Awakening

A sudden light assaults my eyes.

Taking a couple of seconds to adjust to the brightness, first thing I notice is the clear blue sky and the various trees around me. Confused for a moment I realize I'm lying on my back, stretching my arms to the side, with some difficulty I slowly position myself so that I'm sitting.

'…where am I?' I think, while slowly looking around me.

A vast forest is all that I manage to see, no matter the direction I look.

Still not exactly understanding the current situation, I attempt to stand up only for an overwhelming weakness to wash over me, causing me to stumble back to my previous sitting position. Having no choice but to sit and hope to regain some strength, I begin to ponder over the current situation.

After starting to collect my thoughts together, I find a big problem.

'I don't…remember anything, not what happened to me to get here, nor anything about my life, not even my own name!'

A slight panic starts to set it, no screw that, I'm basically having a panic attack here. Just as my breathing starts to become rougher, I glimpse something of the corner of my eye. I start to focus into the distance, eventually understanding that its three figures approaching my location. Before I can even plan what to do, they appear a couple of metres away from me.

'That was fast! How can they move so quickly?'

The group consist of a man, with a boy and a girl, the two seem considerably younger than the man. The man is wearing some simple trousers with a green vest, while the boy is wearing a blue jacket with some black shorts and the girl has a simple gray shirt and gray shorts. However, unlike their diverse outfits, something they all have in common is a headband strapped across their foreheads, with a symbol I have no idea the meaning of.

"Miyato!" shouts the man, as he quickly approaches me, whilst still intently watching the surroundings, which he was doing since arriving. He was quickly followed by the other two.

Noticing that I seem to be in somewhat of a daze, instead of asking me any questions, he first squats down next to me and checks my chest. Its only then that I realize a part of my green jacket is ripped, revealing a horrendous wound, which happens to be on the left part of my chest.

I visibly pale, and nausea assaults me. I do believe a literal hole in their chest is not something anyone would enjoy, not that they would even have time to enjoy it, since they'd probably be dead. Not willing to look down any further, I instead divert my gaze to the other two standing a few metres ahead.

The boy has a clear nervous look on his face, not sure if it's from the gory sight, or from a person possibly dying in front of him. Heck, it could be both. On the other hand, the girl has a plain expression, with eyes that seem like steel. At that moment, the man stands up and positions me so I'm on his back. Only then do I notice that I am quite a bit smaller compared to the man.

"We're returning to the village. Miyato, hang on, we'll get you to a medical ninja as soon as possible. Hitaro, Kazue, stay close."

And with that, he sets off with me on his back. Trees start to whizz past us, as we run at a speed unimaginable to me before. It takes a moment, but my eyes start get used to it, as I can now notice more details than just shadows of trees.

Glancing to my left I notice the girl running, but what especially catches my eye is her form. Head and back forward, with her arms pointing back. Looking the to my right, I see the boy running the same way. I try to wrap my head around how it is faster or more comfortable than running normally but to no avail.

Its then that I realized something, while I had no recollection of anything before waking up, I've still had a sense of what is 'normal' or other seemingly basic knowledge.

Previously, I could understand what the man spoke, or I know even as something as simple as what a tree is. It's honestly very weird having knowledge but having no memory of ever knowing or learning it, as if it just pops up in my head when I need it.

By now having seemingly forgotten about my wound already, or just me purposefully trying to ignore it, I start regarding this group I'm in. From the few sentences that the man spoke I realized that my name is Miyato, and that he knows me quite closely. As for the other two, their names are Hitaro and Kazue. I assume that the boy is Hitaro, and the girl is Kazue.

The speed we are moving at is certainly not normal, according to my normal at least. We are also returning to their village…my village? I'm not exactly sure, no memory of it after all. Let's just hope I miraculously awaken my memories before we get there, else this might become a problem. I don't know their customs, but I don't want to be burned like a witch on a stake for being possessed by a devil or something.

After running for what seemed like an hour, we were finally approaching something. Big brown walls with a massive gate that happens to be open. Within I manage to peek a variety of buildings, ranging from small, plain houses, to colourful shops and plenty of stalls. A very lively place.

What especially catches my eye is the massive building in the distance, which had to be at least 10 floors high. And behind it stands a steep cliff with 4 faces etched onto it.

'Is this the village? Because this seems more like a city to me'

My question was answered as we run through the gates, and after weaving through many streets manage to arrive before a sizeable building, resembling a school. As we enter, someone with a green vest quickly comes to meet us, and after presenting my wound to the person, I am quickly taken away to another room while my previous escorts take a leave, not before saying

"Miyato, we'll check up on you later. I have to report the mission first"

Obviously said by the man, I still haven't heard a single word from either the girl or the boy.

Now, being just me and what I assume to be the so called medical ninja, he starts to inspect my wound as well as doing some other medical stuff, I think. After what seemed like an eternity to me of being examined by someone with the now familiar headband, I am greeted with a single question.

"How are you still alive?"

Honestly mate, I'm not sure, but I would rather be alive than dead. I shake my head and answer

"I don't know"

The doctor resumes with a somewhat lengthy explanation, which pretty much went over my head. All I got from that was: part of the heart damaged, should have probably been dead by now, either from the wound or from bleeding out, I got lucky.

"We'll have to close up the wound, even if you seem stable now, it could become dangerous later down the line" The doctor says with a confident tone, clearly giving me no option to refuse.

I nod, walking around with a hole in your chest is just asking to be offed by some infection or disease. After getting taken to what I assume to be the surgery room, I'm laid down on a very hard and uncomfortable table. I'm surrounded by two people on either side of the table, one of them being the person from before, and another I haven't met yet.

A sudden sleepiness starts to overtake me. It alarms me and I try to keep my eyes wide open, but what my ears pick up is

"Sleep"

Not being able to stay awake any longer even if I wanted to, I close my eyes, and the darkness envelops me.