1. Wakening
He opened his eyes to a bright blue sky. Only a few white clouds decorated the perfect sunny day. Except, this wasn't a perfect day.
He sat up and looked around, blinking every few seconds to the unfamiliarity of the location he found himself in.
"Where... Am I?" he said to himself. A forest of trees surrounded him as he sat on a grassy patch of land. He tried to remember how he got here, but only emptiness filled his mind. He could only recall his name.
"I'm Nashiro Kando."
He wasn't even sure if it was his real name but that's all he had for now. He got up to his feet slowly and brushed off his backside.
'Where do I go?' He pondered as all he could see was a thick line of trees in all directions. Stuck in his place, he couldn't decide where to go so he just went straight. The treeline has to end somewhere, right?
The sun was beaming down through the forest, making it a lot more lively. Nashiro saw a few animals along the path he took. They were small like rabbits, squirrels and even a fox popped up. His ears caught the sound of birds tweeting in their nests. Going through it carefully, his foot suddenly slipped into a small stream of clean water. He saw his reflection in it and he saw, for the first time, how he looked.
He seemed to be a young teenage boy with loose ginger hair and a pretty face. What stood out the most was the three freckles under his left eye and his rather smaller nose. His looks were further enhanced by his dark blue eyes. He splashed some water on his face and then proceeded to drink from the stream.
'Maybe If I follow the stream, I can get to a town.'
He walked downstream as the water was reflecting the sun's rays. The stream was getting bigger and it became a small river not too far from when he stumbled on it. Eventually, after what seemed like hours, he made it to a clearing and in the distance, he saw smoke.
"A town!?"
He started running through the remainder of the forest, almost tripping a few times. He placed his hand one of the final saplings while he regains his breath. With one eye closed, he glanced at the town he hoped to find. But it wasn't a town. It looked to be a village and a small one at that. The river was passing by the town and near the shore, he spotted a few figures that looked to be human. He took a deep breath and slowly made his way down to the entrance of the village. There was no sign that said the name of the place and there was no gate either. Upon entering the village, he got to see other humans for the first time today.
'So, this is a village? What a strange place...'
He thought and walked around. People were hardly paying attention to Nashiro as they had other important duties. He saw a few people moving small wagons with the help of a mule. What he also noticed was the houses. Their stoned structure was covered by a wooden roof but some of the houses had hay on them.
He scratched his head, unknowing what to do. He didn't know anyone here or he couldn't remember. He saw a guy selling fruits and vegetables on a stand so he approached him.
'Maybe, he can give me some directions or something.'
Just when he was about to get in contact with him, two men got in front.
"Hi, I would like some potatoes, cabbages and... A watermelon," The man smiled.
"Alright... How many?"
"Four of each, the exception being the watermelon... Haha..." He chuckled at the thought of buying four big watermelons.
"That is going to cost you 25 gold coins."
"What? That's a lot of money for me..." the man complained.
"Well, the recent events made prices skyrocket and it's not looking good for the farmers like myself."
"I guess there is no bargaining here. Status!"
A screen popped up by him. He clicked some buttons and transferred the money to the seller. He checked on his own screen and he nodded.
"Here you go..." The man gave him everything in bags.
"Son, take the melon," he ordered.
Nashiro was stunned by the strange screen which appeared to be colourful. He wondered if he had one but he didn't know how to activate it even if he did. By the looks of it, they used it as a sort of exchange of resources but is that the only thing it could do?
After they got out of the way, Nashiro came up to him.
"Hello, how can I help you?" the salesman asked with a smile.
"Uh, can you tell me where am I?"
"Hm? You must be a lost traveller. Well, you're in Givega village. Where are you from?" He asked but Nashiro had no clue where he was from or who are his parents or anything. He only knew his name and that was it.
"I don't know." He responded simply and frowned.
"You don't know? Could you be..." he rubbed his white beard. He was an older gentleman that has probably seen a lot in his life. He was rather muscular for his age and his old and dirty shirt was very tight on him.
"Huh?" Nashiro looked at the man.
"Oh, nothing... Do you want to buy something or not?"
Now that he mentions it, he could use a few of fruit that he has. He touched himself over his pockets but he didn't have anything.
"Sorry, I'm broke," Nashiro responded, shrugging. Hearing that, the man's eyes narrowed.
"Then what the hell are you doing here!? Scram you peasant and come back when you have money to buy something!"
He shouted angrily.
"B-but wait..."
"Go away!"
He pointed with his finger and Nashiro looked down and moved away from the stand.
"What's his issue?" He quickly speed away from the stand so he didn't draw attention to himself. He was left wondering what to do now as he had no memories of the past and no bonds with anyone of the present.