Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine.
Thanks to my reviewers! Apologies for the slow update…. *mutters* Evil homework. Evil writer's block. Evil, evil, evil! ^^
To FeudalFairyFan4Ever: Glad you like it! Yes, the girl is Yukina. No, it will be revealed in the last chapter that the guy is actually Kuwabara; he spontaneously shrank two feet, his hair and eyes changed color, and he gained a sudden penchant for black clothing. ^^ (Sorry… had to be said.) Yes, he's Hiei.
To Shadow Fox777: Yes, a third eye one didn't know one had would certainly come as a shock to the system….
To crimson-illusions: ^^ Thanks! …Yes, 'tis a bit slow. Hopefully it will manage to pick up eventually. I'm very glad you're enjoying it anyway.
**************************************************************************************************************
Chapter 3:
He opened his eyes rather sleepily, reveling in the warmth. Where… oh. …Right. He dimly recalled coming here yester – whenever it had been. How long had he slept?
He sat up stiffly, stretching his arms and shoulders, and looked around the room. It was small and square, and was lit only by the fire in front of which he currently sat; his small outline made strange, looming shadows on the walls. There was little furniture except for a few low stone benches around the edge of the room and a small table to one side of the fire. A shelf over the table held some shadowy objects whose identities could not be determined from his current vantage point.
"Oh, you're awake!"
He started at the voice. It was that girl who'd found him. Her voice was still vaguely familiar, and he wondered if he was supposed to know her. But – no, she hadn't recognized him, had she? She'd asked him who he was and he hadn't been able to answer….
Perhaps she only reminded him of someone else he knew. He turned to look at her; she was sitting on one of the benches next to the door. She smiled at him.
He remained expressionless. "Where are we?"
She eyed him a little uncertainly. "D – do you remember? This is the house I brought you to yest –"
This was cut off by an abrupt, impatient nod. "I remember that. Where is it, what is this place?"
She hesitated, seeming unsure how to answer, and he glared at her. It was a mild glare, relatively speaking, but it was still a noticeable glare. She shook her head apologetically. "I'm sorry. I… don't really know."
He raised his eyebrows, silently awaiting further explanation.
She sighed. "You… don't remember who you are, how you came here."
Oh. Of course. You don't know, she had said – stated, not asked. She hadn't seemed particularly surprised. "And you don't either," he finished. His glare faded back to neutrality.
She nodded, appearing relieved that he understood.
His eyes searched the room briefly before he spoke again. "Fine. Is there anyone else here?"
Again, she shook her head. "I don't think so. You're the first I've seen."
"This… house. No one lives in it? It's just here?"
She nodded. "It… seems to be. I… came across it once, somehow. I don't –" she bit her lip – "I don't quite remember. But I've never seen anyone here, or signs of anyone using the place, except that the fire's always lit…."
He frowned, considering this momentarily. "Always?"
A mute nod.
"Is there a woodpile anywhere?"
She sighed again. "Not nearby, that I could find. I've looked more than once. And there are no signs of anyone cutting trees, either. It's strange, isn't it?"
He was silent, watching the crackling fire for some time. Then, abruptly, he stood.
The girl jumped to her feet hurriedly. "Wait, you should rest –"
He waved this aside sharply, ignoring a brief wave of dizziness and stepping away from her as she tried to assist him back to his spot in front of the fire. "Hn. I've rested. I'm fine." He went to the door, still dodging her attempted support, and drew his cloak tight around him, bracing himself against the bitter cold. "I'll be right back."
When he returned he was shivering rather less than he had expected to be, and was carrying an ice-coated stick broken off a dead tree branch. He glanced over at the girl, who had hesitated at the door from following him further. "Have you tried to see if the fire actually burns things?"
She shook her head. "I… hadn't thought of it. I don't really like getting so close to the heat."
He shrugged, went back to the fireplace, and sat down, holding the wood up to the flames so that the ice would melt. "That's right. You don't mind the cold, do you?"
Nobody minds it, a small voice suddenly whispered in the back of his mind. Just you. Mentally, he shook his head, ignoring this. Strange, foolish thought. Where had it come from?
The girl had gone back to her bench and was watching him curiously. "It… hadn't occurred to me that anyone did," she said honestly. "Until I came across you."
The small, inward voice grinned. Told you. He continued to ignore it, and turned back to stare at the flames again.
All was silent for a few seconds, then the girl spoke again, hesitantly. "I – I meant to ask," she began. "Is your arm all right? I saw it was bandaged…."
He blinked, glancing down at his arm. The bandages… And again, nothing's there. He hadn't even noticed them; they had seemed to blend in as part of his arm, perfectly familiar until just now. The sensation was strangely wrenching.
He didn't think anything was wrong with his arm. It didn't hurt, at least. The bandages just belonged there. He dropped the still-thawing bit of wood next to the fire, and moved to pull the wrappings off his hand, to see what was underneath.
…And stopped, his mind suddenly blank. What was I doing…? He couldn't remember. Puzzled, he glanced around the room as if searching for an answer.
"Is… is something wrong?" the girl asked, sounding concerned.
"I thought I just remembered someth… No." He shook his head. "It's gone now."
"…Oh." She paused. "Was it from something one of us said?"
"Maybe." His eyes narrowed in concentration, but… he could not recall much of their conversation. The fire, and the cold, and then… there had been something after that. Something important. But loathe as he was to admit it – he could not recall what that was.
Some of his frustration must have been apparent, for after a few seconds the girl said softly, "I don't remember either."
There was an understanding, sympathetic note in her voice that made him grit his teeth involuntarily. I don't need sympathy. I need someone who knows what the hell's going on. He refrained from voicing this aloud, however. Instead he shrugged and turned back to the fireplace. The ice had melted from the branch; it was quite dry by now. He picked it up and carefully set one end on fire; the dry, dead wood caught easily. Flames flickered to life and soon burned steadily, but they did not seem in any hurry to grow or travel further along the branch.
He and the girl were both quiet, watching for what seemed nearly a half an hour; still the flames did not change or burn down. Finally he shrugged, dropped the stick to the stone floor, and smothered the small fire with one boot.
He gave a small, satisfied "Hn." There was no mark on the wood – it wasn't even charred.
The girl rose from her bench and came to see, braving the heat from the fireplace to peer at the branch curiously. "If it doesn't burn down…." She trailed off.
He stood up again, leaving her to stare at the thing, and began to wander around the room restlessly, looking to see if there was anything interesting anywhere that he had missed. There didn't appear to be. The shelf over the table, on closer inspection, held nothing but an assortment of empty dishes. It suddenly occurred to him that he had not thought of food since waking up in the forest – he had no idea when his last meal had been – yet he was not at all hungry. Under the circumstances this was fortunate, as there appeared to be nothing edible nearby, but it was rather strange. He wondered if his body was used to going without food for long. Thus far, it seemed to be.
He couldn't stay here forever, though. Explanations needed to be found. He needed to remember who he was.
…Though he wondered if he would like that knowledge, once he had it. He couldn't remember anything specific, but some deep piece of his mind seemed to know, seemed to think he was fundamentally a misfit, an outsider. Not necessarily a good or enjoyable thing to be, at times… what had his life been like?
He shook himself and snorted inwardly. He might not like to remember some things, but if he stayed here forever, he might eventually drive himself crazy dwelling on something he didn't know the details of, didn't even know to be true. An entirely idiotic thing to do. Best not to start down that road if he could help it.
"The path I was following, before you found me," he began, turning back to the girl. "Do you know where it goes, in the other direction?"
She shook her head. "I think I've followed it before, but...."
He sighed slightly. "You don't remember."
"I'm sorry…. But I don't think I ever found the end of it." She looked up at him, her ruby eyes questioning. "Are you thinking of going to look for it?"
He shrugged. If somehow this fire really doesn't burn down, or even if it just burns very slowly, I should be able to take a heat source with me without much trouble. One problem solved, and others… won't be much worse than starving or going slowly insane here. "I'm not sitting here for the rest of my life. You have any better suggestions?"
***************************************************************************************************************
A/N: Comments, reviews, whatever you want to call them – they're good. ^^