°??───??11??───??°

  The day in which the cloaked man finally receives a name

  °??───???───??°

  Kally, dazed and bleary eyed, pushed back tears of gratitude. Even with his last remaining ounce of strength, he still raised a barrier before them. Its yellow glow of protection beamed bright amidst the darkness of the forest. Though she did not know who he was, or why he was helping them, she felt his sincerity in that moment.

  The trees closed in on them, no longer a ring around the arena - more like a normal forest. They loomed over the barrier, casting shadows, more threatening in stance than in reality. Sentient, they were not.

  Kally fiddled with the bandage, hands shaking as she looked at the cloaked man. He looked small, curled up into a protective ball. His mask clung to the sweat on his brow as he mumbled in his sleep again. This felt familiar.

  Kally shuffled towards his torso where his hands were concealed. She grabbed a wrist and unfurled his fingers. Caked in blood and brown ooze, dirt with a thickness, globular.

  Kally rummaged in the bag again for some water. Drinking-water was sparse but there was nothing else to be done; his wounds needed cleaning before she could treat them, and there was no water in the barrier area. How inconsiderate of him, she smiled a wry smile.

  She ripped the hem of her dress and dipped the rag in the water, careful not to lose a drop. Using this rag, she wiped his hand down, starting from the edges, until she only had the wounded section to contend with.

  “Kals, you’re a regular Florina Nightindale.”

  Kally tsked at this and rolled her eyes. Florina Nightindale was a well known healer from years ago. It was said that if she could not save you, there was no saving you. Terrible bedside manner though.

  Ignoring Katoia, she focused on the task at hand. With as little pressure as possible, she wet the wound and, flinching as if it was her pain, set about wiping the crusted enflamed flesh.

  The hand, now clean, was ready to be prepped for a bandage. She applied the antiseptic ointment with a delicate touch, and wrapped it up tightly, placing it back on his torso. Careful not to wake him, she repeated the process on his other hand. Her tongue poked out of the side of her mouth as she worked. Once he was fully bandaged up, she took the pain relief tablet and forced it in his mouth. She lifted his head, dribbling the water from the flask into his mouth. Still passed out, he did not stir. She watched him swallow then placed his head back down.

  “Kally, think you’re forgetting something...” Katoia cooed melodically.

  Kally, perplexed, squinted. Ah, she thought, the energy revitalising concoction. How had she almost forgotten the most important part? Without this, they would not be able to move for days, perhaps a week.

  She nodded her head at Katoia and opened the bottle. Using the provided dropper, she administered the required dosage.

  ???

  Once this task was completed, she exhaled, exhaustion creeping back in. Her stomach rumbled. Without a campfire to heat up any meat cubes, she reached into the supply bag and picked out a large chunk of bread. Kally broke off a piece and passed it to Katoia, who nibbled on it like a dormouse. They sat in a tired silence.

  Kally broke it first, “He’s going to be fine, right?”

  Katoia looked over at the cloaked man, “He must be. Come on, Kally. He’ll just sleep it off.”

  “Mmmn…” replied Kally, deep in thought.

  “Kally, do you get the feeling— with him, I mean— with him that—” She broke off unsure how to phrase herself. “—it feels like someone from a distant-dr— or at least, that he feels familiar somehow…”

  Kally snapped her eyes towards Katoia, and took in her earnest expression.

  Yes, it did feel like that. It always had done.

  She had never been sure if it was just her who felt like that, until now. Doubt crept in; was it even her, or was she just feeling Katoia’s emotions again? Do emotions start from her heart or her toe? She has asked herself that a lot over the years and had never received a definitive answer.

  “Yeah, a distant dream…” she answered softly and thought about the strange visions she had been having. They were hers at least, and she would keep them close to her. With this thought encased within her, she drifted soundly to sleep; the tiredness of the day and sleeplessness of the previous night finally took hold of her.

  ???

  Nothing much happened in Kally’s dreams that night. No trip to the faraway land, no nightmares. A void, a black comforting void, the deepest of nourishing sleep. Well needed and well deserved. She woke up, refreshed, though a tad uncomfortable due to the position she slept in. She stretched and cracked her back. Her legs wobbled as she stood up, Katoia still snoring. Like the pff-pff of a steam train.

  The cloaked man’s complexion, though still pale, was not as pallid as before. His veins were less of a feature of his cheeks and neck. She could not speak for any bags under his eyes, as she had not dared to remove his mask, but from what she could see, his condition had improved - albeit slightly. She administered more pain relief and energy revitalising concoction in the hopes it would hasten his recovery.

  Sitting with knees up, amusing herself by drawing with a stray branch found within the safety of the barrier, Kally looked towards the sigil and winked at it. Still there, though faint. Paper sigils must be weaker than the normal ones he cast, she mused. Earlier she had been surprised when her hand passed through the barrier with no resistance. This might not mean much, as she had been allowed out of the campsite barrier before, but this time it just felt different. She had also noticed the odd creature wandering in and out, unannounced, which would never have happened in the others. The purple was kept firmly out, though, which was all they really needed for now.

  “Kat...” Kally called.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Katoia, bloody and grumpy in the morning crust, shifted her attention to Kally. “Yes?” she replied.

  “How could I have known about Naevii?”

  “Well, you couldn’t.” A blunt fatigue garnished her words.

  “He knew.” Kally gestured towards the cloaked man.

  Katoia sighed, resigned. “Did he know?”

  Kally nodded.

  “How could he know?” Katoia wrinkled her nose, causing the nail to stretch and bulge.

  “Well, he seemed so certain.”

  “As did you, I’m sure.”

  “Well, yeah.” Kally shrugged. “But I was wrong, and he was right.”

  “Exactly.”

  A puzzled look crept onto Kally’s face. She was glad to have Katoia at this point, they had always sounded things out together. As childish and annoying as Kat could be, she always managed to give good advice, or say whatever Kally needed to hear.

  Katoia continued, “Both of you were so sure on your opinions of Naevii, but you had opposing thoughts...”

  She looked to Kally, checking she was following. “As always with opposing forces, only one can win out. It just so happened, this time, his ‘certain’ belief was the right call. It could easily have gone the other way. He didn’t know, know.”

  Kally, wrinkling her nose, looked up and to the right, deep in thought.

  “I wouldn’t feel too bad about it if I were you, Kally.”

  “You wouldn’t feel too bad about it? How can I not…?” Kally’s voice wavered, her face set deep with pain. “Kat, have you seen him? Look.”

  Katoia hid a grimace. “Of course I’ve seen him. How could I not have? I just… I don’t think you’re to blame for this. How were you to know that Naevii was a monster. He looked like a child, for purple’s sake.”

  “He didn’t trust him, though.”

  “Kals, I don’t think he trusts anyone. You can’t live your life like that. Please?”

  Kally frowned.

  “Promise me. Promise me you won’t. Big toe promise.”

  Kally nodded.

  “As for Naevii, that scamp, that rogue, just forget about him.” If she had a foot of her own, she would have stomped it.

  Kally nodded again, more pensively.

  How could she forget about him? Kally bit her lip. He had dragged her, pulling her arm until it hurt, and separated them.

  Her mind was back in the circle arena, all alone. Naevii’s malevolent eyes burned into hers as he divulged who he really was to her: a vengeful spirit, intent on scooping out the cloaked mans eyes, his words, not hers, stealing them for some undivulged purpose.

  That minute she was alone with him had felt like decades.

  A dread had consumed her whole, leaving no part of her unscathed. She could still feel that cold chill that had run through her, as she realised Naevii still held onto her hand tightly. His grin was wide and nefarious, filled with malicious intent. Those malevolent eyes seemed to cut into her, slicing at her nerves, until they heard the cloaked man charge into the arena. Upon this act, Naevii had disappeared and she had breathed a sigh of utmost relief.

  “You didn’t see him Kat, you didn’t see.”

  “I know,” Katoia agreed.

  Kally sighed. “Sometimes I wish I could hide away in a boot. No—” she wailed. “I’m sorry Kat, I don’t really mean it.” She sniffed on her sleeve.

  Katoia inhaled, then exhaled. “No offence taken, Kals, I know, and honestly…” She laughed, diffusing the tension. “I was glad to be hidden in a sock at that exact moment.”

  Kally rubbed her nose with her sleeve, and smiled, slightly cheered. What a day yesterday had been. No wonder her nerves were frazzled.

  ???

  Kally looked towards the cloaked man. “We need a name for him, really,” she said.

  “Feels a bit rude, calling him ‘him’ and ‘that man’ still, doesn’t it?” Katoia laughed.

  “Feel like we’re past that stage now.” Kally paused. “Should we just come up with a name for him? As seen as he, apparently, won’t tell us his real name...”

  “Yeah, we can just start calling it him when he wakes up.”

  “Maybe he’ll have amnesia and we can convince him he’s called Shadow.” Kally laughed, her dry humour seeing the light of day.

  Katoia gurgled in laughter. “Shadow… what about Cloak? Or Hood? or Silence. Or Gloom?”

  “Getting a bit personal there, aren’t you?” Kally raised an eyebrow playfully. Kat’s black smudges for eyes stared at her.

  “Seriously though, we really do need a name for him. I’m guessing we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a while at least. I can’t be doing with keeping whispering about…” Kally wiggled her eyebrows, and continued, “that man.” She paused. “ It’s far too childish and silly.”

  Finally, we may be getting a name, folks.

  They thought for a while, taking great pains to come up with a name. Nothing seemed to fit for Kally. The names she was coming up with were like code names, laughable really - Duskwalker, Nightfall, Thorne; Cimmerian at a push. None of these seemed to fit him.

  Katoia piped up, “I’ve got it. Ahkaiyu.”

  Kally spluttered, Ah-Kai-yu? “Don’t you think that’s a bit pretentious Kat? Mystery spirit of magic… really?” She squinted her eyes and pulled a funny face. Looking at him though, Katoia was not wrong; he was mysterious, and had power over magic. Was it too on the nose though? She scoffed at herself. It was better than Nightfall.

  Katoia was pouting, an obstinate toe. Evidently she really liked this name.

  “Okay, Kat. Sure. Ahkaiyu it is. I’ll be calling him Kai for short though.”

  Katoia beamed and started to sing a new song - the ballad of Ahkaiyu, or Kally’s Kai.

  ???

  A great deal of time passed before Ahkaiyu awakened. Ahh, Ahkaiyu.

  He was still in a weaker form than before the fight but his complexion at least had a flush of red to him. The revitalising concoction had revitalised a good chunk of his energy and, as such, he had enough strength to carry on walking through the forest.

  They walked for days, and you will be happy to know, he answered to their calls of Ahkaiyu and Kai without a comment or even a micro-expression. He accepted it, as if this was always his name, though Kally noted in relief that he showed no other signs of amnesia. Did he truly not know his original name, or was he so distant from his past that he simply did not care what he was called? How many names had this wandering man had in his time? Kally was filled with questions about him, questions that she could never put to him. It’s not like she hadn’t asked before - she had. She bit her lip as she remembered his simple response.

  “I have no name.”

  ”Do you mean you can’t remember?” Kally had asked.

  All she was met with was a sad expression as he turned away to look at the flames of the campfire. A weight rested upon her chest at this, and in that moment she had decided never to ask again.

  Instead, she would let him stay safe in his silence, and now she would just call him Kai.

  °??───? Author’s Note ?───??°

  So, the cloaked man lives (barely), Kally plays field medic, and Katoia remains the sassiest sentient toe this side of the forest. Oh, and they finally consider giving the mystery man a name.

  Should be easier writing for me to write about him now! I did enjoy the challenge of how to refer to him but I’ve already got the challenge of Katoia being in a boot most of the time to contend with…

  Maybe I should give Kally some open toe sandals…

  (≧?≦)

  Let me know your favourite moment - or what you think they should have named him.

  See you next time for more wounds, weirdness, and toe-based wisdom.

  ? Coming up - Chapter 12 title ?

  °??───?? The day in which Kally realises the dangers of Darkurr Moor ??───??°

  ?? Vision Watch ??

  ? A faraway land, with blue eyes and pale faces vying for attention (Chapter 5)

  ? Gribbles play as a celebration is happening and Kally wakes up mouthing a name - Alena (Chapter 8)

  ? A young knight trains in a training ground (Chapter 10)

  ~ SK Payde

  ? ? ?