Patterns of light trickled down through the leaves, dappling AsaHi’s face. The speckles seeped through her closed eye lids, tugging her awake from depths of the calm sleep. She woke to the instant knowledge that the events from the night before were not a dream.
More like a nightmare.
Her tattered clothes were covered in mud. Her whole body ached from the fall and her hands throbbed, rubbed raw from scrabbling along rock. On top of that, her pack was nowhere to be found.
But still, she couldn’t help but stop to wonder…
I hope the Apprentices are okay.
Even if they had been intent on taking her back to Nefol, something soured in the pit of her stomach at the thought of anyone getting hurt. They were boys, not much older than herself, maybe even classmates of SoYa. It was likely she had grown up with some of them. Yet, something in the back of her mind told her that she needed to be more worried about herself at the moment.
AsaHi pushed herself weakly to her feet, carefully taking one stiff step. Then another. And another. The sound of the nearby water was calling her — at least there, she could wash the remnants of the night from her face and hands.
A tiny silver stream stretched out before her, winding peacefully through the hollowed rocks. Moss sprung up in patches over the flat stone faces and a few stunted trees embedded themselves into the banks on either side.
Leaning forward, the girl tried to catch a glimpse of her face in the water, but it was moving too quickly to see anything more than a blur of distorted color. Dipping her fingers in, she cupped the cool liquid between her hands, then began to splash it all over her face and arms, rubbing vigorously.
Where am I supposed to go now?
The girl crouched at the waterside, shivering as the chill moisture began to soak into her travel-stained clothes.
I don’t have my pack. I don’t have my supplies. I don’t have my map. And even if I did, I don’t know which way to go to get back to the path…
As if on cue, something heavy landed next to her with a flump. Giving a surprised sound, AsaHi turned quickly. There, on the flat stone next to her, was her pack.
What? It can’t be!
Instantly, she began to grapple with the clips, throwing the top open. Everything inside was just as she had left it. The little paper map sat primly atop the food and various items of clothing she packed away the night of her departure.
It’s all here! I don’t believe it!
The girl’s eyes lit brilliant. Seeing this was like sunshine breaking through the darkest clouds. Her mind was already calculating, trying to figure out which direction she had run the night before and which way the road was.
Wait…
AsaHi froze, a new thought shifting within her mind. She was so glad to see her supplies that she had not stopped to wonder how they returned to her. The last time she remembered seeing the pack, it was in the Apprentice’s hand back on the path.
Someone had to have brought it here… someone dropped it next to me… someone…
The girl lifted her head and looked up the length of the rock wall that ran alongside the stream. Her heart stopped short as her gaze was met by that of another — there was a man there, crouching on the top of the stone. He watched her in complete silence, a strange expression on his face.
One of the Apprentices survived after all!
AsaHi rose to her feet, demanding, “How long have you been watching me?”
“Kaaa…” a strange purr was the only reply she received.
Before she could blink, he cast himself over the ridge and landed lithely on the next ledge down. An intense curiosity was written on his face.
As he crept closer, AsaHi could see him more clearly. He looked as if he had spent far more than just one night in the backwoods. His white hair was wild and extremely long. As he moved, it caught and reflected the sunlight in a dazzling array of many colors. He was wearing nothing but a pair of battered Apprentice trousers, which were too small for him.
“Uh… uh…” she took a long step away.
“Kaha!” he gave an odd sound, something like laughter. The man seemed to have found her reaction amusing.
Embarrassed, her questions came out in a stutter, “Are you o-okay? That monster from last night didn’t hurt you, did it?”
At her words, the hollow was filled with a low-throated growl. AsaHi froze — there was no mistaking the sound. As she met the man’s gaze, she grew very, very pale. The growl was not coming from a beast, but from him. For the first time, she could see his sharp pointed fangs glinting in the sunlight.
Still on all fours, he crept closer to the edge of the rock. His slitted teal eyes focused on her intently, the same eyes from the night before. The eyes that had watched her in the shadows until she had fallen into the strange, inevitable sleep.
“It was you!” AsaHi backpedaled rapidly, her voice no more than a broken sound of fright. With a gasp, the girl flung herself at a dead run across the slippery rocks in the opposite direction.
AsaHi only put a few yards between herself and the man before she was forced to slip-slide to a panting stop. Somehow, he had managed to leap all the way from the far ledge on the other side of the stream… to a spot a few feet in front of her. As she spun to change her direction of flight, he was blocking her escape in that direction, too. She turned for a third time, and he was there. And a fourth. He was there, too. No matter which way she looked, the man was already there. Her mind lurched, refusing to believe it was real.
Finally, she threw her hands up over her head as a broken whisper escaped her lips. “Please, please don’t!”
The growl faded to nothing and the pressure of silence shifted in the hollow. It was written in the way the air moved — he was coming closer. Then one of her hands was carefully pulled away from her head. The hold was gentle, but firm. Her fingers were then splayed out and spread palm up. There was a tickling sensation, soft and tingling, dancing from one fingertip to the next.
AsaHi gathered her courage and peeked out from behind her other hand. The man crouched in front of her, holding her palm out to inspect it. Every now and then, he would hold out his own hand in a similar position and look back and forth, as if comparing.
What’s he doing?
Being so close to him sent another round of chills dancing over her skin. She realized for the first time that the man was huge — easily twice her size, and then some.
Noticing she was watching him, the man turned his teal eyes upon her. She could feel a vastness swelling behind them, as if she was looking into the flow of the universe. An unpretentious calmness settled on her shoulders, a feeling induced by his gaze.
“Kaaa…” his lips curled back, fangs glittering like dagger-points.
AsaHi recoiled with a choke.
The man’s face fell with an expression of disappointment at her reaction. A gentle sound, something like a croon, rose in his throat. A strange tingling filled the back of her mind.
He held up his hand. Then he held up her hand. And he placed them palm to palm — his hand was near twice the size of hers. Still, within the motion she could sense it, as if he was trying to say: See! I am just like you!
The croon within his throat rose in triumph. Again, his lips curled back, fangs showing. AsaHi nearly yanked her hand away at the sight.
Then she realized the man was smiling at her.
Or… at least as close as he could come to a smile with the fangs. There was warmth in the light of his eyes, almost pleading, as if he wanted nothing more than for her to confirm his statement.
AsaHi stared back into his smile, a dull numbness rising in her chest. She felt the words pouring out of her mouth with a jittery sound, “Are you going to hurt me?”
Instantly, his face crinkled into a pitiful frown.
She realized that he could understand her, even if he didn’t seem to speak. If he had known how to shake his head in negativity, then he probably would have.
“No?” the girl asked, shaking her head for him.
The man blinked in return, studying the motion. Then ever so slowly, he shook his head, too. When she stopped, he stopped.
“Then why did you kill the Apprentices?”
There was a puzzled expression on his face, as if he didn’t quite know what she meant.
“The Apprentices,” she pointed towards the pants that he wore, and then made a motion like a hood over her head. “Apprentices.”
When he snarled lightly, AsaHi realized he understood.
“Did you kill them?”
“Kaaa?” his brow wrinkled.
“Kill…” she made stabbing motions towards her own chest.
The man gave a hiss and shook his head back and forth vehemently.
Her eyes widened, “Did you kill them?”
He continued to shake his head back and forth.
“I know it was you last night. I saw you!” she demanded again. “Did you kill them?”
Exasperated at her demands, he reached out, grasping her shoulders with both hands. His eyes lit with a teal glow and suddenly, an image leapt into her mind.
She could see it, a hazy vision behind her eyes. She could make out the Apprentices, shuffling along the path. They looked to be a little battered — some limping along supporting bruised limbs, and one missing a pair of pants. But they were all alive and making their way back towards Nefol.
AsaHi gaped, caught between elation and astonishment. A huge weight dropped from her shoulders.
A hint of a smile played on the man’s face.
The girl blinked out of the vision as if it had been no more than a daydream. A million questions bubbled up within her chest.
How did he do that? Who is he? What does he want?
“Then,” she managed to stammer, “W-why did you attack them?”
He gave a snort that sounded like disgust. Then he took his own hand and imitated the stabbing motion that AsaHi had shown him earlier.
She blinked.
“Kaaa..!” he repeated the motion, lip curling up with a hint of anger.
“You thought they were going to hurt me?” she translated.
His eyes lit up, a wide fangy smile breaking across his face. It seemed as if he was pondering what the opposite motion of shaking one’s head in negativity was.
“Yes?” AsaHi nodded.
The man watched her for a moment. Then he began to nod, too.
“Yes? You thought they were going to hurt me?”
He nodded again.
She gave a weak little smile. Then she shook her head, “No. They weren’t going to hurt me. They were just going to take me somewhere.”
He nodded as if to indicate their intentions were more than just that.
She shook her head, “No…”
He nodded more fervently, “Kaaa…”
“Really, I was quite alright!”
His eyes flashed darkly, the flicker of another image slipping through her mind. It was herself, surrounded by the Apprentices, as she had been last night. She watched herself slam her elbow into the stomach of one of the Apprentices and sprint away as a bolt of lightning struck the place she had been standing a moment before.
The man’s face was stern.
“Oh!” AsaHi blinked. “I suppose seeing this, I would think that they were trying to hurt me, too.”
“Ka,” he grunted.
“But you didn’t have to scare us! We thought you were some sort of… of…”
She blanched as his eyes narrowed into serpent slits.
“Exactly.”
He gave another snort which slid gently into something that sounded like a purr. His face showed an open fondness as he reached a hand out and placed it on her head.
“I…” AsaHi swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable at the gesture. “I thank you… for your concern…”
The man paused, blinking hopefully at her.
Who is he? Why did he protect me?
She nodded, and then reached over for her pack. “I thought I was in big trouble. If I had lost the map, I wouldn’t be able to keep traveling.”
A rather pleased grin spread across his face, “Kaaa!”
AsaHi looked at him, then scratched her forehead.
He scratched his forehead too.
“You… can’t talk can you?” she tilted her head at him.
He tilted his head back.
“Talk… you know… like this,” she pointed to her lips, then to her ears. “Talk?”
He touched his own lips. Then with a furrowed brow that expressed his frustration, he shook his head.
“I see,” AsaHi frowned too. She pondered for a moment then found herself saying, “I suppose the least I could do is get you cleaned up. You made a mess of yourself because of me.”
He shook his head as if to accent the point.
“That’s right, it’s not good,” she smiled.
He gave her a wide grin and kept shaking his head.
“You have a sense of humor as well, I see.”
The man arched his eyebrow in a rather peculiar expression.
She couldn’t help but laugh a little. Even though she really had nothing to be cheerful for, it just felt good to laugh after everything that happened the past few days.
“We’ll have to find you a name, too,” she told him.
His face brightened.
“Do you have a name?”
He nodded vigorously.
“You do? Can you tell me what it is?”
The man gave a rather intense frown. Then he ran his tongue over his lips and took a deep breath, “Kaaaa…”
Something as simple as speaking, one did not think too much about. But, the way he struggled, it seemed as if he had never attempted to utter a word in his life. It took all his concentration to shape his lips in the manner he desired.
“Kaaaz…” he scowled.
“Kaz…” she nodded trying to sound encouraging.
He took in another breath and tried again, “Kaaazzeeee…”
“Kaze?”
“Kaazzz… kaazeeem…. kaaazeeemiii.”
“Kazemi?” she echoed.
A strange look crossed his face as he nodded. Then, he wrinkled his brow and shook his head.
He looked so pitiful that she offered him a smile, “It’s okay, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Is ‘Kaze’ okay?”
The man gave a little choke followed by a reserved sigh. Then, he nodded.
“Kaze it is!” AsaHi motioned for him to follow her towards the stream. “Now come over here and we’ll see what we can do about…”
She paused, watching him trot after her. He was walking on all fours.
I have a feeling this isn’t going to be easy.
It’s Tarzan!
Zemi-styal!!!