Memory: Hooded Stranger
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From an outsider's point of view, the inn had not changed much over the years. Even the gilded inscription of 'amour de soi' had been carved over the front door for as long as Gabriel could remember. Indoors was a completely different story though for, back in the days of Gabriel the toddler, it actually looked like a normal wooden house in the woods.
It was in here where a young boy could be found running around and chasing a little girl, but the girl had always managed to outrun him. Now it just so happened that one of those races involved running from one marked tree to another similarly marked tree. How these two children didn't get lost in the forest, perhaps only the guardian deer of Eden knows. What their mother did know about that race is that it ended with Gabriel returning home with a hooded injured man.
Aside from the initial shock from seeing your 12-year old girl carry a fully grown man on her back like he was a sack of very light feathers, Madame Ava was surprisingly hospitable to the mysterious stranger. In fact, it seemed that only her son (who returned home a minute later) was distrusting of this new face in their house.
"Okay, I have but one word." The teen said. "Why??"
"Vivianus!" Ava scolded him while she was watering some of the indoor plants. "At least pretend to be cordial."
"Mom, come on! He's..." Vi's gaze shifted to the other side of the room where his sister was putting her newly learned skill of first aid to good use. Unfortunately, despite all her best efforts, the couch the stranger sat on was drenched in lavender blue colored blood. "You can't let him stay."
"Who ever said he would?" The mother calmly replied. "If there's one thing that you and that man can agree upon is that neither of you want him to remain for any longer than he has to."
"But what if he says something-"
"Oh please, he's reckless not stupid, and rest assured that if he does do anything stupid, the birds will have his head."
Vivianus sighed. "..I'll just keep watch outside I suppose."
And that he did, closing the door with a loud unpleasant bang. Gabriel had never seen her brother so visibly upset before, and it will be years before she even witnesses anything like that again.
As for the hooded man, he wasn't answering any of Gabriel's questions, refused to look her in the eye, and was quick to glance away from her brother when Vivianus first entered the room.
'At least the bleeding has stopped?" She thought. It was hard to be sure considering the numerous blood stains, but it was definitely better than having several open wounds all over your arm. This man is lucky that he's clearly one of the immortals.
In hindsight, since she had to forcibly drag him here in the first place maybe she shouldn't be expecting much from her little interrogations. Still, she can't help it! This silent man whose face she still hasn't seen is the most intriguing stranger she's ever had the pleasure of helping. Gabriel couldn't even see a nose or a chin poking out of the mysterious void where his face should've been. She almost thought that the man had no head at all, but if so then how could he wear that hood?
After a few minutes of ineffective questioning, she decided to get up and get the man a glass of water.
The stranger was gone when Gabriel came back and her mother was already getting ready to go outside for a new couch. The last thing she heard before leaving with Madame Ava was her brother saying "Fine! I guess I'll be the one to stay behind and burn the old couch."