The local villager kids sneak away beyond the village and the little Human tags along.

Warning (Some angst. Again.)


"Why is he following us?"

Tish grumbled. All the children threw back a look and found the same small figure tagging along after them a few paces back. Eerie, white eyes held on them, not even appearing to blink at first.

Then, the little Human did blink and looked to the side where tall bushes rose along the quiet forest trail where all of them walked beneath the shadow of the thick trees. As one, the villager children turned and looked in same direction as the little Human, searching the bushes.

"What's he looking at?" One of the children lowered his tone to a wary whisper.

A loud huff suddenly startled everyone, causing the children to turn. Angry green eyes of the oldest child met them as he considered them with his arms folded across his chest.

"Who cares? Are we still going to the river or not?" He demanded, fuming that everyone was suddenly acting so timid.

"But Terik, what if its a creeper?" Kash added uneasily and they all began to look around, searching for the dangers that grown-ups always told them about, but which they dismissed after a really inspiring adventure story that librarian Fir told them this morning in school.

"Oh, posh! No one seen any monsters here in a whole year!" Terik scoffed. "Besides, they stay away during the day. It's completely safe. You all remembered to bring your lucky emeralds, right?"

At his expectant look, the other children immediately began to reach to their pockets and shirts. One youngest child, Mimi, even reached to his shoe, from where they pulled out their treasures – small green gemstones that reassuringly sparkled back at them.

They all then turned and looked at the Human, unsure.

"Does he have one?"

"Doesn't matter. He can have ten or even twenty! And he'll still be unlucky. Monsters hate Humans." Marish, of same age as Terik, scoffed with a look of strong dislike in their unwanted tagalong's direction.

"You! What's your name... Human! Go home! Shoo!" Tish tried to chase the Human away. At his raised voice, the small being stopped, blinking back at him, but only seemed confused as he stood there, not making a move. Long sleeves of his over-large gown slightly hung over his hands and trousers slightly dragged on the ground, covering his dirty bare feet. Wild tufts of hair sticking from his head in all directions made him look like a wild creature from the woods, especially with those strange, white eyes that nearly seemed to glow in the semi-dark of forest shadow.

"Ugh. He doesn't understand us. Dumb Human!" Tish concluded in frustration. "Terik, I really don't want him following us!"

Terik sighed. "Does anyone know what his name is?" He asked the others, but the children only shrugged.

"Hermo? Huro? It was something like that." Someone finally said uncertainly. The Human and his 'brothers' had begun to attend the common gatherings in the village only recently, so no one knew them well, yet. Marish smirked, but didn't say anything. Terik frowned at him, but decided that he didn't care.

"You! Huro!" Terik must have said the name close enough, because the strange white eyes turned and held on him. "Go home! Go! We don't want you following us! It's not safe! Ugh, where is Margol? He's supposed to watch him, isn't he? How's he even following us?"

His demand only made the other children shrug. None of them even noticed it when the little Human ended up following them. They were too busy having fun, looking forward to yet another forbidden adventure. They had gotten away with dozens of them before, loudly pretending to go to one place, where the grown-ups wouldn't mind, only to slip away and return just a bit later. Each time it got easier and easier.

"Well, maybe we should just go back?" Kash hesitantly suggested, but immediately received a glare from nearly all of his friends. Even Terik gave him an indignant look.

"Then you go back. I don't care if he follows us. I am going swimming!" He declared and the younger child pulled his head into his shoulders, immediately cowed. Terik then gave all the other children a challenging look, which they did not dare to question. Only older Maresh continued to look down at the ground and smirk with a careless expression.

Turning, Terek resumed the way with his chin raised high. The other children followed him. And so did the strange little being with white eyes, though it was at several paces behind them. Following their leader's example, the younger children simply tried to ignore him, though they knew that he persistently followed them, occasionally stumbling over the creeping tree roots as he curiously gazed up with something in the trees claiming his attention.

...

They had fun at the river.

Completely ignoring all the warnings that the grown-ups gave them about not approaching the water, the group of little villagers splashed in the shallows where clear, cool water ran sparkling under the midday sun. Forest surrounded the side of a pond that formed on one side of a small river, with an island of grass and tall cattail weeds in between.

Giggles and laughter followed handfuls of water that flew at each other, hopelessly soaking their clothes, though several smarter, older children had left their outer gowns hanging on the supple branches on the shore, where faint trails revealed footsteps left by rare villagers who occasionally came here to fish and to collect materials for woven baskets. Animal trails wove their way through the grass to the muddy, over-grown banks, left by animals who came down to drink.

No one but the children remained here now, their careless noise scaring away all animals and birds.

Briefly stopping to take a break as the other children continued to run back and forth in the knee to waist-high patch of the pond, Terik and Janik turned their heads, searching the place around them.

"There he is." Terik said with faint relief.

They found the small figure of the Human not too far away by the river, close to the outcrop of a rock, where tall grass hid half his form. Holding a long stick and biting his lip in determination, the little fellow was digging for something in the mud.

Seeing him, the two children relaxed and turned away to everyone else. Even though they said that they didn't care to watch him, of course they kept checking on him from time to time. Terik watched him especially alert at first because he thought that he might be like a baby, who would wander straight into the water, not knowing that he could drown. If he tried to do that, Terik would have taken him back, even though he would have been very angry about it.

But the little Human proved to be not as dumb as Terik thought from what everyone said in the village. He didn't go even close to the water, only watching them play from the shore.

"Terik! Terik! Look! Look what I found!" An excited voice distracted them. Terik and his friend both joined the small crowd that formed around their friend, Hnel.

"Wow! Lucky!"

"I want one!"

"Where did you find it?"

Awed and a little jealous voices followed as the children enviously eyed the faintly shimmering purple pebble on the child's palm. The leader of the group and his friend approached and Terik gave a nod of appreciation.

"Hmm, that's a good one, Hash. Definitely take it to Uncle Fir. He might give you 5 emeralds for it, or even 10 if it has strong magic. He likes to collect these. I don't know what kind of magic it is, but its strong. It'll make a really good Enchanted Book."

"Oooh!"

The best of Enchanted Books could make memories come alive in those who read those books or listened to them, as if it was happening for real.

"Make sure you don't lose it. Put it someplace safe." Terik advised and the younger child obediently stashed it into his deep gown pocket, followed by now slightly greedy glances.

"You can get your own. You just have to look." Terik frowned at them all and the children immediately parted. There wasn't as many giggles this time as they all began to diligently look, walking about and bending to pick up the pebbles on the bottom of the pond.

Soon, though, they once again began to get distracted and play, chasing each other amid the splashes.

On the shore by the river, white eyes looked at the children, splashing and playing in the river. Dropping the stick next to the hole he dug with it, the small Human boy curiously looked at the large rock that towered close by him and began to scamper up its slightly crumbly surface. On top, he hesitantly edged closer and closer to the edge and then peered over. White eyes uneasily held on the alluring, dark, moving surface.

Seeing one of the children even dare to approach the river, about to step in it, Terik immediately interfered.

"Hey!" He called out and frowned at the blinking little villager. "Don't go into the fast water! Too dangerous!"

Obediently, the villager stepped away and returned. And that suddenly reminded the oldest child that he had not checked on their village's little Human in a while.

Throwing up his green eyes, the young villager first checked the spot by the river where he had seen the Human last, but it was empty. He then looked around, searching the trees and the grass. There was no familiar figure in sight.

Frowning, the child continued to look around, and then abandoned the group and walked to the middle island separating the small pond from the river, intending to use the little outcrop as a look-out point, since the place was a few steps higher than anywhere else.

Coming there, he noticed the hole the Human dug in the mud and the abandoned stick.

Then he climbed up on the large rock.

Right away, he froze, noticing something strange, which made his heart suddenly beat fast as a bad feeling moved in his stomach. The villager's eyes considered the uneven edge of the rock, trying to remember if that's how it looked like the last time he had climbed here. Did it seem broken? He even carefully leaned and looked below, but saw only passing dark water.

He couldn't even see the murky bottom.

Noise next to him made him jump and back away a bit from the edge. Terik gave his friend an angry look, at which the shorter, pudgier child shrunk back a little.

"What?" Janik asked defensively. Ignoring him, Terik once again searched the surrounding area for the little Human.

"T-Terik..." The sheer terror in Janik's voice made Terik turn. The younger child was looking somewhere else down the river, his face noticeably paling. Small hands nervously clasped on to the edges of his still soaked robe.

Terik followed his gaze and also froze.

Just a little further down the stream, caught by the pull of the whirling current against the jutted shore, the little Human's limp form floated submerged in the water, face down and not moving.

At first, Terik hoped that it was just a log.

"Oh nooo... Is he dead? Oh no... " Janik mumbled and made a sob.

Terik stared another moment and then ran as fast as he could! The little Human was not very far, so maybe he could reach him! Maybe... Maybe he wasn't long in the water and just passed out?

By the time Terik managed to crawl forward into the slushy, sticky mud, and dragged the small body toward him, huffing as he tried to pull him out completely to the shore, the other little villagers had all abandoned their treasure hunt and now waited on the shore behind him, their eyes big and many already sniveling a little.

Terik, trying to lift the Human's face from the water, while still slipping and sliding as he tried to stand up, paused to catch his breath and gave them an angry look.

"You gonna stand there? H-help me!"

At once, numerous hands reached to him and the Human both, pulling them both out.

Completely covered with mud, their clothes soaked and dirty, the children crowded around the still form with anxious faces. Terik tried to see if the Human was breathing, but it seemed as if he wasn't. His chest was not moving at all, and his eyes were closed.

"Oh no, he's dead! I knew it!" Janik said loudly this time. Sobs behind him got louder.

"We're going to get in so much trouble for this. I knew we should have gone home! I just knew it!" Marish suddenly exploded. Startled, Terek looked back and found the older child's angry, resentful eyes glaring at him. He then frowned.

"If you wanted to go home, why didn't you? Why complain now?" Terek challenged. The other child frowned, but then huffed and folded arms across his chest as he turned to look at the little Human with the same dislike that he had earlier.

"I don't know why you are all so upset. So, he's dead, so what. My atta is going to say good riddance!" He raised his voice and looked at all the other children, whose eyes widened as they looked between him and Terik. Mimi suddenly burst crying, hiding his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking. Tash immediately moved toward him and patted him, giving their cold-hearted friend a reproaching look.

"And anyway, its not our fault that he followed us here." Marish said a little bit more defensively. "This Human is so stupid that he fell into the water and now its us who will get in trouble. Its not fair!" He stuck out his jaw.

"Maybe... Maybe we should not tell?" Tish timidly offered. Terik frowned at him.

"What do you mean? Are you saying we should just go back and pretend... that we don't know what happened to him? When they start looking for him? Just leave him here?" He asked with disbelief. Tish shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes.

"Villagers do not lie!" Terik raised his voice, offended. Next to him, Marish scoffed.

"Oh yeah, sure. It's fine to pretend when we go places we are not supposed when you say it."

Terik blinked at the accusation. "Yeah, but... That's different. No one died, then."

"You don't even know if he's dead! Maybe he is just unconscious! My atta says you have to put your ear to someone's chest and listen if their heart is beating. Then you will know if he is dead or not." Marish scowled.

Aghast, Terik stared at the small, still form and took a slight step back. Somehow, he felt very certain that the little Human was gone. His body had been so very, very cold under his hands when he was dragging it. He was not thinking about it earlier, but now... "I'm not doing that. You do that!" Terik stepped back another step and shivered.

"Why does his body not disappear?" Kash said in a very small voice and everyone fell very silent. "If he's dead, then his body should disappear, right? So he'll respawn somewhere else?" He asked hopefully.

"Humans don't respawn, you Nitwit!" Marish scowled angrily and Kash gasped. Mimi, briefly peering past his sleeves, began crying again. "I think we should just leave him here and go back and say that..."

Whatever frightened and angry suggestion he was going to make cut short when strange white particles of light appeared and began to coalesce around their group, falling upon the little Human. His skin began to faintly glow. At the same time, reddish light appeared, flickering in circular marks around his body, strangely glitching and splintering as more glow tried to break through beneath.

The child's body then jerked, small arms flinging out and puffy fingers uncurling, where bits of flame suddenly sparkled, only to fizzle out almost at once.

Gasping, all the children drew back a few steps as they formed a semi-circle, staring with fearful fascination at the strange magic.

Another wave of light flared out, breaking past the small Human's closed eyelids, even coming out of his parting mouth, and some of the reddish patterns around his body appeared to shatter and break away, their particles vanishing like dying embers into the air. The white light then slowly receded, absorbing into the child's skin.

His dark shirt, still muddy and soaked, contrasted strangely with the child's hair, which looked entirely clean and dry, framing his pale face with soft, feathery wisps. Just as the children watched, the little Human grimaced and sputtered, water coming from his mouth. Turning, his eyes still shut, he began to whimper in between fits of coughing, his entire body shaking in small convulsions as he choked on the water coming out of him.

Silently, everyone just watched in confusion and quite a bit of fear.

"Hero? Hero?"

"Hero?"

Voices calling in a distance startled the children. All of them turned and looked toward the path leading to the village, where two familiar forms of grown-up villagers appeared - the little Human's relatives, uncles Beor and Rangil. Already seeing the gathered group of children, the grown-up villagers hurried toward the hushed children.

As soon as he saw the little Human on the ground, the tall villager, uncle Beor, immediately hurried to him and lifted him, propping him against his knee, and patted him on his back to help him cough up the water.

"What happened?" He worriedly frowned at the children.

"He... He fell... In the water..." Janik hurried to explain before Terik could, and broke into sobs.

"We thought that he died! And then strange magic. He all lit up! And boom." A younger child explained, instead.

Uncle Beor's brows lowered as he considered them all.

"Why are you all so far from the village? Don't you know that it's dangerous to be so far away? And playing by the river alone? Your parents won't be pleased."

"We're sorry, uncle Beor!" Several voices immediately began to cry in earnest. One of the older children, though, only huffed as he continued to stand and boldly looked at the older villager, his arms still crossed over his chest.

With narrowed eyes, little Marish eyed Beor comforting the little Human, who now ceased to spit up water and only shook, clinging and hiding against his robe as he made weak whimpers.

"I don't care if I get in trouble. Your Human is going to be in even more trouble. He has magic and we all saw it. And I'm going to tell my atta and everyone about it." The child stubbornly declared.

Uncle Beor's lips pinched, and he quickly gave his lanky brother a dark look, after which he in one strong motion got off his knee and stood up, lifting his little Human against his shoulder.

"You do that." He told the child with dry indifference, before giving all the other children a stern look. "Now, all of you should go home before you get into any more trouble." He told them and made a sharp nod to them toward the path leading back to the village.

The children, exchanging unhappy looks, began to head back toward the village, their clothes still muddy and soaked in proof of their misbehavior, and their posture slumped, all thoughts of further exciting adventure extinguished from their heads by this misadventure. Only Marish still tried to walk with his chin lifted in resentful and proud way, but he had a hard time keeping up the act. He did not prevent the venture from taking place, after all, so he would definitely share in their punishment.

Terik and Janik walked together last, with the two adults concluding the way behind them, so they heard them exchange a few quiet words.

"You know something about this, Beor?" The younger villager hesitantly asked of the taller one.

The children saw how the other's figure stiffened. The little Human rested against his shoulder, his strange eyes completely closed. He still appeared not well, his breathing coming with a faint rasping sound and struggling to pull in air, as his limbs faintly twitched from time to time as if he was having a nightmare.

"Not now, Rangil. I'll explain later." Uncle Beor promised, to which his brother humphed with a hurt tone, but didn't say anything else as he sped up his pace a little and walked ahead.

The two villagers did not look at each other the entire way to the village.