Section Author: 'Zool'

Yui felt a remote perceptual twist. It was a moment before she realized it had startled her, and she sat bolt upright, a strangled scream lodged in her throat, her eyes wide open. She looked around in panic.

Dappled sunshine streamed in through an open window in the rough-hewn stone walls of a shack. There was a dirt floor, a lodge pole ceiling, and a fire pit at the other end with a wide table piled high with wooden bowls, jars and a few pans. There was no chimney, only a squareish hole in the roof above the pit, showing a patch of blue sky. There was also a window above her bed, but she was too low to see out of it. She looked down and saw she was on a bed of thick blankets and animal skins, which was lying on the floor. The rough plank door she was behind was half ajar. She heard the sound of chopping outside. Finally she was able to take a shuddering gasp of breath.

When she had calmed, she quietly slipped aside the blankets and crept toward the door, but as she tried to stand her head was suddenly swimming. She closed her eyes and rested on her knees and elbows to let the wave of dizziness pass.

The sound of chopping immediately ceased.

Forcing herself to look up, she saw a grizzled old man with a tremendous white beard peeking around the door at her. They stared at each other for a second, both appearing somewhat surprised.

Then the old man strode into the room and gently grasped Yui by the shoulders. He was dressed in animal skins and crude wool cloth, with leather sandals. Yui thought to resist, but found herself being helplessly eased back under the covers as another wave of dizziness came over her.

After he had layed Yui back down, he went to the table and prepared her a concoction in one of the bowls, from some of the ingredients around the shack. He carefully carried it to her, and bending down motioned for her to drink.

"Who are you?" asked Yui weakly.

The old man said nothing, but his eyes crinkled and his beard turned up at the edges in such a way that Yui knew the smile that was under the thick long white beard was the clear sign of a friend.

With his help, she was able with some effort to drink the whole bowl of dark bitter drink. She immediately began to feel her head clear, and in a moment she felt much better. The old man had gone out and resumed his chopping, and in a moment brought in several armloads of wood, and set about making a fire.

"Thank you." Said Yui. "Who are you? How did I come here?"

The old man looked up from the fireplace, and looked Yui in the eye. Then, his eyes sad, looked to the ground before slowly turning around to resume his work. The wind whispered through the open windows and door, and a sweet birdsong carried in from outside.

"Don't you… talk?" she asked hesitantly.

The old man didn't turn around, merely shook his head side to side several times as he bent to his task. He struck a flint, then blowing softly on his tinder, smoke quickly turned into flame which he then built into a small fire. Jumping up he closed one plank window shutter, left another ajar slightly, then went outside, closing the door after him.

Yui felt decidedly better, was even comfortable with the fire going. Her eyes began to close, and she began to drift. Slowly her consciousness began the sliding descent to rest…

Again Yui sat bolt upright, her heart pounding, her breath rasping in her throat. The door still vibrated from the old man's hasty entrance. His hands were in front of him, towards Yui's brow. He slowly closed the distance to her, finally laying his hands on her head. An odd, guttural whine emanated from his throat. Slowly, the engulfing blackness bled away from her mind.

She raised her arm from under the covers to reveal angry red rune patterns on her skin, which were just fading away.

"What is happening to me!" she screamed angrily. "What do they want?!"

After a moment he backed away, then held out his hand to help her up. Despite the terrible nightmare, she actually felt rested and stood easily. They went outside.

The sun had shifted in the sky. She must have slept for most of the day, she thought. She found herself in a beautiful meadow at the base of a tall rocky mountain. The cottage was actually under an enormous cottonwood tree. "What a magnificent tree," she sad, distracted. Her Verdant training giving her an appreciation of natural wonders. "It must be hundreds of years old."

The old man smiled wide, and held his hands apart even wider.

For the first time in days, Yui smiled herself, almost laughed. "Older? 500 years old? A thousand? I don't think cottonwood trees live that long," she said, still smiling.

The old man winked, then walked to the edge of the clearing with Yui in tow. He motioned up the mountain, guiding Yui's eyes with his hand.

Towards the base of the mountain, a creek had formed a chasm, which was spanned by a rickety rope bridge. From there the boulder strewn flank rose grandly, until the fairly smooth sides gave way to the craggy peaks at the top. Then she saw it. There, toward the very top of the mountain, were the ruins of an ancient castle.

The castle looked oddly familiar, but the mountain she knew she had been to before - but try as she might, she couldn't recall exactly when. Recently, she thought, but she just couldn't remember exactly when it was. But staring up at the ruined castle suddenly made her feel dizzy, and the old man helped her back into the shack.

Night was drawing near.

* * * * *

A lone horseman thundered across the open meadow towards the rocky mountain. His horse was breathing hard form many miles of hard running. In front of him he saw that a storm had sprung up, and was shrouding the mountain with angry black clouds, but not before he caught sight of the ominous castle at the top.

"She is there," he thought with absolute certainty. Only one thought permeated his mind - to save Yui.

He flew through the tall waving grasses, the hooves of his steed flinging mud and stones, his cape flapping in his wake. Halfway across the meadow his horse’s fore hoof barely missed spading a young cottonwood sapling. He passed off the momentary shudder of longing and hope he felt as simply his own longing, as just his own pain.