Day 9 Nymph
Stay away from anyone who looked suspicious. Especially in the woods.
Or at least that's what you've always been told. And that's what you've always heard. Then again you weren't very superstitious. Don't get you wrong. You never said that there wasn't no such thing as stuff like fairies, ghosts, and demons...
But you never said that there WAS such thing as them either.
You leaned more towards that they didn't exist though. Why? Well you never saw any ACTUAL proof of them existing. The supposed ghost that haunted your parents attic for years? Turns out it was a raccoon infestation. The supposed zombie that roamed the graveyard? A homeless man taking shelter in one of the mausoleums. Imps taking your grandmother's things? Turns out she just had memory problems and kept forgetting where she had put things.
Everything always had a logical explanation in the end.
Which was why you honestly didn't think much about anything supernatural. Sure you still left offerings at the local shrine and prayed every so while if you needed a bit of luck but you weren't sure if you believed in them. A little extra luck never hurt anyone though. Maybe that's why you weren't so concerned when you went to go pick wild blackberries with your cousin.
It was a perfect day. The sun was shining warmly in the summer air but all the shade of the trees made it cool. The walk to your favourite patch of wild blackberry bushes was only an hour long walk into the woods behind your house and the woods was beautiful. Lush greenery. Fresh air that smelt like wildflowers. Birds singing. And the sounds of your laughter as your cousin made you laugh by her jokes and stories. You both didn't have a care in the world as you both walked all the way there laughing with your baskets and then going on to start picking the berries from the bushes' branches. There was no problems. None at all. Not until your cousin had filled up her basket faster than you had and she had come to see what was taking you so long.
That's when she froze.
Her face paled like she saw a ghost. A terrified gasp left her throat making you jump and snap to her in surprise. Her basket fell to the ground with a thud toppling over and spilling the berries all over the ground. Before with a trembling hand she pointed to the ground at your feet.
"Look at where you're standing!," her frightened voice cried out loudly.
You snapped down terrified and worried that you might've stepped on a snake or maybe a hill of fire ants or some other great danger! But you blinked as you saw nothing... Literally nothing but a few flowers. Amaryllis flowers to be exact. You blinked and turned your head this way and that and just now noticed that you were standing in a circle of flowers about a yard wide. Your cousin looked like she had seen death itself but you only blinked.
"Oh. It's just flowers."
"ARE YOU MAD?!" She shrieked like you were actually crazy. "YOU'RE STANDING IN A FAIRY RING!!"
You blinked as you again looked down.. before shrugging it off and turned back to finish filling your basket. "Oh is that all? Don't make such a big fuss over it."
"That's the forest spirits sacred dancing space! You're not supposed to stand in it!"
"Next you'll be telling me not to fish in the lake because I'll anger the mermaids."
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!! YOU'LL MAKE THEM ANGRY!!"
"If the fae are angry with me standing in their circle I'm sure they're more than capable of telling me."
You almost rolled your eyes at your cousin's fearful ramblings as she babbled about waving her arms but you didn't and kept your tone polite. Continuing to pick at the berries and drop them into your ever filling basket. Honestly she was blowing things out of proportion. If the fae were angry, considering if they existed at all, then they could tell you themselves if they were upset with you standing in their supposed circle.
"Actually I would appreciate it very much if you didn't stand there."
Your cousin shrieked out, her voice echoing over the trees as both yourself and her snapped around wide eyed and were surprised to find a third woman there. What the-..Where did she come from? The smaller woman stood there between a tree and a bush staring at you with pretty red eyes and a small smile. Her clothes were almost big like flowing over her body. But the shining of her long black hair caught the sunlight as her head tilted at you specifically. You both continued to stare at this new woman. It must've been a full minute before you realized that she was staring at your feet.
You looked down at your boots standing in the circle. Then back to the woman. Who still stood there staring at the ground.
"I'm..sorry? But who are you?"
She took her time turning her gaze back to you before smiling wider. "I'm the one who planted the flowers you're standing in."
You blinked. Someone actually planted these way out here. With another shriek from your cousin in knowing horror, you winced as she turned and fled. Footsteps thudding against the ground as fast as she could go and brush cracking with her retreating form. You winced rubbing at you ear as you looked back up..But your cousin was gone. The only signs being there was the basket she dropped before. You just...stared at where she had been for a long time but the woman's gaze never left you. Eventually you did slowly look back to her.
The two of you staring at each other for another long moment.
"I'm..sorry about her. She's very..paranoid." You apologized on your cousin's behalf before staring at your feet...and taking a massive step back out of the ring of flowers. "And sorry for trespassing into your flower circle??" You tried apologizing. "I didn't know anyone lived out here." You raised a confused brow at the flowers again. "Or had a garden."
She gave a closed eye smile. "It's alright. You didn't damage any of them so I'll let you off with a warning this time."
"Um..Thank you??" You stared at her.. before holding up your basket making her blink. "Here. I know you can probably pick your own blackberries, but it's the least I can do for trespassing."
The woman tilted her head at the basket then at you before smiling wider. "That's very sweet of you but if you really want to make it up to me, then come dance."
Your brows rose higher as she nodded. "Dance?"
She walked forward until she was standing right in front of you, inside the circle of amaryllis flowers, and held out a hand. "Yes. Dance. I'll even show you how and it's been so long since I had a partner. What do you say?"
You still stared bewildered. Dancing? Seriously? That was a strange request..but you did kinda feel bad about trespassing on her flower garden thing. So..one dance couldn't hurt if it made this woman feel better.
"Oh. Al..right? But wait. What's your name?"
Her small smile never changed. "Ubume."
By the time your worried family members got there, you were no where in sight. The only signs being two knocked over baskets.