The First Whisper Heard

It is finally dawn.

Hostasia hasn’t slept much. She tries hard to fight the chill temperature, but her body won’t stop shaking. Her joints are all stiff and swollen, and her wound from the red fox bite has stopped bleeding but is making an awful stink.

For almost 500 years, Hostasia, known simply as a rabbit to humans, has led a pilgrim’s life in the human Nordic forest to complete the sanctification journey as a priestess. Her body has been continually protected by the great spirit of Helen, the creator of the Whispering Woods. Although her body may be injured during attacks by predators in the human forest, it has the ability to heal over time, allowing her to continue the painful journey.

Today, Hostasia’s vision is particularly blurry, as if she's seeing through a foggy haze. Everything around her appears to be enveloped in a soft halo, casting a surreal glow over her surroundings.

“I badly need water.” She thought to herself.

She summoned all her might to stand on her four trembling legs. The wound on her hind leg is so severe that making a jump would tear it open again. By now she knows she won’t make it to the stream where she usually gets water.

“I could sip on the dew.”

She drags herself forward with her front legs, moving toward the cast iron leaves two feet away from her sleeping den.

As she moves, a gust of wind blows on her wound, making her feel stabbed by a sword. She lowered her head for a minute, allowing the howling winds to sweep past her face and finding comfort in the musical clashing as the cast iron leaves rubbed against each other.

“Even the cast iron have each other to shield from the wind.” This thought almost suffocates her, but she slowly trots on.

At last, she reaches the leaves and takes a sip of the morning dew. It is cold, almost numbing her tongue.

Her sanctification journey is still some 40 years away from completion. Having already been a pilgrim for exactly 466 years, 3 months, and 2 days, even one more day feels like too much for her.

As a pilgrim, she can only eat bark. Yet in this moment, she feels too weak to gnaw and only desires to lie under the cast iron leaves. She begins to feel faint, and then her eyesight begins to blur even more. Memories start to flash in her mind.

*****

“Your sanctification journey can come to three possible endings,” Priestess Betula explained to Hostasia. It was right before Hostasia embarked on her journey that Betula calmly laid out the options.

“The first and most natural way of ending it is to endure the full 500 years. Since the beginning of the Whispering Woods, almost all priestesses have ended their journey this way, returning to the Woods in splendid glory. This justifies their priesthood for thousands of years until Helen ascends them as celestial guardians. The second way is, tragically, to end your own life before completing the journey, resulting in your spirit disintegrating into thin air as a punishment. That was the fate of Pendula, your grandmother. Remember, you must always run away or hide from your predators, but never fight back. Purposely not running from them is also counted as suicide.”

It was the decree of Helen that the story of Pendula must be forever echoed in the winds of the Whispering Woods. That's why, even though Hostasia had never met Pendula and they had no emotional bond, Pendula's tragic fate still haunted her deeply.

"Now, Hostasia, there’s a third way.”

"I’m listening, Priestess Betula.”

"But I can’t tell you what it is. It can only be guessed.”

Hostasia felt greatly puzzled but resisted the urge to raise any questions, knowing it was forbidden during the commissioning ritual.

“You would take up a temporary physical body of a rabbit for the journey. On the day of your return, Helen will reward you with a permanent one.”

In the Whispering Woods, only priestesses are granted the privilege of embodying a physical form, as it is deemed sacred.

"The loneliness will draw your heart closer to Helen.

The physical pain will strengthen your will to remain sanctified.

The waiting will purify your desires.

Through silence, you will be able to hear the faint celestial music constantly orchestrated in the heavens above.

Hostasia, I believe in you."

Priestess Betula is a tree spirit, in charge of the ceremony of sending Hostasia away, deliberately keeping it rather simple. Only Hostasia’s parents and the last three priestesses who finished the sanctification journey were invited and allowed to witness Hostasia going through the portal to the human Nordic forest.

Hostasia is a flora spirit, used to dwell in a distant hostas field of the Whispering Woods. Since the disgrace of Pendula, her family bore so much shame that Hostas had become quiet and shy. It was a complete surprise that Helen chose her to be the next priestess.

The memory of the commissioning ritual is so vividly coming back to Hostasia.

Even though there was only a small crowd, Hostasia could sense an unusually profound energy surrounding the ceremony.

As she passed through the portal into the human world, she could hear a low and strange humming voice. It came from behind her, but she was not allowed to turn back or look back. As she moved on, the voice faded away.

Hostasia had always wondered if the sound she heard was the First Whisper of Helen. Legend says that Helen created the Whispering Woods so that all wisdom in the spiritual worlds could exist as resounding echoes. All spirits born in the Woods can hear and understand some Whispers, but this ability takes time to grow, and thus far not a single spirit can hear all.

The First Whisper of Helen, according to legend, is the most important wisdom of Helen. Hostasia has yet to encounter anyone who can describe how the First Whisper sounds. Some even say the echoes of Pendula’s fall have attracted too much attention, making it even harder for young spirits to catch the important echoes like the First Whisper.

*****

Hostasia can sense movement from behind. Her open wound has attracted predators with keen noses.

Almost unable to move, she knows she must summon every ounce of strength to stand up and flee or face the same fate as Pendula.

For the last 466 years, 3 months, and 2 days, each time she started running away from a new predator, her wound would miraculously heal, enabling her to continue her journey.

But not this time.

*****

Celestial music is a protective power that embraces the whole universe. It usually takes a spirit thousands of years to catch its basic rhythm, and only a priestess could learn how to interpret the melodies. Interpreting celestial music is akin to deciphering a cryptic code, empowering a priestess' inner strength and equipping her for the day of ascension as a celestial guardian, dwelling in the heavens above with the great spirit of Helen.

“Follow the music and present yourself, Hostasia.”

Hostasia remembers, that just before she died, everything she saw had a halo around it. And now, there is only one halo left, surrounding her.

It never occurred to her that she would physically die in a human forest. How could such a thing even happen?

And now she is lying breathlessly in the hostas field where she used to dwell, surrounded by a soft but powerful voice.

"I don’t hear any music. And who am I talking with?”

“Follow the music and present yourself.”

“Pardon me, but I hear no music at all.”

“Find it in your heart. Find it at the moment when you buried the red fox pup.”

“I didn’t hear any music back then.”

“Then what compelled you to do that? Burying the pup.”

Hostasia paused for a moment, recalling that one day before she died, a mother red fox hunted her fiercely for her two pups. Under the protective power of Helen, Hostasia was badly hurt but escaped death. By the time the mother red fox returned to her den, she found that one of her two pups was missing, and the remaining one lay lifeless, having been attacked by a lynx.

The mother red fox left the body of the pup with a short sigh as if that was just another normal episode of life. Saddened by the scene, Hostasia didn’t leave, she decided to bury the pup, even though the wound on her leg wouldn’t stop bleeding.

“Life’s tough in the forest, burying the pup is my way of honoring life.”

“Even if it is a red fox pup, who will otherwise grow up and become your predator?”

“I have learned that they are just struggling to survive. At some point, I have wondered why earthly creatures have such a great desire to survive when life is nothing but a constant torture. Seeing the young pup die has given me an answer.”

“And what was that?”

“Why would I tell you, voice?”

The voice gently quiets down, and Hostasia, still immobile due to her broken body, can now hear a beating sound.

She closes her eyes and listens intently. The beating slowly sends warmth to her body, from her legs to her chest, and to her lips.

It is her heartbeats, but rather chaotic. She gathers her inner strength to steady down the rhythm.

“Oh, right there!”, a realization comes to her.

Intertwining with her own heartbeats, Hostasia hears a soft melody humming by the voice surrounding her, resulting in a divine harmony. In this moment of clarity, she realizes that every echo she has heard in the Whispering Woods since birth contributes to a greater symphony. Each echo holds its own power, but when they blend as a grand piece of music, they create a sanctifying cleanse that transcends the individual sounds, bestowing sanctification upon those who can hear it.

A surge of power suddenly courses through Hostasia's body and mind, flooding her being with newfound and divine strength.

“Follow the music and present your answer.”

Hostasia suddenly finds herself completely healed and kneeling before the great spirit of Helen.

“You must forgive me for not recognizing you, the great spirit of Helen! I now realize that it is your voice that sent me to the human world at the portal.”

Though her head is bowed, Hostasia keenly senses the looming presence of a vast crowd of spirits encircling her.

“This is my answer. Seeing the young pup die, I find sympathy, respect, and love. I find the meaning and honor of death.”

“Honor her, Betula”

With a commanding voice, Helen instructs Betula, before gracefully ascending into the heavens once more.

*****

It is almost dawn.

Since its creation, the Whispering Woods has served as a nurturing sanctuary for young spirits.

Today, a new legend takes root in the Woods, softly echoing by the winds. Hostasia, the granddaughter of the disgraced Pendula, has achieved what few thought possible: she has taught herself how to decipher the celestial music during her sanctification journey, hearing the First Whisper not with her ears, but her heart. Her return is heralded with great reverence and awe.

Hostasia becomes the first spirit to transcend the 500-year sanctification journey, her return marking a new chapter in the history of the Whispering Woods.