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FA 496，autumn
He did not know who she might be.
She was stunningly beautiful, he deemed, even at her age. In his already blurred vision, she was energetic as a young woman. Nothing seemed to startle her. Though those strange sound and dreadful shadow in the forest were close at times, she was never dismayed. Also, like a young woman, she knew little about hunting, nor any skills in the forest. She had no idea about how to harvest the most from the surroundings. After many times, he noticed calluses appeared on her palms, yet he could find no traces of scars earned by years of hard work.
He was having a headache. A painful one. The freezing winter must be lingering in the forest; his world was still encased by that winter, his mind and all his memory frozen by its chillness.
He did not know who he was, why he came here, and why he feared the dreadful shadow. The first thing he remembered was the silhouette of her, as she pulled him out of the mound and called to him. He was already losing his sight at that moment, believing an elf had been dragging him away from the relieving death towards the hardship of living.
But he could still hunt, and he could still sing. These defined his new life. He was saved from a dark past, so his mind and body could live on.
______
She did not know who he might be either.
When she found this old stranger, he was almost buried alive. The rugs he wore and bruises on his face indicated that, like those poor slaves in the North, he was once captured by the Enemy. And by their merciless hands he was thrown into pits, buried to die, a cruelty she had learned unwillingly. Yet he still remembered how to seek warmth when weather changed, because he could make flames out of firewood to heat up his rough hands. It also appeared to her that he had a family and kinship, because he was always murmuring a name, of whom he could not tell her when she enquired.
She was also having a headache. He could help her to hunt, to build a simple shelter under the roof of a large cave where they were hiding. But he could not tell her any other name except that one. Perhaps those torture had already damaged his mind, thus she learned nothing from him - where they were, where the others have gone, what happened to the two people whom she cared the most.
She talked to him many times until she gave up, as he seemed to have no idea what she was talking about. He might understand her question before he had those bruises.
Her headache became dizziness. She struggled to his side with what food she had been collecting. Then there was no strength left for her to stand any longer.
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FA 497, spring
He did not know what happened to her.
She might have eaten or drank something, or - he shuddered as he thought of the worst - possessed by the dreadful shadow in the forest. She was lying in her small shelter, raving about things he could not remember nor comprehend.
He did not know what to do, nor did he remember how it was treated in the old days. He discarded those food collections and gathered fresh ones in the forest. Her condition was not getting worse; yet she was not getting better either.
When winter passed, he left that place in search of the others. But he could not find any paths or people. Following that dreadful winter, there were even fewer people remained in the forest.
He did not give up. Even in hot and cold days, he went away into distance, following downward streams or upward ridges. Each time he changed his routes, though he always returned before the second day.
Because she was still in need of care. Because she was his only companion.
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She did not know what happened to him either.
He was regularly absent for a whole day. Every time when he disappeared, she was left in the cave with some food. Her spirit resumed slowly, but she felt weak as if her limbs no longer obeyed her will. She could sit up and walk inside the cave, though her strength was not enough to get her outside of it. When he was away, she occasionally combed her long, dark hair in the daylight. One day she spotted a greying hair, then a few, then gradually, all her hair turned grey.
She understood her distress in mind and body was consuming her own will. She wanted to resist.
Every time he returned, she struggled for another enquiry. She asked if there were new tidings, if he had met anyone. But he always shook his head and sighed, then repeated blankly the only name he knew.
She decided that he might already be mad.
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FA 499, summer
One day he left again. That was in the third year after she pulled him out of the mound.
Dread fell on his heart when he saw smoke and flame in the distance. But somehow, he was heading towards that direction, not aware of time or her presence anymore.
From distance, he heard a low but dreadful scream; then he saw crowds, a woman in white, a black sword and a fallen soldier. Under a grey light of the moon, an ill omen was falling upon him. He became terrified, shaking and hiding under twisted root of an old tree, uncertain if that shadow again walked in the woods would consume him. In his dream, he heard echoes of an anguish cry and roaring water, sounds that he had ever eluded.
On the second day, he woke up and heard voices in the woods calling two familiar names. Someone must have spoken these names to him. Then there came a sound of rocks cracking and voices of elves, before a voice close by suddenly asked, 'Who are you?'
He turned around to see a few woodsmen gathering. He felt hungry, so he raised his hands towards them.
'Poor old fellow, come and have some food.' Another voice offered. He was pulled up and signalled to follow them.
So he followed them.
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FA 499, winter
As winter came, she realised that he would not return.
Much of her strength resumed, thus she could climb down the cave and walked in the woods. She tried her best to recall the likeness of her food over the years and collected the same type to eat. But her legs were still stiff, she had to find a long, slim wooden stick and cut it into suitable length with an axe he had left in the cave. With it, she gathered much food before the end of autumn, so she would not starve during winter.
She decided to leave the next spring and continue her own search. She took a clock in the cave and made her own package.
She would walk slowly, but she did not care; she might face danger, but she would not be afraid. Nothing would frighten her, not even the Enemy himself.
She was the proud Lady of the North. She was determined to find her children.
When ice in the stream melted, she left.