A swirling gray mass of clouds hung drearily overhead, darkening the country town of Thyme. Erika Mayflower took little notice of the cooling weather, due to the fact it rained quite often where she lived and it just became a part of life you got used to. She found it to be perfect weather anyways as she rode her bike down the gravel roads covered in potholes, heading towards her home. Her straight, shoulder length, burnt sienna hair whipped around behind her, a black headband holding any stray bangs out of her face to prevent them from stinging her light brown eyes. Chilly air flowed through her crème colored, loose knit sweater, and she shuddered, thankful she at least wore a light tan tank top underneath, providing some protection from the wind, though she kinda wished she hadn't worn her favorite pair of worn out, holey jeans and brown flip-flips, especially if it was going to rain.
She was your average girl just coming out of high school and going into college after her summer break. She had few friends, because her high school life was spent at home, learning under a private tutor, and therefore that meant she also had no experience of having a boyfriend, or at least, that she could remember. Not even she was a 'perfect' as she wished.
She was adopted after being found in the streets of the city, cold, wet and humiliated. She had no form of memories before waking up in an ally, a young couple standing before her in worry, and confusion. Though they couldn't be blamed, for she dressed as if she was from the medieval age, wearing a corseted silver dress with an overflowing skirt that nearly engulfed her when on the ground, and in her pinned up hair, a diamond encrusted tiara. The latter had, surprisingly, not been stolen during her time unconscious.
The couple immediately took her to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia and amnesia, or rather, a case of long term memory loss.
If you think about it, it is indeed a sad thing, but she didn't really notice, for she was put up for adoption after it was discovered she existed nowhere in the computers, and when asked for her name, all she could remember was 'Erika'. A week after being put up for adoption, an elderly couple stepped forward to bring her into their family, for they could never have children, but wanted a teen to assist them in what they needed.
The Mayflowers were rather well off, having enough money to be paid for, for the rest of their lives, and even Erika's. They lived humbly in a simple, two story house with a few extra bedrooms for guests. They were excited to hear that Erika was willing to join their family despite her lack of memory. It also pleased them to know that she was very well-mannered, but she was rather distant (though this can be expected with those lacking a single memory of who they were).
Erika learned quickly, much to their pleasure, and adapted easily into being a girl that seemed to belong in another world to the girl you saw riding her purple bike today. Though she wouldn't admit it out loud to her adoptive parents, she often felt empty, and knew deep down she didn't belong here. It was like this world lacked a certain touch she had been used to and now it was gone. She also felt indifferent, like a smile being forced on for a picture. It just didn't settle with her quite right.
And lately she had been having fainting spells. She would be walking along normally then BAM! Out of nowhere, she would being lying on the ground in a dead faint, though she was dreaming of gently fields that seemed to roll on forever and a kind, loving hand guiding her along, but before anything else would be revealed, she would wake, and continue on her business in a dreamy state.
Often, she would find herself sitting awake at night, feeling as though she had lost and forgotten something very dear... Something very important...
It always led back to a certain ring that sat on her right ring finger. A wolf head carved from finely from silver rested there, it eyes made of twinkling sapphire that nearly made her want to cry every time she looked at it, for every time, she could feel the shadow of a lover's embrace around her. Reminding her of the past she could not remember.
Her eyes teared up with the thought as she slowed to a stop along the side of the road, her lips quivering slightly. She knew she longed for that touch again, but had no idea where to look, or even who it was. Should she wait for her memory to come back, if it did at all? What if that person had moved on after three years? Could she stand the pain of finding the person, or would she die of heartbreak?
It all felt like too much to take for her already fragile mind, and she began to cry in frustration. Nobody even understood how she felt. Many say that memory loss is rather common, but all doctors agree that they had never even seen of heard of (besides theoretically) of an actual case of complete memory loss.
"Be not afraid... Erika..."
She jolted her head up, looking around for the source of such a gentle, soft spoken voice,"Hello?"
"Trust in the Stars of Destiny..."
Erika felt fear creeping into her system as she found nobody near, not even a car. She was all alone on the country road,"W-who are you?"
A light began to form in front of her, making her gasp as it quickly engulfed her before she could even blink, and then she cried out in fear as she was blinded, throwing her arms up to shield her eyes.
"Be not afraid... Sweet Child..."
Reminiscence...
When Erika came to, the first thing she noticed was the thick, black smoke rolling into her lungs with every breath of air. She began to cough, her already wet eyes watering even more, trying to fan the fumes away from her face as she got off her bike, getting lower to the ground. Her eyes fell on a boy's face, flat eyes wide in fear, and the mouth twisted into a permanent scream made her rear back, she herself screaming in terror as the image burned itself into her mind.
"Over there!"A booming voice hollered,"I want every last maggot found and slaughtered!"There was a short laugh,"Show them how terrible the 'City-State' can be!"
She grabbed her bike off the ground, jumping on it, but made it no further than two feet when she was barreled into by a speeding form. They both fell to the ground with a cry, and the momentum sent them into the bushes, then into the trees, her bike discarded and quickly forgotten as she struggled to push someone off of her. It was a boy no older than she, with long platinum blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail that reached his mid back, and wide blue eyes filled with terror. He wore a simple, blue, sleeveless shirt and light gray breeches tucked into boot, and on his back, a quarter staff was strapped there securely.
He took one look at her and in a heartbeat, he helped her to her feet and was dragging her along behind him before she even knew what was happening. She could hear screams behind her, making her want to stop and cover her ears, but the boy wouldn't let her. He simply urged her to keep going until the reached the edge of the tree line, where the crashing of a waterfall could be heard.
She, feeling like she was entirely out of shape, bent over and was panting heavily, coughing hard as she still tried to clear out the smoke in her lungs and the dead boy from her mind. Her stomach heaved, and she barely made it back to the bushes before she vomited. What was going on? Where was she? How did she get there? Who was the boy that just dragged her through the woods?
She felt the bile rise to her mouth, and she stood there for a few moments, vomiting and coughing until she felt a hand rub her back and a wooden canteen was offered to her. Taking it, she quietly said 'thanks', and took a small sip of the water within before handing it back. He pushed it back towards her, and gave her a small smile, though she could see it didn't reach his eyes.
"What's going on?"She rasped hoarsely.
"The City-State surprise attacked us..."He said quietly, almost whispering, looking away sadly.
Erika nodded like she understood, and they were both quiet for a moment, before they both spoke at the same time.
"I'm Jowy-"
"I'm Erika-"
She blushed in embarrassment, and he chuckled slightly,"Jowy."
"Erika."
His eyes lit up suddenly,"You mean the-"
"Why didn't you run East, like I said, Jowy?"A man cut him off, emerging from the trees, with a small squad of blue clad soldiers behind him.
"Captain!"Jowy took a step forward, but Erika, grasped the back of his shirt, hiding behind him and keeping him there,"I... I just..."
The man brushed dirt blonde hair from his face and gave her a seconds glance,"Is that a girl you're hiding behind you?"He thought for a moment,"She's pretty cute."
"Back off, Buster, or I'll punt you like a football."She snapped back. Couldn't he see or hear the people screaming not too far behind him? Why wasn't he rushing to help them?
A chilling laugh made all the men snap to attention, and step aside into two different rows. The man that was now stepping through the trees made her tremble in fear at the wild, crazed look in his eyes that were nearly as dark as his black hair that was cropped short and left un-styled. He wore a silvery-white armor with a deep blue cloak hanging from his shoulders and in his gauntleted right hand was a bloody sword that made her blanch.
Looking at this devilish man, she felt her heart beat faster, from what she thought was fear
"A rat that doesn't know East from West and a spit-fire brat."He glared down at her, and she felt as though he was peering into her soul to burst it into flames,"How cute. It makes me sick."He turned his back to them,"They're not even worth my time. Rowd; kill them."
"Yes sir!"Jowy's Captain nodded for his men to go forward, and Erika felt herself shaking in fear as they drew their swords.
"Captain, who was that man?"He quietly asked, the glare seeming to have affected him too.
Rowd scoffed,"Don't you even know your Prince? That was Luca Blight, the Prince of Highland!"
She felt a familiar pang in her at the sound of that name,"Luca...?"
"So the girl knows of him?"The man turned his back to them,"Anyways, it doesn't matter; kill them."
"Erika, I need you to stand back."Jowy slowly told her, pulling his staff off of his back as the men began to approach them.
"You're going to fight them off yourself?"She screeched, looking around for a place to escape,"Are you crazy?"
"Trust me!"He lunged forward, swiftly hitting a soldier in the chest, crushing a thinned piece of armor.
The words made her blink.
Trust me.
Family trusted one another. But this boy wasn't family. He was a complete stranger. Friends trusted each other. But she's never had friends. Why should she trust him? Because he practically saved her life, and is fighting soldiers, keeping them away from her. Could she trust this boy who was selflessly putting his life in danger protecting her?
Of course.
She looked around, spotting a soldier sneaking up behind him, so she swooped down, picking up a handful of rocks,"Hey, you!"She hurled one, which thudded against his leg, missing her target of the head, though she wouldn't admit it,"That's not playing fair!"
Erika gulped as she saw a dirty face grin at her, and the soldier turned and ran towards her. She shrieked in response, and darted around the circle of men fighting Jowy as she was chased. Occasionally, she would pause, and attempt to stall him with a rock, but most of the time she missed completely. Jowy watched her from the corner of his eye, wishing he could hurry to help her, but couldn't due to having to fight back the rest of the small squadron of full grown men.
"Get the sword!"He cried, sidestepping a vertical swing of a broadsword,"Get it!"
She looked around, seeing several dead bodies, each holding a sword,"Which one?"
He rolled his eyes at this,"Any of them!"
She scooped one up as she ran by, nearly falling with it's weight, not used to carrying something like it while running, then turned, holding it with the tip pointing towards the soldier chasing her,"Hold it right there!"
It made him pause for a brief second before swinging at her.
"Be not afraid... Sweet Child of Destiny..."
Her arm automatically moved to parry it, sliding her blade against his and it caught his thumb, cutting clean through it, much to her luck and surprise as he howled in pain. In anger, he took his sword up in his other hand and swung wildly at her, but she ducked down and stabbed him in the foot, knocking him over. Jowy grinned at this, nodding at her as she looked his way. She gave a shaky laugh, and stood, pulling her sword from the man's foot, and rushing to her new friend's aid.
Rowd glowered, and retreated to the bushes, preparing to get more men to dispose the two brats out of his misery.
Reminiscence...
Jowy and Erika stood amongst the pile of dead and unconscious men, both panting heavily. She trembled with the idea of her being the one that may have killed some of them, but after voicing her thoughts, Jowy told her that she had wounded or knocked them out; not once did he see a fatal blow. It comforted her somewhat, but it didn't ease the thought of the dead around her.
"Come on."He tugged her towards a cliff, peering over the edge, at a rushing river, then he walked over to a large stone, using his knife to make a mark in it,"We'll jump into the river before they come back with more men, and if we get separated, we'll come back here!"
She was crouched by the cliff with a pale face,"Look at that current! We won't make it!"
"Erika, we don't have much choice here..."He pleaded, holding out his knife for her to place her mark on the stone,"Either we die here, or we jump and possibly live."
She sighed, taking the knife, and used all of her strength to make another mark, forming and 'X' in the stone,"I guess I've trusted you this far..."
They both moved to the edge, linking arms in hope of staying together once they hit the river, taking a deep breath before they nodded at one another.
Then they leaped.
A/N: Soooo... This is my Suikoden II story. It's a romance, but with who, well... You can guess, but I think it's obvious. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter!