I didn’t sleep a minute longer, and Eri didn’t return. I was glad that no one is close enough that I can hurt them. First there was blood on my hands, but now I felt them turn to ice. It wasn’t humanly possible, one moments they are frozen and then another they aren’t. And I’m afraid of the unknown, I have no idea what to do about this now. I don’t even feel the beast, was it him that is making me feel like this.
I stay in bed, wrapped in Kakashi’s blankets. His warmth is the only thing that keeps me from becoming consumed in ice. Its hard to remember the feeling of being warm, the feeling of being safe, and sure of myself. I stared at the pictures again, and then someone poofs inside the room. It was Tomoko.
“Its today. Today you begin your journey.” She stands at the edge of the bed. I sit up, she feels so warm.
“If we don’t go now, you’re condition will worsen. Your conscious is battling you, and at the moment you don’t know what path to choose. We have to make sure you choose the right path. I’m sure you’re own destruction will be the destruction of humanity,” Tomoko sounds a bit urgent. I try to speak, but she is weaving her feathers rapidly. For a split second I feel nothing, and then I see my surroundings change. I am no longer in bed I am in the middle of a forest. Everywhere I turned there were trees, nothing but trees. It was dense too. Tomoko was on the lowest branch of a tree closest to me.
Tomoko grabs my shirt, pulling me somewhere. I stumble over the roots, its hard to move through a thick forest.
“Tomoko where are you taking me?” I tell her. I can’t feel my feet anymore. I think I am turning into a block of ice.
“Just walk faster!” She flaps her wings faster. My toes barely touch the floor, she was carrying me the best she could.
“At my age, this sure isn’t easy,” I hear her grunt. I feel the warmth getting closer, I close my eyes to savor the warmth. I want to feel like this forever, fuzzy and safe. I can feel it wrap itself around me like a blanket.
“Here we are,” Tomoko says. I open my eyes, I see a steaming pond in the middle of a small clearing. Tomoko falls closer, the heat nipping at my toes. Tomoko dips me into the hot spring. clothes and all. It burns my skin first, but it melts the ice away. I can feel it deep inside me, taking all of the ice with it. I don’t remember when I’ve felt this warm. The water sizzles, but all I can do is smile and close my eyes.
“Looks like its keeping the darkness at bay, good. If you’re feeling strong enough, you should get out. We only have about four days of training.”
“Four?”
“Well Kakashi is away for four days. When he arrives it will be harder to manage your time. We must keep this a secret for as long as we can. No one should know where you are going off to.” Tomoko is impatient, looking west. I turn to see, and I can’t believe it slipped my field of vision.
There stood the largest tree in earth. The same tree that I saw when Tomoko appeared in my mind. Except now it was quadruple the size. Trees surrounding it looked like overgrown broccoli. The leaves were enormous, I didn’t know how it hasn’t collapsed in itself yet. I’ve only been in the water for a few minutes, but it sucked away the ice completely. My fingers were no longer turning blue like I imagined they were.
“Come on we need to get started,” Tomoko begins to pull on my wet shirt, but I yanked my sleeve from her claws.
“I- I need to know what we are going to do, and why. How did that water make me feel like new? Why did I feel so cold? And why is that tree so titanic?” I point to the tree.
“There is no time for that,”
“Like hell there is! I am not going to go into something blindly. I may be unstable but I am not crazy. You can’t honestly think I will do what you say because I am the ‘chosen one.’ What is the deal with me being peace! I need answers now!” I demanded. I hear Tomoko sigh. She flaps herself to a low tree.
“You want answers. Well can you trust me enough to tell you that all the answers are there. In that titanic tree. You asked and you will receive an answer. And do not worry about hurting anyone, you are the only human here,” Tomoko is serious now, much more calmer now that she knows I will not be turning into an icicle.
“Where am I?” I ask her and begin walking to the large tree as she soars beside me.
“We are in Shikkotsu Woods, you probably have not heard of it, only one other human has seen this forest and lived another day,”
“What? So I might die here?”
“If you do not respect nature, than yes. Look we are here, the outer roots of the home tree,” I see the sun begin to disappear behind the wall. wall it was, but they were called roots. They were tall, and I felt like I had shrunk to miniature size. I was nothing more than ant next to this tree. Tomoko takes the lead, and I follow right behind her. After I got out of the steaming pond, I feel like the old me. The warm, not weak, healthy me, and I hope this isn’t some kind of illusion because I don’t want to go back to where I was. I wanted to stay like this, I’m not so afraid to be around Tomoko anymore. I was still afraid to face Eri, and everyone else. I don’t know if I am a hundred percent stable. The bark of tree looks old, very worn, and very smooth. The color was dark and uneven. And by the smell and size, its been on earth for a very long time. The million dollar question was why? Why am I the chosen one, how on earth did I become peace? Nothing is making sense, the feeling of ice, the darkness that was at the center of it. Then the water that seemed to have melted it away. I was in this lonely and scary forest, where I might die if I don’t respect nature.
I look where I am stepping, I don’t want to accidently step on a bug and die, or something. We walk to the other side of the tree, it took much longer than I thought it would, but Tomoko didn’t explain anything further to me. I was in the dark again.
“Here we are, Sage Moriko. The oldest sage that has ever lived,” Tomoko says. she flaps her wings and begins to shrink. She is a normal owl size, so she rests on my shoulder. I look for the sage but I can’t find the old man that I expected to see. Tomoko points up, I look in that direction.
There was a middle aged woman there. She was wrapped in bark, and I thought she wouldn’t be able to move at all, but then she disappears. Tomoko turns my face back in front of me and there is the middle aged women in front of me. I don’t know how she moved so quickly but she did. Now that I see her standing so close, I see her eyes are much older than what she lead on to be. Her eyes are ancient. Those eyes should be in the sockets of an old lady. And her hair should white as ash, but it isn’t. Its honey brown like syrup. Her skin should be porcelain thin, but it is healthy and radiant. Her lips are thin, and she is a very lanky woman. She sure didn’t look like a sage.
Tomoko bows, and I do the same.
“Kiyoko I’ve been waiting your arrival. Thank you for coming to my forest,” She speaks. Her voice is small, but husky. “And no need to repeat your questions. I have already heard them. Come I will answer them all,” She moves gracefully. Tomoko follows obediently, I have no way to get out of this place, I don’t even know where this forest is, so I follow. Truth lies in her hands, I just hope it is no longer any false information. I have to trust them, maybe, just maybe they can answer questions I have always asked myself. The tree trunk suddenly opens in front of Sage Moriko and Tomoko, I stumble after them. I go through and find the inside of the tree hollow. And then I see many animals scurry on way and the other. There are railings and floors built inside the tree. This is where the animals of this forest lives. The tree trunk closes us in, the sage walks over to a small section of the tree, I follow. She moves her hands and a room appears before us. Tomoko and I step in while Sage Moriko closes us.
“I’ll start off with the size of this tree. That was one of your question, correct?” She sits before us, Tomoko takes the liberty to sit on my shoulder again, while I sit on the wooden chair that popped in the room. I had a hunch that she was the sage of wood technique, and if she did, then maybe Hashirama senju, trained here.
“This is the oldest tree alive, and I was the one who grew it and still take care of it. It is my home, and it is my life force.”
“How old are you exactly?”
“Now, now, don’t you know better than to ask a lady her age. I am old enough to have known the sage of the six paths and to know the great toad sage Gamamaru. We still are very good friends,” She smiles as if she doesn’t think time is a big deal. And there is that name again. The sage of the six paths.
“Now this is where I will reveal to you all that I know. And why you are peace,” Sage Moriko lifts her hand and a green sprout begins to grow from a wall. It spits out a clear ball, like you would see in a fortune telling shop. And then images begin to appear. This was it, my story.
“Let me tell you, that this tree records every single person who lived. It records deaths and births. That is why it is so titanic. So ten years ago I received a vision. THe chosen one did not exist. I simply thought it was a false vision, but you, Kiyoko do not exist in my data. You are not recorded in this tree,”
“How is that possible?” I ask. I mean of course I exist. Then I remember the dream, the dream where I didn’t exist, and no one saw me. Maybe this is a connection to it.
“I do not know. Never in my life has this happened. You do not exist so you are a chosen one. The vision showed me what you are to do. You are to learn and become a sage of the forest. You are peace, and for now there is no immediate danger, however I predict about three years into the future that will change. Tomoko and I will guide you, and when the time comes you will decide what path this world takes,”
“Wait, wait, hold on. I am flattered to be the chosen one, but I can’t decide the path of the world. I am not capable of doing all of this,” I can’t do it, I can’t.
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Chapter notes: Here is another chapter! Kiyoko is starting another chapter in her life, and it will never be the same!
Chapter end notes: thanks for reading!! All feedback is welcomed! Until next chapter!