***

I had gathered some wood and pilled them together in such a way as heat and warmth emanated from them. I put a pot above it and turned around. My friend was still asleep under an oak tree a few feet away. Overhead the clouds parted in such a way as a single beam of moonlight illuminated the sleeping figure. He started to stir.

I got up and went over to him. Kneeling, I said, “Hey kid, how’re you doing?”

He just stared at me as he struggled to regain memory of that morning’s events.
“What…?”
“You were almost killed by a hunter.”
At the mention of a hunter he sat bolt upright. He clutched his chest, checked his pockets, and grabbed for his sword.
“Whoa, Hold your horses kid….” He looked at me searchingly. I could tell he didn’t remember who I was. “I saved you back there.”

By this time the food I made was ready. “Here, have some bread and soup, it’ll warm yah up.”

I got up and went over to my pile of slowly disappearing wood with the pot over it. I scooped some soup out of the pot with a bowl I got from my bag. My friend found a rock close by to sit on. I hadn’t made a fire so it was hard to see his face, but now in the moonlight I had a little more time to study him. He was about five nine, not tall by any means, but not short either. His hair was the same, neither short nor long. It was slightly wavy, and a dark brown that was almost black. His eyes were the most interesting things about him; I was surprised I hadn’t noticed before. They were the same brown as his hair, but his irises were trimmed with silver. He had a nose like mine, and a smile… if and when he smiled that was straight and full. He smiled now.

“Thank you.” I looked up and met his eyes. “For all you have done.”
As he said this I could tell; he was preparing himself to leave.

“You’re not out of the woods yet.”
He stopped. “What do you mean?”
“Ah, what do I mean…? Well it goes like this. We’ve all got something we’ve gotta do. We’ve all got people trying to stop us… Look, what I’m trying to say is that we should work together. I wont get in the way of where you’re going, and I’ll teach you what I know… Starting with how to conceal a knife properly.”

It had been obvious by the way he was sitting at the bar that he had it on him. I didn't want him to wake up and stab me now would I.

He looked first to his knife lying besides my pack, then to the quickly disappearing pile of wood. I knew what he was thinking.
“I know a lot of things, things that could help you survive, and accomplish what ever it is you need to accomplish. If you’d like, I don't mind following you... I've got no place of my own.”

He paused. “Let me think about it, I need to sort out my thoughts a bit; too much has happened.”
I nodded and gave him the bowl. He proceeded to scarf down the food I gave him, almost as if he hadn’t eaten in days. When he was done he thanked me again and got up. He walked back to the tree he had been sleeping under and gazed at the sky. That was the first time I saw his weapons. He drew them both at the same time, the moonlight dancing off both of them in perfect balance. He sat down laying both blades down before him. I could tell he was in deep thought.

I turned back to my meal. I wasn’t that hungry, but I figured I should at least finish what I had made. When I glanced up he was walking towards me. This time what I saw in his eyes was determination.
“Thank you for all you have done for me. I will accept your kind offer. I would like to move forward instead of running away for a change. Thank you."

“Here’s my condition.” He looked at me questioningly; he thought he had accepted an offer not asked for one. “You must tell me your real name."
He thought for a moment. He hadn’t been prepared for this. I could see the gears turning in his head and could tell he didn’t know whether to trust me or not.
“Alright,” he said.

I smiled and got up. “Agh… alrighty then. Help me pack up this food and lets get going.”

He laid down his weapons and started to help. As he leaned over to pick up the pot I had left on the ground a round blue-green stone dropped out of his pocket. The stone was a little smaller then my thumb, and the colors swirled below the smoothed surface. As it fell to the ground it made a gentle pattern in the grass. He quickly saw it fall and snatched it back up, immediately searching around him with his silver-rimed eyes. I continued working pretending not to notice. If he cared so much about it being concealed, I would wait until he showed it to me on his own terms.


“My name is Aaron.”
As I met his gaze he smiled again, it must have been a long time since he last trusted anyone.

“Mine’s Dakur Cosman, but for purposes of travel call me Sam.”

Aaron looked puzzled. “That’s not a human name is it? Oh and Alex, likewise.”
I smiled. “I live and die a human, we’ll leave it at that for now.” By this time we had almost finished packing my bag. I got up, stretched and looked back at him.

“The world is a dance of elegance. If you can see a pattern, you can change it or, move with it.” I spilled the remaining water from the pot on the flat rock he had been sitting on. “Every action will produce a ripple as wind on water. Not even light is exempt from this rule. You must learn to weigh action by how its ripples would affect the world around you.” Simple enough explanation, though I could tell he thought I was speaking in metaphor. It didn’t matter; in time he’d learn what I meant.

“Listen to me. I am older then you, yes. I will teach you some of what I know, yes. What you must understand though, is that I am your comrade, not your master. I will lead you in what to learn, but not tell you what to do. If you ever think that I am overstepping my boundaries as a comrade, you must tell me."

He nodded.

"Good, lets sleep here for the night, we’ll head out in the morning, that ok with you?”

He nodded again, then gave me that smile. I hoped he understood. I wasn’t looking for a disciple. I was looking for a friend. I was looking for an adventure. Earlier that evening, I had noticed that the patterns of possibility and importance flowed around him stronger then I had ever seen them flow. I guess I just wanted to be a part of the great adventure that this man would find himself in. As I looked out over the landscape a mist had settled and traced a delicate pattern across the rolls of the country. This pattern, it was a pattern dictating change, time for our generation to carry the burden.