(I honestly don't know how good the first chapter was. It felt a little disjointed to me personally, but I usually don't do too well when the focus is just one character being relatively alone. And that's about to change, as you'll soon find out. Onwards to Chapter 2!)

Chapter 2: A Friendly Face

"The cycle of elements. Water, fire, wind, water again. You, a warrior of fire birthed from the flames, must avoid facing the water. Let the colors warn you of the elements. And do not fear the light or the darkness, for they are only dangerous to themselves, and only to the extent of the individual possessing them."

Much like before, reawakening was an unexpected surprise to Vanessa. The last memory she had was collapsing in a field of green, like the meat in a salad waiting to be fed to a hungry, relentless chimera. Yet there was no sign of the beast, or even the field.
Instead, she found herself on her back, resting atop a layer of tightly-packed straw under a sheet of thin cloth, surrounded by a sight she had long forgotten; the solid, stone walls of a man-made shelter.
She let out a sigh of relief. There were no trees or beasts of any kind within the small, silent room, although any hope of the memories simply being a bad dream was dashed upon rising, her body feeling weary and weak, as if she had been pulled limb from limb.
Not willing to fight back against the pain, she relaxed, laying out flat and staring up to the flat, wooden ceiling, before glancing around at her surroundings. A small, foggy window sat on one of the walls, giving her a view of a cloudy sky from her position on the floor. Her helmet had been removed, the topless, winged head armor set down next to a mirror, the reflective surface compact enough to be held in her hands. The rest of her armor was still equipped to her, presumably as her rescuer had not wished to lay eyes upon her naked body.
A twinge of curiosity wriggled into her thoughts, now that she was safe. Who had been her savior, having been courteous not just to find her, but to take her in and provide her a spot of rest? Where was this particular spot? Had her rescuer avoided the chimera that had chased her, or did he or she have to confront the beast? And if so, what had happened?
As much as she wanted answers to her questions, her body hurt too much to move, and she was not willing to further injure herself trying. So she lay still on the ground, pondering the possibilities before fatigue caught up to her once again, and she did not hesitate to give in to sleep again.

Waking up again, Vanessa could muster the strength to sit up and reach for the nearby mirror, getting the first view of her own self in her recent memory. The past events had not been kind to her. She looked weak and gaunt, her shining red eyes ringed by a layer of grime that covered her face and her silky black hair that tumbled down to her shoulders.
Pulling back the sheet that covered her, she could see that her legs and arms had also garnered splotches of dirt and grime, although her armor was still as she had remembered, from the sabatons up to the open-handed gauntlets and the plates that covered her chest, shoulders and hips. She could not see any wounds or cuts to her skin, or any part of her to be missing, so she assumed that she was still physically fine, if recovering from exhaustion.
Setting the mirror down, she picked up her helmet and held it out, staring into the insignia on its front, the meaning of it still evading her.
She didn't have long to dwell on the emblem, however, as a knock on the door raised her eyes away from it.
"Yes? Come in." She responded, her voice hoarse to her own ears.
The wooden door creaked and swung open, and to Vanessa's relief, another human entered, revealing a young man clad in gleaming white armor, shining as bright as his icy blue eyes or his silvery, wavy and sizeable sword. He might have been trying to appear strong and flashy, but Vanessa couldn't see past his warm, welcoming smile, or the impish, excited light in his eyes.
And she could not ignore his hair either. In a quick glance, Vanessa was convinced he had more hair than she did. The silvery hair stood upright on his head, like a dancing fire standing still, complete with a thin, jagged ponytail protruding out from behind his helmet, similarly topless like hers.
"Oh good, you're awake." He said, scratching at the side of his cheek. "We were getting worried, especially since you haven't been awake for nearly two days."
Vanessa was taken aback, her eyes widening. Two days? Had she pushed herself that far?
The knightly visitor only chuckled. "I'm sorry, was it something I said?"
Vanessa shook her head, trying not to look at him. Being teased by a stranger was discomforting, even though this particular stranger seemed friendly and didn't mean any harm.
"Perhaps it's not the best way to be introduced." He laughed, before clearing his throat. "My name is Darion, a vagabond-turned-member of the town guard. Pleased to meet you."
He looked at her, signaling for her to name herself.
"Oh, my name is Vanessa." Vanessa replied, looking back at him curiously. "A town, you say?"
Darion nodded, crouching down at the foot of the bed and placing his sword on the ground. "Indeed. You arrived unconscious, but welcome to the town of Garen."
The name meant nothing to Vanessa. She had never heard of the town, not that she could remember if she herself had ever been to any town.
"You're currently in the town's infirmary." Darion continued. "Or more precisely, an extension of it. Too many people coming back with too many injuries lately."
"Injuries?" Vanessa replied in concern. "Are you at war?"
Unexpectedly, Darion laughed, which Vanessa found rather rude if people were indeed becoming hurt or worse.
"Hah! The town wouldn't survive a war." Darion responded. "Truth be told, we're not very big, us here in Garen. Hardly anything more than a village. So when I say infirmary, I really mean an inn that also tends to the sick, so don't worry about attacks."
Vanessa relaxed again, then moved onto her next question.
"What about the chimera?" She asked. "I found it in the forest, and I collapsed running away from it."
"Taken care of." Darion assured with a dismissive wave of an armored hand. "I found you while patrolling with my partner, Lanett. Heard it not long after deciding to take you back to town, and she said she'd rather go take care of the beast than put up with me. Came back without a scar, too."
Vanessa couldn't help but sigh in relief. Not only was she now assured of her own safety, but no one else had gotten hurt because of her. She could almost feel an emotional weight leaving her conscience.
"That being said, I have to ask... Darion continued, tone becoming more serious. "What were you doing out there in the first place? And what is with the insignia on your helmet?"
Surprised, Vanessa looked down to her lap, where her helmet rested, positioned like it was staring at her, the gold symbol on its front still a mystery to her. It looked like a sphere connected to three-pointed star, skewed in such a way that it could have resembled a sword pointed face down, but Vanessa had no idea as to whether that was the case or not.
"I...don't know." She finally answered. "But as for what happened to myself..."
She began to tell her entire story, from the hazy imagery of her first vision until waking up where they were currently lodged in. Darion listened on intently, with his sword wedged into the earthen floor and his chin rested on the handle. He never interrupted, nor did he make any attempt to joke about her tale. The only responses he made throughout was an encouraging nod for her to continue after every pause.
When she was finally done, he took a breath. "So, no memory at all?"
Vanessa shook her head glumly. "Not aside from the dreams I've had, and I can't tell if those were just imagined."
A brief moment of silence followed as Darion mulled it over.
"Well, the elemental cycle is correct." He said. "Fire defeats wind, which in turn conquers water, which extinguishes fire, and the loop continues. I had a feeling you were fire, seeing your color."
"Color?"
Darion nodded. "Many of us contain one of the five elements you've mentioned, including the outliers of light and dark. It's hard to explain, but we're compelled to the colors of our elements, intentional or not. You bear red, the color of fire, much like light and the silver and white on my armor."
Vanessa observed her helmet once more, staring at the red and black plates which were trimmed in gold. Red, the color of fire. It now made sense as to why the chimera in the forest had scared her more than it should, it being a beast of water, but she certainly did not feel like a fire elementalist. There was not even a hint of the power of fire in her.
Perhaps her external emotions hinted at her troubled feelings, because Darion spoke up again. "Hey, don't worry about yourself." He offered. "You've been through something else over the last few days, and don't remember much. It may still come back to you."
Vanessa nodded half-heartedly. Seeing as how things had been over the past few days, she would not have been surprised if her powers had indeed abandoned her.
Again, she must've been showing signs of despair, because Darion approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. When Vanessa looked up to him, she could see him smile comfortingly at her, believing in her capabilities more than she did.
"Come on, no need to get discouraged before you even try." He chided, rising up to stand again. "I'll try and help you best I can, but I can't be more than support for you. So why don't we start by getting you cleaned up for now?"
Vanessa hastily agreed after a moment's pause, remembering that she still must have looked horrible, having yet to clean herself. She stood up as well, helmet in hand, swaying hesitantly as her legs took the weight of her body once again. She didn't feel up to full strength, but she could definitely stand, which was better than being collapsed on the ground.
"Ready." She said with a nod.
Darion led her out, and Vanessa took one last look back at her temporary room, with a feeling that she would not be setting foot in one for some time.

And that's the end of Chapter 2. Initially, I was going to merge what will be Chapter 3 into this, but I decided to keep my chapters short for now, because spending too long on a chapter tends to get as tedious as grinding Giant's B10 on auto.
Hope you all approve of the choice of secondary character in the form of Darion. I you do, then I guarantee a lot of you will like the next character that will be introduced. But until then, ciao for now!