In a place far away a ruined castle stands, aged and abandoned. Once sturdy walls, littered with cracks and holes. From the stone walls grow moss and trees, portraying the time which crawled after it's fall. What took place here was not significant to the world, yet was the world for one person. He wandered into this forsaken place not by choice, but by chance. 

Lonely and abandoned a silhouette, a shadow of a man left behind. Nothing left to live for, yet death was not an option. Here this man traveled, and here he stayed a while. Fated to meet another, yet would fate allow them to stay together. 

Along the walls the man drew his fingers, the sensation reminding him he could still feel. Locking away his feelings, was the motion he choose in. His past dragging behind him, shackles that would not free him. Until inside these castle walls he wandered into. 

Unsure what he would find he wandered through the gates. Deteriorated beyond repair, he bid them another stare. To himself he thought “How long has it been since someone's been here?” What could there be here he wondered with his curiosity piqued. 

Before the man's eyes quite quaint a hovel, unknown why with his eyes it followed. Along the ruined aged walls onto a small window, it's sight made him feel hollow. 

A blurred image, a silhouette of small sprite he saw twirling among the vines. Agasp he pondered, was this friend or for his thoughts wandered to and fro. 

In silence he watched, the figure captivating his thoughts. Until he mustered the courage, to speak forth his being screaming he must. 

“Good day to you, is this your home?” he awkwardly squealed, unsure how the figure must feel. 

With a jolt the figure suddenly paused, before away from him did it dart. “How meek.” the man spoke who was captivated by a peek. By a whim, a joke played by fate, the man gave chase. In a moment he bid the figure wait, which sealed their fate. 

I’m not dangerous the man called running through the castles halls, until he tripped and fell completely out of breath. Regret washed over his face, he had failed again. Slowly he lifted his face to see the silhouette in front of him, a blurred figure of a girl stood before him. 

The man couldn’t make out her face, but he could see her emotionless, cold eyes stare into his. Her small mouth seemed to motion some words, yet no sound was heard. In a moment’s notice, the girl ran into a hall and came back with a piece of Quartz. 

Shaped similar to a rectangular plate, the mysterious girl handed it to the man. Curious he held it in his hand, it was just a little larger than his palm. Never seeing something like this the man gazed on the flat surface where a string of words appeared. 

“Are you hurt?”

This is object is intriguing the man thought. Once that thought was complete, the same words appeared on the surface of the Quartz. 

“It’s nothing much, just a trinket left behind.” 

His jaw dropping the man looked up to the silhouette to see, she was also holding a similar quartz. The man then understood, the strange girl had given him something so they could communicate with each other. 

“I’m fine Miss… shadow?”

The Quartz then displayed the words he said, the girl nodding before another message was sent to the man. 

“That’s good… Noirah.”

Confused the man stared at the girl, was she giving him a nickname? Or perhaps this was a word that didn’t get transferred correctly? He decided to stick with the assumption that Noirah was what the shadow was calling him. 

“No Miss Shadow, my name is Kuyuu, may I know what should I refer to you as?” 

The girl tilted her head to the side before another message surfaced. 

“Noirah” 

Unable to understand Kuyuu scratched his head and replied 

“Noirah?” 

The faint outline of a smile appeared on the girls silhouette, Kuyuu’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Yes Kuyuu?”

These two continue exchanging words, and hours passed before they noticed. They spoke about many things, how the girl actual body was not there, but just a projection of herself. She wasn’t even human like Kuyuu, she was a sprite that lived far away. In response Kuyuu told the girl about his village, the different things they had several sharing similarities. The main difference was the man, could acquire these things easily. While the young sprite could not. She had barely become an adult and did not have a trade to support herself. Her family housed her and she was living there contentedly, she didn’t think to want much more. 

As they continued their conversation, a beam of light slowly crept towards them. The man stood up in shock when realized that it was sunrise, he couldn’t remember the last time he enjoyed himself this much. 

Not wanting to part, yet the man couldn’t stay… He had to return to his life, he had his duties to fulfill. In the town he lived, he worked at the medicine shop, it helped him feel like he had some kind of purpose in life. Something he felt he kept losing a grasp of. 

Kuyuu reluctantly tried to return the quartz back to Noirah, which she declined sending him a message. She told him to keep it, they could communicate even far away from each other. Amazed Kuyuu had never heard of such a magical object, even if it was purely through writing it was able to communicate from a distance.

Happily Kuyuu returned home slowly, even though he understood the Quartz could be used from far away. To him, there was still the need to rest and verify that it could work every several paces. Before this he had wandered different places over time feeling empty inside, but this little sprite had made him feel whole again. And from today onward, he would be able to speak with this little sprite.  

Days became weeks, weeks turned into months, time passed between the two in the blink of an eye. They spoke about many things, from small things about what they ate, to big things like their pasts and inner thoughts. Unknown to the man, he started to love the little sprite. He would send a message to her as soon as he woke, until right before he would sleep. His life seemed to revolve around her and spending what time he could talk to her. Eventually the things they had to speak about dawdled, the messaging slowing down. 

He continued to speak with her, slowly he became aware of a single fact… Kuyuu fell in love with Noirah. Unsure when he started feeling that way, he buried it deep in his chest. There were many things that would get in the way of this, and he wasn’t sure if he could go through it much less her. Their problems wouldn’t end with something as simple as a difference in race or location. 

Both had seen their own troubles in life, each affecting them deeply. Though they knew each other for so long, it was a hurdle for them to just trust each other. Tried as much as they could, eventually trust was built between them. Even then, he was afraid. 

Afraid things would play out as an elaborate prank, or he had misunderstood everything. Just because he loved her, it would not make her magically return his feelings. Things did not work that way in the past, so he couldn’t expect things to change. Life was never that easy nor kind, getting the short end of the stick was a regular occurrence. 

Happiness was akin to a fleeting cloud, in plain sight and feeling within his grasp. Yet in reality it was far away, something he could only gaze upon but never possess. As time passed, the clouds would get farther and farther away until you could no longer see them. Just like his happiness, it would never stay with him. It would just drift away carried off by the vast skies of blue, raining on someone more deserving, or worthy of it. 

Time and time again, over and over, it repeats without fail. This time surely it would be no different he thought. But one could not help but chase after these clouds, fully of unseen things. Was it filled with happiness? Perhaps it was full of dread and hatred. One wouldn’t know until one had captured it. 

Even after his realization, Kuyuu wanted to confirm how she felt first. Nothing was worse than forcing unwanted feelings onto another, especially when they were someone you cared about. They continued to speak, he felt like he wished this would on a feeling that sometimes he wished was long gone. 

All until one day, he had a dream. It was realistic, like several he had started having as of late. Simplistic, nothing special. Almost impossible to differentiate from reality. In that dream, he did error, a simple thought he hid had seeped from it’s lid. 

The next morning, he spoke to her as he always did, yet she seemed different. He was confused wondering if he had said something wrong. Several possibilities flashed through his mind, fear grasping at him. What if he had said something to make her hate him. Until he found out what it was… he had confessed his feelings while he was in a daze the night before. 

Time seemingly stopped for a moment, he would much rather it be any one of the other possibilities! Even everyone of them combined would be better than this. At this time there was a crossroad in front of him… Lie, tell her it was a joke and everything would go back to the way it was… as long as she didn’t find out and he was careful. Everything would be ok. 

The other path, was to tell the truth. Lies give birth to more lies, until the point one could not remember which was the truth, which was false. Thinking back, he had been lied to several times, so had she. He couldn’t do it, anyone else he would plaster a smile on his face and tell them what they wanted to hear. But… Noriah was different. He didn’t want to lie to her, it would be fine if she didn’t notice or didn’t know… however he had promised he wouldn’t lie. And lie he wouldn’t. 

So he told her the truth, that he was in love with her, knowing fully well she wouldn’t truly believe him, not easily. But maybe… maybe if he could get her to believe it, her wounds would heal a little. Maybe… she would return those feelings. 

With this he did everything he could think of, tried to reassure her, tried to build that trust. He knew though, he wasn’t the only person who spoke to the sprite. This of course was of no surprise to Kuyuu. Noriah was such a wonderful girl, there were bound to be several wishing to be in her company. Eventually, she had told him that others had professed their interest in her. She then at that time told each one, including him. Impossible. There was no way, no how. 

Devastated, he thought for a while… somewhere deep down he had this understanding. Yet he couldn’t part from her. Even if it felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart and twisted it. He foolishly thought maybe if he could prove to her how much he cared about her she would reconsider. Even if she didn’t, at least he would be able to keep her company until the day she found someone. 

In the blink of an eye, time had moved forward. It waited for no one, it treated all the same. Looking at his quartz, Kuyuu sighed. Most of the messages, were from him. They had become more and more sparse. He had run out of things to talk about long ago, and she had others to talk to. Each more interesting than him. 

Storing away the quartz he thought to himself. 

“I guess… that time’s here.” 

His voice slowly fading as he packed his bags, to where he would go… he didn’t want to think about it. This wasn’t the first time… but he wished… deep down… it would be the last.