PART 13: IN THE BEGINNING AGAIN

~6~

Dart had been out all day, since breakfast. Just wandering around the city a little, enjoying the solitude. He figured he needed time to think. About what? Well, everything basically.
Raja was a problem. He didn't know why he considered her that way, he didn't know why he let a girl get to him, he didn't know why it bothered him. He didn't know why he couldn't resist the temptation she was, and on the other side, he wondered why he couldn't just give in, like Raja said he should.
She said he was too uptight. But he wasn't, it was just a fact that warriors shouldn't have emotions. And he felt… emotions for that girl. But why exactly wasn't he supposed to have any? Well, answer to that was simple: because it would destroy him. Yes, okay- his mind bothered him again- but why?
It was getting complicated. And… it was getting dark too. He really should get back to the hospital. The tribe was probably wondering where he went anyway, seeing how he said that he would just go out for a while. Kita already seemed to have vanished of the face of the earth, they had enough cares already. Dart found it strange, coming to the conclusion that the others probably did care about him, despite of his cold, unapproachable behaviour.
But then again, they were all family. The Argonauts were the only family that Dart had ever known.
For the first time in ages, he tried to remember his past, but all he ever could find was a big, black void. No memory. He never really cared…

*

The earliest thing he could remember was waking up alone in a huge forest, trees towering out above him like natural skyscrapers. He was starving and tired, his clothes were mere shreds, a thick layer of filth and mud covered up his cuts and bruises. His whole body ached and his lips had shriveled because of the thirst. In conclusion, he felt absolutely horrible, but that was nothing compared to the psychological shock.
He had been all alone. And confused, because his mind had been like an empty computerfile. Where was he? How did he get here? Who was he? The only clue was a beautiful, old sword that lay by his side. He questioned the fact that it was his, it looked pretty expensive.
But the sword wasn't his major concern, because he felt that he was going to die, really die, if he didn't get something to drink. He got up and his whole body screamed in pain, he barely had the energy for such a simple movement because no food had provided him with calories. In a daze he stumbled through the forest, the trees bouncing up and down in front of his like crazy dancer in a kid's schoolplay.
He was utterly amazed at that: could trees jump? Well, he hardly had any memory, so you could never be sure. Maybe trees could jump, and he had just forgotten that fact. If he hadn't been so exhausted, hungry and dizzy he would've thought about how ridiculous that was.
He thought he could drop dead any second, all alone and to be eaten by wolves –or something like that- when he picked up on a noise. The clatter of a creek, that bounced of the trees like a slow, unnatural echo, and caused him even more headache.
But that didn't matter right now, because it was the sound of water. Water! He stumbled faster, and ended up by a small creek. The water looked fresh and clean enough, but even if had come right out of the sewer, he wouldn't have cared. He fell down, dipped his whole head in the creek and drank. The water made his head a little clearer but it made his hunger more evident, sharper.
He was going to get up to find some food, but before he could do just that, he collapsed by the side of the river.
When he regained consciousness, he was in a big cabin all of the sudden. And there were actually people there. An unnaturally beautiful girl that looked Arabian. Another girl, tall and slim, with coalblack hair and ice-eyes. A guy with brown hair that had obviously never seen a comb. And a boy and a girl, both slim and goodlooking, who were clearly a couple of some sort.
The Arabian beauty gave him so food. He ripped it out of her hands and devoured it, but threw it back up just as fast. "You shouldn't eat that fast, you know. Not if you haven't eaten for quite a while,"she said. He took her advice and ate on, slower, while she took care of his wounds.
"Thanks,"he said. "Who are you?"
"Well, I'm Kita, and those guys over there are Randy, Justine, Scott and Izabella,"the Arabian girl said.
"It's Iz,"the pale, blackhaired girl said annoyed.
"Right… Iz. Anyway, this cabin belonged to Randy's granddad, and he took Justine to it when the virus broke out. All of us had the smart idea of going to the woods when the virus broke out, and we all sorta stumbled upon this place. It's really big, enough room for all of us. We sort of live of the land now. We don't really know what's going on in the civilized world,"Kita said.
"Civilized world? And what's the virus? Annd why do you all have weird paint on your face?"he asked.
Kita gave him a weird look, didn't answer any of his question, just asked: "Who are you?"
"I'm…" He had expected that the answer would just come, but it didn't. Then he remembered: he couldn't remember anything. Fantastic. So he just decided to just think of a name for himself then, and the first thing that came to his mind was: "Dart."
Iz was now interested. "He's got amnesia. Heh, what do you know? Anyway, welcome to the group, I guess… Dartmeister,"she said.
Dart didn't like that nickname from the start. But that's what Iz kept calling him, despite of all the times he yelled at her: "Brainless! Stop calling me that!"
From that point he was a member of the Argonauts. He never got his memory back, but lost his interest in time. He took up the sword he had found next to him when he wake up alone in the forest, and it felt… natural. The moves he made with it, also felt natural. He came to the discovery that he was a great fighter. So he really wasn't that unfortunate; he may have lost his memory, but not his skills. He started to think of himself as a warrior, a cold, emotionless one. That transformation just happened. But then Raja came along…

*

Dart looked at the sky. It was almost completely dark now. It was about time he went back to the hospital.
When he actually arrived there, he was greeted by an overly happy, obviously sugar-high Iz. "Heya Dartmeister!"she greeted him with her loud voice. "Are you still alive?"was Darts only response.
"Guess what? The shop next door is a hardware-shop, filled with paintbuckets,"Iz said.
"I'm sure this should excite me to no limit…?"
"Well, yeah! I'm having a paintball-fight with Zion, Raja, Justine and Randy! Well, without the paintball-guns, we have these,"Iz said and showed him a few balloons filled with paint.
Dart raised an eyebrow. "Paintballfight?"
Suddenly there was an explosion of colour and all of the sudden Iz's hair was a bright pink instead of her usual black. Behind her stood a smirking Randy. "I did that with my eyes… closed. Stay tuned, I'm-a do it again."
Iz threw a balloon at Randy, but missed. Randy chuckled evilly. Iz turned to Dart, saying: "Come on, it's fun, join in!"
Dart looked at her from underneath low eyebrows. "I'm hoping someday you'll grow out of this… you know, maybe even mature a little… but I doubt it,"Dart said. He had only just finished his sentence, or he was hit by a balloon.
"Mwahahaha!"Iz laughed. Dart drew his sword and growled maniacally at her. Iz didn't see this coming and made a run for it, screaming. "Come back here! I'm going to slice you up, paint my room with your blood and dance in your entrails,"Dart yelled, while chasing her.
Justine and Randy looked at the scene, without blinking. "Okey-dokey… now there's something you don't see everyday…,"Randy said slowly, then he shrugged shoulders and continued the game with Justine.