Hiraya's Fall

Aela, the girl with the beauty of a thousand asors. Dreamland welcomes me like the clouds welcome the departed ones to the path toward the heavens. I see her from the distance, dancing gracefully to a tune only she can hear. Her limbs sway about as her long, red hair flows along the winds like autumn branches in a mystifying forest. Her eyes are closed the whole time as if she's savoring every moment she has in her own peaceful place. I wonder if she can become my first friend. She suddenly halts, slowly faces me, and reaches out her arms for me. No. Not this again. Not her. That menacing red tinge swallows everything my eyes can see.

          She slowly opens her eyelids revealing the hollowness of their sockets. I can see her mouth agape, screaming. However, no such noise is coming out. Darkness roots itself from within her. I have to wake up but this nightmare is not letting me. I tried screaming my lungs out but to no avail. I tried running away but I'm stuck in place. I tried hitting myself but I can't even move a muscle. She's closing in. Closer. Closer. Closer. A horrid gasp comes out of me, sweating heavily as I finally awake. My torso stings making me unable to fully sit right up. Right. I was gravely injured last night and I wasn't able to heal myself.

          I notice that I'm on a soft bed, bathed, and all patched up. Looking around, I'm still probably in a room in the same cabin as last night. Everything's well placed. It's neat. There's no speck of dust to see. A silhouette reveals itself from my peripheral, sitting just a few feet away from the bed I'm at. I eventually recognize that it's Aela, sitting primly, watching me. There's an odd smile flashing on her face that's very unlike her –I know we just met but I have a feeling it's still uncharacteristic. Is she grinning at me? In a quick heartbeat, her calming smile reveals itself sending a wave of warmth throughout my weakened body.

          "You're awake!" She stands up from the chair. "How are you feeling?" Her hands reach out for my bondages to check. I flinched ever so slightly, remembering a small part of the nightmare I just woken up from.

          "I'm fine." I smile. "Thanks for mending me, Aela."

          "I'm glad I did before you lose all your blood." She steps back towards the door, not breaking her sweet smile. "I've fetched us something to eat. Come." She gestures, inviting me to go outside the room.

          "Really? Sure. I'll join you." I wince. My wounds burn with every attempt to stand up. "Saints." I whisper in disappointment.

          "Do you need some help?" The look of worry echoes from her face as she starts to walk back to me again.

          "No. I can manage. You go on ahead. I'll be there in a bit." That's it. I'm going to heal myself. There's no reason for me to stay hurt if I have the ability to properly and completely mend myself. I wait for her to close the door before I can chant. "Leah ym sdnouw." I say calmly, hovering my hands over to where my wounds are so the healing process can be hastened.

          I decided to leave the patches on. A beautiful woman looking out for me isn't such a bad idea, is it? I follow my nose as I immediately smell something scrumptious from a distance. That's probably Aela's cooking. The wooden floors of the cabin squeak with every step I make which I somehow got accustomed to very quickly. After all, I can't do anything about it so might as well just let it be. The living area made itself known after a couple of steps. This is where I stopped Aela and Masid from killing each other. I'm impressed that it's already cleaned up. I admit I'm expecting this place to be a lot of a bloody mess. Courtesy of my blood. But. It's impossibly nifty in here like nothing just happened.

          The framed photos on top of the unlit fireplace fancies my attention. As I check them all out, I realize that it's most likely Aela's family but where are they? Why is she alone out in the forest? I see her loving parents caressing her and one other little boy being carried by the mother so I'm guessing that's her kid brother. There are a bunch of photos of them here unlike the photo of this one other person. It's a photo of a bearded man, a bulky frame, brandishing a big smile for everyone to see. This is a happy fellow for sure. I couldn't help myself but to smile back at it. With his brown slicked-back hair and sharp features, I can imagine this is how I'll look once I'm mature enough.

          "Vatic, is that you? Come in here." Aela's tone is so welcoming that I couldn't resist. I placed the photo of the happy gentleman back where I first saw it.

          I see Masid helping himself with his meal next to my seat. I shoot him a teasing glance and I imagine him rolling his eyes to get his attention back to his food. He appears to be really enjoying it. Aela's eyes meet mine then gestures to the empty seat in front of her, inviting me to sit down. Our meals may look unappetizing compared to Mother's cooking but they do smell impeccable. I can't wait to enjoy them. It was beyond my expectations when I confirmed that the food tasted exceptional. I could eat them all day and all night. Aela seems to be appeased when it's obvious that I'm enjoying everything she made.

          "After your meal, you best be going your way." The seriousness of her tone had me taken aback. I choked from the last bite I took. She hands me a glass of water. I didn't realize that her bright smile had long faded away.

          "What? Did I do something wrong?" Questions flood my thoughts. My appetite went away with my own bright smile. I look at Masid to see if he knows something about it.

          "I don't know anything. You're the only one I can talk to under this roof if you forgot." Sarcasm spews from him. He didn't even bat an eye on me.

          "It's not you, Vatic. I just felt incredibly bad last night so I decided to mend you and let you stay here for the night." She too stopped eating. "But now that you're all healed up, you must go back to whatever it is you're doing back in the woods."

          I can sense sadness in her words but I can't pry further because I don't want to be rude. There are a lot of questions I haven't got the chance to ask and here she is pushing me away like she's hiding something. Who is she? Why is she here? Is she the only one left on the island? Are there others like her? If she wants to respect her wishes of solitude, I must try and gather everything that I can before her hostility from last night comes back and pokes holes at my body again. I brace myself, hoping that she'll let me in even just a little.

          "I understand. Masid and I are actually headed to Hiraya." I look at her and she seems intrigued. "But the map I brought with me appears to be inaccurate. Do you have a spare map you can lend us?"

          "Why do you want to go there?" She's definitely hooked. I just need to keep her in line so I won't lose her interest. The expression on her face suddenly morphed into something I was afraid of. She's on high alert again. She quickly grabs her bow and an arrow from her quiver which I didn't initially notice then aims them at me. Masid takes his attention off of his meal and jumps on top of the table to shield me from the incoming attack. It's a shame that everything Aela prepared had gone to waste. If they were not stepped on by Masid, she herself threw them off from the table to the wooden floor. This picture is definitely the last night's sight.

          "Hang on a minute!" I raise both my arms in an attempt to stop the tension rapidly building up between the two of them.

          "Who sent you? Who do you work for?" The intensity in her tone makes her voice crack subtly. Her eyes flare with anger but more obviously, she appears to be afraid of something. "I had this inkling you're one of them when I saw you last night. I can't believe I was stupid enough to think you're a castaway and brought you here."

          "I told you this woman is dangerous! Tell me the word and I'll snap her neck." Masid is not budging from his stance as he makes sure that I'm safe. "Vatic!" I snapped out of my daze.

          "Wait. Calm down, Aela. I don't know your story but I could only imagine how tragic it must be." I start, revealing an expression that hopefully she can trust. "Trust me. My story isn't golds and silvers as well. I swear I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you referring to? Castaways? What are those? Please, tell me. I'm your friend. –I looked at Masid and back to her– We're your friends. No one's your enemy here. So, please, take a deep breath and talk to me." I'm still angling my left arm toward her and my right resting on top of Masid's head.

          "Dangerous and out of her wits." Masid jumps off of the table and back to his meal as he senses the tension has died down.

          She appears to believe my sentiments so I slowly walk towards her, grab the bow and arrow from her hands, and gently put her back on her seat. She started crying. Her wails send cracks to my heart as they make me feel that I walked her tragic life with her even though I don't know anything about her. I pat her back to console her but it appears to be ineffective. She looks up at me with her swollen eyes with longing and grabs me by the waist. She's hugging me. What am I supposed to do in this situation? I just blush and let her cry on me, continuously patting her head in the most awkward pattern possible in mankind. I have never read something like this in the books from our library. I'll just do whatever feels normal to me despite being incredibly awkward.

          "I'm sorry." She breaks free from my waist and gestures for me to sit back down again. "I didn't mean for that to happen. But, is what you're saying true? That you're not one of them?" She wipes the remaining tears from her cheeks to her chin.

          "It's true. I don't know whoever those people you're referring to. Masid and I don't mean harm in any way. Who are they?" I start to pick up the mess the two of them made. So much for the delicious breakfast.

          "Pirates." The word seems to echo throughout this small wooden cabin. "Occasionally, a small fleet of them sets foot on the island and ransack what's left of the town and even some parts of the island by its original settlers which are me and my people, the Hirayans." So that's what the people of Hiraya call themselves. That's new knowledge to me. "They are dangerous people. They even kill their own if they feel like it. That's why I live here deep in the forest. Those pirates don't have any idea this place exists."

          "You're saying the town is now swarming with pirates?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows to concentrate on every detail I'm getting.

          "That's not the case. It's true that a number of them set foot on this island but when their businesses are done? They all set sail again and only the Gods know when will they come back. No one dare's to live in this island for good because of…" Her voice dies. Fear starting to consume her. It's evident from the looks of her pearl-black eyes.

          "Because of what?" I encourage her to continue.

          "Dalakethnon."