The man woke up slowly. He cracked his eyes open and felt how dry his throat was. But that wasn't all that important considering the realization of complete blankness in terms of memories.

He stood up. The blond looked around, it's night and he's in a forest. Then he looked down on himself, he wore a dirty and on some parts torn coat. It must've been a white one, though that was a little hard to make out with the little light the moon and stars gave off and the dirt and bloodstains on it.

A quick grab into his pockets and the amnesiac found a broken phone and ID card.

Name : Arthur Auguste Angel

Rank : Paladin

Age : 30

Alright, that helps. The ID was a little more useful than the phone who wouldn't even turn on anymore. Name , age and 'rank' were the only things still readable however. Information is information however and it surely helps that he atleast knows his name and age now. Next to the information was a picture of him.

It was embarrassing, but Arthur was glad he had the picture to know what he looked like. He couldn't even remember that simple fact before he found the picture. Forgetting your name is bad enough but forgetting what your own face looks like ? That is simply embarrassing.

Atleast he knows the basics now. His name is Arthur Auguste Angel, sounds about right. He is thirty years old, that sounds familiar too. He doesn't exactly know what a 'paladin' is and what they mean with rank, but he'll find out in due time. Arthur is sure of that.

He took another look at his surroundings. Next to where he must've been laying also lays a claymore, probably his. Alright, he had a weapon. An old fashioned one at that. The claymore had a small cross near the handle. Weird, maybe he is a christian?

Or he's some sort of cosplayer ? His coat doesn't seem like something you would wear on a normal day. The ID could be from some sort of club, the title "paladin" could be for a class in a game like "mage" would be one. He must admit the name Arthur Auguste Angel also sounds like something you'd find in a fantasy game. Then again, he feels that the name is a little too comfortable and familiar for it to be an alias for some cosplay group.

He looks at the claymore on the ground again and sees the moonlight reflecting on the weapon's blade, it's real. He doubts a cosplayer would have a real claymore.

•

•

•

Why would he bring a real claymore with him ? He should find out who he is as soon as he can, who knows, maybe that claymore isn't his afterall. He can't imagine why he would carry some claymore around, he isn't some fighter in the middle ages-

"W-what happened ?" a groggy voice suddenly pipes up. Arthur jumps slightly at the sudden sound, then he realises that he wasn't alone afterall.

"Who are you ?" the older asks, "do you know why we are here?" he adds. The other person murmurs something, before suddenly sucking in a breath and replying : "I- I don't know-"

Arthur takes a step closer to the other and is finally able to make out who this mystery person is-

It's a child. A literal child. The boy couldn't be older than maybe seventeen at most based on his height and silhouette. The exact details of his face were hard to make out in the dark of the night. He also had a tail.

Huh, weird. Arthur was pretty sure humans weren't supposed to have those. He definitely didn't have one. Then again, he forgot what his own face looked like and only knows now because there was a picture of him on his ID. Maybe he just forgot basic parts of biology, too.

"W-Who are you ? Do you know why we are here ? I can't remember-" the boy stammers. He's clearly scared. "Everything will be fine" Arthur tries to calm him. "My name is Arthur Auguste Angle, what's yours ?"

"... I- I can't remember..." the child replies. So that's the situation then ? This boy was apparently in the same dilemma as himself.

"I take it your memories are completely blank ?"

"..."

The silence was answer enough.

"I have the same problem, too. Maybe we knew each other before this ? I found an old ID card in my pockets and got my name from there. Maybe you have one too ?" he proposed to the boy. The child put his hands into the pockets of his pants and then into those of his overcoat, then shook his head.

Okay, that wasn't ideal. He takes another step closer only for the child to back up. Arthur put his hands into the air "I don't want to hurt you, promise. I just wanted to maybe get a closer look on you and close some distance so we don't have to talk as loudly. We don't want to risk drawing the attention of some wild animal on us, now do we ?" The explanation of the older seemed to have reassured the other, because now he himself willingly stepped closer to Arthur.

"O-okay..." The child said. He could make him out better now. Arthur noticed that the teen was carrying a sword with him. "Is that a katana?" the blond raised an eyebrow. "Uhh- yeah ? I don't really know..." the teen replied.

"Then why are you carrying around ?"

"I can't remember, it just feels sort of right... "

Arthur nods "okay, kid. I don't think I have to explain that this situation is weird- but let's stick together, okay ? We probably had to do something with each other in the past." he explained and to his surprise the child easily went along with it. "Alright , let's do that..." He replied.

I expected him to be a little more cautious, but oh well" he thought. "So- what now ?" his newly acquired companion asks.

Ah- right. Arthur forgot that they were still in the open forest at night. "Let's try to find a city or village. Maybe some people there know us and can fill the gaps in our memory" he says.

The child nods "you lead the way, mister!"

"Just call me Arthur, please"

"Okay !"