Otherworldly
1486 Words
AEMIN
I look at the seller in disbelief.
"But you said—"
"I know what I told you, young man." She says, with a wag of her finger. "But what am I supposed to do if they don't bring it to me? I can't sell it to you, that's what happens."
My eyes squeeze shut in frustration.
"Why is it taking them so long?"
"Because they've harvested so much of it in the Western Forests that they just can't seem to find anymore." She murmurs, shrugging her shoulders.
"Maybe in the Elven Forests there may be some, but God forbid any i***t who dares to go in there."
I bite back a breath.
"What does it look like?"
She gives me a narrow glance. But then she reaches back to her counter, pulling out a thick book. The pages scatter dust as she flips them.
"Like this."
It's a white, five-petaled flower. And I look up at her with a skeptical brow, wondering how in the world this would be used to treat sickness.
"Crush up a petal and mix it into hot water." She says, before looking up in my direction.
"What, you don't trust me? Arlen literally heals everything. Why do you think there's so much less of it now, hm? Because everybody wants it."
"Sells for a good price too." She adds, closing the book with a thump. "That's all I can do for you, young man."
Then she suddenly pipes up.
"Unless you want to take a few tubes of my personally handcrafted salves. You don't want to have come all the way here for nothing, do you?"
________________________________
Arlen.
And all the way back from the market, all I can think about is the white, petaled flower. It doesn't look too hard to find— it was a flower, and white. Wouldn't it stand out against a forest background?
I would try my luck tomorrow in the Western Forests.
But now it's too late, and by the time I get near home it's almost night.
I hadn't expected it to take this long. Would Rinei already be asleep?
The moon's coming out of the clouds. And I'm going up the path next to the river towards my house when I hear a low rustle near the underbrush.
It's coming from in front of me.
My brows furrow.
Could it be my sister? She often came here to get fresh water whenever we ran out.
But at a time this late?
Then I hear it— a low, feminine curse. There's another quiet rustle, before a second curse follows.
Not Rinei. Her voice was a tone lighter than this, whenever she grunted or made a noise.
And something tells me I should stay away as I shift closer. But the curiosity is biting at the back of my mind, and I edge towards where the quiet cursing is coming from.
I push back the leaves.
It is a woman. Her hair is the color of a sun in winter— a color I'd never seen before on a person. She's wearing a dark hood over her head, bent down over her ankle. I see blood.
But her head snaps up the moment I rustle the leaves.
Her eyes. It's a mesmerizing blue— so blue that it shines even in the darkness.
How in the world could anyone be this beautiful?
But then her sharp hiss jerks me out of my daze. She instantly gets to her feet, and before I can even blink again she has a knife between her fingertips. It's aimed right at me.
And I stutter.
"S-Should I go?"
"Go."
"But your ankle." I say. She has it hidden under the long hem of her cloak now, but I'd seen it already.
It looked kind of bad.
"Go." She repeats, tilting the knife so that the point gleams dangerously against the moonlight. "There is nothing you can do."
"Actually I think I can try somethi—"
"You'll find it best to take my advice." She says, voice cold. "Before I do something that I know I will regret. Leave. This is the last time."
Okay.
"Fine— fine," I say, hands in front of me. "I just...just in case you don't know what to do."
I unravel my cloak from my shoulders, keeping my eyes on her just in case she decides to throw that knife straight for my head. Then I tear a long strip of cloth, leaving the ends of my cloak jagged.
No sudden movements.
"That's for the bleeding," I say slowly, feeling the weight of her gaze on my hands as I search through my small pack.
Then I pull out a tube of salve. I'd ended up taking a few tubes because she'd offered it to me for half-price, even though I'd realized right after that she'd lied to me.
An older man who'd been waiting in line after had taken a dozen of those for the price I'd paid for six.
"And this is...I think it'll help it from getting infected, something like that. Make it heal better." I say, placing the tube on top of the strip of cloth.
She doesn't say anything.
And I blink, looking back and forth. Should I hand it to her? It looked like she'd have a hard time getting to where I'd put down the things with that ankle.
"Uh...do you want me to give it to you? I promise I'm harmless, I promise."
"I already know you are."
That...was good.
I blink again, now holding the cloth and the salve in my hands.
"So do you want me to give it to you or—"
"Just come here." She says, with a quiet sigh. There's the sound of metal as she sheathes the knife with a graceful flick of her wrist. Then she falls back down to sit on the grass, her eyes fixing on my frozen figure when I don't move.
"Didn't you hear me? Come, human."
Had I heard her wrong?
Did she just call me a human?
"Not even a rabbit would be scared of you, with how polite you are." She mutters under her breath as I hesitantly make my way closer to her.
I still didn't know if she'd completely decided not to hurt me. That knife had looked really sharp earlier.
"Sit."
So I sit stiffly across from her, making her raise one of her perfect brows.
I've never been this intimidated by a person before.
And I still couldn't believe she'd called me a human.
Then I put my hands in front of myself, still stiff and tense as she takes the salve and cloth from my open palms. She gives me a fleeting look before starting to treat the cuts on her ankle.
And I can't help but flicker my eyes down to look.
It looks familiar.
Oh.
I know.
It's the same thing I'd done to myself just a few weeks ago while being clumsy near the river.
"Did you get stuck in those rocks?" I blurt, pointing at the jagged rocks at the border between the river and the Elven Forest. "You have to be careful. It's easy to miss them because of the moss. It looks like gra—"
She's looking at me.
Shut up, Aemin.
I instantly go quiet, listening to the voice in my head.
Her voice echoes. "How did you know?"
And when I wordlessly show her the fading scars on my ankle that looks almost exactly like hers, she laughs.
Her laugh is beautiful, too. Just like the rest of her.
Who could she be? She felt like someone who didn't belong in this world but belonged somewhere entirely different. Felt like a different species, almost.
And her eyes are softer when she looks at me again.
"Your eyes are so full of questions," She says. "You helped me tonight. Ask me one thing, and I will answer in return."
"...really?"
She nods.
But there are just so many things I want to ask. I want to know where she's from. How she has eyes so blue. And how I'd never seen her before when I'd lived here all my life.
"What's your name?"
She tilts her head, and her golden locks spill over her neck and past her shoulder.
"My name?"
I nod.
"Turn around, and I will tell you."
Turn?
So I do, feeling a bit confused. What was she trying to do?
"My name is Arlen."
Her voice is sweet against my ear, almost like the wisp of wind.
Arlen.
Wait.
Arlen?!
I whip around, eyes wide. Arlen was the name of that white flower that the old lady had told me about. Was it some coincidence? Or could it be...
But my body goes still with surprise the moment I turn back.
She's gone. As if she'd vanished into thin air.
- Writer
