...
Where am I?
What is this place?
Alas, it seems my new story is beginning unpleasantly.
Cerin was cold, lost, and wet. Only the latter was a problem, however. He seemed to be sitting by a pool with his feet dangling in the crystal waters. Casual to the stray observer. He quickly pulled them out, slipping on the socks and tall, black boots. Had he been here before? No, he'd surely recognize the landscape.
How was he here anyway? Going through the Dreamhub wasn’t usually a problem. However, the new world had appeared…
Was Fate itself against me this time?
It mattered not at this time. He had landed in this new place unconscious and confused- weaknesses for others to exploit. However, as he stood stiffly, he saw no one around. His piercing, brooding eyes searched the darkened forest. Nothing living was anywhere near. Thankfully. He let out an anguished cry.
His only companion dead and his empire collapsed. Then, just to top it off, he was launched into a complete rebirth. Into this land, beautiful as if out of a storybook. He stepped out of the dip where he'd been resting and walked across soft grass. The ground of the forest was littered with sky-blue petals. Was Fate mocking, taunting him?
He begins to walk, a few pebbles setting his direction. He takes inventory- what else could he possibly have? Cerin's soft touch grazes a silky white bandanna around his neck. Good. He reaches to his hip almost instinctively as he hears a rustle in the brush. A snowy white blade rests there, its power radiating even in the sheath. He doesn't draw it, and no other sounds are to be heard.
After an immeasurable amount of walking, he finally comes across a large city. The sun is setting and the city seems to be coming to life. It's quite pretty, actually, like the forest. He begins to explore, but is quickly becoming weary. Is something here sapping his strength? It wouldn't seem so, as he is a Shadow Walker in a nocturnal city.
Walking to what seems is the center of the city, he sits on a nearby bench. His strength is slowly ebbing away. Cerin is frightened, he's tired, and wants nothing to do with this odd world. He wishes to have his childhood back. Innocence... and her.
Cerin feels the last of his energy flicker out of existence like a flame pinched between fingers.
He's awakened gently and led into a lift by some odd people. Cerin is thoroughly tired of being lost and confused here. He's led into a room with clothing similar to his own, and he dresses quickly. He's fully awake now, and the entirety of his grief is back. His eyes hold a sad but fierce gaze as he looks into a mirror.
After he dresses in a dark outfit like he used to wear, from what he remembers, he is led out to lift-like machine. Inside, he remains gravely quiet, studying his new "partners'.
One girl is tall and slim, the figure of a spoiled childhood. Her long red locks hang down as she gazes around at her companions as well, scarlet eyes taking in everything warmly but cautiously. The second is dark-haired, like him, but there the similarities stop. She has dark eyes, light, fair skin, and a mature figure. She seems calm in the face of all this.
How did they get here? Was it possible they weren't strangers to the Dreamhub? What dimension could they be from?
He emerges from the lift to see a crowd. How many people cared about strangers to their world?
A couple of faces stick out of the crowd- A young, blue-haired man, a tall blonde, a girl with pink hair and thick red glasses. Suddenly, he sees a girl he knows is familiar. Who is she?
She's beautiful, a small, dainty beauty. Her hair is a soft red; her eyes, an aquamarine mirror. Who is she? He knows she is from his past; the past he can't remember.
Could she be what he is searching for?