Prologue
Mist clung to the ocean air. The water roared softly in the night. A storm had just passed, carrying a piece of driftwood almost to the shore. A creature clung to the driftwood in his sleep. All that could be seen of him in the thick fog was that he was limbless and his hair was blond.
Flashes of memories disturbed the child's dreams. His heart pounded as they relived themselves in his mind.
There was a soft bump as the driftwood hit the sand of the shore. This was just enough to wake the child. Water still lightly sprinkled from the sky here. The boy stood and stumbled to a palm tree. Its large leaves sheltered him from the rain. There he fell asleep once again, exhausted from hanging onto the driftwood during the storm.
The rain ceased. A fisherman woke from his sleep inside his house by the beach. He looked out the window as if called by a strange power. He saw something by the palm tree and left the house to investigate. He found the limbless boy and stared in wonder.
How could it be alive without limbs? He wondered. A few more fishermen gathered in the early morning light to see. They whispered among each other, careful not to wake the boy.
A shadow emerged from the mist. A woman wearing a long, brown cloak stepped between two of the fishermen.
"What is it?" asked one of them.
"Shh." The woman said. Her face could not be seen in the dim light. It was hidden under the hood of her cloak.
She knelt down beside the boy and put a fair hand on his forehead. A soft, blue light connected the two.
"He has terrible memories that no one should have to bear. He will have to learn them later when he is older and able to handle such things. He is needed for greater things for now." She said. A red light replaced the blue one as she erased the boy's memory.
One of the fishermen started to speak, but the woman raised a hand to quiet him. She stood and turned away from the boy.
"His name is Rayman." She said and disappeared into the mist as silently as she had emerged.