Chapter 1: |Beginnings|Chapter 1

Death. The final stage in life that all creatures fear, doing everything in their power to run from their inevitable end, but deep down every creature knows that once its end is near, death would not release the grasps it had on their soul.

Avery knew this all too well, he was slowly going blind, and wearing glasses or contacts didn't seem to help in the slightest. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with him, and as far as they knew there was no fixing Avery's loss of vision, much less the condition he was in. He'd been in and out of hospitals his entire life, knowing full well that at any moment his body could fail and he'd almost certainly die, the doctors had hypothesized that his vision failing was a result of his condition, and since there was no known cure, there was no fixing it. 

Though, he didn't let these factors slow him down much. Avery  had accepted these facts many years ago, and decided to live his life as fulfilling as possible. Though he was visually impaired he tried to help around the community in any means possible, and enjoy things like the feelings of being outside, the taste of new foods, and listening to all kinds of things ranging from music, to the simple calm silence of the city early in the morning, or listening his friends talking about their lives and share stories.

Since he wasn't busy, he decided that today was a good day to relax at his favorite spot in the park, and since it was around 6 o’clock in the morning on a Tuesday, in winter, nobody would be there to disturb the peace for a while. He followed the main path of the park until breaking off into a more closed off and hidden path that led straight into the forest, the path itself was clumsily made but was still followable. He followed the path until it led him to a small clearing next to a lake, though it was winter it had only just begun, so the clearing was in the midst of its seasonal change. The oak trees had shed their leaves, but were still a few left, scattered across the clearing making quite a soft bed to lay on with the healthy untouched grass that had been growing, that somehow never grew too tall, that would die soon as it got the tiniest bit colder, making room for the soft snow that would pile high. The lake hadn't frozen over, but was Icy to the touch, with no signs of life it remained still, perfectly reflecting all that around it.

The clearing was quite a ways from the park, but people still came here often with their loved ones or simply came to explore or relax, and when the lake would eventually freeze over, all kinds of people would gather on the ice to skate or fish, or simply to investigate what was happening. Avery didn't mind sharing the place with others, but preferred to be alone when visiting, which is why he came at such an odd time in the first place. When he walked further into the clearing, he saw an unfamiliar mound of black laying next to the lake. Curious, Avery approached it since he couldn't see it clearly. If he wanted things to look clear, he had to get rather close to it for his vision to focus, at least a few feet in range. 

Grabbing a small stick, he got closer to the mound and prodded it with the stick, in response the mound stirred, and rigidly sat up straight. Startled, Avery took a step back, and calmed down when he realized it was a person, "Ah..sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you.." he said, backing off a little more, to give the person a bit more space. The person Avery was speaking to turned to look at him, he didn't answer for a few seconds, making Avery feel a bit awkward but he kept a smile on his face, perking up when the person spoke. 

“..You didn’t..it’s.. fine....” The person sounded tired, and sad, but they didn’t move from where they were sitting, the person only continued to stare at the water. 

Avery noticed their tone, and although this was just a stranger who just happened to be here, he couldn't help but want to see if they were okay, or wanted to talk at all, or simply just be left alone. He also noticed their voice was deeper, so he could only assume the other person was a man as of right now.

“Do you mind me sitting here at all?” he asked, the person gave a quiet 'no'  so Avery sat down a little ways away from them, looking at the water too, as blurry as it was. He decided to see if he could get the person to warm up to him by making small talk. If the person didn't seem content with it, Avery would simply stop and relax.

"So…what brings you here so early? I hardly ever see anyone at this place this early." he asked politely, he didn't want to seem nosey and pry but needed to do a little digging to make conversation.

The person didn't answer, looking over at the stranger who was speaking to him. He stared at Avery for a while, as if studying him, and then turned back to the lake, pulling his black hood over his head more. The hood wasn't the typical hood from a jacket, or a hoodie, it was more on the lines of a cloak. Avery couldn't see this very well but still found it interesting, nor did he see what the person looked like at all, another mystery, but not one he could investigate easily.

Avery seemed to get the hint that the person didn't want to talk, and didn't pry any further, laying down in the grass and closing his eyes. The two sat like this for a while, next to each other but not speaking or acknowledging each other much, Avery had fallen asleep after a while of relaxing while the other person remained sitting, staring at the lake in silence. After a while the person stood up and walked over Avery, crouching down, they weren't overly close but definitely close enough to touch Avery, their hood fell back exposing a handsome face, the person looked young but somehow seemed much older than Avery. 

"..How can you fall asleep so easily next to someone you don't even know? What a strange person..." he said moving his hand closer to Avery's face, he stopped just a few centimeters from touching it and sighed, huffing a laugh, "...Such a strong soul for such a little human, I wonder..if you knew who I was, would you sleep so peacefully?" 

He seemed to get a small chuckle out of this, and with a snap of his fingers he vanished as if he never existed in the first place. Avery had woken up an hour or so later after this event, and upon seeing that the person was gone, headed home, curiosity filling him from his discovery, and content with the nap he had, he decided that he would come back the following week at the same time and see if that person would be there once more, and when he did, sure enough the person was, and he sat in the same spot as last time.

Thus, this began a routine of some kind, every Tuesday, no matter how late or early Avery would be, that person would be there, sitting in the same spot, with the same black cloak, he never spoke aside from Avery greeting him and the person greeting him back. Avery had somehow become more comfortable with him, even with his lack of communication, and often brought some snacks with him to share. This was a simple way to get the other person to talk, as Avery found he enjoyed sweets very much, and would often take quite a few of the snacks Avery brought, especially if he had brought tarts.

Avery still had not seen the person's face, as he hid it with the hood on his cloak, and his curiosity only grew, wanting to see the face that belonged to such a mysterious person. He decided to be upfront about it and early in the morning he headed to the local Bakery, getting the tarts he knew the man liked most, and headed towards the clearing. Just as expected he was there, this time laying down with his hood covering his face as usual, it was a bit foggy out, so Avery had some difficulty navigating since weather like this made seeing much of anything much harder to do.

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He walked towards the lake with slow cautious steps, he could see somewhat of a black figure so he headed in that direction. Thinking he was in the clear, Avery picked up his pace, which was a mistake as his foot got stuck on a root from a tree. he felt his body lurch forward and the box of tarts leave his hands, instinctively Avery braced to slam into the ground, but instead saw a black blur rush in front of him, and was met with a face full of black fabric and felt an arm around his waist, the tarts that had originally fell from his hands were not on the ground either.

"Are you-..you…should be more careful.." The person sighed, helping Avery stand up properly, handing him the box back, this was the most that he had ever spoken to Avery, and before Avery could thank him, he pulled him towards where the two usually sit and put him on his spot, and returned to his own. 

"Thank you for helping me out there…um.." Avery trailed off, it didn't feel like a true apology unless he said the person's name, but the cloaked person never shared his name, nor had Avery, which was a tad bit humorous. he'd been in each other's company for a few weeks now, and hadn't even exchanged names. he laughed a little and sighed with a smile, "Uhm..I just realized I never got your name, if you don't mind telling me.."

The person looked over at Avery when he had begun laughing, and couldn't help giving a tiny smile upon seeing Avery's face, but quickly looked away, and after a few seconds of silence, he answered, "Nytin, my name is Nytin…what's…" he appeared to hesitate, looking back at Avery finally finishing his sentence, "What's your name?"

Avery smiled even wider, "Nice to meet you officially Nytin, my name is Avery, and thank you again for saving me from falling." he said moving closer and opening the box of perfectly intact tarts, "As a reward, would you like some more tarts?"

Nytin cracked another smile and slowly grabbed a tart, "Thanks.." he said biting into the sweet but savory treat, he glanced over at Avery who was trying to pick a tart out for himself, and couldn't help but think that Avery was like a star, so bright and mysterious. He couldn't help but be curious about Avery, wanting to meet him here everyday, and bask in the peacefulness of the forest, or listen to a short story he had to tell.

Nytin finished his tart and turned back to Avery, "..Do you..like the stars?" he asked quietly, reaching in the box to grab another tart.

Avery nodded, "I love the stars! I can't see him very well anymore…but I like astronomy, learning about space, seeing the pictures the telescopes that got shot up there take, it's all very interesting." he waved his hands around in an exaggerated motion, to somewhat mimic a rocket taking off, "What about you?"

Seemingly taken aback by being asked a question about himself, Nytin paused and looked away again, distracting himself with the tart, "Yeah I do, 'specially this real shiny one…" he said taking a bite from the tart, glancing over at Avery to see him very interested in what he had to say, and chuckled a little, "You probably wouldn't know which one though, Starshine." he said reaching over and picking a leaf out of Avery's hair. 

Avery gave a small 'thank you', and at the nickname felt a little happier, "Starshine? Where'd you get that from?" he cheekily asked with a small laugh, it was cute, he liked the nickname, it made him feel a lot closer and more familiar with Nytin who just shrugged and finished off his treat, wiping his hands together to get the crumbs off. 

"Dunno, just felt like calling you that." he said staring at the still water of the lake, this was the longest conversation he'd ever had with Avery, if Nytin had known it would be this pleasant, he'd have asked questions like this sooner.

"That's fair.." Avery had finished his own tart leaving only one left, he didn't want it so pushed the box over to Nytin who rather quickly took the offer up, Avery just smiled and fell back in the grass, "Hey so..what should I bring next week?" 

Nytin hesitated on answering, the first thing that had come to mind might have sounded a bit odd coming from his lips, he had never made a request for a specific kind of snack or treat before, so he took a while before answering, pulling his hood down more on his head and sheepishly answering, "An..Apple..s-stroodleee..?" 

Avery held back a laugh at Nytins pronunciation of 'strudel' so as to not embarrass him any further, "Mmm..sounds tasty, I'll bring some apple strudels next time then.." he said, closing his eyes, seemingly ready to take a nap, he had forgotten his original mission to take a peek at Nytins face, much more content with their conversation than seeing his face. 

"Thanks, Starshine." Nytin said softly, biting into his tart, a little embarrassed about saying 'strudel' wrong, Avery gave a hum of acknowledgement, seemingly already falling asleep, Nytin looked over at him for a while, smiling at how peaceful Avery's face was, before going back to eating his tart, warm and content, glad to have company at his side.

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