He pulled me through the forest a little while longer, telling me that it wasn't much further. We continued until the trees seemed to fade and we were met with the vast sea. There were plenty of abandoned boats to use, so that was good. I was just so relieved to finally be leaving this nightmare I had spent so much time in. I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen when I got home, but I knew that it would be safe at least. Safe, and not lonely. 

My dad would be there. I couldn't help but be excited. Maybe he'd even be happy to see me. Maybe he'd hug me and tell me he missed me just as much as I missed him! Just imagining it made me feel happy.

I was about to go down to the water and hop in a boat, when One suddenly held a hand in front of me, stopping me from moving, which made me jump slightly since I didn't expect him to stop us.

"Wait," He whispered, his tone serious, which was awfully off-putting and worrying. 

I nervously froze, looking around us in fear of something dangerous lurking in the shadows. Why else would he stop us? "W-What is it!?" I whispered, feeling my nerves start to burn with fear. I was worried that perhaps another hunter was out there, ready to chase us just as the last one did. 

He swallowed and slowly pointed down to the shore. "There she is..." He whispered.

I followed his gaze down to the shore to see a small girl sitting there. 

The girl with the 'long, flowing, magical white hair.'

This was the first time I had ever seen her.

My expression softened and was replaced with a more confused one. She didn't look scary. She was just a kid! Why did One stop us? 

"The girl?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow and looking at One with nothing but confusion in my eyes.

"Yeah..." One hummed, tilting his head to the side, his brown eyes softening more, almost as if they were melting. Was he sick or something?!

"Who is she? Your friend?" I asked.

"Ah... I wish." One dreamily hummed. "She's a girl from a village on the mainland. She ran away and came over to the woods not long ago to hide from all the bad stuff happening over there, but I don't suspect she'll stay out here long since it's pretty much equally as scary out here. I can tell she feels unsafe here because of the hunters."

"Uh, that's great. Who is she though?" I asked again.

"She's a human. Eleven years old. Her number is 68. Pretty powerful for a human. She's also super thoughtful, smart, and kindhearted... I've seen her helping a few children from time to time. She's so beautiful..." 

I had to blink a few times, trying to comprehend what he had just so casually stated. 

"Hold up... She's a HUMAN?! B-but you're a One! Th-that's not allowed!" I exclaimed. "Low numbers CAN NOT mix with high numbers! That's like, the tribe's number one rule! It's forbidden!"

"Why not...?" He muttered, still dreamily staring at her. "I couldn't care less what her number is. Numbers don't define people."

I made a slightly grossed-out face and rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. Who knew that One would be so hopelessly romantic. And for a HUMAN! I mean, yes, she was pretty, but low and high numbers didn't mix. It was practically unheard of!

"....Well, what's her name?" I asked him, trying to hold in my laugh for fear that it might offend him.

"Oh, I don't know," One sighed, voice slower and more slurred than usual. "I call her Runaway Girl. Or RG for short."

Weird name. He probably called her that because she always managed to run away from the nearby danger and avoid it. Or perhaps it was because he wanted to run away with her. 

His whole obsession with her was so cheesy. Who in the worlds would actually dream of running away with a human?!

I mean, sure, he LOOKED human too. He actually looked more human than she did, truth to be told, but he was a one, so he clearly wasn't.

"Okay... have you ever actually met her?" I wondered aloud, slightly concerned for him. He was acting like he had a concussion or something. Maybe the loud gunshot damaged his brain or something...

"No..." He hummed, leaning forward. "But she did see me once. It was so wonderful. We made eye contact for a whole seven seconds. She called me, 'paper bag boy,'" He giggled, sounding almost as if he was on some sort of laughing gas.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him as he continued gushing over this girl. He hummed a soft tune to himself, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white flower that was slightly withered away. Where did he get it, I have no idea. I had yet to even see any flowers, so I had no idea how he got ahold of such a thing.

"Someday... I'm going to give this to her. I'm going to give this to her... and together, we'll go away from this place and find the sun." He breathed, holding out the flower.

"Where did you find that?!" I exclaimed, my eyes widening at the plant. "Is that real?!"

"Yes, it is," Be breathed, longingly looking at the flower. "And I didn't technically find it. She did. When she first got here she dropped it. I've just held onto it ever since in hopes that someday I'd become brave enough to return it."

I snorted and pat his back, trying to hold in a laugh. "Wow. You don't even know her and you've already got your futures planned out." I joked.

Only, I don't think he understood that I was joking, because he excitedly nodded, still dreamily staring at her. "Yeah... someday we're gonna get married."

"MARRIED?!" I asked, shocked. "Wow. I don't even know if I'll last long enough to get to marriage age. If I'm still alive by the time I'm 20, I'll be grateful."

"Oh, I'll make it to that age," He sighed. "We'll get married, and together we'll make the world brighter."

"Pfft. Next thing you'll tell me is that you want seven kids or something," I laughed.

"Well, not seven, but at least one!" He chimed. "By then, I hope to make the world a safe place for children.

"Hold up, you want a kid?!" I asked.

The idea of wanting a kid was weird, especially since many people avoided having children for fear of having a one. Although, him being a one himself might change some things. 

"Well, yeah! And with that kid, I hope to give them all my love. I'll protect them, make them smile, tell them stories, and make sure they feel happy. But most importantly, they won't grow up like I did, unknowing and alone. They won't be some unnamed nobody. I'll make sure everyone remembers their name well." One assured.

I never used to think of names as something so important. But they were. Names were a part of a person's identity, and One didn't even have one. So I could see why he'd want his future children to have memorable names.

He had such a different way of looking at the world. I always thought the idea of having children was horrible. Why would anyone want to bring another person into this horrible world? Being a child is awful, and I wouldn't want to put anyone else through that.

But... he made it sound not so bad.

"...What will their name be?" I asked, actually somewhat curious about this hypothetical future One seemed to have planned out, even though it seemed highly unlikely.

"Well... I'm not quite sure yet, but I think it should be something cool. Something VERY memorable" One gushed. "Something unique. I have ALWAYS wanted a name that was unique and different."

"Then why don't you give yourself a name? You're on your own, so you can technically do that." I laughed. "You can call yourself whatever you want."

"Eh, it wouldn't be my real name." One pointed out. "I guess it just wouldn't feel right on me. Giving myself a name just seems... weird. Especially since I've spent my whole life without one. I want a true name given to me by someone who loves me. Not just something I made up and gave myself. I want it to be me. That's why I'm having you call me One. It's the only thing about myself that I know for sure," he explained.

"I guess, I guess," I shrugged. "I suppose you're right. It's just funny how high your hopes for the future are."

"How so?" He asked me, cocking his head to the side. "I know it can happen. I know the world can change. Things can be good someday."

I paused. He wasn't joking. He seriously thought that this world could change.  

"...It's just funny..." I repeated, shrugging and looking down at the white-haired runaway girl once again. "It's funny... how you have more love and hope in one finger than the entire world."

"But that's where you're wrong," He breathed, grabbing my shoulder and smiling through his brown eyes. "There IS love out in the world. There IS hope. We just... haven't seen it yet. But... we'll find it someday. I promise we'll find it."

And for that moment, I really wanted to believe him.

And a small part of me really did.

"SHH, She's coming!" One suddenly hissed, even though I wasn't speaking. He immediately grabbed my shoulders and forced me to duck down as Runaway Girl passed by us, lightly humming to herself. Her long, flowing white hair blew behind her as she stepped. 

One was right. She really was beautiful. But... girls were gross and she was a human, so bleh. 

She didn't seem to notice us at all as she passed by, but to be safe, One made us wait until she was long gone, only then letting out a dreamy sigh and looking where she just was, holding his arm out.

"Someday," He whispered, hope in his eyes. "Someday...."

He then grabbed my arm and pulled me down to the shore, letting go and rushing into the water to push a medium-sized rowboat out into the sea. He waved me over, gesturing for me to hop in, so I waded through the ice-cold water, which went up to about my knees. Once I was in, he pushed the boat out further, giving it somewhat a running start. Once the water was about to his waste he hopped into the boat, getting into one of the seats and grabbing ahold of the oars, rowing us out further to sea. He then used his left hand and pulled out a tiny compass. 

"Hey Six, catch!" He called, tossing it to me, making sure I caught it before he grabbed ahold of the oars and continued rowing, pushing us out to sea. "Just make sure we keep heading east. The mainland shouldn't be far," He assured.

I looked down at the compass, then up at his, and nodded.

It was really foggy. The sea rocked gently. 

The moon was gone, signifying that day had come. It was still pitch dark, but it was always dark.

One often spoke about bringing the sun back. But, I was never sure if he was being literal or if he was just using the sun as a metaphor.

"Do you suppose the sun will ever come out?" I asked him, genuinely curious. "D-during our lifetimes, I mean."

I had always thought that the sun was something I'd never see in this place. After all, it was a dimension of darkness. The sun wasn't meant to touch these lands. 

But, when One spoke of it, he spoke so surely and confidently, in a way that made me want to believe too.

"Of course I do," He beamed, still rowing. "I haven't a doubt in my mind."