Chapter 4: Awakening

I sat cross-legged with my back against a tree, sitting alone in the spot where my team would normally meet for practice. I slowly opened and closed my hands, clinging to the painful sensation that I felt with each movement. This pain, although hard to manage, was leagues better than the pain swirling around inside of my chest.

I let out a heavy breath and took a look around. Several of the wooden training posts in the area were covered with large gashes and had visible sections that were smashed inwards, courtesy of my anger and frustration. My sword was still sticking out of a post, seemingly in protest against the world around it, accompanied by several kunai and throwing stars that were embedded in the wood.

I clenched my teeth and began to wrap my battered hands with some tape that I had with me. I thought that I would have been able to bury my guilt by venting it out on some inanimate objects, but I was wrong. If anything, the time that I had to myself allowed me to get lost in my thoughts, inevitably leading me back to the moment I had been trying to avoid in the first place.

"Kiran? What are you doing here?"

I twitched, almost reflexively jumping to my feet, but stopped myself. I looked up and saw Luna leaning against a tree only a few feet away. Realizing it was just her, and not an attacker, I relaxed a bit, returning to my former position. I ignored her and focused on wrapping my hands instead, not reacting to her own sigh as she sat down next to me.

"It's never easy, Kiran."

I continued to wrap my hands.

"Nobody can be an emotionless robot all the time. Despite what they've told you, you're going to have to address this at some point."

Luna sighed softly and whispered the next few words.

"Trust me, I would know."

I didn't feel like talking and finished wrapping my hands. When I was done, I clenched them a few times to make sure the bandages were set, and when I was satisfied, I stood up and walked over to one of the posts. Livid that the memory wouldn't go away, I resumed my practice of strong and measured strikes with my fists against the target, but only managed to get a few strikes in before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Kiran, this isn't healthy. You've got to talk to someone or deal with the pain in another way. You're only going to hurt yourself by doing this."

Rage bubbled up inside of me, threatening to burst forth uncontrollably. I didn't need to talk to anyone. I didn't need to feel this. Thinking about what had happened wouldn't help me or anyone else, and as long as I followed through with my training, did what I was told, and listened, everything would be fine.

The hand on my shoulder squeezed.

"Kiran, please."

I clenched my jaw shut to prevent myself from saying something stupid. I couldn't think straight and everything inside of me was screaming at me to yell, fight or run. I stood there trembling with emotion before sending all of it back, deep inside my mind. I let out a calm breath and reigned myself in because I couldn't be controlled by emotions. Ninja were logical, calculated, and cool, and I needed to be the prime example of that if I was going to have any chance of surviving this war.

"I'm fine Luna. Please don't worry about me."

"You know that's not how I work."

Luna pulled my shoulder, turned me around, and glared at me.

"No one I've ever known has been 'just fine' after... killing someone. You're no different, Kiran. It's normal for someone to have some sort of response after that. It's normal. Hell, if you really don't feel anything wrong, then I might actually start to worry about you."

I growled, feeling the anger from before flood back into my veins. I pushed her hand off of my shoulder and returned the glare.

"I said I was fine! Why can't you just accept that and leave me alone? I did what I was supposed to do. I protected our village. Why should I feel anything other than honor and pride for doing what I've been trained to do?!"

I breathed heavily for a few seconds and began to tremble. I recalled the look in the other kid's eyes as I sent my sword through his neck. There was a mixture of surprise and fear, followed immediately by a terrible understanding as he fell to the ground, his hands over the sword piercing through his neck. I watched, horrified, as the life drained from his body, but subconsciously drew my sword back, only quickening his death as blood flew everywhere. I then continued forward, leaving him behind like so many others on the battlefield, without sparing a second thought to what I had done.

I felt my eyes well up with tears and couldn't stop them from flowing down my cheeks. Luna didn't say a word and pulled me toward her as I started to fall apart. Before I knew it I found myself wrapped in Luna's arms and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I felt everything I was burying inside peel away slowly until it gushed forward like a torrent and I crumpled in on myself. She did her best to comfort me as I wallowed in the terrible reality that we were living in. Kill or be killed. The strong survive while the weak perish. Steel yourself and push forward or fall apart and collapse. There was no other choice, and I refused to let it happen to me.

I felt strange as my senses slowly came back to me. The first to return was my sense of touch, and I was able to gather that I was laying on a soft surface and that I was wrapped in something warm. I was comfortable and almost fell back to sleep before I roused myself back to half-consciousness because something felt off. There was a reason I was here, and I felt obligated to figure out what it was. With that newfound focus, I laid still, gathering myself, and as I breathed, I could feel that my throat ached. I was also slightly nauseous, but that wasn't too much of a problem.

The second sense to return was my smell. There wasn't anything strange in the air, but I could detect some kind of meat being cooked, which made my stomach rumble. There was also a hint of something sweet, mixed in with lemon and mint. I shifted a bit as the smells reminded me of how hungry and thirsty I was.

Finally, I could hear the muffled sounds of voices and people, along with objects moving around. I heard metal clanks, creaking wood, and the sound of something being dragged against the ground. Wherever I was, there was a lot of activity around me.

I opened my eyes slowly and as my vision cleared I found myself looking at a wooden ceiling. I turned my head to the side and could see that I was laying in a bed inside a small room that was filled with the light of a small candle. There was a nightstand beside the bed, a window with closed curtains, and a large door in one of the corners. On the stand was a cup that had some steam slowly drifting from it. I was confused, not quite understanding where I was, and sat up slowly, stopping only when I remembered that I was injured. I grimaced, hoping that I didn't antagonize any of my wounds, but quickly realized that the injuries on my arm and leg were gone. The only thing remaining was a peculiar black mark that branched out with veins on my shoulder where I had been stabbed, and it seemed to throb with the beating of my heart. Slowly my thoughts returned to me.

"Wait... what? What's going on? What… what happened?!"

I wracked my brain for an answer and had to work to remember the last thing I did before I woke up. I played out the events that I could remember in my head, slowly recollecting that I had visited a village. Then, I came back to my camp, but... I had to get help. I was running from… something and was hurt by some kind of trap...? I was trying to make my way to the village… then what? How did I get here? Where was I?

I moved to get out of bed when the doorknob turned. I tensed up as the door opened, and a tall, thin cat woman walked in. She had a small hunch in her back and was wearing an earth-colored robe that went down to her ankles. She had grey fur with black spots and one of her eyes was glazed over in grey, while the other shined with curiosity that gleamed in the dim light. I saw that she had a bag slung over her shoulder, but before I could think about anything else, she looked at me with her good eye while her spotted tail flicked behind her. She smiled, her white teeth and fangs visible in her mouth, and then talked to me with a smooth, soft voice.

"It's good to see you awake. I was very concerned about you, considering your condition, but it seems that the healing crystals and my remedies worked well. How are you feeling?"

I stared at her in shock and tried to say something. I was distressed by the fact that she was a cat that could talk and my throat clenched up tightly as I tried to respond. She smiled, but that did little to alleviate the worry I was feeling. The worry then triggered a lot of memories from before, but I pushed them away because too much at once would only confuse me further. The woman watched as I tried to speak and stepped up to the bed, picked up the cup sitting on the table, and handed it to me.

"Here, this is a tea that should help your throat. I made it a few minutes ago, so it should be cool enough to drink."

I took the cup from her hands and hesitated for a moment. I didn't know anything about her or where we were and that worried me. Why was she helping me? Could I trust her? Was the tea safe? I ignored my instinct to shudder and resigned myself to whatever would happen. There wasn't much I could do, so it would be best to drink the tea and play along until I knew more. I brought the cup to my lips and flinched. The tea was hot, but not to the point that it would burn my tongue. It was a bit sweet and I could clearly taste the lemon and mint that I had smelled earlier. As the tea went down my throat, I felt it loosen up and some of the scratchiness faded, so I drank the entire cup and let out a sigh of relief.

"Better?" She asked.

"M-much." I croaked out in response.

"Good. Are you still feeling ill?"

"I-I think just a bit. What happened to me?"

I coughed a bit after the reply and spit up some mucus. She handed me a small handkerchief from her bag and was quiet while I cleaned it up, thankful that she didn't say anything. After getting all of the muck, I handed it back to her and she wrapped it up before stuffing it into a pocket on the side of her bag. She looked me over and spoke.

"You're quite lucky. If Shimmer hadn't found you, I imagine that you would have died. Your physical injuries combined with the Farleigh fever were taking a toll on you."

"Who's... Shimmer? What's Farleigh fever? Where am I?"

She held up her paw and motioned for me to slow down.

"One question at a time, goodness."

She smiled and sat down on the end of the bed.

"Shimmer is the dragon that found you. Farleigh Fever is a common sickness in these woods that is easily treatable, but if left to its own devices can kill. You're in Farlow, a small settlement out in the Farleigh woods. I've been taking care of you ever since Shimmer dragged you here a few nights ago."

I nodded quietly, more questions at the ready, but listened to her request and slowed down. I closed my eyes, trying to think of the most important thing to ask, and when I decided on it, I opened my mouth to speak but she raised her paw again.

"I know you must have questions, but I have a few of my own first. You're quite the peculiar… person."

I tensed up and squinted my eyes very slightly as my suspicions grew and I absentmindedly clenched my hands. I may have been in a different place, but people were always the same, meaning any information I had was valuable. I grit my teeth and then let out a deep breath, trying to calm down, and forced my body to relax.

People never change, but she's not a person, is she...? Not to mention, she's taken care of me... I should try to repay the kindness in some manner.

A small tight ball of anxiety lingered in my chest, but I nodded.

"Ok. What would you like to know?"

"What is your name?" she asked.

"M-my name is Kiran."

"Kiran... that's a lovely name. It's nice to meet you, my name is Leah. Now, my next question may seem a bit strange, but... what are you? Are you an ape?"

With that question, my anxiety turned into confusion. Had she never seen a human before? If she hadn't, did that mean humans weren't a thing in this city...? I shook my head no and did the best I could to hide the worry in my voice.

"No. I'm a human."

She cocked her head to the side ever so slightly and then said the word a few times as if testing out.

"Human… Human! A human? Hmm… I can't say that I've ever seen a... human... before."

I didn't want to believe her. What would that mean for me if there were no humans around? Was I alone? Would it be possible for me to return home? I frowned at that thought and mulled over the implications before I remembered that I was talking to someone. Thankfully, she was being polite and waited for me to respond.

"Well, that's what I am."

She gave me a dazzling smile.

"Of course, of course. Your name is Kiran and you're a… human. With that clarified, I'd like to apologize before I ask the next few questions. We've had groups of apes from Dante's Freezer cause trouble here before, so I hope you understand when I ask; What were you doing alone in the Farleigh forest? Shimmer saw you looking over our village before you ran away from her, and that seems somewhat suspect."

My mind worked slowly as I tried to think of what to say. I wasn't exactly prepared for that type of question, and I wasn't quite sure how to answer it. I opened my mouth to speak, stopped, rolled a few replies through my head, and then settled on one that was as truthful as I could manage.

"Well… I'm… lost. I was hurt a few days ago… and I was trying to figure out where I was so I could get back home. That's why I was looking at your village. I was hoping it would give me some insight into where I was. And I don't know anything about Dante's Freezer or the apes you mentioned."

That was all true, but I didn't think she was satisfied with my answer because she stared at me silently while her tail lazily waved behind her. She let out a quiet "hmm...", and the tension between us put me on edge. I couldn't take the pressure so I asked her a question.

"I've never seen someone like you before. Are you... a cat?"

That managed to break the standstill and she chuckled heartily with a big smile. I shifted uncomfortably in the bed as she laughed, not understanding why that was funny. She lifted one of her hands and waved it dismissively.

"Oh no no no, I'm not a cat, I'm a cheetah!"

That didn't help to clear up my confusion. I responded with a single word, feeling a bit flustered by her response.

"Ah."

She made a point to flick her tail so I could see it and put a hand under her chin. She then tapped her cheek with a finger.

"Well, I don't think you're lying to me and I'm fairly certain you're not here to cause trouble… You say you're lost and are trying to make your way home?"

I nodded and my heart fluttered a bit. Maybe she knew something about my home?

"Then I may be able to help you. Which part of the Dragon Realms are you from? If you've never seen cheetahs, then maybe you're from one of the villages in the Northlands? It's mostly apes and moles that live that far north."

I felt my heart plummet into my stomach when she mentioned places that I had never heard of before.

"Well... I've never heard of the Dragon Realms or the Northlands. Are they part of one of the larger nations? Maybe the land of Fire or Wind?"

She raised an eyebrow at me and shook her head.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean. There are different cities in the dragon realms, but the entire continent has been unified ever since the defeat of Malefor. There are no nations."

That response left me even more confused and dread began to creep into the back of my neck. If she didn't know where I had come from, would anyone? This idea wormed its way to the front of my mind, ignoring my attempts to push it away. I put a hand on the bridge of my nose as anxiety filled my thoughts and buzzed about like angry bees, leaving me lost as they swarmed around angrily. I jerked as a furry hand touched my shoulder and snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at her and could see concern etched onto her face.

"Is everything alright? You seem upset."

I lied through my teeth.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

There was an awkward pause and I was pretty sure she knew I was lying. I looked down towards the bed to avoid making eye contact, choosing to let the silence linger for several seconds before she spoke up again.

"Why don't we change subjects for a bit?"

I didn't bother giving a reply.

"Right… Well, how old are you Kiran? You seem fairly young to be traveling by yourself."

"I'm fifteen."

"Ah, quite young. I'm curious then, are most humans about your height at that age? I know apes tend to be… taller."

"Uhm, yeah. I'm not super tall or short. About average."

"I see. Interesting."

She slowly leaned forwards and inspected my face closely. She sniffed me, which was extremely weird, and then lifted a hand to touch my arm. I instinctively brought my hand up and grabbed hers, holding it in a firm grip before letting it go. She brought her hand back and let out a quiet "mhmm..." as if confirming something.

"I apologize, but you are an unusual case. You say you're not an ape, and you don't smell like one, but you look similar. You were also healed by the crystals, which shouldn't be something a non-dragon can do naturally..."

I didn't know what she was talking about and gave her a blank stare, ignoring the existential crisis mounting in the back of my mind. She sat back in her chair and looked at me again.

"You know, Shimmer is about your age and she is very worried about you. Would you like to meet her?"

I didn't want to meet or talk to anyone right now. I had my thoughts to work through and a terrifying reality to deal with, which made the idea of meeting someone almost unbearable. A question dug at me though, and I decided to ask it before I fell back into my thoughts.

"Is Shimmer that blue dragon that I saw a few days ago?"

"She is. She's the one you had a brief moment with when you were looking over our village, and she said that you almost fell out of the tree when she tried talking to you. Is that true?"

For a moment my fears dissipated and I flushed in embarrassment.

"I didn't fall, I just- I mean-" I sighed in exasperation. "Look, she surprised me ok?"

She nodded with a knowing grin and then got up from her chair.

"Tell you what, I'll go get Shimmer and be back soon. You can ask some questions of your own when I'm back. I imagine that you're a bit disoriented if you're not familiar with the surrounding area."

"That would be... helpful, thank you."

"Of course." She replied.

She got up and opened the door to leave but turned back suddenly.

"Oh, one more thing. Are you hungry? I could also bring you something to eat if you'd like."

Her question reminded me of how hungry I was and I had to let my brain catch up for a few seconds before I slowly nodded a yes. Food would be fantastic and having something in my stomach would help me to think more clearly.

"If it's not too much trouble."

"Alright. I'll be back in about five minutes."

With that, she left, closing the door behind her. When I was certain that she was gone, I took the time to evaluate myself more thoroughly. I was feeling sick, but I wasn't dealing with any of the physical injuries like before. I was feeling better now than I had at any point in the past few days, which was a relief. I slipped out of the bed and almost fell over as I stood up, as my legs trembled from the lack of use. I steadied myself and shuddered as cool air pricked at my skin. I frowned at the fact that I was missing my old clothes and was wearing underwear that wasn't mine. That must have meant… I groaned in embarrassment and looked for something else to wear. There was a small drawer on the table but there wasn't anything inside. I sighed and then moved up to the windows. I pushed the shades open a sliver and glanced out at the village, but the building was right next to another one so all I could see was a wall.

Frustrated, I gave up on trying to get a peek outside and looked under the bed. Nothing. I considered leaving the house, but I didn't like the idea of walking around in a cold, strange place with nothing but underwear. For now, I was stuck, and at the mercy of the people that were helping me. I got back into the bed and pulled the covers up over me. Everything I had been through recently had quickly fallen apart and thrown me through a figurative meat grinder. Now I was facing something I didn't have any training to deal with, and even the suggestion that I wouldn't be able to get home was shredding the last bits of composure I had left. I curled up on the bed and pulled my knees up to my chest, wishing with every bit of my being that I could wake up and put an end to this nightmare.

*Thwump*

I looked up and around the room as a muffled noise echoed through the air.

"What the hell…?"

*Thwump*

The noise was closer this time. I slid out of the bed and moved to the window, hoping to see what was making that noise. Right as I moved the curtain aside, a large, green-scaled leg dropped down with a heavy thud and obscured the window. I saw part of a wing dart by and then heard a gruff voice clear his throat. I slid away from the window and hoped that the dragon I just saw didn't see me.

"Please don't tell me he's here to talk to me too."

A claw reached over and gently knocked on the window before a large green eye moved down and looked directly at me.

"Shit, what is that?!"

Edited 10/25/2020 - Several small re-writes and general grammer/punctuation fixes.