The snow had finally softened. Though the land was still painted white, the sun above smiled through gentle clouds, casting a golden warmth over the road. It was a quiet day, the kind where time moved a little slower and the silence between footsteps could speak more than words.
He walked calmly, hands tucked into his worn sleeves, scarf loosely wrapped around his neck. Beside him, skipping over snow piles and humming an out-of-tune tune, was the girl who had followed him.
She called herself Elaina.
He remembered how she had introduced herself just a day ago with a grin, as if they'd already known each other. That same grin hadn't faded since. And when he asked her why she was coming along, she had simply said, "Because someone should."
Since then, she had refused to call him anything but "Mr. Adventurer."
"So, Mr. Adventurer," she began, kicking a small rock off the side of the road, "is it just me, or do you always walk around looking like a sad, lost puppy?"
He gave her a sideways glance. "Is that how I look?"
"Absolutely. All broody and silent. Like you're carrying ten thousand years of heartbreak in your coat pockets."
He let out a small breath of laughter. "And I guess you're here to fix that?"
"No," she said, sticking her tongue out. "I'm here to make it worse by bothering you every hour."
He smiled faintly.
The road stretched before them, lined with frozen trees whose branches glittered like glass. Their footsteps crunched rhythmically in the snow, the only sound around them.
"You're not used to walking with someone, are you?" Elaina asked after a moment.
"No," he said. "But it's not bad."
"Aww," she grinned. "Is that your way of saying you like having me around?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't not say it."
He sighed, but there was amusement in his eyes. "You talk a lot."
"And you barely talk at all. We balance each other out."
They walked quietly for a while. Then, Elaina looked ahead and spoke more softly.
"You've been thinking about them again, haven't you?"
He didn't answer right away. But he didn't need to. The memory of those two siblings, small, fragile, taken too soon by the cold, had left a mark that hadn't healed.
"I couldn't save them," he said at last. "And I was right there."
"You tried," she replied. "And that's more than most."
"I keep thinking," he continued, "maybe if I got there sooner… maybe if I knew what to do…"
Elaina stopped in her tracks and faced him. "You can't blame yourself for the winter."
His gaze stayed on the snow. "It wasn't just the cold."
There was silence between them.
Then she spoke, gentler this time. "Some people live a whole life without trying to help anyone. You tried. That means something."
He looked at her, and for a moment, he didn't feel quite so heavy.
"I saw the way you held the girl," Elaina said. "Even after it was too late. You didn't let go until the last snowflake fell."
He looked away.
"That's why I decided to follow you," she said. "Not because you're strong. But because you care."
The wind whispered past them, light and cold.
"You could've gone anywhere," he said. "Why follow a stranger with no name?"
Elaina smiled. "Because I'm curious. And because you don't feel like a stranger."
He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"You remind me of someone," she said. "Someone who used to protect everyone but never asked to be protected himself."
She looked away for a second, then added in a softer voice, "Also… I didn't want to be alone anymore."
He fell silent.
They kept walking. The sun lit their path as birds returned to the trees, chirping softly in the distance.
"I don't know who I am," he admitted. "No name. No past. Only fragments. Dreams I don't understand."
Elaina nodded. "Then maybe you're meant to find out not who you were, but who you want to be."
He stopped.
Her words hung in the air like light.
"Maybe that's why your name hasn't come back yet," she added, smiling. "Because your story isn't finished."
He stared at the road ahead, then took a step forward. "Then I'll keep walking."
"I'll keep walking too," she said, falling into step beside him. "After all, I've got nothing better to do."
He chuckled. "That's a terrible reason."
"It's an honest one."
They passed under the shade of a tall tree. Elaina suddenly looked serious.
"Mr. Adventurer," she asked, "what if you remember someday… and it turns out you were someone bad?"
He paused. "Then I'll become someone better."
She looked at him for a long time, then gave a small, satisfied nod.
"That's a good answer."
They walked past a frozen pond, its surface glittering like crystal. Elaina tossed a pebble across the ice and watched it skid.
"You know," she said, "you have this tragic hero vibe."
"Do I?"
"Yes. You're like a wandering prince cursed to forget everything."
"That's a little dramatic."
"Well, I am dramatic," she declared.
As they walked on, the snow seemed to sparkle more brightly. Elaina hummed a light tune, skipping a little now and then.
He glanced at her, then looked forward.
He didn't know where the road would lead.
But for the first time in a long while, it didn't feel so lonely.