I sat back in my chair, thinking that if no one came by before noon I would make a trip to the village and sell my goods to a merchant. It had been quite a while since I made good income. The village had no need for my services when times were good. As I closed my eyes, there was a sharp knock on the front door.

“It’s open,” I shouted. In stumbled a human male, about a head taller than I, who wore a peculiar green cloak. His steps were uneven, and he grunted as he walked.

“I’ll take your cloak for you, if you’d like.”

He nodded, and I followed through with my offer. As suspected, he was wounded. The middle of his torso had a short, horizontal gash. It was common to have injured travelers in my home, and had been even while Flora and Mum were alive. I acted calmly as I sat him down on a seat next to the fireplace. His breathing was ragged. Upon closer inspection - made possible by the removal of his leather jerkin and under shirt - I recognized the gash as the doing of a wildcat. I gave him a stern look. He was still bleeding.

“Duill, fetch me the yarrow and something to drink. Lemongrass tea will do if we have it on hand.”

Duill obeyed, quickly bringing what I requested. I held eye contact with the man, making sure he didn’t fade from blood loss or get too distracted by the Fae that were running amok. I began chewing the yarrow, and helped the man drink the tea. It went down easily, but not without a slightly disgusted look from him. I supposed he wasn’t much of a tea drinker.

Pressing the chewed yarrow to the wound, I struck up conversation. He spoke with a different accent than I was used to, something more southern. He explained he was a traveler, and that his journey had been relatively safe until he climbed the plateau.

“That’s what most people say,” I smirked.

“How about you,” He asked, “How long have you lived here?”

I scratched my head, “About twenty-five years.”

Suddenly he looked alarmed, and I smiled. From my own assessment, I could tell this man was somewhere just over twenty. Inexperienced with traveling, perhaps, but I could plainly see the trouble he had gone through on his face. He wasn’t one unfamiliar with emotional quarrel. He closed his eyes, accepting the surprise.

“So, traveler, what’s your name?”

His eyes popped open again and met mine. It was an innocent question, but his gaze hardened.

“I could ask you the same.”

I bowed my head and ripped cloth for a bandage using my teeth before responding as I wrapped his wound.

“My name is Fawn.”

Saying it so willingly caught him off guard.

“Call me Gavin.”

I tied off the bandage with a sharp tug, and nodded at my work. I hadn’t noticed it before, but he was quite muscular. He nodded his thanks and tried to stand too quickly, grunting and falling back into the chair.

“Well, Gavin, it seems you’ll be keeping me company. At least until you’re healed, which should only take this evening.”

He shrugged carefully.

“Thank you for this, Fawn.”

I realized the House Elves were standing with wide mouths, and gave them a questioning look. Alarmed, they got back to their daily dawdle. This was certainly going to be interesting. I wondered why he didn’t comment on them.

Sitting to begin my work, he questioned what I was doing.

“Whittling. I’ve done it since I was just a small boy, and I’ve gotten quite good at it over the years. This’ll be for you, if you’d like. Free of charge.”

“I’d appreciate that, but you don’t have to.”

I ignored that last bit and got to work. I had the sudden feeling that this was the beginning of something grand.

Soon enough, Gavin fell asleep. He would need the rest, and it saved me the trouble of having to prepare anything for him to eat yet. I instructed the House Elves and Broonies to quietly go about their usual business. Most of them understood and respected my orders. The others I bribed, saying there would be a few extra pence in it for them if they obeyed. I heard nothing out of them after that.

As for my whittling, I carefully carved runes Flora had taught me. Three for luck, two for earthly protection, and one for truth of heart and peace of mind. The last was a symbol special to me, one I connected with Flora. The symbol of a leaf in the shape of a heart.

I strung the trinket onto a necklace, and set it next to Gavin. Usually I wasn’t concerned with whether clients liked the design of my trinkets, but I hoped he did. I planned to walk him to the village, and possibly show him around. I needed to go anyway, as I was running low on food and craving fresh baked bread.

For the time being, I went to sit outside. I did this at least once or twice daily, to make sure never to forget where I had come from. Nature, like any other, like anything else. I was nothing more than a fleeting breeze across the face of this land. I wanted nothing more than to live as such. To grow old, with skin akin to bark on a tree. Taking up not even a hair’s width of this immortal world’s history. It gave me a sense of peace, knowing all would continue without me, just as it had before. My only job was to experience, as Fawn, the playful toil of existence.