Disclaimer: Nope. I still don't own the show or any of its characters.
To Shadow Fox777: Yeah… he's been having a rough time of it. And shall undoubtedly continue to….
To Saelbu: Glad you liked the last chapter. ^^
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Chapter 2:
He stared at the girl for a few seconds, stunned, before she smiled a little sadly and shook her head. "You don't know," she said softly. It was a statement, not a question.
He stared at his feet instead, unable to meet her suddenly searching gaze. Why was nothing coming to him? It was all there, somewhere. Why couldn't he find it?
The hand touched his arm again. "It's all right. Forget I asked."
He gave a short laugh at this – should be easy enough – and she tugged at his sleeve gently.
"Come on. Someplace warm. I don't want you to freeze here." He looked up sharply at this and nodded.
Ah. Good point….
The next leg of the journey was rather blurred in his tired mind. She led him a short way back down the trail he'd come by, but turned away from it and off to the right by a clump of trees that to him looked just like every other clump of trees around. The girl appeared to recognize it, though, nodding slightly, as if in satisfaction, when they passed it.
From there, there was no trail, just a jumble of trees, and snow, and more trees, and the occasional rock jutting above the snow, and more trees, and more… and so on. He wondered vaguely if she was actually leading him someplace warm, or if she simply planned to walk until he could go no further, and then leave him stranded to die. He didn't know why she would, but he didn't know why she would help him, either.
…As for this 'someplace warm,' if it did exist, she'd never said it was safe. Only warm. At this point, the warmth would be welcome either way, but safe haven in the midst of this desolate place seemed unlikely. At present, though, he had little choice but to follow her.
He wondered if he was always so suspicious, and strongly suspected the answer was yes. Suspicion seemed to be coming automatically, and it felt very right and sensible. Almost comfortable, in a strange sort of way. Or perhaps it was just that it was something familiar….
Of course, it would be perfectly sensible in many circumstances. Far better safe than dead.
If you have a choice.
His thoughts wandered on, becoming rather less clear and coherent as they went. Once in a while they happened across glimmers of almost-memories, but these fled when he tried to catch them. Dancing away laughing, while I snatch blindly at the air…. He shook his head sharply, as if attempting to dislodge this thought. Hn. Idiotic image. I do need rest. He wondered how long they had walked.
And then the girl stopped. Not looking where he was going, he stumbled and almost bumped into her. She smiled. "We're here."
He looked up in surprise. They had come to a small, windowless grey stone building. And… he suddenly realized there was a new smell on the crisp freezing air. Woodsmoke.
The girl opened the door and ushered him in. He almost-fell forward into the hut's dim interior, and was met with a welcome glow of light. A fire burned brightly in a small fireplace on the opposite wall, casting dancing shadows around the room. He stumbled towards it, not awake enough even to take notice of the room's other contents, collapsed to the floor as near to the blazing warmth as he could without actually setting his cloak or hair on fire, and was asleep almost immediately.
* * * * *
The girl settled herself on a low stone bench next to the door to watch the black-clad figure sleep, and to stare into the fire. She smiled. She didn't know why this place was here, or why there was always a fire burning – she thought there was always a fire burning, at least – but she was very glad of it. She didn't need the warmth at all – indeed, too much of it was anything but pleasant – but this boy was obviously quite the opposite, and she was happy she could help him.
She wondered who he was, and if she would ever find out. He was the first person she'd met here. …The first person she could remember meeting here. She didn't think she'd have forgotten if she'd met someone else, but she wasn't sure. Things often seemed to fade from her mind more quickly than they should. She couldn't remember first finding herself here, didn't have any idea how long it had been since then. A few days? Years? Time was blurred.
She did know that this wasn't right, any of it. She was supposed to be someplace else, even if she didn't remember where. She'd held on to that much, thus far.
And now there was somebody else who didn't remember. He'd seemed surprised, not to know who he was. As if he hadn't realized he didn't remember till she asked.
Had he just… come here? Or been here longer, and simply forgotten that he'd forgotten? It was possible….
When he woke, she would have to find out if there was anything he could remember. Maybe between the two of them they could find some clue to where they were, what had happened. She thought she had tried to figure it out before, but she couldn't clearly recall. Presumably she'd failed. She was still here, at least. Wherever here was.
At any rate, this mystery person would probably be asleep for quite a while. She turned her eyes towards him, and suddenly she frowned. Something about him struck her as vaguely odd. Almost… familiar? She sat bolt upright, eyes widening. Did she know this boy?
But no memories leapt into her mind at this thought. Disappointed, she sat back, leaning against the wall, and began running through their meeting again in her mind. That hadn't begun to blur and fade yet. Best to think through it before it did. Who knew how much of it the boy would recall when he woke up. …Or how much he would speak of even if it was still there in his mind. He hadn't spoken at all beyond a short "Hn," once, which hardly counted as speech.
Again familiarity flickered briefly in her mind, but it was gone before she could grasp it.
She'd tried to help him stand up, but he'd quickly shrugged her off. And had done the same every time she'd tried to help him during their walk through the woods. He had looked about to fall over with every step he took, but had still made it entirely clear that he wasn't about to accept her aid.
This, too, seemed familiar.
Eventually she'd given up. By then it hadn't been far to the hut they now occupied. She probably could have dragged him the rest of the way if she'd had to.
She pondered. He hadn't met her eyes much, had seemed almost reluctant to do so. His own eyes were deep red. An unusual color, for eyes. She'd seen it somewhere else before, though. The look on his face when she'd come across him….
You… Who in the world are you?
She had met him before. …Somewhere.
Still musing, she leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes.
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A/N: Comments? Comments are good. Any flames will probably have to be used to melt Hiei out of a snowbank somewhere. …At least until he remembers he's a fire demon, for crying out loud…. -.-;;