The Harvest Of Souls (beast wirt X reader short story)

6:The Hopeful Request

"Love is space and time measured by the heart." -Marcel Proust

I had woken with a pair of dry hands, a bad taste in my mouth, and a tangled mind as the birds chirped loudly, and the cicadas hummed softly in the distance. Sliding the quilt off of me, my eyes scanned the room to find no one but me left in it. I could see clearer than I had before, yet my arm still pulsed like it wouldn't be healed for months.. A note had been left on the same place I found the last one. It made my mouth curve up softly in hopes to read another letter.

"Dear _____,

I was hoping that you could do me a favor in return for healing your wounds. You do not have to necessarily do this, considering the difficulty of what I'm about to ask you, yet if you did.. I would be forever grateful. I ask of you to burn my brother's tree.

My heart couldn't bear to do it myself all these years, so please, please burn it. Set him free. I know your own task may have been on remembering the souls that have perished in these woods, yet I assure you that you would be doing more than putting my brother to peace.

If you do plan on fulfilling my request, I left a few matches by the paper, along with directions to my brother written below;

Head north until you find the clearing prairie, walk along the edge of the woods and the prairie until you find a oddly strange bird nest. Go back into the woods and head forward north again after coming across the jade pond (be more than cautious of), you should find another prairie after walking east of the pond, and that will be where you can find him.

Sincerely,

Wirt"

My eyes looked back down at the letter with hints of empathy. So he did have a past with the monster I met. My heart could only feel empathy for him, yet my mind was mixed about burning his brother's tree. Is that really what he wanted? Is that really what his brother would have wanted? Twiddling the four matches I found around my thumb and my index finger like a fidget, my mind had decided what to do, while as my heart still felt torn on it's decision.

Yet still slowly following the directions he gave me, I made my way to the tree. The logic in my mind wasn't sure if moving around this much was rather helping, or hurting my wounds, so my mind deduced my nerves to act careful and slow. Finding myself in front of puddles, I walked around, and going uphill, I only used my good arm to climb with.

As my weary legs descended through the woods, not a single branch twitched from its trunk, nor did a bug move to another leaf. Everything seemed to be so still in these small moments. Everything seemed to act so calmly, it felt as if no wars have ever been made, as if not a single knife has ever been crafted, as if no dark thoughts could enter any mind. It made me feel hopeful for what's to come.