So much foreshadowing. . .Information; Ramirez has just barely assumed his Spaniard identity, this will be explained. Enjoy!
In the morning, the Man in Red awoke to find that the young woman was on the other side of the fire pit. He soundlessly stood up and went to the stream near-by. He enjoyed the crisp air of the morning, saw their horses sleeping side by side, the day was the beginning of her proper life. He was elated to find this girl, and heartbroken to see just how terrified she was. He found it a miracle that she let him touch her at all, after all she's been through.
Nadia shot out of sleep in a terrified state. She looked around with a jolt and found the Man in Red gone. Panic rapidly spread through her body, she scrambled to her feet and bolted all around the cave.
"Man?" She called out softly, not knowing his real name yet. "Man!?"
She dashed out of the cave calling for him and then fell to the ground and put her head between her hands, rocking back and forth. She began breathing with ragged sobs and tried to control them. Suddenly she heard her name called. It was his smooth, rich voice.
"Nadia!" He called again.
She looked over at him and saw him approaching form the stream. Nearly tripping over her own feet, she ran to him and was about to embrace him but stopped at the last moment and instead put her face in her hands. Her body shook with her hard crying.
"I thought I had dreamed of you again, and then I woke up! And. . . and!" She struggled to stay standing. He reached out to touch her but she flinched away from him. She looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
He smiled kindly. "First lesson of the day; your heritage." He began leading her back to the cave.
"Y-you said I, er we, are Immortals. What- I don't understand," she stuttered in front of him and felt foolish.
"Immortals are exactly what the name implies. We cannot die by any human means. Only when your enemy's sword separates head from body. "
"But. . .I don't understand," she expressed. "We live forever and fight each other to the death? There's more of us? How do we know when we meet another one? Why do we fight?"
They sparked another fire to keep out the growing cold and sat where they did the night before. He looked at her, her fair skin looked so delicate, her nobility was clear in her features, it was shame she had been chosen as an Immortal. He was about to speak when she interrupted him.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't even know your name. You kept me sane for years and I don't even know the simplest of things about you." Her cheeks turned red and she looked at him sheepishly.
He merely grinned. "I am Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez. I hail from Spain."
She stared at him in wonder, "Spain? So far away?"
"Truth be told I come from an even further away place, Egypt. My name has changed many times since then, this is the newest one."
Confused and yet, vaguely understanding, she nodded, "Have you been in Spain long?"
He shook his head. "Hardly a year. But that is talk for another time. You had questions?" She nodded eagerly. "Yes, we live forever and fight to the death. We are part of the Game, and we fight until one remains." He leaned in closer to her and looked her dead in the eyes. "In the end, there can be only one."
He lifted his index finger to emphasize his point. She nodded.
"And there's more of us?"
He nodded and leaned away. "Hundreds more. I've come across many in my long life, had to kill nearly all of them." The next question to answer he looked back at her, again with a serious look. "When you first saw him, The Kurgan, the one who attacked you, you felt sick?"
She nodded with dread, her face losing color.
"That is how you know. And when I approached you felt it even in your sleep?"
She shook her head. "It wasn't like when I met. . .him. You were a different kind of feeling."
He nodded. "You just know. Never take that feeling for granted, it may save your life one day. Despite all that has happened to you, you are lucky to live. The Kurgan is one of the oldest of our kind, the cruelest, most evil of us all. He knew what you were and wanted to torture you until he had to kill you."
"You speak as if you know him intimately," she said with a hushed voice.
"I know him as well as you, though a bit differently." A chill ran through them both, Ramirez straightened his back, "Yes I know him. I've come across him many times since I my first death, and have fought him every time. He is a beast and for you to live through your time with him, makes you very strong Nadia."
She looked down, "I was only strong because of you. When you came to me in my dreams you were my savior, you took me away from what he did. . ." her voice was small.
The man was suddenly struck in the heart with a dart of pain. He had been this woman's only hope when his darkest enemy held her captive and did, God only knew, what to the poor creature. He felt his chest swell with a feeling he dreaded. Nadia felt a shameful amount of emotion swell in her own heart, she didn't want to admit it to the him.
He cleared his throat. "You are one of us now, you must learn to fight, and you will learn to live. But you will need more than a bow to win." He smiled and stood up, offering his hand to her.
She took it and followed him out of the cave. She watched him saddle his horse but stood there watching.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"To the village," he told her. "We need to find you a suitable weapon." He got in the saddle and looked down at her, she was frozen in fear. "What's the matter?"
Her eyes were big and she shook her head. "I can't go with you."
"Nadia," he said gently.
She interrupted him. "I can't Ramirez. This is all too soon I-I just. . ." She backed away.
"Dear, you need to start facing what you're afraid of. You can't hide in this cave forever."
"I can try!" She said, a little too loudly. Her voice echoed into the surrounding woods.
"Others will come after me if I leave. If I go to the village I will leave you, this is the way of the Immortals. I wish you didn't have to, but you have no choice now. This is your destiny." His voice wasn't cruel, wasn't harsh, it was truthful.
Nadia knew it but she remained rooted to the spot. "Don't go," she whispered.
"If you will not follow me I will have to," he said. He kicked his horse forward and vanished into the trees.
She looked after him in terror. A branch snapped and she spun around with her heart beating wildly in her chest. Spinning back around, she jumped onto her horse without saddling it and took off.
"Ramirez!"