A reminder

What is it about dreams?  Coming out of nowhere like this...And leaving a sense of purpose in their wake.

I was once again in that forest in Indiana.  The Bleeding forest.  And that same sight met my eyes- the hooded figure, a glimpse of a mask underneath, seated on the stump.  Only this time he was facing me, and not pale at all.  I knew this had to be a dream, because he looked quite alive.  I stood there apprehensively.

"Don't look so nervous.  I'm not here to attack you or anything."  A sad wry smirk crossed his face, "I'm just...here."

I felt for the scabbard, pulled it off my back and held it out to him.  "Sorry," I said.  "I borrowed this."

Zero reached out hesitantly, his hand over the sword.  "Where'd you get that?  My blade was broken."

"I had it fixed."

His eyes were hard to see under that mask, but the look he gave me was piercing.  Not angry...curious, would be more like it. "Why?"

I tried my best to cast my mind back to the days before the fire, when I was full of reckless energy.  Well...using the term 'reckless' with relation to myself in the past tense still wouldn't be quite right.

"...I'd already made the questionable decision to retrieve it.  Might as well go all the way, right?" I grinned nervously.

Zero looked at the blade, obviously tempted.  He waved it off.  "Keep it then, bad memories for me."  Looking away, he asked, "So...does that mean I'm dead?"

"Yeah.  Few months now."

He was silent for a bit, processing that.  "I didn't...kill you, did I?" He sounded nervous.  I shook my head.

Zero nodded to me for a moment, then slowly stood up and walked around his stump.  "Trapped in a forest...blood of many...and out of options."  He sighed and looked up. "God, this sounds familiar."

He stepped back towards me. "So...what made you decide to go and loot my body?"  He grinned, perhaps appreciating the gallows humor.

I gave a weary chuckle.  "Hero worshipping kid, plus overconfidence, plus deep desire to actually get something done, plus 'oo, katana' = bad decisions."  He was quiet, and without really knowing why, I kept going.

"I've....changed quite a bit since then.  But for what it's worth I was glad to at least give your body a bit of a better resting spot."

He smiled. "Have you done well in your quest, then?"

I sighed.  "Well..."

He interrupted as if he were waiting for me to start listing my failures.  "No no no.  None of the bad stuff.  We're fighting agents of evil, there's bound to be problems.  I'm talking about standing up, fighting back, even if you can't always win."  He was looking right at me, I did my best to meet his gaze.

"We've got a monster at our throats, and every last person who steps on a Proxy's neck to spit in his nonexistent face....that's all any man CAN do."  Zero stepped forward and gave me a prod in the chest.   "You remember, you remember...that anyone that stands up and gives hope, even if he is falliable, you remember that this is what one man can do."

I think I understand why he was made a Sage.  He had a way with words, a simple sort of way.  But it reached your heart because of that.  What he said...it echoed my own beliefs so thoroughly.  That hope deep inside me that refuses to die, no matter how many of my friends and family fall.  To hear such words of encouragement from a man who once represented hope to the stalked, it was...well, inspiring.

All I could do was smile gratefully.  "Thanks.  I guess...I needed a reminder."

"Hey, don't I know it."  He motioned to the sword, "Nice to see you took it for good reasons, eh?  I guess I didn't totally destroy what I originally wanted."

"You didn't.  That hope still exists." I was able to say that confidently for the first time in months.

He nodded, then looked around, speaking again after a few moments. "Everywhere I look, I see shades of the past.  People are so worried about their failures.  Really, all they need is their humanity."

I listened intently.

"Failures make us human, but expecting us to be perfect...heroes even is another.  Remember where the want of a hero, of success leads to." He gave his sword another look.

I asked him the question that had been burning in me for who knows how long.  "What makes a hero?"

Zero laughed softly, "To do what you can.  To not take things lying down.  Sure you'll fail, plenty of times even.  But if you can make one good mark, save one person, change one thing,  you've thwarted destiny."   He motioned to me. "I know I can rest easier, knowing that I inspired one person to do good."

We smiled at each other.

And then I was awake, my eyes wet.

Whatever that was...I needed it.  Thanks.  Wherever you are, in what lies beyond death, I hope you're resting well.