A lantern swayed, casting a wavering light across fallen leaves. The slight creak of plastic against wood blended in amongst that of the chirping grasshoppers, trickling of a stream and the whispering rustle of leaves.
“We are wild.” The soft statement rose from the slender throat of a girl as she bent over a teepee of sticks, lighting them with a match. An owl hooted in the distance. The flame took, casting the crackling of lit twigs around the small clearing. The ruddy glow spread as the girl feed it, its glow rising to illuminate the faces of three other girls. Kneeling anxiously next to the fire the girls hunched their slight bodies together to block the soft winds drifting by. The sheltering arch of willow branches fluttered above them as the flame grew until it encompassed the branches laid for it. With a resentful sounding pop the fire stopped growing and flickered within the pit it had been confided to.
“The lantern,” A girl with her blonde hair tied back whispered, glancing upwards towards the wavering light. “Hannah, turn it off.”
The slender girl stood to do so, standing on a half rotten log to reach it. The fake bright light died and the branch formed cave was lit only by the fire. Hannah moved back to her friends and scrunched her body next to them. “Now what Ker?” she whispered, glancing at the girl who had lit the fire.
“We must allow ourselves to feel the earth,” Kerry intoned breathlessly.
“Our spirits are connected to the land.” Her red hair shone brightly as she looked at the other girls.
“We have to give ourselves to the earth so that it knows our bodies.” She reached into a small pack and brought forth a wooden bowl, one she herself had carved. Brushing aside dead leaves she reached her hand into the earth and brought out a handful of dirt. Kerry put it into the bowl and then passed it to her right. From her bag she then brought forth the snapped off top of a razor. This she also passed to her right.
“Mira you go first.” Mira nodded, her dark brown eyes focused on the gleaming razor. She pressed the blade to the center of her dark palm. The swell of blood ran down her hand, a dark red streak against her brown skin. Holding her hand above the bowl she squeezed around the wound to make the blood fall into the dirt. The dark stain in the soil spread until it filled most of the center before Mira stopped squeezing and held her palm to her mouth. The iron tang exploded across her tongue and filled her mouth as she stopped the bleeding.
“Now you Chris.” Kerry declared, impatience coloring her words as she watched Mira pass the bowl and blade. Christine tossed her blonde ponytail over her shoulder and took the bowl and razor. Her pale hands trembled as she reached for it but her face was set in determination. Desperate to prove herself unafraid she quickly slashed her palm and held it above the bowl. Despite her intention not to her face screwed up into a grimace of pain and her stocky form stiffened as the blood dripped. Finally she stopped and pressed her hand to her mouth in the same manner as Mira. The bowl and razor were then passed to Hannah.
“It’s ok Hannah, you can do it.” Kerry encouraged the girl, seeing her bite her lip in trepidation. Hannah shot her a nervous look with her green eyes, and then looked to the bowl. The blood of the first two girl glinted in the firelight, a wet gleam showing where it had fallen. Hannah screwed her eyes closed and quickly pressed the blade to her palm. Christine moved the bowl so that it was beneath the other girls palm and rubbed Hannah’s shoulder with her free hand.
“That’s enough Nah.” Kerry told the girl. Hannah moved her hand and fretfully wiped her palm with her other hand before moving the cut to her lips like the other girls.
“Now you Kerry, it’s your turn.” Mira said with a grin, her bright white teeth shining in stark contrast to her dark skin. Kerry wrinkled her freckled nose at the other girl and reached over to take the bowl and blade from Hannah. She too pressed the blade to her palm and watched as the blood welled up from her skin. Twisting her hand she held it tensed above the bowl and traced the droplets of blood as they fell from her hand to the bowl. The moving firelight made each drop seem like there was a million more falling. At last she too brought her hand to her mouth, cleaning away the blood with a swipe of her tongue and then wiping her palm on her jeans.
“We give our life to the land.” Kerry chanted, and the other girls answered her,
“May the land give us life.”
Kerry took the bowl and moved to a stream that tumbled over rocks as it swam past the tree the girl sat under. She cupped her hand and transferred the clear, cold water into the bowl. Returning to the others she mixed the dirt, water, and blood together until it was all a muddy paste.
Kerry said, “Fresh, cleansed water supply us. We ask this stream to flow for the land.”
“Like our veins flow for us.” The others replied. Kerry dipped her fingers into the mud and brought them to her face. She streaked each cheek and her forehead before she passed the bowl to Mira. Then said
“I am a wild Princess. The land is my soul. The dirt is my flesh, the rivers my veins, the water my blood, the stars my eyes and the plants my hair. Each creature upon this earth is my kin, each shuddering throb of the earth my heartbeat. I give myself to the land, tonight and forever.” Kerry’s body shook as she inhaled smoke scented air into her lungs and pressed herself into the earth.
Mira took up the bowl and streaked her face as well, repeating Kerry’s words. Her dark lashes fanned across her gleaming skin as she closed her eyes and absorbed the power from the earth. Christine repeated her actions, only she turns her blue eye upward and lifted her arms in rapture. Hannah next picked up the bowl and spoke the words, her inherit shyness dropping away as her body swayed back and forth.
Kerry took the bowl and sprinkled the rest of the mud into the fire, making it hiss.
“We come from the land, the land calls to us. The power of earth belongs to us all; we are its wild princesses!”
All four girls raised their hands above them and moaned low in their throats. The winds caressed their skin and lifted the ends of their hair. They lowered their arms and clasped hands with one another, forming a ring around fire. Their heads fell back and their lungs filled with heavy air, laden with the scent of smoke, leaves, and freshly running water.
Under a willow tree, deep in the forest, with a bubbling stream running past, the Wild Princess’s were born. | 
