Nomura stared at her new MP3 player. How could such a tiny thing, filled with wires and circuits, bring life to her dark corner with the utterances of hundreds of musical masterpieces?
If the gift was strange, the gift-giver, sitting next to her, was even stranger. The troll's green hide blended into the stone like moss on rock.
Stricklander came to New Trollmarket on a visit with Barbara Lake, Jim's mother - a situation odder still.
Nomura lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling.
Stricklander… She'd known him for hundreds of years, but like everything else in her life, he changed.
She remembered him full of fake smiles, his eyes devoid of true warmth, ruthless. He wouldn't hesitate to use another Changeling for his own ends, without a thought for his pawn. Stricklander was always calculating, always plotting, thinking in cold tactics. Emotion wasn't a factor for him. He did whatever was necessary to reach his goal.
He thought in terms of logic and numbers. A sacrifice of one to save a hundred – he would take it without hesitation. He had to do it to survive. Nomura knew that, and she couldn't blame him.
But now… With Barbara Lake emotion was his guide rather than reason. He was something Nomura could never recall before – unsure.
Nomura felt a measure of comfort in Stricklander's confusion. Another Changeling caught between an old life and a new one – just like her – eased her clouded thoughts.
But though it reassured Nomura, it also disquieted her. The other troll was one of few constants in her life. Once, she could count on him to be his calculating self, always three steps ahead, and the sneakiest of turncoats.
Not anymore.
The world that turned them both into the survivors they were today… was gone.
Nomura envied him. In Barbara, Stricklander found his purpose again. He regained his strength of will and the determination to fight. But for Nomura… there was nothing.
The other troll sought her out on his trip to New Trollmarket. Nomura wouldn't admit it to him, but she was glad for his company. Stricklander was the only one left who could understand the hundreds of years of struggle – the double life, always hiding your true nature.
Of course, there was also NotEnrique, but he was far too young to grasp the weight of a life as long as theirs.
"Humans are strange creatures, aren't they?" Stricklander asked.
"Very weird," Nomura agreed.
"They live such short, insignificant lives, and yet, they still find meaning in it," he said.
"What's all this about?" Nomura rolled her eyes.
"I'm not sure," Stricklander said. "A thousand years… and it all seems so meaningless, doesn't it?"
Nomura closed her eyes.
"We just delivered hundreds of infants to orphanages all over the world. Thousands more are born every single day. Yet, Barbara makes caring for this one child she chose feel so meaningful. It doesn't make sense. This baby won't live very long – not in comparison to a troll who has eternity to engrave his mark on the world."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nomura said.
"I suppose I'm rambling." He sighed.
Nomura glanced over at Stricklander and glimpsed the conflict clouding his face. An empty ache inside her wished to understand. Even though it gave him pain, and despite the fear she saw creep over him sometimes, she knew he wouldn't trade his newly-found resolve for anything.
But how…? How did he know this was his purpose?
Long after Stricklander left, the question burned inside Nomura.
She returned to the old theatre, happy to see the girl back tonight. Nomura listened, and the young woman's song whisked away her worries… of only for a moment.
Editted by dtill359