Forgotten

Chapter One

She would have never expected a stranger to come by today, especially on this day of all days.

It was raining outside, which was very unusual. There had hardly been rain around here, but whenever there was, people mostly stayed within the warm confines of their homes or the rooms of the inn they had rented out for the night.

When this stranger appeared at the door of the inn, she had been sleeping. She didn't exactly like to call it sleeping, as that made her sound like a lazy worker; she called it resting. She had simply closed her eyes and lost herself for a moment, just a moment, when she heard the doors to the inn open as the stranger stepped inside.

She had never seen him around town, and the way he looked indicated that he was a traveler. His lengthy brown hair had been matted to his head from the rain and it was dripping. He was tall and slightly muscular, tanned by the sun, she supposed, and he carried a bag filled with things she couldn't even begin to imagine. As he got closer, her suspicions of him being a traveler were confirmed as his stench became more noticeable; he clearly hadn't been able to bathe recently. He looked at her with beady little brown eyes, and after staring back at him for a few moments, she quickly regained her voice.

"M-may I help you?" He was silent at first, still staring at her, and she grew slightly uncomfortable, tensing up a little bit. She was about to repeat her question again when he answered her.

"I'd like a room for the night." His voice was very deep and rigid. She turned away from him for a minute. Once she found the key she was looking for, she handed it to him and said in a surprisingly sheepish voice, "That'll be fifteen rupees. Here's your key and enjoy your stay." Everything went as usual. He fished the rupees out of his bag, handed them to her, and took the key from her hastily, turning to go find his room. He then stopped in his tracks as if he had thought of something he was missing, and then he turned back around to face her.

"That necklace you're wearing, where did you get it?"

She was so startled by this question that she didn't quite think she heard him. "W-what was that?" she asked timidly, feeling embarrassed.

"I said, where did you get that necklace?"

"Oh, this um, it was just a birthday present from a few years ago." She then automatically put her hand around the gem of the necklace as she almost always did when people inquired about it. The gem itself was in a unique shape that resembled a moon and a star that had been formed into one. It had its own distinctive color which was a cloudy mix of blues, greens, and a tinge of white here and there. A golden chain held it around her neck. The necklace was clearly very valuable, and one could only imagine how much it was worth.

"If you don't mind me asking," he began in an overly-interested tone, "from whom did you receive this necklace?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I got it from my father. Why do you want to know?" Why did he want to know? Most people didn't care much about where it was from. The only thing they usually said was that it was "gorgeous" and that she was "very lucky to have it."

He ignored her question. "Where did he get it? Do you remember?" She shook her head, shrugging. She remembered back to when her father had given it to her. It had been for her fifteenth birthday. He had woken her up very early that day, not even saying happy birthday to her and she had at first felt extremely dejected, thinking that he had forgotten. Once she had finished dressing he had directed her towards the kitchen and told her to begin cooking. As soon as she opened the kitchen doors she knew why he wanted her there. The whole kitchen was decorated in the theme of horses (yes, she knew she was a bit old for this but she had always loved them) and sitting on the stove was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen, this necklace. She had not taken it off once since then. She smiled at the thought.

"He said he just found it, I'm not really sure. Probably he just paid someone to make it."

"You don't say…" He seemed to say it more to himself. His eyes then began to focus in more on the necklace and he suddenly reached his hand out, tracing the outline of the necklace with a finger. Malon was startled at this action, and she stepped back into the wall and quickly placed a protective hand on the necklace. She stared at him with great surprise as well as something almost resembling anger.

What was going on through the mind of this man, she didn't know, but she automatically assumed he had gone mad once he touched her. No one had ever had the nerve to do such a thing, and she would not ever allow him to lay a finger anywhere near her body again.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you ever touch me again!" She shrieked. He simply answered this and the glare she was giving him with a kind-hearted smile.

"Your necklace is indeed beautiful," he paused, "but not even as close to as beautiful as you look wearing it." She lifted both eyebrows, one again dazzled at this peculiar stranger's words, and before she could ask him what his problem, he turned on his heels and walked away.

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Hope you liked it. Next chapter will come out whenever I feel like writing it, but with all the schoolwork I've been getting and how busy I've been lately I wouldn't count on it (yes, that is always my excuse). And I'd especially like to give a special thanks to Sapphira603 for beat reading this for me