She hadn’t seen the sun in days.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjL7RXumCN8
Leaves crunched beneath her torn slippers as her feet dragged across the damp, root-knotted forest floor. Her name was Yuki, but even that was starting to feel like someone else’s. Her mind was foggy from exhaustion. Days had blurred into nights, and nights into nightmares. She had been lost in this forest for what felt like an eternity. Her throat burned from thirst. Her stomach was hollow, gnawed raw from hunger.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyeKlEswyT
She paused beneath a dying cedar, clutching her chest. Her heartbeat was pounding like a drum of war. The cold sliced through her kimono like a blade. Somewhere behind her, an animal screamed — a shrill, distant cry swallowed almost instantly by the trees.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVxmnUAlLY7
She looked around. Darkness had begun to settle again.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiohJvueJo
“No,” she whispered hoarsely. “I came this way already... didn’t I?”
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEj3089Q8j
She spun around, dizzy. Trees looked the same in every direction. The fog swirled thick and low, clinging to her knees. There was no path. There was no sound — only her breath and the thrum of her pulse.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡraHRgKKQAW
Her vision swam.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNF8lcFg5Yh
She sank to her knees.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnk0jvwwnPq
If she died here, would anyone even find her body?
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCSwS0kVeD
She dug her fingernails into the wet soil, trembling.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa9zI0GyoWJ
“I don’t want to die,” she said to no one. “Please… someone. Help me.”
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwXAUklCzB
And then — just when she was ready to surrender — the forest opened.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68b3jJWOi4
A soft glow shimmered through the mist.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCABLNyHBK
It wasn’t the sun.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQpvWx2i2b
The fog parted in front of her like a curtain. There, standing beneath the outstretched limbs of a massive camphor tree, was a woman — not human, not entirely.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAANPx7VXNZ
She radiated a faint light, like the moon on still water.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUWQFJcofF
Her kimono shimmered with bioluminescent threads, emerald and indigo dancing across its surface like fireflies. Long black hair cascaded down her back, silky and untouched by the wind. Her skin was smooth, a pale olive green that pulsed gently with light. Her eyes — almond-shaped, deep as forest wells — fixed on Yuki with a calm strength.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPZwQ2VAqs
The woman did not speak.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE1WRQM0cv
She simply extended a hand.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01FKGZLtBk
Yuki stared at it, eyes wide with disbelief. Her lips trembled.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1hsX4btY5v
"Wh-who are you?" she rasped.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡukyUQgGcwR
Still no answer.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgdL6dS2zmU
But something about the woman’s presence quieted Yuki's panic. Her heartbeat slowed. The trees around them seemed to lean closer, listening.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZJtPyIGOW
The woman gestured again.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQx3tS5TsAs
Yuki stumbled forward.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDSJ8ChIsd
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhcG2yxkyh
---
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qd2CC17qD
The trees grew denser as they walked — yet it never felt oppressive. Where the mysterious woman stepped, the forest glowed faintly, guiding their path. The moss beneath their feet lit in soft greens and blues. The air smelled like ancient rain and blooming night flowers.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡge9VwXrD3Z
She led Yuki to a clearing where a small spring gurgled, its waters crystalline and cool. Without words, the woman knelt beside it and cupped water in her hands, offering it.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSkpNq2AWZK
Yuki drank.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0vTMF7oL2
It tasted like memory — like the first time she laughed, like her mother’s voice, like the scent of plum blossoms in spring.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwsofbgEGbD
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjVu6hBw9Y2
“I thought I was going to die,” Yuki whispered.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGCuCOpRFG
The woman smiled faintly, but said nothing. She pointed toward the sky.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIstDpyelFZ
Yuki followed her gaze.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIubgAIOwk
Above the treetops, a narrow path had formed — not a road, but a trail of glowing leaves, floating midair, weaving through the darkness like a bridge made of starlight.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUMhKQLNsjX
“You… you’re the Guardian, aren’t you?” Yuki said slowly. “The one from the old tales?”
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LNpaxgo2G
The woman nodded.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxegiYzlj8
Yuki had heard stories as a child — of the Spirit of the Wilderness, who appeared only to those lost between death and hope. They said she was a myth. A fantasy told to comfort frightened children.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3lr7LOOfu
But she was real.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1j4C5dOPfx
And she had come for her.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHMQmejlit
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrX5pzPyZ3Q
---
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWWT3GWjwB
They reached a hill, its summit overlooking an unseen village beyond the trees. Lanterns blinked faintly in the distance. Safety. Home.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYjxREAHk2D
The woman paused. She would go no further.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rStdfcZ7g
Yuki turned to face her.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxYyMwvkf0
"Why did you help me?" she asked.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcWh6KJaMOb
The Guardian tilted her head. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was like wind through bamboo: soft but ancient.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfNMOZjkP5E
"Because the forest remembers who it once belonged to."
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHC3NfrwdFU
Yuki didn’t understand. But she felt it — the truth in her bones.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpjLf2Ya7YJ
The woman placed a hand on Yuki’s chest — just above her heart. A pulse of light surged through her, warm and awakening. Her limbs no longer trembled. Her breathing steadied.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaORUzfge7
Then the Guardian stepped back into the mist.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNjKlAarkU
And disappeared.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3t9ga39oP
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rNSsTjRf4
---
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOerBHkpO7z
⏳ One Year Later
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hbxNFd4q8
Yuki stood at the edge of the forest, holding the hand of a lost child she had just found. She had become a guide — a whisperer of forest paths, a rescuer of wanderers.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzbarHIHkT
They said she always knew where to go.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEKi7gA8l4w
But only Yuki knew the truth.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6QDadjvaM
Because once, when the forest had tried to swallow her whole…
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm7CPOXlDt
It whispered her name back.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1ubXhJ0Ea
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTIhMZUT1eM
然後按「加至主畫面」