Fantasy Tales From Distant Lands

[Wendigo_]

For a moment, Elias reveled in their closeness, enjoying the moment in full. Once he had thoroughly regained his bearings though, his face joined the mixture of brightly colored objects present in the natural world around them. He attempted to hide it from Hava, but did nothing to suggest that she should stop. "I'm glad you're my friend as well, Havilah," he said through a slightly concealed smile.

Time seemed to slip past the pair as they traveled along their path, and before too long the first signs of the sun's setting began to show. Elias spurred the horse on to a slightly faster trot in an effort to get as much ground covered as they could before dusk set in. However, once the sun was securely tucked below the horizon, he gently pulled on the reins, bringing the group to a stop. Elias slid his feet out of the stirrups and slid himself off of the horse, landing next to an expectant Pippin who waved his tail eagerly at his companions. The boy offered a hand to Havilah, helping her down from the horse before beginning the process of unloading the items they would need to make camp.

Elias freed a large canvas tarp from its restraints near the back of the saddle and began to set up a campsite on the edge of the woods that lie adjacent to the path. As he began to spread the tarp out and search for the coil of rope buried within the saddle bags, he called out to Havilah asking, "While I set up the tent, do you think you could get some sticks together for a fire?" Elias believed that if they divided the labor of setting up camp, they ought to have plenty of time to make a meal and relax.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava gave a nod of her head when Elias asked her to gather some wood for their fire. She wanted to help so she was glad for the chore.

"I sure can," she said as she turned to walk off a bit. Hava wandered about for a while picking up what twigs and branches she could find. Once she had a good arm full, Hava returned to the place they were setting up camp and set to work on building a fire.

 

[Wendigo_]

Elias got to work stringing up the makeshift tent they would call home for the duration of their journey. He tied each end of the coarse rope to a tree, using all his strength to pull it as taught as he could manage. The tarp was thrown over the line before being adjusted so that each side fell at an even length. Elias then gathered four heavy stones to pin down each corner. Once he was confident it was pulled tight enough for any potential rain to run safely off of their shelter, he summoned the horse to him with a shrill whistle. The boy removed the thick wool blanket and a thinner ground cloth that were rolled up and strapped to the back of the saddle, organizing them into as comfortable a configuration as he could.

Proud of his handiwork with their sleeping situation, Elias moved on to help Hava with the fire. He worked with her as she sorted through the timber by organizing small stoned into a crude fire pit. "It would be a shame if we burned down the forrest while we slept, the deer might not have it in them to forgive us" he said with a mischievous smile. While Havilah set about building and lighting the fire, Elias unpacked the cast-iron pot, a small bladder of water, and a bag of oats.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava giggled at his words.

"No, I don't think they would," she said. As she watched Elias prepare their simple meal, Hava couldn't help but wish she had brought something to go with it. Hava scanned the nearby plants until her eyes landed on a familiar looking leafy plant. Excited, Hava hurried over to it and kneeling down on the ground, she began to dig. Eventually, she pulled up what looked like five long pale roots.

"Parsnips," she said as she brought them over and showed them to Elias.

 

[Wendigo_]

Elias was in the midst of pouring water into the pot and fixing it in place above the fire when he looked up to see Havilah hurriedly digging near a set of stout plants. When she returned with a set of parsnips the corners of his mouth were raised by her impressiveness. "Good eyes! Now we won't be stuck with just grains tonight," he said praisingly as he portioned a small amount of the sack's contents into two tin cups. "Tomorrow, if we're lucky we might be able to have some meat as well."

The water was taking some time to boil, so Elias used the opportunity to bring up the topic of sleeping arrangements. The boy had realized a few hours into their departure that the Old Man had only packed one blanket and that he had lacked the observance to pack an extra himself. So, he silently resolved to do the best he could sleeping with only his cloak (since the thought of sharing a blanket was so intimidating that it never crossed his mind as a feasibility).

"So Havilah," the boy said, awkwardly clearing his throat before proceeding, "We only have one blanket, so it's all yours. I can sleep outside of the tent as well if it'd make you more comfortable." Elias kept his eyes trained intently on what his hands were occupied with.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava paused and looked over at the tent. She honestly hadn't given any thought to their sleeping arrangements. She thought his offer to let her have the blanket and tent to herself was awfully kind of him, but Hava couldn't help feeling that it would be a tad selfish of her if she allowed that. Besides what if the night proved to be cold or what if it should rain. Even if some would call it improper, Hava wouldn't feel right with herself if she slept in comfort while he froze to death outside.

"Well," she said as she looked to Elias. "You don't have to. Sleep outside I mean. And I don't mind sharing."

 

[Wendigo_]

"Oh, I see," he said with a timid voice and colorful cheeks, "I guess that's settled then." He returned to his task at hand, pouring the oats into the boiling water and stirring them to distract himself from his own thoughts.

Before too long, the pair's simple meal was ready. Elias split the pot's content evenly between the two tin cups, handing one off to Havilah. "Cheers," he joked, raising his own cup. He took a few bites out of the oats before standing up to take care of Pippin's food. Digging through the saddle bag, he brought out a small package of biscuits like the one he gave the collie earlier. The boy grabbed a handful, tossing them to Pippin who had followed him with a hungry demeanor and a furiously wagging tale. Once the pup was satisfied, the two returned to their spots around the fire.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava watched him as worked to prepare their simple meal. Part of her wondered, by the way he acted, if maybe she had said something wrong. When Elias handed her the cup of oats, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind as she started to tuck into her oars.

"Its good," she said giving him a smile. Hava giggled as Pippin quickly ate up the biscuits Elias had given him before looking around for more. "Don't be greedy now. We have to make it last."

 

[Wendigo_]

Elias slowly finished off his humble meal, giggling at Hava's comments towards Pippin and the collie's resultant pouting. "Don't worry," he said to the collie, "There will be plenty in the morning." He took a small sip of water, careful to not waste any of their limited supply. He put the canteen at their feet so that the shepherdess could still use it.

The two sat in the flickering light of their fire, watching it slowly creep down. Elias slid the small book he kept in his pocket out and used as much of the hued light as he could to make out the contents within. The scratchings seemed to morph and dance along with the shifting light, eluding any sort of deciphering. His brow furrowed with concentration for a few minutes before he let out a hopeless sigh. The boy was no closer to understanding the contents encoded by the withered papers, causing his sense of futility to grow by the second.

"I don't know why I punish myself like this," the boy murmured as he allowed the book to fall from his hands.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava smiled as she watched Elias pull out a small book and opened in. She had been about to ask what the book was about when he let in drop to the ground. She only managed to catch half of what he said, but he seemed frustrated.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. "Is the book not good?" She looked back and forth between Elias and the book, trying to figure out what had happened.

 

[Wendigo_]

"I really wish I could tell you, but I don't understand a thing it says." The boy picked the book off the ground and dusted off its cover, staring at it as if it were an impassable mountain. Holding it by its top edge, he spun it outwards in his hand for Havilah to take. "Have a look if you want, maybe you can have better luck with it."

Elias kicked his legs out so that his feet rested at the edge of the fire. The gentle warmth it gave off comforted him, easing his attitude back towards a more pleasant one. "I can't help not being able to read," the boy told himself, eager to have some excuse for his current state.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava took the book from Elias and when she opened it her eyebrows knitted in confusion. She had expected it to be written in some sort of foreign language, but the words on the page were basic common. Elias spoke common well enough and nothing about him seemed to suggest that he knew any other languages. So why did he seem to have trouble with the book.

Hava looked from the book to Elias and watched him in silence for a moment. Slowly, everything seemed to finally come together. Did he not know how to read? Hava looked back down at the book and thought for a moment. She wouldn't dare embarrass him by asking him out right, but perhaps there was some other way.

"Well," she started softly, trying to choose her words carefully. "I can understand this pretty well. What if I was to read it to you, and then teach what it says?"

 

[Wendigo_]

"Wait a second," Elias said as he shot up, the pitch of his voice raising minutely with surprise, "You can read?" Elias hadn't meant any offense at his surprise, he was just truly shocked. The boy could count on one hand the number of people he had ever seen reading throughout the course of his life, none of which he knew personally. Everybody on the farm was far too busy keeping up with the daily tasks to sit down and read a book, even Old Man Kormak had never been caught red handed. It was only natural of the boy to assume most people were illiterate like him.

The boy got back up to reclaim his spot next to Havilah, looking at her with eyes filled with an indescribable hunger for the knowledge she had. "If you would, please teach me."​

 

[Equusheart]

"Of course I can read," Hava said. She was honestly baffled that no one had ever bothered to teach Elias how to read. Sure he was only a simple farm hand, even a farm hand needed to know how read at least a little. That made him more valuable. The thought made Hava march right up to whoever was responsible and tell them off for such neglect.

Hava took a breath so to calm her temper before turning back to Elias.

"Yes, I will teach you," she said giving him a smile. "Here." She moved closer to him, seeming not to notice when her thigh touched his. She opened the book to the first page and held it out so that he could see. "I will read and you can follow along."

Hava began to read aloud to Elias from the book, all the while using her finger to point out the words she was saying so he would be able to tell what they were.

 

[Wendigo_]

Elias leaned over as close as he could, following her finger while mentally grasping each syllable she said. Although he didn't immediately understand what each symbol meant, the fact that Havilah could attribute meaning to them proved to him that it wasn't truly impossible. His eyes shone brighter than the fire as questions built up inside him. It took everything he had to restrain himself from launching question after question at Havilah, and for the most part he was successful. As she read on, some part of him felt as if he had been told this story before.

"I think I might have heard this before. When I was younger, that is. I think it's an old fair tale..." he pondered for a moment before a specific word printed a bit below where Havilah was reading jumped out at him. "Hey, Havilah, what does this say?!?" the boy asked eagerly, jabbing his finger at the word. Spelled out beneath his forefinger in sprawling script was the word hero.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava looked at the word Elias had pointed out. She smiled as an idea came to her mind. She turned to him, placing the book full in his hands.

"Here," she said gently. "How about you read it for me." She reached over and placed a finger on the word, covering half of it so only the he- was visible.

"He," she said before gesturing for him to repeat her. When he did, Hava shifted her finger so only the -ro was visible.

"Ro," she said, once again gesturing for him to repeat her. She then repeated the process, but this time making him say the two parts on his own. When he did, she smiled at him before moving her finger to under the word.

"Now put it together."

 

[Wendigo_]

The boy nervously held the book in his hands, both eager to learn and scared to seem like a fool. But when Havilah began to gently walk him through the word's pronunciation, his fears were quelled as he focused intently on burning the curvature and pronunciation of the letters into his mind.

"He-" Elias read awkwardly, eager to connect each sound to its respective character, "-ro. Hero," he finished, showing off a victorious grin to Havilah. "That sounds so awesome! Hero," he repeated as if he had just made some sort of breakthrough discovery, the knowledge of which was shared only by the pair in the woods.

"What does hero mean?" Elias asked with undaunted wonder. Having never been exposed to literature firsthand, it was no wonder that the farm boy lacked the knowledge of the trope. "Is it some sort of town somewhere?"​

 

[Equusheart]

"Good," Hava said when he successfully read the word. Elias seemed so excited over it Hava couldn't help but laugh a little. When he asked her what 'hero' was Hava smiled.

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "A hero is not a place. A hero is someone who has done a great deed and has shown great courage. If I was to fall off a cliff into the sea and you were to dive in after me and rescue me, that would make you a hero."

 

[Wendigo_]

"Oh, I see," the boy said contemplatively while imaging the scene she described to him. While he had clearly done nothing along those lines before, some part of him knew that he would certainly be able to do it if it meant saving Havilah.

Despite his excitement, he couldn't help but let a yawn escape. Elias stretched for a moment before folding the book into his pocket and standing up to work his way over to the tent. "It's getting pretty late, we should probably call it a night," he said as he slid his boots off before crawling into the tent. The boy poked his head out again abruptly to address Havilah. "Thanks for reading to me, Hava," he said enthusiastically before taking on a more bashful tone. "...Do you think you could read again tomorrow?" Elias knew he likely sounded like a child, but the simple activity had made him more happy than he had been in ages.​

 

[Equusheart]

"Yes, I suppose it is rather passed our bedtime," Hava said in agreement. She marked where they left off in the book before closing it and tucking it away. Elias' excitement over the book made her smile.

"Of course I will read you more tomorrow," she said. She gave Pippin a goodnight pet on the head before removing her own shoes and slipping into the tent beside Elias.

 

[Wendigo_]

The exhausted Elias drifted in to sleep almost as soon as his head was laid on the ground. The boy was still and sound asleep throughout the night, leaving the majority of the space in the tent open for Havilah's use.

The boy woke up early the next morning to the sound of the birds's chirping. He rolled around in the blanket for a moment before forcing himself to sit up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. While Elias stretched, he looked over to see Havilah still fast asleep. The boy smiled at the image of her before carefully crawling out of the tent so that he wouldn't disturb her.

Elias began to pack up what aspects of camp he could. After he slid his boots on, he made sure to smother the coals of last night's fire before stacking the rocks on top of its remains. Then, he moved on to preparing the horse, brushing its coat and beginning the process of getting its saddle on. Once the horse was set to go, he began to pack the items he could into the saddle bags.

Once all that was left to be packed was the tent, Elias sat down near where the two had last night, cracking open the book to review what they had read last night.​

 

[Equusheart]

It wasn't much longer after Elias had left the tent that Hava began slowly stir. Her eyes fluttered open and it took her a moment to remember where she was. Shaking whatever it was she had been dreaming from her mind, Hava sat up and sought out Elias only to find his spot empty. For a moment worry filled her mind, but when she heard the rustling of him moving about outside, Hava smiled.

She smoothed down her hair and her clothes, making sure that she was proper and presentable. If only she had a mint leaf or two to chew on. Nonetheless, satisfied with herself, Hava emerged from the tent.

"Good morning, Elias," she said giving him a smile.

 

[Wendigo_]

The sight of Havilah caused the remaining drowsiness within him to vanish. The boy didn't know why, but the sight of her captivated his whole being for an infinitesimal amount of time. Elias usually lacked the proper words to describe such things, but for the first time he knew the only words that could do Havilah justice.

"She has a smile like the sun," the boy thought to himself, returning an equally as enthusiastic smile.

"Good morning, Hava," he said as he sat up and slid the book into his pocket. "Just making sure I remembered everything." He patted his pocket in reference before walking over to the tent to begin disassembling their shelter. "Do you think you could untie the other end of the rope for me?" He asked as he began to make towards the farther end.

Before too long, the pair had successfully rolled up their shelter and tied it securely to their steed. Elias looked around once more to make sure they hadn't forgot anything before returning to the horse's side.

"You go on up first this time," the boy said, extending a hand out to help her up.​

 

[Equusheart]

Hava continued to smile as she helped Elias in breaking down their tent. While she had always taken enjoyment in her work, there was something different about working side by side. The thought made her smile grow and she felt some odd feeling flutter in her chest.

When Elias said she'd be getting on the horse first, Hava hesitated a moment before putting her hand in his.

"Alright," she said. Once she was on the horse, Hava sat in a slight confusion. When the horse would shift itself, she hunched over and clutched at the horse's mane to keep her balance. "Uh… Elias…?"

 

[Wendigo_]

"Don't worry, it's all about finding your balance and getting in a good rhythm with the horse." Elias stayed on the ground, preparing to lead the horse by the front of its bridle. Once he saw that Hava had regained an adequate balance, he advised her in a gentle voice. "Whenever you're ready, just bring your feet in and gentle tap his sides with your heels. Once you do he'll start to walk. I'll lead you, so I'll be with you the whole time," he added with a reassuring and confident grin.

Elias walked ahead, preparing to guide the horse and Havilah gently down to the path.​