I really wish I didn't take so long to update. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood, or I get busy with something. I promise though, I'm not giving up on this story if it's the last thing I do. I've given up on other stories and ended up regretting it.
Thank you so much for the support! The encouragement you guys give me keeps me motivated and makes me want to try harder. I felt pretty good about this chapter, though there are some things I'm slightly worried about.
I know I said there were gonna be 2 chapters for the Origins, but after finishing part 2, I felt there were still some things missing. This should be the last Origin's chapter though. Let me know how you guys feel about my story so far!
Slight swearing and violence.
So many things were trying to be processed at the same time. So many different emotions swirling around and around...never resting. Was this some sort of dream? Maybe...some sort of nightmare? Nightmare sounded more fitting.
Vision was finally becoming clearer, revealing the new surroundings before the pair of vivid green eyes.
A sea of strange dirt...jagged rock formations...small shrubs everywhere...this was definitely not the village.
Dawn gave a sickening groan. Her stomach did around 30 flips after the ordeal she just went through. Meeting her mother, finding out she only came to fulfill the vision, not get any questions answered, then only to black out and end up here. Anger began to stick out amongst the other emotions; foreign dirt started to spill out from between her slender fingers. Dawn hadn't even realized that she was gripping the ground so hard out of rage.
Relaxing her grip, the redhead began thinking of what exactly just happened. "Ok...gotta remember...she said it took a lot of energy to even find me...and it would take even more to do something else...then...she did some sort of pose and I ended up here." She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the feeling of being thrown a million miles away in the span of a millisecond. "Wait a minute..."
"No...could it be she...made me teleport?" Zafirah did indeed have a lot of power and experience, but teleporting someone? It was unheard of.
Dawn slowly got up to her feet. The air was warm and dry...a lot like back home. There were big wooden poles in a line, some were even broken. "Whatever the case...I have to find out where I am..."
Something else suddenly hit her: the sun was high up in the sky. When she was done with training, it was just about nighttime, meaning one thing.
She was very far from home.
As panic began to rise, groggy legs carried the redhead away. If only there was something that could tell her where she was...anything. A sign, a building, a-
"What the heck is that?!"
Her attention was fully caught by some sort of creature in the distance. No, multiple creatures...maybe 5 of them. They were incredibly skinny, and donned a pair of...tusks? She wasn't sure of what to make of these things at all. Hopefully they wouldn't notice her...
Dawn started walking in the opposite direction when a growl filled the air, followed by more growls. A bead of sweat accumulated on her forehead. "Damn it. This is bad..."
The growls continue as something suddenly comes into view in the distance. It was square-ish in shape, and looked to be a midnight black color. The sun was reflecting off of it as if it were a mirror. To Dawn's horror and curiosity, it was approaching her at an alarming speed. "Looks like I'm cornered...might as well try and take out the smaller guys first...less to worry about."
The redhead turned around once more to face the sorce of the growling. The skinny creatures were already eyeing her, waiting for an opportunity to strike at their next supper. Drool began to droop down to the ground from their mouths. Dawn took a defensive pose.
The first one charges quickly. However, Dawn was quicker as the beast was stopped short by a hearty kick to the stomach. As the beast hit the ground with a thud, another one moved in. The tusks slammed into Dawn's right arm. Dull pain enveloped her skin.
Besides the growling and whining coming from the beasts, a new sound reached her ears. It was strange...it was like some sort of dull roar, getting louder as it drew closer. She had to finish this quickly...
Ignoring the pain, Dawn heaved the beast off of her arm. She then followed up with 180 degree sweep of the ground with her leg. Clouds of dust rose up into the air as the 4 charging beasts tripped and fell. However, despite the victory, she had forgotten about the first beast...and never suspected it when it came running at her.
Tusks grinded into her pale skin. The sheer force and weight of the beast had won, knocking the redhead down to the ground.
The dull roar behind her then stopped, followed by a slamming sound and...voices?
"We gotta help her! She's gonna get eaten!" The voice was male, high pitched, young. This wasn't some sort of other monster. It was a person.
Dawn let out an agonizing cry as the beasts claws gripped and swiped. Droplets of blood flew into the air. "Is this the end...?"
Just as it felt like her conciousness would be lost again, the beast was then violently thrown off of her by some sort of force, a loud bang echoing through the sky. The skinny creature's body went limp. It was dead.
"Someone help her!" Another male, but much more gruff voice yelled. Footsteps hurriedly approached the unmoving Dawn.
Vision getting blurry once again, she could only make out a few details of the thing that just knelt down next to her. It certainly looked like a fairy...with two eyes, a nose, a mouth, a head of hair...and glasses. Only...it was different somehow.
The 'other fairy' leaned in close and just sat there for a few seconds. "She's still alive! I'm going to try and give her medical aid!" It suddenly yelled back at it's comrades. It sounded like the rest of the group were busy battling the creatures off.
Before she knew it, Dawn felt something being pressed into her hand...something round. "Here. This should help until we get you somewhere safe." "Uugh..." She squeezed whatever was in her hand, relief washing over her in mere seconds. She bolted upright as her strength returned.
The facial features of the 'other fairy' could now be clearly seen. He was indeed male as suspected, with brunette hair that spiked in the front, bright eyes, and glasses. His expression was a little blank, but it showed signs of relief.
"W-who are you?" Dawn said with conviction.
However, before he could answer, the others that were with him came back. The beasts were all dead.
"Whew! Glad to see you're okay!" It was the first voice she heard. He was slightly smaller than the others, with vibrant blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Yeah. I'm glad we made it just in time." The tallest one with a scar over his eye said. She recognized him as the second voice.
The last one didn't say anything at all. He had black hair and blue eyes, and looked just about ready to go to bed. For some reason, this annoyed Dawn. "Well, um...I suppose I should thank you. But...who are you guys?" She said. "What tribe are you from?"
The young group began to look at her with confusion and shift uncomfortably. "Uhm...what are you talking about?" The blonde one said. "We're not from any sort of tribe or anything." Dawn's eyebrows crinkled. "This is very bad..."
"How can you not be in a tribe? Everyone is born into one." Again, the group shifts. "This is getting nowhere." "Ok...can you at least tell me your names and what you specialize in?" She finished in a slight huff of frustration.
The boys were a little weirded out by the 'specialize' question but answered anyway. The blonde stepped forward first. "I'm Prompto! And uh...I guess I'm pretty good with guns. Hiya!" He finished with a quick wave of the hand, blonde hair also waving with the movement. Next was the tallest one with the scar.
"Gladiolus. I'm handy when it comes to swords." He stuck a thumb at himself in pride. "There's no one better." Then it was the brunette who treated her that went next.
"It's Ignis." He said as a gloved hand pushed up his glasses slightly. "My weapon of choice would be daggers...and possibly smaller swords." After he finished, Dawn expected the last boy to introduce himself, but he said nothing. Everyone sat in silence for a few moments until Ignis finally spoke up. "This would be Prince Noctis of Insomnia. I suppose he specializes in just about anything." As if to wake him up, he gave the one called Noctis a little elbow shove.
"Huh? Oh. Hey." He nodded his head slightly. "This guy must be a joy to have around...but...I've never heard of a tribe specializing in weapons..."
Mostly satisfied with the answers, Dawn got up to her feet, only to be regretting that she did. The beast's claws had dug into her clothes earlier; fabric and string hung loosely in many places, and some skin was shown. Her cheeks flared up in the sudden embarrassment. "Listen...um...where am I exactly?" She said trying to take the attention off of her ruined clothing.
"Well, we're actually on our way to Hammerhead. It should be close." Prompto responded after a second. "Hammerhead? I've never heard of it at all..."
"Yes, and it would be wise to get you to someplace safe. That potion won't last forever." Ignis chimed in. "We can get you to Hammerhead and give you the proper attention." Now it was Dawn who shifted umcomfortably. "No, that's not necessary. I feel fine." "You may feel fine now, but the effects of that potion won't last long. Those cuts are deep." Her arms rose up to try and cover them so no one would look. "I said I'm fine! You guys can just-"
Suddenly, a wave of pain washed over her body. The gashes pulsated and started to bleed; she was crippled to the ground. Prompto rushed to her side in concern.
"Woah! See? You're not fine! Comon', let us take you to Hammerhead! Please?" He said. Dawn sighed. She didn't have much of a choice.
"Tch...fine. I'll go." She responded reluctantly. Prompto, grinning in victory, swung her arm over him to help her up. Gladiolus also helped, easily carrying her weight along back to the square-ish shape thing that she had seen earlier, Ignis and Noctis following suit. She had never seen anything like this. It opened on the sides, and had cushions on the inside, complete with wheels on the bottom. This reminded her of some sort of wheelbarrow, only it moved people, not crops.
The group were well on their way to their destination when Prompto spoke up. "So, what's your name? You never told us back there."
Dawn thought for a minute. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt if they knew my name...they saved me after all." "It's Dawn. Dawn Spectrum."
"Nice to meet ya. Though, I wish it were under better circumstances." Gladiolus said with sincerity, looking at her. She could only nod in response.
"Likewise. However, I am curious as to why you asked what we specialized in." Ignis said. "Are you perhaps a Hunter?"
"If they don't associate with a tribe, it could mean trouble if I say where I'm from...might as well go along with it." "Yes, I am." She said.
"Ah, that would explain it. Hmm...now that I think about it...where is your dog tag? All Hunters usually have one."
"I, uh...well..."
Prompto spoke before Dawn could come up with something, to her relief. "Aw, comon' Iggy! Let's just get her to Hammerhead. No need to play 20 questions!"
'Iggy' said nothing in return, only tightening his grip on the wheel in front of him.
A few minutes pass in silence, and they finally arrived someplace new. There were two buildings: one was covered in glass, and the other had one big metal door in the front. "What the heck are these places for?"
Suddenly, everyone exited the strange contraption. After Gladiolus exited from her left side, Ignis approached her. "Theres a place that I can treat your wounds over there. We should hurry before the pain gets any worse." "O-okay." said Dawn. She followed Ignis to the place he mentioned with slow and painful steps. The blood had soaked her ripped clothing, making red streaks across the fabric. She thanked what little luck she had that there weren't any other people around to see the disaster that was her appearance. The duo arrived at what looked like a house, only made of metal instead of wood.
"What is this?" Asked Dawn. The brunette gave her somewhat of a strange look upon hearing her question.
"It's a trailer. Haven't you ever seen one?"
"Well...no..."
He shook his head and sighed, remembering why they were here in the first place. "Doesn't matter now. Let's get you fixed up."
They both entered the trailer. It smelled musky and the air felt damp. In her mind, Dawn wondered when the last time this place was cleaned...probably a while. She sat down with a thud; it's been a really long day, and the pain was starting to return with a vengeance.
Ignis was looking through the cabinets and shelves for a first aid kit. "I'm going to have to clean the wounds to prevent them from getting infected. Please remove your shirt."
Immediately, red flags started popping up. The redhead's cheeks began to turn the color of her hair. "Uh, no thanks, pervert. I'll just treat myself if you don't mind." The 'pervert' eventually found what he was looking for, and stood up, facing the redhead.
"Please. The wounds need to be treated properly. It must be done by another person."
"How do I know you're not just taking advantage of that to sneak a peek?"
"I ask you to trust me. I know you must be experienced as well, but if the wound is not cleaned as it should be, terrible things could happen."
She sighed. Ignis was right, and she knew it. There was no way it could be done on her own. "Alright...if you say so."
It hurt to even move now, but she managed to get the shirt off completely. The fabric stuck to her wounds like glue.
"How are you feeling?" The brunette asked, returning to her with the kit. He didn't seem affected at all by the now shirtless woman before him.
"More and more horrible by the second." She responded with a groan. "Be quick, alright?"
"I will do my best."
Ignis proceeded and grabbed a rag and some gauze to clean up the blood. Even though the rag was rough on her skin, he was gentle, making the experience as painless as he possibly could. There was a lot of blood...leaving a big stench of copper in the musky air. "He really does know what he's doing..." Thought Dawn as he swiftly did his work. Thankfully, the heat of embarrassment was fading away as she realized he wasn't staring or anything of the sort.
Speaking of staring, the redhead took this opportunity to study his face further. It certainly had a little bit of age...but it was still so young. His hair and eyebrows were very well groomed, and his eyes...they were so sharp and focused. Almost as if he held all the wisdom in the world behind them...
After most of the blood had been cleaned up, Ignis tossed the bloody rags and looked at Dawn. Realizing that she was caught staring, she quickly tried to hide her guilt. "I'm now going to use this to stop any infections. I won't lie: this will hurt." She looked at the bottle of liquid he was holding with confusion (and relief that he didn't say anything about the staring)...it didn't seem like anything familiar. "Don't worry, I'm quite experienced when it comes to that."
The brunette nodded and poured some of the liquid on the fresh gauze. "Please try and be as still as you can." He said.
Then came the sensation of a knife being stabbed into her open wounds. Her knuckles turned white as her hands gripped the seat hard. "AAUGH! What the hell?!" She yelled.
"That means it's working. Bear with me." Ignis responded in a somewhat comforting tone.
His hand continued to dab the gauze around, each time Dawn scrunching up in pain. After what seemed like an hour, he stopped. "There. That should do the trick. You're going to need some sort of bandage to help with the healing."
"Okay...do whatever you have to." The redhead looked off to the side. Her nerves shot to life as she felt worn skin meeting with smooth briefly multiple times. No one has ever been this close to her before...except her mother.
Memories of a woman putting a bandage on her arm began to surface...memories like these were few and not very clear, but they were stuck in her mind. They kept her going sometimes when the going was tough; she'd look up at the sky at night and know that somewhere, she had a family. That one day, she wouldn't be alone anymore. Now...remembering these things only brought rage.
"Miss Spectrum? Can you hear me?" A voice suddenly interuppted her thoughts. Ignis was staring at her.
"Huh? Oh, you're done?" Dawn said, as if coming back from a dream.
"Yes. You should heal in due time, given that you don't mess with the bandages."
"Thanks. I feel a lot better." It was odd...she felt comfortable despite being so vulnerable. After seeing that he wasn't trying to peek at her, hearing his calming voice, and not being in intense pain anymore because of him made all of this feel almost natural.
Ignis then threw somthing her way. A shirt. "Thank goodness."
"I made sure to grab this. I know it doesn't seem ideal, but..." He pushed up his glasses again. Must be some sort of habit.
Dawn chuckled at this. "No, it's fine. And um...sorry for calling you a pervert." The last part was a little quicker and quieter.
"That's quite alright. I'm sure any situation like the one I put you in would cause discomfort."
The shirt was breathable and a lot more comfortable than it looked. The redhead happily wore it now that she wasn't caked in blood. "Whew...much better."
"So, Miss Spectrum...what exactly were you doing out in the wilderness? Hunting big game, I assume?" The brunette asked. "Shit...what am I suppose to say? 'Well my long lost mother came up and teleported me here out of some vision'?"
"You see...I was hunting some game. I was in the middle of tracking it when it got away...then those creatures caught me off guard."
"Hmm. Your friends must be worried about you after not returning for so long."
"Actually, it was...expected for me to be gone for a while. This game is...very elusive. And likes to run away." Please buy it.
"Interesting. Do you plan on continuing your hunt?" Dawn gave an internal sigh of relief.
"I suppose so. I wouldn't want to go back empty-handed."
Ignis nodded in understanding and stood in front of the redhead. "Miss Spectrum, would you like to join us for the time being? Your bandages will need changing every once in a while, and I believe you will have better luck finding your target."
Now there was a thought: join the group that just pretty much saved her life? It would be a lot safer if she travelled with them...and they really didn't seem all that much of a threat to her either. However, what if they are really her enemies in disguise? Only acting friendly towards her to gain her trust? In honesty, she didn't want to take that risk.
"I'll...think about it." She responded. In that moment, the door to the trailer swung open.
"Hey! You feelin' any better?" Prompto's loud voice broke the calming atmosphere. Gladiolus and even Noctis followed in with him, checking to see how she was.
"Yeah. My wounds are all treated and everything. Nothing to worry about." Dawn said with slight surprise. Prompto flashed a huge grin.
"That's great! We were all worried, ya know?"
"You were?"
"Of course! I even remember ol' Noct here saying something like: 'Ohh, I wonder if that girl will be okay'!" He said in a strange impression of the Prince. The Prince in question gave the blonde a small shove, sending him crashing against the shelves. The whole group, even Noctis, started laughing. It was lighthearted laughter...laughter filled with joy. Hearing it made something in Dawn stir. "Maybe...this could be a good experience for me..."
After the laughter had died, and Prompto recovered from his collision, all eyes were on Dawn again. "What's your plan now, trooper?" Gladiolus said, leaning on the wall of the trailer.
Before anything could come out of her mouth, Prompto jolted to life, blonde hair going crazy. "Oh! OH! Please tell me you're comin' with us! I mean, we could help you with your hunt and stuff!"
Those blue eyes had so much hope in them...she could tell just from looking at them that he really wanted her along. The emotion that overwhelmed Dawn was a new one. For so long, she had only known lonliness. Never once had anyone asked her to be with them like this...wanting to know her better and how she felt. This emotion was finally what sold her.
"Well...I guess there's no harm in it." She said, trying her best to hide a smile. Prompto nearly jumped out of the ceiling.
"Whoo-hoo! This is gonna be fun!" He said with excitement.
For the next few days, Dawn learned a lot about her newfound companions and the place she was now in: Eos. She learned about cars, stores, humans, and deamons, along with what was happening with the war...all in secret. She also found out the shocking fact that she wasn't in another land, she was in another planet altogether. In truth, she hadn't felt this happy in quite a long time. No longer was she seen as some sort of evil spirit. She was a person.
Sorry if there were any grammatical errors. All of the Italics are thoughts in case that was confusing to anyone. Hope you enjoyed!