by M E Wolf
Just any name would not do and she would have a name like no other, but how could she get a name like no other when she knew no names. Puzzled and in despair of what name she could rightfully have, she continued to dream. More days and nights passed while she continued to dream. The lagoon sustained her while she slept, she was in need of nothing but maybe wakefulness and contentment. She dreamed of a very tall man with angelic wings that could help others come into wings. In a way she felt kinship with the man.
Understand this kinship, she did not. Another dream, she dreamed of two men who were brothers and two women who were not sisters. One of the men carried the weight of many ancient things and the other had the burden of being a warrior that would protect his brother and the ancient things. Books that could not be read by any of this time, but for some reason she knew that she could read them. Why she could read them, she did not know? Of the two women, the taller was a renowned gladiator and the shorter was all shadow and no shadow.
They loved the men, but were not sure of each other. Alexandra felt kinship with the taller woman, another thing that she did not know. The knowing of the not knowing was not getting her curious, but it was puzzling her. For some unknown reason the name Jintari surfaced in her dreams. In one dream she was sipping green tea with her legs crossed. Her hair was the same black that she had now and the same length, down to her waist. It was tied loosely at the base of her skull and wrapped around into a bun with what appeared to be two chop sticks sticking out.
The gown she wore had symbols on the chest and hem of the sleeves and bottom of the gown, two reddish gold dragons coiled like serpents down each arm of the gown. Jintari’s gown was black and the symbols were a jade green. In another dream she wore the same gown, her hair was done the same way and three swords were scabbarded and attached to her belt. She understood that the swords were called katana, wakasashi and tanto. The katana was long and curved and the longest of the swords that she had. Short and straight was the blade of the wakasashi and was longer than the tanto, but shorter than the katana.
Very small and sharp was the tanto it being the shortest of the three swords. It could be very possible to throw it, but then again anything could be thrown if one had great enough skill to do so. In her dreams she spent a great deal with instructors in the use of the three swords as well as other weapons were taught to her. Jintari learned to use her mind most when she was being taught until finally after many dreams of training that would probably cover countless years in training, but only took a few weeks of the time she was sleeping by the lagoon.
For some reason the lagoon had known that she would need this to sustain her, and give her confidence. It was not her own mind, therefore, that gave her the name of Jintari, but the lagoon. When Jintari had finally awoke from the long dream filled sleep by the side of the lagoon she was well rested and was dressed the same way that her dreams had dressed her. She now wore the gown from her dream, the symbols she understood as a language now. The weapons were now hers and her hair was done up in the fashion of the dream and her muscles were harder than when she had lay down or more like slipped into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
Jintari’s stomach growled and she knew that she should find something to eat, but there was a table nearby with fruits and meat and some mulled wine. There was no tea, she wondered why. Upon sitting at the table Jintari noticed that the man who had instructed her in her dream was sitting at the only other chair at the table. He motioned for her to eat and drink.
They took their time and ate in silence. She noted that the food was fairly good and that she could not remember having as good as what she just had eaten. The wine was of moderate quality, but she did not complain since she never had any other wine anyway before or at least could not remember having any wine before.
After both of them were done eating he spoke,
“Hello, Jintari. I am the keeper of this here lagoon.”
He made a sweeping motion with his hands to encompass the entire area around the lagoon.
“My name is Sendori. Myself, and the lagoon, and the others are aware that you do not remember anything of your past. In time you will remember what you need to know when you need to know it.
“For now you must journey to a far away place to sing and dance and play. Do not worry, I will be with you always in your dreams to teach you as you go about your journey.
“You will be taught many songs, many dances and how to play the guitar and many other instruments, but mostly the guitar. This guitar.”
Sendori handed Jintari a six stringed guitar.
“You will have to travel in more travel worthy clothing than the gown that we have given you. Here take these, you may think that they are funny, but at least you will be able to travel in them easier than what you have on right now.”
He handed Jintari a brown leather skirt that went only as low as her mid-thigh, a pair of brown leather boots that were made of hard leather up to the knee and soft leather up to mid-thigh, a brown leather shirt that barely reached the top of the skirt with no sleeves and a low neckline that nearly showed her cleavage, a brown hard leather jacket that had extensions on the sleeves that protected the back of the hands while keeping the palm of the hand free, a pair of brown leather gloves further protected her hands and a thick brown leather hooded cloak that reached the ground.
Sendori turned around so that Jintari could put these things on and then strap her weapons on. She had to sling her guitar over her shoulder and onto her back. It too was protected by an old brown leather case. He gave her a small sack of food and a small money pouch with a few coins and before he sent her on her way said some more words.
“The place that you must be is an inn of sorts. It is known as Goblin Carcass. Jintari, you will meet someone there that will be able to help you, and you in turn can help them.
“Their name is Thorinjian. We are not sure what he looks like at this moment, but he should be going to the Goblin Carcass soon and he will react to your songs and have visions. Off you go, time is of the essence here.”
Jintari was pointed in the direction that she was supposed to go. It would take her a few days to get there and she did not have enough food to complete her journey. Sendori suggested that she sing and play her guitar for some food and somewhere to sleep. He said that she could always hunt for food and gave her a small hunting bow and a few arrows. The bow felt natural in her hands, but she had no idea how good it would prove in her hunt for food when she did not remember ever using a bow.
After a few hours she did not see the lagoon anymore and could not remember for the life of her where it was or how to get back to it. On her way to her destination she had seen very little signs of life besides the occasional squirrel, deer, moose, fox, badger or any other animal that passed over the forest road that she traveled on that was more like a trail than a road. Trees hung over the road and it looked as though a wagon could pass through on the road, if only at a very slow pace as the tree branches would scratch and worry at the wagons as they passed through.
CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
She occasionally was scratched by a tree branch or a small bush would catch on her clothes making small incisions that would eventually make them unwearable. By the time that she came across a field that had corn stalks halfway through their growth, her boots were well broken in and nearly worn to unwearableness. It was a day and a half since she had anything to eat or drink, but she refrained from stealing a piece of the far from ripe corn preferring to earn what food or drink she could get from the farmer of such a crop.
Further along the forest road she could barely see an old farmhouse just over the horizon. It felt like she took forever to get to the farmhouse and the journey from the corn field to the farmhouse had made her more tired and hungrier, but with more hope. She was too tired to run to the farmhouse, so she just walked over to it. Jintari slowly walked up the worn grey steps leading to the porch and finally to an old grey wooden door and knocked on
the wood with the brass knocker. An old woman answered the door and quickly invited her in.
The old woman looked ancient, like she was way too old to be tending to the needs of a farm. There were no children and no men in the house and this, for some reason, puzzled Jintari. She had never been to a farm as far as she knew and did not understand the workings of a farm so maybe an old woman tending it that was more than sixty and younger than eighty was right for a farm. Jintari was obviously confused by this situation. A worn apron, dress with long faded blue flowers, old slippers nearly ready to be thrown out and it all seemed right when this old woman wore it.
Her hair was grey, nearly white and done up in a beehive even though Jintari did not understand how the word beehive could relate to hair that is the only way that she could understand it. It all seemed extremely weird to her. She was lead to an old beaten up wooden table that looked as old as the old woman and her clothes. The chair that she sat in creaked as though it could break and send her to the floor at any moment, but she knew that it would not.
How could a chair break with her only four feet of height and only seventy five pounds of weight? She could not puzzle that out at all and set her pack and weapons belt with weapons on the hardwood floor. Her guitar she leaned against the table. Just as the old woman sat on a chair next to Jintari, a servant came in with a tray of fresh fruit that included grapes, apples, bananas, pears and oranges, some yellowed cheddar cheese, a huge slab of fresh baked bread, a couple of small pieces of jerked beef and a jug of lightly spiced apple cider. He placed these on the table close to Jintari and the old woman.
Silence was welcomed as both of them sat and savoured the food set before them. Jintari noticed the various aromas that were assailing her nose and making her mouth water with anticipation. The tangy taste of the cheese smothered with the rich taste of freshly churned butter melting in the arms of the fresh baked bread made her savour every single bite that she took and almost made her forget where she was and what her purpose was to be. Chasing down the cheese, butter and bread in a slight haste with the spiced apple cider caused giddiness as she did not realize that she drank more apple cider than she had eaten food.
A dizziness nearly overwhelmed her as the blood in her body rushed to her brain, and she became truly drunk. How could she allow herself to get drunk when there was so much on her shoulders to complete and save this world? Realizing that that was what had made her drink excessively she did not care that she was drunk anymore only that happiness overwhelmed her. Her clothes were lying on the floor and she danced joyously on the table without a care in the world, living free and naked. Naked, she was naked.
Oh my, she thought, why am I naked and carrying on like a hussy or heathen? What was I before now? I sure hope that I was not a barroom dancer bent on pleasing men with my body and other tasteless favours. What was it that that old man had said? Oh no he said that I was to sing for a man that would react to my songs in vision. It was then that she had cried and collapsed onto the table in exhaustion because she did not realize that she had had the guitar and played it while she danced singing a song that she did not know.
The old woman picked Jintari up, and cradled her in her arms as though she was but a babe just old enough to be out of the crib. After-all she was a tiny woman and easily comforted the way one would comfort a small little child. She was as ancient as the caretaker of the lagoon and did not realize that the food and drink that she had given Jintari would have had such an effect on her. Small she was and the old woman should have realized that her constitution was not meant to handle so much drink and it was an honest mistake that anyone could have made considering it was only spiced apple cider that she had drunk after all.
She was an old woman and she even sniffed the spiced apple cider in her glass, OOPS she thought, it was actually brandy, and not apple cider. That certainly would have made anyone drunk and she then giggled to herself realizing that she too was slightly drunk from the drink. She called the servant and he quickly helped the old woman carry Jintari upstairs to a warm room where Jintari could slip into sleep undisturbed under a thick comforter. She tucked her in and brought Jintari's things up to Jintari’s room and then went to her own room to sleep off the effects of the brandy.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Jintari dreamed. She dreamed of herself and of Sendori. The old woman from the farmhouse was there as well. Holding her guitar, Jintari began to play and to sing. Song after song was sung and she truly did enjoy herself, but for some reason she did not enjoy herself as much as she had enjoyed herself when she was drunk and dancing naked on the old table. What was happening to her that she needed to drink to enjoy herself?
Maybe her joy was not in drinking to stupefy her mind into joyousness, but being free and naked. Yes, to run naked in the meadows and forests and she would be happy and joyous, more happy than she had ever been. Without prompting, without alcohol she discarded her clothes in the dream and ran through the meadows, streams and forests naked and free from all restraints. Let everyone see her as she was, she had nothing to hide and had no worries with regards to her nakedness because she was happy and free.
She sang with all of her heart and played her guitar as best as she could while she ran everywhere and enjoyed her freedom. Sendori and the old woman paid it no mind and just figured that her drunkenness just continued from the waking world and into the dream world. When she awoke the next morning or mid-afternoon her head felt like someone was inside it trying to get out with the biggest sledge hammer pounding every few seconds from the inside of her skull.
The sun was too bright and she could barely keep her eyes open as it burned itself into her head and made her head hurt worse than it already did. She was still naked and was very tired and her muscles ached with every movement whether she moved a finger, arm or leg all of her muscles hurt like she spent the whole night running everywhere in a drunken stupor. She was eternally grateful that her virginity was still intact despite herself remembering that she wanted to be with a man in her dreams and in the waking world when she was drunk.
Her heart was telling her that she did not need a man and only running around naked would give her the freedom that she craved and for some reason she shivered at the thought of a man touching her in an intimate way, a way she realized she did not desire. Jintari only wanted to be held and not fondled or used for once in her life. Thoughts came to her unbidden of a time when men misused her and entered her with their members repeatedly or the memory was of an event that appeared to be forced sex and it was then that she cried.
With scattered memories of the events she was not sure if they were sexual assaults or forced sex attempts, so to her they were violations of her body and thus she hid under the blankets in hopes that they would protect the innocence that she knew was her second chance. To Jintari her innocence was lost once to so much abuse by the men that could never change. How was she supposed to help the man Sendori told her about, Thorinjian, when she could not stand being near a man again? To most she must have seemed like a child considering the fact that she was only four feet tall and everyone was so much bigger than her.
The difference between a four foot tall person and a six foot tall person was phenomenal and one was considered to be almost a giant while the other nearly a midget. Being only four feet tall and weighing roughly seventy five pounds did have its benefits, it was definitely easier to hide and easier to climb and usually a four foot tall person was faster and nimbler than a six foot tall person. Jintari was really fast even though she did lack in some strength she made up for it in her skills, which kept growing to her surprise.
Even after Sendori had finished training her in the sword, Jintari’s skills increased as though her training continued. She recently realized that it was a result of some of her memories of past training before she came to this world that continued enlightening her mind and making her a better warrior. If that was not all, her singing and guitar playing abilities were increasing as Sendori and the old
woman were training her.
She never did have any memories surface regarding singing or instrument playing and it did not occur to her that it was because she never did any singing or instrument playing before and truly would not have any memories of it. Jintari did not know how long she wallowed in bed not wanting to get up yet because she was not sure if her brain or her body would work as she was still very tired and sore from the previous night’s activities. The old woman came into her room and handed Jintari her clothes, the robe with the symbols on it and her weapons belt. She reluctantly got up braving the sun in her eyes and let the old woman help her into the robe.
Instead of putting the weapons belt on she tied the robe with a thick corrugated sun dried rope around her waist. So, she just had the robe and rope on and nothing else even though the robe was nearly see through when the wind blew it close to her sleek slightly muscular form.
CHAPTER SIXTY ONE
Today the old woman took Jintari out to the garden. It was a relatively large garden and Jintari was shown the rows and rows of ripe red tomatoes, rows and rows of all different kinds of squashes that included peppercorn, acorn, butternut and various others of many vibrant colours and yellows and greens that she had never encountered before. There were also strawberry bushes, not the small green stemmed variety but the tall tree like wild variety that spread and grew in every direction, raspberries, blueberries, black berries and various other berries spread out as far as the eye could see.