Pitch Black

The day he had first opened his eyes, he already had a feeling that the things he would see would not be pleasant. When his eyelids parted to let a few remaining beams of light shine through, creating a blurred out picture of his surroundings, he knew that things wouldn't be so simple as they appeared. For one, he had no idea where he was, or who he was for that matter.

All he knew, was that he was awake. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

"You're finally awake, I see," a voice echoed through the room, the space that he was lying in. He couldn't quite place it, not yet, but oddly enough he understood those words. Mostly.

But what to say? How does one make a sound?

"Now, my soldier," the person speaking continued, leaving him confused. Soldier? His? He blinked owlishly, not quite understanding. Something about the way he said it, didn't quite make sense. Had he really been a soldier before he woke up? "Tell me, do you remember anything?"

No. No, he didn't. He could try, focus on his memories, but none would be brought forward. His mind was completely blank. He wasn't even sure how to say the word "no". Or what else there was that he could do.

And it was then that a figure, clad in armour and white, expensive cloth, stepped into his line of vision. The figure seemed to be covered from head to toe, with a metal mask over the face and a hood over the head. The hood fell down into a cloak, which dragged behind the person like a sort of robe, or tail. It was a rich red colour, with golden embroidery forming flower-like patterns over the material. Beneath, they wore a tunic, trousers and boots of leather and metal. Their hands were gloved as they reached out towards his own figure.

"Why not let me help you find out who you are then?" the creature offered.

Managing to crane his head to look up, he watched the creature's expression shift. Most of the face was covered. But there seemed to be the notion of a smirk, forming on its lips.

"I can guide you. I can show you. I can answer your questions. I could give you all you want," it promised, in a sly, smooth voice that seemed to lure him in. He couldn't quite understand what there was to want. "I could give you attention, I could give you power... I could give you the world and all the belief you could want!"

Attention?

Power?

Belief?

He couldn't quite say how those worked, or what exactly they were and he definitely wasn't certain about wanting them. They sounded nice, from the excitement in the creature's voice, though.

"All I want from you is for you to swear your loyalty to me. You've been loyal before... and there's so much I could give you. At my side, you could have anything you could possibly dream of," the creature added. So, that was the catch? Loyalty? He wasn't quite sure what they had meant by that. What was even there to dream of? He could swear that he never had 'dreamed' of anything.

So he hesitated.

"I'll be the master, I'll be the guide and if you listen to me, follow me and obey me, I could give you anything you might want," they tempted further.

Master...?

Guide...?

Anything...?

"Y-yes..." he finally agreed in a pathetic, croaking voice, not entirely sure what he was getting into. In fact, the meaning of the words in those last sentences was mostly forgotten, he couldn't quite place them. But he was willing to learn and to risk it.

"Yes, what?" they inquired and he could almost hear the smirk.

Had he forgotten something...?

What had the creature said?

"Y-yes, master," he corrected himself, in a raspy voice. Pulling him up to his feet, the creature grabbed his wrist, hauling him up.

"That's right, my little shadow," the creature cooed. Through the holes in the mask, he could see a glint forming in the creature's oddly coloured eyes. It was a frightening feature. "Now, what shall I call you? Or would you rather name yourself?"

"N-name...?"

The creature nodded. As they were both standing up, despite his shaky legs, he stood taller. He'd have to look down, lean down in order to keep eye contact. "Everyone has a name." Despite the height though, Master was stronger. "My name, for instance, is Sar, but you'll call me Master." With that, it led him, half-dragging his figure across the cold, hard ground, as his shaky legs tried to take over and work on their own, to fail with each step. The two stopped at a natural hollow in the area, filled with water. Transparent, cold and a liquid - all of which he'd discover soon enough - it reflected his appearance like a mirror.

With high cheekbones, pure, raven black hair and golden-silver eyes that didn't seem quite normal, he found himself quite confused. What was the being that was staring back at him? It was lanky, tall, in tattered robes and bruised, battered, smashed armour? He was sure that the clothing had once been any colour apart from black, though now was almost entirely dark in hue. Why was his flesh a pale silver colour? Why were his teeth so sharp? Not jagged per-say, or so horrible miscoloured, no, that all would come later, as he figured out who he was. But it was enough to make him draw back - or at least for him to try. Those forelimbs ended in long, sharp nails, and were lean like the rest of him. Those were arms, weren't they? They reached out, to feel the pointy ears, sharply pointed nose - which would gradually lose its narrowness, battle after battle until he could care less about fixing it - and a bare brow.

"Don't feel normal?"

He shook his head slowly. No, he didn't. Normal would be the last word he would use to describe that image in the water.

"It's what makes you...you," the creature explained. "So, my little shadow, who exactly do you believe you are?"

He thought about it, long and hard. Though nothing seemed to quite match. He reached his hand out, a little, into the expanse of nothingness that lay ahead. It should have been dark, it would have been too dark for anyone to see. What he saw though, were faint outlines.

"I take it you can see, then? In the dark? Even though it's pitch black?" his Master asked.

He nodded. Pitch black... an interesting way to describe the area. The stone walls, the lack of light. He turned to the figure next to him, trying to figure it out. Master seemed curious. But his eyes showed none of that.

They didn't seem to show anything. Although he had thought they would. For someone who could see where others can't, he couldn't see his Master at all. Not really and he knew that the moment he first saw Master. As if it was a pitch black room in itself. Yet, so far he was an open book.

You can't see in the dark. You can't see through the dark. You can't see through pitch black. You won't see through Pitch Black. They won't see through Pitch Black.

"Puh-pitch Black."

The Master turned towards him, raising an eyebrow from behind the mask.

"My name is Pitch Black."