A bright, shocking red cardinal soared just above the think canopy of the forest. A canopy through which its vision could not penetrate, a leaf covered every square inch. This was a forest that was old and strong. The little flame of a bird came to a clearing and swooped down into it to perch on an outstretched, delicate finger. Meet Tiranya, the forest nymph, inhabitant and guardian of this forest –her forest. She curved her lips into a circle and whistled a little tune to her ruby-coloured friend and he chirped back. Tiranya giggled and the cardinal flew away to go about his daily business. Tiranya –or Tira and she like to call her self, she found her full name to sound to serious for her liking- sighed at the loss of her little bit of companionship, lay back down in the patch of sun she had claimed and slowly drifted off to sleep. When she awoke it was a few hours past midday and the sun had moved so that her patch of sun was mostly shade now. Tira rose to her feet and walked off in the general direction of the river. On her way she asked her self if she wanted to bathe there today, but decided against it. Bathing was more of a pass time for her than an act of hygiene. She loved ‘dirt’ as most people labelled it. Tira would always be more comfortable with a little soil stuck to her body, and soil is not dirty in her eyes anyways. It’s the perfectly clean forest floor. At times her skin would feel healthier when she covered herself in mud (something she simply loved to do) than when she bathed in water.
There were two soft taps from her feet stepping on to the large rock at the riverbank. She cupped her hands and lowered them to get a drink. After downing the cool, fresh water she sat on her knees and began to stare into the water. Tira looked at her reflection. She looked almost human except for a few details. Her skin was unique in that it was the colour of pale wood, grain and all, which could be mistaken for human skin tones, and it was close to the texture of skin. Her skin never really tanned like humans did, even though it was exposed to the sun all day. Having nothing to wear apart from the wreaths she often wove for her hair she was always naked. She had long, wavy, black hair that reached down to her narrow hips and was streaked in places where green grass grew from her head instead. Many flowers also grew in her hair and hung down her back. Tira was built thin, lean and tall with long legs. She often thought if she held her hair up over her head she could look like a small tree with a face. Which is not to say she had a body without any interest of appearance; though Tira’s womanly curves were understated and elongated she did not lack beauty. Being a nymph she was supposed to be very beautiful, which Tira believed sometimes, though living in the forest she often felt she was surrounded with things much more striking than herself.
