Feneng 1

Snap. Crack. The beasts were getting closer. Feneng covered her nose and mouth with a sleeve; she did not want to smell them. She ran until the moon set and the deepest darkness fell and she could run no more, and then she heard them in the distance and started to run again, waving her arms in front of her so she would not break her nose against a tree. She did not stop, and the forest closed in above her. Here in the north, the trees grew so thick on the foothills of the Jaw that night and day could not be separated but from above the trees. She ran.

"How long have I been running?" said she, at last. She did not break her desperate stride and no answer came to her. "What am I running from?" Feneng did not remember. As she continued to run, she continued to forget. She forgot her name. "I am She Who Runs," she announced.

Finally She forgot to run.

Tong. Tong. Tong. Tong. Tong. Tong. Tong.

"You're awake!" A rotund monk was filling teacups on the table beside Feneng's bed. "Hurry, take your tea! We are already late for the dawn prayer."

Feneng rubbed her eyes, stretched, and knocked over her tea with a trailing scarlet sleeve. She stopped and gazed sleepily at the mess for a bit, and then, "What am I doing here?"

"No time, no time. Don't worry about the tea; follow Finds-Comfort-In-Law."

At that instruction, a young lady glided across the room and held out a hand. "Come, after the morning prayer the abbess will be excited to see you." Without waiting for a response, she walked out the door.

Feneng shook her head. "—I'm sure that she will." She followed her down the windowless hall.