1. Taru Arrives in the Endless Forest

Taru's Tales - The Endless Forest

         The forest was an endless place.  Its only known borders were the big waters to the west where the sun went to sleep and the deep blue sea to the south where the warmer winds of summer brought both foreign traders and raiding ships.  In the North the forest marched tall and strong until the unending cold brought the wood giants to their knees.

         But even in the cold northern heathlands where the reindeer lived, even there the trees grew until in the farthest North on hands and knees the crawling pines and birches reached the edge of the iceland.  There, it was said, nothing grew but snow and ice and all of the creatures that lived there had turned to snow themselves and were white.  Great magic was there, powerful spirits like Icebear and Snowfox.  Sometimes you could see their magics dancing in the night sky.

         The People lived in the forest.  Some lived on the western shores and archipelago where they fished and hunted seal.  Some peoples lived in the open areas between the trees in small villages and raised animals and tilled the soil.  Some lived in smaller family communities, supporting themselves from the bounty of the forest.  Some odd tribes, no doubt affected by the strong magics of the North, were half-wild themselves.  They wandered as nomads and lived with the reindeer.  Some claimed they even mated with them.

         Many restless souls wandered the endless forest alone, hunting and trapping for their living.  Sometimes that person would find a place that spoke to them, where they felt safe and peaceful, and there they would build a lonely cottage by the water with a sauna nearby.  Some walked into the endless forest and were never seen again.

         Now and then The Peoples' peaceful life would be threatened by raiders or the fierce outlander tribes that were rumored to come from beyond the edge of the known world in the East where the forest had no border.  They didn't come often, but when they did the forest burned and the people bled.  Stories told around the hearthfires at night said that the outlanders' red tunics were dyed in the blood of the people they killed.

         But for the most part life in the endless forest was good.  Young were born, the old passed on - usually from old age or pretty mushrooms, the fishing was good, growing things were plentiful, outlanders were few and far between and only a handful of unlucky souls got eaten by bears or lynxes.  Occasionally bands of foreign traders would pass through with salt and exotic trade items.  Now and then a healer or wise man could be found when needed.  The spirits of the forest watched over the people and the people watched over the forest.  That was the way life worked.


         One story that is never told (because nobody lived who could tell it) is about a girl-child with hair of flame who grew up in the endless forest.  Where she was born is as unknown as the rest of the story but the spirits of the forest know all things and I will tell you.

         Thunder roared and waves crashed against the hull of a small trading vessel that was struggling to reach the southern shore of the endless forest four days-travel away.  As the sky darkened the ship's rigging glowed a ghostly green and the smell of ozone filled the noses and throats of praying men.  A woman screamed below the deck and the terrified traders prayed harder, sure that the red-haired witch was calling to the spirits of sea and sky to destroy them all.

         The superstitious men knew she was a witch by her blood-red hair.  They had found her tribe - a people who stripped naked and painted their faces blue before going berzerk in battle - several month's travel to the south and west.  They would have left the witch where they found her but the leader of their trading expedition had taken one look at her and she at him and fell instantly in love (or was it lust).  Now the men were sure she had cursed them to die in the cold waters of the North.  Again they heard the terrible scream and then booted feet pounded up the stairs.

         Their leader burst onto the deck with a tiny bundle clutched to his breast.  "It's a girl!" he shouted over the howling winds.  He raised the bundle up to the heavens and shouted again "Praise the spirits! Our daughter is born!"

         Lightening lit the sky and shone on the wrinkled face of a newborn girl-child with hair of flame.  The loud crash of thunder frightened the infant, who began to cry.  At once the storm subsided and a fresh breeze swept the clouds away.  Beneath a glorious sunset all hands gathered 'round to see the new life that had come among them.  Every heart melted at sight of the tiny round face and the gruff, hardened traders cheered and shouted congratulations to the new parents.

         A few short months later found the expedition deep in the endless forest enjoying a feast around their campfire in celebration of the adorable girl-child's first steps.  The men took turns standing the shild on her tiny feet and called encouragement and cheers at every wobbly step.  Nearby in their tent the group's virile leader was taking advantage of the distraction to enjoy his equally lusty red-headed wife.  The two were nearing frantic climax when suddenly they heard a cry of "Outlanders!" and the world became curses and screams and blood.

         Jussa was an old trapper who enjoyed his life.  He got to wander 'round the forst as he pleased, he honored the spirits, thanked them when they filled his traps and still enjoyed the favors of the village maidens (and matrons) when their fathers weren't looking.  He had enjoyed a full, rich life and his only regret was that he had no son or daughter to pass on his knowledge and the tools of his trade to.

         Suddenly in the middle of the bright, sunny day Jussa felt scared.  The animals of the forest had stopped moving around and the birds in the trees were silent.  On trembling legs the old man crept behind a big tree and peeked around it into a sunlit clearing.

         Corpses of foreign traders littered the ground and blood was everywhere.  The old trapper stepped fearfully into the clearing and studied the scene more carefully.  In a shredded tent he found the remains of a naked man and a red-haired woman with scimitar wounds on their arms and torsos.  Jussa had never seen a red-haired woman before and he was sorry she was dead because she was very beautiful.  Outside the tent he found a scrap of red tunic that must have come from the Outlander murders.  A flash of red movement caught his eye and he whirled around in terror to see a tiny redheaded girl-child toddling toward him.  The old trapper looked around the clearing but didn't see another living soul.

         He looked down to see the little orphan bump against his leg, holding her chubby arms in the air expecting to be picked up.  Jussa's heart melted at the sight and he scooped the little girl into his arms and carried her away from the carnage.

         "Well, little beauty" he cooed at the child as he trudged along "it looks like you're stuck with me now.  What's that you've got there?" he pondered out loud at the rune disc hanging on a cord around the child's neck.  "Taru, 'eh?  Well, I guess that'll do as a name for you.  My name is Jussa.  I guess I'm your papa now."  Jussa took the child home to raise with a warm feeling in his heart, leaving the forest to bury the dead.