Nashiro 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?"
A forest of trees surrounded him as he was sitting 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."
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 walked 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 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.'
Common sense kicked in and he followed the stream downwards. 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 on one of the final saplings while he regained his breath. With one eye closed, he glanced at the town he hoped to find. But it wasn't a town. It was a burned down village. The disappointment was immeasurable. Just when he thought he could get some answers on who and where he is, it got destroyed in an instant.
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It was only a 5 minute walk to what was the entrance of the village. The houses were broken down and none were left completely untouched by the fire and carnage that went down.
'What happened here?'
He passed by the various houses ranging from small huts to two story houses.
There were carts and wagons with a few arrows sticking out of the wooden structure. Not all of them were empty either. Some had fruit and vegetables and others had blocks of polished stone used to build these houses. Unfortunately, even the animals weren't spared as the horses that tugged the carts met the same fate. What was the saddening thing about this whole view was the pools of blood under the rubble and the streets of the village. It was sickening to the point where he stood over an old man with his boy in his arms in the last effort to protect him. The weapon went through both of them to the old man's misfortune.
"How… What caused all this? What was the point?"
He looked up at the sky as a few clouds overshadowed the sun. There was nothing here. Not a single soul seemed to have survived whatever came through here.
Where does he go now?
Before he could decide, he heard a rumble behind him. He turned around and a dog peered his head out of the rubble of a house.
He took a massive sigh of relief. The dog was sniffing around, probably looking for some food or his owner. It was a black furred shepherd. It glanced over at him and sensed that he wasn't any threat to him and continued sniffing the ground.
'A dog? It was probably hiding as all the carnage was happening outside.'
He assumed and walked over to it.
"Hey boy… Do you know what happened here?"
He kneeled and patted the dog with a small smile. The dog didn't have any malicious intent and it met his touch with a happy bark.
"I wish we could understand each other,"
He sat next to him, brushing his fur gently,
"I don't know who I am or where I came from. Maybe this village was my home. I might have known your owner and we could have been buddies. I wish I knew…"
He spoke with a weak voice. He didn't know these people or the animal next to him but it was almost impossible not to feel some sympathy for the people who lived and died here.
"Do you have a name boy?"
He turned to look at his collar and it was written in bronze letters 'Max'.
"Max huh?"
He patted him again and the dog nodded a little.
"I'm Nashiro…"
The dog whined a bit as if it was scared and ran from there like danger was approaching.
"Max! Where are you-"
The ground shook a bit as large footsteps were coming this way and they were only getting louder.
"Something's coming…"