The forest floor was speckled with shadows from the rays of the sun as it filtered in through the canopy. Yukina hummed to herself, walking demurely along an old, worn out path that led down the mountainside from the temple, to a fresh patch of wild herbs she’d been meaning to gather for some time. Her teal colored hair shone brightly in the mottled sunlight, and her humming was soft, lilting, and serene and gentle enough to lure a few of the animals she passed by out of hiding. As a youngster, she’d played with the forest animals near her home until it was time for them to sleep or migrate for the winter. She loved being here, in this forest, where it hardly ever got too cold for the animals, and where a safe haven and food was in no short supply. She clutched an expertly woven basket in her hands, one that was already filling up with wildflowers and herbs she’d gathered on her route to the fresh patch.
There were a few different herbs she’d been meaning to try using in her tea. Genkai was gone for the day, having ventured into town to do a bit of shopping for herself, something she usually left to Yukina. But the older woman had insisted that she needed a break from the temple and wanted to do it herself. Yukina suspected she just wanted to visit Kirin, but it wasn’t in the ice apparition’s nature to question or pry, and she had placidly accepted Genkai’s request and reasoning with a sweet smile and a nod of her head. A soft scrabbling came from near her feet, and she looked down to see a pair of wild rabbits hopping along the trail after her. The sparrows overhead were whistling a merry tune, and Yukina giggled, leaning down to be closer to the animals at her feet. The rabbits weren’t afraid; very few animals in this forest were. They had little to no human contact, and Genkai kept all poachers and hunters off her land with ease.
Yukina extended a hand, and one of the rabbits sniffed it curiously. She giggled again and straightened, taking off slowly down the path until she reached a grove of trees just beside a babbling brook. She’d discovered this place one evening as she went for one of her customary strolls, and she found it very charming and peaceful. She’d returned later, only to find that it grew wild herbs that she’d never been able to grow on her own before, and she’d been quite ecstatic to take some back to the temple and use them in her teas. Settling down on a patch of soft moss to gather and pick the herb leaves, Yukina hummed quietly to herself, the rabbits, a few squirrels, and even a curious deer wandering close by, as undisturbed by the presence of the gentle ice apparition as she was by theirs.