The Wind's Tale HM:AP Fic

SUMMARY: Gale, the Wizard, hasn't been inmortal all his life. Centuries ago, he was just a child. But maybe not a normal one. This is his story.


"Now and then, though, someone does begin to grow differently. Instead of down, his feet grow up toward the sky."
"Oddly enough, they often grow ten times the size of everyone else, and i've heard that they walk among the stars."
- Norton Juster

The old woman stopped her walk and looked at the sky, trying to locate herself with the starry coat covering the velvety blue night sky. She sighed deeply and took a seat at a huge rock at the edge of the sidewalk. The two mules that pulled her car, seeing no sign of advance for a moment, began to nibble the grass that grew sparsely around them.

At this rate, she might reach the next town at dawn. Cutting way through the forest was much faster, and she wasn't afraid of robbers because no one would dare to approach a witch. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. A faint smoky scent captured her attention. There was a bonfire nearby. Maybe she could scare away its owners and steal what they left in their wake. And maybe light her pipe. Damn, she needed her pipe.

She ordered her mules to be silent as she went deep several feet into the thick foliage of the forest, following the smell and the dim firelight. She arrived and faced a disappointment. No one was there. She approached the fire and crouching down she took a long thin pipe from one of her leather bags, filled it with some tobacco, lit it and took a long breath. She exhaled and the smoke disolved into the fresh air of the night.

Just when she was about to continue her travel, something caught her eye from across the fire. She strained her eyes and saw the shadow of a shape supported by one of the trees. And said shape seemed to be breathing. Slowly, the old woman stood up and walked toward the tree, exhaling clouds of smoke every time she smoked her pipe. Once she reached her destination she was able to look more closely at the mysterious living form.

Perhaps "living" was not the best way to describe the young woman lying under the tree. She was unusually thin, dry skin as pale as an old parchment and she seemed to die with every breath. Her very long hair must had been as silky as the finest velvet in her better times, but today was just a tangle of dry strands. Her eyes were closed and deep black circles hung under them, making her look cadaverous. She was wrapped in rags and did not seem to carry anything else than the fabric covering her. The old woman looked closely and came to a rather obvious conclusion. The woman was going to die in a few hours.

"Child ... what suffering you've gone through to get here? - Said the old woman with pity as she bent slightly to remove a few strands of hair from the girl's ashen face. She flinched for a moment and her breath stirred, further weakening her. The old woman searched her bags for a bunch of herbs. She took some leaves in her mouth and chewed them, then took some of the paste that had formed and put it on the lips and nose of the dying girl. "This will help you to feel less pain." The girl calmed down a bit and briefly looked as if she had fallen unconscious. The old woman sat before her and taking some runes, she began to pray quietly.

"... Th thh ... thanks ... ..." said the young with weak voice, shaking her hand trying to reach the old woman before her.

"Shhh ... you are already too tired, do not weaken yourself more ..." The old woman put the runes in the girl's hand and settled it down onto her lap. "With that you will be able to pay your travel to the afterlife" Weakly, the girl held the wooden pieces against her body, in a gesture of gratitude. The old woman smiled and began to clean the girl's face wich, if she had been healthy, would have been a really beautiful girl. A moment later, in what seemed like a feverish dream, she began to pant and mutter weakly. Perhaps it was her time to leave. Her face fell to her side and again the old woman thought she had fallen unconscious... until something caught her attention. Her gaze followed the direcion the girl's face was pointing and saw the trunk of a dead tree almost hidden in darkness. The old woman widened her eyes as she saw whatever was hiding unde the tree.

"But girl ...!" She said putting her hand in her mouth in a gesture of surprise. "Take him with you! Take him!" Don't condemn him to a fate worse than yours ..."
The girl shook her head with the little strength she had left.

" Please ... I want him to live ..."

"Girl ... you don't know the misery and threats he'll have to face... - The older woman reached out to place her hand on the girl's shoulder, but the young, in a stunning burst of speed, took the old woman's wrist with her almost skeletal hand .
"... S ... save him ..." Despite being on the edge of death, her grip was strong enough to prevent the old woman from moving from the spot.

"I can't promise you that ... You don't know what you're asking ..."

"Save him..."  Even though she felt very sorry for her, the old woman simply could not agreed to what she was asking. It was wrong and was not her responsibility. Just because she had found a dying woman in the forest meant she was obliged to fulfill her last wish ... on the other hand, the willpower of this young girl was so strong that the old woman felt as if she could drag her to hell if she didn't fulfill her request. Again, the old woman gazed at the trunk and looked at the silhouette beneath. She sighed deeply and turned to the girl.

"His destiny is already written. Is not up to me ..."

"Sa ... save him..."

The old woman began to lose patience, but given the situation she chose not to discuss it further. "If I have to do it to keep your soul from tormenting me for the rest of my years, it's okay. But you know that his life will be filled with challenges and difficulties ... you'd better take him with you."

"He's… strong ..." said the young woman and opened her eyes for the first time, revealing a pair of beautiful green eyes that, although blinded by the pain, reflected a deep love and devotion to the child who watched from the trunk. She mumbled something so softly that the old lady did not hear, however the figure stood up and moved slowly to the dying woman.

The weak flames of the fire barely lighted up the child, making his big green eyes glow in the pale light like cat's eyes. His skin was dark and his hair black as the night itself. He only wore a long gown of wool and his feet, hurt by long walks in the woods, begged for shoes. He didn't seemed older than 6 years and despite the terrible situation, he did not seem scared or sad.

The boy came to the makeshift bed of his mother and knelt beside her. The woman began to speak softly in a language the old woman recognized as a nomadic dialect, while the boy was trying not to cry. She raised her trembling hand to caress the infant's cheek while her blind eyes struggled to find him across the haze of her agony. The boy hugged his mother and the old woman saw the girl whispered in the ear of her son, while he simply nodded. Moments later she began to pant and the children, frightened, got up and looked expectantly at the old woman.

"The time of her departure has come" said the witch. Taking a small dagger from beneath her clothes, the old woman bowed to the child's height, took a lock of his hair and cut it. "Here, my girl. May the essence of your child accompany you on your journey" Said accommodating the lock of hair along with the runes on her lap. Moments later the young girl was dead. The old woman took back her pipe, inhaled deeply and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke over the motionless body of the girl.

"With that spell no wild animal will feed of her body..." said the witch to the child as she packed her things and with a pat on the child's back she signaled him to follow her.

She hurried away from there and could hear the boy as he struggled to follow her in the thick foliage of the forest. Reaching the car, she helped the child to climb into the back wich was full of boxes, cages, bottles, blankets and anything that could use any wandering witch. The boy sat down and hugged his knees, hiding his face.

The old woman went to sit in the front and took the reins of the animals, but did not pulled them, instead, she stood musing for a long time.

She had just accepted an orphaned child. She had made a promise to a dying stranger and now had a child under her wing. She cursed softly. That happened because she softened her heart. She knew that making deals with humans was never negotiable, that's why she had left behind her coexistence with people to wander from town to town, only stopping to earn some money selling potions and tricks. She inhaled deeply her tobacco. Besides, that child... Well, better not worry about that now. With a pull on the reins the mules began to slowly drag the car. She'd have plenty of time to ponder about that on the road to the next town.

The night passed while the carriage slowly made its way through the narrow path. The old woman smoked thoughtfully, accompanied by the sparkle of the stars in the sky... and the soft sobs of the child with her.