A Memory of Friends

"... He is a Monster and a monster shouldn't be allowed to come and trade... The other villages do not let him come. Why is he still allowed to come to OUR village?"

Frowning, Hero sat on a ledge high up on a cliff, his feet dangling carelessly above a precipice, and considered the village far below.

Surrounded on all sides by the green forest, it looked cozy and small, the tiny house windows warmly lighting up to meet the approaching dusk.

Next to Hero awkwardly lingered the tall, black form of his friend. At least, Hero liked to think so.

"... Albert, should we go somewhere else?" Hero asked, not really expecting a reply back.

"...How about the village where they went? Only I don't know where that is..." Hero considered.

"... They probably grew up already, though. There are so many villagers with the exact same name. Unless they talk to me first, I won't even recognize them. What if they don't talk to me first? What if they became like everyone else?"

The mob didn't answer, sending only puzzled concern in response to Hero's doubts. Hero watched the village below him, a longing that he thought long gone pulling again at his heart.

"... They said that they would be my friends always."

Memories of having a real home, working in the garden with grandpa Grake, playing with the other villager children when he was little, insistently kept pressing. Good memories, not bad ones.

Once, for a very short time, he even thought that he had friends.

Two weeks after the incident with the Creeper, a group of villagers came from a distant village. Hero couldn't remember which village it was now, but their visit was all that Grandpa Grake could talk about before they came. He kept telling Uncle Rangil about how he and the other Villager grew up together and how they did a lot of mischief together, before Jalil grew up and became so wise that the other villagers chose him as their Elder.

From Grandpa Grake's stories, they sounded almost as bad as Margol and Tnul, who constantly got in trouble, except smarter. But surely Grandpa Grake and this Jalil person could not be that bad? Hero wondered to himself, since he knew some of the things that Margol and Tnul did without the grown ups knowing.

Grandpa Grake could not help much with the preparations for their visit. He still wore the bindings on his left arm, broken when he stumbled on the way back from the Tree where he took little Hero to show him where he found him. Grandpa Grake was simply too old and frail to walk far and he should not have done it, Uncle Rangil grumbled and cast Hero disapproving looks, while he worked hastily to add several more beds and gather additional supplies for the feast that was planned in honor of guests' arrival.

Uncle Rangil even suspended Hero's punishment, which was to stay away from Margol and Tnul. He sent him to the Forest with them to get sweet berries and mushrooms. As much as he hated Hero's bond with the mobs, sometimes even he admitted that it was useful, since they wouldn't bother his nephews as long as Hero was with them.

The visitors came and stayed in their village for almost two weeks. Elder Jalil, his brother, Tomes, and his two older adopted children stayed in Uncle Rangil's house, while others of their group moved in with various relatives and friends across the village. To make room, Grandpa Grake even temporarily moved into the barn with Hero, for which Hero was only grateful. Staying in that barn at night, dimly lit only by the glow of his eyes peeking over the edge of the clutched blanket was scary.

Hero remembered that the visitors acted very friendly to him, unlike uncle Rangil, who did not like him. Grandpa Grake said that he used to be nicer, but changed after his brother disappeared. Uncle Rangil blamed Hero because when Hero was a little, he used to leave the house a lot and get lost. And Uncle Beor went out to look for him once and never came back. Uncle Rangil believed that Creepers killed him, but no one knew for sure. And he thought that Hero was a Monster because Creepers liked him and he had their fire magic?

These visiting villagers, though, listened to Grandpa Grake when he told them that Hero was a Human and nodded their heads.

"... His eyes are strange, but he definitely looks like a Human. He is just like them. Only small." The oldest of the visiting villagers told grandpa Grake at the large family dinner, for which the family had to set up additional tables outdoors, since they could not all fit inside the house even with the additions uncle Rangil added.

That oldest villager was the one that Grandpa Grake said was his childhood friend. Looking at that imposing and very calm villager and then looking at very pleased Grandpa Grake, Hero blinked and simply could not imagine either of them ever being little.

Hero sat at the same table next to grandpa Grake, enjoying being allowed to be a part of this huge family gathering, despite a few suspicious looks thrown in his direction from neighbors and friends who also came invited to this dinner.

Uncle Rangil's children, Margil and Tnul, stayed unusually quiet and curiously studied the two new visitors slightly older than them, who sat on the other side of the table. Everyone wore their best, cleanest, festive clothes that openly declared their status and profession.

"See, Rangil? I told you that's what he was." Grandpa Grake pointed out to his younger relative who sat next to him at the head of the table. The younger villager stubbornly frowned.

"Jalil knows all about the Humans, because he met them." Grandpa Grake declared to everyone at the table and gave Hero an encouraging look, at which the little boy dared to cast another quick, shy look at the visitors, very curious but not daring to stare at them directly. None of the villagers liked it when he looked at them for long. Margol and Tnul told him once that it made them feel weird for some reason, so he tried not to do it.

The visiting elder chuckled.

"Well, not recently. I was quite small when They last came to our parts. But I do remember it well." Jalil said.

"Were there any children among them?" Rangil asked.

"Well, no." The elder admitted.

"They were all grown-ups. Adventurers and Miners, that's who mostly comes to our parts of the world. It would be far too dangerous for them to bring a child here, I suppose. There are too many monsters. And Humans have a thing about monsters. They fear them and hate them, because they fear them."

"We fear them, too." Another villager from Hero's village pointed out.

"Yes, but it's worse for the Humans. Our monsters mostly leave us alone. But if they see Humans, they immediately attack them. We don't know why it is this way..." Jalil's nephew Karup told them.

"That's because Humans are not a part of our world, that's why. And all creatures here sense it." Elder Jalil's brother, Tomes, another of the visiting villagers, spoke up and everyone began to nod in agreement. It was common knowledge that the Humans were not native to their world.

"Where did they come from?" Asked a younger villager from Hero's village. Hero thought that it might be Pellom. He was unsure, though, because Pellom and Raiku were twins and he couldn't tell them apart very well.

"Well, that happened very long ago, so no one really knows. Even the Humans do not know. Those that came among us said that there are legends about the First Ones, who just... Spawned. They were already grown-up, just like the Immortals. And some of the Monsters. Only, the Humans grew old and died. And they had children, who then grew up and died. Just like us."

"But they had to come from somewhere. Those First Ones." Kreom, another younger villager from Hero's village suggested.

Forgetting to eat, little Hero listened intently to their conversation, afraid to miss a word, because he almost never heard the Humans discussed this way in his village. And these visiting villagers knew them and even met them!

"They have a lot of legends about it, but the truth is that the Humans who live today have no idea where they came from, either. So it's pointless to even ask."

"Besides, the Humans that came to our village cared about only one thing and it was diamonds. And other precious ores and stones. It was very important to them. And, of course, they asked about what kind of monsters lived nearby."

"Yes, they even had their own names for them. Different from what we called them. Like the Jaio. For some reason, Humans decided that they should be called Creepers, after some creatures from their own legends and tales."

"But, they ARE Creepers, no?" The knowledgeable villager's neighbor named Imarko grinned, showing a gap in his tooth plates which chipped yesterday when another villager told him that he should bite an emerald to test it.

Little Hero remembered how the villager jumped around, his face scrunched up in a funny way. He still felt bad. He had laughed at it, not knowing that the villager was hurting, earning himself an angry look and dislike, as well as a rebuke from his own caretaker.

"NOW we all call them that. But before the humans came, they were called Jaio. Because of the sounds they made. Like a soft song played on a riven flute? And there are still legends about the fire that they bear in their hearts, because the ancient creators gave it to them, charging them to protect this world and keep its magic strong and bright." Jalil explained patiently.

"That's why our world is warm and green. Jaio magic!" Grandpa Grake nodded. Noticing Hero's fascinated look, he gave him an encouraging smile, his face creasing with familiar to Hero small wrinkles.

"Pfft! Those are just silly old tales." Uncle Rangil huffed, folding his hands defensively across his chest.

It made it seem as though he had no hands and his arms were just connected, little Hero thought and barely stifled a giggle. He hid his face by lowering it to his plate and stuffing a spoon of stew into his mouth. So good! He couldn't help thinking, enjoying the satisfying feeling of a full meal.

"The Creepers are just animals, who can use magic. Dangerous beasts! Not some sort of ancient protectors. That's nonsense! Humans do the right thing when they kill them. They should kill all the monsters in our world! Then, we would all be safer."

Uncle Rangil did not look at Hero when he said this, but his face twisted angrily.

"Why, do you have a lot of problems with them here? With the monsters attacking your village?" The visiting elder asked curiously, his green eyes mild.

"Not recently, no... But it was because of the monsters that... " Uncle Rangil fell quiet, his jaw muscles going taut as he furiously frowned.

"... It was because of them that my brother is gone and his children now live with me." Rangil finally said, laying a protective hand on Margol's shoulder. Both of his boys lost their usual mischievous looks and instead dropped their gazes to their bowls.

"The monsters killed him. With their evil magic."

This time, Rangil did give Grake's foundling an unfriendly look.

"And this... Human... " He jabbed his finger in Hero's direction and Hero flinched.

"He has the same magic. Just like those monsters. You said that monsters attack Humans? Well, they don't attack him. They play with him! Even the Jaio!... I mean, the Creepers. Now, you tell me, if he was a Human, would they do that?"

"... Hmmm. Maybe it's because he is a child?" The older villager said, but his tone became doubtful. Rangil cast Grandpa Grake a winning look, at which the older villager only sighed.

Little Hero uncomfortably stirred in his seat, shrinking under all those green eyes that turned to study him, some curious and others doubtful. He wished very much that he could run away and hide in the barn, but knew that it would show disrespect and make Grandpa Grake look bad to everyone, so he didn't move from his spot, just lowered his eyes and stared at his bowl.

"Why would that make a difference?" Uncle Rangil continued, his tone accusing. "He even brought a Creeper inside our house. It could have killed us!"

Margol and Tnul exchanged slightly guilty glances and also looked down at their bowls, avoiding to look at Hero, who got in trouble because of them and still had to live in the rickety old barn instead of the nice, warm house with them as he used to.

"But it didn't." Old Grake softly reminded.

"His magic is not evil, Rangil. It's probably Jaio. Creation Magic. That's why the other creatures do not hurt him. They probably recognize it. It just means that our World accepted him, unlike the other Humans." Old Grake said, his hand coming to rest on top of his little foundling's tousled head to encourage him. Hero relaxed.

"Only creators had creation magic, Uncle. And their children, the Immortals. And he is not one of them. If he were, he would not have been left here, all alone. They would not have stopped searching for him, because they never abandon one of their own! And they do not even HAVE children, like us and the Humans. They are born fully grown! So there is no way that he could be one of them." Rangil restarted the old argument. Grandpa Grake turned to the visiting elder for support.

"Well, some Humans also have magic. Right, Jalil?"

The visiting elder nodded his head, frowning a little at the interactions he was seeing.

"I have read in stories..." Grandpa Grake began to say, but Rangil raised his hand.

"That's enough. All this talk about the Humans and Magic... It's pointless. It's been years since any of them came here and I don't think that they'll ever return. At least not in our lifetime. So, let's talk about something else. Something that we can all agree on and which makes sense." Rangil suggested.

After a moment of awkward silence, when the visiting villagers exchanged puzzled looks, that's exactly what they did. They began to speak about their routine, everyday concerns, about the harvest and the weather, compared the way things were done in their villages and here, and recalled old stories from the time they were growing up. They grew comfortable and began to laugh.

After dinner, when the grown-ups dismissed the children, the two visiting boys searched out Hero, who as usual snuck away to play by himself at the edge of the woods, where he could stay out of everyone's sight. They caught up to the little Human, who blinked at the two young villagers with surprise on his strange, bland face.

"I am Kyle." The taller boy said.

"And I am Jin." The other child nodded. Their eyes friendly and curious, the visitors studied the stranger that Grandpa Grake insisted to everyone was a real Human. Although he was supposed to be older than them, he seemed much younger. He was definitely smaller.

"And your name is Hero?" The first child prodded curiously. Little Hero could only shyly nod his head.

"That's a funny name." The second child noted, amused, but not meaning to tease.

"Maybe it's because he will become a Hero when he grows up? Like the other Humans?" Kyle turned to his brother.

Hero eagerly nodded, a bright smile coming to his face as he thought of the pictures that Grandpa Grake showed him in a book about the Humans. One day, he would live up to the name Grandpa Grake gave him and prove to everyone that he was a Hero, not a Monster. He would protect them all. Even the mean Margol and Tnul, and all these other villagers who didn't like him. Maybe, then they would finally like him and even praise him, instead of tease or frown.

"So, it's your Magic that makes your eyes glow?" Jin asked next.

Hero could only shrug, since he had no idea. At that moment, he was simply happy that these two children talked to him in a friendly way, rather than make fun of him like the other children in his village.

"You don't say much, do you?" Jin teased with a mild smile.

...

Older Hero sighed and leaned his head back against the smooth, cracked stone.

Those two young villagers told him that they wanted to be his friends. They asked if he wanted to be their friend.

Of course, he wanted to be their friend. Even though they then asked him to show them if he really could do magic. He was not supposed to, because uncle Rangil said that he would punish him if he ever saw him do it again and Hero didn't want to miss dinner. But Kyle and Jin promised to keep it a secret. So, Hero did show them what he could do.

He went with them a little further into the forest, where he tried to call to the Jaio, whom he perceived nearby. They came and cautiously peeked from the bushes. When he moved toward them, though, they fled from him, refusing to let him touch them.

Little Hero sighed and gave up, turning to his new friends, who already watched him with big eyes. He explained that Jaio still didn't trust him, because of what he did. He should not have listened to Margol and Tnul and helped them catch that one little Creeper. After uncle Rangil found it in their house, he ordered Hero to take it away. So Hero led it from the village into the woods and said sorry as he took the rope from its neck. The small being immediately fled from him.

"Now, all the Jaio stay away from me. They watch, but do not let me come close." Little Hero told his friends sadly.

"Uncle Rangil says that they are bad and I should not play with them. But they are funny and nice." Hero complained next, regretfully looking at the creatures peeking at him from the bushes. His new friends exchanged a a look, but nodded, seeming to accept his words.

Now, the older Hero understood just how strange he must have sounded to them. He was so dumb when he was little, thinking that the Jaio and the other mobs were nice. He didn't know that they were friendly with him only because they felt that he was one of them. And he did not know yet just how mean they could become if they felt that someone wanted to hurt them.

Margol and Tnul were lucky that they didn't hurt that little Creeper, when they dragged it to their house for fun. And the Creeper didn't lash out with magic, because Hero was there. It did become very confused, though, and didn't like what was happening at all.

And if Margol and Tnul did try to hurt it, it would have lashed out with magic and killed them all, even if Hero was there. Now, Hero knew that. So Uncle Rangil was right to be angry with him. Then, though, little Hero thought that his Uncle was mean, yelling at him about how dumb and careless he was, despite being older than Margol and Tnul.

And he resented that Margol and Tnul said it was his fault when it was all their idea! He just did what they said because he wanted so much for them to like him...

He didn't understand things very well when he was little. Good thing that his new friends were older than Margol and Tnul and didn't press him to go after the shy Jaio, some of which already began to flare their magic in warning.

They still got him in trouble.

Disappointed that they couldn't touch the elusive Creepers, they asked Hero to show them if he could really make fire with his hands. And it was a big "no". Once again, though, he really wanted to show off and impress his friends, so he broke the rules. He grinned, briefly enjoying their amazement. Only to feel his heart fall when he heard Margol and Tnul snickering in the bushes. The dumb little villagers didn't even care that the Jaio were almost next to them, looking at them in confusion. They had become too used to them being friendly with Hero around.

Margol immediately ran away.

"Ooooh, you are in so much trouble, Briny." Tnul teased and ran away, too, leaving Hero blinking off ready tears as he stood there with his two new friends.

"Are you really in trouble now?" Jin asked, both of the young villagers looking at the little Human with sympathy and guilt on their faces. He could only nod in response before slowly turning and heading back, already knowing the punishment that would come. No meals for the rest of the day and probably also tomorrow, since it was already past noon. And probably having to stay in the barn that entire time, not allowed to go outside and play.

Hero's new friends caught up and walked back with him. They even tried to speak for him to angry Uncle Rangil, who stood at the house door with his hands crossed and green eyes glaring from under furiously drawn eye-brows. Margol and Tnul, grinning, hid from Hero's angry gaze in the house.

"It was our fault, Uncle Rangil." Kyle, the older of Hero's new friends, tried to tell their host politely.

Just then, their own caretaker also came out, together with Grandpa Grake, and they all looked at the children with disapproval.

Their excuses didn't work very well. They all ended up getting punished together, although it was not as bad as Hero expected.

He didn't go hungry this time. Jalil, the visiting elder, rejected such punishment as an option and even accused Uncle Rangil that maybe it was because of punishments like that why Grake's little Human grew so slowly.

Then, fuming Uncle Rangil wanted to lock Hero up in the barn for the entire time that the villagers would visit, so he would be out of the way and not hurt anyone. They didn't know, but none of the villagers here allowed their children to play with Hero after he accidentally burnt one of them with his magic, just for teasing him.

"It's not safe for your children to play with him!" Uncle Rangil gestured to the barn, where he sent the little Human.

The visiting elder, however, disagreed with that, too. He thought that Uncle Rangil was too harsh.

"You expect too much of him. He is obviously much younger than a Villager his age. He is growing up much slower. You should treat him as he looks, not how old he really is."

"For how much longer? When will he grow up? When I become old like Grake? When Margol and Tnul turn old? Will their children have to take care of him and worry about what he might do?" Rangil scoffed.

"If he was a normal Human, fine, we could have handled it. But he has that weird magic! It's growing stronger, too. He still listens for now, but what is going to happen when he becomes too strong for us to punish him? When he decides that he doesn't have to follow our rules?" Uncle Rangil pointed out, his voice ringing with worry.

The visiting grown-up villagers didn't have an answer for him.

Hero ended up staying in the barn for only one day, though. After Uncle Rangil cooled down, he reduced his punishment, as he often did before.

But, Kyle and Jin had to stay away from him afterward, not allowed to play with him anymore. Hero had seen them playing with the other children, who all turned and stared when he came by them. Kyle and Jin still waved to him and smiled, which made him happy. Cheered up, he waved back to them before leaving to the woods to play by himself.

He didn't try to approach them, since he knew that they had to follow the rules. Even their elder had to follow the rules of the elders of this village, while he visited here. And the new rules said that the children should not play with Hero anymore, because he could not control his power and could hurt someone by accident.

Kyle and Jin remained friendly to Hero and even volunteered to carry his meals to him, since they lived in Uncle Rangil's house. They often stayed for a while, just talking about things and noting how Hero's village and their village were different.

The night before they had to leave, they came to say goodbye. And Kyle told Hero that they overheard Grandpa Grake come to their elder and ask if maybe he could find someone in their village, who would adopt Hero. Or, maybe Jalil could do that himself, as he did for Kyle and Jin?

"He said no..." Kyle said with regret.

"It would have been so nice, though."

"Yeah, it would have been so nice. You would have been like our brother." Jin nodded thoughtfully, both of them lost in their daydreams and not noticing that Hero began to cry, until they heard him sniffling.

The young villagers blinked at the little Human in confusion. They had no idea how their words affected Hero, first giving him hope and then taking that hope away. And them saying what might have been, but didn't happen, only made him feel worse. He was already sad that they were about to leave.

"We're sorry. Don't cry. It will still be all right. We won't be brothers, but we can still be friends." Jin told the little Human, sharing a concerned glance with his brother.

They seemed a little taken back by Hero's reaction. Margol and Tnul did tell them that Hero cried a lot, but they had not seen that, yet. Hero saw their expressions and lowered his face. He didn't want them to dislike him. He startled, when they both hugged him.

"Don't be sad. Maybe we can come and visit again. Although it probably won't be soon." Kyle suggested.

"Or, maybe one day you can come and visit us, instead." Jin smiled encouragingly. Hero smiled back, quickly nodding, not trusting himself to speak. The children smiled at him and left. After they left, Hero dissolved in tears.

That's how Grandpa Grake found him when he came in later to check on him. Curled up in a ball and sobbing, with tears running down his face and soaking into the woolen blanket he pulled into a hug. Grandpa Grake hugged him and held him, comforting him as he had all the previous four years.

"Shhh. It will be alright." He patted his hair, seeing that Hero was too upset to explain what happened. Grandpa Grake held him until he fell asleep in his arms. Gently, he settled him down, tucked his blanket around him, and quietly left.