Harriet slowly made her way through the forest. There hadn't been any monster sightings in a while, but she promised her aunt she would always be careful anyways. Each week, it was Harriet's job to bring back some herbs from the forest to the apothecary in Ozette. Once every few months, she had to travel through the forest all the way to Sybak to get ingredients for gels. It was a very difficult job, but Harriet had memorized the map of the forest and rarely got lost.

Harriet jumped behind a tree and peered around the corner. She could see something in the corner of her eye. From her belt, she grabbed hold of her slingshot and pulled a tiny rock off the ground. She slowly positioned herself so she could shoot while still being out of sight. Her breaths became uneven and sweat started to drip from her brow. Harriet had no idea what could possibly be around the corner.

She heard it moving. The creature seemed to be shuffling it's feet. Harriet couldn't wait any longer. She released the band and the stone went flying. Harriet quickly turned her head in the direction of the monster. She heard it call out in pain.

Harriet looked at the creature. It looked almost human. It had ghostly pale skin and a pointy chin. His eyes were large and dark and his shaggy muted green hair hung over them. He had a long nose pointing a bit upwards to the sky. What caught Harriet's attention was the pointy ears. An elf perhaps? She came out and approached the creature which was now sitting on the ground gripping his arm.

"H-h-hello," said Harriet, catching the creatures attention. "I'm s-sorry. I thought you were..."

The creature looked back to his arm and began tearing at the rock lodged in his skin. It finally came loose. Blood began trickling out of the wound. The creature held the stone up at Harriet, as if he was returning it.

Harriet slowly took the stone in her hands and the creature rose to his feet. Harriet caught sight of the unusual green markings on his arms before he pulled down his sleeves.

"What are you?" she asked.

He looked at her with his deep dark eyes, almost piercing her soul. He remained wordless.

"Here," she said, " Your bleeding. Let me take you into Ozette where you can get treatment for the wound. You can't just walk around with blood pouring out from your arm."

Harriet grabbed the creature by the wrist and began leading him back through the dark forest in the direction of Ozette. "My name is Harriet by the way," she said, "What's yours?"

The creature continued to remain silent. He had a quiver strapped to his back and a bow pulled over his shoulder. This made Harriet assume he was some sort of hunter. He had to have been travelling somewhere, but where?

In an hour or so, they arrived in Ozette. Harriet quickly lead him up to the apothecary's without arousing too much attention. She pulled him inside and closed the door behind her.

"Sit," she said pointing to the chair. The creature slowly took his place in the seat and looked up at Harriet. Harriet pulled up his sleeve ignoring the markings and looked at the wound. She grabbed a small herb from her bag and gave it to him to chew on to ease the pain.

Harriet began wiping the blood off with a towel and then began pouring a orange liquid onto the wound. Finally, she wrapped it in a bandage and pulled his sleeve down.

"Now," she said, "I'll get you a room at the inn where you can rest while that heals. I don't suggest leaving Ozette until it does."

The creature finally spoke up. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"No."

"Well!" exclaimed Harriet, "If you want to go out and get it infected or even worse, be my guest. Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"I can't stay at the inn," he said.

"Well where else are you supposed to go then?" asked Harriet. "This is Ozette, there aren't many other places to go."

"I can stay with you."

"No way! My uncle would kill me! Your going to have to stay at the inn, or figure it out yourself."

"How about here?" asked the creature. "In this building."

Harriet sighed, "I guess I could set up a bed for you in the back. Sure, but you have better be quiet! When Quinn comes in tomorrow morning I don't want her finding out I kept you in here. I like my job and I want to keep it."

The creature nodded. "Noishe," he said.

"What?"

"My name is Noishe, and I'm a human."