the dry parts... It had a similar bite mark as the one on Tsuki’s leg but worse and deeper. Death was looming over its head. All it could do was suffer and wait for its inevitable liberation. Tsuki could imagine the grim reaper waiting on its knee for this young soul to say its last goodbye and ready itself for the oncoming journey.

Tsuki looked around herself, lost for words as to what to do and also worried by the horde of monsters who should have been attacking them. Yet, there was no sight of any monster. Not even the body of the one that attacked her, the blood around the large wolf’s mouth and its numerous wounds told the entire story. The small blue bird flew down in front of Tsuki and placed its small head on Tsuki’s forehead. It was as if it was trying to comfort her. It then flew on the dying pup, pulling a bit of fur which was rewarded by it being lightly squashed under the heavy paw of the wolf. The scene of a panicked flattened bird squawking strange sounds while erratically fluttering its majestic wings managed to incite a laugh from Tsuki. When the bird was finally freed from the paw, it flew a short distance away, far enough that it could fly away if the big bad wolf decided to eat it.

Tsuki suddenly felt something cold touch her left outer thigh just after having managed to prop herself into a sitting position. She didn’t panic like last time as she understood that it was simply the small snake touching her. The small venomous snake who managed to bring down a monster that was a thousand times its size… Now, this did scare her a bit but looking down at it, she couldn’t see any shred of violent intention from this strange scaly rope. She even found it cute with its rainbow-colored back. Still, it was acting strangely. It acted like a house cat who smelled something nice toward the box that was tied to Tsuki’s side. She had yet to open it and it made her curious as to what might be inside.

The box itself was made from soft red wood with minuscule engravings of swimming fish. To open it, she had to unlock a metal latch and then slide the cover. It uncovered a small knife made of dark metal. The pummel had three black strings tied to it and they mixed with the white leather around the handle. Following up, the guard was simple but had the image of a fish swimming in what looked to be the moon in a cloisonne of silver, an unknown dark metal, and transparent crystals. The flat sides of the blade depicted the same fish stuck in a prison of kelps.

The snake looked at the blade shortly and looked back at Tsuki to then prop her hand with its small head, inciting her to take the blade. She did so and was surprised by how heavy it was. She tried to get a feel of this weapon and her first swing caused her to clumsily drop it. Before it could even touch the ground, it transformed into a dark mist. The mist then rushed toward Tsuki’s left wrist and wrapped around it. It spun and spun around her wrist until it transformed into a soft brown cloth. She instantly pulled on the piece of cloth after getting scared by the sudden course of events which made the blade manifest again in her right hand, without being ready for this change the knife was sent flying and almost hit the bird before returning in a misty form and then back to the cloth.

The wolf then sat in a way that the dying wolf was between Tsuki and itself. It looked at Tsuki calmly yet intensely. Or more precisely, it looked at the brown cloth that was now tied around her wrist. Tsuki didn’t understand what they all found interesting with this blade when there was a dying pup just in front of them… and it only then dawned on her. Her confused look was met with a sort of acknowledgment from the giant in front of her as it closed its eyes, its head was low, and lacking any proudness its size should have brought it…

Did she really have to taint her hands, the white and innocent hands of Alice? If it had been her own body, her disgusting and tainted body which knew the darkest secrets of life… she wouldn’t have minded spilling blood. But Alice’s… Tsuki didn’t want to do it. She wanted to protect Alice’s purity like a preserved flower. Yet, what would Alice have done? Tsuki hated herself but she had to do what was right. She had to do what Alice would have told her to do in this kind of situation.

Tsuki pulled on the cloth once more, manifesting the blade in her hand. It was cold and heavy. An object that is designed to require the warmth of others to make itself useful. Heavy in nature, not from the material used in its making but from the burden of using it rightly. She took the blade and put it under the dying wolf’s neck. Petting its delicate head, she looked at the larger one who she guessed was its parent. “Please, forgive yourself. If you must, put all your hate on me alone for what I shall do…” She said with a tinge of sadness toward the pup’s parent. With practiced motions, she pulled the pup’s head upward, making its neck taunt. Then the blade slid inward to one side and came back in the same motion, cutting the pup’s blood flow to its brain. She then turned the body so that it could look at its mother. The mother coiled back at the sight of its dying young, panicked eyes and as Tsuki had said, anger welled up toward the girl. But the pup calming down at the sight of its mother managed to cool the mother.

Lantern over the verdant grass. Cease your flickering.

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Stones flung by the tempest will. Wielded to gift you red scabs.

Testing the flame that you protect.

Broken frame, dripping oil. You were too young for the tempest.

The lamplighter was late to act. To protect your thin frame.

Left and right she ran, only you she managed to care for.

Do not flicker your dying flame.

Set it ablaze, burning bright and strong.

Show your love before the world wakes up.

Before you go to bed under your verdant grass…

In a surprising show of strength, the young animal managed to lift itself, wasting more of its precious energy and time.

It took a step forward, its teary eyes rolled slowly toward the back of its head. Its tongue moved wildly as if trying to taste the smell of its mother. The red collar at its neck now painted the fur of its mother’s paw.

The condemned placed its head on its mother’s nose. In an impossible fight against short spasms, it trusted its loved one to hold him during this scary night.

“3, 2, 1…” Tsuki counted down and began to walk toward the young beast. This action was met by growling from the mother, but the vibration of this revolt was enough to tip the balance of its child and it fell on its side without any movement. It had already left this world…

“Thou may recall the blooming hydrangea and the delicate lilac foretold by your swelling belly,” Tsuki said to the ravaged wolf. “Cracked flesh, saggy skin, and fiery nerves, when the moon became round, thy cry planted a handful of dandelion seedlings. This is a shame, but better be you who blow words of love than an impromptus snowfall…”

Tsuki and the beast looked at one another for some time. Until the girl whispered a warning: “Beast, warm thy child. The winter is coming for it…”

Her cold trailing words were filled with wisdom that the mother had yet to understand. But she soon did with its young filled with life anew… In the form of short spasms. Its legs kicking the air. It wasn’t dreaming of running in a field, it was just its body remembering to have done so. But this wasn’t something the mother knew. She chose to hold her young close to herself with the belief that it was leaving for a better forest.

This was a strange quirk of Tsuki. Whenever someone wanted to buy meat from her, she would find a way to implicate her clients in the gruesome prosses. Sending her animals to a slaughterhouse? She would never. She saw that her flock grew well and that they died with their due respect. The little shepherd by the daffodil field was known as a cruel one. She was found by her mistress when stories were shared that Tsuki managed to hide a human ear in the meal of one of her client’s kids. There were so many wrong things she did, most she had forgotten, none she regretted.

❀

“Any rite you wish for me to do?” Tsuki said. “Ha right. You can’t talk…Ha…my tools. Not much I can do.”

She racked her brain for an idea that could lighten the mood but was suddenly taken aback by the wolf letting out a powerful yet mournful howl.

“Shut your trap dumb dog!!! Those things will hear you!” Tsuki screamed, her voice breaking the melodious howl. But her plight was only answered by more howling from the wolf. “Ya trying to kill me now?”

'Smack smack smack' Tsuki gave a few ineffective kicks to the wolf. It stopped its howling after sensing a small and annoying mosquito bugging it.

Wolf this, wolf that. The giant wol- animal was getting annoyed at this girl even though she had done what it wasn't able to. Understanding the girl's offer to perform some kind of rite on the last of its kids got it intrigued. The wolf lowered herself to allow Tsuki to see the dangling bone necklace which was engraved with her name: "Shamala". It was the name her master gave her many years ago.

But the girl didn't notice, all too scared of the many sharp teeth in the wolf’s mouth.

"I said I didn't have my tools you dumb dog," said Tsuki trying to back away from the situation.

In turn, Shamala simply kept looking at the girl without making a sound "..."

"What ya looking at now? Can't even bury it. No shovel. Why don't you dig a hole with those litl…big and sharp claws of yours?"

"..."

"Why you!"

"..."

"If I can't bury it then what? Want me to pray to one of your doggy gods? To the great bones in the sky?"

"..."

"If you don't give a name, I can't do anything. I'll pray to Alice, my one true goddess then!"

Shamala was able to understand what the girl was saying. As such, she lifted her head, swaying it left and right. She wanted the girl to look at her necklace as the name of her owner was behind it, next to the name of her owner's husband and child. Shamala wanted the girl to pray to her defund owner so that this owner of her could look after her pup just like she did when she, herself, was just a wounded pup on the road…

But Tsuki was scared of the massive head that could swallow her whole at a moment's notice. Thus, she took it that the wolf didn't want her to pray to Alice.

"Fine, then how about Aysha?" Tsuki said, "I saw her name on a stone somewhere."

This wasn't a name Shamala was familiar with. She did know that it was someone of great importance to this forest. But how and why, that she didn't know.

When Tsuki said this name, the wolf's ears perked up. It in turn made her think that she needed to pray to whoever this Aysha was.

Without batting an eye and wanting to leave quickly, Tsuki took the corpse of the dead wolf and placed it in front of the annoying glass altar. Then, she began praying. Her green and blue eyes closed, her voice enchanting, she said:

“Falling leaves from a night foretold. Engraving, protecting, your legend rest by a lonesome and unnamed tree, but your exploit empowers our very sight. I pray to you, not for me, nor for any guidance. I pray to you for this poor sod. I beg for you to guide it to a place of rest. I pray that you can dispel any sadness it may have. Without its due protection, I look to you, you whose exploit as savior amazes me. I beg that you find protection for this young, this young who left us too soon…”

She was scared to open her eyes. When she did open them, everything was the same with one exception. The corpse was replaced with a necklace of a blue crystalline leaf.

"Dog!" Tsuki exclaimed in panic. “Where’s your dog? No, wait! I didn't do this!"

"..." Shamala responded with silence. She hadn't closed her eyes while the weird girl was doing her speech. She saw a ghostly figure walk toward her young child. It then touched it with its fingertips and the pup’s body and soul began to morph into a small azure star. The surrounding grass and flower began to decay at a fast pace, which made the star expand into the leaf that was now on the ground. Shamala knew she had seen a god…

Tsuki panicked and tried to fit the necklace around the wolf’s head, but the string which was transmuted from simple dirt wasn't long enough. It was also when she noticed the bone necklace around the wolf’s head, but it scared her even more.

Shamala looked for some time at the young girl in front of her. She was trying to understand what the goodly figure wanted to do. It had created a necklace from her dead child’s body and soul and then attached it to a string that could only be wound up around the annoying girl’s neck…Shamala wanted to bite off that annoying scared face…but there had to be a reason for what this god did.

The wolf turned around disgruntled and left, leaving Tsuki alone with the snake. The bird left some time ago to find tasty seeds. It didn’t know the others before this event and didn’t care about their current plight. As for the small snake, it looked silly with its small, forked tongue hanging down like a dog. It forced a small laugh out of Tsuki, melting slightly her nervousness.

Now that the adrenaline was starting to fall, she started to feel the gnarly wound on her leg. It was the same that the young wolf had. Albeit the one on Tsuki wasn’t as deep. It created a twisting flower pattern of red. She found it lucky that it was already starting to heal but still internally cursed how it was unjust that Alice, who never really got hurt in the past, was able to heal quickly. As compared to Tsuki who often got hurt while climbing trees or just having fun.

Tsuki had many questions about what happened, but she was able to gain precious information. The forest was infested with dangerous monsters and usual animals, some altered like the giant porcupine wolf. With the paper strips she had in her bag, she could infer that being similar to her existed, or at the very least, had once existed.

She understood she couldn’t stay too long in this location. Something was bound to come if she did stay, and she might not be as lucky as she was with the wolf.

There was a path made from dead grass which led deeper into the forest. Tsuki could see that the surrounding of the glass temple was made from similar dead plants and other vegetation. So, she linked the small road of dead grass as being a safe path. But just before leaving, she made sure to pet the small snake and found a long stick she could use as a clutch.