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*doesn't speak, just curls up beside him*

*puts his arm around Julian, tugging him close*

What do ye remember about him?

*rests his head on Leo's shoulder, quiet for a moment*

His name was Lucien. At least that is the name he gave. I remember he was very tall. To me he seemed like a giant, sitting astride his black horse. His clothes were all black as well, and his eyes were piercing blue. When he looked at me, it was if he was looking through me.

He was a highwayman on the road to Paris. That is where he found me.

Did he take ye there or did ye go with him elsewhere?

Non. He did not take me there. He...

*pauses and looks up at Leo*

Perhaps I should tell you how my journey began. Perhaps it will help us both to understand where it led.

*rests his head against Leo's shoulder again, one hand toying with the hem of his shirt*

Mama and Papa did not want me to go, but I was nineteen and finished with school, and I wanted to see the world. Well, Paris. All my life I had dreamed of it, the City of Light. I wanted to walk her streets, I wanted to see the museums and cathedrals. I thought perhaps I could even attend university there. They tried to talk me out of it, but I would not listen. Finally they relented and I set off on my journey.

I had been saving my money for a long time, earning a few francs here and there, doing small jobs for the priest and some others in the village. Mama had packed me some food, too. I cannot tell you how I felt that morning, Leo. I felt...invincible, like I could do anything. Like the whole world was laid out before me, just waiting to be discovered. It was as if my feet barely touched the ground. I was young. I was going to Paris.

*sighs*

Sadly, it was not long before trouble found me. I had been journeying about a day, and had passed the neighboring villages. I began to see new villages, and towns unfamiliar to me. I stayed on the main road, thinking that was the safer means of passage. But no sooner had I passed by one of the towns than two robbers beset me, and held a knife to my throat. They took my money and the little food I had left. They even took the little knife I had with me, should I chance to do some hunting. I was frightened, and in great despair at losing the only means I had, but I was fair grateful that they did not kill me.

*hesitates*

I should have gone home then. But I could not bring myself to do it, to go back to Mama and Papa like a scared little boy. To give up my dream and never see Paris. I was determined to go on, no matter what. So I continued down the road, with nothing in my pockets. It seems foolish now, I know, but then, I was headstrong and full of bravado, and sure that I could find a means to survive if only I tried hard enough.

Edited 2008-02-16 22:40 (UTC)

*gives him a little squeeze, kissing the top of his head*

Ye did what any young person would do. And the world did to ye what it often does to young people.

*strokes the boy's arm gently*

How scared ye must of been, but how brave.

*closes his eyes and smiles*

Oui, I was scared. But how different I was then. How...naïve. I had been sheltered and protected my whole life, by my parents, by the Church. To me the world was a good and bountiful place, a place where a boy like me could do anything, if he was good and dutiful and worked hard.

I wonder now. Was I brave? Or just a silly little boy who had no idea how cruel the world could be? Even after the robbers took everything I had, I still believed everything would be all right. My belly was as empty as my pockets, but it was merely an obstacle to be overcome. After all, I was unhurt, was I not? Surely I could find a day's work in one of the villages, or some kindly lady who might be willing to give a crust of bread to a hungry traveler. I was so innocent then. I simply did not believe anything bad could happen to me.

*sighs and holds on to Leo a little tighter*

I was so wrong.

Edited 2008-02-16 23:31 (UTC)

*kisses his forehead and rubs behind his ear soothingly* No wronger than any other nineteen year old.

Where did ye go with the man?

Julian closes his eyes. He does not like to think about that time, but it feels right, talking about this with him. Julian owes him that much, that he should know the story of how his childe came into this dark world.

"I continued on my adventure, for that is what it was to me. An adventure, a game. I was sure I was clever enough to find my way to Paris, with a full belly and coins in my purse besides."

He smiles, oddly touched at this ghostly memory of his living self, this cocky boy setting out to claim the world for his own.

"I do not know how long I walked. The road stretched out far in front of me, and far behind. I had gone too far now to turn around, even when I got so hungry that I began to consider it. I stopped in every village I came to, but there was little enough work for the villagers themselves, let alone for a stranger. I approached a lady outside her home, to see if I could perhaps sweep her yard or carry in some wood in exchange for a bit of bread, but she chased me away with a broom."

He pauses and shakes his head.

"Things were good in my village, but...it seemed the further along I traveled, the more I discovered how fortunate we had been. The villages here were poor, and had nothing to spare. Even the priests in the churches turned me away with a sad look and a blessing. By the second night, the gnawing in my belly was such that I was becoming desperate. I saw a hare sitting by the edge of the forest and took chase, determined to catch it. I had no knife, no way to gut or skin it, but I was so hungry I did not care. I would catch it first, and then figure out the rest. It hopped into the woods and I ran after it. I ran and ran until I was exhausted, but only managed to lose it, and myself."

He sighs, a little embarrassed at getting himself into such a mess.

"I found myself lost in the forest, with no idea how to get back to the main road."

Leo is put in the mind of Dante in the beginning of the Divine Comedy, lost in the woods, gone astray from the path of normal life, unaware how close he is to the entrance to Hell. He closes his eyes from the pain of it, but continues to touch Julian comfortingly.

'What did ye do?'

"I wandered through the woods, hoping to find a way out, but only managed to get myself even more hopelessly lost," Julian replied glumly. "Night fell, and the woods were dark and cold around me. I stumbled across a mighty oak tree and decided to stop there for the night. I made a bed of leaves between the roots and curled up in a ball, shivering and feeling sorry for myself. I kept telling myself I only needed wait til morning, that as soon as the sun came up I would surely find my way back to the road, but I was much disheartened." He looks away, his cheeks growing pink as he confesses. "I cried myself to sleep."

He curls up closer to Leo, resting his head on Leo's shoulder again.

"I do not know how long I slept, or what caused me to awaken. Gradually, I became aware of something, a strange feeling, like I was being watched. I opened my eyes and for a moment, I thought I was dreaming." He shivers at the memory. "There was a horse standing over me, and a man astride him. The horse was black and its eyes flashed in the moonlight. Its hooves were huge and deadly-looking and it stamped them upon the ground, very close to where I lay. The man was also in black, entirely, from boots to trousers to cape. He had black hair tied back with a black ribbon, and his eyes were piercing blue. From where I lay crouched in the leaves, the two of them together looked twenty feet high."

Julian shakes his head, clutching on to Leo's shirt.

"I was never so terrified in my life. For a moment, I couldn't move at all, and then I was scrambling to my feet and running as fast as I could. It was a half-moon that night, and I could barely see, but I ran, stumbling, with no thought save that of getting away with my life. He was a highwayman, you see. I knew it the moment I saw him, and I was sure he would catch me and slit my throat when he found I had no valuables to steal. I ran and ran, gasping, my heart pounding, desperate to escape. I could hear the hoofbeats behind me. They were close and getting closer, shaking the very earth under my feet. He came up beside me and I tried to swerve to the right, find a path through the trees too narrow for them to follow, but I wasn't fast enough. He reached down and grabbed me by the collar, then swung me up on his horse and galloped away with me."

Edited 2008-03-09 00:24 (UTC)