The forest never taught her how to speak.
It taught her how to listen.
Long before people knew her name, the trees already recognized the cadence of her footsteps. Moss bent beneath her without breaking, birds landed near her without fear, and rivers carried her reflection as if they had been waiting for it for centuries.
She collected them.
Not flowers.
Not leaves.
Echoes.
Name: Íris Aurenberg
Origin: Unknown (Kyoto, Japan)
Occupation: Professor of Comparative Mythology, Folklore and Symbolic Psychology
Height: 1.68 m
Scent: Rain-soaked cedar, damp earth, dried chamomile, old paper
People often asked what she studied.
She smiled.
As if there could be a university for forgotten things.