Chapter 13 - NAMELESS'S NAME

The moon hung high, casting silver beams through the dense canopy as a boy and a girl, both drenched from swimming, made their way deeper into the forest. After running for what felt like hours, they stumbled upon a small cave, sheltered by tall trees and hidden behind thick bushes. They cautiously checked it out and there was no sign of any wild animal inhabiting it as that would be troublesome. Exhausted, they collapsed onto the soft moss on the cave's ground, trying to catch their breath. They were totally spent.

"I think we threw them off. Right?" The girl asked turning towards the boy. A stray silver beam from the moon bounced off her big golden eyes as she looked at the boy beside her in disbelief before sighing. The gentle rise and fall of his chest indicated that he had fallen asleep. "So tired, uhn?" She whispered close to his ears but got no reaction. She sighed again, turning to face the cave's roof, listening for any kind of sound but all she heard was the croaking of frogs and chirping of crickets.

Gradually, she relaxed, closing her golden eyes as she succumbed to the blissful embrace of sleep.

The next day, she was woken up by the aroma of a grilled fish. "Good morning," she yawned, rubbing her eyes before stretching her body.

"Good afternoon," a soft voice returned.

"Afternoon?" She queried, finally opening her eyes to peer outside. It was bright daylight with some clouds hovering around the sun. A flock of birds settled on the crown of some trees as they chirped away, livening the forest's quiet atmosphere.

"I tried waking you up but you seemed very tired and wouldn't answer. So I let you be." The boy said, going over with a fish placed on a clean, wide green leaf. He gave it to her before pulling another towards himself.

He had grilled both fish on a stick over a fire he had made by striking stones together, lighting up some dried leaves, twigs and sticks.

"Thank you." The girl said, taking a big bite out of the fish and swallowing almost immediately. She was famished!

"No, thank you." She heard him say quietly which made her turn to look at him carefully. It was like she was just seeing him for the first time as her golden eyes took in his appearance. Compared to when they had first met, he was quite clean. His muddy hair was now mud free and even his rags- ahem, clothes, seemed to have been washed.

"Did you wash?" She suddenly asked him and he nodded in response. "Where?" She asked again, praying it wasn't the lake from last night as they could be tracked if he had really gone there.

"A stream down the little hill behind this cave. I found it this morning."

"Oh," she secretly heaved a sigh of relief, "that's great. Did you also get the fish from the stream?" she asked again and the boy nodded in response, quietly eating his fish. She noticed the fish he gave her seemed to be bigger than the one he was eating and her heart pinched a bit. He looked so malnourished, yet... was he even from this world? He couldn't be that innocent right?

"We don't know each other's name yet." The girl said, breaking her train of thoughts. "I'm Rina," she introduced herself. "What about you?"

"I don't have one," she got a quiet response.

There was silence for a few seconds. "You're joking right? It's fine if you just don't want to say your name." She got up, carrying her unfinished fish along. Clearly she was annoyed but what could the boy do? He really doesn't have a name.

"But...but,there's something I've always had with me. Tried giving it to some people a few times but..." The boy's quiet voice sounded again before trailing off..

"Let me see." Rina requested and he brought out something from a little inner pocket on his shirt. It was a rectangular piece of steel held by a strip of leather. On the steel were some words written in a mixture of capital and small letters. The steel was already covered with rust so it had to be scraped with a sharp stone before the words could be seen a bit more clearly.

Breaking off a stick from the branch of the tall bushes covering the cave's entrance, Rina squatted down and started writing out the words on the soil. When she was done, she looked at the words she had written.

"R-a-Y-m-o-N-d." She called out. "Raymond? Your name is Raymond??" Rina quizzed, looking at him. "Do you know how you got this...item? Maybe anyone who gave it to you?"

"I, I don't know. It has always been on my wrist. Then when it started getting tight, I cut it off and kept it."

"But, you should have a family... maybe a mother or father or siblings or distant relative.. something like that?" Rina stated only for the boy to shake his head.

"I have no one." The boy said again. Like he was used to saying something like that.

"Maybe.... maybe this was left by your parents? Maybe something..." Rina continued guessing, stopping her words.

"Yeah, ... maybe." The boy said.

'What if it was really left by his parents and something had happened to them while he was still a baby?.'.. He had really suffered these past years, yet no one had come looking for him. That could be the only explanation right? Maybe something bad happened to them?'

Rina was just unable to fathom the idea of having no one. It wasn't like he dropped from the sky. Alright, alright. Enough thinking for today. At least his name is known now.

"Well, you can look on the bright side. At least you know your name now, Raymond." Rina dismissed their worries, revealing a little smile as she called his name. "That's a great start."

Raymond couldn't fathom how he felt. After years of going without a name or someone who gave him just a bit of care or attention...he didn't know how exactly to feel when someone started showing him these things. So he stayed silent, carressing the steel item Rina had decrypted his name from, in his hands.

When Rina was done eating, she decided to check the stream out, asking Raymond to stay in the cave till she returns. She came back later that evening with some fruits, a pair of pants and a shirt, and a small box of matchsticks. She saw Raymond looking at her in confusion and smiled at him awkwardly before sitting down and explaining while displaying her little trophies of thievery.

"I don't know about you, but I am not going to stay in this cave forever. And that doesn't mean we should keep living like cavemen while we're here..."

While she kept talking, Raymond's's eyes roamed over the items she had displayed, before moving over to her. Her rough hair had been combed, and she seemed to have also washed, looking cleaner than when she woke up this morning. But he was looking for something else. The big cut on her palm he briefly saw this afternoon.

"Here, this is for you. You can stop wearing..those." she said, handing over the pants and shirts.

"It is not good to steal." Raymond said, hesitant about receiving it.

"Uhnn?!" Rina exclaimed in an impossible manner. Then she clicked her tongue before nodding her head unbelievably. "You amaze me. I didn't steal them anyway so just put them on," she lied. "Or I'll kick you out of this cave." She finally threatened, pulling a serious face.

Raymond said nothing and simply received the clothes Rina shoved into his arms. "What about the scent?"

"I already took care of that." A busy Rina replied as she packed her little trophies to a corner, humming to herself.

The boy's hazelnut eyes followed her movements and they looked a bit troubled as he contemplated about doing something. He didn't need to worry much though as not long after, the pacing girl stumbled on a small piece of rock and fell. While trying to catch her balance, she tried holding unto the cave's wall and although it did reduce the impact of her fall, the slowly healing cut on her palm only opened up again with blood coming out of it. Rina tried her best not to cry as she bit her lips.

Her eyes which were closed in pain as she clutched her wrist, flew open when she felt someone holding her hand.

"Let me see, " Raymond said, his attention fixed on her palm as he gently held it. Rina withdrew her injured hand immediately, fearing her injury might get worse.

"Trust me. " Raymond said again, his innocent hazelnut eyes looking into her cunning golden ones, which at the moment was filled with tears. Reluctantly, she gave him her injured hand.