Thank you to all the people who read, favorite, story alert, look at it...you get the picture. Just picture me fist-pumping in celebration.

Copyrighted and changed.

Nostalgic Days

The days started to blur together. They were filled with training, housekeeping, eating, and eventually, foraging with Lodan. Slowly it wasn't just me getting bruised and beaten like a discarded apple every day. Soon I could hold the bow for longer periods of time, and then shoot at the target and hit it were I wanted it. The next part of that was Lodan and I going out into the woods and hunting together. It was so much fun. I asked him once why he came with me as a joke, and he answered with a mumbled "you seem to stumble into a lot of trouble" and despite what I told him, I was afraid what I would find out there too.

Summer turned into fall and we celebrated Lodan's name day in style, or what we thought was extravagant. We cooked a small feast for ourselves and he taught me how to dance what I labeled as "jigs". We laughed at our mistakes and had a lot of fun. I tried to imagine how he could celebrate on his own like this, and I was grateful that I was here for him.

After our super, I somehow found the strength to get up and dig underneath my bed to fetch what I had made for him. Using some rabbit skins I had squirreled away, I had made a pair of gloves for him.

"I do not know what to say," but I knew what he wanted to say, his voice was full of emotion. "When did you have time to do this?"

"Oh, here and there, usually when we weren't beating at each other with sticks." I smiled. "You don't have to say anything Lodan. It's you bir…er…name day! Be careful with them though. My sewing skills don't win ribbons at carnivals."

"No, this is fantastic, I love them. Thank you Abby."

The worst part of this place was what I missed from home. I had good days were for a small amount of time I was happy, then I had days were I missed everything horribly. I did this away from the shack, crying at the creek so Lodan would never know.

I missed my adoptive family. My poor loving aunt who thought I was dead. My two uncles who made a point in making sure that I had not made a career as a conservation officer, but a biologist instead. I missed my friends. Quirky Kat who could make you laugh while you were crying. Mike, the boy who could not do any math to save his life, but would help anyone all the same. Amber who for all her bravado, was just a shell that had been filled by our shenanigans. Jared who had to put up with his parents telling him that he was unnatural because of his sexual orientation. Then all of the people from high school, and the people that I saw daily, like Carol the lunch lady who made sure there was no mustard in my sandwiches.

I missed my biology classes and my boring physiology professor. I missed cars and television and chocolate. I missed my pillow that I had since I was ten. I missed my Xbox nights with the boys and cheerios, and my shampoo.

I missed my cello. God how I missed it. I missed music in general so much. Sometimes I would murmur lyrics in my head and write them down just so I could remember them. I would get frustrated because I knew a song but not all of it and obsess over it for days, and then chastise myself for wasting precious time because I could be remembering other songs. Soon it just got to writing down the names because Lodan had started to notice my strange behavior. So I took ten minutes out of my night to write what I remembered down.

I was surprised at the things I did miss. I missed the awkward visits with my dad. I missed defending Mike and Jared in front of the republican students. I missed telling people that most Canadians didn't live in igloos and took cars and trucks to work instead of dogsleds.

I tried to get over it. Some days I said "screw it" and focused on the fact that I was not going home.

But I found comfort in parts of Ferelden I liked a lot of. Though the place was harsh, many animals and plants grew beautifully.

One fall afternoon, while we were both hunting, we came upon two halla grazing in a meadow.

They were both the purest white an animal could be. If I had not known better, I would have said they were albino. They had long multiples of spiraling antlers, and their eyes were large and intelligent.

The male walked forward so that he was positioned in front of his mate. You could tell he was a male because he was slightly bigger and his antlers were taller.

"Hang my bow in that tree branch," Lodan whispered. He then moved closer to the couple, muttering dalish. The male relaxed a bit but didn't move. The female gave him a playful push, walking straight to Lodan with no troubles. Lodan looked at me and waved me over.

I put the bow in the tree and joined the strange group. "They are so beautiful," I breathed.

"You can pet the female, she is harmless," Lodan was still trying to win over the male.

"Hey girl." I brought my hand close to her snout, like I would if she was a horse.

She sniffed it deeply, closing her eyes as if committing my scent to memory, then gave my hand a friendly nudge. I got the message and began stroking her head. She was incredibly soft.

"In the dalish clans, halla are tamed and kept as steeds. They pull our aravels, the landships, but they are our equals. The keeper of the halla is in charge of their care and happiness, and in turn they bond with him or her on a level that they can communicate."

"How?" I moved to her neck.

"Through the mind," Lodan looked into the forest, reminiscent. "I was close friends with my clans keeper of halla. He said it was images and feelings. There is no other complete honest and real way to know someone."

Lodan was silent for a time, petting the other halla. The male observed me, his eyes full of an air that said experience and understanding.

Lodan resurfaced from his thoughts, "We better get home." I was glad, once he was in the past, he could stay there for a long time.

As we walked out of the meadow, I looked back at the pair. The female was nuzzling her mate gently while he rested his head in contentment on her shoulder. Then they both walked into the other side of the wilderness, leaving no evidence that our group was ever there.

"There is no other form of purer love in this world." Lodan smiled.

I smiled to and thought of all the things I loved. The halla couple was added to the list.