This is a terrible adventure. The child thought as she found yet another stick to add to the kindling pile in her basket. After adding it to her growing collection she began swinging a branch she had found earlier back and forth as she listlessly began wandering the woods again in search of another target.

  Very little light made it to the bottom of the forest, the trees were tall and the canopy thick. The dense wood qi of the region made all plant life extra vibrant so there was still a healthy layer of underbrush despite the darkness on the floor. Which made following the game trail Willow was on a tad difficult.

  “You’d think there’d be more wood that’d be good to burn in a forest, but so many we’ve found have been filled with that rotten qi.” Willow said to her silent, burning companion. Little flame flickered in commiseration, sad it couldn’t help.

  “There there little flame.” The child comforted her tiny friend. “You help by being so bright in all this darkness. I wouldn’t even be able to see those stupid pieces of rotten wood without you!”

  The flame visibly perked up at that, visibly starting to strain itself to shine that extra bit brighter.

  “Don’t do that, you’ll tire out before we finish! As Da always says it’s a merryathon not a sprint." She said to a visibly embarrassed, but no longer straining candle flame. Willow still didn’t know what a “merryathon” was, but she assumed it was having fun at a steady, non-tiring, pace. As opposed to the quickly tiring fun of a full out sprint.

  The idea of this being a merryathon lifted the girl's spirits and she ventured forth with a bit of a spring in her step, happily swinging her adventure branch.

  As they continued making their way through the woods, picking up the few pieces of suitable kindling they could find, a suspicion began growing in the mind of the young girl. A suspicion that grew into a realization as she looked around herself more thoroughly. A realization she then voiced to her companion.

  “Little flame, I think we might be lost.”

  Said flame began flickering in worry before it straightened out to be a proper light for its friend.

  “You’re right, little flame, we should stay calm.”

  Willow tried to more carefully observe her surroundings to find the trail that she swore she was following, but all she saw was sparse, unbroken underbrush around her. The dense wood qi of the forest likely repaired any damage her small frame had made to the surroundings as she went.

  “Hmmmm, I think we came from this way.” She said as she confidently started going in the exact opposite direction from her home, brandishing her stick as she went.

  As the child moved through the increasingly dense undergrowth the sounds of wild life that had always been a part of her journey through the forest began to take on an ominous edge. Every snapped twig a potential predator. Every unfamiliar call a monster on the prowl looking for her.

  Even the ever present qi in the air began to take on a more wild and coarse texture than the tame and almost friendly feeling she got from the areas around her family's farm.

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  Willow continued trying to find her way back home. Changing direction every once in a while to see if anything looked familiar, but all she did was get herself more turned around and lost. The dimness of the forest started to become full blackness as the unseen sun lowered in the sky.

  As she wandered she became convinced that something dangerous was aware of her presence in these woods.

  A belief that soon became a certainty as she felt the ground tremble, and a large source of qi started charging her way.

  She ran as fast as her tired little legs could carry her.

  She stumbled over roots.

  Her almost forgotten basket caught on branches, and was left behind.

  Her simple dress snagged and tore on those same branches.

  Her completely forgotten adventure branch dropped far behind her.

  She was going too slow.

  She was going to be caught.

  The flame on her shoulder had an idea.

  The little fire moved as fast as it could to a low hanging branch of a nearby tree. It desperately hoped its friend understood.

  She did.

  Willow began frantically scrabbling up the branches of the tree. Her hands were scraped on the rough bark, but she managed to climb higher and higher.

  The beast rumbled closer and closer.

  The girl climbed ever higher. Her flame companion started dimming the light it gave off so the beast below might not see them.

  Willow found a hollow high up on the tree with an entrance a bit bigger than she was. She hurriedly climbed inside and drew the little flame back inside the space next to her heart.

  She clutched her chest as she tried to be as quiet as she could. The warmth of the little candle flame close to her heart provided as much comfort as it could.

  The rumbling ceased.

  The child heard noises and grumblings from whatever spirit beast was on the forest floor. She dared not move or breathe.

  The tree shook as the beast rubbed against it. Clearly finding the bits of skin and blood where Willow had scraped her hands.

  Suddenly from within the tree hollow a pulse of strange qi exited and enveloped the tree as a whole.

  The beast stilled and the child felt a sense of confusion come off of it. Yet after a few more investigatory noises it began slowly trundling away. Each step shook the earth as it left.

  Willow barely noticed as she was lost in thought trying to figure out the pulse of qi she had sensed.

  It was more strange and ephemeral to the child than any type of qi she had felt before.

  It was like those quiet afternoons where she was done with her chores and was tired from play, close to contentment but not quite.

  It was like when she reached out with her qi sense and felt the entire farms qi moving together in a harmonious chorus. That was it.

  It was Harmony.

  Suddenly, Willow and the little flame were no longer alone. Two infantile forms appeared before them. One looked to be made of light with an orb of void in the middle of its brow. The other was the black of night with two twinkling stars for eyes.

  “How fascinating! The child grasped your concept so quickly sister.” an exuberant, childlike voice chirped from the child of light.

  “She did indeed, brother.” replied the void of night. “Now the question. What do we do with her?”