Wading through the windy field, his bare feet began to experience the woes of life when his toe met the end of something hidden by the grass.

“AAAOOUCH!!!”

Just like that, any illusion of grace or mystery vanished. He crumpled to the ground, rolling around in the tall grass, clutching his foot with tears welling in his eyes.

The hell was that!? The realization finally hit his dense brain like a slap to the skull.

Wait… where am I?

As thoughts erupted in a cacophony of questions, he felt himself getting overwhelmed. So as the questions rolled, his head felt like it was overheating as smoke seemed to cloud his own responses. The where, what, and who of the situation were too much, so his mind found a way to cope. Through a mix of carelessness and idiocy.

Uhhhh, we’ll get there when we get there. He thought to himself as his panicked face melted back into an annoyingly blank expression.

Standing back up, he brushed off the dirt and grass and proceeded to investigate what he’d stubbed his toe on.

I wonder wha—

His thought was cut short. Frozen in time, hidden under the grass, lay the remains of a strange dinosaur-like creature. Its jaws lay open, its eyes open and glassy, yet the body appeared untouched—preserved, even. It was clearly dead, but it didn’t smell. Kneeling down, he brushed aside more grass, revealing more of its wounded body. It had strange wires and non-organic components oddly placed seemingly at random throughout the body.

Unfazed by the strange corpse, he laid his hand on the tip of the creature's snout and, with a forceful snap, he shut its mouth.

Would’ve sucked if I stepped in its mouth; that would’ve been real nasty.

This guy. He then ignored? What? HEY! Moving past the creature's body, he carried on towards the distant tower with no real questions about the strange creature behind him. Cresting the top of a hill that overlooked a small valley that led to the tower, he felt a sense of elation as the warm wind ensnared his body.

Looking down the hill, his eyes fell on more of the strange, dead things. Creatures of all shapes and sizes lay scattered across the landscape, frozen in death in a variety of unnatural positions. Some were sprawled out, others slumped as though still standing, and a few towered upright, rigid, and lifeless. He moved closer to one such creature, its body an odd fusion of reptile and machine—a lizard-cyborg hybrid.

He studied it for a moment, comparing his own body to the mechanical behemoth.

Yup, I’m definitely not one of those. So he determined that he obviously was not one of those things. Standing pensively, he tried to rationalize what kind of being he might be.

Ah—I don’t know anything! He thought to himself. Oh well, thinking about that hurts my head anyway. We’ll worry about it later. Waving his arm away as if swatting the brief existential crisis away, he carried on his quest for the tower.

Watching his step, he made his way down the hill, navigating past the seemingly fresh corpses. They bled a purple ooze that stained the ground, outlining a zone where the grass didn't dare to grow. Each creature was different—some enormous, others small, their snout and limbs varying in shape and size. Robotic implants gleamed from some of the creatures, while others bore massive, gaping wounds or were missing limbs.

He didn’t know what had led the creatures to this odd fate, but he did seem to understand that they had stopped for some reason. Whether he knew they were dead would be hard to discern as he carelessly walked around, curiously inspecting and even occasionally touching and poking at the undefiled remains.

Before he realized it, he stood at the base of the tower. Under its immense shadow, he felt the chilly welcome of its presence.

There was no obvious entrance, but there was something. Decorating the base of the tower were bouquets of flowers. Old knick knacks, bottles, and weathered photos—a memorial of sorts. He stood there, staring at the arrangements, as a strange sensation stirred within him. His chest felt heavy, with a tightness pressing against him, but he remained expressionless.

Tilting his head, he lowered himself to the ground and quietly watched the wind caress the flowers that had been laid before him. Some were brittle and dry, their faded petals crumbling away with the softest breeze, drifting into the air like remnants of forgotten memories. Others remained vibrant, their petals tightly clinging to their stems, their color still fresh, contrasting the echoes of old memories.

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He curled up and watched the flowers rustle some more. Blankly contemplating the memory of people.

People—person. I’m someone. I’m a person. The thought was oddly bittersweet, lingering in his mind like a half-forgotten melody. He didn’t quite understand why it carried weight, and while it didn’t explicitly bother him, it stirred something faint—hatred. But for who or what he didn’t know.

“Are you okay?” A voice called out from behind, breaking the stillness.

Startled by the sudden voice, he whipped around to see a boy tightly holding onto the orange straps of a well-worn backpack. The stranger's expression was a mix of pity and disdain. He appeared to be around the same age, dressed in a loose-fitting overcoat, its faded orange and light brown fabric hanging down to his thighs. Below, his dark brown cargo pants, covered in pockets, were tucked tightly into a pair of rugged boots that looked oversized.

The stranger’s blonde hair was odd—golden at the roots but gradually fading into soft, pale blue tips, as though dipped in the sky itself. His eyes seemed to match his hair—one a deep gold, the other a deep icy blue, mirroring the gradient in his locks.

“Yup,” he responded casually, completely unfazed by his own nakedness.

“Then...why are you naked?” The blonde kid asked, his brows furrowing in genuine confusion.

“Naked? Me?” He looked down at himself, blinking in surprise. “oh?… I guess I am.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? Or are you some kind of memorial-defiling pervert?” the blonde boy asked, eyeing him down with a mix of confusion and wariness.

“I do? Is that bad?”

“Yeah—wait no. Who are you?” The blonde kid asked, shaking his head, trying to make sense of the strange, clueless, naked guy in front of him.

“I dunno,” the naked boy replied, shrugging casually.

The blonde kid’s face twisted a bit as he clenched his lips in frustration. “Do you at least have a name?”

“I dunno,” he repeated again in the same annoying tone.

“Did you hit your head? Or... lose your memory? ” The blonde kid asked, his frustration giving way to genuine confusion as he searched the the naked stranger's face for any clue.

“I didn’t hit my head and I didn’t lose my memory,” he replied while standing up, as if completely assured of his clarity despite the obvious confusion.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Can you at least cover yourself?” The blonde kid blurted out, waving his hands frantically, as he turned away in embarrassment.

“Why?”

“Because you’re naked!”

“Is that a problem?” he asked, completely unfazed as the breeze swept between his legs.

“It’s called common decency! Just—just wait there for a sec.” He said while running back towards a small cart being pulled by what appeared to be a bizarre cross between a bear and a rabbit.

"Whoa, what’s that thing?!” The naked boy exclaimed in excitement, ignoring the demands of the blonde kids.

“Wait! Stay over there!” He shouted as he frantically rummaged through the bags on the carriage.

Ignoring him, the naked boy jumped onto the rabbit-bear creature, burying himself in its soft, fluffy fur. The creature didn’t seem to mind at all, continuing to lazily sniff at the ground as if nothing had happened.

"Say, what’s this thing called?” The naked boy asked, his voice muffled as he buried his face deeper into the creature’s soft, pinkish fur.

“I told you to wait!” The blonde kid huffed, waving a black cloak frantically in the naked boy’s direction. “And for the love of my eyes, put this on!” he added, glaring as his pet rabbit-bear continued to be smothered.

The naked boy turned up from the fluffy paradise, spotting the cloak, and, connecting the dots in his brain, slid off the rabbit-bear with a carefree grin. Without a word, he strolled over and yoinked the cloak right out of the flustered blonde’s hands.

“By the way, I’m Lucas.” The blonde kid—now revealed as Lucas—said with a sigh. “So, can you tell me anything about who you are?” He asked, watching with mild exasperation as the naked boy clumsily fumbled with the cloak.

“Ah, so that’s what this thing is called—Lucas,” the boy said with a satisfied nod, patting the creature like an old car.

“NO! What? How did you even—no, MY name is Lucas!” Lucas exclaimed, jabbing a finger at his own chest in disbelief.

“Oh, my bad. It’s my first time talking to anyone,” he said, bowing his head slightly, as if that excused his idiocy.

“First time? Like, ever? You’ve never spoken to anyone before?” Lucas asked, his confusion deepening as he stared at the—idiot—I mean boy in disbelief.

“Nope. But now I really want a name, though I can’t put my finger on what,” the naked boy said, scratching his head in deep thought. He stood there, eyes narrowing as he tried to pull something out of the void of his mind. Then, like a whisper from the forest, it came to him: "Gira,” he whispered. His face lit up. “That’s it! I shall now be known as Gira.” He declared, staring longingly at the cloudless horizon.

“Gira? That’s…a pretty strange name for a boy.” Lucas muttered, frowning as he mulled over the unusual choice.

“It is? Eh, whatever. It is what it is.” Gira shrugged, completely unfazed. He spun around, arms wide, pointing at everything. “So, Lucas, what’s all this?”

“I’m not some walking encyclopedia, okay?" Lucas snapped, “And you still haven’t told me who you really are!”

"Well, you’re no fun.” Gira teased, but then paused, his expression shifting as a thought crossed his mind. A slow smile spread across his face, and he locked eyes with Luca’s gaze. “I’m a person!” he declared, his voice rising as the wind surged around him, whipping through his spiky black hair like it was answering his call.

Lucas stared at him, eyebrows furrowing as a single thought crossed his mind: This guy is either completely deranged, just plain stupid, or both.

Rubbing his temples, Lucas took a deep, steady breath. "Alright, you’ve clearly got some kind of issue. But leaving you naked out here would be unethical. So—I’m offering you a ride back to town.”

“A ride? To the land of Town? ” Gira asked, tilting his head in genuine confusion.