Asleep for so long . . .

[Evelond Formos]

He woke up sleeping on a rock. Strange creatures of an ovalish shape crowded around him, nibbling at his clothes. These must be beetles.

He swept them aside. Luckily he did not have to fight (not that he knew how) because they were too badly injured to battle. He ripped some patches of old, raggy clothes and gave them to the beetles for warmth. They weren't evil. They shouldn't have to die.

He saw a town. He was particularly attracted by it. It seemed friendly . . . warm . . .

He walked toward the town, slowly. A man dressed in red and black and wearing a black helm greeted him promptly. "Welcome to Daris!"

The boy did not know what to say. He just nodded and walked on. It was light here. No darkness. None at all.

He approached a building, and heard someone inside it call it the "Blue Boar". He walked into this "Blue Boar", and wondered why this building was named after a legendary 'animal'.

There were several people in the Blue Boar. People were drinking a blackish liquid. Must be apple juice, thought the boy. The stuff is as dark as it was in the Place.

He explored a bit, until he found himself once again outside the Blue Boar.

He found a rock he particularly enjoyed, and decided to settle on it for the night. The rain saturated his clothing, causing him to shiver. But it was not nearly as bad as the Dark Place. This rock was luxorious compared to there. He curled up into a ball, and let himself slip into a deep sleep.

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Day 2
Dawn

The boy woke earlier than he had anticipated. The rain persisted, and he was very, very cold because of it. Nevertheless, he got up, eager to explore this 'Daris' yet more.

He came across a very blue landscape eventually. He tried to touch it, but his hand went right through it. So apple juice could not only be black, but it could be blue, too . . .

He walked around, curious of the square wooden blocks called 'buildings'.

To his surprise, he eventually got bored of exploring, and decided once more to retreat to the rock.

He had heard of beetles. He had heard of drow. He had heard of almost every race. Drow had jet black skin, like the Dark Place. Drow were evil. Drow were murderers. But he learned one new thing about drow.

A drow was ten feet away from him, talking to a sitting elf. The boy was petrified. What seemed like an eternity passed before he realized he was in grave danger. . . .

[Evelond Formos]

The boy did not listen to the conversation of the elf and the drow were having. He suspected, because of the weapons they wore, that the red-clothed people were 'guards'. He looked from the guards to the drow, wondering why the 'guards' were not attacking the drow.

Eventually the elf noticed his petrification.

"She won't hurt you," she said, refering to the drow.

Still, the boy remained cautious.

After a while, the drow decided to show the boy why the guards did not attack her.

"I have permission from the queen," she claimed. The boy could not read, so he didn't trust the slip of paper the drow showed him.

Eventually a 'guard' started to speak to the drow, and listening in to the conversation, the boy found out that this "Rikku Danles" did indeed have permission from the queen.

The elf left for a bit, and came back with pies, bread, and apple juice. The boy had never thought so much food could be in one place. Grateful, he devoured the food.

When they asked of his name, he frowned.

"I do not have a name."
More than once these questions were asked:
"How can you not have a name?"
"Your parents didn't name you?"
"What do people call you?"

And to all those questions, he replied,
"I just don't."
"I never met my parents."
"People don't call me anything."

Eventually they dropped the subject.

Rikku left, and the elf and the boy walked into the 'Blue Boar'. The guard had given the boy money to rent a room there.


The boy hopped in a bed more luxorious than anything he had ever slept on, and dozed off to sleep.



Day 3
Noon

The boy was surprised at how long he had slept. His stomach was rumbling, and he devoured some spare bread before going out into Daris. He slipped on a black robe the elf had given him, and walked out the door.

Once again he found Rikku there, but this time the elf was not with her.
She was holding a weapon, though the boy did not know what it was.

She switched to another one, this one huge.

"Wow!" the boy said, "That's a big . . ." he tried to remember what the elf had called the cutting instrument the night before, " . . . knife!"

She chuckled. "It is not a knife. It is a greatsword."
"Are greatswords used to cut food too?"
She smiled. "No. They are weapons.

The elf came walking towards them.

"Hello!" the boy said to the elf.
" . . . hi" said Rikku.
"Hello" replied the elf.

"So," the boy continued, "There are knife's and greatswords."
"There are a lot more than two weapons."

The conversation dropped.

The boy broke the silence.

"I don't remember your names."
"Rikku."
"Tin. . . . . I don't remember you telling us your name?"
"I told you already. I don't have a name."

There was a moment of silence.

Tin broke it this time. "How would you like a name?"
"How would I ever remember it? I have a journal, but I can't read or write!"
She smiled. "We'll remember it for you."

"How about . . . Dameon?" Tin said.
"Sounds interesting," said Rikku.
"Sounds good," said the boy.
"Now," continued Tin, "What was your parent's last name?"
"I never met my parents."
". . . okay then. Choose between Mallows and Danles."
"Mallows, Danles . . . Mallows, Danles . . ."
"How about Danlow, or Mallow-Danles?"

Rikku objected that Danles was a drow name, and she didn't want a drow hunting party after the boy. But, nevertheless, the boy chose 'Mallow-Danles' as his last name.

"As of now, I am Dameon Danlow Mallow-Danles."


Eventually Rikku had to leave, and Tin asked, "Do you have that knife from last night?"

"I'll be right back," he said, and about a minute later he came back with the knife."

"How would you like to fight?"
"You mean like the guards fought the goblins?"
"Yes."
"Yes! I want to learn how to fight!"