Welcome to Silent Hill:

He remembers being Claus now.

He remembers that his name was- that his name is Claus, and he remembers his family- his brother, his mother, his father. He remembers them all now.

But he also remembers hurting Lucas (he hurt his little brother, he'd punched him and shot him and stabbed him) and how could he have done such a thing?

That's why he ran. Because he couldn't be trusted to not hurt Lucas and if he couldn't be trusted to not hurt Lucas than he couldn't be trusted to not hurt anyone (oh no Dad, he'd attacked their dad, hurt him so bad he'd fallen down and not gotten up until Claus had knocked himself down).

That was why he'd run when he'd heard his brother's voice, ran as far and fast as he could because the further away from him Lucas was the safer his little brother would be.

When Claus finally stopped he had no idea where he was.

He was so lost he had no idea where he was or how he'd gotten there- but he didn't think it was a good place. It was all dark and worn down- rusted looking. Artificial lights (like the ones the Pigmasks used) flickered overhead as if they were dying- and then the one closest to him did die and go out. Claus moved away, looking around warily-

And then there was movement at the end of the hallway.

"Who are you?" It wasn't a demand- it was a soft quiet question- but it still made Claus jump back, reaching for a sword that had been abandoned.

She stepped out of the darkness and moved towards him. She was young- older than him but not quite an adult. Claus couldn't see any weapons on her and her hands looked like they were empty, but not all weapons could be seen. Claus was smart enough to know that much at least.

"My name is Alessa," she said- one hand placed just above her heart. She said it with a bit of a sad smile, her eyes only focused on him. "What's yours?"

She was acting nice- but people acted nice without meaning it all the time.

Claus backed up another step- backed into a wall. He spun around- glared at the wall, then spun back to glare at her.

She only smiled back at him. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Claus tried to make a scoffing noise but it didn't come out right.

"This is a bad place to be alone. Let me help you."

She seemed sincere. And Claus didn't know where he was. Didn't know what to do.

"Tell me what's most important to you," Claus challenged.

She gave him a surprised look, then smiled. But it was different now, sharper, fiercer. "Justice and the ones I love."

"Who do you love?"

"My dad, my sister-"

"You have a sister?" Claus winced both because he'd interrupted and because reacting to what people said gave them power over you.

"Yes. Dear little Claudia... I left her alone, though I really had little choice. But that's why- for her and for him-" she glanced round the room, glaring as she did so, "I am going to fix this."

Claus hesitated briefly before stretching out his hand and she took it.

OoOoOo

So I had a comment about the Silent Hill/Mother 3 crossover and how more of it was wanted. That started my brain chewing on this and gah this would be fun. Unfortunately, there's a ton of fun ideas the bunnies are chewing on right now and they won't leave me alone.