Spring was yet to be broken, yet the pagoda tree had already flourished with life. Beneath the shade of the ancient beauty, wings beat in the winter-ending air. A lonely magpie flew over the old tree, looking to land. To her, the scholar tree was more than a tree, it was the only place she felt home… 

This pagoda tree was always special, looking down on a village downhill. It was the only place where the lonely magpie felt safe. It was her safe-heaven. As a magpie, she had the world to fly, yes, but it felt meaningless. Her days? She would hunt, fly, sleep; hunt, fly, sleep; repeat and repeat, day after day. On her travels for food, she saw multiple people and heard multiple stories - she never really understood the human language, but she could indeed feel the emotions that humans talked. The sadness, but also the happiness; the regret, and also the yearn for revenge; the shame, and more often than not also the pride; and all the other emotions that humans could feel. She was always an outcast, for while other magpies were flying from tree to tree to hunt, she always stayed a bit to listen, to listen to humans’ stories. Last summer she settled exactly on this very pagoda tree, for she was just tired of constantly having to move, and since this tree had such a cosy nest, she wouldn’t even have to move anymore. It was a sad and lonely matter for sure, since the reason why this pagoda tree was so special to her was because not a lot of magpies hunted there, but at least, the pagoda tree could be her fortress of peace, listening to the mortal problems of the villagers. It was a lonely decision she was willing to make. 

There was also something else special about this particular tree. Interestingly enough, not only did the tree just watch over the village, but a lot of villagers would come to this tree from time to time, sometimes even bringing the whole village. Some old men were coming over every now and then, even more frequently than the villagers. But especially among the old men, there was one old man, probably the oldest of them all, that would come the most frequently. The magpie was very confused, for the people coming to her new house were doing all sorts of rituals. They weren’t suspicious or concerning rituals by any chance, in fact every time they happened she felt a little positive energy coming from them, but it was still weird for her since she didn’t really experience these kinds of rituals in her other travels…

One day, the old man once again came to the tree, but now, with a company. It was a young adult, a girl, clothed in some quite fancy military wear, not just some clothes that she could have seen other soldiers wearing on her trips, but a bit more well-adjusted. She could sense the tenseness from this girl - she definitely didn’t have a good day. 

“But why is he always like this? Tell me - does he not believe me?” the girl asked the old man. 

“Oh, sweet child, parents sometimes make decisions that they know is best for their child, even without the child recognising so. He just wants you to be safe. Believe me, once you’ll get older, you’ll maybe understand.” he replied. 

“But that is so stupid. It’s not like I’m a child anymore. Can’t he see that? He’s always so controlling, always making these decisions for me. When will he see me as the adult that I am?”

“Again… once you’ll get olde~”

“No! Stop right there! You don’t understand, he doesn’t treat me like a child because he cares about my safety - you would be wrong there - all he cares about is ‘family name’ and ‘you need to prepare for a husband’. It’s never about what I want, how I feel! And sometimes, I don’t even know if he loves me, since it’s never even about how I feel, but rather what would be good for the family… nay, sometimes neither that, it’s just about safe-guarding his property, so that he can then prepare me or my ‘future husband’ to inherit it.” she lamented.

“I’ve known your father, and your father’s father, for quite a long time, you know? I know it may not seem like it, but he does genuinely care, he just doesn’t show it. You know, the same harsh parenting that you’ve got, he’s gotten from his father too - it seems that it had quite a sign on him. So it is only normal that he’d inherit his seriousness...”

Suddenly, until the old man could have finished his speech, the magpie - fascinated, with all attention and intrigue by the girl’s eyes filled with anger - stirred away and started falling from the branch, right into the old man’s hand. 

“Woops, there you go little one… You know, fathers, daughters - we are like branches and birds. Branches may shelter, but they cannot bind. To love is to let the bird take the sky. For a bird cannot be caged, child. Hold too tightly, and it will only break its wings. Let it fly, and it may yet return to you.” and as he said so, he opened his palms, and let the bird fly back to the crown of the tree. 

She sighed and replied: “Huh, you really are wise. You know our family, so please talk to him, make him understand…”

“I will try to speak to him, child, but don’t expect me to convince him. He is right to worry, alas. I don’t think that these are just some disappearances - it is very suspicious, 4 villagers already missing, one villager every week. That is the reason why he doesn't allow you to go on their search. Child, I feel it in my old bones that support me, in the air I breathe and earth I stand: evil is coming…”

“Old man, I’ll try to be as respectful as I can be, but there is no evil. We don’t live in the past anymore, you don’t need to hold on to these myths.”

“Always be ready for evil, for you may not notice it for now, but when it comes, your neglect may be your doom…”

“Alright then, I’ll go prepare myself for the search, but please, you convince him to allow me; please, as you promised.” and as she said so, she turned around and headed for the village. 

The old man however, waited, and looked at the tree, as if suspecting something. 

“I know you’re still there, little one.” he said and shook the branches of the tree. 

As he shook the tree, as if, wanting for the magpie to fall, the magpie fell once again on the ground, now with her left wing’s wrist cracked. The confused and anguished bird didn’t move anymore, it just stayed on the ground. She could not stand her pitiful bird life. Seeing the emotions and complex lives that humans could express, she just stayed, closed her eyes, and let the pain leave, for her pain of mind was much greater. 

“Why must I only fly and feed and sleep? Why must I only watch, but never live? ‘To fly is freedom,’ they say… but I feel caged. I don’t want the sky - I want the world of people. These wings are not enough! This body is not enough! I want to speak, I want to touch, I want to feel the weight of sorrow and the warmth of joy… I want to walk on the ground as they do! Oh, if only I could be human…” the magpie lamented.

When the magpie pressed her small and wounded body against the trunk of the tree and whispered her vow, the Heaven above answered, through the tree. And as such, in a shimmer of light, the bird fell on the ground once more, but laying on the ground, suddenly - a girl arose.

She staggered, wings no more, fingers trembling in the air. A gasp caught in her throat—no caw, but a voice. A girl’s voice. She tried to balance out and stand, only to stumble, clutching at the roots for balance, and falling to the ground once again to kneel. Human legs were frail things. Would they even carry her through the world she had yearned for?

But the old man’s eyes narrowed—not in fear, but in recognition: “I knew this was to happen.”