Spirits

Jaun looked down at the stump, seeing all of the spirits that surrounded him and it, bouncing around, chattering, pointing him in the direction. They wanted him to do this - to stay with them, to move away from everything he had known about his life and how he existed, and take on a new existence with a new purpose. He didn't quite fully understand it - he wasn't sure he would even after going through with it - but he had already made up his mind. He couldn't allow things to continue on as they were.

It was difficult to make out their instructions, but he could tell that the stump was important, and that in some way he needed to make contact with it. He rested a hand on it hesitantly, and the surge of power that ran through his body was immediate. A cold burning, shaking him to his core, both trying to be a part of him and trying to escape from him at the same time. It was more than his body could handle, but his stubborn will held him together. But the power was still too much for him, and he staggered backwards, nearly falling were it not for the strong hand that gripped his arm and held him in place.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The voice was familiar - rash and crude, with ice and fury on clear display. But he had seen better - a kindness in the witch's soul that she tried hard to hide, but that he could see as plain as day. "I thought I told you not to listen to the spirits. If you do this, you'll be throwing your humanity away."

Jaun looked at the girl - Fern, she was called - and could see the weakness in her body and in her eyes. She was the only force maintaining the nature and magic in the area - she was pushing herself well beyond her capabilities. He had seen her on many occasions lose consciousness from the efforts of her commitment, and he was tired of it. If he allowed her to continue on like this, not only would she suffer, but so would the rest of the world for lack of her efforts from there on.

"I've already made up my mind," he told her, soft but firm. "I'm going to help you, and you can't stop me. The greatest thing that has come from my humanity was the discovery that I was living my life wrong, and that there was more out there. To come out here and live among kind people and nature. Humanity hasn't been some gift to me that can't be replaced. But this... This has. And if I can help this to continue..."

Fern was taken aback by his words, and he could see it in her face. Her grip loosened, just enough for him to pull away and turn to face the stump once more. "...If you are sure," her voice came once more, much softer this time. "Then lay on it."

He could feel the power rushing through him as he laid on the stump, but it was somehow lesser this time. Within moments the world was fading away, and there was a woman before him, her form ethereal, and her face beautiful. "Well, you're an interesting one, aren't you?" she said with a smile.