"I had a dream."
A clear blue ocean lay calm and immense, its vast surface stretching far into the horizon, melting into the sky and meeting with the bright yellow sun setting in the distance. The sea glowed like crystals catching the light of that sun, making it shimmer with an array of vibrant colours.
Waves rolled gently across its surface, each crest flashing blue, gold, and silver as if the water itself were alive, filled with light and brilliance.
It all seemed so endless, so pure.
It was beautiful.
And then the seasons changed.
It was subtle at first, a faint blush of red drifted through the light, but quickly enough, it unfurled like a wounded sunset beneath the surface of the sea.
Thick colours of crimson red bloomed through the blue, thickening the water, and dulling the suns reflection until the gold turned into rust.
The waves still moved, still glittering at their edges, but now they carried a heavier silence.
A foul stench of death driftied through the air, the blood spilled from slaughter.
That too, was beautiful.
Gazing upon that bloody sight, the boy smiled.
He was satisfied.
"And then, I..."
**
He suddenly jolted awake, his lungs burning. Before he could even draw a full breath, a harsh cough tore out of him, followed by the dry scrape of sand spilling onto the beach.
"Ahh... Ahh!"
His hands moved to wipe away the remaining grit and sand on his face, but it only things worse somehow.
Squinting open his eyes, even more sand poured into them before he could quickly slam them shut. In that short moment however, he caught sight of the shoreline, as well as a vast sea stretching ever onwards.
Blindly, he ran towards it, tripping on something half buried in the sand before falling face first into the shallow waters.
It was cold, his once dry body was completely soaked. But it also felt refreshing.
Rolling over, he allowed the waves to graciously part around his body, while quickly scrubbing himself and clearing his vision.
The blue sky was nice and clear, leaving the incandescent sun free to awash his body in it's radiance. A cool warmth permeated through him, quickly drying his body.
It was comfortable. The boy felt that he could lay there forever.
The boy..
"What am I doing?"
Struggling to stand, he quickly analysed his surroundings. To his left was the ever expanding ocean, and to his right stretching past the beach was a lush, green jungle.
"Where am I?"
A throbbing pain pierced through his head, making him groan as he fell to one knee.
Panicked, he ended catching sight of his reflection in the water, and so for the first time he was able to see his own appearance.
'That's... me?'
He had long, dark hair that fell in loose strands around his face, catching the light with a soft, inky sheen. It framed his young features and brushed his shoulders, giving him a slightly untamed, wind worn look.
His eyes were a striking sapphire blue, clear and intense, like deep water lit by the sun.
Despite how unkempt his appearance was, he was strangely handsome.
He stared at his reflection for a long while, trying to make sense of it. Eventually he shook his head, and moved back onto the environment around him.
Nearby was a mahogany rowboat with one of its paddles laying gently against it, the other he had tripped over half buried in the sand.
Out of curiosity, he walked over to the row boat and peered inside of it. And to his dismay he saw, a simple a sword.
Except it was covered in blood.
Ahead of the rowboat, there was a mess of footsteps in the sand. They were littered all over the place, but one pair stopped right where he had woken up, and another led straight into the jungle ahead.
Accompanying it however, was a single, large trail that dug into the sand quite deeply, with tiny splatters of blood staining the yellow sand red.
'I'm not alone here, and they were dragging an injured person?'
Atleast that was what he presumed, but the blood stained sword suggested something darker.
Either way, there was only one thing left to do.
He needed answers.
'Where am I? How did I get here?'
Following the trail of footsteps and blood, he advanced towards the jungle ahead.
**
The island itself didn't appear to be too large nor dense, but it felt awfully daunting just the same regardless of how it looked.
Strange trees and plants danced around him in circles, all with weirdly vibrant shades of green and yellow, with even more colourful fruits growing off their ovaries, tempting him.
But he advised himself against it. He wasn't sure if they were safe to consume just yet.
It wasn't just vegetation that populated this jungle however.. there were odd creatures hiding here too.
He could feel them gazing at him, just out of sight. He hadn't seen one just yet.. but he knew they were there, hiding.
'...'
Gripping the bloody sword firmly in his hand, he readied himself to be attacked, with a constant unease weighing down his heart. But no matter how much he waited, nothing happened.
Sighing, he advanced forwards, following the trail of crushed branches and blood.
Then suddenly..
He heard something rustle behind him.
Jolting, he sharply turned around, pointing his blade at whatever came out next.
But what he saw... Was stunningly disappointing?
It was a small creature around half his height, with warm looking blue fur that covered it's entire entire body. It's large, rounded head, was decorated with a pair of three dark eyes, that fixated on him with strange curiosity. They sat above it's long snout, with a leathery black nose pointing at him on its end.
It stood on two legs, it's broad shoulders and limbs made it appear bigger, but overall it wasn't threatening. It almost looked harmless, if it wasn't for its polished black claws that seemed just as sharp as his blade at a glance.
He didn't know why he felt this way, he should've been glad even, and yet he couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.
'Its a little cute, atleast.'
He tilted his head awkwardly.
And a few moments later, it copied him too.
"Ha..."
He tilted his head to the other side, and just as expected, the creature copied him too.
He raised his left arm upward, tapped his forehead twice, and then spun around on the spot.
The creature copied all his movements with strange awkwardness, but nevertheless it did just as he expected.
"Hmm."
Letting his own curiosity get the better of him, he took a step closer towards it, and just as expected the creature copied that too.
But the boy didn't stop there, he did it again, and again, and again. Just as expected, the creature copied him too... But somewhere along the way, it's hesitancy was showing as it's movements slowed.
Eventually, they were just a few inches apart.
Now standing this close towards it, the boy could get a clearer look into it's eyes, to the point that he could clearly see his own reflection in them.
One thing that he was now absolutely certain of, was that this creature was utterly passive. Even if he attacked it, it would probably try to run away first before even thinking of fighting back.
For the first time, the creature did something on its own. Raising it's paw, its arm slowly leaned forwards towards him.
It's dark eyes wide and alert, nose twitching as it tried to understand the unfamiliar presence.
It's gesture was tentative and gentle, as if testing the moment.
But then a cold blade plunged straight into it's neck, exiting all the way through to the other side. And then with a sharp tug, the sharpend steel traveled straight through, severing a large chunk of its flesh away from it's head.
The blue beast collapsed onto its back, with a profuse amount of red blood spilling onto the forest floor.
Seeing the light slowly fade from it's eyes, seeing it struggle to gasp for air, only for it to choke on its own blood instead, invoked something strange within him.
He wasn't sure what this feeling was.
'I took a life.'
But he felt that he wanted to do it again.
Before he could understand that feeling, he felt the cold wind blow, as an insidious whisper haunted his ears.
[You have slain the Dormant beast, Azure Cub.]
He sharply turned around, his sword already swinging, and yet there was only air.
Confused, he turned back to the fresh corpse, gazing at it strangely before poking at it with his sword.
"What strange death throes."
Something else changed in the air too.
Whatever creatures he had felt gazing at him from afar earlier, had all quickly retreated further into the jungles depths.
**
Finally exiting through to the otherside of the small island, the boy somehow found himself atop a cliff.
A few paces behind him the jungle sharply cut off, and a few paces ahead of him the land shapely declined, falling straight into the ocean below.
'Huh?'
Standing right at its edge was a figure no taller than himself. It looked human, but he couldnt be too sure.
Sensing him approaching, the figure turned around to meet his gaze.
"Look who finally decided to wake up. Did you get enough beauty sleep? Number. 0?"
It was another boy who looked to be around the same age as himself. He too had dark hair, but it was drastically shorter, resting only just a bit above his collar. His dull green eyes were sharp and vivid, carrying an alertness that left his hairs standing on ends.
He too wore rags that barely resembled clothes. However, unlike his own, a small amount of blood stained his.
The nameless boy didn't say anything for a time, despite the provocation. Instead, his eyes were semi glued to the large mound of dirt in the ground, with a decent pile of stones stacked atop of it.
The rest of his attention, was captivated by the beautiful scenery up ahead.
The ocean..
"I managed to finish burying Tyr no thanks to you, so at least show your respect before we go back. We wouldn't've been able to get out of that place after all, if it wasn't for him."
The boy looked back at him blankly. Troubled, he asked,
"Who.. are you?"
The boy with green eyes glared at him with profound confusion.
"What kind of a joke is that? It's really not funny, Azdin."
"Azdin...?"
That name... Why did he call him that?
'Azdin... That's not my name. It was..'
Strangely, his thoughts simply ended there. It was like a word was on the tip of his tongue, he could feel what he wanted to say, but when he tried to speak it aloud there was simply empty space.
He reached deeper into his mind, but the longer he took, the more a quiet panic slowly began to creep in.
'My name? I can't.. I can't remember my name??'
It wasn't just that. Another realization dawned upon him.
'I can't remember anything??!'
The boy grimaced as he stared back at the stranger darkly.
"Hey.. you're not serious.. right?"
He tried to remember the person before him, he tried to remember where this place was, he tried to remember how he got here.
But in the end, it was all to no avail.
There was nothing but a giant, gaping void in the centre of the boys mind. In the place where his memories should've been, there was only an abyss.
Dropping the bloody sword to the ground, he fell down to both of his knees as another round of horrible pain took hold of mind.
The boy with green eyes closed the distance between them with unnatural speed, his footsteps barely registering before he was suddenly there. Both of his hands shot forward, fingers splayed, lunging for Azdin's shoulders with a wild, almost desperate force.
Azdin stiffened but did not resist; he wasn't sure how to respond.
"C'mon.. stop joking man, we really went through all of that.. and you just forgot??"
But his face said it all. He did not remember.
"You killed all those people without even a hint of regret.. but then when it came to Tyr... you just gave up?? Do you even have any clue as to what you made me do!?"
Raising his hands, the world titled as his own fingers dug into his temples, trying to hold his own thoughts in place.
'I.. killed people?'
An image in his mind flickered of the life he had taken just a few moments ago, but something about it had changed. In the place of the Azure bear, a slain, unrecognisable human had taken its place.
The emotion he felt back then, he suddenly understood it now.
It was pleasure.
'Who.. am I?'
He felt sick.
"Who am I!?"