I looked at him better. In the dark I couldn't make out the colors, but I could see the shapes. He had a slim build and was quite athletic. His hair was long but not too long - it reached just below his shoulders and was layered, straight. And he was naked. I was sure of that. He grabbed some clothes from a nearby rock and began to dress quickly, visibly annoyed. Then, when he was finally finished, he gave me his attention.

"Who are you?" he asked abruptly.

"It doesn't seem that important to me now... Argh!" I moved my leg without realizing it and my whole body shivered with pain.

"Whatever." he said, grabbed his things and started to leave.

"Gosh, help me! Have some empathy, damn it!" I shouted, dazed, and upon hearing my words he stopped. He looked at me for a moment. Maybe they had had the desired effect.

"Let me see." he approached me rudely "You broke it. Maybe next time avoid rolling down a cliff." he said, mocking me.

"Thank you so much for the advice, I'll take it into account." I answered sarcastically, overcome by pain. Really? Not even a word of comfort? Who did he think he was? He didn't know anything about what I had just been through. He had no right to talk to me like that. My gaze became more and more twisted. I thought back to my family. To what I had lost forever.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't have an easy day either."

With that, he picked up his things again, but this time, with his other arm, he carried me on his shoulder. It was unexpected. In the end he had decided to help me.

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen. You?" I said, while being shaken at every step and my voice affected by it.

"I'm older than you. That's enough."

"You're strong, I don't weigh that little. What do you do in life?"

"My strength has nothing to do with my job."

"So?"

"Maybe I'll tell you later. It's up to you."

"All right. Everyone has secrets. I'm Nina."

"Jill."

What a strange name, I thought. Unusual, but fitting.

With that the conversation ended, because I didn't know what else to say and he didn't seem particularly inclined to talk. The pain was excruciating, I had never felt anything so horrible. I felt it everywhere. With every movement it tore me from head to toe. I had hurt myself in the past, yes, but never like that.

And so, distraught by the events that had just happened and by the pain, I passed out.

-

When I woke up I was in a different, unfamiliar place. It looked like a tent, but the colors were reminiscent of a circus. There was a strange smell. Floral, I think. But despite my great experience in that field I didn't recognize it. My nose was twitching a little. More proof that I was no longer at home.

The light penetrated my eyelids. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was close to me. A lantern, perhaps.

I felt strange, lighter. My eyes opened with difficulty and my body was completely numb. I could hardly move. Then I felt a cold hand on my forehead and I moved suddenly, by reflex.

Mom?

"Stay still. I'm checking to see if you have a fever." he removed his hand "You're a little warm, but not enough to worry about, I'd say. I'm not a doctor, though."

My eyes, now open, followed his every movement. It wasn't my mother. It was him again, and now I could see him properly. He looked so new to me. Golden blond hair and dark blue, almost green eyes that reminded me of a pond. I had never seen such a beautiful boy. If I hadn't seen him naked just before, just by looking at his face, I would have thought he was a woman. Maybe he noticed the way I was looking at him, because he quickly walked away.

I shouldn't have done that, I felt guilty.

"I went to the doctor in the nearby village and asked for some strong medicine. You probably feel a little strange. It's the best I could do. I also wrapped a wooden board around your leg, but I don't know how much it will help. Like I said, I'm not a doctor." he said, his back turned as he poured some water from a jug "Here, drink."

"Thanks, I didn't expect you to do this much for me." I started drinking from the glass. It was water.

"Honestly - me neither."

I looked at him and, without wanting to, I got lost in his eyes once again. Wow, really. I could have swum in them, they were so deep. A nice distraction from everything I had just been through.

"You said a village. You mean Shae Village?"

"I think so... Yes, yes, that one. I'm not from around here."

Damn it. Dangerous. What if those guys saw me? Damn it.

"But we're not in the village, right? You didn't take me through it, did you?"

"No, no. We're outside. I just stopped by the closest doctor there was." he looked at me suspiciously "But why are you asking me these questions? Is it related to your fall?"

No way. He had already figured it out. I was astonished by his wit. He was not only handsome, but also intelligent. I wish I had had even half of his qualities. Maybe then my family would still have been with me at that moment.

"Yes." Stop it. I don't want to think about it again.

"You don't want to tell me anything else?"

"I just don't want to go back there ever again. I won't tell you more, I don't know anything about you. But I thank you for helping me. Really. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now rest, you'll need it."

So he sat down on the floor and took some papers. And he started to make marks on them.

I was curious, but also too tired, and so, once again, I fell asleep.

But my sleep was not peaceful.

I heard my mother's screams, I saw her body, then my father's, then Tin's. And then I ran and saw the fire and stumbled. I fell into Crusty's hiding place and heard my mother's screams. And the cycle repeated itself. My nightmare repeated itself.

Then I felt a jolt and the events began to blend together. The dream became more and more confusing. I no longer understood anything. Then I felt another jolt and my eyebrows began to furrow. Agh, what was happening? And then another, and I opened my eyes.

I was on his shoulder again.

I had already forgotten his name, the boy's, I mean. It started with a "J" I think... June? No... Jane? Neither. I couldn't remember, but I was sure it was a girl's name. Why did they call him that? His parents sure had strange tastes.

We were once again in a forest, but he was following a path. Where I lived, there were no beaten paths.

Oh, this was not my forest.

"Where are we? And where are we going?" I asked confused.

"To my next job. In another village. Those people never choose a permanent one."

"Those people?" I sighed in relief inside myself. At least I was far away from that place. Safe.

"Yes, them. They are all the same. Snobbish, respectable, gourmets. Call them what you want, but the truth is that they are just parasites."

"Who are you talking about?" I didn't know people like that. I knew about the existence of territorial and aggressive people, because I had always and only been around them, but I knew absolutely nothing about these people.

Enough. Thinking about the Village made me think of Mom. And Dad. And Tin.

"Are you serious?" he stopped, looking at me with disgust.

"...Yes."

I felt like I had committed some horrible crime.

"I'm talking about the Rich. You must have heard of them."

The Rich. What strange people they were, I had never had anything to do with them. They had very long names, too difficult to remember.

"Aaaah... I get it. I've never seen one though, I don't know anything about them. I only know that they live in huge houses and that they don't need to work to live."

"That's exactly why they're parasites. Think about it. What do they do to contribute to the future of this world?"

The question was difficult and I didn't have an answer. That wasn't my world, it didn't belong to me and that's why I couldn't judge it.

"Haaaa... Look at me carefully. What do you think my job could be? What could I possibly do?"

The question was difficult again. Who was there who worked for the Rich? And what about his appearance? It was supposed to be a clue, apparently. I tried to guess, but I knew nothing. I knew a few jobs and the one I knew best was wood. I didn't know about the value of appearance.

"I get it. Now I'll put you down." he sat me down with my back against the trunk of a tree and he placed himself in front of me. He was dressed differently from last time. A tight cream-colored shirt and brown pants. It suited him. There was something else new, too, that was shining in the sunlight.

Ah, in fact it was already the morning of the next day, and I hadn't even noticed.

"Look. Stop thinking about other things." he pointed to the shiny thing and crouched down in front of me. I saw it up close. It was some sort of necklace, with the face of a man in a strange hat in the center. Creepy.

"It's a clown. Haven't you ever seen one? They're the ones from the circus."

A circus? Again? Even the tent looked like one.

"No, I only saw a circus once when I was little. And only from a distance, I've never been in one."

He took another deep sigh. Stop sighing.

I wasn't very comfortable, but he had saved me, so I had to listen to him.

"Okay. Listen, just as I can tell that you're part of a peasant, fishermen, woodcutter or whatever family from your two braids, you can tell that I'm an Entertainer from this necklace. Period. I'm forced to wear it at all times."

Wait, what?

An Entertainer?

I'd never seen one in person. Mom had only told me about them. She had said that only very poor people did that job, and to never end up doing it. I didn't remember why though.

I tried to find out more.

"Sorry to ask, but what do you do exactly? You're the first one I've met."

He was surprised by my question, perhaps he hadn't expected so much ignorance. But he didn't move, he remained still in front of me, with one knee on the grass.

"You don't know?" he looked down at the grass "I sell my body to the Rich, whatever they ask for, it doesn't matter what it is. Singing, dancing, even theater. I can do everything and more."

I paused.

Ah, now I remembered.

The reason why Mom didn't want me to become an entertainer.

It was one of the most humiliating jobs out there.

Most of the time the requests weren't singing, dancing or theater, but entirely different. Intercourse. And that was why everyone else didn't think so highly of them. They were considered cowards, because they didn't do a "real" job.

Well, it wasn't actually a job. How can you call it a job? Anyone could do it. You don't need to hone any skills.

Yes, it's cowardly.

His face saddened for a second. But I saw it. I saw what he was trying to hide. And I, once again, felt guilty.

Sorry for calling you a coward just a second ago.

And just as quickly as his expression returned to neutral, he picked me up once more. And our path continued.