A new beginning.

(Hopefully this mostly fits in with the story!)

He walked in a daze through the woods, slipping in and out of consciousness. He had travelled so far, for months he had made his way across the oceans and lands to get to this place. But still it gave him no rest. One minute he was on his knees holding his head in pain as memories crashed like a wave through it. The next, he was focused on making his way to protect them. He looked down at his hands once again, now reddish claws and felt himself losing his grip on sanity. Finally, he sat at the base of a tree and rested his head against it. His soul was broken, his mind gone, and his will had left him. He had nothing left, he was weak and near death. He was soon asleep, but it gave him no reprieve from his life. Flames and pain flashed through his dreams until he was tossing and rolling through the night.

A quiet rumble pulled him from his nightmares, and he sat up slowly looking around. He noticed his eyes were now able to see in the dark far easier than before. He stood on shaky legs looking around him. He saw the shapes of Horned Hounds through the brush. He carefully made his way up into the tree he had been sleeping against. He looked down and saw that they had surrounded a small animal. The animal cowered in the middle, curled into a little ball. He could not tell if it was alive or not. Something inside him awoke again and he leapt into the middle of the beasts. He held his claws out before him, ready to attack. The hounds circled him, assessing this new threat. They snapped and snarled at him, and then one pounced. In a flash it scampered back into the woods with a gash trailing across its hide. The others started to hesitate once they saw their pack leader run in fear of this strange man. The others slowly backed off into the woods, disappearing through the trees and thicket. The man turned towards the little creature, and he realized it was a small black puppy. It looked up at him with pained eyes and he saw its ear was bleeding badly. He carefully picked the animal up in his strong arms and climbed into the trees again. A few days later the little dog was doing far better, and the man had started to like its company. It gave him a purpose to keep going when he felt like there was none. Soon the man started to head into town, finding wood and lumber and building a place to live in the trees. Then one day he was picking up some wood scraps in the small town near the forest, the town was called Glipwood and it was a quiet peaceful place with a small happy community. The man had left the little dog in the tree house to rest and he was walking through the town when he saw them. All of them. He had begun to be seen as a crazy old fellow and was fine with it. He was skittish and preferred the quiet company of the dog over the people of Glipwood. He had nearly forgotten everything about himself and had become known as Peet the Sockman. But now, everything he had once known flooded him and begun to drown him. A little boy of seven walked next to his mother with a book in his hands. A younger brother of five ran around them, looking at this and that along the street. And then a young girl of four walked holding her grandpa's arm, limping along with a lame leg, and yet she seemed unfazed by it. She stopped and looked directly at Peet with a smile. He felt a fire closing in around him as the others stopped to see what she was looking at. At first the mothers face was confused but then recognition began to show in her eyes along with so many other thoughts and emotions. The grandfather began to bawl up his fists and took a step toward him. The mother held out a hand and whispered something quietly to him. He led the children on, and she slowly made her way to socked man.

"Artham?" She whispered unsurely. That name sent everything crashing down upon him and held his head and shook it fiercely with his socked hands.

"No... No, no, no. I- I'm so sorry, I didn't know, I tried!" The mother recoiled slightly, then reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It is you. Artham, where is Esben." The last words sent him reeling and he turn and fled, yelling unintelligible words. He ran to his tree house and fell to the floor shaking and crying deep painful tears of regret. But then his mind gently turned to something else, the children. Janner, Kalmar, Leeli. They were so perfect, even more so than he remembered and he felt a slit of hope crack through the years of pain. The little dog came up to him, concerned and trying to lick him to make him feel better. Slowly the madness dispersed, and his mind was clear again. Then, he had an idea. He scooped up his little dog companion and scurried down the ladder to his house, running towards a little house near the cliffs of Glipwood. He loved the little animal, but it was becoming harder to manage him inside a tree house and somehow, he knew someone else who would like it even more. He quietly came up the steps of the cabin. And placed the little dog in front of the door.

"Sit." He said, and the dog sat, its tail wagging.

"You protect the Wiggyfeathers, Iggyfeathers. Er, Igibys." He said, shaking his head, trying to say the right word. The dog seemed to understand and turned to face the door. Peet knocked once then scurried off near the bushes and watched as Podo opened the door. Leeli peeked out behind him and gasped when she saw the little dog. The dog barked once and scampered into her arms. She giggled and held it tightly. Peet watched a moment more before the entire house was all looking and playing with the dog, then the door closed, and the warm light disappeared. Peet slowly made his way back to his tree house which was very quickly becoming a tree castle. He lied down on his bed and drifted into the world of sleep, he sighed happily, for once not having a nightmare to interrupt his peaceful rest.