The King of Saminu

Chapter 1

"It'll be okay. I can heal you," The person spoke, their mouth covered by a thin layer of black fabric. The little boy nodded, while his parents looked towards the mysterious healer in awe. The healer lifted their sleeves and removed their gloves, their hands seeming paler than snow. Even though everything about them seemed frozen, the boy and his parents felt warm in their presence. They could not see the smile the stranger had on their face, but there was a glint in the person's eyes, a look that made the family trust them.

The healer lifted the boy's shirt, placing a cold hand on his rib cage. The boy took a deep breath, another coughing fit sure to come. However, the stranger's hands started to change and shift in color, blood rushing to their hands and suddenly, the little boy's mouth widened as he felt his symptoms slowly start to disappear. The healer's eyes somehow grew wider as they replaced their gloves back on their hands.
"You'll need to sleep for the rest of the evening, little one," They spoke, placing their now gloved hand on his slightly less feverish cheek. Soon they turned, looking towards the worried parents.

"He's going to be overly exhausted, and may not want to eat for a few days. Make sure he keeps hydrated, and he should be good to go. Feel free to breathe again- your little one will survive the winter," The stranger moved their hand from the child's face as his eyes started fluttering and turned, their long robes flying upwards for just a moment at the speed they were moving in. They left, barely able to hear the family's thanks as they entered the roaring blizzard.

After reaching far enough away from the secluded log cabin, the healer let loose a bubbling laugh, childish for how wise they had appeared moments previous. They reached their arms towards the sky, letting out a squeal as they slowly allowed themself to fall backwards into the thick blanket of snow. A smile filled the stranger's face once more. Everything's looking in my favor. Within moments, the healer was covered in a thinner layer of snow, and they were forced to get up. Moving further away from civilization, they took their robes off, revealing a tunic that was rather baggy and had a few too many holes in it, as well as shorts that were too long and seemed to be only staying up based on pure hope and a thin string being used as a belt. The next thing to come off was the thin band of fabric that was wrapped around their head, only leaving their eyes visible. However, upon unwrapping, a bush of messy white hair jumped forth and landed in the healer's eyes.

I ran my hands through my hair, trying to get it away from my face. However, after wrestling with the unruly strands for an unnecessarily long time, I gave up. Finally, I moved once more, finding the tree that marked the edge of my property. It was rather tall, and incredibly thin for the average person to climb, but I took to climbing it anyways. I knew it would hold my weight. It always did. I soon reached the branch that my brother had given up on back when he was supposed to cut it away, finding the dip from the single axe swing Gamm had ended up doing. I placed my fabrics in their rightful place, burying them in some of the snow that was waiting for use. Checking my work, I smiled, nodding in satisfaction before dropping out of the tree. The snow was a nice cushion to the short fall, and I almost burst out into another fit of giddy laughter. After brushing as much of the snow off of myself as I could, I sighed, ready to brace myself for reality once more. My steps were as quiet as I could get them, my hand slow as I tried to keep the door to my house from waking everyone up.
"You've gotten better at sneaking out, haven't you?" My mother spoke, looking up from the potato she was peeling. My stomach growled at the sight of food, and I groaned in a similar manner at being caught. My head slammed against the door I had just closed, and my mother's punishing gaze cut through me more than the wind ever could.

"Sorry Mams," I whispered, yet it remained dead silent after my apology. My mother's gaze was strong as she stared at me, most likely trying to come up with a speech that wouldn't hurt my feelings.
"Do you want to ruin everything we've worked so hard for? If you get caught, we'll have to move again, unless you want X-" At the threat of what I was risking, I jumped forward, hands out as if I were trying to stop my mother from physically attacking me.
"Mams! You know it's the last thing I want! But... I was given a gift, and I can't just refuse to use it," I argued, but my mother could only cock a brow at me in response.
"Your gift isn't being refused. You heal Ellsk whenever he has his... episodes. You healed Gamm the other day when he decided he wanted to be an idiot and break his arm. And you heal us whenever we get sick. You're an adult, honey, and you need to realize the difference between a good and bad decision. Healing strangers when you don't know if they'll report you is most definitely a bad one, Ren. You should know better," She was right, yet the thought of standing by, doing nothing, didn't sit right with me.