"Grandpa, that strange boy is outside again!"A girl no older than five whined, adjusting her flounced skirt,"He keeps standing by the fence staring at me!"
She wore her long, brown hair down, her bangs held back in a lady-like bow, her large, brown eyes knitted in worry as she tugged on an elderly man's martial arts uniform. His face was blurred, as though she couldn't quite remember the features well, as she was watching him peer out a window, chuckling. He then pushed her towards the door in encouragement, though she was digging her Mary-Jane clad heels into the ground.
"Why not ask him to play with you?"
"He's so scary looking!"She whimpered, managing to move behind him, clinging to his leg.
"I'm sure you seem more frightful to him."
She pouted as she was now being picked up and placed outside, the door being shut behind her. A set of dark eyes blinked at her through a space in the fencing and she, deciding to be a bully, threw a stone at it, and sat on her doorstep, crossing her arms over her chest. The rock hit the fencepost, and the boy stood, sticking his tongue out at her and ran off.
"Erika."A scolding voice from inside called her name,"Go apologize."
Tearing up at the fact she was being told to do something she rather not do, she hiccuped a small sob and ran after the boy. She wasn't about to apologize; instead, she was going to make him beg to be forgiven! If she could find him, that is.
"You don't act like a girl!"A small voice accused from the bushes,making her stop in her tracks,"You're supposed to act like a lady!"
"I am a lady, you rotten, no-good skunk!"She shot back as the boy emerged, his hair full of leaves and twigs.
"See? You act like a boy! If you didn't wear a dress, I would've thought you were one!"
In a fit of rage, she tackled the dark-haired boy, biting, scratching and punching, and they wrestled each other until the adults saw this and pulled them apart. She got a swat on the bum from her Grandpa as the boy was guided back home by what she thought looked like soldiers, but she didn't really care about that. The next time she saw him, she was going to make him pay.
"This punk is a waste of time... I wonder where she came from. Hey you! Wake up already! I'll throw ya back in the river again!"
Erika jolted awake, suddenly having the strong need to cough. She felt water escape her lungs and spew from her mouth, and her head then felt severely water-logged. Her mind was groggy, and couldn't quite comprehend why she was cold, wet, and laying on what felt like and even colder rock. Moving her shaking arms, she tried to push herself up, but only ended up collapsing again, her body drained of strength.
What happened? Her mind was too slow to remember... But then the boy came to the front of her mind. Jowy! They had jumped into a river to escape! Was that him yelling at her to get up now? The voice sounded too deep to be his boyish tone. Was he alright? Did he make it?
She groaned, trying to shove herself up again, this time managing to roll over onto her back, and opened her eyes to a foggy forest,"Oooh..."
"So you're finally awake? Hey, can you say your name?"
She rolled her head towards the source of the voice and decided against making a rude hand gesture, and just stared blankly at a man that stood over her. At first glance, he reminded one of a bear, with his large, muscular physique and ratted up, long black hair, but on a closer examination, you would see it was just a brawny man. He wore a yellow tunic, with a leather breastplate over it, and a scabbard attached to his back, holding a broadsword. He also wore simple black breeches tucked into leather boots, and leather gloves, finishing off his wild look.
"I'm Erika..."She rasped, flinching at the sandpaper feeling ing her throat.
"So you can talk, huh."The man scratch his chin in thought,"What the hell were you doing in the river? Did you slip?"
She slowly shook her head, attempting to push herself up, but fell back down with a groan,"People were attacking us... They said they were the City-State Army..."
This made his give her a hard look"The State Army? What are you talking about? We just signed a peace agreement. I can't believe it..."He paused as though something dawned on him,"Huh? Are you a Highlander?"
"No, I'm not."
"Hmm... So where are you from then? If you lie, I'll cut out your tongue."
She squealed in fear, slapping a hand over her mouth, but said nothing.
"The silent treatment, huh? That's not a cute quality in kids."He frowned, and she wasn't sure if she should be creeped out or not,"Anyway, I'm Viktor, mercenary leader of the Allied Cities of Jowston – the City-State."
"Viktor, are you having fun picking on that poor kid?"A smoother voice called from the trees.
Erika finally gathered the strength to sit up and look at the newcomer, finding herself blushing crimson. The man was quite handsome, though had a 'pretty-boy' face. His ashen blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and a blue bandanna kept his messily cut bangs from falling in his prussian blue eyes. He wore a matching cloak over a black tunic and breeches, and at his hip was a simple sword.
"What are you talking about, Flik? I wouldn't do that... I'm a nice guy! But anyways, what happened to the other one?"
His eyes were slightly downcast as he looked her way then back to Viktor."It's no good. We lost sight of him. I hope he made it..."
She gasped,"Jowy..!"
"Too bad..."There was a short moment of silence before she was faced again."Okay, listen up. Whoever you are, you're gonna be my personal guest for awhile. You may not find the accommodations too comfortable, though."She paled and he laughed."Don't look so worried. We're not going to eat you or anything."
She muttered something under her breath at this, then cried out as she was suddenly grasped by the wrist and jerked to her feet,"Hey! Ow!"
"Hey, Flik. Look at this."They leaned in close, examining the ring closely, turning her hand this way and that.
"It's a Highland make, for sure."
"We'll definently have to take her in now, in case she's a spy, you know."
"You won't listen if I say we shouldn't."
"Hey I don't like taking little girls prisoner either. I'm just doing my job."She was shoved forward,"Start walking. It'll be night before we make it back to the fort."
"Listen, I don't even know what a Highlander is! Where's the City-State? And why are you dressed so weird?"She faced them, waving her arms around frantically,"Can't you see I'm a damsel in distress?"
"Yeah, nice try. Move."
Groaning, she let herself be pushed and shoved along the forest, wishing desperately to know what on Earth was going on.
Reminiscence...
When the trio broke through the trees and onto a path leading up to a wooden post surrounded perimeter, Erika wanted to collapse and wither into the ground. She was panting, wheezing, and dying of thirst, but the bear man didn't seem to notice that she was extremely out of shape and about to die of an asthma attack (and she didn't even have asthma!). The more handsome one seemed to notice, and took pity on her as they neared the gates, offering a canteen, though it was rather late, but she gladly took it anyways. She took a large gulp, and handed it back with a soft and shy 'thanks'.
He gave her a comforting smile, though she felt like she was about to die of major confusion. Seriously! She hadn't felt so confused since she was forced to take advanced math classes! Of course, she felt more like Viktor was going to eat her. So, with this in mind, she looked around at her surroundings, hoping it wouldn't be the next to last thing she saw. The last being an open fire with her strung over it.
It was as Viktor said; a fort. Men in baby blue uniforms and green bandannas sparred with each other in the open space before a large, wooden fortress. The ringing of swords clanging against one another made her feel as though she was in a medieval era and she wondered briefly if she was at a Renaissance Festival. Horses snorted as grooms brushed down their coat, and next to them were archers shooting at straw dummies, some missing entirely. In the distance she could hear a dog barking and a cat hissing.
Then Viktor suddenly turned, opening his mouth wide in a yawn, and she crouched down, throwing her arms over her head.
"Don't eat me!"She cried, trembling while the two men stood there, bewildered at the girl's antics. It wasn't the first time that somebody had been intimidated by the brawny man, but this was a first."At least kill me first, you cannibal!"When she heard nothing happening, it only scared her more,"I-I hope I give you a stomach ache!"
Booming laughter made her jerk her head up, tears of fright in her eyes, and suddenly her head was being rubbed like one would a child,"You're pretty weird, kid! We ain't gonna eat you, so calm down. You're just going to spend some time in a cell until we figure out what to do with you."
This made her pale even more, and she shrieked,"Modern day slave traders? L-listen... My parents w-will pay you! Just let me g-go and we can f-forget all a-about this!"
Flik shook his head, shoving Viktor away,"I swear, your face scare more people than monsters do."
"This lovable face? Naw, I think it's the loud voice."He protested.
"It's the face."Erika deadpanned.
While Viktor sulked, Flik knelt down next to her, so that they were at eye level,"Listen, we're just a band of Mercs that are busy with keeping an eye out for spies and ambushes. We won't sell you off and we certainly won't eat you,"His lips twitched up in amusement,"At least I won't. Viktor might."
"Hey!"
Erika's face was still full of fear and worry,"I'm not a spy! I really don't know where I am, or what a Highlander is and where the City-State is!"
He pointed to her ring,"Then explain that."
She looked at it, the sapphire eyes gleaming in the moonlight,"I... Don't know where I got it. I can only remember back three years ago."She looked up at him with pleading eyes,"I was found with it three years ago! I don't remember how I got it!"
"You don't remember?"The bear joined back in,"How can you not remember? That thing has to be worth more than we are!"
"I have amnesia!"She snapped irritably,"It's when you have a severe case of memory loss! I may regain my memories tomorrow or I might never get them back; nobody ever knows!"He held up his hands for peace,"And what does it matter! This is just a ring!"
The two men looked at each other, then Flik stood, pulling Viktor to the side,"So what do you think?"
They stared at the girl who look ready to start hissing,"I don't know... If you ask me, it's a bit strange. Even the way she dresses says something is off..."
"She really might not have memories."
"We'll just have to wait and see, I guess. Let's keep an eye on her, and we'll see if she does something that'll give her away."
Sighing in union, they watched as she screeched and slammed her flip-flop down on a spider.
A/N: So ta-da! Chapter two! I admit that this story is a couple years old. I found on my laptop the other day, and decided to post it and see what everybody thinks about it. I thought it was okay, considering I haven't altered it in any way. =p
By the way, in the last chapter, Luca actually says 'rats that don't know East from North.' I felt pretty dumb after I saw that. XD