Nameless

For the next week this continued. They would travel all day, when dinnertime came ‘round, he would offer his follower some, and would be turned down silently. At this point, it was fairly obvious it was a vampire. The noise that it made during the day weren’t noises that ordinary humans could make, quieter, but more pronounced, in a strange way. Not that this really bothered him. One of these days he or she would accept, leave, or attack. ‘Til then, he was content to wait.
On the eighth day of this, he finally got a reaction. The vampire, a young woman, came out of the foliage slowly. She had long black hair, which was pulled back in a high pony-tail, and the bright red eyes that most of her race had. She appeared to be finding a place to sit down near the fire, when she drew a concealed dagger and lunged for his heart as quickly as she could, though a bit clumsily.
“This is for Esiladae!” Unfortunately for her, the hunter was more than prepared. A second later, she found herself pressed tightly up against the tree that he’d been leaning against a moment earlier, completely at his mercy.
“Next time, you may want to do that on the first day, lass.” She bared her teeth in defiance at his light mockery. He chuckled warmly. “Now, may I release you, and offer you something to eat?” She nodded, after a minute, as best as she could, still managing to scrap her cheek on the rough tree bark. The young vampire felt the pressure lift, and was released. The dagger, however, was not returned, and rested on the earth, in between the two. Only when he had served her a bowl of soup did he speak.
“I take it that I took your brother’s life, then?” the vampire was surprised. Who was he to interrogate her? To be questioned about her brother…indeed, how had he known Esiladae had been her brother? Nor had she expected sympathy from his killer. After recollecting her wits, she nodded curtly.
“I see. I apologize, then.” Blown away by his statement, she muttered,
“T-thank you.” He nodded.
“If I may,” he continued, as she ate the soup, which was surprisingly good, “what is your name?”
“I am called Aylen. Of the Hyacinth clan. And yours, sir?” She told him coldly, looking up in anger, displeased with informing her brother’s killer of her name, as well as sitting at his fire, and eating his food. Not to mention that she had failed to avenge Esiladae…in general, Aylen just wasn’t very happy at the moment.
“I apologize, but I can’t tell you, Miss Aylen.” She stiffened slightly, and lifted her chin in royal distain; it was the height of offense to ask another’s name and not offer one’s own.
“And why can you not tell me your name? I have willingly given my own.” He nodded, and gave her a small, regretful grin.
“I appreciate that, lass, it’s not that I want to offend you, quite the opposite really…I have no recollection of my name.”
A name was a powerful thing, in that part of the world; one could not give his name unto himself. A name was held in the utmost regard. It was considered a death sentence by ill luck to forget, or lose, a name. Aylen looked up in surprise, a feeling of curiosity, as well as pity, rose in her. Who was this man, whom had no name, and was so open to admit it? She quickly quelled these particular thoughts, he didn’t deserve her pity. Now that she noticed, he also did not look like most humans. With dark red hair and bright green eyes, he certainly looked odd; most humans had brown or blonde hair. Other than that, though, he could have been her late brother’s twin, tall and lean, with an unreadable face. Maybe that was why she hadn’t attacked him immediately. On a different note, he must have been an extremely clumsy child, all arms and legs.
Unbeknownst to her, the hunter had been thinking about her brother, whom he’d killed less than two months ago, and how much Esiladae had looked like her. Though, now that he thought of it, Esiladae had been a little strange. Almost…enchanted? No…he pushed that thought away. It would take another vampire to place a spell on him; as her brother had, just as obviously as she, been from nobility. No vampire would do that to their own, their society forbade it.
She was young; too, Aylen hadn’t reached her twenty-first birthday. If she had, he wouldn’t have been able to hold her against a tree. Immortal beings reached their full maturity at age twenty-one, before that, vampires don’t even need to drink the blood of others, though it did give all vampires an energy rush. He sighed, and stretched the knots out of his muscles.
“One more thing, lass, before we both retire.” She nodded, allowing him to continue. “How do you plan to return to your home?” A look of surprise quickly followed by panic, which was chased even more fleetly across her face by anger.
“I…will come up with something. Do not worry yourself about that.” He smirked slightly in amusement at her tone, his eyes half-closing.
“I would offer an escort, to see you home safely. If that is satisfactory, of course…?” he let the question trail off, showing that she could decline if she should wish. She stiffened for a moment, but soon relaxed, even allowing a small smile to grace her visage.
“I would most appreciate that. However,” he raised an eyebrow, thinking: ‘Ultimatum?’
“First, I shall give you a name, I refuse to refer to you as ‘Hey, you.’ Is that understood?” It was his turn to look surprised, for no one, even those few of his own kind who knew he had no name, had not offered this. A tight bond was associated with name-giving, and surely no one wanted to be tied to someone with so dangerous a profession.
“A-are you sure?” he asked, wondering if insanity ran in her family, certainly it would explain a lot. She looked up from thinking of a sufficient name.
“Am I sure? Of course I’m sure. One should not offer things one is not sure of.” She paused, considering, and then continued, “I’m surprised that no one’s given you one before. Or do you not want one?” He stared at her, hastily assuring her that he did indeed want a name. A naming was usually done on babies, obviously, and it usually involved a basin of warm water and various incenses. Not to mention a holy man of some sort. Obviously, they had nothing of the sort. Aylen solved this by throwing a pine bough into the fire, where it began to emit its sharp fresh scent and pouring her cup of water over his head.
“I hear-by name thee: Korin. Let it serve you well.” He blinked as water dripped into his eyes. Nothing happened.
“Well, that was disappointing. I expected some big flash of light or something.” A second after she finished speaking, they both felt something slip over their shoulders, like an invisible silken cord. Binding magic. “Oh.” She said, embarrassed. Korin’s eyes narrowed in amusement again.
“You shouldn’t be so hasty, lass.” She narrowed her eyes.
“Control thy tongue, mortal, less I divest you of it.” His face went blank.
“Me? I said nothing. Not a word came from my lips, milady. I merely wish to wish you a good night, lass, is all.” He said, with a wink, quickly standing to collect another piece of firewood. Aylen stared after him. He was odd, but for some reason, she felt that she could trust him. She shook her head, hoping to remove such thoughts.
‘Oh well. Worrying about it won’t solve anything.’