The white dust began to merge, creating rocks that one by one began to hit the ground. As the tornado faded and with it his reflection, what was left was her, the magical woman who had just shown him something he could only wish to keep. She smiled dimly.
"What are those rocks?" he asked, with curiosity but also with caution.
She lifted one seemingly heavy rock and handed it to him, "it's reflective. If placed with care, it could make a path of light to the deeper parts.
Although he was not necessarily fond of sunlight touching his skin, a path of light could further extend the area he could take care of instead of limiting himself to the light that can slither in through the trees. If she was so helpful, he might be able to help keep people out without exposing them to harm.
He kneeled so she could climb on his shoulders. He said he knew she would be safe as long as she didn't touch the ground. The attractiveness of unexplored land was overwhelmingly captivating. She could not help holding tightly on that small boy's head. He placed the first rock and watched as it illuminated a path where it reached a dead end, where he would locate the next rock. As he walked along, she only rested her face on his head. She tried growing flowers along, but they transformed into glowing mushrooms.
As he leaned, she wondered if she could touch a tree. She extended her right arm and, with the tip of her fingers, caressed it. The boy jumped when he noticed her pale hand reaching. The sudden movement caused him to lose balance, having him catch his body with his arms, resulting in her being thrown on the ground. When all her nerves began to shrink, the boy afraid of what he had done and without a possibility of reaching the sun before she had completely withered away, he laid her unconscious body on a silky piece of cloth and tried directing he most sunlight he could gather from the reflective rocks surrounding her body in a circle. He was scared of what her death could mean. If he would be able to abandon her where she was, if he had a mistake, he would never be able to forgive.
Niveras chest slowly began to take air in and out. He wondered if she was the luckiest or the stupidest woman he had met. He had created the first ring of sunlight inside the woods of potential salvation for future regards.
They continued to build the light path with a much more serious attitude. She wondered why it only recently seemed as if her life was something so easily extinguished. If she could create a bridge, only she could cross, or if she could learn to embrace the pain.
The path seemed to never meet an end, the silence was often interrupted by howlering on the distance, she wondered what sort of creature could voice such cries, she also wondered if a creature with such strong vocal cords could hurt her. She wondered if she was allowed to ask him.
"Why do you protect this land? What could I possibly gain by breaking in?" she asked as he slowly traveled from a tree to another.
"Ask yourself, you had no idea of what was in here, and yet you went past me even after knowing you were not allowed and furthermore risked ceasing to exist."
"I see no reason for you to stay here all alone. If you didn't burn under the sun, would you leave this place and live with me?" She asked.
"Why do you want me to live with you when you could easily find others like you?" He asked with a tired voice.
"But I don't know them, I know you," she said with a smile.
"That response is so in character with you," he said, still walking in the dark.
"How come you are such a wonderful person, and yet, you have no friends."
"You don't know anything."
"Are you telling me you are a dark and evil person?"
"That couldn't be further from the truth. Such characteristics could never be attributed to a guardian. It is in my nature to care for the well-being of lost people, like yourself."
"Hm, so you save people every day, does that mean you have as many friends as you can."
"People don't usually like being chased out of a place they think they are entitled to, so no, i don't have many friends."
"Can I be your friend?"
"If that is what you want."
"I wonder what you mean by many people, I can't imagine so many people trying to break in, I myself didn't see any."
"Not from your side, never from your side, they are usually people that seek escapism or power."
They continued to walk in silence, and she had nothing to say to that, what sorts of people could risk so much and to escape what.
"People like you don't usually worry about others hunting them down, but in places where every meal comes from the slaughter of weaker beings, days become hard to live through."
" Then let them come here, bring them to me, i'll protect them, i'll keep them safe."
"What will you do when they get hungry?" He asked with a soft voice.
"If the sun is above me, I'll feed them every part of my body for the rest of their lives."
"Surely you realize that would be a very painful three meals a day, right?"
" If you let me go find them, I'll make their whole life an endless path of happiness."
He chuckled and said, " You really are a gift, I'm glad I was able to save you."
That was the first time she had heard him laugh. It took the form of a warm embrace