CHAPTER 2 - Friend Or Foe?

The wind whipped through the rigging of the vessel, howling like some enormous creature in pain. There was a splintering crunch that could be felt as well as heard and the ship visibly lurched inwards. Its keel had been broken, and it was sinking fast. Some of the crew escaped over the side, but were drowned by the merciless tide. The central mast was falling straight towards the stern of the ship, and a young girl, not more than 17 looked over her shoulder in horror. She saw the mast falling towards her like a stone, and her eyes widened like those of a rabbit caught in headlights. Something inside her gave the storm behind the mast a face, a face grinning evilly at her with carnivorous rage. She stood stock still, transfixed and unable to move. The mast missed her by bare centimetres and awoke her from the nightmares racing through her mind. She stared out to sea, saw and felt the dark waves tossing the little ship about like a plaything. She saw yet another wave, it's claw-like crest almost as high as the second mast, sweep it's way towards the ship with ominous rapidity; and she screamed as the wave swept over the side onto the deck and dragged the wrecked little ship into the murky depths. The girl tried to escape the grasp of the ocean, but her foot was caught in the rigging of the doomed vessel. Desperately she cried out as she went under, but in vain, for her voice was all but drowned out by the thunder. She swallowed a lungful of the raging tide and panicked further, arms and legs flailing in an uncoordinated striving for life. In her last moments she prayed a silent plea of help to any God or Goddess that could hear her. Frantically she tried to free herself from her bonds, but to no avail, and she was pulled into oblivion along with the rest of the crew. She saw the waves crashing overhead one last time, and then blacked out.

Kira woke with a scream, shaking uncontrollably and bathed in sweat. She calmed down when she realised that it had only been a nightmare…or was it a bad memory? She didn't know. She felt an aching in her cheek, and when she touched her face she felt the coarse scab of dried blood. The hem of her top was also ripped and she soon discovered why this was. It was wrapped tightly around her arm, although it had gone an unpleasant shade of red. She was at a loss to explain both the scab and the bandage. She felt herself beginning to panic once more, and the shaking worsened. Slowly, as if from within her, she began to feel a warm sensation. I emanated out from her heart and seemed to envelop her. As suddenly as it had begun, the sensation faded, she noticed along with her panic, and any renewed panic she would have expected to feel with these new events. The shaking eventually stopped, and she took stock of her surroundings. Her eyes had just started to get used to the darkness when the first rays of the sun were making their way into the inky blackness of the cave in which she sat; wait a minute! Cave?! How did I get here? Still unable to find an explanation for anything, she gave up trying to find one, still enthralled within the sense of tranquillity, and proceeded to step out onto the ledge outside the cave to watch the rising of the sun.

She recalled that she used to like this time of the day, the sense that it was a whole new beginning, a chance to put matters behind you and focus on the tasks of the day. Kira sat down, legs in front of her, crooked slightly, elbow resting on one knee, her hand holding her chin. She gazed at the horizon, capturing even the slightest movement. The silhouette of a butterfly passed overhead, and she gently held out a finger, upon which the butterfly obediently landed. Kira marvelled at the gaudy wings, and stared at the butterfly for a long time. Eventually it flew away, and Kira turned her gaze back to watching the sunrise. She was all alone on this island, but didn't feel lonely; it was just so peaceful up on the ledge.

Twin suns rose unhurriedly in tangerine yellow and gave her skin a bronzy glow. Kira basked in the warmth soaking it in, enjoying the feeling of invigoration it gave her. Eventually she turned herself away from the dawn sky and found her way down a small cliff-path to the ground below. She remembered seeing a pool or hot spring not far from where she had found the fruit, and although not eager to tempt fate and risk meeting any more of the 'locals', she needed to wash the crystallized salt and sand out of her hair, and clean her clothes. After scouring the nearby trees for over half an hour, she decided that there was indeed no one around. She took off her tanktop style shirt, skirt, underwear and fur-lined boots and after rinsing them thoroughly, laid them down carefully in the sun by the spring to dry. She made a beautiful dive into the pool, barely rippling the surface. It was warm and clean, and Kira made a note of its position for further use. She washed and swam for a while. A bit later she looked up and saw how high the suns were in the sky, and how wrinkled her fingers were, and decided that it would be best to get out of the spring, much as she was loathed to do so. She felt around for her clothes, and couldn't find them…
She was wondering "Just what the hell was she going to do?!" when she heard a voice laughing not far away. She whipped around in a flash, and ducked down low in the pool, hoping that the rocky edge would hide what the water couldn't.
She saw a young man, not much older than her, sitting on a rock watching her with un-suppressed mirth. He was over 6 ft tall, had platinum, almost white hair, spiking dilapidatedly in all directions, and mysterious blue-green eyes. She also noticed that he had a large, wicked looking sword holstered on his back.
"Looking for these?" He asked playfully, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
Kira glared at him, angry and embarrassed, trying to use her hands as additional cover. "Hey, Give them back!" She demanded, skin flushed in annoyance and embarrassment.
"Let me think about that…" He pretended to contemplate his answer, his eyes still shining with mirth. "No. Sorry Kira but you're clothes are mine now! You remember you lost our little bet the last time I saw you?" Kira gave a cry of shock and anger.
"Who are you? How do you know my name? What bet?"
"Come on Kira, that playing dumb game used to be cute when we were kids, but that was a number of years ago, so how bout I throw you your clothes, you get dressed, and then we can catch up." He smiled at her as if he'd known her for years and it worried her. She had no idea who this guy was but he seemed to know a lot about her and as concerned as she was, she guessed that he would be able to tell her a lot about her past. She decided to be civil, if wary; after all she still had no idea who this playful character was. His grin faded as he saw the look of confusion on her face. "Kira, you do recognise me don't you? It hasn't been that long has it?" His grin returned, but a shadow of its former self. His brow was furrowed and he looked just as concerned as she. Kira shook her head, bewilderedly. "I.. I'm sorry.. I have no idea who you are, but .. please.. please give me back my clothes..." He had seemed distracted for a moment whilst she was speaking, but now he broke out of his reverie and nodding, picked up her clothes to give to her. He stopped, still in disbelief of the situation.

"You mean you really have no idea who I am Kira?" Kira looked up at him, the sound of her name on his lips for some reason sending a thrill through her as well as perturbing her further. His face and voice seemed to jar memories that remained just out of her grasp. "Please don't use my name.. I don't even know you!"
He sighed, rubbing his temples as he realised that she was definitely not playing a trick on him. She genuinely had no idea who he was. "Okay.. Lets start from the beginning. My Name is Hiro, Hiroshi Boeuréd'Immir. You and I have known each other for over 10 years. We were best friends; inseparable to the point that we were often mistaken for a couple." Kira blushed at that. "Then a few years back, your mother fell ill, really ill; the healers tried their best, but the sickness persisted until.. well you can guess. After that you and your father moved away, to a colony on the island not far offshore. I wasn't sure if I would ever see you again." His voice had steadily grown low and subdued with the recollection of sad memories. After a moment of silence Hiro seemed to collect himself and forced a smile. "Then suddenly 7 years later, just when I was beginning to give up hope, here you are! Just in time for another of the pranks we used to play on each other!" He winked at her. Kira started to calm down a bit; surprised by the realisation that she genuinely liked him. Then a worrying thought pricked at the back of her mind. "How do I know that anything you're saying is true? How do I know that I can trust you Hiro? For that matter how do I even know that that is your real name?" She eyes darted up at him accusingly. He sighed again. When he finally spoke once more, there was a kindness and sincerity in his voice that was hard to ignore. "All I can do is give you my word, and your clothes, and hope that if you chat to me for a bit longer, I will touch on something that will jog your memory." She nodded warily. That worry was still there in the back of her head, but he seemed harmless enough, and there might be some truth to what he said; besides he seemed to have answers to the questions she had barely had the courage to ask herself! "Alright." She replied evenly. "But you're on your honour. Just because I'm listening to you doesn't mean I trust you ok?"
"Ok ok!" he laughed raising his hands in surrender "No more jokes till you remember me. Here are your clothes. They look... Comfortable.." He threw them to her, smiling as he realised how lame his compliment must have sounded. She returned his smile gratefully, quietly shocked by how quickly she had begun to like him. She felt more than heard a voice in the back of her mind, a voice that seemed simultaneously both foreign and familiar, telling her that Hiro was indeed trustworthy, and that she should listen to what he had to say. "Actually the boots are as itchy as hell!" Replied Kira with a laugh, and the spell was broken.
"So.. any idea how all this happened to you?" He asked, smiling lightly.
"I… don't know…. I.. don't remember much about myself.. or anything to be honest… but I.. I don't want to talk about it" She replied, looking embarrassed, befuddled, and cross at herself in that order.
"As you like. " He replied nonchalantly. "There's no rush for information is there? I'm sure you'll find out eventually." Then she noticed that she was still in the hot spring and he was still able to look down at her from his perch on the rock. She looked to see if her hands were appropriately placed and were covering enough. Luckily they were, and she breathed an inward sigh of relief.
"This is a bit awkward." She giggled slightly "I wish we could have met under slightly better circumstances"
" I know what you mean, but don't worry, I'll go," he said getting up to leave.
" NO!... Well, I mean, you can stay, just gimme a few minutes." She said, more than slightly embarrassed at her outburst; "It's just that, …well, I've only been here a few days, and I don't know my way around very well. Already I've come across giant wormy bladed thingies!"
"Oh you met our resident Draken then" said Hiro, she couldn't tell if he was joking about it, or being serious.
He noticed the bandage on her arm, "Say are you okay?"
"Wha? Oh, yeah, it hurts but I don't think it is too serious" lied Kira, touching the wound, and fighting back a wince.
"Alright, if you're sure you're alright. Anyway I'm gonna go; see you in a few minutes." Hiro called, going around the rock and down a weather-beaten path that Kira hadn't noticed before. Well.. Thought Kira. That was unexpected.. I really hope he can help me. He was pretty cute too. She giggled slightly. Quickly, and staying as covered as her hands would allow, she went to retrieve her clothes from the side of the bank where he had thrown them and, dressing quickly, followed his trail back down the path. He was waiting for her in the next clearing, about 20 yards away.

And thats it for chapter 2, hope you all like it and i would appreciate.. hell, i CRAAAAVE feedback so please leave critique, especially advice and suggestions, as i am always looking to improve my writing. :d thanks again. All characters and Phantoms Within are (C) to me! - no stealies