"Ouvre les yeux…" echoed a voice
Slowly the eyelid peeled back. Colors, smeared against each other in an obscured tunnel, danced before their beholder.
"Ah, you're awake," called the same voice, over the mind numbing tinnitus.
Slowly the surroundings took recognizable forms, although remaining tinted in a shade of red. A comforting tavern, not far above sight leaned a man with silvery hair, smiling down to his watcher. Attention was soon directed completely toward him, being he was the most interesting thing in the room.
"It's nice to finally have you back," he smiled, "You've been out cold for a long while. Here," he stretched his arm out of view, returning it with a dropper. This was held above and used to drip a warm fluid into the viewing eye, causing the world around to appear slurred again. After a few seconds it had cleared, disappearing with the redness. "Sorry about that," said he, "You where a bit glazed."
Nothing was said from the beholder, who had, by instinct, raised a hand when the dropper approached, and now stood admiring the five fingered palms that hovered before it. Along with the fragile arms connected to them.
The man sucked his teeth in disappointment. "I guess not," he turned his head towards the far corner of the room, "Tousen, you did make sure to fix her English comprehension, didn't you?" he said in a concerned voice. The other person, Tousen, as was referred to, answered in a gruffly. "Yes, she understands you. That does not mean she knows how to respond to you, though."
"Ah, how silly I am." The silver haired man redirected his attention toward her, smile returning. "It seems you don't remember a thing, my dear little bird. We will have to refresh your memory, won't we?" "First things first, Gin." "Of course, up now, little bird." He firmly but tenderly gripped her arm and pulled her into a sitting position on the bed. The new height made her head throb, she grimaced. "Patience, I know it hurts. The pain will subside once your body gets used to being upright again." He held her shoulder briefly to keep her from collapsing back to the bed and set a square mirror in her lap. She reached out hesitantly and held the side of it with a trembling hand. When it tilted down, a young girl of about 10 was reflected. The skin on her exposed collar and face appeared bloodless and sick. Long, ink like hair draped over her shoulders and onto her face in a confused mess. Under the unkempt bangs sat a somber eye, its partner was covered by a make-shift eye patch made of bandages. Raw, stitched wounds where on some parts of her face and the rest of the skin visible under a thin frock.
"A shame, isn't it? How could anyone be so cruel?" He stroked her hair. "Blackbird," came the gruff voice again. This time, he approached the bed she sat in. Standing side by side, Gin and Tousen, as they called themselves, where a strange pair. Gin light skin and with silvery short hair, bearing a kind, smiling face. His eyes always remaining shut, a light colored robe covering his figure. And Tousen, Dark skinned with shoulder-length ebon hair. Eyes covered by a white fabric tied around his head, attired in a long, hooded, ashen robe. Had she her past knowledge, she would have recognized him as gypsy-born.
Both of which were in the same room, looking down on an amnesic, injured child.
"That is your name, 'Blackbird'," said Tousen. "We have saved you from a near death and will nurture you back to health. You owe us nothing. But, before we let you go, you will have a choice." He leaned closer to her, past the other man. "You have no home to return to, but you can be taken back to your home town, or you can stay here with us. We will train you to become a warrior. It is not important that you know the purpose, as we cannot tell anyone who is not involved. From this moment until you recuperate, you have time to consider your answer. But choose carefully, because whichever you pick, you can never take back." With that, the two men left the chamber.