As her gold eyes slowly opened, the young girl was vaugely aware of her surroundings. She was outside. It was very blurry, the world, and she could barely tell what was what. It was cold...she felt a shiver run through her skinny frame. She opened her eyes a little more, the world slowly coming into place. Yes, she was outside...in a forest? Maybe. There were lots of trees around her...and it was snowing. She could see the soft, delicate flakes falling airily down to the ground around her, onto her, and she could feel them against her skin as she only wore the smallest bit of a rag, barely covering her at all. She shivered again.
The girl felt a numb pain lingering in her body, unsure of where it came from. She tried to remember what had hurt her, but it almost hurt to think. Oh. Oh, that’s right. It was those village boys. She closed her eyes a little more, half lidded, remembering the scene.
“Freak!”
“Get out of our village, you freak!”
“We’re gonna beat you up!!”
She’d ran as fast as she could, fear building up in her. They were close, so close. She could hear the pounding of their feet in the ground as they caught up to her. She shrieked in fear as one of their hands grabbed her arm, her thin arm, and yanked her back to them. There were four of them...maybe five? No, it was four. They glared at her, the anger of intolerance blazing in their eyes.
“What the hell is this?!”
That’s what the boy who held her had said as he flicked the jewel embedded in her forehead, now merged with her skull far back beneth the skin. She’d winced, but hadn’t said anything. He glared at her more.
“You’re just a freak. What’s with your skin?”
She’d barely looked at her skin, completely and utterly white. There was no ounce of color in it at all. Just one of the various abnormalities of her body.
One of the boys in the group had narrowed his eyes, watching her.
“You’re different from us.”
“You’d better get out of our village!!”
“You freak...”
She’d tried not to cry. She tried so hard, so hard it hurt. But the tears welled up in her eyes, and she let out a loud sob of fear, still trying to resist the boy holding her arm. They weren’t older than 14, and they were already so cruel...
The boy holding her had slapped her.
“Shut up, you freak!!”
And it had all started. They’d beat her till she passed out, and now she was here, out in the snowy woods on the cold, rough ground. She lay amoungst some dying bushes on her side, her head layed on the ground. A freak. She closed her eyes. That’s all I am now. Now? What was I before? She didn’t even bother touching the jewel on her forehead. She knew it was there; it was always there, and always would be. Hadn’t it always been there? No....no, it hadn’t. She couldn’t remember a lot, but she knew it had once not been there. They had put it there. Those...men. The same men that had cut her hair. The same men who had killed that poor horse...or was it a unicorn? She wasn’t sure. She just knew they’d killed it. They’d killed it and done something to her with it. They were the same men who took away...took away... She furrowed her brow a little. Who? There was someone... She remembered screaming his name. Screaming for his help, but they were hurting him too. There was nothing either of them could do for each other. But she kept screaming for him....
For weeks, she couldn’t remember her name. “E” something. Er....Eri... It just wasn’t coming. Her eyes still closed, she strained to remember again. The memories, the little she had, teased her, taunted her, floating from her grasp, but she caught one...
“Eriya!! Stop it!! Stop hurting Eriya!!”
Eriya. Was that it? It must be. And it was the boy. The boy she’d screamed for. But in the next minute, they’d dragged him from the room, most likely knocking him out.
So. She had a name. Somehow, it didn’t really matter to her.
“Poor thing...did you freeze to death?”
She was suddenly aware of a voice speaking down to her. It was very soft...calm...gentle. A man’s voice. Slowly, she opened her eyes, not moving at all, but shifting her eyes to look up at the source of the voice.
“Oh...”
It was a man. He was very tall, and he had dark hair, a dark blue. It was wavy-ish and down past his chin a little. He wore a thick coat, ending a little past his waist, in which his hand were neatly in the pockets, and long slacks, a misty black color. He watched her with the most beautiful eyes....
“You’re alive then, little one...?”
She still didn’t move, but only watched him with her golden eyes. She vaugely thought, He’s beautiful...simply beautiful.
Her voice came very softly, sounding like the wind on a calm day, “Who are you?”
He watched her still, his hands still in his pockets, his beautiful eyes sad, “My name is Hazel.”
Hazel. Odd, she’d always thought that was a woman’s name...
Slowly, he took his hands out of his pockets and bent gracefully down to the ground, one knee on the ground, the other leg bent.
“What are you doing out in the cold, little one?” he asked softly, reaching a hand to brush some of her glittery, whitish blue hair from her face.
She just watched him for a moment. Why was he being so kind to her? Wasn’t he going to beat her, just like the others? Didn’t he think she was a freak?
“Well?”
“I don’t know,” she answered in her soft, airy voice.
He watched her, his gaze growing sadder. “What’s your name?”
She was quiet, then, “I think it’s Eriya.”
“You think?”
“I can’t remember.”
He nodded a little, “I’ll give you a new name then.”
“A new name?”
“Yes. Your other name must be filled with the pain and sorrow of your past,” his beautiful eyes softened, “you can leave it now.”
She stared at him still. He...he was so kind. Was it an act? No, it couldn’t be.. But why was he so nice? And how did he know she had a bad past? Had she had a bad past?
“You’ll be called Jaydrian,” he decided, brushing her cheek with his long hand.
“Jaydrian?”
“Yes. Do you like it?”
She was quiet. It was the name he had given her. A very soft smile remarked on her full lips, “Yes. I like it.”
He smiled in return. My, but he was handsome to her...
“I’ll take you with me, Jaydrian. You can live with me, all right?”
Her smile faded. Stay with him? Did....what was he planning...?
Hazel noticed her fearful expression and furrowed his brow, “Is that not all right?”
She closed her eyes. Maybe she should just stay here and really freeze to death. Maybe that would be nice.
Her eyes snapped open as she felt his hand on her waist. His other hand went to the other side of her waist, the side lain upon the ground, and slipped underneth her. Very gently and slowly, he began to lift her limp, frail body. She would have fought it had she an ounce of strength in her, but was helpless to anything now. The pain came back to her, and she winced silently. Hazel made all of his movements gentler, and slowly pull her to him, opening his coat as he did so. Unable to move much, she fell against his chest, and he pulled his coat around her, holding them together with it. He was warm...so warm. She felt her eyes sliding closed, and vaugely wondered why she felt so relaxed in his arms. He might beat her. Or do horrible things to her. And yet, in his embrace, she felt so calm and comfortable and...safe.
“There now. I won’t hurt you, little one,” he smiled softly, resting an arm underneth her as he began to stand. She clung to his chest, shivering a little, and as she did, he held her tighter. He smiled softly again, and began walking back through the snowy woods.
******
Jaydrian looked up quickly as Hazel walked into the room, her expression questioning, “Hazel-sama?”
He smiled at her, brushing some of his long, dark blue hair behind his shoulder. Silently, he beckoned her to stand up. She did so, gracefully getting up from her bed, her glittery hair falling down to her waist.
“I have something for you, Jaydrian,” he smiled, motioning for her to come to him. Jaydrian’s heart pounded a little as she made her way over t Hazel, her expression still questioning.
Gazing down at her with his eyes, the eyes she loved so much, he continued to smile gently, “You’re a young woman, now, Jaydrian. You’ve grown up beautifully, so I decided it was time to give you a fitting gift.”
Her golden gaze locked on his eyes, her heart pounding faster.
“And so...” he took a box out of his pocket and held it out for her, “this is for you.”
She took it hesitantly, not wanting to take her gaze away from him, but looking back to the box. It was a silver-ish box with a glittery lining...simply beautiful. He knew that she loved silver. With trembling hands, she lifted the lid to open it, and gasped silently at what was inside. It was a necklace. With a long, silver chain, the charm was no bigger than a marble, a single glass tear-drop, burgundy colored. It was beautiful. Plain-ish and simple, but just beautiful. And he’d given it to her.
He smiled, seeing that she was pleased with it in her eyes, and spoke, “Here, let me help you put it on.”
He took it from her hand, gently turning her around to the looking glass and standing behind her. He brought it around her and began to clasp the ends behind her. She didn’t even look at the necklace, or herself, but his reflection in the mirror, his gaze focused on the clasp, his handsome face peaceful.
“There,” Hazel smiled, dropped the fastened clasp and letting the chain slide into place on her chest. He smiled at her in the mirror, “do you like it?”
She gazed at him adoringly, her heart aching, “I love it....”
His eyes twinkled, “I’m glad. It suits you, don’t you think?” his hand came from behind her to brush some of her bangs off her forehead, brushing against the silver tiara he’d had made for her, that came around her forehead in a V-shape, covering the embedded jewel.
She nodded, still gazing at his reflection, “Hai...”
He smiled a little some more, turning her around to look at him, “My, it’s hard to believe how old you’ve gotten. Just yesterday it seems, I could hold you in my arms.”
She softly thought of how he still could, but smiled a little, “It has been many years.”
“A beautiful, young woman now, Jaydrian,” he winked alittle, “you’ll be beating off the youths in no time.”
A stab of pain flashed in her heart, memories coming back. But she would never fall for any other man. Those humans were ugly, heartless creatures. The only beautiful person in the world was Hazel. She had loved him even when he first found her, and still she did, strong as ever and more so. No man had a chance in her eyes.
“Well. I’m glad you like it, Jaydrian. I’m off now,” he bowed alittle to her, polietly and turned to go.
“Hai, Hazel-sama...” she watched him longingly, her hands going to grasp the tear-drop. He left her room, and she stared at where he’d gone a moment before going to sit back down on her bed.
******
“I’m...going away for awhile.”
Hazel turned to Jaydrian slowly, his brow furrowed in confusion. His long hair, now more straight than anything, came down to his knees, pulled up into a high pony-tail, sharp strands of it falling over his eyes. He wore a jeweled headband across his forehead, one Jaydrian had made for him. His look had changed completely, from an oldish, 17th century look to a modern, new-age-ish style.
“Going away..?”
Jaydrian nodded, her glittering curls falling a little over her shoulders from the long trail that also made it’s way to her knees, tied off at the end.
Hazel continued to look confused, in a frown, and asked softly, “Any particular reason?”
The woman paused, her gold eyes shifting, “...I had a vision.”
Hazel’s eyebrows went up. There was a short silence, then he nodded, “All right then. Will you be back?”
Emotion flooded into Jayd’s face as she reassured him quickly, “Oh, of course, Hazel-sama. I’ll be back very soon...” she cleared her throat, simmering down and brushing some hair behind her ear, “I mean...I won’t be gone long.”
Hazel nodded slowly, “All right,” he smiled softly, “I won’t say goodbye then.”
Jayd gave him a confused look, “Hazel-sama?”
He winked a little, “Goodbyes are forever. I’ll see you again.”
She stared at him, then swallowed largely, pushing back tears. How she loved him... Nodding shakily, she murmured, “Hai, Hazel-sama.”
“Take care of yourself, little one.”
She looked back up to him, her eyes growing sadder, “Hazel-sama...you haven’t called me that in years.”
He smiled sadly at her, “I haven’t, have I?”
There was a silence between them, not uncomfortable, but warm and unspoken. Clearing his throat to break it, Hazel smiled, “Just take care of yourself.”
She nodded, swallowing largely again. Bowing lowly to him once more, she walked over and knelt before him, her head bowed. She gently took his hand, pulling it over to her and kissed it tenderly, her head still bowed. Hazel watched her, almost sadly. In a hushed voice, she spoke, “I’ll see you soon, Hazel-sama.”
He nodded, not saying anything. Jayd got her to feet gracefully, bowing again before turning to go to her room and gather some of her things.
*********