The Named

Chapter 7: Food, a Friend, and a Name

            I laid there for what must have been an hour, just staring at my reflection.  My hair, the same color as the soil crumbling between my toes, clung to my dirty face in greasy cords.  Circular pieces of the sky seemed to have landed in my eyes, causing me to blink a couple times to make sure they were real.

                Standing, I inspected the rest of my body.  I was thin, boney, pale and covered in cave grime.  Disgusted, I began stripping off my ragged clothing.  As I pulled my shirt over my head, the file I’d stored in my waistband fell forward and flopped onto the ground.  I’d nearly forgotten about my mysterious treasure.

                If only I could read.

                Sighing, I wrapped the folder in my worn clothes and hid them beneath the thick undergrowth.  With a mental squeal of happiness I splashed out to the deepest part of what I was sure had to be an ocean.  Lying down on the bottom to fully submerge my small body, I tried to time how long I could hold my breath.  The water muffled all sound and created a small space of pure serenity.

                My peace was disturbed, however, by the appearance of a distorted face looking down at me.  Wriggling down into the mud, I tried to hide.  Who was this stranger and what did they want with me?  Were they from the prison?  Had they come to take me back?  As my panic bloomed in all its glory, I ran out of air.

                “PHWAH!”

                I exploded face first out of the water and immediately launched myself at my presumed attacker.  Pinning them against the ground I pressed one arm against their throat, holding their arms down with my knees on their wrists, and pulled my fist back to strike.

                Then I froze.

                This was no uniformed spawn of Satan.  What lay wide-eyed beneath me was a girl.  I’m sure her look of shock mirrored my own as I tried to reclaim control of my limbs.

                “I-I’m sorry,” I stuttered as I scrambled away from her.

                “I’m sorry! You scared me and I thought – well I thought you were someone bad and, well, I’m sorry!”

                Thoroughly embarrassed and dazzled at my first encounter of life outside the caves, I clamped my mouth shut and studied this new creature.  I knew she was a girl but I couldn’t exactly explain how I knew.  She was just so different.  Her hair was long enough to cover the tops of her shoulders and the color reminded me of the happy light filtering through the tree-tops.  Sunlight and grass, coupled with the crystal intensity of the water seemed to be the ancestors of the color in her eyes.

                As my heart beats slowed, I ventured a question, “Who are you?”

                “Hmph, I thought of being your friend but since you seem to be afraid of new people I don’t see how that’s possible.  Either way, my name is Arelliana Flare, but you can call me Rell.  What’s yours, or is that too dangerous a question?”

                Enchanted, I spoke without considering the consequences for either of us.  “I don’t know.”

                She looked at me suspiciously but shrugged it off.  “No matter, I’ll give you one for now.  Hm . . . .” she stroked an imaginary beard as she thought.  “Oh! You shall be known as Quinton, but I’ll call you Quin for short.”  The strange girl with a name smiled proudly at her decision.

                “Quinton,” I whispered to myself, as if it would cause this all to be a dream if I said it any louder.

                “Yes, that’s all good and well, but you look like a stray cat with your ribs sticking out like that.  Would you like to come with me for some food?”

                “You . . . you gave me a name.”

                “It would make it rather awkward trying to introduce you to people without one, don’t you think?”

                “But, I’ve never had a name before.  Now, for the first time in my life, I’ve met someone not trying to hurt me and in less than an hour you’ve offered to be my friend, feed me and you’ve named me.”

                Her loud laughter startled the nearby wildlife into momentary silence.  “Oh, you poor boy, just wait until you meet the rest of my clan!  They put my frankness to shame.  Speaking of naming, we should probably also give you a surname.  People without family names are few and far between and they’re usually just trying to hide their true identity, so, we’ll call you . . . Quinton Marine, because you were in the water when I first saw you.  Now, put your clothes back on before someone else sees you and takes you for an escapee from an asylum!”

                As I scrambled to redress myself I felt odd.  Something within me shifted slightly at being named.  It was as if a door had been cracked open but was being blocked from opening all the way.  Something was awakening.