Well, a bit late, but here we are. I actually felt that this chapter was kind of rushed. Hope it is not too bad for that reason.
"Huuurgh..." He grunted, trying to open his eyes. The blur that formed did not appease him. "Red and… white? What's this, a giant strawberry candy?"
"Not quite!" he heard a voice giggle, it sounded female, well, at least he thought it sounded female. He has not heard one in a long time.
"Alright. Then it's a sandwich with raspberry jam." He made another joke, which was received with another giggle.
"Bread is yellow, moron."
"Hey, that's not fair! The inside of it is white, after all!"
He tried to open his eyes one more time. This time, he was able to recognize a person with black hair and shiny yellow eyes looking at him, and at the top of her head there was… ears? The fluffiest animal ears he had seen in his life, well, that is IF he had seen others.
"Instead of telling jokes, you could get up and eat something." She said, helping him get up. "You must be hungry, after all, you're only talking about food."
"Oh, you want a non-food-related one? I know this one. A pirate, a ninja and a soldier walks into a bar…"
"I know it must be great, but you really need to get up." She once again tried to lift his shoulders, this time, however, he was able to sit and lean in the wall behind the bed. "You will end up creating roots to the bed."
He tried once more to open his eyes, the blur slowly subsiding, and was able to get a good look at the woman who had woke him. His first and immediate reaction was:
"Wow." That girl with the golden eyes and black hair was beautiful. She was wearing a red and white clothing that revealed a little bit too much skin. However, he was more interested in the fluffy cat ears at the top of her head or… was it dog-ears? Hell, he could not make the difference.
"Well, now that you're awake, I'll bring you some soup."
While she walked out of the bedroom, he also noticed a fluffy white tail. "Well, it must be one of those so called 'cosplayers'." He thought.
The girl quickly came back holding a plate. She sat at the bed and handed it to him. However, before he took the plate, he did exactly what his instincts were telling him to do. Without questions, he grabbed the girl ears and started pulling it slightly.
"Ouch! What are you doing?!" She said, looking at him angrily.
"They… They are real…" He mumbled, still pulling it.
"Of course they are real! Now stop pulling it and eat the food before I throw it in you!" She handed him the plate and started to leave the room. "I'll be in the living room, call me if you need anything."
He stopped, holding the plate and directing the spoon to his mouth, while thinking. "Alright, calm down. You are just in some random place together with a cat girl… dog… fox, whatever. And she does not like when you pull her ears, so you should stop before she poisons the food and… Wow, this is good!"
The girl went back to the bedroom to see how her guest was doing and found him eating extremely quickly, as if he has not eaten in days.
"Wow, calm down, the food won't go away." She said, giggling. "You look like you haven't eaten in ages. When was the last time you had a proper meal?"
He stopped once again. "The last time…?" he put his hand at his head, trying to remember, but there was only a blank. "I… I can't remember."
"Really?" she made a surprised expression. "Alright then, let me ask you an easier question. Who are you?"
"Who am I?" he started thinking, but nothing came to his mind. His eyes widened and he put his hand at his face in terror. "I… I don't remember."
"You don't remember?" she sounded even more surprised. "Could it be that you have amnesia?"
"Amnesia…? I… Have amnesia…?"
"Well, it's a possibility. Do you remember anything about your past?"
"My past…" he put his hand at his head. "I do not think I remember anythi—"
After saying this, he started feeling pain in the back of his head. Pressing his hand more against his skin to try to appease the pain, he noticed a scar in his arm.
"Scar… huuuh…"
"Hey, are you okay?" The girl approached him, visibly worried.
"Swords… And… Blood? No… It's darker…" he said in monotone, as if he had not notice the girl asking him. Images of places and things started to appear in his mind. Could it be lost memories? Even if it was quite convenient, it was possible. "A lake…? Forest…"
"What are you talking about?" she asked, but the man stayed in his epiphany, looking at no place in particular. She put her hand at his shoulder and shook it slightly.
"AAAAAAAHG" With a quickly reflex, he jumped away from the girl, dropping from the bed and landing in the floor. "Ouch…"
"… Are you ok?"
"I guess…" he noticed something cold next to him, he took the piece of metal in his hands, observing it. "A… sword?"
The sword was black, with a white stripe at the middle. The blade was symmetric, as well as the hilt, that was white-colored. He thought he would recognize the sword from somewhere, but no cigar. Still, something was strange about it, like there was a secret behind it.
"When I found you, you were holding this sword in your hand. You didn't let it go even when we brought you here."
The boy kept looking at the sword, his eyes dead set on the blade. A little whisper escaped his lips. "Volk…"
"Huh? Volk? Is that your name?"
"… I… I'm not sure." He tilted his head slightly. "Well, it's not like I have a better reason to remember that name."
He started thinking about it. Volk. Could it be his name? That would be the easy way, and even if it was not his true name, he could just pretend. Of course, the name could also be from someone important to him – a relative? A brother or sister? A childhood friend? A long lost lover? Hell, it could even be something smaller, like the name of his rabbit plushie or a pseudonym from a child's game.
He stopped, looking at the girl. He then made an uninterested face. "… Nah. I will go with the easy route and say it is my name. It is better than getting a headache trying to remember those things. Besides, I need a name, even if it is only temporary."
"So I assume you'll recognize yourself as "Volk", from now on, right?"
"Yeah. If it is not my real name, well, I'll look into it when and if it happens."
"Hmm. Then I think this time is better as any." She said, putting her hand in her chin.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
The girl raised her hand to him, with a smile in her face. "I'm Ahri, nice to meet you."
"Heh, so that's it." He chuckled, taking her hand in a handshake. "I'm Volk, nice to meet you too."
Volk was in front of a mirror, readying himself with the clothes that Ahri said it were his. A dark-brown large coat with dark pants and his white shirt.
It was also the first time he saw himself. Brownish spiky and short hair and dark-blue eyes. He looked average height to himself, even if he did not quite remember what that means.
"Now that I'm seeing myself, I look kind of scary…" He thought, looking at his eyebrows that looked like they were always angry, and making his smirks become grins.
"Hey, are you ready?" Ahri said, entering the room. "Let's go!"
"Let's go where?" he asked.
"To the city!" she jumped a little in excitement. "I need to show you the Placidum!"
"Placidum? Where exactly are we?"
Ahri looked at him with a confused look. "You don't know even where we are?" he just nodded in response. "Well, you are in Ionia, land of peace and self-enlightenment!"
"Ionia…?" he put a hand in his chin, obviously thinking. "No. Not a clue."
"REALLYYYYYY?" She jumped at him, putting her face close to his. "Here. Come." She took his hand and quickly went to the door. "You'll love it!"
"Hey, wait!" he freed himself from her grasp. "Let me at least take the sword."
"Will you really take the sword to the city?" she lowered her head, visibly worried.
"Huh, why not? Is there a law against swords or something like that."
"Not a law properly written, but…" she went to the window, looking at the sky and the trees. Volk was surprised, he had not noticed a window there. "Since the war, people have been suspicious about unfamiliar persons with weapons."
"The war…?" a frown appeared on his face. "War in a land of peace?"
"Exactly because Ionia is a land of peace that we were targeted. Noxus is a military state, with extremely advanced technology, especially in weaponry."
"Noxus, huh…" The name was not strange to him. Maybe he was from Noxus…? Still, besides the name, nothing came to his mind. "So people have been suspicious about strangers here, fearing they could be Noxus agents or from another country trying to conquer Ionia, right?"
"Yes…" she lowered her head, now staring at the grass that grew under her window.
"But what about you?" Ahri looked at him, surprise visible in her face. "I mean, you still brought me here and took care of me, even if you didn't knew who I was. For all you know, my amnesia could be a fluke, and I could be a foreign spy. Still, you brought me to your home, cooked me food, and is willing to show me the city. Why, if Ionians are so suspicious of strangers?"
"Because…" She once again turned to the window, looking at the blue sky. "Because someone once trusted me when I had nothing. If it wasn't for that person, I would be always on the run." She turned to Volk, a giant smile in her face. "That's why I decided to believe that everyone has a good side to them, and also the reason why I took care of you." The fox girl paused for a second, lowering her head again. "Even if you happen to be a spy or something like that."
Volk put his hand at his chin, thinking. Shortly after, he simply yawned, to Ahri's surprise.
"Well…" he slowly closed his mouth, starting to speak almost immediately. "I guess it is good enough."
"What… What do you mean?"
"I mean that if you trust me, then there's no problem," he smiled deeply to the girl, a smile that reassured her that he could be trusted. "Right?"
Ahri responded the smile with one of hers and a happy nod. "Right!"
And as she took my hand again to lead me to the city, my new life started. I still had so many questions to make to Ahri. How exactly is Noxus? What about the others states? Where she found me? Who was "we" that brought me to her house? And who was the one who believed her? And of course, how the hell she had cat… Actually, scratch that, a better question would be "Which animal are your ears and tail from". Yes, that is better.
I also had the questions to myself. Volk. The sword. My past. Those questions, thought, have no easy answers.
Still, I guess the best way to get these answers is to go with the flow.
And, in the end, even if my name is not "mine", I am still me.
…
…
Sigh.
I guess.
End of Chapter 2