Hey hey! Yup, I had time so I figured I'd get this up fast. Thanks to Dragoon Swordsman for the review. I love reviews, even if they're short y'all. I'm gonna be in more first person for a while. Third was really just for setting up. You aren't reading this anymore, are you? You're already reading the story, right? Then I'll stop boring you and get to the good stuff.

----------------

Chapter 2

I froze for a second. My brain froze for longer. Luckily, my body seemed to know what to do even though my brain didn't. I had the sword unstrapped before I had made a full stride and I took off full speed for the woman. The dogs, or whatever they were, seemed apprehensive at first, but they were gaining their confidence fast. None of them, dog or woman, saw me until I was upon them.

The first monster never got a look at me. A diagonal swipe as I ran by it saw to that. Small lights floated from the massive gash down its side. Considering the violence about to go down, they seemed ironically peaceful. I was distracted for a second, wondering just what they were.

'Pyreflies.' That one word managed to break through the solid wall dividing me from my memories. At least now I knew something more than my name.

"Watch my back", I told the girl as I came up beside her, "and tell me if they start to come in." She nodded and turned to follow the order, but she looked rather pale. Guess she didn't think we'd make it out alive. By this point though, I realized I did remember something besides my name – how to fight. We stood back to back as I tried to take in as much as I could at once. There were ten, about what I had guessed from a distance. I stood with my sword in a two-handed grip straight out in front of me. The tip of the blade was about an inch from the ground before me.

The creatures weren't as smart as they looked, and they looked really dumb. Big nasty tongues hung from their mouths, and they drooled. A lot. The first one tried a forward attack on me. My body once again seemed to react without my mind's permission. As it came in, I drew my sword back to me slightly, then as it came within range I stepped out with my right foot and laid the freak open, bottom to top. They seemed weak enough, since this one hit caused the thing to erupt into pyreflies as well. The other one standing right by the now dead dog thought I was distracted enough to try the same thing. I caught him out of the corner of my eye to the right as he was closing in. Using my left foot as pivot, I spun clockwise and smashed its jaw in with a crescent kick. Continuing the spin, I brought my sword over my head and split the next dog's head open as it came in on my left side. This left a nice hole in their circle, so I used the opportunity to grab the woman and guide her in the direction of safety. And by 'guide', I mean 'shove'. Didn't matter, she was out of harm's way. I, however, was now the object of the pack's attention, and to prove that point they re-formed their circle around me. Seven left. This could only get better.

The next one came in from behind. I saw it by luck as I turned my head, and I simply continued my turn and slapped it in the head with the flat of my blade. I stabbed forward and caught its eye by chance. It must have been smarter than the rest of the pack, for it howled in agony and ran off. This distraction opened me up though. One came from behind again and managed to get on my back. The dirty little bastard then proceeded to claw the crap out me.

Needless to say, I was rather upset. Yelling out in rage (and pain too, I might add), I reached back to grab it, but it slipped away and ran back to join its buddies. Now slightly doubled over, I realized it was hard work to stand up straight. At least it was with six claw wounds running down your back. The woman was saying something, but I couldn't make it out. Suddenly, I felt a cool sensation across my back. It hurt, but nowhere near as much. Reaching back, I felt where the claw marks were. Nothing there. I looked at her in surprise, but she just smiled encouragingly. Some of the color had returned to her face. She must have gotten some hope in living through this. At least she had a little faith in me. Healed and feeling better, I turned back to the matter at hand.

Six left. But I didn't care right now. All I wanted was to carve up that bastard that carved me up. But how to decide? All six were now bunched up to one side of me. I saw a flash of something red. The one to the far left side had crimson stains on its claws. Caught red handed. I didn't care about risks at the moment; I wanted him dead. I took a full charge with my sword over my left side. It looked like it was taunting me. I could almost swear it was grinning.

'Time to wipe that grin off your face', I thought as I charged it. It crouched down in anticipation to dodge the strike. As he began to leap back, I planted my right foot, spun counterclockwise, and quite happily exacted my revenge. The next one coming in ate a sidekick as I dropped to the ground and threw it upwards. Its head snapped back and it flipped over backwards, smashing into the ground with a wet crack. Two one handed chops and the next dog was down as I returned to my feet. Two more took its place. As they charged, I rolled across the ground and sliced horizontally, laying one open from mouth to tail. The other one spun back around and charged in fury, only to be impaled by its own charge.

One left. It also proved smart, as it attempted to run. Not fast enough, though. As it flew by, I took aim heaved my sword. It flipped end over end and found its mark in the thing's side. It flipped and thrashed grotesquely for a moment, then fell still as it evaporated as well. I walked over to retrieve my sword. Less blood was on it than I expected. Guess it was from the way they evaporated. I walked over to the woman.

"You okay?", I asked her as I approached. She paused, staring at me for a long few seconds before responding.

"How in Spira did you do that!?", she responded. Her eyes looked ready to pop right out of her head.

It's funny, because inside my head, I was asking myself the exact same question. One thing was bugging me though, and I just had to ask.

"What's 'Spira'?" This warranted another jaw dropping stare. "And for that matter, what were those things attacking you?" She regained her composure really quick, considering that everyone probably knew the answers to these questions.

"You...really don't know?", she asked tentatively, as if she expected me to bust out laughing saying "got ya!"

"No, I really don't know," I responded, maybe a little harder than I needed to. But I was lost and confused, so I guess it was to be expected.

"Do you know about Sin?" I merely shook my head at this. I knew she couldn't be talking about sin, as in doing bad stuff. The fear in her voice at uttering that word tipped me off. She went pale again for a second.

"What's your name?", she asked me. I responded with the only knowledge I woke up with.

"Arek. And you are...?"

"Yuna. Maybe...you should come with me. I might be able to help you a little," she offered. I nodded in acceptance. No way I could turn her down. I needed to know where I was. Maybe I'd remember something that could help me get back home, wherever that was. After sheathing my sword, I followed her back to her village. Yuna promised to explain everything there.

----------------

Chapter 2 is done! I stuffed a little fight in, so maybe it'll be worth reading now. Next few chapters might be a little slow, but I'll get another fight and action and good stuff soon. S.S. Liki will probably be the next good fight. Oh yeah, and Rikku will be coming in earlier here, like in the next two chapters or so. Works out for this fic better that way. Reviews are wonderful things, you know (hint hint). Maybe you should leave one (wink wink).