"Please --- don't ---- leave---"

Trustar was back at her side, hesitant about what to do. "Amy I think you should sit up, but I don't know, I don't know what to do."

With his help she slowly rose and leaned against his side, while he held her weight with his shoulder. Her breath was still uneven and the sharp intakes of air were not helping the pains in her side. "Amy, you have to calm down." He held her firmly and counted when she breathed in and then out. Slowly it returned to normal, even though the pain was still there it was easier to manage now that she wasn't close to histerics. 

"Better?"

"Yes, I think I can stand."

"I can go get someone to-"

"No. I'll manage."

Amoura tried not to cry out in pain, tried to be brave and not let Trustar think she was weak, but her side was on fire. Every time she tried to breath a searing pain ripped through her broken ribs. Unable to hold it in, she let a heavy sob escape but it only made the pain worse. Trustar was suddenly at her side. 

"Amoura!" He hovered above her, unsure of what to do. She was loosing control of her breathing, letting it become more desperate and faster, a panic rose inside her mind. Pain was taking over rationality. There was a hand on her back. 

"Amoura, listen to me, I think you should take some deep breaths."

her eyes shut tight, she tried to master the sobs coming out, but to no avail. Between gulping down air, she tried to tell him she couldn't. 

"I'm going to go get help, I'll be right back don't worry." But before he could stand from where he was kneeling beside her, she had managed to grab his arm and shake her head. The thought of being alone was unbearable. 

yes, I am aware that I have shifted from first person to omniscient narration.

"Hurry up!"

" You wait for me, I'm not as fast as you! It isn't fair!"

Frustrated, Amoura pulled her skirts up higher over her heavy boots and tried to catch up to Trustar, who was impossibly ahead on the path. The sun shone high in the sky though the wind still carried a chill with it and blew through her thin coat making her shiver. The grass was starting to turn from dull brown to a bland green and would be bright emerald in a few weeks time. The last of the snow mounds had melted away the last week, and the ground was still hard in some places, muddy and soft in others. Rocks dotted the landscape, and Trustar climbed a large boulder while he waited for Amoura. Though only slightly over six feet, it was an effort for this ten year old self to reach the top of the small stone structure. When he did, he took some great gulps of air and stood proudly with his hands on his hips, looking out over the taller mountains as if he had conquered them all. Finally Amoura drew near. 

"Took you long enough, I've been waiting for ages." Trustar said down to her. 

Amoura started climbing the rocks to reach him and prove herself, but her legs were restricted by her dress and she found it harder to find footholds. More than once she slipped and caught her breath in a gasp. 

Though they were the same height, Amoura maybe even slightly taller, Trustar was the more powerful and when they went out playing in the hills like now, he always lead the way. Amoura didn't mind that so much, as long as he didn't make her feel too inadequate. 

"Here." And he offered her his hand for the last push to the top to join him. Amoura dusted off her hands and both of them turned to look out across the mountains. 

"Makes you feel like you're standing at the edge of the world, doesn't it?"

There was something about looking out over the sheer expanse of land and feeling so small. It could be very overwhelming unless there was someone there beside you. 

"I like it." Amoura said boldly, trying to sound like nothing could scare her. "it makes me feel as though I could do anything. As though anything were possible, even flying."

"I suppose so." They stood there for a minute in silence, thinking different thoughts. 

"Come on, let's go up there." Trustar pointed to point not far up the mountain where there was a place to look out over the valley where their town resided. 

The way down was slippery on the other side, more of the rocks had come loose and though Trustar hopped nimbly down in a matter of leaps, Amoura hesitated before take her steps. Halfway down she tried to go faster, lest Trustar get impatient again and go on without her. 

In her haste, she put her foot down on a rock that shifted under her weight, and lost her balance. Rolling down the hill, she went out of control, past Trustar and straight into a sharp rock half buried in the ground, breaking two ribs. 

He has left me

Trustar falls to the ground as soon as the words have left his lips. A final breath, his eyes close and he crumples to the earth. As it sinks in that I have looked at his face alive for the last time, the ground vanishes beneath me. I feel like I can join him on this new level of life he has gone to, but I cannot follow. And I know this. 

They will tell me later that my father ran forward to catch me before I fell. That I wanted to stay with Trustar, but they would not let me touch the body. I did not scream, I barely wept, I don't remember any of this. They lead me silently back down the aisle and guided me home. Throughout the carriage ride and the people starring as I went past, I think I can recall wondering where he had gone. I was angry at one point, for he had left me when he had no right to. Hadn't he promised he would be there always? And now he was gone forever and what was I supposed to do? There would always be this hole in my center, in my soul, where he should have been. 

I remember realizing I was starting to grieve, just as my mother lead me into the house. It so happens the moment I crossed the threshold I came to understand the full impact of what had happened and I stopped being angry and confused and this overwhelming wave of sadness and loss ripples through me. I can't breath at first, I can't think any thoughts other than intense loss. So many things will change forever and I have no control. I panic and still can't breath, but my mother takes my hands in hers and makes me look at her. 

"Amoura." She says sternly but gently. "You will survive this my love. I know you feel as though you cannot continue without him, but you will. You will survive for him. You have to. I'm so sorry."

Her voice breaks and I sink into despair. 

I stay in that state for 2 years. 

The First Meeting

In the beginning there was a boy and a girl of a young age. Though they were not by any means the richest people in the land, they lived comfortably and their income came from their families hard work. Both born in the same small village where their ancestors had once lived, they became friends when they were only 3 years old, when Trustar was learning to talk and Amoura was still quiet.

Their respective families were at the market with the rest of the town in the early morning and it was Amoura's first time at the busy stalls. At first she was frightened of all the people and the creatures making so much noise, there was too much going on and she was used to small numbers of people she was familiar with, not large crowds of strangers. As she felt her heart quicken with panic, her mother drew her close and explained that these were her friends and not strangers. There was her neighbour, Mrs.Harvey, with her flower stall. Amoura recognized the bright blossoms that ran along the border of their property with hers, and the aroma was calming. Mrs.Harvey smiled and put a daisy in Amoura's small hand.
"What do you say honey?" But Amoura stayed silent and looked at her flower with deep interest. Her mother sighed.
"I'm sorry she's still not speaking. I don't know what else to do."
"Think nothing of it Rosa, she's still a sweet little thing. I'm sure any day now she'll just start chirping like a bird and you'll think back to this wistfully."
" I hope you're right." And she thanked Mrs.Harvey for the flower and took Amoura back to their own stall where her father was selling their cloth. Her father was wrapping a large bolt of wool in a deep indigo for the old Mr. Yew, who Amoura also recognized because he had helped her father with an ill sheep last month. He was a kind man whose eyes crinkled when he smiled, just as he was now looking down at Amoura. She regarded him warily, but then couldn't help but smile.
"Oh little lady, what have you got there?"
Amoura held out the daisy to him, and he leaned down to sniff it. "Very pretty. Here darling, such pretty things should go together." And he took the flower and gently placed it in her hair. "Lovely. Thanks Nathan, I'll see you next week then."
Amoura waited patiently on a overturned crate as her mother and father tended to the small stall and their customers, swinging her small legs over the edge of the wooden box and watching the people go by. Finally her father had a free moment. He came over and picked her up, " hello my flower. I have someone I want you to meet. Rosa, I'm going to go introduce her to the Depinds youngest, I don't believe they've met yet."
Her mother was folding cotton. "Try and get her to speak Nathan. I still haven't heard her say a word."
Her father carried her away through the tall stalls full of different smells and colours. "You take your time love," he said gently so only she could hear. "I know you'll be ready soon enough, maybe you'll find you like this fellow enough to say hello? He's your age and I've seen him here a few times now. His parents run the vegtable stand up here. Hello Jacob, how is the business today? I've brought my daughter who is looking for a friend, I wonder if you can help me?"
Jacob returned the knowing smile and called out a small boy from behind the back of a stack of crates. The boy had dark hair and dark eyes lined with thick lashes. He was friendly and immediatly said hello in an older tone and manner than was expected for his age. When Amoura's father set her down in front of her, they were the same height.