That night Gerd had some trouble sleeping, which wasn't unexpected, after all, his sixty year old body, although very used to being badly treated, did not like sleeping on the ground. The fire was a nice touch too, he wouldn't be cold there, not that he was cold on his bed, the layers and layers of blankets did their job splendidly but no, he was worried about the child sleeping there instead of him, he didn't know how he had ended up in that storm and that did not sit well with him.
No idiot would take a child so young into the mountains on a winter so rough just because, there had to be a real reason. Maybe, and he didn't want to think about that possibility, Bal was small and weak, but not badly nurtured, he seemed a bit thin, but not to an alarming degree, maybe he was the youngest of a family that had started realising they had to make some sacrifices. The very thought made Gerd's blood boil in rage how could they leave such a kid to the elements, those barbarian northerners
He'd take care of him, at least for the rest of the winter, then, he'd look for a family in need of another pair of helping hands and he'd look for the shameless bastards that had done that to Bal and showed them why an Ironweave Blacksmith is to be feared
No, maybe he was just letting his mind fly too high, maybe the kid had run off on his own feet and that was why he was alone on the forest, maybe he had lost his way after being sent on an errand, although who in their right mind would send a kid like that to make an errand in the middle of the winter and the middle of the forest at that, for all the gods and goddesses's sake, a damn beast could have made quick work of his slender figure
Damn, he knew that kid for less than a day and he had been out of it for half that time, why was he so set on the child? He had been living alone for four years, a kid was not something he wanted to take care of in that moment, if he did he would've never left his job in the academy to be on the embers. Gerd sighed, looking at the fire, what would have Baltimore done
The man caught a shine on the ground at an arm's length from him, he held onto the shining object, the black damaged pendant, it had a silver-like shine when held on a certain way to the fire. Gerd rubbed it with the rug he had over him, maybe he could fix it for the child if he wanted it, meanwhile, it was going on the box of the past nobody wants to talk about
Gerd stood up and gently, trying to not make a sound, he folded one of the corners of the rug, revealing the wooden floor under it, and a round opening on it, grabbing onto it, he managed to pull three planks of the floor that came off together, revealing a closed wooden box. He opened it and let the pendant fall over its contents, metal meeting metal for a second before he closed the box and its hideout, covering everything with the rug.
He could always give it back, either when the kid asked for it, or when winter ended and he had to leave for the village. Gerd laid back down, his eyelids weighing down on his eyes. All of the work he had been doing for the day made him feel exhausted, with that, the blacksmith let himself drift away from the world of the awake.
The darkness of the night not only did surround the cabin from the outside, but even from the inside as the only real light source inside of the cabin were the embers left on the fire pit. The storm had subsided and now only some light breeze met the faces of the cabin and the nearby latrine. The forest was less than empty as hundreds of creatures preferred leaving their burrows when the sun was out of the sky and they made life in the darkness under the trees. Still, something woke Gerd up
He was not someone to sleep light. He was known for quite the opposite, being a heavy sleeper that could sleep through the worst of the storms and the loudest of noises, in fact, getting him up when he was tired had been considered a herculean task that could only be done by the closest of his friends. Gerd opened his eyes, looking around with urgency until he saw everything was normal, just as he had left it. The fire had long since receded into its embers and the cabin's interior wasn't cold at all, in fact he was sweating, he'd have to take a bath soon if he didn't want to end the child's short life with a single sniff. The old blacksmith reluctantly stood up with a yawn and moved up to the child, then he noticed Bal was not sleeping well, but moving a lot with his eyes closed, he looked… scared. Gerd gently grabbed the kid's hand.
White. White and black were the only colors he could see around him. White that moved, swirled around him as if trying to encase him in a cage of ice and wind. He walked. His legs weighed him down, far too weakened to really hold him, his hand grabbed on His with as much strength as he could muster. His hand was big, calloused, scarred. It was capable of greatly horrendous things and yet, it could also hold on the weakest of hands without damaging it. His face was covered by the hood. His leather coat was gray. They walked together. he didn't care he was tired, he didn't care the horses had died far too many kilometres before. When he was really tired He'd take him and carry him until he awoke. They only had to walk.
Then red eyes looked at them. Pierced their forms in the white and black darkness. Something jumped towards them. Something slammed against the ground and white powder was flung in every direction. He grabbed on to him and jumped out of the way of that something's claw. He bled a red drop of blood. Something screeched, unhappy its food had managed to evade its grasp. He smiled and left him on the ground. He told him to hold onto something for Him. He grasped the broken blade tied to His waist.
Something jumped towards Him. He cut something down. A claw met the white snow and bled the snow red. He smiled and he tried to give the silver pendant back. He shook his head and put it on his hands, then He helped him put it on and he smiled. Then they walked again, leaving the red snow behind. Adventuring back into the white and black world.
Many things attacked them that day. And the following, and the next one. Then the cold came. Then the wind, when he was cold, He lit up a fire. The fire followed them just like another friend because He had told him to. With fire the world was not only black and white. It was also yellow, it was also orange and brown. That made him happy, He also smiled, his smile was not as shiny as before, but even if his brown coat was now red he knew He was okay. Because He smiled. More red eyes followed them, one, two… countless red eyes did. He cut them all down. And he turned red. He told him to keep walking, and he did. Walking in the white and black world again
Friend fire stayed behind. Friend fire did not follow. Friend fire was gone with Him. Friend fire had been put out when he had been far, and he'd never see friend fire again. Then something appeared, a big something, with the same red eyes that followed him. He would have cut that something. But He was not with him this time. Then he grabbed the silver pendant, he thought of Him, he thought of friend fire, he thought of something and how he wanted to be far, far from something, near friend fire, near Him. But He was no more. Instead other Him took him. Other Him was shorter than Him, but Other Him was also friend of Friend fire. Other him also cut down the somethings. Other Him did not care about walking. Other Him let him rest on his brown house and Other Him did not smile. Other Him sighed
As Gerd's hand grabbed Bal's the child's movements stopped gradually, his nervousness gone someway, the old blacksmith smiled letting out some pent up air he had been holding on his lungs without realising. It was just a bad dream, nothing to be afraid of
But there was always something to be afraid of