poppyhaze

no first use policy

  • she/her/tā

会说中文 ✨ QC at Falcon Safety Products ✨ will never be a famous writer



Many eons ago, there was a boy, Anastas the Woodcutter, who lived a life of hardship. One of many children of a northern feudal lord, he worked hard for his parents who spent their time gambling away their tax revenue. They rarely did anything to manage their house so Anastas spent his time maintaining their manor and that meant gathering a lot of firewood.

His dutifulness and piety was not ignored by his brothers and sisters, who took advantage of his kindness and made him do their chores too. He accepted their excuses at face value and he collected taxes, helped farmers with planning their crops, and kept cutting wood. As just one person, Anastas couldn't keep up, and soon the forests near the manor were depleted, the farmers' fields unkempt, various requests ignored, and the manor too began falling apart. Anastas worked until his skin sagged from his bones, his hair turned white, and fell from his head.

One day, his entire family was all home for a winter festival, and the house was cold due to a lack of firewood. Anastas was too busy to maintain the wood pile and without mercy, his family sent him into a snowstorm to fetch more. In his haste, he realized he had chopped down all the nearby trees for firewood, he'd have to go much further into the taiga. He said a prayer to the local god, the Great Fu En'er of the winter forests.

Yet even in his desperation, he was too kind. Many of the trees in the forest near him were still young, and Anastas skipped them all, searching for an older tree or an already fallen one to harvest it. Before he knew it, he was hopelessly lost and confused.

Weak and cold, he fell to his knees, prayed again to the Great Fu, but lost consciousness. He woke inside a cave, surrounded by warmth. He discovered himself in the embrace of his local god, the Great Fu En'er, god of the winter forests, of careful preparation for the future, sometimes of accountancy, and of land's slumber and rebirth. Anastas realized where he was, leapt up, and begged for Fu's mercy, "Oh great and powerful Fu En'er, do not slay me for my trespass, and let my unworthy body leave your sight."

Fu laughed, raised his authority high and called for the fruits of winter. Spruce beer and pumpkin bread with bacon appeared before Anastas and Fu opened his great fur coat and said, "Come child of man, I could not leave such a man alone in my woods, eat and sleep in here."

Anastas carefully tasted the food and began to cry for this mercy. With one hand, he combed the god's fur coat with his fingers. Fu laughed again, "Child of man, even as I feed you, you comb my coat?"

Anastas apologized again, "Forgive my assumption, but I could not take a favor from a God without something in return."

Fu shook his head and said, "no child of man, I chose to have you here, and to grant you this holy gift."

Anastas looked at himself and realized his body was changed. In his sleep, he had absorbed a great deal of Fu's magic and he found his weak body transformed. His arms and legs rippled with muscle, his hair which was thin and white had turned to rich black curls. Anastas looked up and Fu said, "My magic is now within you, you are now an immortal."

Anastas again prostrated himself, "My lord, I do not deserve such favor, there must be someone else, I am merely a third son, just a wood cutter."

Fu extended a great fur covered arm to Anastas' shoulder and said, "No, only those pure of heart can even find their way into my wood, and only those who are pure of heart can accept the voluminous magic of a God. Your appearance, reflects the purity of your heart."

Anastas looked at himself again, felt his hair, and began to cry and thank Fu. In his shock he realized, each of his tears became a grain of wheat, a sweet berry, or a pearl.

Fu nodded at this sight, "That is a manifestation of your heart, each of those is a holy relic of an immortal."

"Oh great Fu, I apologize for disgusting your view with my unsightly tears"

Fu shook his head and said, "No child of man, cherish your tears, it is the voice of your heart, one that was held back for years, and now overflows."

"But great Fu, why grant me, a mere woodcutter such favor?"

"Why shouldn’t such the dutiful man of his house now receive a favor?"

"But great Fu, I am just a third son, I am not the man of my house."

"No child of man, you misunderstand, the man of the house is not determined through mere blood. It is determined by duty and faith. And out of everyone in your house, you are the only one who kept the duty and faith aren't you?"

At this, Anastas cried more, creating a mountain of wheat, berries, and pearls. Fu wrapped his newest and first immortal in his great fur coat and said, "Come, sleep again in my warmth"

Anastas stopped his tears, shook his head, and stood to leave. "Oh Great Fu, I apologize, I cannot stay, my family must be cold without me, if you'll let me leave with my axe I can..." And Anastas realized that he couldn't see his axe anywhere on his person.

The Great Fu En'er nodded and said, "Let me see, was this your cutting tool?" The God brought out a sword made of pure jade and presented it to Anastas who refused it, "This is not my axe, my axe is simple and made of bronze."

"Of course Anastas, let me see, is it this one?" and the Great Fu brought out a staff of pure bronze, with a magic stone embedded and imbued with an aura of pure fire. Anastas shook his head again and said, "No, it is a simple axe, bronze head, wooden handle."

The Great Fu smiled, as this was a test to see if his immortal was truly worthy, and instead the Great Fu presented Anastas with his simple axe, and another, a pure iron staff with an obsidian head that would never go dull.

"Oh simple Anastas, for your duty and faith, I present you with this gift, which fells trees in a single blow. And you will do well to accept my gift, child of man."

Anastas understood what this meant, took both, and rushed back into the storm to gather wood. He found several dead trees and was shocked at how well his new axe worked. He said a prayer and thanked the Great Fu for this gift, made cordage, and brought a mountain of wood home for his family.

Anastas returns home to find Great Fu was already there at the feast table and he says, "Ah Anastas, what took you so long?"

Anastas's Father, the feudal Lord stands up and shouts, "Who is this man? This is not my son Anastas!"

"Father, mother, it is truly me, the Great Fu En'er has granted me a great boon."

His mother says, "You cannot be Anastas, he was a scrawny boy who could hardly carry the wood much less a huge axe!"

The Great Fu said, "you mean your son that was so underfed he barely had the strength to do the jobs you asked of him? I have fixed that."

His brother then said, "But Great Fu, this cannot be Anastas, look at his locks, our Anastas had only thin white hair."

The Great Fu said, "you mean your brother that you foisted all your chores on until his hair turned white and fell out? I have fixed that too."

Not willing to argue with a God, the family fell silent. That is when the Great Fu looked down at the table and said, "Seems strange, it is winter festival, and yet there's no food left here for Anastas, much less any left for me!"

Anastas, who had started putting wood into the fireplace looked up in shock to realize that it was true, everything had been eaten with just bones leftover. Even after the Great Fu's impromptu meal, Anastas was very hungry.

Anastas' Father stood up and said, "Of course Great Fu, it is very improper, Anastas, please go out and hunt a meal worthy of a god!"

Anastas did not hesitate to agree and began to leave when the Great Fu said, "No! Why should Anastas go out to hunt when there's a fatty wild boar right here."

With a wave of his authority, Anastas's father turned into a great boar, so fat, its legs only were able to weakly wave in the air. The Great Fu then said, "Ah, even better here is some venison," and Anastas' mother turned into a deer with such weak legs they collapsed before him. Finally the Great Fu looked at the table and said, "And of course we will need accompaniments to a rich meal", and with a wave of his arm, all of Anastas's siblings turned to bundles of winter wheat, squash, and rhubarb.

The Great Fu looked upon his work and was happy and said to Anastas, "Man of the House, prepare me a meal worthy of the Great Fu!"

Its here where I need some decision, does Anastas chop up his family to cook a great meal, or does he show mercy? Alternatively, maybe the character that tells the story says there's 2 endings depending on where you're from


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