Kodama

jeë fami-nä eh-uah je-na

tee fami na-ha eh-jä

eh-na-a

ah-fa-na ua-ma-nä ua-ma-nä ua-ja-nä

gejjë-fa geme-na-há e-me na-ua je-eh-nä

gejjë-fa geme-na-há e-me na-ua je-eh-nä

The forest greeted her, now seeming much less threatening and much more like an old friend. Gradually, Fluttershy relaxed, even managing a smile as she walked to a nearby trunk, carefully leaning against it, enjoying the sensation of fullness. Momentarily, her ears perked up at a seemingly random noise, her own reminder not to let her guard down, not even when she was feeling full and comfortable.

A minute passed, then another, then she pulled herself back up. Picking up the bag in her mouth, she began to continue her journey forward. Always forward. Her eyelids wore more heavily with every passing minute, but tiredness was an emotion much preferable to weakness. Still, as it became hard to keep her eyes open, she resigned to her fate, clearing her throat mid-walk before she began to sing in a soft voice: her own tune, no words, only humming, complex and shifting and engaging, the diamond she had fostered over time, witness of just how long the game was already going.

Click. Tick-tick-tick.

"I need to sleep," she whispered, interrupting her tune.

Click. Click. Click.

"To finish?"

Tick.

"Fine." Fluttershy halted, sining her song once more, not just the part that had been missing, but starting from the beginning, the whole tune, as beautifully as she managed.

Click. Tick-tick-tick. The white figure nodded, jumping in place until Fluttershy caught up to it, then leading them both leftwards, until they reached a section where the trees weren't quite as tall as elsewhere. Still jumping in place, it offered her a stretch of moss, and even came back with more as she lay down, wrapping it around a branch and putting it next to her head.

It was good to be kind. That had always been true.

Pulling the bag as close to her as she could, Fluttershy rested her head on the pillow she had been given, closing her eyes whilst the familiar sounds of the forest, the chirping, the rustling, and the steps were still alive around her, and the tick-tick-tick, and the occasional wet drop, and the scratching, and the tick-tick-tick... click... click...