Back in town, the Stealth Assassin went from one shop to the other. He was looking for the perfect gift for the girl in the woods as an answer to her letter. It took him all day but then he found it. A beautiful quill, ink and sheets of white paper. He got her enough to write at least a thousand letters. This way he could show her that he had liked her writing to him and it was also a way to tell her to continue with it. He didn't know if he wanted to meet her, at least not yet, but he thought it would be nice to read her words. Words meant only for him.
He had only been in the forest a few days ago but he wanted to give her the writing utensils. Since he didn't want to walk through the forest for two days to reach the girl, which he had been doing almost every time, he used one of the flying mounts of the town. He seldom rode on them because he was visible when he was sitting on one and because the flight master always knew the location he would travel to.
Early on the next day Rikimaru chose a lake in the forest, only half a day away from the girl, for the flying mount, a griffin, to take him to. The lake was distinct enough to be used as travel destination. The griffin hadn't even hit the ground when Rikimaru jumped from its back and ran into the forest.
It was afternoon, when he heard the first tunes of a song. It was only a soft humming and the Assassin already knew that it indicated the girl was fishing in the lake. He had watched her often enough to be able to connect activities of the girl with songs she always sang when she did them.
Rays of sunlight shimmered on her brown hair as she was sitting next to the lake, her knees tucked to her chest, one arm circling her legs while the other was holding the fishing rod. The fox and the cat were lying next to her, sleeping in the sun. Her gaze was distant, as if her mind wasn't really there. And why should it, she didn't need to concentrate on anything while fishing. She didn't even have to concentrate on the song, her singing and humming so much part of her that she did it without thinking.
Rikimaru watched her from the edge of the clearing for a while. Then he took the present out of his backpack and approached the girl. He stopped a few feet away from her. She had grown over the years but when she was sitting like that she still looked like the little girl.
Normally the Assassin would now sit down next to the lake, maybe a little farther away from his usual place to have more distance between him and the girl. But though he hadn't wanted anything to change between him and her, he had to admit that already her writing to him had changed something. With it, she had acknowledged his presence on the clearing, had made an interaction out of the action of him leaving things for her.
Somehow it suddenly seemed wrong to wait until night to put the present in front of her door. As if he would diminish their relationship with it. Not that it was any kind of relationship. But the letter had changed something and acting as if it hadn't felt wrong.
So he put the things he held in his hands on the ground. They were invisible as long as he was touching them. He took his hands away and made a few steps backwards.
At first nothing happened. Then the fox opened his eyes and, seeing the things that hadn't been there a minute before, he started to yip softly, nudging the girls arm with his nuzzle. She looked around at her animal's strange behaviour. Her eyes grew wide and she dropped her fishing rod. Then she jumped up. When she took the quill in her hand, she began to smile. Her smile only grew as she took the ink and when she took the paper last, she laughed.
The girl curtsied, not like a lady at the royal court, but so very cute with her bright smile and naked feet. She said a few things in her language, looking at the forest but clearly addressing Rikimaru. He just didn't understand what she was saying. It wasn't necessary, though, her smile alone said enough for him.
Now the Stealth Assassin went to his spot by the lake. He was smiling, too, glad that she liked his present, and wanted to enjoy listening to the girl's singing now. She vanished into her house though, only a low humming coming from out of the building.
Rikimaru wasn't an overly patient creature. But when he was with the girl he could lie near the lake for hours and he could wait the whole day for her to start singing. He didn't even mind if she didn't feel like it, though it had only happened once. And even when she didn't sing, she was still humming almost constantly, one melody or the other. He felt content just to be near her.
The fishing rod, still lying on the ground but not pulled in yet, twitched. With one glance at the house the Assassin walked over to it and just as the fish that was hooked would have pulled the rod into the lake, he grabbed it. He pulled the fish out and even killed it. Then he removed the hook from the creature and coiled the fishing line up before putting it on the ground and the fish into a small bowl with water, which was standing there extra for this purpose.
After maybe an hour the girl came out of the house with a sheet of paper in her hand. She walked to where Rikimaru had put the quill, ink and paper. She looked around but by now she already knew that she wouldn't see anyone. She saw the fish, though, and smiled. She said a few words and put the sheet of paper on the ground before dealing with the fish.
And now she was singing. It was a new song and the Stealth Assassin had the feeling that this song was especially for him. How he wished he could understand the words.
The next years Rikimaru spent much time on learning the language of the girl. He was about every four or five weeks for two days on the clearing. He still gave her things but he didn't leave them in front of her door when it was dark anymore. He snuck up close to her before putting them in her line of sight so they appeared seemingly out of nowhere. And every time he got a letter in response. Sometimes even two. She wrote them when he was gone and had them ready to give him when he visited her.
She didn't write about important things but the Assassin didn't care. He liked that she told him about her thoughts and feelings. And she always thanked him. But she never again asked to meet him. As if she respected his wish for distance and didn't want to push him. Maybe she was afraid that he would leave when she asked too much.
Of course he wouldn't. But he clung to this last piece of distance between them. He thought their relationship was perfect the way it was. If he initiated a change, it could as well backfire and he could be left with less than he had now. His time on the clearing in the presence of the girl was too precious for him and he didn't want it to change ever.
One day the Stealth Assassin learned about the location of one of his archenemies. One he had been looking for for years and whom he had never been able to find. It was about vengeance, something absolutely personal. Since he didn't know how long it would take to actually find the creature and kill him, he finished his actual job and then went into the forest to find the girl. He would only come back after he had killed his enemy, because now he had a lead on his whereabouts and he didn't want to lose him again, and he wanted to let her know that it was possible that he would be gone for quite a while. He didn't want her to wait for him every day and to worry about him.
This time, for the first time since he bought her presents, he got her something completely useless which's sole purpose was to be beautiful. He bought her a necklace.
It was raining a little today, just a drizzle. The girl was outside nonetheless, as she was every day. She only stayed inside when the weather was extremely bad. She was singing some bouncy dance song, clearly not caring about her getting wet. Her cat and her fox didn't share her sentiment because they were inside of the house, the fox lying at the door and watching the girl.
Rikimaru liked that about the girl, liked that her cheerfulness wasn't damped by something trivial as the weather. Even when she was sad she was in a better temper than most creatures when they weren't sad. The girl made the Assassin feel alive. He always only thought about the good things in his life when he was with her and wondered why he was sometimes unsatisfied with it.
He approached her. And because simply giving her the necklace wouldn't let her know that he might be gone for a long time, he turned visible for the first time in her presence.
The girl stopped singing and moving, staring at the Assassin with wide eyes. Rikimaru held the necklace out to her. Her gaze moved to the piece of jewellery and back to his face. She didn't say anything, just kept staring, clearly not knowing what to do or say.
The Stealth Assassin had learned her language a little. He wasn't perfect, could still most times not understand what her songs were about. But he could form small sentences and he could read her letters.
"Hello. I'm Rikimaru." He held the necklace out to her. "For you. I don't know when I am able to come here the next time. Can be long. I need to do something and it will take a while."
The girl tentatively reached for the necklace but didn't take it. "You are the one who leaves the presents?" The Stealth Assassin nodded. She smiled. And then she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him, her body pressing close to his. "Thank you." She whispered. "Thank you very much."
When she let go of him she was suddenly bashful. "Ahem, I'm sorry, I have millions of questions and I don't know what to say. I hope you won't be gone too long. Do you have to leave immediately?"
Rikimaru hesitated. He wanted to leave as fast as possible now that he had a location from where to start his vengeance. But on the other hand he didn't want to leave after only a few minutes.
"Do you want to eat? I just made dinner."
That's how he came to enter the house of the girl to have dinner with her. It was nice. The language was no problem and the Assassin was as relaxed as always in her presence. The girl talked about all and nothing and Rikimaru was content to simply listen to her. It was almost as good as her singing.
When they were both finished the girl tidied up. She was humming again. "Your singing. It is why I came here the first time. I heard you and was curious." The girl looked at him now. He hadn't talked much, mostly due to him just learning her language, but he felt like he needed to tell her at least a little bit about himself. "I sit by the lake and listen to you. These are the best days." He was struggling for the words in her language. "Your singing is good for me. I'm more balanced when I was here. More content."
The girl kept staring. Then she smiled the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Rikimaru stood up and stepped towards her. He still had the necklace and he had to leave. He held it out and the girl turned around, pulling her hair away from her neck. "Can you put it on?"
The Stealth Assassin was so close, his body almost touched hers. He put the necklace around her neck and closed it at the back. He fumbled a little with the clasp, he had never helped a female put a necklace on. "Done."
The girl turned around and looked up at him. "Thank you. It is beautiful." Rikimaru smiled. She was beautiful, with her big eyes, framed by long, dark lashes, her brown skin, tanned from being in the sun all day, her a little pointy nose, the smile on her soft lips, her slender face. Though the Assassin was small compared to humans, the girl was still a few inches smaller. She hadn't grown any more the last year so he suspected that she wouldn't get any taller. Her body had grown in other places, he realized, when she took a deep breath and her breasts almost touched his chest. The scent of earth and something flowery wafted around him, filling his head.
Rikimaru looked at the girl, but she wasn't a girl anymore. She was a woman. A beautiful woman who was wearing his necklace and the dress he had given her before. It gave him the feeling that she belonged to him.
He had known her for years now, spent more time with her than with any other creature, made her gifts and told her now when he left for a long period of time. Suddenly he felt like he was in a real relationship with the girl. Who wasn't a girl anymore, of which the Assassin grew more and more aware as he kept staring at her.
But even if he knew her, she had only just met him. The only thing she knew about him was, that he gave her things.
He made a few steps backwards to get more distance between them. Because, damn if he didn't want to kiss her right now. And that was definitely not okay when she had just met him. And even less when she might feel indebted to him because of the gifts. Before he did something like that he had to get a few things straight between them and he didn't have time for that now.
So he simply smiled at her again. "I have to go. I have to take vengeance for something that was done to me once but I will see you when I finished my mission."
The woman nodded. "Thank you for telling me and not letting me worry." She touched the necklace. "And thank you for the gift. I love it."
"You are welcome. Jayne."
With that he exited the house and, now invisible again, vanished into the woods before using his Hearth Stone. In the inn he packed everything he needed before he headed out for his mission of vengeance against his enemy.