Her name was...

[Oicha]

A sound like a thunderous march of thousands of calvary beat in my ear. The pain is overwhelming, I thought I could barely feel pain in this body. How silly, that I could never feel my fingertips, but I can feel my body being torn apart.

At least it survived. My core. That singular Lumin Blossom that floats down into the hands of the one I protected in the end.

Everything is over in a snap! 

These familiar sounds and sensations. I remember everything now. Who I was, what I was. Ears perk up, perched above my head. Even in this spiritual form, that part of me never left. I wonder why it never appeared on the tree. It even started to look like me.

"Welcome back shishishishishi..."

Her voice. The voice of our mother. Ah, I must be back in Vanaheim. I look up and see her face. I look around and see my friends crowding around me. So many smiles, so much grief and sadness. The realm of the Huntress, the Mother of Forests, she who shares our grief.

"Did you enjoy your time back on Meranthe?"

"I did! Your Lumin King is so lovely. And all of the others I met as well. I was so glad to be able to meet them all. Truly a blessing I could never thank you enough for, mother." She smiles at me, and offers me her hand. A silly gesture, our bodies are all spiritual. I don't need help up. Yet I take it regardless.

"Wonderful shishishishi...." The hushed whisper graces my ears again. It's in her honey smooth voice, but yet I can't grasp what name she is calling me. "They really seemed to love you as much as you loved them, you know?"

I nod with a proud smile on my face. Remembering all the faces of my new friends. I look up at her once more as scores of spiritual friends come to surround me in love and comfort. "Mother, may I ask you a question?" She nods. "Why did you choose me? I am hardly the greatest warrior among those present. And with the Invasion that came to their doorstep..." 

She shushes me with a finger placed forwards. "You are not. You were not. But they did not need more warriors, did they? You did exactly what I bid you do when I sent you to them. You gave them a deep joy that will stay with them. Even in this darkest chapter in their lives."

I find myself sniffling at the thought, trembling lips trying to force a smile.

"I gave them exactly what they needed. A friend. An Ursidae's spirit who knew boundless love for nature, and her fellow man." She laughs softly, the sound of an orchestra full of gentle harps and stringed instruments of all kinds. "And, what was the name of the one I sent to them? The name they'll hold in their hearts and cherish as a beacon of joy for the rest of their days?"

"Her name was..."


Canopy