There lived a young boy, who travelled with his merchant mother. They had no home, and not much money, but they were happy all the same. Though the boy was tormented by visions of spirits, his mother did her best to calm him and keep him safe.
One day, however, the two were caught in a landslide. The boy survived, dragging himself from the rubble, but his mother was already dead. With nowhere to go, he began to wander through the woods, lost and aimless. He could only go for so long, though, and eventually collapsed.
It was then that a hermit who lived in those mountains, a one-eyed woman with white hair that belied her young age, found him; she brought him to her home, fed him and let him rest. As she knew of the spirits he had seen, she taught him about them - their names, their workings, and how to remain safe from them.
She told him about the spirits which resided in the pond by her shack - beings of shadow and light, whose darkness consumed living things whole and whose radiance bleached them to silver. Being near them had left her the way she was, and done the same to every fish in the pond. She assured the boy that they would be affected no further - but warned him to be wary. If they caught him at sunrise or sunset, the spirits could trap him, and steal a part of him - his life, or his name.
For those weeks in the hermit’s shack, the boy spent much of his time watching the one-eyed fish in the pond. When he saw one consumed by the darkness the woman told him about, he ran to confront her, to ask her why she had lied to him. But she told him there was nothing to be done about her fate, now that she had been touched by the spirits, and that, as he was healthy again, he should leave to begin his own life anew.
The boy began to leave, but found he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the woman who had looked after him for so long. He ran back to the shack, where he found that the hermit had begun to turn to shadow - and, when he tried to take her hand, it overtook him as well.
In her last moments, as she and the boy were surrounded by the spirits of shadow and light, the hermit reminded him that he could still live. The light would take his eye, and the shadow his name, but he could live on, leaving his past behind him.
After the boy agreed, he was left alone in the woods. There, he forgot who he had been. There, he became someone new.
And the boy with one eye and no past began his life again.
BACKSTORY
One day, however, the two were caught in a landslide. The boy survived, dragging himself from the rubble, but his mother was already dead. With nowhere to go, he began to wander through the woods, lost and aimless. He could only go for so long, though, and eventually collapsed.
It was then that a hermit who lived in those mountains, a one-eyed woman with white hair that belied her young age, found him; she brought him to her home, fed him and let him rest. As she knew of the spirits he had seen, she taught him about them - their names, their workings, and how to remain safe from them.
She told him about the spirits which resided in the pond by her shack - beings of shadow and light, whose darkness consumed living things whole and whose radiance bleached them to silver. Being near them had left her the way she was, and done the same to every fish in the pond. She assured the boy that they would be affected no further - but warned him to be wary. If they caught him at sunrise or sunset, the spirits could trap him, and steal a part of him - his life, or his name.
For those weeks in the hermit’s shack, the boy spent much of his time watching the one-eyed fish in the pond. When he saw one consumed by the darkness the woman told him about, he ran to confront her, to ask her why she had lied to him. But she told him there was nothing to be done about her fate, now that she had been touched by the spirits, and that, as he was healthy again, he should leave to begin his own life anew.
The boy began to leave, but found he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the woman who had looked after him for so long. He ran back to the shack, where he found that the hermit had begun to turn to shadow - and, when he tried to take her hand, it overtook him as well.
In her last moments, as she and the boy were surrounded by the spirits of shadow and light, the hermit reminded him that he could still live. The light would take his eye, and the shadow his name, but he could live on, leaving his past behind him.
After the boy agreed, he was left alone in the woods. There, he forgot who he had been. There, he became someone new.
And the boy with one eye and no past began his life again.