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I run.
I’m always running.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop.
I was born, and shortly after, I started walking. As soon as I was walking, I was running. Always running. From my mother and my father and my brothers. I would only sit quietly when my brother was singing. Not the polished melodies, but when he was trying new ones. But even then, I got bored soon. I was always too fast, I outran everyone I loved.
Then I met Him. My lord. The Huntsman. He was fast, faster than I was. I learned what it was like to be left behind. He is faster than anyone. But even then, I was still too quick. Too quick to swear an oath, too quick to follow my father and brothers. Too quick. And I never regretted it. I am the fastest. None can keep up. It was foolish to hope. And so we set sail.
I met them, on the new shores. She, with hair like the starry nightsky. Her voice was like nothing I had ever heard before. She sang wild songs, of nature, of the winds, of the hunt, and she danced when she sang. Hair loose, dress flowing, unafraid, unpolished when it was just the three of us, and I was quiet and still, for the first time in my life. And he, oh, he was too quick. He loved her, like I did, and he loved me, like she did. Together we danced to her voice, following her dance. He and I could speak together. We ran together, the three of us, hunting and being hunted, running, no trace of fear in our hearts. They were not too fast, nor too slow. I was not too quick for them, but I was too slow. Too slow to fulfill my oath, and I was called away, and they were so quick, so quick like a crashing wave, building and building and building and building and then they were gone, only the memories left behind in the wet sand. I was too slow.
I was too slow to outrun Him. He took me, and my mind was quick, too quick, too eager, and He took my memories from me, and let me go without them. And I went, and followed the call, followed it to my brothers, and I could not stop them, because I knew not why I should have, and so we rode out, faster and faster and faster, too quick for them, and we killed them, but we were too slow to avoid their swords and spears and arrows, and they killed us, too. I’m glad they did. I wish we had been slower. I killed him. I was too fast. I always told him to be faster. But he was too slow. And I killed him. My child. My son.
There was an eternity of silence, then. I was quiet. Not slow, not quick. I just was. I could not be anything else. I was there to heal, but there was nothing to be healed. Something had been torn from me, and I don’t know if I did so myself or if He did. Maybe they did. I don’t know. They let me go, because there was no more healing to be found. And I ran again. This time, on my own. Because I once had them, and we ran together, and we were not too quick, nor too slow, until I was. So I ran alone. I ran and ran and ran, the days all the same, and I got to know the forests of my youth again. There was no one by my side. I ran and ran and ran, and I did not see anyone. I saw no one. I was alone. I did not rest. I was not still. I ran and ran and ran and ran, the days all the same.
Then a new day came. We fought. And fought. And fought. I did not tire. I could not tire. I ran far, Before, and I did not tire now, on this new day. We fought. And then it was over, and a new world was Sung. And I ran, again. Through the forests and beyond. I ran and ran and ran, still alone. There was no one by my side. Until there was. She was there. He was there. They were dare. We ran together, hunting and hunted. I was afraid, so I ran, almost too quick, but they were quick enough, and she knew those lands better than I. I ran, and they chased, until I was trapped between them, and he sat me down, and she started dancing, never tiring. She danced and sang and danced and sang, and I was still again. My heart was settled again. And he took my hands, and we danced again, to her song, following her dance, we danced until we tired, for days and nights and days and nights, until we fell in eachother’s arms.
They held me.
I was still.
I stopped running on my own.
They were by my side again.