The Nameless

Chapter Nine

*** Elias...

"Where are we going?"

She remains silent, have been for a long time now. The beast is stalking beside her, steady and frightening. Pushing aside branch after branch, she finally stops in a little field, a large stream in the middle, leading off a cliff.

"This is over the falls, isn't it?" She steps around the rocks to sit at the edge. The beast lays beside her, waiting patiently till she drops a bone for it. "This is-" I begin to sit but jump back up when he raises his head to snarl at me. She glances at me, putting her arm around his shoulders to rub his neck. I chuckle nervously, sitting a bit further away from them, "Th-this is beautiful."

"Do all of you talk this much?" She finally mutters, peering at me. I chuckle.

"On the contrary, the-"

"Contrary?" She says slowly.

"Opposite." She stares at me, "Um, yes, the opposite, the English are known to be very reserved-quiet that is..."

"So you are not English."

"N-no, I am, that's the contrary point..." She sighs, turning away. I swallow, "Y-you said the woman is not your mother?"

"Adinna. She take care of mother. Then me. But I think I take care of her now."

"That's nice, where's your mother anyway?" She meets my gaze, cold opaque grey eyes lazily watching me as she tries to figure out the words to say.

"Dead. For me." She died during childbirth? Is that what she means?

"I'm so sorry." She turns away. "You say you're taking care of her, how old are you?" She scoffs, a little to herself.

"Adinna says...I have...burdened her...for almost nineteen seasons. Rain seasons, I was born in rain." I chuckle, trying to find a way to relate to this fact that made her laugh.

"Winter." She turns to me, frowning.

"Winner?" I chuckle.

"No, w-i-n-t-e-r." I stress. "That's when I was born. It is one of the seasons we have at home, it is like rain but the falling water is snow."

"Snow." Her pronunciations are remarkable, not quite like Obiora, but for someone that hasn't met a lot of English people, it is nice.

"Frozen water, but not quite frozen as much as crystalized..." Her eyes lower over me, it is chilling how her eyes lack pupils, but I could stare into them for hours. "You have never had snow so you wouldn't know, but it is like rain." She turns back to her wolf, rubbing it's head. "Would he let me touch him?" She scoffs.

"Ọ bụrụ na-ịchọrọ ị tufuo aka gị."1

"What?" She bursts into laughter. I chuckle nervously, half frowning. "I don't understand." Her laughter finally simmers down after a while and she turns to me.

"Go on, touch him." I frown.

"W-what did you say earlier?" She seems to consider it.

"I said if you like to lose your hand, go on." Oh. Still smiling, she turns away. I look out over the cliff, the rushing water humming silently. "What are you called?" I turn to her.

"What have you been calling me in your head?"

"Anụ ọcha."2 She answers easily.

"What does that mean?" That little smirk returns, her full lips parting slightly.

"White meat." Her fingers run from the beast's head down the length to its tail, "Agu's best." I chuckle nervously as I scoot a bit further away from the beast. She feeds the things another bone. "What are you called?" She asks again.