"Old, Old Friends"
 Wynd Leagends; Leagend Village, Javi
 Morning, Day Four

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    Scarcheeks chose to materialize in front of Wynd one sunny morning, just
as he was busy lifting up a bale of hay.

    Though surprised, Wynd was proud of the fact that he didn't trip. He
banged his head on a low hanging ledge instead, the movement nearly
imbedding the man onto the afforementioned hay.With some effort and several
grunts, he managed to hoist himself up to a sitting position, rubbing
gingerly at his head. "Thanks a lot." He told the shimmering figure a few
feet away.

    Scarcheeks didn't answer. They never did. He merely stared back at him,
his large dark eyes a mystery.

    There were three of them. Wynd never knew who they were, or why no one
else could see them as he did. They had always been a part of his life - or
the part that he could remember, anyway. In time, he had grown used to them.
He had dubbed this particular ghost Scarcheeks, because of the long faded
scars that ran down both sides of the specter's face. The second ghost he
had christened Grizzly, for the long thick beard it wore, and the last Hawk,
because of its sharp and prominent nose. All wore strange armor of some
kind, unlike any that Wynd had seen before.

    Grizzly had been the first to appear to Wynd, the first time when he was
still new to the village, having just recently recovered from wounds he had
been suffering from when the villagers found him, with no memory of who he
is. He was being taunted by Hari Kainsam, the local bully, because he had
refused to fight him in a wrestling match the latter was fond of inflicting
to other boys his age. "Coward", had been the nicest name Hain had called
him. That day, unable to control his anger, he lashed out at the other boy.

    But not in the way he expected. Hain was lifted off the ground by a
sudden mini-tornado that sprouted out of nowhere, flying backwards and
crashing hard into Elder Zoiya's toolshed, wrecking it completely.

    It had been then, stunned at what he had done, that Wynd turned to see
the bearded ghost standing in front of him. It shook his head at him, almost
sadly, as two other figures materialized. Shaken, Wynd stared back at them
in fear, expecting the worst. But as the other villagers began creeping out
of their homes, thinking the worst over, they disappeared.

    Hari had never been able to quite look him in the face since then.

    None of the villagers had believed his story, deciding it had all been a
strange sort of hallucination or guilt - not that the Kainsam boy didn't
need some punishing anyway, they said  - but it was then that everyone,
including himself, discovered his ability, long buried within him. He was
lucky. Instead of casting him out for being able to work magic, many of the
villagers sympathized with him and had urged him to stay. Life had been
good.

    But as the days passed, the ghosts began reappearing once more, usually
when he least expected it. And the more they came to visit him, the more he
wanted to know who they were; if they too, were part of the past he has no
memory of. Heck, he wanted to know who he was.

     So one day, he left.....

    Now, as he gazed back at them, he perceived something that he hadn't
noticed before. < Are they watching me? No. They're not watching.
They're...waiting. For what? For me? >

    "Ho! Wynd!" Lakren called from somewhere outside the small barn. He
started, blinking. "What's taking so long in there?"

    "Sorry about that, I'll be right out!" Wynd called back. He lifted the
hay took care not to hit himself again on the ledge, and started walking
toward the barn door. He turned to look once more at the dreadful
apparition, but he had disappeared, taking his secrets along with him.

    Maybe another day.

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    This post basically doesn't really deal on the story per se, just gives
a little bit more info about Wynd's background, as well as the three little
"friends" he carries around his head.^^;;;

Wynd: And regardless of what she's implying, I AM NOT CRAZY. So there.

Ja ne!
Ryoko