Chapter Two is here! Ken finds his way to the camp, but will they trust him? Much will be explained and two new characters will be introduced.

Hope you enjoy...

Chapter Two: The Chosen Ones

Ken had been traveling for hours. The soles of his shoes were worn through and his walk became more of a stumble. Soon it would be dark. He clung to the hope of finding some sort of civilization in this vast place, or at least somewhere monster-free to rest for the night.

When the world began swimming before his eyes, he finally realized he couldn't go any farther and collapsed in exhaustion.

"Iori! Look!"

He just barely registered the exuberant female cry before the world around him became completely black.

"He hasn't stirred at all since last night. Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Eh, he'll be fine. It's not like he's gonna go back into a coma."

"Hikari, did you tell Takeru? Did he see him?"

"Um, no…I was going to wait until we have evidence that he's one of us…"

"Evidence? He's a human and he found his way here without dying. What more evidence could there be?"

"Well, it makes sense to be wary of him. After all, we don't know exactly where he's come from."

"Cut him some slack, Iori. He hasn't even woken up yet!"

At first the conversation of the three voices were part of a dream to Ken. He was standing in the hallway facing the ape-like monster, which sat without moving. When it opened its large mouth, the voices came out.

"Seen any sign of Miyako?" the monster asked itself.

"None yet. But she'll probably be back today," it answered in a more feminine voice.

The dream started to fade, and Ken blearily blinked his eyes open to find that the voices in his dream had been real.

"He's awake," said a young boy standing nearby, looking straight at Ken with wide green eyes.

"W-where am I?" Ken croaked. His mouth felt dry and his head was spinning.

A girl knelt next to Ken. She had short brown hair, brown eyes, and a warm, comforting smile.

"It's all right, you're safe. This is our camp. There're no monsters here."

The girl's presence made Ken relax. These people didn't seem like enemies. Maybe they were like him, and had woken up not remembering anything at all.

"I'm Hikari," she continued. "Boys, say hello."

"I'm Iori," said the young boy, still standing. "Hikari and I found you last night outside."

Ken tried to sit up, even though every part of him felt achy and sore. But now that he really looked around, he realized they weren't in a room at all but more of a tent, lit by small lamps.

"Don't forget about me, Daisuke," called a boy sitting on a cot on the far side of the room. "I'm the one who convinced them not to behead you, after all!"

"Daisuke, we don't behead," Iori said with a frown.

'Not trusting him is close enough."

"Excuse Daisuke, he gets a little argumentative sitting in here all day," Hikari explained to Ken.

"A broken ankle will do that to you," Daisuke pouted. "And on top of that, Miyako had to take over scouting! That's my job!"

"Would you prefer Takeru take over instead?" Iori asked.

For some reason, that shut him up. The boy on the cot crossed his arms and spoke no more.

Hikari gave Ken an apologetic glance. "And what did you say your name was…?"

"Oh. I'm Ken," he answered. His voice was so out-of-practice that it was hard to know what tone to use.

"Nice to meet you, Ken," Hikari answered.

"Ask him, Hikari," Iori urged softly, sitting next to the girl.

Hikari nodded at him slightly. "Ken, can you tell us about where you came from?"

Ken thought for a moment. "Well, I woke up in an abandoned building that didn't seem familiar to me at all. I couldn't remember anything…then a large monster started chasing me so I jumped out the window. Then I started walking."

Ken looked at Hikari and Iori, who sat in silence for a moment. He was sort of expecting them to burst out into laughter and make fun of his ridiculous story.

But Hikari faced him with a serious expression.

"While you were in the building, did you find anything…a chain with a tag, a message addressed to you…?" Hikari asked, looking at him with searching eyes. It was clear she very much wanted him to say yes.

Ken probed his mind for anything like that. "Um…no. Not that I remember."

Hikari's face fell. "Oh. Nothing like this?" She reached down the collar of her shirt and pulled out a chain with a tarnished tag on the end of it.

Ken shook his head. Hikari looked to Iori.

"I don't know what to think," Iori said. "If he's a Chosen one like us he should have something…"

"Like you? What do you mean?" Ken piped up.

Hikari faced him, and she began hesitantly, "We're Chosen ones. As far as I know, there are only six of us left. Daisuke, Iori, you, myself, and two others." Hikari eyes grew sad as she said these things. "We were chosen to face the monsters destroying earth."

Ken noticed she included him in the list, even though he didn't have one of those necklaces. She really did believe he was one of them.

"So did you all wake up not knowing what was going on, like me?" Ken asked.

Iori nodded, but Hikari hesitated.

"Most of us have no memory of what our life was like before," Iori answered. He looked at Hikari. "But a few of us remember the battles before this one."

The young boy spoke so gravely that Ken decided it was better not to ask for details. But he could tell Hikari had faced more then the other two boys.

"Can we talk about something pleasant, like, what are we going to eat for breakfast?" Daisuke piped up after a moment of quiet.

Hikari sighed. "All right, Daisuke. I'll go look through storage."

Silence among the boys followed her departure. Ken stared down at his ankle which had been wrapped with bandages.

These people had helped him. Surely he could trust them. He just hoped that they would trust him.

"Takeru, I need to talk to you about something," Hikari began gently, stepping into the storage tent.

"It's about the newcomer isn't it. I've seen him, Hikari." Takeru stood with his back facing her.

"Well, I think we should trust him," Hikari said, taking a few steps closer.

"Does he have a crest?"

"Well, no…but I think in his hurry to escape the monster he just didn't have time to find it."

"Hikari, look," Takeru sighed, turning around to face her at last. "I know you want to believe that the monsters can be beaten. We've tried and failed. My brother died because of that. Your brother died."

The dark circles under the boy's eyes were a testament to the many sleepless nights he had spent contemplating it all.

"I…I know. I haven't forgotten," Hikari answered calmly, struggling to keep her composure. "But the others—"

"You've convinced them to not give up hope. But what hope is there, really? Our numbers are even smaller then they were the first time."

"But if we stand together, that won't matter. As Chosen ones, we have the power to defeat them, Takeru. You can't forget that."

Takeru sighed and looked to the ground. "Look, you don't have to kick out the new guy. Just be warned it's another mouth to feed. But…we're not going to fight. I'm done."

He walked deeper into the tent before Hikari could say anything to stop him. She bit her lip to stop the tears from coming, and went to go get Daisuke his breakfast.

I hope you enjoyed it despite the lack of action...the next chapter should be more exciting, as well as introduce Miyako. So what do you think of it so far? Possibly interesting? Horrible failure? Whatever you thought, thanks for taking the time to read! :)