Chapter 1: Beginnings

The pain was horrible as flashes of memories rapidly assault my senses. Vivid images of a world seen through the eyes of a young man began to appear in my mind at a rapid pace.

The pain was almost too much to bear as his life was engraved into my mind. A park from his childhood, spending adolescence in his home town's library, growing his hair out, and a love of the garden are all memories I now cherish.

This last cherished memory from the young man is strongest to me. There was a garden that was by no means a sight to behold. Wait….This feels wrong, it felt special to the young man. These memories tell me that he tried his best, and that the garden was always full of life. I try and remember his name ... I... can't.

These memories are strong and clear when I experience them, but hard to make sense of out of context. It's a storm of confusion. The book of his life in tatters. It's as if pages are being ripped out, and forced back together out of order. As single pages, and fragments escape this storm of confusion, I can only be victim to their content. The memories do not care if the pages are whole, or in order, I am fourced to experience them all.

The volume of information is too much. I am in a eye of the storm in a sense, as memories assault my mind. I can barely focus on my own sense of self in this sea of memories. The strange thing is between the pain and nostalgia, I feel strongly that these memories are mine.

The best way I can explain this feeling is by using the very memories that have been forced into my mind. I remember waking up feeling one day feeling a body hurting and weak.

The struggle to think straight from lack of sleep and illness are almost too much to bear, but the memories from that young man had a strong sense of self, and urge to vomit. It was never a question of who they were, but will they survive this difficult situation.

This is the memory of the worst illness he ever faced. Through a cloud of prescribed drugs, sleep deprivation, and the inability to stop vomiting, He knew that that his name was Yarrow. My name, YES, I remember! I stop suddenly in my rejoicing and notice the pain again.

I have a sudden premonition. It's as if I would have lost myself to these memories, like a dream, and not have waken up. I quickly begin to focus and face the rest of the memories as level headed as possible. The memories keep coming as I try to maintain my sanity while enduring the pain, all the while trying to understand why these memories feel familiar.

They are mine, or at least that's what I want to think. I don't care if they are mine or not. I accept them, but still question their validity, and origin. They feel like they are mine, but some are like watching from a third person perspective, and others are seen through the eyes of the young man but with strong emotional connections. The feelings of happiness, pain, sorrow, regret, and love seem to permeate these memories.

Life is not a constant state of one feeling. This is something that I learn as I keep enduring these memories. It's the happy ones oddly enough the cause me the most pain.

Then suddenly the memories stop and start to slowly fade into nothingness, as I remember the memory of the garden one last time.

I am blinded by a white light suddenly.

I sense nothing but dread as the light fades, leaving nothing but my mind in a rush while I ponder why I am experiencing this? What this? I suddenly feel a chill. The cold feeling is like a cocoon of water surrounding me. I sense nothing around me as if I'm in an empty void.

I start to struggle when I become aware of a weak force drawing me in a direction. I am unsure of where since I lack any reference in this void of nothing. My instincts tell me if I follow that path, I will cease to exist. I lack a death wish, so I keep struggling with all my might.

It was just then that I notice my lack of a body or rather lack of a body in a traditional sense. I notice that my "body" is formless, and my struggles amount to wiggles, and distortions. I feel nothing, but the formless mass seems to obey my will.

My "body" begins to spasm harder. I would not call it heroic looking or glamorous, but the wiggles seem to be working. I keep trying as I don't have many other options. The formless body begins to move slowly away from the direction it was being drawn towards, and "swims" in another direction.

I suddenly feel a great sense of tiredness overcome me. My instincts tell me there is a safe route ahead of me. That this new direction will lead to a place that won't erase my memories.

That's all I care about as I start to lose consciousness. I sense a difference in the void as I wiggle to freedom. I embrace it as my choices are limited, and the envelopment does not seem harmful. I suddenly see a vision of a giant tree with many lights coming from it.

Somehow I know that this is The Tree of Reincarnation, and I escaped fate by holding onto these memories. I don't know how I broke free, but I know that I will be me. My last thoughts before I pass out, are about how I would smile If I had a mouth. I lose consciousness.

A voice sounds off in the distance "Soul devouring tree inheritance activated"