Chapter Two: Mysterious Benefactor
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
-Albert Einstein
"I need to stop waking up in unfamiliar places." she thought groggily as she opened her eyes, looking around the simple wooden cabin. She was on the only bed inside, though there were a couple of chairs next to a small table. A counter and some pots and dishes in a tiny makeshift kitchen took up one of the other corners - her bed in the opposite corner. A single door was placed near a fireplace though there was little actual decoration within the room.
She paused her observation of the new place she found herself within when her hand brushed against some soft hair, eyes moving down to the slumbering face of her savior. "He looks so much kinder when he's resting..."
It took her a moment but she recalled then that she couldn't recall much, her handsome savior was the only other person alive as far as she knew. Her body didn't hurt like it had though and she glanced down to note that her scraps and bruises were gone. "Did he heal me?"
She smiled lightly, it was sweet that he would sit at her bedside as he had until he fell asleep. She whispered to herself more than him. "You've helped me so much and I don't even know your name."
Even her soft tone seemed enough to stir him a little, leaving her to just watch as he slowly woke up, pulling himself back and blinking at her a couple times as his own mind took it's time restarting. "You are awake, are you feeling better?"
"Yes, did you do this?" She asked curiously, watching him as his face fell back into a cooler expression. "Healing me I mean."
"I can't take complete credit but that would be an acceptable observation for the moment. You truly don't remember how you came to be here?" He asked seriously, standing and dusting himself off. Some of his muscles were screaming indignantly when he moved, his body stiff from the uncomfortable sleeping position.
She paused and tried again to think but nothing would come to her mind, it was a complete blank before she woke up and was saved by this man. She finally shook her head negatively at his question, dirty pale blue hair swaying as she moved her head.
"No, I can't remember anything before waking up before…and just now." She said with a weary sigh. "But you acted like you knew me…said that I should have traveling companions. Do you think they'll come looking for me?"
He considered her innocent questions and watched her, she was truly ignorant of what had once transpired between them. "I do not know. If they are able to I wouldn't doubt they would seek you out. However, given the condition I found you in, there is no way of knowing if they aren't equally as disposed of as you."
"Who am I? You called me the Child of the Full Moon?" She wanted to absorb all the information she could…if she had to have something like amnesia at least she had been saved by someone that seemed to know her.
"Your companions often called you Estelle." He answered, moving still to prepare a small breakfast. He was starving even if she wasn't hungry. "Though a full explanation as to what the Child of the Full Moon is would take many hours. For simplicity's sake lets say you are the heir to the Empire's throne as well as a creature capable of effecting aer and magic in a wholly unique way."
She nodded a little, taking that all in. She was curious but she accepted his explanation without further questions, at least for the time being. The idea of the food he was working on making her stomach rumble. "Would you like some help?"
"Do you know how to make omelets?" He asked as he set out materials, glancing toward her now and again in his preparation to be polite.
"Hmm, I was never too good with breakfast's…but I could make us some peach sorbet sometime." She smiled lightly, sitting up and looking at her torn up clothing before pulling the blanket around her bashfully. "What is your name?"
"I am Duke." The white haired man noted her pulling the linen tighter around her. "I apologize but I don't keep many extra clothes. There are a few in the locker under the bed, you are welcome to them until I can escort you back to a city."
He had already started a small fire in the oven and had a pan ready, the eggs sizzling when they hit the hot metal. He had his back turned to her at least for the process as the oven was against the wall.
She nodded a little bit. She would need to get clothes of her own after all. She bend down and pulled the aforementioned locker from under the bed, opening it and picking out the smallest shirt and pair of pants she could find - which would still be much too big but it was better than the rags she had now. "Is there a bath somewhere?"
"If you go outside, there is a small path around the cottage. It will lead up and around a few hills and too a small pond with a waterfall. The water is usually a pleasant temperature this time of year. There is a towel and some soap on top of the bookshelf." He said it all without turning from cooking, adding a few ingredients to the developing omelets. "It shouldn't be long before breakfast is prepared."
"I'll try to hurry then." She promised seriously, accepting one of the towels to wrap herself in instead of the bed sheet on her way to her bath and balancing the soap on top of the clothes she'd borrowed.
As she dashed from the room he felt a small twinge in his arm, making him sigh a bit as he nearly dropped the pan he was working with. "Just what is this? I wonder if she experiences the same sensations from the matching mark she so graciously gifted me with."
And outside Estelle did pause in her initial dash when her hip twitched a little, slowing to a walk but not looking at her new tattoo yet. Her hip began to ache more the further she got but she pushed it off to likely being a bruise that hadn't been healed. Soaking it in water was bound to help, she knew getting clean would be.
"I feel like I've never been this dirty in all of my life." She thought with a mental sigh. "I just wish I knew if that feeling was true or not."
She moved along the path and smiled at all the beauty of the place. The grass was rarely even, overgrown all along the edges of what remained of the dirt walkway. Birds brought a natural music to the air with crickets and other forest animals, though those noises began to die off as she turned a corner to see the waterfall that had been mentioned.
It was breathtaking, a clear sparkling water falling into a small pool that was gathered before continuing off down a break in the surrounding hills to create a stream that moved further off into the forest. There were more bugs than she would have liked but the lovely landscape more than made up for what little of the wildlife that was bothering her. A deer was standing on the other edge of the pond, drinking with a small doe…it brought a wide smile to Estelle's face when the creature glanced up at her then turned it's head back down to continue drinking.
"I like it here." She commented lightly. "Everything is so untouched by man."
"Maybe I'm from a city if I think like that." She pondered as she started to get undressed, though her contemplation was cut short when she noted the tattoo. "What in the world is that!? I didn't have a tattoo before! Wait…did I?"
She tried to think, to remember anything, and then frowned when she continued to come up blank…glaring at the blue mark on her leg like it might have the answers her mind was refusing her. "I'm sure I never had anything like that…well…as sure as I can be."
She wanted to stare a little longer but the need to be clean took over the want to stare at her tattoo, she would have time for that later when she was less naked in the open woods and more hygienic.
Estelle's toe tested the water before she waded in, as she'd been promised the tempature was nice. It was a little cool given the morning hour but she could survive if it meant getting all this dirt off her skin and out of her hair. She used a good chunk of the soap scrubbing herself completely over…nails making sure to get anything caked on her scalp. "I have to admit this water is so clear…even when I use the soap it washes though so quickly that it barely has time to keep suds."
The water washing over her was nice but she knew she shouldn't dwell too long and stepped back out of the pool to pick up the towel she'd settled and dry off before getting dressed in the far too big clothes. "It's a good thing I picked up a belt. I feel like a little kid trying on their parents clothes."
She was adorable in her own way being in Duke's much more serious style of uniform, her hair much closer to his in color than it once was - but she couldn't really see her hair and wouldn't have known for sure what color it once was even if she did. Instead she picked up her things and made sure she left the area uncluttered as she moved back toward the cabin. Her stomach was grumbling at her more now that she could smell the food within.
The water had also done the trick, as she headed back she noted that her hip was feeling much better. Opening the door and moving back inside, smiling at the still cooking Duke. "He even looks so serious when he makes an omelet…I wonder why he's so rigid…I guess he must have been a soldier sometime from the uniforms but it doesn't seem like anyone that was still an army would live -here- of all places, all alone."
"That smells wonderful." She complimented, finding a hamper for the dirty towel and piling her dirt caked clothes near the door as to not track anything into the cleanly cabin. "What else is in it?"
"Vegetables mostly, a lot of things that grow in the local area but also some that I picked up in Halure or I grow myself." He answered honestly, settling a plate on his table and gesturing to the omelet for her. "Go ahead and eat, mine is almost ready."
"Thank you so much…for everything." She said with the same smile in place. "I really can't thank you enough. If you hadn't come along I don't know what would have happened to me."
"Well, given that most people think there are monsters and ghosts inhabiting this forest I doubt anyone else would have found you." He again replied in all honesty, he wasn't one to lie.
"Really?" She glanced around nervously, her voice lowering just a notch when she brought up her next question. "Are there really ghosts and monsters here?"
He considered her a moment at that, glancing between her and the nearly finished second omelet. "No. I live here because of those rumors…it keeps me from getting a load of unwanted visitors."
"That seems so lonely." Estelle was watching him with a bit of sadness. "Why do you want to live here all alone?"
"That's not relevant to your situation." Duke had the habit of holding back things he didn't want to tell after all. "Please don't tell people that they are just rumors when we do travel to Halure to see if we can find your companions."
"Sure." She chimed between bites of her breakfast. "It's the least I can do. Halure is the city protected by the tree barrier isn't it? I've heard about it somewhere, I think it would be lovely. When do you think we'll leave to travel?"
"If you are feeling up to it we can leave after we've eaten, no need to delay." He settled his own plate on the counter (he didn't have a second chair for his table) and put the fire out before settling the hot pan out of the reach of anything it could hurt. "She really doesn't remember anything. She's the one that saved the place and she doesn't even know she was there."
"I am feeling a lot better and I wouldn't want anyone to worry about me so I think leaving then would be best." Estelle agreed, still pondering her mysterious savior…she knew so little about him even though he knew so much about her. It felt unfair.
End Chapter
Originally I was going to put Duke as living in Egothor Forest but I didn't recall any towns being nearby…for my plot I needed them to travel so I decided to shove him in Quoi Woods instead. And describing Halure will be a challenge - it was SOOOOOO pretty in the game.
-Nera
P.S. Thank you for the reviews. Even if they were few they made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
