The maimed woman. She was coming again, her bloody hands clutching at the air before her. And screaming. Her scream permeating every orifice of Faye's body. Shaking with terror, Faye curled his hands around his ears, trying to block out the noise, but it was no good, it broke into his mind and made him cry out in agony. Falling onto is back, he wrapped both his arms around is head, blocking his ears completely. Suddenly, Faye noticed the screaming had stopped.
Unwrapping his arms from his head, Faye felt a soft touch on is forehead, as light as a butterfly's wings. Opening his eyes, Faye's eyes were overwhelmed by the light that filled the cave. "You're awake!" exclaimed Danielle, flustered.
Sitting up, a damp cloth slid off Faye's forehead and into his lap. "You were having a bad dream, again." Danielle said. "You were rolling around yelling like you were in pain." Faye rubbed his eyes, blinking at the still bright light. "Did I wake you?" he asked shakily. He held out the cloth, and Danielle took it, unfolding it and laying it on the ground to dry.
It was early morning but Danielle had already compiled a bundle of dead rabbits and tree shrews for them to eat. "Not exactly," said Danielle, "I don't sleep very well, so i spent the night making sure you didn't roll yourself out of the cave." she made a wry little smile, but it dissipated soon after it was created. "Are you sure you are alright?" she asked tentatively. Faye shook himself slightly, "I should be okay. I need to continue on my journey as soon as possible."
He sat on his knees, careful to rest his weight on his uninjured ankle, and rolled up his blanket, shuffling over to his bag. Almost there, he wavered, light popping in front of his eyes. Breathing heavily he sat still for a moment as the pain and light subsided. "Faye?" Danielle sounded worried. "What happened?" Faye shook his head, "It's nothing. Just a slight dizzy spell. I'll be fine." he gave her a reassuring smile and finished off packing his things into his bag. "Thank you for helping me these past two days." Faye said to her as he tentatively stepped onto his damaged ankle. "Hang on!" exclaimed Danielle. "Where are you going?" She grasped Faye by the shoulder, turning him toward her and making him wince as he put too much weight on his ankle. "Why do you have to leave so soon?" Faye smiled kindly at her, "I appreciate your help, really i do, but i have to go."
"You're not ready to leave yet!" exclaimed Danielle. "You can hardly walk by yourself! Where do you have to go in such a hurry?" Faye breathed a deep breath and stood up shakily. "I am on a," he faltered, "a journey, I'm looking for something." "A journey that sends you into mountains as empty as these?" said Danielle incredulously. Faye scratched his ear uncomfortably. "Come on," said Danielle, "You can tell me. I mean, seriously, who am i going to tell?" she spread her arms to take in the desolate mountains and empty cave. Faye laughed. "I guess you're right," he said.
Faye raised his hand, palm pointing towards the ceiling, and clicked his other hand on top of it. A bright flame jumped from his fingers and landed on his palm, dancing back and forth across his palm. Danielle stepped backwards in fright and Faye closed his hand, snuffing out the flame. "What are you?" asked Danielle, her face full of incredulity and a little fear. Faye smiled sadly. "I am unwanted." he said dejectedly. "A wolf in a flock of sheep." Unwrapping it's bindings, he showed her his right wrist. It was emblazoned with a large decorative scar in the shape of a spiked circle with a cross in it. "Do you know what this means?" asked Faye. Danielle shrank from it as though it was poisoned. "No." she said. "Tell me."
Faye wrapped his wrist up again. "It means that I do not exist. I am a hyaktei or shadow walker. Unnoticed and unobserved, the moment i was born I was destined to walk in the shadows of civilization as a monster. A freak. This was burned into my skin the week I was born." Faye's shoulders seemed to sink and a single tear ran down his cheek and dripped down onto his shirt. Danielle laid a tentative hand on his shoulder, and squeezed it. "What did your parents do?" she asked hesitantly. Faye looked at her, his eyes burning with an inner pain. "As soon as I was born," he said, "they threw me down a well." Danielle drew in a sharp breath and put her hands to her mouth. "How could they do that?" she asked, her voice threatening to be choked by her feelings. "And how did you survive?" "I was so covered in flames that I dried up the whole well." he said ruefully "I don't blame them. After all, who would want to responsible for bringing a demon into the world?"
