Listinia

"But she does." I say it because I don't know what else to say. At least I know why I thought she looked weird when she first showed up.

"I know," Elder Mistlelynn says. "I don't know what this means... you said she talked to you?"

"Yeah."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing important," I answer. It's the same thing I said to Elder Javok, and it's true, I think. "What do we do now?"

"Well, she wouldn't speak to us. She spoke to you earlier... so I suppose she might be willing to talk to you again? I guess waking her up is an option."

"Do you really think so, Elder?" I ask. I'm a bit nervous. It's obvious that something about this is strange and it causes those annoying feelings of fear to arise, but I'm extremely curious. "What would I even say to her?"

"Ask her where she's from. Why she's here, maybe?" Elder Mistlelynn gets ready to wake the girl up. "We need to know basic information about her. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Elder Mistlelynn doesn't know the girl's name, so she doesn't know how to call her awake. She tries to shake her, but it doesn't work. "She woke up before..."

Before I know what I'm saying, I say, "Listinia? Wake up."

Her eyelids flutter. I say the name again. If she's reacting, it must be hers. I reach into my pocket and find that the necklace with her name is still there.

"Is that her name?" Elder Mistlelynn asks. "How do you know?"

I pull out the necklace and show it to her. "I took this off of her neck when she was in my backyard."

"And you never presented it to us? It could hold a curse or something."

I should be worried but I'm not. Curses are pretty rare, and I'm immune to a lot of them due to the amount and type of magic I have in my blood. Although... the chances of this exact situation are also pretty rare. "Well, does it?"

"No," she says, holding in her hand. "I don't feel anything magical coming off of it."

There. I know I shouldn't be scared. Elder Mistlelynn is the best at magic, and if there was something wrong, I'd know. She puts the necklace back onto Listinia.

Listinia's eyes open. The first thing I notice, now that I'm close enough, is that they are a brilliant shade of green. The color itself is pretty, but my body automatically goes into defense mode. No one has green eyes. The only green eyes I've ever seen have been on monsters.

I look over at Elder Mistlelynn. She seems to be tense too, but Listinia's eye color shouldn't be a surprise. Didn't Listinia wake up last night?

"No danger, Arden. She's a person. We know for sure. I just didn't notice the eyes..."

Listinia coughs. She looks at me. She moves her mouth, no sound. After a few moments of silence, she speaks. "It's you."

"Yeah. Me. Arden," I say. Does she remember that? She recognizes me, but it wouldn't be unlikely if she didn't remember my name. "And you're Listinia."

"Am I?" she says. She doesn't move, but I can see her eyes looking around the room. They're so bright. I'm still on guard, though Elder Mistlelynn told me there is no danger. "What is this?"

"You don't remember anything, do you?"

"What... what is there to remember?" In any other situation, a person would panic. Her expression is so innocent. She just looks confused. I relax. I finally accept that this is safe.

"That's what we want to know," Elder Mistlelynn. "But I suppose that may come later. First, you should have something to eat. Are you hungry?"

"No..."

"Well, you might be starving to the point where you can't feel it. You need to eat something." The elder turns to me. "Arden, you've got training soon."

I don't say anything. I don't want to go, but I can't say that and directly disobey an elder. She must read it on my face, though.

"Take Listinia with you after she gets something to eat. Maybe it will help her remember things."

--------

"This is where everyone trains," I explain to her. It's weird talking to someone who doesn't even know what the basic stuff is. We pass by a small wooden building. Next to it are large targets and a few dummies. Nothing specialized. "It's the first level, for starters."

"And... everyone has to go through this?" Listinia asks.

"Yeah. Everyone. You start when you're ten."

"Do I have to do it?" she asks. She seems a bit worried.

"Not sure yet," I admit. "You're not exactly ten. You're eighteen, which means you should already be almost done with your training."

"Eighteen?" It's just the one word, but everything she says seems to be a question. "How old are you?"

"Nineteen," I say. "Almost twenty. I'll be out in the battle soon."

"I see," she says. She pauses, then asks, "Where did you first find me?"

"The woods. You were lying in the snow."

"How long was I there?"

"I don't know."

We reach my training area. It's spread over a huge field. Today, there isn't anything special going on. We're free to do as we please, as long as we do something that will help us in battle or survival. Lately I've been trying to manipulate the little amount of usable magic that I have in my body to do simple tasks. It's harder than it sounds.

There's another building next to this field, but it's much larger. We walk up to it and I check the list that is posted on one of the walls. It tells me that my training partner for today is Equia.

"Do you have to go?" Listinia asks me.

I hesitate. I don't want to leave her here all by herself. She's already confused enough and who knows what she could get into. The elders would probably blame me for anything happening to her before they can figure out who she is and where she came from. "I think I'll be able to take you. We're not doing anything special today, so I think it will be fine."

"Oh. If it doesn't bother you."

I don't say anything to that because while it doesn't exactly bother me, her presence does leave me a bit uneasy. She's mysterious, and my instincts tell me to be cautious because of this, even if I know in my mind that she's safe. "No, it's okay."

"Do you like doing this?"

"Not really," I say. "I don't think anyone does."

"Then why are we still fighting?"

"...I don't really know."