Trying to Remember [Part 1]

After nearly 380 years, I have found the girl I had fallen in love with to still be alive. The lifespan of our people was typically no older than 65. Why it is that the two of us have survived this long, I do not know. Many times I had given up on finding her, but there were days that I would find myself searching still after dreaming that she was still alive. Now I have found her, but she has been severely wounded and has probably lost all sight in her eyes. Her name is Aspen. We grew up together, and I wanted to marry her, but fate destroyed those dreams when a terrible plague wiped out the entire town within a few months. I thought I alone was spared. Why this was I do not know. Two months before the entire town was dead my twin brother, Sebastian, died and my love disappeared. Now that I have found her, she's different somehow. Her gifts are new since I last saw her. I wonder how she got them. She said I have gifts as well, but I have never noticed any change within myself all these years. But despite those gifts, her way of life amazes me and now that I have found her it is as if she no longer remembers me. She now calls herself by a nickname—Oracle. Oh that she would remember! This afternoon she sang a mourning song. It was about the plague and lost love. I wonder if someone taught the song to her, but she has disappeared and I doubt I would be able to track her down...or even catch her if I were to find her.

He sighed, set the book and quill aside and lay his head on the desk. Soon he was asleep. When he awoke it was dark, but Aspen had not returned. A sharp snap alerted him that something was outside. Cautiously he moved to the doorway. He saw a figure move between the trees. In the meadow a young deer was grazing. The noise didn't seem to disturb it, as it continued to graze. Then the figure rushed at the deer, he was quick. Basil temporarily lost sight of the man with the blade. Perhaps he was hiding behind one of the rocks on the edge of the meadow. Basil moved cautiously outside, keeping to the shadows. The deer calmly bounded off and Basil saw the man lying in the grass, breathing hard. He had only taken one step towards the man when a dagger pinned his cloak to the cabin an inch from his leg.

"Hey, I'm no animal," Basil protested the attack.

The man gasped and ran off.

Pulling the dagger out of the cabin, he held it up in the moonlight. It was a poor man's blade. The handle was well worn and the blade recently sharpened. He dropped to a crouch when he heard a whistle. A roll of parchment fell in front of him. He picked it up and read.

You're lucky he had bad aim. Had it been better, he could have seriously wounded you. Your cloak is reflecting the moonlight. Best take it off. -O.

Basil searched the area for her, but couldn't see past the center of the clearing. Reading the note again he took off his cloak and let it fall to the ground, but he had a feeling that there was more to this. He moved to other shadows around the meadow. Holding the blade ready, Basil felt his heart beat faster. Never before had he been the hunted. A stone landed at his feet with another note.

Deepen and soften your breathing. It's echoing.

He tried hard, but his fear kept rising.

'Change the mindset,' he thought. 'I am hunting.'

Out of nowhere an arrow pinned his sleeve to the tree behind him. He stared at the shaft a moment, as if not quite sure what he was seeing. Yet another parchment was attached to the shaft.

Much better. We need to find you darker, quieter clothes. That's all for tonight.

For some reason he didn't believe that. From across the meadow, he watched his cloak rise from the ground. Throwing the dagger, he was surprised when both cloak and dagger disappeared. Hiding deeper in the shadow he waited, not sure what to expect next. It wasn't long before a wolf appeared then turned and walked away a few steps, before looking back to see if he was going to follow. Basil stood and followed the wolf back to the cabin. It was dark inside the cabin, but even in the dark of the cabin he could see his cloak. Movement in the corner caused him to tense and put him on guard for a fight.

"You're much too tense," Oracle said. "You should get some sleep."

"Why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?" She folded his cloak and set it on the desk.

"The need to be silent and remain hidden."

"There are still times when men come from villages or towns further away than Sun Town or Chanelle. Not all of them stop in Sun Town before entering the grove to hunt."

"So why did you stop the man tonight?"

"Anyone who kills in the grove dies. I try to give even the most stubborn hunters the opportunity to hunt elsewhere without the consequences."

"But what does that have to do with the silence or the need for dark clothes."

"To prevent being shot." She stepped towards him and he nearly fell as he stepped back.

He sat on the edge of the bed. "Why would anyone want to shoot you?"

"It's a reaction most hunters have when they are startled."

"How many times has this happened?"

"I've lost count. Get some rest."

Oracle stepped towards the door and reached for the tie to let the cloth fall back over the opening of the doorway. Moonlight still came in through the windows.

"Have you ever been hit?"

"Yes."

"Where?" he asked, starting to stand.

She pulled up her sleeve and revealed a large circular patch of scar tissue on her right upper arm.

"What…?"

"I do not wish to speak anymore tonight. Goodnight."

Oracle left the cabin and Basil sat back down on the bed. Not once since they reached the grove had she said his name. Nor had she acknowledged his touch as she had before the plague wiped out Appleton. Sighing, he lay down and stared at the ceiling. He hadn't been staring at it long before his eyes closed in sleep.

When he woke, there was no sign of Aspen. He stepped out of the cabin. The clearing was empty. No animals roamed around as they did when Aspen was around. He searched the trees for her. He tried to change his breathing as she had instructed her last night, but it was difficult to maintain. Then he thought he saw her black cloak. He tried to sneak up on her, but several twigs and leaves crunched beneath his feet. In his excitement to catch her, his breathing increased in volume. Basil pounced, but just missed her. Oracle groaned.

"Aspen, what is it?" Rolling her over, he saw her pale bluish skin. "This is not good."

Picking her up, he carried her to the cabin, lay her on the bed, and covered her.

"Capsaicin," he said, "Where are your peppers?"

Oracle just shook her head.

"Where is your Capsaicin?"

"I don't have any."

"What?!"

She started to sit up, but he stepped towards the bed to keep her down. Somehow she dodged his hands and sat up. Basil shook his head then wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, and took the bandage off from around her eyes. The fabric was frozen and dirty. He looked around for more, but could find none.

"It'd be better to keep them un-bandaged for now," Oracle said.

Oracle pulled her book out from under the edge of the bed and began to write in it. Her whole body shook as she wrote, her writing less precise because of it. She was still shaking when she finished writing, but her skin was no longer blue.

"Aspen, where did you go to get so cold?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. I need to know, so you don't go back there again."

But she only lay down and curled into a ball.

"Aspen, you need to stay awake until you warm up."

"So cold, Sebastian."

"Sebastian? Aspen, I'm Basil."

Her arms wrapped around her head and her shaking increased.

'She needs to warm up faster,' he thought.

Basil took her outside and held her in the sunniest spot in the meadow. Yet, despite his efforts to keep her awake she fell asleep. Her shivering slowly lessened until it stopped all together. Feeling her skin it still felt cold.

"Come on, Aspen. Wake up. Please, wake up. I don't even know if you're still breathing."

A little cottontail hopped over and onto Oracle. It walked around for a bit then stepped on her face and eyes.

"None of that now," he told the rabbit, lifting it off of Oracle and setting it back on the ground.

Oracle opened her eyes as the rabbit hopped away and stood.

"Oracle?" Basil asked.

She turned to him, eyes open, before turning away again. Several gashes still remained in the orbs though the skin of her eyelids were unscathed. She walked to where the rabbit sat and petted its head a little. Basil looked at the ground, shocked at how deep the gashes in her eyes had really gone. He looked away from her and started thinking.

'If the gashes were that bad, shouldn't she be in more pain?' His fingers ran over his sleeves and he felt the stitching in the one. 'That's right. She shot me...' "Blind?!"

"Relax," Oracle said from behind him. He tried to turn, but her hands were firm as she massaged his shoulders. "Relax," she repeated.

Basil grabbed her hands and turned to face her. She was still cool, but not cold.

"Can you see at all?"

"No."

"And you shot me?"

"Only your sleeve."

"But you could have missed!"

"Three hundred years ago, perhaps."

"Will you please tell me where you went?"

"Into a castle."

"Which one?"

"That wouldn't matter, for all castles have the same effect on me.… I'm surprised you don't remember."

"Remember?"

She touched his face, "Do you remember anything at all about me, Basil?"

His mouth moved while he tried to think. Her hand dropped.

"Think about it. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Where are you going? It's almost dark."

"Someone in town needs my help."

"No castles?"

"No castles."

"Promise?"

But she moved away and was gone. Basil sat there trying to think. What did he remember? He paced through the meadow then went into the cabin for a candle. Finding one he lit it and opened his book.