When I awoke from my mild concussion, I found myself in a small storehouse, hearing the voices of three people. When my eyesight adjusted, I saw my old friend Suzaku, talking to another boy with black hair that hung straight down and violet eyes, and a small girl with sandy-brown hair sitting in a wheelchair; her eyes were tight shut. "Suzaku?" I groaned.
Suzaku turned to me, his eyes wide. "Hey, Serena!" he said. "I'm glad you're finally awake. You sort of scared me when Lelouch and I found you in that river, unconscious."
"Hmm?" I said, raising a brow, slightly confused.
"Oh, yes," Suzaku laughed slightly, "you haven't met my new friends." He motioned a hand over to the other two humans sitting by the entrance to the storehouse. "Serena, this is Lelouch vi Britannia, and his little sister, Nunnally vi Britannia."
The boy with the black hair and violet eyes, Lelouch, stood up from where he was sitting and held his hand out in greeting. "Pleasure to meet you, Serena," he said kindly, a bright smile added to his tone of voice.
I stood up from the couch, where I had been laying down on, and politely returned the greeting by shaking his hand. "It's an honor to meet you as well, Lelouch; your sister Nunnally as well."
I heard Nunnally giggle slightly, and I looked past Lelouch. "So you're Serena Winters, right?" she asked. "Suzaku has told us so much about you."
At hearing that, I gulped without Lelouch and Nunnally hearing it. I looked at Suzaku and sent my thoughts to him (I gave him telepathy the year before): Suzaku, by 'so much', did you tell them that I am a wolf?
No, Suzaku thought back, shaking his head without Lelouch seeing, for he was talking to Nunnally about something I couldn't hear. Not yet, anyway. Do you want me to tell them that you are?
No, they will find out in time, just not now, I confirmed, and Suzaku nodded in agreement. I then fell out of my mind-reading stance and turned to Nunnally and Lelouch. "Suzaku told you about me?"
Nunnally nodded. "He even mentioned that your fathers were friends, and that's how you two are friends, right?" she asked.
"Yes, that's quite true," I said with a nod. "But I suppose you three are willing to hear how I ended up in the river. My village was raided last night, by a bunch of savage beasts known as Black Demons."
Suzaku's eyes widened in shock. "The Black Demons invaded your territory?" he asked. "Were you pushed off the cliff leading to the river, or…" He was cut off when I interrupted him.
"My first brother, Solaris, and I fled with our seven-month-old sister Sabrina from the house when our mother, Charlene, ordered all six of us to run away," I started. "We ran off into the woods, and during the run, I slipped, and when Solaris tried to save me, the three of us fell into the river together. We got separated when the river split into two paths."
Pretty soon, all three of them had horrified glances, but Suzaku spoke first. "Are you planning to go back to the village?" he asked.
"Yes," I said with a nod, "and it'll be this evening when I return."
"Very well," Suzaku said.
…
Later that evening, as the set began to set behind Mt. Onyx, my home, I prepared to set out when Suzaku's voice stopped me. "Serena, wait up! We'll go with you!" he said, coming out of the storehouse, with Lelouch carrying Nunnally over his back beside him.
"Are you sure?" I asked, looking back at them and raising a brow. "You know full well that my village is at the base of Mt. Onyx, and it's quite a walk from here to there."
"It's okay," Suzaku assured me. "I'm sure we can make it just fine. Right, Lelouch?" He turned and looked at Lelouch, who was struggling to hold Nunnally onto his back.
All Lelouch did was nod.
"Alright," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "but do not say I didn't warn you." And with that, the four of us went down the steps of the Kururugi Shrine, and off we went to see if my village came out in one piece.
It took the four of us at least half an hour before we reached the hill that lead to my village. "My village is right over this hill, you three!" I announced to Suzaku, Lelouch, and Nunnally (whom Lelouch was still carrying, since I found out earlier that she was blind and disabled in her legs), who were coming up behind me.
"Thank goodness!" Lelouch said, forcing out a breath. "I'm give out."
"Oh, lord," I muttered to myself, before making my way to the top of the hill. But when I saw what I saw next, all I could put on my face was horror. "Boys, get up here fast," I said instantly.
It took them about fifteen seconds to do as I said, but when they came to my side, they too became horrified, for what we saw before was a completely demolished village.