Fantasy New Beginnings, Shrouded Pasts

[DergTheDergon]

Deep Viridian eyes slowly eased open, revealing an otherworldly expanse that prompted the owner of the eyes to open them further, in awestruck wonder. He slowly came to realize that he’d been lying on his back, the blue, cloudless sky above him partly obscured by what’s left of a mostly ruined stone ceiling a ways above him. Willing himself to sit up, he groaned in pain, his entire body feeling stiff as if he’d been lying there for a very long time.

Sluggishly sitting up straight, his bewilderment and confusion only mounted further every passing moment. Ruins, wild grass and glowing blue symbols surrounded him. An ornate crossbow lie next to him, which he felt was very significant; a faint, energizing aura could be felt from the weapon, as well as whatever metal was woven into his intricately ornate armor. He then froze in confusion as he realized that he could recall no memories regarding these items, either. Probing further into his mind, all was either very vague or utterly unrecallable other than his name: Merek. The realization that, beyond the immediate area, he could only see sky in all directions as if he'd awoken on some sort of sky island only added to his disorientation.

Amidst the confusion, one detail stood out among all else he was thinking, seeing, and feeling right now: A nearby figure, still lying there: a woman with violet hair. Standing and taking a second to steady his footing, he then called out to her.

“Hello? You awake, miss?” His voice was groggy, words bordering on slurred. Whatever had happened, it felt like he’d been asleep for a very long time.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

A soft breeze swept over her body, subtly awakening her from a peaceful slumber. She felt so serene and at peace, yet something tugged at her mind, warning her that not everything was quite right. She couldn't peace together much information about her situation, which prompted her to finally open her eyes and gaze upon her breathtaking surroundings. The vivid hues of celestial blue seemed to dance around her dazed self, the symbols from which they radiate each complex and fascinating. The weathered ruins around her spoke of an ancient tale, one of destruction, abandonment and decay, yet it did not prompt any information. Strangely, she could not recall anything at all.

A creeping feeling of concern began to overwhelm her, as she slowly rose into a sitting position. She cradled her head in her hands, willing any information at all to come, just something to remind her who she was, but nothing came. Only her name, Nereid.

Suddenly, she realized there was a figure in front of her, causing her to jolt backwards. He appeared to have asked her something whilst she was panicking, which she could not recall at the moment. "Ah, my apologies, did you ask me something?" Her voice came out oddly high-pitched, most likely due to the long absence of it's use, but what concerned her most was how foreign her voice sounded. It didn't feel familiar at all.

Looking around her, she noticed that the sky was in every direction. This was concerning for a multitude of reasons. To confirm her suspicions, she crawled forwards to reach one of the ledges, and was frightened at the sight. Deep blue water stretched across the horizon and completely filled her view. It would be a beautiful sight if it didn't have such consequences. If she fell, she was done for. No matter where she looked, no land was in sight.

"Do you know where we are?" She began quietly. "Do you know how I got here?" Her voice was rising with confusion and fear. "Do you know who I am?" Her aqua-blue eyes glared straight into his viridian, searching for any answers at all. She was desperate and confused, yet for some reason at the back of her mind, she almost felt the need to threaten him for answers. The thought seemed natural to her, but it didn't make sense. She had no weapons, no armour. Why was threatening a thought that came to her mind? Maybe it was a clue, but she might also just be going crazy.

With a quiet sigh, she realized she hadn't yet looked at herself for any answers. Her hair was in an intricate braid, that seemed to be have been done skillfully by another. She didn't think she could do something like that afterall. Was she a noble then? With maids who would do her hair? Or perhaps it was just the skillful work of a loving mother? That clue wouldn't get her anywhere. Strange glowing flowers adorned her hair, which seemed to radiate a dark power. She wore a plain white dress, which told her nothing at all. Her appearance was an odd choice though, as if it was for a special occasion. What did it mean? Her head reeled from all the questions.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Whilst he anxiously awaited an answer from the equally lost-looking woman before him, Merek swung the crossbow over his back so that it hung there by a strap from shoulder to chest, so as not to startle his already clearly worked up company. The motion felt as easy as breathing, and he had a feeling that manipulating the weapon in any way necessary in future would feel similarly effortless. It was jarring not to recall any of the training he logically surmised he’d need for the bow, other than fuzzy images of an older, rather inhuman-looking woman with scars across her face that wore armor similar to his. Another of the same woman handing him a crossbow was the only other clue. The images lasted only a few short moments before he gave up on remembering and focused on the task at hand; trying to make sense of all of this. Interacting with this woman seemed to be his best bet for that right now.

Getting a closer look at the woman before him, her attire and hairstyle suggested one of royal, noble or at least wealthy stature. This association caused a nigh-equal amount of respect and distrust, two rather conflicting emotions, to well up within him. It was as if he felt that people of this high status he assumed she came from were either utterly trustworthy or utterly untrustworthy, and that one can only glean which they are after being in their company for quite a while. Yet again, though, he drew blanks on why exactly he felt that way. There seemed to be bits and pieces of many years of experiences stowed away in his mind, yet they seemed distant, almost insignificant, but certainly not quite.

Needless to say, it took the sudden change in demeanor of the violet-eyed woman and her demanding words for Merek to snap out of his stupor.

Pausing for a moment whilst staring into her eyes and hoping that her face stirred any memory that would help either of them make sense of this, he sighed and shook his head.

“Apologies, but it seems we’re both suffering from the same predicament. I remember nothing tangible besides my name… Merek. Most unclear is anything pertaining to how we got here. I promise I’ll help you get to the bottom of this for both our sakes, but I’ll need a name first. What should I call you?” He asked, hoping desperately within his mind that she at least remembered as much as he did, for what it was worth amongst all the confusion he could tell the pair were mutually feeling right now.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

"I think my name is Nereid." She responded quietly, trying to stop the questions in her mind from overflowing. It was unfortunate that they had both lost their memories, but there was that prick of relief at hearing someone else go through the same struggle. She felt a little guilty for thinking that way, but she resolved that it was just human nature.

"It seems just sitting around won't get us anywhere. Maybe exploring our surroundings a bit more will help trigger some memories." With that said, she silently stood up and looked around her. The island appeared quite small from their current perspective, but perhaps exiting the ruins would reveal more information on the area. "Let's go." She gestured towards the man in armour, whom she hadn't really paid much attention to till now. He wore what seemed to be rangers armour, with a beautiful golden crossbow slung over his back. He looked rather intimidating, and it felt re-assuring to have him with her. But the dull red tattoos underneath his eyes sounded an alarm in her head. They brought back painful memories. Flashbacks of fire and screaming filled her mind. Something happened, but each memory was just out of reach. All she could remember was a desire for revenge. Unconsciously, she jerked back away from him.

The sound of rocks crumbling near her feet startled her out of her trance, as she looked down towards the ocean. If she had backed up anymore, she'd be swimming by now. "Oh, sorry." She mumbled quietly, as she made her way to the edge of the ruins as if nothing had happened. "We should find still water. Looking at our own faces would be a good idea." With the memory out of the way, she realized she might have just offended her companion by reacting so poorly to his face. "Oh, um, you're not ugly or anything, your tattoos just reminded me of something in my past." She smiled apologetically, her face feeling stiff since she hadn't used it in so long.

The island was much smaller than she had imagined. There wasn't much except a wide field of wild grass which simply ended with another ledge. There were smaller chunks of ruins scattered about, with a few strange totems of sorts. Each was engraved with more celestial blue symbols which seemed to radiate brighter and brighter as she stared at them. But the most surprising sight of all, was the multitude of floating islands above, around and beneath her. It was a beautiful sight, but each seemed rather similar in design. And since no memories triggered from this island, there wasn't much hope on those islands either. But there was always a chance that something was there, so exploring them seemed to be her best bet at the moment. "Any memories come to mind?" She asked hopefully.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Merek nodded curtly at hearing her name. ‘Neried,” he repeated. “Neried… Neried.” He rubbed his chin. The name seemed to be calling to mind more feelings, more interpretations. The name itself didn’t ring a bell, but the sounds the name was made up of and how it felt to speak them felt familiar on their own. He had a feeling the dialect her name came from was one he learned in addition to his native tongue, and that he’d practiced many hours in order to pronounce names such as hers well, for some reason.

Getting a closer look at her, the flowers in her hair raised a bit of alarm, put him on guard. They felt… dangerous to him, he could feel an unsettling energy radiating from them, and they made him feel wary of her, for some reason. At the same time as the wariness, came a feeling of deep regret, regret of having done something irredeemable, which caused him to feel he needed to let the wariness go. This was all so confusing to him, this state of befuddlement quite evident on his face.

Shaking it off as Neried spoke, he nodded in solemn agreement to her suggestion. Investigating his surroundings was about all he hadn’t tried thus far, that he’d thought of anyway, in order to even begin to understand really anything about this situation. As she stood, he found himself looking her over more thoroughly, though nothing that he hadn’t already gleaned from looking at her came to mind. Her reaction, however, caused him to freeze, his eyes widening in confusion at first, then alarm as he realized that her backing away from him had almost caused her to fall. Reflexively, he quickly began to close the distance and reach out his hand, until he realized that she’d regained her footing. At that, he visibly relaxed; still, the look on her face suggested that she had a very negative reaction to something about him… this wasn’t the time to be inquiring about such things, though. His trepidation in response to this was clear on whatever could be seen of his face, even as he nodded his agreement to her suggestion of finding water.

Seeming to notice this, Neried replied in a manner that relaxed him and caused a genuine, grateful smile to flash across his features a solemn look of sympathy mixed with confusion settled in. “Understandable, don’t worry. I myself feel something akin to that in response to those flowers in your hair… no matter what these thoughts may mean, it’s clear that working together to recover our memories is paramount for the time being.”

He scratched his chin at her hopeful prompt. “Not much at the moment, but… I do feel like I’m on the cusp of remembering something very important…. It’s just near the surface… follow me. I think thoroughly exploring this island is the key. It might hold similar clues for you.”

He then began to slowly leave this little alcove of ruins behind. He walked only for a few minutes, still taking in the sheer bewilderment the scene before him left him with. On the surface, the other side of this tiny sky island the pair found themselves upon seemed the same; however, what lie in the distance at one edge of the island, barely visible from here, caused him to stop in his tracks due to the most intense flashback he’d had since becoming conscious in this confusing situation. A floating, ship-like vessel was tethered to the island. Its sails were tattered and torn, and there was visible damage to what could be seen of the hull from this distance; otherwise, it was clearly more or less intact. The strangest thing was, he vividly remembered in that very moment exactly how to fly the ship, how to repair it, everything, all in a flash of images of him doing these things in every situation from intense battles all the way through mundane daily maintenance.

“That over there is the breakthrough I was looking for, Neried,” he continued after taking a moment’s reprieve, pointing at the mysterious vessel looming in the distance. “I have...a lot of memories of that ship. Mostly technical knowledge, but memories too... far too much to make sense of right now, though. I think I need to investigate it closer. Thankfully, we also found what you were looking for."

He pointed to a small pond among a mostly-withered garden between the place the ship was tethered to and where he stood, a little to the left but almost right between both aforementioned points. “I’ll tell you what; tell me if seeing your face jogs some memories, and I'll do the same with mine. Then, we’ll explore that vessel. Sound good?”

He looked to her and smiled, clearly genuinely excited that he’d seemed to find some answers.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

"It seems so." She responded solemnly to his deduction, wondering how on earth she was connected to him. They seemed to belong to entirely different worlds, judging from the way they were dressed, yet here they were. It was an interesting sight at the very least. He also mentioned the flowers in her hair, but they seemed rather important to her. Their power felt reminiscient of a lost bond... were they a gift perhaps? The idea of losing them felt painful. Quietly, she tucked them deeper into the locks of her hair, just to be safe.

"Good idea." She commented hopefully, quickly catching up to him. She didn't feel anything particularly significant from her current surroundings, not even from the overwhelming glow emanating from the intricate symbols on the ruins. But if he felt as if there was something important nearby, then perhaps exploring more would awaken her memories.

"Is that... a ship?" She asked in confusion, just before he began speaking. "That's wonderful, I'm glad we have a means of leaving these islands." She spoke in relief. Before sighting the ship, the idea of being stranded on these floating isles hadn't even crossed her mind, but she was glad to know that wouldn't be a problem now.

"Sounds great." She responded cheerfully, matching his enthusiasm. Although, part of her felt slightly agitated. She was sincerely glad that his memories were beginning to open up, she really was. But nothing new appeared in hers, despite the new scenary. She was a little envious, no doubt, and she was worried that finding her own memories would be much more difficult than she initially hoped. Afterall, she had very little leads at the moment. She felt bad for thinking this way as well, and the swirl of emotions within her caused her to turn away from his gleeful face a little faster than intended.

Silently, she marched over towards the murky pond and stared at herself. There was a hint of desperation in her actions, as she stared herself down so intensely. Initially, the face looked horribly foreign to her, with glaring teal eyes and a strangely pale skin colour. But as she knelt down to get a closer look admist the mix of plantlife, a slow stream of memories began to flow...

She was looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was done in twin pigtails, and she wore a smart little dress with matching shoes. The room she was in was adorned luxuriously, but she couldn't quite tell whether this was her house or not. The faces within the loving paintings were blurred out, and the whole room felt horribly out of place to her. But the most startling thing were her eyes in the mirror. They did not match her child appearance, nor shine with innocence like most childrens should. They seemed dead inside, as if something happened that changed her very world...

Mereid merely sat there for a little while, contemplating the memories that she just recovered. "I remembered something in my childhood." She spoke slowly and carefully, as if she was testing whether her words were correct. "Sadly it didn't tell me anything useful." She concluded, hoping to make more sense of it later on. "How about you?" She asked a little tiredly, preparing to head on over to the strange airship.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

At both her enthusiasm regarding his plan for them both recovering memories, as well as her mutual relief that he’d found a ship with which to explore other lands and hopefully piece some more of all of this together, he grinned even wider than before. In fact, he felt himself smile to a degree that felt uncomfortable, that strained his facial muscles, as if he had spent a very long period of time never once smiling. It was as if this woman had, despite some sort of connection with him that could be anything including a bitter rivalry, coaxed out positivity within him that had laid dormant for a very long time. The look in her eyes and made it clear that his Elation was contagious only made his smile grow wider. However, after she abruptly turned away, the smile faded in favor of a worried look. Whatever the reason for this, he was certain that it had to do with the confusion within her mind that was likely as rampant, if not more so, than his own mind had been since the moment he came to Consciousness. Deciding that such unknowable things were not something to be worried about at this time, he then decided to join her in the next moment.

Kneeling beside the pond, he took off his hood as he kneeled down to stare into the water. Looking for the right angle, Nereid would be able to get a better look at his face this time around, and it was likely the first time she would be seeing his black hair. It was short, neat, and meticulously well-groomed. It was extremely professional, to put it another way, which could be said of the rest of his attire, way of presenting himself, and even his way of speaking. It wasn't sure why yet, but he had a feeling he was certainly dedicated to whatever profession he held before he ended up here with no recollection of it.

After staring into the water for some time, his eyes widened as the first Snippets into the mystery of this craft of his came flooding back to mind.

Staring into a mirror, the first thing he came to recognize about himself were the intense green of his eyes, staring into the mirror with a thoughtful, yet bothered look. He then realized that his face was younger at that time; in the vicinity of 13 years old. A woman with a strict, drill-sergeant-like voice was fussing over his hair, his posture and the straightness of his sky-blue blazer coat, all the while barking a day’s worth of orders. She had his schedule down to a t. He also remembered wondering when he’d get to fly, and if he’d ever become one of the elite Eliminators, like he dreamed of. Even at that age, though, determination overwhelmed those worries. He had to. For everyone he loved.

Rising at around the same time Nereid did, he nodded at her words, eyes a bit surprised as she realized her revelation was similar.

Oddly enough, so did I. I gleaned why I remember so much about that ship, I apparently joined some kind of sky-focused military unit when I was quite young. Your own flashbak may be just as enlightening at one time or another in the future; many of my memories seem to be connected in some way. You might need to just give it time."

With that, he began to lead her onto the ornate, sophisticated and victorian-esque skyship. “I’ll have to see how I can get her running,” he said, pointing to the ship to signify what he was referring to. “In the meantime, why don’t you use the vantage point you have from there to scout out our less immediate surroundings? It might prove fruitful for memory regain, or at least pointing you to somewhere that could aid you in that endeavor.”

He then carefully stepped onto the skyship and began thoroughly examining the details of the deck as he roamed it, leaving Nereid to do as she wished.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

Nereid watched him closely as he delicately removed his hood. She was curious to see what lay behind his red-painted face, and her curiousity was only piqued further by the sight. His neat hair contrasted heavily against the intimidating tattoos decorating his skin, and hinted at the kind of person her companion was. She didn't think so at first, but now that she had noticed his dutiful appearance, she realized her companion might be someone incredibly important. His well-polished armour, intricate crossbow and polite speech all added up to this conclusion. Her deduction made more sense the more she looked at him, as he slowly entered a trance much like her earlier one, and began to recall memories of his own.

His flashback appeared to have lasted longer than hers, so Mereid took the time to search deeper into the memory she recalled. The dullness within her young eyes continued to haunt her thoughts, as if it was a symbol of a grudge that must never be forgotten. She also remembered the scene of fire and chaos and decided to assume that the memory occurred after it. But the memory of destruction was recalled by looking at Mereks tattoos... was he the one she held a grudge against? Was she making a grave mistake of being friendly with him? She was unsure what to make of this idea, and didn't exactly have enough evidence to firmly conclude that he was an enemy. But perhaps, keeping him at a distance would be best...

When she snapped out of her thoughts, she realized she had been staring at the man in question straight in the eye, who had now risen from the pond. She wasn't sure how long she had been staring at him, or when he had finished recalling his memories, but she tried to shrug the awkward situation off with a little smile.

A military unit? As if on que, the flashback of watching her little village blow up in flames re-occurred in her mind. She wasn't sure why of all times she re-called the location now, or the fact that she had to watch her childhood friends be mercilessly slaughtered. Her memories seemed to slowly trickle back, with time. It seemed what he said was correct in her case.

"Yeah, the more I think about my memories the more they seem to come back. But it'll take time, like you said." She decided not to bring up the 'military-unit' part of his memory, because her fears might come true. It appeared as if the more he remembered, the higher the chance of him being who she suspected he was, which wasn't a good sign. If he remembered what he had done, would he come after her? And kill her? Just a few minutes ago, she was happy to see him recover his memories. But now, she prayed desperately that he didn't.

"Sure thing, but call me if you find anything I can do to assist you. The ship looks like it'll need any help it can get." The joyful, amicable words rolled off her tongue easily, despite the contrast with her resolve. The probing of her memories tired her mentally, so Mereid decided to take a break from all these uncertain worries and admire the scenery, as she strolled over to a better vantage point. The deep ocean beneath was luscious with sealife, and the pristine sky stretched across the horizon, flowing with the ebbing waves. It was the same from all the angles and perspectives Mereid could find, and she began to worry that they'd have to sail for days without sustenance to find anything noteworthy. But out of the corner of her bright teal eyes, a crimson sky could be seen looming in the distance. It appeared incredibly far away, until Mereid realized, it was heading towards them. If she knew anything, red meant danger.

"Merek!" She called out instinctively to warn him. "There's a red sky approaching us, it's still far away, but how fast do you think you can get that ship running?" It could mean no harm, but something told her that going anywhere near that thing, meant death. She felt as if she had been worried about the same thing before, in her past somewhere. Mereid dashed over towards the ship, prepared to do anything she can to help speed up the repairs.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

When his consciousness returned to the present from his vision-like flashback, he was greeted with Neried staring intently into her eyes. Once again, he felt feelings of equal fear and regret well up within him, before he allowed her to redirect the pair’s joint attentions to the task at hand. The fear, if his interpretations of still half-buried thought patterns were correct that is, seemed to stem from those flowers in her hair, and the energies surrounding them. He felt that signified that she was dangerous, he realized. The regret, however, seemed to tell him that he had done something, either to her, or to her people, that felt too wrong, even if it were to clear that fear from his mind, and so he faltered. He came to an epiphany then that helped him refocus: whatever the past held, he didn’t feel that she was his enemy, and he even felt that he owed her. What he felt he owed her for, he wasn’t keen on remembering just yet. What would it do if she remembered his transgression? Would she turned on him?

For now, however, Merek returned Neried’s still-friendly communication with the same, even as he felt a slight tension growing in the air between them. He felt like he had a great deal of practice in concealing his emotions and what he was thinking, and that perhaps, Nereid was no different. Even if, right now, conflict between the two seemed highly likely, it was clear to Merek that it was in both their best interests to assist each other right now, even if their ultimate goal, memory regain, may end up stoking the fires of some mutually-forgotten transgression. If it came to that, he supposed he’d have to address it then, but he almost immediately promised himself within his mind that he would not harm her whatever came to pass. He had a strong feeling that she didn’t deserve it. He nodded in understanding as she said that the more she thought about her memories, the more they came back, even though internally he was afraid what she might remember, given time.

Neried’s cheerful response to his deductions regarding the vessel he’d begun investigating then helped Merek come to his senses, the man smiling and nodding curtly in return. “Will do, thank you. You’re definitely right about her needing some tlc, though… I can likely get her running, but the hull integrity… hmm…”

With that, he turned from her to investigate the ship further, heading inside the nearby door to the engineering deck to have a closer look at the damage, leaving it open so that he could hear Neried should she call to him, and that she could come inside if she wished to. He lost himself in the work the moment that he realized what was causing the vessel to stall, and went right to work on the crystal-powered engine core. His technical knowledge, which surprised him with its vastness, began streaming through his mind as he troubleshot the ship’s inner workings with an efficiency he reckoned he must have practiced for quite a few years to achieve.

He was then snapped out of his near-meditative working trance by the sound of Neried’s voice calling for him in a frantic tone of voice, and his eyes widened with her words. A red sky? He had no idea why, but the very thought filled him with dread. Thinking fast, he called out to her as clearly as he could from where he was.

“I can get her moving in just a few moments, but I'll need your help! Untie the ropes holding the sails shut and free the hook holding the ship in place by the railing!"

Trusting Neried to perform the task he set out for her, he then redoubled his own efforts.

At last, the engine roared to life, producing a mystical chime Neried would likely hear from wherever on the ship she might’ve been. Frantically, he ascended back above deck and into the bridge, which sat on the highest part of the top deck and had windows looking out on all sides. Seeing the red sky looming over the horizon, he looked over the top deck before him and realized the sails had been freed and the grounding hook had been dropped from its place near the middle of the port side railing. The sight gave him great relief.

"Great job, Neried. She's ready to go, though I'm not sure how far. Definitely far enough from the red sky for a time. Hold on tight to something, it’ll be a bumpy ride!" He called to her through the conveniently broken window looking out onto the deck. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Merek then doubled down on the repairs, sweat beginning to form on his forehead as the combined stress and physical labor wore on him.

Once he received her answer, he began to carefully and slowly navigate the ship away from the island and that red sky, very careful of any more sharp rocky edges he came across. Once he felt that they were out of immediate danger, he called out ot her again. “If you see a safe-looking place to land, please let me know.” He then continued focusing on his piloting and looking for such a place himself, though he knew his focus needed to tend towards the rather complex controls for the sake of them both.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

As Nereid hurried on over to the sky ship, in a passing moment, she noticed her hair falling out of it's intricate handiwork. Alarmed, she immediately inspected the damage, and whether or not she had lost any flowers. There was a deep-rooted fear within her of losing the dark flora, even with her memories lost, and her sub-consciousness immediately decided that it was more important compared to the imminent danger closeby. Much to her concern, she noticed that the flowers had developed roots which weaved through her hair, permanently tying them to her. She hasn't noticed it earlier, due to the almost invisible appearance of the roots, but wondered how on earth this had occurred. Was it always like this? Or did it develop due to her long slumber? Deciding to analyze it in more depth later, she hurriedly pushed back her hair to help out on the sky vessel.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, in simple confirmation. Her eyes scoured the sails for the ropes tying them together, and quickly traced the ropes to their latter end. With a firm pull, she released the complicated knot they led to, and the sails unfurled in union. With a sigh of relief, and one half of her orders complete, she immediately headed over towards the railing. At first, she could spot no such hook, which bedazzled her, but luckily she found it not long afterwards. It had blended in with the environment with age, and Mereid couldn't help but click her tongue at her lack of perception. Swiftly, she yanked the hook out of it's lodgement, and watched it fall at the edge of the ship.

A piercing ring penetrated the area around her, and immediately Mereid looked around alarmed. Noticing that the source of the noise was most likely due to Mereks tinkering, she decided to check on the red sky from her current vantage point. It was approaching faster than she expected, and now that the distance had closed somewhat, she noticed that the ominous clouds within the red sky was raining down an eerily red liquid.

"Blood Rain..." She whispered as she realized what the cause of her fear was. It was still hazy, but she recalled being told as a child, stories of the Crimson Sky which eroded skin with it's mutated acidic rain. There was something else she was taught about how it originated... but the memory eluded her. Maybe Merek could remember something significant if she brought up the name. She wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to rely on him so much, but she had no other options.

A voice from above startled her with its loud call, and Mereid looked up through the weathered window to find a concerned face looking down at her. "Okay! Does the phase Blood Rain ring any bells for you? Or Crimson Sky? Maybe you were taught something about it in your military training!" She yelled back as she braced herself and tightly wrapped herself around one of the wooden poles. She would enter the ships bridge or hide under the deck, but she had a feeling they needed as many eyes as possible to watch out for danger.

Her arms began to ache from hugging the mast so tightly, and when the worst of the bumpiness was over, she tiredly released her grip. It was still rocky here and there, but it was more manageable. "I will!" She called back hopefully. They were well away from most of the sky islands by now, but the sea seemed to expand with every mile they travelled. She kept a wary eye in all directions for any sort of land, whether it be in the sky or on the ocean. Seemingly out of nowhere, a wide menacing shadow loomed over the horizon. "Land ahead! Slightly to the right!" She was rather apologetic at the fact that she knew no nautical terms, but she tried her best to communicate nonetheless. She pondered using angles as a way to communicate the direction, but decided against it for now.

The island atop the sea was a fearful sight. It was mostly mountainous, with dense, impenetrable forests within the valleys. But what appealed to Mereid as a good landing sight to avoid the Blood Rain, was the incredible cliff off the side of the island. It was hollowed out, but still contained a sturdy rocky roof above which could serve as cover. The area beneath the cliff was dark and firm, from years of dealing with ferocious waves with little sunlight. There also appeared to be a cave opening, but it wasn't particularly clear from this distance. "Head towards the left of the island, and land beneath the cliff!" She called out, hoping he would understand what she meant.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Seeing that Nereid was clinging securely to one of the sail masts, Merek felt relief wash over him that led to him focusing all his attention on manipulating the ship’s controls and avoiding rocks as the vessel gained distance from the islands the pair upon her were greeted with upon waking just mere moments ago, it seemed.


Once he caught a glimpse of Neried now navigating safely about the ship,Merek calmed considerably and thus settled in for a relaxed, focused drive. He remembered, as he did so, feeling at peace in the moment whilst at the wheel. He liked being an airship pilot, but he vaguely remembered striving to be a member of a special stealth unit, and now strongly felt that the reason had something to do with either Neried or others like her, or at the very least those strange, clearly magical flowers in her hair. He’d been through this over and over again within his mind, but he found himself reviewing all that had been revealed to him over and over to try and make some sense of things. Then, once again, he realized that his mind had been on something other than the complex and truly life-preserving act of piloting the ship, and thus he let those thoughts and feelings fade in favor of focus once more.


He fell into a focused routine of piloting, until he heard Nereid calling to him once more. He found himself freezing for a moment at the term “crimson sky” and even more at “blood rain.” He found his eyes darting to the flowers in her hair even as grotesque visions of the blood rain seeming to melt those caught out in in flash through his mind. It seemed that he’d believed, rather true or not, that such magic as that contained in those flowers were the cause of the blood rain. Also, he remembered feeling that the blood rain had taken everything from him. Taking a deep breath to regain composure, he refocused on driving. “Yes, I remember! Not much, but… I see visions of people… dying in that rain!” Even as he relayed this information to Neried out of courtesy regarding the two’s mutual predicament, he was afraid what it might make her remember. It wasn’t the time to dwell on that now, though. Now was the time to get the hell away from he Crimson Sky even quicker, if he could safely manage that.


As a promising-looking landing place came into view, Neried was right on que with her sugggestion to land near the area underneath the cliff he could just see from this distance. Moving his eyes to it, relief washed over the tense nerves he felt, which was likely reflected in the craft feeling more steady underneath Neried’s feet. “On it, that’ll be a perfect place to wait out its passing! I’d grab a hold of something again if I were you, and tightly! Unless I land perfectly, you’re going to be in danger of being thrown overboard!”


With that, he focused one more time on piloting to the best of his ability, all semblance of extraneous thought and emotion falling away as exhilaration took over. The trickiness and danger of sticking this landing, while knowing that if they hadn’t found this cover, they might have befallen a much more life-threatening situation, filled him with determination. Moments like this were why he he loved to fly airships; he was certain of it.


After a few painfully intense moments for both of them he imagined, the ship had come to a skidding stop underneath the rocky overhang above, grass and a few mushrooms growing down here, but little else.He remembered that these ships held stores of water and preserved food, which he found himself crossing his fingers was still there in the storage hold and still safe for consumption after all this time. There were far more pressing matters right now, however, such as Neried’s safety.


“You all right, Neried?!” He called, his tone genuinely worried. He’d assumed the role of a captain at this time, his suspicions and other mixed feelings surrounding her far behind him in this moment as he simply assured that his passenger had made it safely.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

"Exactly what I thought!" She responded enthusiastically, pleased that he had understood what she meant. The vessel felt more stable beneath her feet, most likely due to how they had a pinpointed destination now, so Meried took the time to re-organise her hair, which had fallen into a miserable mess due to all the chaos. It was more for utility than for appearance that she decided to quickly tie her hair back into a bun: she couldn't have it fall and obscure her vision now of all times. She had been oppressing her paranoia of this strange foreign world, especially with no memories, but she still wanted to remain as alert as possible. A question that creeped up on her, was why she prized her perception so much. It was unusual to say the least, but there were way too many questions she could ask about herself at the moment, and find no answers for.

That brought her thoughts to Merek. His answer to her question about the Blood Rain was quite vague, did he remember something he couldn't tell her? Perhaps he was just overwhelmed by the perilous situation, but Mereid couldn't be certain, and continued to remain alert around her companion.

As they approached the island, Mereid prepared herself for the landing and decided to head under the deck for safety. She was worried about the danger of falling overboard, and concluded that it would most likely be safest down there. However, just as she opened the hatch, a sudden turn flung her across the deck. The mast she had held onto earlier collided painfully with her backside, knocking the wind out of her, but luckily it prevented her from flying overboard. The landing maneuver continued to rock in all directions, but somehow Mereid managed to twist her body round to tightly latch onto the mast, and hang on till the very end.

When the skid gradually grew to a halt, signalling the end of her peril, Meried tiredly slid down the pole and flopped onto the now dormant deck. That life-threatening situation required a moment to recover, but not as long as she would have thought. Perhaps she had been in more perilous situations in her past. Nonetheless, she was relieved and fatigued by the incident, and was tempted to just fall asleep then and there on the deck. However, a concerned voice pierced her ears, returning her to full awareness. "I'm fine! Just a bit sore." She responded to his anxiousness a little quieter than usual, perhaps prompting further worry, but she was just distracted by the throbbing pain in her back. She rubbed the sore spot carefully, hoping to conclude whether her injury was a cause for concern or not. It didn't seem too bad, and the pain began to fade slightly with time, so she slowly rose from her spot to reunite with Merek after that stressful journey. His concern for her was sincere, and she felt quite grateful for it, and wanted to check on him too as a reciprocated action. Nothing more, nothing less. To her relief, he seemed perfectly fine, albeit a stray hair here and there.

With the immediate danger avoided, aka the Blood Rain, the wave of relief tempted her to go to bed, but it was a more pressing matter to check on survival supplies. Whether her fatigue was visible in her appearance was unknown to her, but she attempted to continue to look alert nonetheless. "Earlier, did you check whether we had provisions on the ship? If we don't, we should probably investigate the area to look for food and water."
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Neried’s enthusiastic response caused a smile to grace Merek's facial features, despite the inherent danger of this situation, and the deep uncertainty that had been permeating both of the pairs’ existences ever since they’d woken up on that now somewhat distant island. An interesting thought crossed Merek mind as he brought them in to safety: even if the pair had been enemies before they’d lost their memories, as a few of Merek’s own memories seemed to be pointing rather strongly toward, they seemed to be of similar mind. Perhaps they could put whatever differences they had in the past aside and become friends, or… something more? She was certainly very beautiful to him. However, if that was at all a possibility it was likely a far off one; the two had a lot of self-discovery to do, as well as survival. He couldn’t deny a growing attraction to her, however, almost as if it was slowly fading back in from his memories. It was unclear as of yet if that was the case, however, so he could just as well have only started feeling this attraction to her after meeting her here. Either way, it felt clear that he’d at least seen Nereid before, somewhere.

WIlling himself to focus once more on the necessities of the current moment, Merek then all but jumped from the captain’s chair to get a better look at her. She did indeed sem fine, though it was clear as she stood from the base of the sail mast that the ship had thrown her around some. “Good. It’s almost a miracle you can stand after being thrown around like that. How does your back feel? Judging by that impact, it looks like it might be bruised, or worse.”

The genuine mutual concern in her eyes touched Merek, a wide smile and like she had seen from him so far gracing his lips. He was grateful for her amiability despite her guardedness thus far, and her efforts to close the distance between them and make sure he was okay despite obviously being in pain caused a warm feeling to spread within Merek’s chest for a moment. It was getting difficult to keep his guard up around her, causing a bit of conflict within him. At this point, the things his memory was telling him about her may need to be discussed in order to hopefully prevent sudden conflict due to memories that may not even have full context, much like the vast majority of the memories Merek had regained thus far.

Neried’s next words then spurred him to refocus on ensuring they had enough necessary supplies to survive for the time being. He shook his head in answer.

“I was so invested in simply fixing her that I forgot to check her cargo. Let's go see if we have some unspoiled provisions lying around here somewhere.”

Leading the way back below deck, he went all the way to the back of the engine room there. On one side of this area was a rather small room with hammocks and bunk beds lining the walls. “This’ll be where we sleep. Use whichever bet you wish, and I'll take a different one. By the way, you look rather tired. I feel like it might be an idea for you to go take a nap here soon.I don't know if I'll be able to sleep after that exhilarating flight though, so I'll keep watch.”

With that, he then open the trapdoor on the other side of the area, and climbs down a ladder with well-practiced speed to the cargo bay below. Just as he was expecting, it was rather bear except for a few crates. Thankfully, he was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the crates was full of food that still seemed to be rather fresh. There was also a barrel that common upon opening upon opening the top up, seems to be full of water that also I'm done tainted. Dipping his finger in and licking it clean, he found that it was purified water, just what they needed.

“Good news, the rations here still look safe for consumption. However, I don't think they’ll last us more than 3 days altogether. If we can find another food or water source, it would greatly increase our chances of survival for certain.”

Merek then went about tidying the storeroom up, organizing the supplies they hand, calling over to Neried as he did so.

“I really would suggest getting some rest. It might help your back out as well.” The way she was moving made it clear that her seemingly minor back injury likely still bothered her at least a little bit.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

"I'm sure it's just a bruise, it'll fade over time." She smiled in response to his concern, hoping to alleviate some of his worries. His characteristic of always looking out for her, made it difficult to remain paranoid around him. It was as if a big cuddly teddy bear was presented before her, offering a hug, and she was glaring back with a dagger in hand. It would be nice to let go of her fears, but a voice gnawed at the back of her mind, with a threatening tone, that he must never be forgiven. It would be nice though. She sighed, and let her eyes fall to the floor: maybe she was just too tired and in pain to be paranoid.

It was a little amusing hearing Merek refer to the skyship as 'her', it was clear from the way he spoke about the vessel that piloting skyships was once a vital part of his life, and that he took pride in it. Mereid couldn't help but smile at this minor discovery, despite the fact that he grew ever closer to fully recovering his memories. The chances of provisions actually being on this worn-down old skyship was slim, especially since they didn't know how long they had been asleep for, or who left the skyship there. To be honest, now that she thought about it, the skyship was most likely left by them on that sky island. Otherwise how did they get there? Perhaps there would be hidden memories hidden on the vessel for them to find, of their recent past lives.

Tiredly, she followed Merek down the hatch and around the fascinating machinery keeping the skyship in the air. She took little sleepy glances at it all, but failed to comprehend what even one of the many levers and buttons was used for. Hopefully, she would ask Merek for a quick run-down later. It wouldn't be good if she knew nothing about the new skyship that would be their home for the time being, would it? As they reached the bedroom, a sudden realization hit her. She was relying once more on Mereks amiability, which she clearly wanted to refrain from doing. "Ugh.." She clicked her tongue in annoyance, in admidst a state of self-reflection. To Merek, however, it seemed to have caused him more concern for her injury, which he would probably think was the cause of her sudden change in attitude.

"I'll be fine, I want to ensure our survival first." She responded quickly. There were more problematic things to worry about than the uncertain haze of her memories. Shrugging the throbbing in her backside off, she continued to slowly follow Merek down the trapdoor, and into the cargo bay. As Merek inspected the quality of the substances within the containers, Mereid hunted around the emptier ones, hoping to perhaps find something salvagable, but to no avail. At his conclusion, Mereid nodded along in agreement. Rations would never last them that long, so she wasn't expecting too much, but three days worth is more than she expected. Hopefully they'd be able to find something sustainable on this wild island, by that time. "I saw some deep green forests in the valleys earlier, when we approached the island. There's a decent chance we'll find replenishments there." She emphasised the 'deep green' part of her statement, with the knowledge that it most likely meant there was an abundant water source if the trees were that vibrant.

Mereid helped Merek organize as best she could, but fatigue made her movements ever more sluggish, until she was frustrated by her lack of strength. "Okay, fine. But wake me up if something happens." She grumbled as she pat him on the shoulder to get his attention. He seemed to have been overworking his mind with the organization, at least, that's what it looked like to her. "You should take a break too sometime." After successfully making her way to one of the fluffier bottom bunks, she flopped down tiredly and immediately began to drift off. There was a hazy alarm in her mind, telling her that she musn't rest, or else she would be vulnerable to Merek potentially backstabbing her, but she was much too tired and broken to care.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Merek found himself smiling a relieved smile in response to Neried's reassuring one, as he nodded in response to her accompanying statement. “That’s good to hear. I sincerely hope it ceases to bother you soon.” The way she had gazed down at the floor for a moment worried him for the same reason he was dreading recovering his memories; he wasn’t going to stir that hornet nest yet, though. Whenever just what he had done and why finally came to him, the best way of bringing it up to her would become clear, he told himself.

When Neried clicked her tongue and let out a subsequent noise suggesting further annoyance, Merek took it as a response to the likely throbbing pain in her back, the fatigue clearly wracking her, or a combination of both. Nodding in agreement as Neried noted that she wanted to focus on their survival for the time being, Merek simply led her to the cargo bay for the moment. It was clear she was tired and aching, and so he continued to get straight to the point and focus on the work of finding and taking stock of provisions.

As he did so, he thought to himself that he must continue paying her the most kindness he could in order to atone for the transgression he could remember on the edge of his mind. He had to have done something quite hurtful directly to her and/or any number of those close to her, he decided; he'd become aware while spending this time with her of a deep feeling of guilt within him almost every time he looked into her eyes. His experience with her so far was certainly a net positive, so without his memories stringing together enough to give him a motive for this past transgression of his, he couldn't imagine why he'd done it. The thought stung, but eventually, it passed as he dedicated himself to tending to the ship. He had fond feelings whenever he was doing little tasks like this that would likely bore or even exasperate others; feelings akin to caring for a child. For one reason or another that he wasn't quite sure of yet, he deeply cared for this vessel. Everything about her felt familiar as well, and he was starting to remember where more and more things were. He'd spent a lot of time on this ship in the past and come to feel that she was his home through it all, of that he had no doubt. After a while, all traces of his fear were gone in the moment as he continued counting and organizing what they had to work with for food for the time being. When Neried mentioned deep green forests, a nod and a rubbing of Merek’s chin in contemplative thought was what she received in immediate response.

“Yes, it seems likely that those woods are our best bet. I suppose we’ll head in that direction soon, but taking some time to get settled in would likely be a wonderful first priority for now.“

Merek found himself looking over at Neried with gratitude, and even a slight smile every now and then as despite her state, she helped him as best she could. He knew better not to press her too much at this point, though when she seemed utterly exhausted, he went ahead and made his statement about getting some rest. The pat on the shoulder in answer caused him to pause for a moment, but after a moment he nodded his confirmation. He was surprised to hear her say he should get some rest too, sometime. Was she worried about him? This added to his mental conflict a little, and he found himself sighing after he said a parting “rest well” and heard the trapdoor above him close.

Once he’d finished up after refocusing, he began to scour the rest of the storeroom for anything useful. He didn’t find much except for some useful supplies to keep the ship running, which were thankfully useful in their own right. Once he’d taken stock of and organized those, he decided to, as quietly as he could, go above deck and check the items and documents in the bridge. He felt afraid to do so, having a hunch that at something there, or several somethings even, would trigger memories, but pushed onward as he had an accompanying feeling that whatever it was would be important. Tiptoeing past Neried, whose currently asleep state gave him a bit of relief to see, he made his way up onto deck and into the bridge, and began to check the documents on the table.

Just as he’d thought, he came upon an old, weathered-looking document titled “assignment manifest,” and his eyes widened as he began to read it. It detailed a mission in which they were task to eliminate the presence of something they referred to as “shadow druids” from the nearby area. The flowers in Neried’s hair certainly seemed to match the term. That was when he remembered.

He was moving through the burning village in a crouch, crossbow raised, careful not to make a sound himself as he followed the sound of panicked screaming. He’d seen the flowers in her hair; she was one of them. But… this wasn’t the right thing. An intense feeling of guilt wracked him. All around him, innocent women and children who had nothing to do with the Shadow Druids, who were only suspected, not confirmed, to be behind the blood rain simply because of their reputation combined with the protections their village had against such deadly phenomena. For the first time, he was seriously questioning whether or not he’d be killing the people he believed he was all this time, the people responsible for the death of people he cared deeply for. He remembered few details about them for now.

Next, he vividly remembered staring down his crossbow at the girl he was chasing, who seemed to have fallen from injury and fatigue, fire encroaching near her. He couldn’t do it.

The next image that flashed through his mind was him carrying the woman, now unconscious, to the airship, putting her gently down, and throwing the pilot, the only crewman then aboard, off before hurriedly flying the ship off to… somewhere. He remembered his resolve to somehow make it up to the woman, and to never kill another innocent sentient being if he could help it.

When he came to, he found himself shaking. A wave of very mixed and powerful emotion hit him all at once, and he found himself kneeling before the documents, burying his head in exasperation, anger, frustration, guilt, sadness, regret. After a while, he began to cry.

Once he’d come down from this hysteria, he took a deep breath and realized that something needed to be done. Finally, light had been shed on his feelings toward Neried as well as how and why they’d ended up here. Shakily, he picked up the documents, and took a deep breath. He couldn’t pretend they could get along just fine like they’d been anymore. He needed to tell her the truth, for both their sakes.

It took some courage, but he found the strength to quietly enter the hull again and wait for her to wake and find him as he did some more repairs and maintenance in the engine room as quietly as he could to while away the time. The documents sat right next to him, and he promised himself that no matter what came of it, he’d let her know what he’d remembered right away, in as gentle a way possible. After all, it seemed that the action he’d remembered so regretting, from what he’d gathered, were born of a grave misunderstanding. He wasn’t going to let anymore misunderstandings occur if he could help it.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

Mereid awoke calmly, with the pain in her back subsided and her lack of fatigue. It seemed she had slept for maybe an hour or so, which had eased the tension and stress from her mind. She had a vague recollection of a dream about a woman clad in black. Her face was smiling warmly, but her eyes were icy cold. Shrugging off the drowziness of just waking up, she tidied her bed efficiently and went to check on Merek. She hoped he had at least taken some sort of break during her time asleep, since she felt a rest truly revitalised her and reduced her stress levels. Hopefully it would've done the same for him. However, even at a glance, she could tell he hadn't rested at all, or didn't look like he had. He looked as if he had endured a whole new dilemma when she was asleep, which she was rather concerned about. Out of the corner of her eye, she also noticed a pile of papers near him, obscured by the machinery from her position.

Just as she asked about his wellbeing, and the new pile of papers in the room, she was faced with an onslaught of blunt information about their past. For a while, she stood there, shocked and spellbound by the memories flowing through her. Tears began to fall from her eyes, as she realized all that she had lost in her past life. Her village. Her friends. Her family. All that she called home was burnt to the ground by them. They were the so-called 'protectors of the world' who 'defended the people'. They made her sick. Their name eluded her, but the utter disgust she had as she thought about them was more than enough to know what they did, and how she felt about them.

"You... How could you? We never did anything. Fyran was just a humble peaceful village, with little contact with the outside world as we were self-sustainable. What made you think we caused the Blood Rai-" Just as she began to recall her peaceful days, of fishing with the elder druids and playing in the fields as a child, the woman from her dream penetrated her mind. She began to recall a conversation with the great elder druid, about this strange woman...

"Her name was Syna. She was always a little unique, even at a young age, as she was so much more fascinated by magic than the other children. I'll never forget the innocent smile on her face when she won the magic capability contest. None of us know what changed her. But she suddenly began to focus so intently on her magic, that she even began to forgo food and sleep. We tried to ease her out of it, but she wouldn't listen. Eventually we hoped it was just a phase in her growth. But we didn't realize how bad her obsession was till it was too late. Syna went missing, one day. When her father broke down the magic barrier in her room, he discovered an incredibly intricate ritual circle, with a pool of blood in the center. The spell has been casted, which was the Blood Rain. Syna is the leader and founder of the Shadow Druids, and has been exiled from our village for eternity. But she is also your mother, Mereid."

Mereid broke down emotionally and mentally by the onslaught of her past life. Her body was wrecked by tears, guilt and anger, as the memories continued to flow. Despite curling into a ball, she felt as if she was in the most vulnerable position she had ever been in.

"Syna left you at the entrance of our village. And of course, we chose to raise you as one of our own, despite your mothers crimes. In fact, you were raised by your grandparents."

"Your mother visited you on your first birthday, and gave you the flowers you keep in your hair. Just as we tried to catch her, she vanished, most likely utilizing more dark magic. The way you cherished those flowers so dearly made us unable to take them from you."

She wasn't sure how long she had been curled in a ball, but it felt like an eternity, with her limbs slowly relaxing into a more natural position. She couldn't believe she felt so tired again despite taking a nap. Mental exhaustion felt much worse than physical fatigue. When she opened her eyes, she simply stared at Merek, and asked him the most prominent question of all. "Why didn't you kill me?" There was a silent tension in the air between them, but Mereid felt inclined to tell him what she remembered nonetheless. Afterall, he laid bare his memories as well. Whether he decided to answer her question or not, she told him what she remembered. As the words spilled from her mouth, she realized there were still plenty of gaps in her memories. But hopefully, this breakthrough would lead to more. Well, only if Merek didn't decide to kill her, especially with the new knowledge she shared.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

The moment he met Neried’s eyes with his own, he let her know, in as gentle and apologetic a tone as possible, that he’d remembered something she needed to know, patting the pile of papers beside him. Once he’d visibly claimed her full attention, he started slowly, as carefully as he could. The more words he spoke about the foggy, painful memories, the less he looked at her eyes until he found himself struggling to lift his gaze from the weathered wooden floor beneath him. He found himself clenching his fists as he began to hear her crying, intense guilt flooding him more every single moment. It was clear that he was forcing her to quickly remember a lot of things that were likely very painful for her indeed.

When she regained her composure enough to speak, he found himself staring straight down at the floor throughout her verbal assault, shaking his head to futiley convey that he truly hadn’t remembered enough to answer her. It seemed clear, though, that they were just angry, rhetorical questions that she had every right to ask. Tears were starting to well in his eyes as well, until she suddenly ceased in the middle of her questioning. His head snapped upwards, his eyes staring wide into hers as she stood frozen for what felt to Merek, and perhaps to Neried as well, akin to an eternity. He had a feeling she was remembering something very important, so he simply sat as patiently as he could before her, hoping that she would regarain her hold on the moment soon.

However, for quite a while, what he estimated was the better part of an hour, she only seemed to be less and less able to deal with the horrid things that must have been flooding her mind. When she finally spoke up once more, Merek had been reduced to nervously pacing back and forth, frantically trying to figure out what he’d do if she didn’t come to her senses any time soon. He was relieved at first when he heard her voice, but her question made his eyes widen in shock. It seems the tables had turned now. She had just remembered the reason he’d set out to kill her before he did. Putting her in a similar situation he’d been in a moment ago. However, the reason why he hadn’t done it still felt graspable within his mind.

“I… I think I just saw all the death and destruction I’d helped cause, saw you scared and… couldn’t do it no matter why I’d set out to do so…” The answer was simple, but it was the truth, he could feel it. Then, it was his turn to experience a rush of painful memories similar in emotional charge to the ones he’d caused her to remember, as she explained everything she’d just unearthed within her own mind.

He found himself continuing to pace more and more agitatedly as it all came flooding back to him. Vivid images of himself as a young boy hiding inside as, through the window, he watched his parents die before his eyes as they made a mad dash for the house. He then remembered the same militant woman he’d seen in that earlier flashback of his coming to the residence of his aunt who’d taken the orphan in, and telling him that she knew who was behind the crimson rain and that he could help to fight them. She said she needed people with conviction for an important job, wanted to use his pain and loss and fury to get it done. He even excelled at it, driven by that anger. They eliminated every Shadow Druid they could find, Marked by the flowers in their hair. They had gained so much momentum that by this point they were slaughtering everyone who tried to get in the way of eliminating every last one they could find out of pure suspicion that they might be in league, which brought them to Neried's villiage and they'd done there. This is the point, he remembered now, that the guilt of all the innocents they'd slaughtered had broken through his hatred and made him realize what he'd done. It seemed that there were still traces of the organization around now if the blood rains were still happening. In fact, Neried's biological mother still could be triggering the rains herself, wherever she’s been hiding all this time. As he remembered this, his hand found its way around his back to his crossbow hand, gripping it tightly and almost pulling it free. However, he realized in a sudden ephiphany, causing him to loosen his grip, and let go of the grossbow handle altogether after a few minutes, that he didn’t want to kill her. In fact, everything about how amiable she’d been despite these memories cropping up, and having shared all this with him, made it clear that she was likely very different from her mother,in a good way. In Fact, one could say the do to her unique circumstances, she was never truly a Shadow druid herself.

Of course, he took the time to explain all of this to her, too, once he’d gained composure. He also apologized, though far too late admittedly, for the pain he had caused her those who she held dear. He conveyed as clearly as he could that he resented becoming no different then his enemies once his bloodlust had taken over, and that he had every intention of never returning to that state of mind.

“...Don’t worry,” he said a few moments later, gaze still downcast, fists now clenched at his sides. “I... know you aren’t to blame. I sense truth in your words, sense nothing of the wickedness og Shadow Druids in what I’ve seen of you so far. I remember how scared you were back then, too… I-I… I think I need some time to process this. In… in the meantime, we need to think about what to do when the bloodrain passes. She… she could still be out there somewhere. I… I still feel I I need to find her...and the rest of the Shadow Druids…” his hand almost gripped the handle of his weapon again, before he halted himself and lowered it back down to his side, tightly balling that fist. He was shaking now, and took a deep breath before saying what he felt most he needed to so. “Thank you, Neried… thank you for sharing all of this, even knowing the implications… this must be just as hard for you to remember…I... I’ll be in the bridge if you need me.”


He then found himself hastily exiting the room, nearly slamming the door without meaning to. Just as he said he would, he found himself slumping in the captain’s chair in the bridge, staring out of the broken window before him into the stormy horizon as he took the time to collect his thoughts. It seemed like a good idea to go gathering food once they were able to safely move from this area deue to the blood rain passing. But… would they be okay like this? He didn’t know whether to think they could start to get along much better now, having laid all of this bare to each other, or if they would never be able to get over the uneasiness knowing all of it. Only time could tell, he supposed, but he felt a deep need to try as hard as he can for the former result. He felt he owed it to her to forgive her completely. After all, she had nothing to do with it herself, from what he’d gathered. Still, he found it difficult to separate her comepletely from her mother in his mind, knowing who her mother was now. He sighed…. It would be a process, for sure, but at least there were fewer secrets being kept now. Further memories recovered and further time spent with Neried seemed to be the only chance, however slim, for him to move on from the pain that felt as fresh now as it did when he first experienced it as a child, having remembered it anew.


He found himself sitting there for hours in a near-stupor, before stepping out on the deck once he’d come back to reality a bit more. The blood rain was beginning to a drizzle on the horizon, which was promising. Feeling ready to now, he went to look for Neried again, this time still guarded, by also sympathetic, ready to work with her, for what it was worth.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

"Well you realized too late." She couldn't help but snap back, eyes glaring, before she was slowly consumed by her past life. It was unfair of her to put all the blame on him, especially since he saved her, but she was too overwhelmed by emotion to care. If only he had figured it out sooner, then maybe, just maybe, her village wouldn't be a thing of the past. However, it's too late to think about that now. Everyone was dead, and she couldn't do a thing about it. Despite her logical conclusion, and the fact that she knew she shouldn't blame him, her blood continued to boil. To cope with her despair of everyone she had lost, she turned to anger, because it was the easiest way for her to cope, if she could blame it on anyone at all. Now that she had finished recovering her most prominent memories, she was fully awake, and the most angered she had felt since she had awoken.

But it quickly melted away as she listened to his weary words.

He apologized and thanked her. What could she do against such sincere words? Her brain was a mess, but she hung onto his heartfelt words as best she could. He wanted revenge against her mother, which was perfectly understandable. But what did she want? Her mother was indirectly the main reason her village was wiped out. But she didn't hate her. Mereid preferred to blame the military unit Merek was a part of, which she so desperately detested. Were they enemies then? Because of their completely opposite goals? She didn't want to think of him like that. He was the sole reason she was still alive afterall, in many ways. But she might have to. Her mother was such a tricky subject to think about. The blood rain she caused was a disastrous terror for the world, but it never really affected her. She wasn't sure whether she'd be able to help Merek kill her.

The room felt empty without him. He was her sole companion afterall. She was tempted to head towards his location just to be near him, simply because of the loneliness in her whirl of despair, but resolved not to trouble their relationship further. Mentally exhausted, Mereid headed back to her bunk for another weary nap.

She woke up to the peaceful sound of silence. Something felt off, until she realized the pitter patter of the Blood Rain must have passed. That was a signal to get moving and re-fill their supplies, the chaos of their memories needed to be put aside for now. Survival was more important. Just as she headed out to look for her companion, she was surprised to see him looking for her too. Unsure of what to say, she decided to just get straight to the point. "We should start exploring the island." She tried not to avert his gaze, but it was a difficult endeavor.

Silently, she dismounted the ship and gazed upon the incredible rocky mass that was their landing site. Jagged edges of varying rock shapes surrounded the sunlight pouring through from the horizon, giving them vision on their surroundings. From a distance, the rocks here appeared a natural grey, but now, they appeared tinted blue. It was a little ominous, but they had better things to worry about. Noticing the cavern that she had discovered earlier on the ship, she quickly went over to inspect it. Light reflected off the roof of the cave, hinting at a possible passageway out. "Merek, I think I've found a way up." She called, curious to see what lay ahead. After they hiked up the rocky cavern and climbed over a few difficult ledges, they were greeted by an invigorating sight. It almost looked like a paradise, from where they stood.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

The moment she woke Merek up to her own harsh reality regarding this situation with her equally harsh words, his regret and dejection regarding all he'd done to her people mounted to its peak, visually represented by his gaze lowering down to the ground, lower than it had ever been prior, coupled with his hands clenching into fists. This body language was another form of apology as he spoke his further heartfelt words, though it made him realize that perhaps, her forgiveness was farther away than he thought. Or, thankfully, it had seemed as such until after he'd finished saying all he had to say. It had been clear then that her rage had miraculously subsided due to his words, though he still felt as though he needed time to think all of this through, and it certainly seemed that Neried did as well, leading further to his decision to kindly bid her farewell and collect himself up in the bridge. After all, her hesitation to help him to do what his convictions told him to do both clearly emanated from her and was quite understandable indeed. He hadn't expected her to feel as though she should help him, especially so soon, anyway.

He was pleasant, and mutually, surprised as he ended up running into her out on deck rather than below where he'd been expecting to find her. He was happier to see her than he had been expecting to as well; he only realized just then how deeply lonely he had felt whilst trying to make sense of the chaotic clash of his still freshly-remembered, emotionally charged past on his own. If she'd been looking for him as well, it likely meant that neither of them truly could sort either of their mental conflicts out on their own. Perhaps the only way, or at least the quickest, if not easiest way, was not to give each other space but learn to be more comfortable with one another. Discussing this with her would have to wait, however, as she made it clear with her next words that she wished to get down to business, as it were.

He nodded curtly in agreement. "Yes, we have no tell as to when the Blood Rain may resume. Allow me to retrieve a few items from the ship's Bridge, and I'll join you shortly." Watching her step down from the ship's deck, he noted the direction she'd begun to head and quickly doubled back, grabbing his trusty crossbow as well as a few supplies he'd packed in a nearby bag earlier, which included first aid supplies from the Bridge itself as well as a few bits of preserved food from the storage area below. He then made sure to sling the crossbow over his back first, followed by the backpack, so as to ensure the former was mostly covered by the latter. Hopefully, this would limit unpleasantness for Neried at seeing the weapon after her recent recollection of it being nearly used against her, and perhaps even used against loved ones before her eyes.

All packed up, he then jogged over to the railing of the ship on the side Neried had left from, fluently jumped and rolled off the side and caught up to her with a bit more jogging. He then nodded once again, whilst looking in the direction she'd pointed out. "A keen observation. Let's go," he said softly, before simply beginning to move in that direction, ensuring to keep close enough to Neried for the safety of them both while keeping a respectful distance in order not to cause her undue stress. The distance between them was fine for now, and he had a feeling after recent proceedings that it had a fair chance of closing over time, if slowly. Focusing back on simply navigating the increasingly difficult terrain, Merek looked over at Nereid every few moments to see how she was faring and was, to his relief, impressed by her nimbleness despite like not having been trained for agility like he'd been.

After scaling the last rock ledge and stepping onto grass at the edge of the forest, Merek froze in place as his eyes widened in awe at the beauty he was now witnessing. He'd never seen such lush, tall greenery carpeting the ground, nor such tall trees with such thick, dark brown bark ever before. The colorful bounty of nature here did not stop there, either. Vibrant ferns, bushes and flowers in reds, purples, pinks, oranges and all manner of shades fought the grasses coating the ground for territory, and thick, healthy vines climbed their way up and between nearly every tree. This place was beyond anything he'd seen. "This place must have remained untouched by humanity as of yet..." He remarked. He found a great relief washing over him as he realized that many of the trees and bushes in his field of view alone had a few fruits growing on them though he didn't remember seeing any produce in such vibrant and varied hues and patterns. "It looks like we may have gotten lucky in terms of food... as long as at least a few of these wild fruits and vegetables aren't poisonous to us, and honestly I've no idea, we may be set for a while. If we can get a camp set up, I may see if there are fauna we can hunt for thier meat and cook as well. Do you recognize any of the plants here?" Once again, focused on the task at hand, a vibrant energy flowed through Merek, and his worries seemed far behind him. He began to gather up a few nearby fallen branches for firewood. "We would also do well to search for a nice clearing for our camp, and a freshwater pond or stream." It was clear that survival in places like this was not new to him, and he began to remember long and ardous trips through woods not quite like these in his earlier days in teh military, and even as a child.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

Just as she left the ship, she looked back just in time to see Mereks shadow before he ran off. She didn't think they'd be out for long, as she just wanted to make a quick survey of the area to decide if it was suitable or not for replenishing supplies. But it seemed he had other ideas, as he leapt off the railing with a packed backpack. She didn't mind a change of plans, but she couldn't help but eye the crossbow cleverly disguised behind his backpack. It was nice of him to hide it like that, but it didn't seem very practical. What if a creature pounced at them suddenly, and the crossbow was inaccessible? She shook her head, she should really just trust in this mans capability. Afterall, he was part of the military unit which murdered everyone in her village, a predator would be a breeze for him. Okay, maybe that was a bit too much. But it was true wasn't it? Mereid sighed exasperatedly, things would be so much easier if she didn't remember anything at all. Then maybe she wouldn't find it so difficult to be friendly with the man who saved her. She could tell that he was apologetic and that he was truly a nice person, but that didn't change the fact that everyone she knew and loved were gone forever. It was difficult to remember who 'everyone' was though.

Strangely, being complimented on her observational skills made her light up more than anything else. Luckily, Merek seemed to have moved on fast enough not to notice, but it preyed on her mind. In her past, she truly prized and trained her perception, for reasons unknown to her at the moment. It was promising to have another lead on her memories though. Rapidly, simply walking through the steep cavern turned into full on climbing and hiking. It wasn't the simplest of tasks for her willowy stature, but she made do with what she could find with her sharp senses. A sturdy rock, an unstable platform, a cracked ledge, she cautiously tested each new section to ensure its stability before climbing. She most likely took much more time to climb than Merek, but strangely the distance between them never changed. He must have waited, she concluded, wondering how on earth she was going to sort out their relationship.

It was too beautiful. Too familiar. The stunning view of untouched nature reminded her so sorrowly of her own little druid village, surrounded by woodland as far as the eye could see. She recalled gazing at the forests as a young child, being similiarly mesmerized by the view. The nostalgia bit into her harshly. More like untouched by you. Her mind responded to his innocent statement so harshly, that even she flinched as she thought it. It was like a darker side of her had been awakened after recalling her most crucial memories. It was a little concerning: hopefully she wouldn't change too much as she recovered more of her past.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a familiar fern speckled with fruit the size of watermelons. "Give me some time, I vaguely recall something about this fruit..." She responded, her focus having shifted entirely to the task at hand. She was content to leave Merek to do whatever he wished, as she resolved to help him soon afterwards. It was a jewel-shaped fruit, wide at the top, pointed at the bottom. Leaves gripped tightly onto it's top, similar to a strawberry, but these were spiked and prickly. It was a bright baby blue colour, and hard to the touch, but one could feel a squishy fruit beneath its skin. There was something else she needed to remember about this fruit too, but it was somehow evading her... until it literally hit her in the face. The fern could eject its spikes.

Mereid cried out in pain as the spikes pierced her flesh. Luckily, she had avoided them hitting vitals such as her eyes, and managed to dodge most of them, but 5 rather fearsome spikes protruded from her skin. She grit her teeth as she began to remove them cautiously, and as the rest of her knowledge about the fruit came flooding back. It seemed she had read about the fruit whilst flicking through a botanical book.

'Diamos(from their diamond-shape) are a fufilling fruit with tiny seeds scattered throughout their inner flesh. It's a rather rare fruit in the *********, but also prized for its sweet taste and texture. However, due to the abundance of herbivores in *********, it has adapted extremely well to its predators. Their roots can sense footsteps(slight tremors in the earth), and send a signal to the rest of the plant to eject spikes and deter the predator. However, the spikes take weeks to grow back, due to their ferocious size. The spikes contain no toxins, but as with all injuries, may cause infection. The best way to harvest Diamos is to use something else to trigger the spikes, and then easily harvest the fruits.'
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Returning from the boat, Merek noticed Neried give him a rather puzzled look followed by a shake of the head. As far as he was concerned, they needed to gather a fair few provisions in case they ended up needing to lie low for a while, or take a much longer skyship journey than the one they’d taken to end up here, so he’d come prepared. He paid little mind to her glance, especially since he chalked it up to little more than noticing he’d brought many things with him perhaps unexpectedly, including the crossbow she quite understandably feared.

As they’d moved on, he noticed a gradual decrease in her pace, and out of courtesy ensured that she caught up a bit before heading on. After all, out here, especially after a Bloodrain, he had a feeling that they could encounter some rather nasty wildlife and who knows what else; if something happened to her now, he’d certainly never be able to forgive himself. He wasn’t asking for her forgiveness and felt prepared for her to never fully forgive him, but he felt that the moment she could let her guard down around him, feel comfortable around him fully, if only for a fleeting moment, he could forgive himself... only then. The uneasiness and frustration Merek could tell she felt in this situation, that he had a feeling had to be tied to him in some way or another, only added to this. So, once again, he focused on what he could do for her that would be the most beneficial at the moment, which was of course, focusing on finding food until they found enough.

In response to Nereid calling out and telling him that she might be able to recall something regarding one of the fruits nearby he recalled nothing regarding aside from maybe seeing somewhere a few times, his eyes widened. Now that she’d made it clear that she’d seen these before, he felt that this forest was more familiar to him than he’d thought. He had a feeling that he only briefly touched down here during skyship journeys for some mission or other, remembering living in a place with a very different landscape. Then, it came to him…. He remembered carrying Neried to his ship that fateful day whilst bounding through terrain very similar to that surrounding him in this very moment. He must have been so thirsty for revenge until he’d found Neried’s village that his eyes remembered very little of the forest he likely spent quite a while in over time…. The thought disgusted him with himself, quite frankly. A change had definitely occurred in him, as if his whole look on life had done a 180, and he was a little proud of that, as it was far removed from the actions that had caused him the guilt that likely trigger the change in heart he could remember shaped the being he was in the present moment.

Once again, Merek brought himself back to his surroundings. Seeing as she was carefully examining a nearby fruit, seeming to ensure she remembers everything she could about it, Merek then decided that he had the time to see if he recognized any of the varied floor in the pair’s immediate surroundings. After a few moments, a grin of slight joy was etched upon his features as he recognized one of the ferns nearby. It was a green fern with speckles of a yellowish colour over the leaves, and a lighter green along the edges of said leaves. This sea-green outline, he remembered, was the only visual feature of the plant that distinguished it from a deadly cousin, which was ironic considering this tri-coloured variety was not only safe to consume, but making and consuming a tea from it could cure many ingested poisons, and making a salve to apply to wounds caused it to become a powerful pain reliever. It was highly sought after.

That was all he remembered of it, as that was all he was taught of the plant and a few other useful botanicals as part of survival training. He found that he remembered very little before he joined up as a young boy, and thus it seemed that the military had been the center of his life until now. That chapter of his life was over, though; thier policy on “aiding the enemy” was burned into his mind. If he was ever found and captured by them, they’d have him executed at their earliest opportunity.

There it was again… it seemed that every little thing he remembered triggered more of his guilt, his shame, his past blind rage, his anxieties and trepidations, or another emotion so intense it felt as though it halted him dead in his tracks. Then, Merek heard a scream tear from Neried, once again restoring his senses at a crucial moment.

“Neried! A-are you alright?!” He called out to her, rushing over. He winced as he looked at the pain in her face, his heart swelling with empathy and a need to help her. She seemed to be handling the removal of the spikes herself, however painful, and they seemed to have avoided her eyes, thankfully. He ducked down beside her and retrieved his first aid kit, looking through it. “What do you remember of them? Are they poisonous? How did they sense you?” Considering how cooperative she’d been thus far, she likely would have told him everything she knew of it. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when she said they weren't poisonous, then proceeding in listening intently to the entire explanation and observing the remaining fruiting Diamos before getting an idea.

"I think I know a way to trigger the spikes without any more danger to us… there’s, let’s see, five plants here… if I fire a bolt into the ground… there…. Yes, that would trigger all of them at once. We’d better get behind a tree or something, first. Also, I’ve supplies to clean the wounds right here, if I may. It’ll sting, though… I can rather quickly make a pain reliever from a nearby fern I recognized if you wish. You may recall its properties as well.” He showed her one of the leaves he’d picked before the commotion began. He looked into her eyes as he reached for the bottle of antiseptic in the first aid kit he’d brought with him. The kind look had a stern edge to them, as if he wasn’t going to let her say no for an answer despite the understandable fear she might have of him treating her wounds, feeling such things were his duty now. She was innocent, and the more harm he could prevent and heal from her, the more he felt he had truly moved on from his dark past… besides, painful memories aside, he found that he was quite fond of Neried. She had a wondrous personality, not to mention looks to match, and she was even trying her damnedest to forgive him despite all he’d done, that much was clear.

Realizing he was looking rather longingly into her eyes, he averted his gaze slightly so as to ensure she isn’t made uncomfortable by the look. Besides, he felt that he was a long way from even earning the right to look at her that way.
VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Merek quickly approach, most likely due to her outcry earlier. "I'm fine, but can you pass th-" Just as she was about to ask for the first aid kit, with the remnants of the spikes mostly pulled out, he took it out without hesitation and began cleaning her wounds. His kindness seemed so natural, it was hard to believe what he had done in the past. Perhaps it'd be best if she let the past, be the past? It wasn't like he was like that now, and he seemed so regretful of his past actions. She couldn't help but want to be close to him, he was her only companion in these vague times and she had no one left to turn to. But... then again, he was the reason for that. Why couldn't she come to a conclusion? Her frustration mixed with the stinging in her wounds, brought unwilling tears to her eyes. Quickly, she re-assured him that it was fine, just in case he started to worry. "I don't need a pain reliever, I'll be fine." She hated how indecisive she was being, but maybe time would be the best medicine for their relationship. It was strange how she didn't really feel much pain from her wounds, maybe there was something else about the spikes she was forgetting. It probably wasn't too significant though, if she didn't remember it.

When she snapped out of her thoughts, she realized she was staring straight into a breathtaking viridian colour. His eyes were so very beautiful, they almost seemed unnatural. The deep viridian merged and played with bright emerald hues, creating a mesmerizing portal of colour. She felt herself be pulled in further by his gaze, until the alarm bells in her head roared and pulled her back to consciousness. At the same time, he averted his gaze back to the wounds on her face, and she sighed a little with relief. But what on earth was that? Was that subconscious magic on his part? She didn't truly think that. Something told her it wasn't crafted magic that pulled her in there. But she refused to believe that she was attracted to him, at least not yet. After her wounds were cleaned and patched up, she turned away just in time for her face to flush pink. Somehow she had suppressed her embarressment during the treatment session, but she still needed a moment to calm herself down. "Thanks for treating me, next time I'll be more careful. Let's start your plan." She spoke somewhat normally, before marching off towards the tree in front of her for cover. "Be careful." She warned, as he likely hid behind a tree as well.

Once he had fired the bolt, the whiz of spikes flying in all directions caught her ears, until they collided. Stepping out from her cover once she was certain the noise had stopped, she was pleased to see that most of the spikes had gotten wedged in the trees, which decreased the change of tripping over them. "That was a great plan." She couldn't help but compliment the effectiveness of it, seeing the clear results. Now that the spikes were out of the way, she cautiously collected a single fruit and after ensuring that it was indeed a Diamo, took a modest bite of its flesh. Despite the slight toughness of the skin, the delicate taste soothed her mind and body, and she only now realized how empty her stomach was. "Merek you should try some, it's lovely." She recommended, offering him half. This place seemed like such a hopeful paradise, there was so much they could do here to replenish their supplies. Noticing the fern that Merek had shown her earlier, she made a mental note to remember to gather some of its leaves as well. It would be indispensable in their trial of survival.

As she finished munching on her half of the Diamo, she resolved to try and find a source of water. Hopefully it won't be too difficult, since the scenery is so lush, but she couldn't be certain. "Would you like to come with me to find a source of water? Or would you prefer to find a camp site/hunt?" Either way, both had pros and cons. Staying together would lead to more safety and aid if needed. Going their seperate ways meant that they'd get more work done, but then again they weren't really in a rush. Nonetheless, she'd be fine with whatever he resolved to do.

 

[DergTheDergon]

He took his time to carefully and thoroughly clean her wounds, affirming to himself all the while that this meant that he wasn't a monster. Of course, when tears begin to well up within Neried’s eyes, Merek’s own gaze softened with worry. He decided not to press her on the matter after her attempt to reassure him that she was fine; after all, he had a feeling that this incident coupled with recent emotional trauma would be too much for anyone. Among other dilemmas that must be swirling about her mind, it was clear that it would take more time before she could look past who he had been to see only who he had resolved to be, because of her; a caring man who has vowed never to take another innocent life and to be generous and kind toward all but the wickedest beings. He imagined that it may be frustrating to her to be presented with yet more evidence of the former assassin’s change of heart, yet still distrust him, which Merek thought only wise in a way regardless.

Willing his attention back toward ensuring that the entry points of the Diamos’ quills would remain free of infection, Merek then nodded in understanding as Neried then affirmed she had no need of the painkiller, deciding trust her on that until a moment in time where he may or may not observe signs of the wounds being agitated despite her reassurance to the contrary. All he could do, he supposed, was simply continue, as it was clear that she appreciated it despite it all.

As he put the finishing touches on tending to Neried’s wounds, he found himself pausing often to meet her eyes. Was that… affection he saw returned in her gaze? Surely not, he thought, but he could feel a very real and growing warmth in his chest as their gazes met, and he couldn't help but notice that she turned away almost the very moment that he did. Part of him wanted to question her about this development, but he decided against it using his better judgment. Even as he put the finishing touches on caring for her wounds, those brilliant teals and sky blues he'd stared straight into earlier danced around in his head, and he wished to gaze into her eyes more because of it.

Neried’s voice then broke him out of this trance, a slight reddening occurring on his cheeks that were gratefully mostly covered in the hood he had yet to lower in her presence thus far. He nodded in response to her prompt, finding himself smiling slightly as she told him to be careful, nodding once more in understanding. “I will be, I remember always being such when it comes to this sort of thing… thank you.”

The act of retrieving his crossbow from his back, loading an arrow into it, and carefully aiming at a spot in the ground a small distance away from as many of the nearby Daimos plants as possible felt comfortably familiar. It was akin to the feeling he'd had earlier when flying the airship. A sense of guilt also came over him at this moment, however, realizing just why he was so familiar with the act of fring an arrow. He had practiced it with deep dedication with one goal in mind: to kill every Shadow Druid he found. If Nereid was to look at him in the moment just after he fired, she would see a deeply sorrowful look on his face, even though he had harmed no one with this particular shot. Shaking his head profusely for a moment to recenter himself, he then slung the weapon back over his shoulder, backpack following.

Watching Nereid take a bite of one of the literal fruits of his labor, so to speak, caused that warm feeling to spread through him once more, accompanied once again by immense guilt. Reassuring himself mentally that they were clearly growing only closer, not farther apart thus far, and that Neried's amiability spoke for itself as well, he smiled and nodded as she asked him to try some of the DIamo she'd begun to sample. Carefully taking the half she offered him, he found himself rather aware of accidentally brushing her hand with his own, if only for a moment, playing it off as best he could the moment he'd realized. He rolled the interesting foodstuff about in his hand for a few moments, inspecting it with curiosity that bordered on wonder, before he took a bite, and found himself smiling after chewing and swallowing. “They are indeed rather good,” he said, before leisurely popping the rest of it in his mouth, savoring it as he ate. Once he was finished, he gathered a few more of the surrounding Diamos, carefully storing them in his pack.

“Let’s go find the water. I am not going to chance the dangers of leaving you alone. No more innocent blood will ever stain these hands, I promise you that.” Once again, he found himself intensely meeting those mesmerizing Teal eyes of Neried’s before looking away, then moving to begin their search, motioning toward her for her to follow. “By the by, perhaps it would be wise to make camp near whatever water source we hopefully find, so we can rest before gathering as much as we can in the morning to take back to the ship. Unless, that is, you want to explore here a little longer. We’ll decide what to do next after the necessities are taken care of, regardless."

Once again, he appeared utterly focused on the matter of survival. Making logistical decisions was the other thing he found he excelled at in his unit, besides flying and shooting. Every now and then, he found himself looking over at Neried, trying absentmindedly to catch another glimpse of her eyes, before catching himself yet again, every time scolding himself internally for entertaining ideas of closeness with her that he felt he hadn’t yet earned the right to hope for.

Thankfully, a savior from his spiraling thoughts soon came in the form of a sound; a babbling brook, barely heard amidst the quiet forest ambience of their immediate surroundings. “Ah, I think we’ve found our water,” he said, picking up his walking pace a little more.

VioletShadow

 

[VioletShadow]

Mereid couldn't help but stare as she watched Merek easily load an arrow into his crossbow. Her face was unreadable, but her emotions were torn apart by the scene. She recalled the very stance he was in from her past, when he killed someone important to her. Who exactly, she wasn't sure. But it stirred a great anger within her, and she felt a strong desire to just tear apart the very weapon in his hands. But out of the corner of her eye, beneath his dark hood, she saw an expression which halted any of her angry plans. After a small pause, she managed to will herself to calm down as she leant back against her tree for cover.

To be honest, when she asked the question, she was curious as to whether he wanted to put some distance between them or not. Luckily, it seemed he was adamant on them staying together. It was comforting having such a faithful companion, despite what he'd done. His second statement amused her a little though, and she couldn't help but stifle a giggle. "How will you hunt then? Or are you saying those poor little herbivores arn't innocent too?" It was a sly joke, quite unlike her. She couldn't deny her growing personality change any longer. Her trauma had forced her to change. But she hoped that she would retain her past self as much as possible. Afterall, it was one of the few things she had left, that her family had given her.

"Sounds like a good plan." She nodded along at his words, as she picked up her pace to catch up with him. To be honest, she hoped they'd find another source of food than just Diamos, since eating only those seemed rather dull, but she couldn't be choosy. This is survival afterall. Though they weren't in too dire of a situation, stocking up as soon as possible seemed like a vital need. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her companion frequently looking in her direction. She hoped the wounds on her face weren't too eye-catching, and couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious at his gaze. She hoped they wouldn't leave scars. It was a little strange for her to suddenly care so much about her looks, it was as if she was trying to appeal to someone... She decided not to finish that thought. When she next noticed him staring, she met his eyes with a little awkward smile. "Erm, are the injuries that eye-catching?" She couldn't help but ask.

At first, she barely heard the sound of water, but as they grew closer, the refreshing sound soothed her ears. The area they had entered was a rocky clearing of sorts, surrounded completely by a forested jungle. The thin stream rushed with great force, over and under rocks that laced its edges. It travelled slightly downhill, and the sight of a mini waterfall ended its path. The stones made a rather simple path across the stream as well, if they didn't fall in. Though, with the thinness of the brook, it wouldn't be much of a problem if they did trip and fall. "This is a great spot for camp." She couldn't help but smile. She suddenly felt incredibly grateful that Merek had brought so many supplies with them.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small striped creature skitter about. It was the size of a squirrel, but with dangly ears and a thin, rat-like tail. In her mind, it looked like a good target for hunting. This must be their water source. She thought quietly, pondering the possibility of placing traps around the perimeter. She shared her thoughts with Merek, the survival-expert, in hopes of helping him out with something. It's not like she could hunt, or place traps, but she wanted to learn and be able to aid his efforts somehow.
DergTheDergon

 

[DergTheDergon]

Glancing over at Neried for a moment during his Expert use of his bow, Merek noticed her staring and felt a bit of anxiety as a response to it, the man feeling that there was a low chance that what she was thinking as she stared his way could be good, even neutral thoughts about him. This fearful thought of his was based on his remembrance a mere moment ago of how he became so skilled at using the weapon in his hands. Taking a deep breath as she seemed to lost tension when observed the corner of his eye and lean back against the tree she was using for cover, he recentered himself, took the shot, and was visibly relieved that his plan was a success, replete with Neried having been unscathed by the barrage of natural needles as confirmed by a quick, yet thorough glance over her.

Merek's eyes widened in deep surprise in response to Nereid's quite unexpected giggle. The joke was very flustering in combination with her laugh having caught guard a moment earlier. Blushing and rubbing the back of his neck, Merek took a moment to compose himself as best he could, beginning to answer with "erm, ah..." before realizing she had to be joking. "You have a point there, I will give you that. Unfortunately, we'll need some protein out here and that is the way nature operates, right?" He found himself smirking a bit, his response just as much in jest. honestly, this rather cheeky side of her felt... refreshing, in a way, if rather jarring. It'd take some getting used to, but he had a feeling he'd come to enjoy that side of her after a time.

Another small smile graced his lips as he nodded back at her gratefully. 'Good then, let's make haste and get it done." having a solid plan of action always felt satisfying when one was feasible, in moments such as these. They weren't always though, especially in unpredictable wilds like these, so he spent about half of his attention being aware and cautious and the other half ensuring they found the stream and keeping track of his mental to-do list.

The moment she smiled awkwardly at him as their eyes met yet another time, Merek found himself looking away again, cheeks rather red once he'd realized that his looked had seemed to cause her some discomfort. "Nonono, they do not unnerve me at all.... I was looking at your eyes, not your scars, and I was not intending to make you uncomfortable. I simply... find comfort in meeting your gaze every now and then, I suppose... my apologies." He was about to further attempt reassuring her by saying that her scars did little to marr her beauty; in fact, they did so little that in looking into her eyes he utterly forgot they were there and only saw her face besides. Realizing the possible implications of this, he bit his tongue. Though it was certainly true by his observations, he felt such a statement could cause him to seem to be attempting to seduce her, which after all he'd done to her people he would not abide himself doing. If anything happened between them in a romantic sense, it would happen of her accord, not his, he'd decided. His truthful answer left his face even redder by the end of it despite the omitted statement, however. Thier interactions were becoming increasingly more awkward on Merek's end, considering that he'd dedicated so much of his life to his former occupation that he honestly had no idea what to do with the sorts of feelings he was having toward Neried now. He didn't have time for matters of the heart until now, after all. His only goal now was to protect the only person around for what seemed like a long ways at this point, who just so happened to be an attractive female with quite an attractive personality to his tastes to boot, so perhaps he could've seen this coming if he'd given it due thought before now.

The moment the stream they'd been hearing for a good 10 minutes now came into view, Merek found himself mirroring the smile on his traveling companion's face. Observing the new surroundings, it only widened as he then nodded in assent to her observations; it was really an uncannily perfect place to camp. "Indeed." As she then voiced her ideas regarding setting traps and the like, he was a little surprised at her deductions, and it showed. "Yes, we could make some simple traps for smaller fauna with the tools and supplies I have, some wood, and some sort of bait consisting of a food they like to eat. can you remember the diet of these creatures?" He said, pointing to where the squirrel-like creature had gone, making it clear that he'd noticed it as well. Being observant was a rather large part of his former job, after all.
VioletShadow