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The Last Dance of Chuhaister
Long ago, when the world was still young, Chuhaister felt a yearning deep within his heart, a spirit of adventure and exploration, which bade him leave behind his tree-spirit brothers in the forests of the Carpathian Mountains and seek new lands. The sun shone warmly on thick bark-like skin as his deep blue eyes looked eastward to the distant horizon, and he set his heart in that direction.
“I will travel that way,” Chuhaister extended his long branch-like arm and pointed to the east.
“That is far to travel alone, Chuhaister,” his brothers cautioned. “None of us desire to leave our forest home to go with you.”
“That is ok, my brothers,” Chuhaister smiled reassuringly and gestured to the top of his treetop head, laden with pinecones. “When I find my place, I will plant a forest of trees to keep me company. When the forest grows strong, some Old Ones may even come to live within the trees.”
Chuhaister bade his brothers goodbye and set off to find his new land. As his long trunk-like legs strode across the land, his beloved Carpathian forest quickly faded behind him. He marveled at the waters of many rivers as he sat on their banks and slipped his root-like feet into their cool waters. Birds came to rest in the branches of his head, flittering among the pine leaves as they told him tales of the land he traversed…
