I hope you enjoy this new chapter ;)

The Stranger That Taught Me

"Fare maiden, what ails you?" I leapt back at the man's sudden voice, so far that I fell back into the river that had carried Jade away. I struggled to do something, my mind wouldn't make its mind up, get to the shore or stay afloat? I went under twice before arms wrapped around me and brought me above the water. And still I struggled, I struggled against him, I struggled against the stupid river that couldn't stop running for just one day for me, I struggled against being saved, how dare he! His arms held strong though and he made it quickly to the shore without trouble.

He put me down gently and in return I kicked him in the shins. He grunted but didn't say anything. I had hoped he would collapse so I could run but no, he just turned away from me, pulling off his now soaked cloak. I watched him, he had darker hair but the moves of a fare folk. I turned and padded off, not quite able to stay stealthy due to my feet which to my horror lead bloody foot prints directly to my position.

"What's this a runaway?" I was nearly grabbed as a man stepped out of the thick forestry and snapped a hand out to grab me. Panicked I ran as far and fast as I could away, I couldn't get very far before my feet were too painful to use anymore and so I hid under a rotted log and waited.

I could hear my own breaths, they sounded as loud as a birds screech, but it wasn't nearly as loud as my heart pounding in my ears. I waited listening, to my heart to my breathing, trying to calm myself in the false hopes that they wouldn't be able to find me. My heart began to slow and I became aware I was shaking, I could hear myself shaking from head to toe, feel the cold sweat of fear, the tears now tears of fear.

"Your scared little one," said a voice from above the log, he sounded like he was crouching on the log right above her. "Will you come out if I promise you I will not let you come to harm?"

"What good is the word of a man?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"Fare enough, Ill earn your trust then, I guess saving you wasn't good enough? I wouldn't think so either since I was the one to cause it." He said answering himself, this made her smile, she'd never heard anyone talk like he did, or speak to her like he did. "So what were you doing out here, so upset, was it so horrible?"

"My only friend in the world died last night, I couldn't afford a burial so she was thrown in the river." I said, surprising myself with how much I was sharing with this man. I have never talked to a man like this before, answered questions curtly and quickly yes but never actually talked. "I didn't get time to say goodbye." That wasn't exactly true I would realize later on but at that moment it was as true as fact, right then it felt as though that goodbye I would never get to say was like a poison that would kill me very soon.

"Well then I am glad, it is how I came to find you." He said, "if I leave, will you be here when I get back?"

I looked down at my feet, swollen, dirty and bloody. "Seems I have no choice sir."

"Excellent, I will return." He said, he jumped down behind me somewhere, with no alternative I waited. I did not have to wait long, perhaps an hour or two, I fell asleep and was awoken by the voice again. "I have returned, should I let you sleep?"

I licked my dry lips, my tongue was so dry it stuck to my lips in the attempt so I brought it back into my dry mouth and instead answered. "No, I'm ok."

"Are you still bleeding little one?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"I don't know it's too dark down here." I answered honestly.

"Well why don't you come out, I promise you won't be touched." He said.

Fear hit me then, he didn't say he wouldn't touch her, he said she wouldn't be touched, that ment there were others out there. "How... How many people are out there?" I asked curling into a tight ball fearing hands would appear from all sides trying to grab me.

"If you would like, it can be just you and me," he said. I nodded and somehow he must have known my answer because his next words were "We are alone now, please come out."

"No tricks?" I asked uncurling myself hesitantly.

"No tricks." He stated. I crawled out with my arms and looked above me but he wasn't there this time. I pulled my legs out and looked around.

"Here child," he called, I looked where his voice had come from, he stood directly in front of the hole, that's probably how he had known I was asleep, and yet he had not attacked me in my sleep or tried to force my coming out. He was quickly turning into my favourite person in the world. "Can you walk?" He asked crouching down, he was more then fifteen feet away but he stayed low as though I were an animal he did not want to frighten again.

I nodded and scrambled to my feet as proof and stood in front of him, not ready to bolt though, I knew that would be useless but he did not seem to want to hurt me. He moved to the side and revealed Jade, laying peaceful on the cold hard ground, red fall leaves had fallen all around, befitting since red was her favourite colour. He had even dug a hole to bury her in, though I saw no shovel around.

I limped forward, it seemed a conscious effort for him to not help me but he stayed where he was. In front of him, I said my goodbyes, he helped in many ways and didn't even give a look when I brought up her occupation. When I was done he came forward and held my hand, it was the best contact I could have wished for and I held onto it like a lifeline. All the same if he had gone any closer I would have bolted again, he seemed to sense this too.

"What do I do now?" I asked turning to him, he lead me away from her and to a soft bed of branches. I sat down as he directed, though he didn't speak, he then took my feet and proceeded to clean them, he seemed to know what he was doing, he even bandaged them and gave me boots to wear.

"What do I do now?" I asked again as he bandaged the last foot. He gently put the foot down and looked at me.

"Return to my home with me, I will take care of you." He said, his face told me he was serious, I looked down, not sure what to do, not sure how to accept or decline not sure how to make the decision.

"I have nothing back there, but I know it," I said, "what if I go with you and it's even worse then there." I said looking back to where I thought the city was, he nodded understanding.

"Sometimes you need to give something a try, may be you will love it, may be you will hate it, you don't know until you try." He booted the last foot and helped me to my feet.

"Ok, Ill go with you on one condition," I said looking up at him. "Never hurt me, I don't want to be hurt anymore, no heart ache no pain uncalled for, nothing."

"If I can prevent it, -and you heed my advice,- I will, its a deal." We shook on it and then he took me back to his home.

It took a month to get there, I rode a horse for the first time and everyone was ordered not to talk to me, not to touch me unless I began the conversation or contact. And mostly during the trip I stayed to myself, I tried to break out of the shell, once late at night while the fire crackled and most of everybody sat quietly chatting around it, I got up and went over the the man. I picked up a handful of dirt and scatters it in the wind, if he were only lightly sleeping the sand would wake him but he remained asleep, albeit with his eyes open. He didn't even flinch, I curled in next to him and closed my eyes.

Before I fell asleep I asked in as soft a voice as I could, "what's your name?"

I could swear he answered but I was already sound asleep. I woke early and went back to my bed roll to continue sleeping. This went on for several nights until I became aware that the others knew of what I was doing and so I could not do it anymore. But no longer could I sleep on my own and feel safe either, in these strange lands with even stranger animals I felt more unsafe than ever. Every noise I heard I was up and shaking. To which someone would say something like 'rabbit' or 'owl', I did not recognize any of these animals and so their explanation did nothing to help me.

When we next set up camp I set up my blanket right next to his, slowly as the night progressed I moved towards him, hoping to be as inconspicuous as possible. The next morning I was horrified to wake up to being the last one up. Everyone else was already up, chatting and talking away. I quickly rolled the bedding up and stashed it where it belonged and stood ready to go along with them.

"Are you sleeping alright?" He asked.

"Yes Sir," I responded quickly. He gave me a strange look, as though he knew I was lying to him and wouldn't stand for it, I gave in.

"Sir, what's a rabbit? Does it eat human flesh? Does an owl tear hearts out of newborns and laugh?" I asked, terrified, I looked around for any signs of the beasts that would surely eat me alive, but all was clear just then no monsters to be found.

"Poor child, a rabbit would never attack anybody, they are harmless and fluffy, a lot of young girls keep them as pets because they are so cuddly. And an owl is the symbol of wisdome, its a bird that feeds only on the smallest of other animals, they never eat people."

"Oh," I said, red faced. To their credit no one laughed. Though I'm sure most wanted to. He travelled with at least twenty others, I came to think of them as the part crew, always around him and yet hard to see all at one time unless we were going across a clearing.

Despite being on different horses I stayed as close to him as possible, I tried to respond to the others, smile at jokes that I didn't get, but somehow a smile just never came across my face, despite my worst efforts. I feared perhaps that I had been miserable so long that I'd forgotten how to smile, how to not flinch when someone other then him came over to touch me or even came near. I knew they were whispering things about me, things about those that had raised me.

"How do you know a person raised me?" I asked laughing, or trying to it came out like a bunch of huffs as though I were out of breath and so I stopped the embarrassing attempt half way. They didn't get the joke, the truth, just stared at me as though I were a three eyed monster. "I thought that'd be funny..." I ran back to his side and didn't leave it again, those people were just too weird.

You seemed to respond to the last chapter so I decided to post the next chapter. Chapter 3 will be up sometime this week, if you people like the story, if not than probably never I dunno. Thanks for reading and have a great day!