My body felt heavy and my mind was foggy; I could vaguely hear someone swearing in the distance.

“...Fucking hell, don’t you ever go doing that again.”

As I started to come to my senses, I rubbed my tired eyes and slowly opened them. I was back in the knight's cabin, laying on the bed. My ears were still full of water so I slowly sat up and shook my head from side to side to clear the water. With a pop my ears opened up, I could hear heavy, angry panting coming from the other side of the room.

The knight sat on a small couch made of hay covered with brown cloth, carving a piece of wood, huffing and puffing with each swift movement of the knife. I fumbled with the corner of the blanket, feeling nervous.

I bet he’d love to carve me up with that knife right about now.

He glanced up at me, I could tell he was unamused. I also was unamused, what gave him the right to act this way? I never asked to be saved. Regardless, I felt slightly thankful that my life hadn’t ended at the bottom of a lake in the Kosta Woods, being ripped to shreds by whatever sort of creatures inhabited the murky depths.

I turned away from him and laid back down, I tried to go to sleep but my mind was racing. I had been a solitary creature my whole life, never interacting with the outside world. Now that I no longer had my powers, I was useless, I could barely take care of myself and I had to rely on this human to help me. I felt ashamed; ashamed at my capture; ashamed that I had lost my powers; and ashamed that this knight had risked his life to save mine.

Maybe humans are not so selfish after all… I shook that thought away. He only rescued me because he has some crazy idea that he needs my help for whatever half-hatched plan he has. I heard the creak of the floorboards as the knight got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen table. I turned my head slightly and cracked one eye open to look at him, only to find him staring intently at me. My heart leapt up into my throat as I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away again.

Eventually, I drifted off into a restless sleep. Full of nightmares of the long-forgotten past, and the new horrors that would come to be in the near future…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke to the sound of wood crackling in the fireplace. The cabin was warm and I felt too cozy to get up, but I knew the knight probably wouldn’t appreciate me sleeping the day away. Lazily, I rolled over onto my back and sat up, it seemed that I was alone in the cabin.

I got off the bed and walked over to the fire, crouching in front of it I stared into the dancing flames, I wonder what’s in store for me today. After warming my hands a bit, I walked over to the small makeshift kitchen and poured some water from a canister into a small kettle and set that atop the wire grill inside the fireplace.

I had seen the villagers do this before, although I wasn’t sure for what purpose; the freshwater that falls from the skies and collects in the rivers and streams is perfectly safe to drink.

I sat down at the table and tore off a piece of bread and absentmindedly chewed on it. Being this deep in the Kosta Woods, there wasn’t much light, and what light did penetrate was often just enough to barely light the woods.

I wonder where he is?

Just as that thought entered my mind, the door to the cabin swung open and the young knight came lumbering in.

“Morning.” He was still mad about yesterday.

I didn’t say anything in response as he walked over the fireplace.

“Are you...boiling water?” he asked, surprised.

I nodded, “I’ve seen humans do that before. I thought maybe you might like that.”

He raised an eyebrow, “So you don’t know why?”

“I know why!” I protested, feeling slightly annoyed that this knight was implying that I did not know the reason.

“Forget it,” he chuckled, “thank you, I do appreciate it.”

I bit my lip in frustration, feeling a new, strange emotion that I’d never felt before.

“Oh right! Before I forget, here, these are for you.” The young knight tossed a pair of pants and a shirt towards me.

I caught them and held the pants up in front of me, “these look a bit..large for me.”

“We can use some string to tie them, I can’t have you running around in a dress, that’s a hazard in and of itself.”

The young knight exited the cabin, so I could get changed. I slid the dress off and pulled the black linen shirt over my head, I’d never worn a shirt before. At first, I wasn’t quite sure how to put the pants on, but luckily even a toddler could figure out how to do something so simple. The pants were much too large and I had to hold them up so they wouldn’t fall down.

“Are you done?” he called through the door.

“Mhm,” I grumpily responded.

He came back in and I could feel his stare piercing through me, “wow, those pants definitely do not fit you.”

Rolling my eyes as I scoffed, “these are your pants after all.”

The young knight pulled some string through the belt loops and tied it together at the front, causing the pants to fit snugly against my body, “here, this will work for now.”

He crossed his arms and stepped back, he was staring at me again. I could feel myself getting nervous under his intense observation. I averted my gaze and looked down at my new outfit; a simple black shirt paired with a pair of black, cloth pants that were probably four sizes too big for me.

I shuffled around, feeling the movement of the linen against my skin. It didn’t feel quite as soft as the dress that I had just taken off, but it would probably be easier to run away in these pants as opposed to a heavy dress. The young knight walked around me to the kitchen and grabbed two cups, pouring the hot water from the kettle into each of the cups he handed me one.

“Drink up, today we’re leaving the cabin.”

My eyes widened in surprise, “Leave the cabin? And go where?” He wants us to go wander around these cursed woods?

He winked, “it’s a secret.”

I slammed my cup down on the table beside me, feeling anger bubble up inside me.

“I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me exactly where we’re going. I’m not your prisoner who is going to come running at your every beck and call.”

The young knight frowned, “fair enough. I’ve heard rumours that there is a mage living deep within the Kosta Woods.”

I blinked, my anger quickly replaced with shock. A mage? I’ve never seen one in all my years as a Sister Earth.

Staring down into his cup, he continued, “I figure if we find this mage, they could restore your powers!”

“You still haven’t explained to me why you want my help, and for what reason.”

The young knight scratched his head, “I… can’t explain just yet, I just hope that you will trust me and come on this journey with me, regardless.” He looked bashful.

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms, can I trust him? Well, it’s not like I had anything better to do, without my powers I wasn’t much help to anyone.

I waved my hand, “fine, I’ll go with you.”

“Perfect, we leave soon.”

We sat down at the table, silently eating a small breakfast before packing up some supplies and heading out the door. The young knight gave me a thick jacket to wear as the Kosta Woods were incredibly chilly.

It seemed that the Woods were enveloped in a perma-fog, never letting us see more than a few metres ahead.

Why on Earth does this knight have a cabin set up here? I figured now wasn’t the time for such questions, we had to find this elusive mage first.

The only sound in the entirety of the Woods was the crunch of dead leaves under our feet. The chill hung heavy in the air, permeating even the thick jacket I wore but we silently trudged on; never coming across another soul. This forest was unsettling, I couldn’t hear any animals scurrying about or any birds singing.

I was starting to get tired, we had been walking for quite a long time and it was getting darker by the second. We traipsed through a thicket of trees, coming across a large mouth to a foreboding cave. The young knight started in the direction of the mouth of the cave but I quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back, whispering into his ear, “what if there are monsters in there??”

I didn’t want to come across anything dangerous today.

The young knight flashed me a smile and pulled out his sword. With his sword guiding us forwards, we tiptoed into the obsidian mouth of the cave. Just as the darkness of the cave enveloped us, I heard the young knight whisper something and all of a sudden the end of his sword erupted with a flash of light. A ball of light floated gently at the tip of the sword, illuminating the cave around us.

I stumbled backwards in surprise, almost tripping over my own two feet. He can use light magic as well? I remembered back in the dungeon, he had trapped me in some sort of invisible prison, and now he could also use light magic? Just who was this young knight…

“Well, there doesn’t appear to be any scary monsters hiding in here!” The sudden noise of the young knight's loud voice jolted me.

He glanced back at me, “come on, let’s set up camp for the night.”

I watched as the knight made a small fire and pulled out some preserved meat and berries for us to eat. I put my knapsack down and leaned against it, feeling drowsy all of a sudden.

As I closed my eyes, I felt the young knight settle down beside me. I whipped my head towards him, “What?” he whined, “it’s cold in here, even with the fire…”

I grimaced but didn’t protest.

“By the way,” the young knight said. I turned to look at him, he was lying on his back with his hands clasped behind his head, “what’s your name?”

I blinked in surprise, I’ve never had someone ask my name before. As a Sister Earth, we were all bestowed our Imperial Names when we were born in the Holy Garden.

Swallowing hard, I squeaked out “Uhm, my name is… Yin.” It felt strange to be telling a human my Imperial Name, no other creature except the Gods had ever uttered my name before.

The young knight cocked his head towards me, his piercing yellow eyes burning into my own green eyes. I had never seen a human with such yellow eyes before, but then again, I had never been this close to one before.

“Yin…” he whispered, my name slipping easily through his lips.

I quickly turned away, scared to face his gaze.

“That is my Imperial Name, I have never told a human that before.” I slapped a hand over my mouth, unsure of why I told him this unnecessary information.

The young knight didn’t say anything. I could feel my heart pounding, my ears growing warm with embarrassment. What’s happening to me?

I felt him shuffle beside me, I looked over to see he had propped himself up on his side, supporting himself with one arm.

“Let’s start over. Nice to meet you, Yin! My name’s Carlsen! Let’s be friends and travel together,” the young knight beamed as he held out his hand.

Furrowing my brow, I gently grasped his large hand and shook it. His rough hand felt warm in my ice-cold hand.

“Okay...Carlsen.” I released my hand from his and scooted further down my knapsack. I rolled over away from him and closed my eyes. I clasped my hands in front of my chest, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel quite so lonely.