In the depths of a forest so dense, rays of light from the moon and stars were thin and far between, a young boy wonders aimlessly. He was alone and scared and shivering from the cold. He didn't know how long it had been since he was left there, but his stomach was grumbling and his mouth was dry with thirst. In the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow move behind the trees. His eyes darted toward the source of the movement, but found nothing. Turning back toward the path he was following; the boy wrapped his arms around himself and walked deeper into the darkness.
Larten Crepsley had been traveling on his own for the past 4 years. He had been getting too comfortable at the Cirque Du Freak and wished to fine-tune his skills by hunting for his own food and blood and living roughly. It had been going well and he was feeling content. One night, he was wandering through a forest in search of a place to rest for the day. This forest was dense and a perfect place to find a shadowed nook to rest in away from the burns of the sunlight. Larten saw a spot ahead where he would be able to rest and approached it.
The boy continued wandering, getting more tired with every step. Eventually, he decided to lay down. He didn't like the idea of sleeping in this forest. He was scared to close his eyes, not knowing what sort of animals or other dangers lied in the dark, but he was lost and didn't know how far he was from the forest's edge. He didn't even know where this forest was. He found a large tree and hesitantly sat under it. The grass was soft and long and the tree casted a long shadow beneath it. The boy hoped that laying under it would make him invisible to possible predators. He laid down and felt his eyelids start to droop immediately. He fought sleep, still terrified. But he couldn't fight sleep off for long. He had started to drift off to sleep, blinking slowly and more frequently, when he spotted a figure standing in the distance.
Larten began walking towards a patch of grass beneath a large tree with the intent of sleeping, but stopped when he noticed another, smaller figure already lying there. He stared for a moment. It was dark, but Larten's heightened senses could see that the figure was a child. The child stared back at him and sat up quickly, immediately tense and alert. Larten approached him cautiously, surprised the boy wasn't running away.
The boy startled and shot up quickly. He couldn't see the figure's face, but he knew he was staring at him. The figure stepped closer and the boy began to shake. In a moment the shadowed man was standing over him and the boy was trembling. The man crouched down and looked the boy in the eye. They were wide and didn't blink as he stared fearfully at the stranger.
Larten crouched down to be at eye-level with the child. He leaned away from Larten and stared at him cautiously. Larten said gently, "It is alright. I will not hurt you." It wasn't until he got close that he noticed how young the boy was. He could not be older than 10. The boy continued to stare.
"What is your name?" Larten asked.
The boy frowned and stayed silent. His eyes changed from fear to confusion.
Larten hesitated. "My name is Larten Crepsley." He began to think he may have come across a mute, but as he stared at the boy he wasn't sure if he even understood what Larten was saying. Maybe there was a language barrier. Larten was about to start speaking in some of the other languages he knew when the boy pointed to his ear and shook his head.
Then it dawned on him. "You cannot hear?" he asked. The boy looked down sadly.
Larten sat down across from him and the boy looked back up at him. They sat in silence for a moment, then Larten heard the boy's stomach grumble. The boy winced and wrapped his arms around himself. Larten noticed that he looked very thin and wondered when he had eaten last.
Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out an apple and handed it to the boy. He stared at it for a moment before slowly reaching out and taking it. As soon as it was in his hands the boy began eating at it quickly. He took large bites and swallowed so fast, Larten was afraid he would choke, but he didn't. After he finished the apple, he nibbled on the core until there was next to nothing left.
After tossing the apple core aside, the boy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked back up at Larten.
Why was he helping me? the boy had thought, but he appreciated it none the less. He didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth.
'Thank you' he signed to Larten hoping he would understand.
The boy moved his hand so it was flat and the tips of his fingers were on his chin and he extended his hand forward. Larten stared confused, but assumed the boy was trying to say thank you and nodded in response. Larten was more curious than ever who this boy was. Larten knew that if he were to try and find out, he would have to learn the boy's language. If this boy spoke with his hands, then that is what Larten would learn to do.
"So," Larten started. The boy stared at his mouth and Larten hoped he could tell what he was saying. He replicated the motion he had made after eating the apple by placing his hand to his chin and extending it forward. "Thank you?" he asked, being sure to annunciate.
The boy nodded, seeming to understand, and he began to smile. He reached over to where he tossed the apple core and grabbed it. He pointed to it, then made a fist with his right hand. He twisted it back and forth next to his face with his thumb pressed to his cheek.
Larten copied the motion that must've meant "apple". The boy smiled and nodded. They continued to do this for a while. The boy pointed at things nearby and showed Larten the signs. By the end, Larten had learned how to sign 'tree', 'ground', 'shirt', and 'hair'.
The boy was skinny and sickly looking. He was pale and his eyes looked sunken. Larten noticed during a pause between learning signs that was staring at Larten's hands. Finally, the boy pointed to them, then at his eyes, then back at his hands.
Larten showed him his hands and the boy took one and leaned down to look at them. It was dark in the forest and Larten imagined that it must've been very hard for someone without his heightened senses to see. After a moment, the boy let go of his hand and showed his own to Larten. He pointed to his finger tips and Larten gaped. He had small scars on his fingertips identical to the ones on Larten's. This child was a vampire.
The boy pointed between his scars and Larten's and began signing, but Larten could not understand. The boy pressed two fingers against his palm, pointed to the scars, and then shook his open palms back and forth near his stomach. The question was, 'What do these scars mean?'
Larten shook his head, showing that he didn't understand. The boy sighed, trying to think of another way to ask the question. He looked at Larten and shrugged, shook his head, and pointed to his fingers.
Larten looked confused for another moment, then his face scrunched up in suspicion.
"Do you know what you are?" he asked slowly, still annunciating so the child could read his lips. It was difficult to read lips in the dark but the boy managed.
The boy shook his head slowly.
Larten sighed and closed his eyes. This was bad. Who had turned a child without informing him of what vampires were and just leave them alone in the forest? Larten looked at the boy sympathetically. That explained why he was so pale and why his eyes were sunken in. He probably had never had blood before, which meant he could not have been a vampire longer than 2 or 3 months.
Reaching into his cloak, he pulled out one of his blood vials and pulled the cork off. He handed it to the boy, who looked at the red liquid curiously. Larten saw him hesitate and mimed a drinking motion. The boy tenderly put the vile to his lips and poured it into his mouth. He gagged a bit at first, but swallowed it anyway and soon had downed the whole vial.
It didn't take too long for him to feel the effects of whatever liquid the kind stranger had given him. His eyesight improved immensely and his legs were not as sore from walking as they were before. He handed the man his vial back and they sat awkwardly for a few moments.
"It should be almost midday by now," he said, more to himself than to the child. He looked back over at the boy. "Rest," he advised, "We can figure everything out in the evening."
The boy tilted his head and looked confused. Larten pressed his hands together, palm to palm, and pretended to rest his head on them. "Rest," he repeated.
The boy's face brightened in realization. He placed his hand, fingers spread apart, across his face and lowered his arm, bringing his fingers to a point and lowering his head as he did. Larten copied the sign for sleep and they both laid down.
When evening came, Larten woke first. He looked over at the boy, who was curled on his side, still fast asleep. He felt bad that he did not even know the boy's name, but he had no way of asking or understanding the answer. He thought of all the possibilities behind where the boy had come from. Why was he not informed of vampires and their ways? Larten thought that perhaps his master could not tell him because the boy was deaf, but then why turn him at all?
Larten knew there was no way that the apple and blood vial was enough to sustain him. He was still very thin. So, Larten decided to go look for food for them both. He left his cloak so the boy would know he would be returning in case he woke up while Larten was gone.
On his hunt, he found and killed a fox to bring back to cook. He walked back with it slung over his shoulder. He skinned the fox, built a fire, and began to cook it. The boy woke up when it was halfway finished. He sat up and looked over at Larten, relieved that he was still there. Before falling asleep, he was worried that the kind man would abandon him, like his old master did. However, as he was woken by the savory fumes of cooking meat, he knew that this man must have been different.
Once cooked, they split the fox between them and sat, cross-legged, on the ground while they ate. Once finished, Darren and Larten tossed the bones aside. Darren wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked back up at Larten.
'Thank you,' he signed.
Larten signed back, "You're welcome."
It was silent for a moment. Larten cleared his throat out of awkwardness and spoke, "You can travel with me if you wish."
The boy just looked at him, tilting his head slightly.
"Would you like to come with me?" Larten asked slowly. "Do you understand?"
At first, the boy did nothing, then he slowly nodded.
"I wish I knew your name," Larten said, still being careful to annunciate.
The boy thought for a while, then he decided that the only way this man and him would be able to introduce themselves to each other is if he could teach him the alphabet.
The boy made a fist with his thumb facing upwards and held it up for the man to see.
Larten stared with interest as the boy made a different sign. He straightened his fingers and bent his thumb across his palm, then he curved his hand into a semi-circle. He continued through the whole alphabet and looked to Larten hopefully. Larten did nothing, so the boy ran through it again, and again until Larten began mimicking the motions.
Eventually Larten picked up on what the boy was doing and he worried. He had never learned to read and write. He could write his name and a few simple things, but he doubted he would be able to fair well understanding spellings in this manner.
They continued running through the alphabet until Larten knew every sign. After that, the boy pointed to himself, then signed, D-A-R-R-E-N.
Then Darren made another sign, the letter d in front of his chin. He moved his hand into a vertical circle downwards. He pointed to himself again and made that sign.
That must be a sign for his name, Larten thought.
The boy, Darren, held two fingers in each hand and pressed them on top of each other, then he pointed to Larten and waved his hands back and forth below his chest. Larten guessed he was asking for his name.
In response, Larten spelled out, L-A-R-T-E-N. His signing was slow and he had to pause to remember certain letters, but in the end, Darren smiled and thought a moment. Finally, he made the letter L with his hand and scratched the side of his face.
Larten looked at him, confused. Darren pointed to him and made the sign again.
He must be giving me a sign-name like his own, Larten thought. Larten replicated the sign and pointed to himself, his eyebrow aimed into a question.
Darren nodded.
Larten stood. "I need to keep moving," he said slowly, making sure Darren was staring at him before he spoke. "If you are wishing to travel with me, then we should be off."
Darren stood and picked up the small bag he carried with him. After he slung it over his shoulder, he looked back up at Larten and smiled. Larten, in turn, nodded and turned, leading the way out of the forest.