Pain. It hurts. My kin surrounds me. Not good enough. Not safe enough. I need shelter. I search. 

A jolt of pain runs through me.

Why?

Hurts so much.

My mind is breaking.

In the distance I spot it. A cave. There. Will work. Getting worse. Run. need to survive. 

Made it. 

Can't move. It hurts. 

I collapse.

…

…

…

I awake. Where am I? What happened? Why is my memory so... foggy? Who am I? 

No, I know that one.

I know with absolute certainty who I am.

Nova.

I feel it through every part of my very being. my name. It resonates through every part of me. 

I need to think.

One question at a time. First, what happened?

I vaguely remember running, desperately needing shelter. Is that me? Those are my memories, but that isn't me. It can't be me. How? How are those my memories if that isn't me? Something happened, but what? I can't recall. 

I slowly open my eyes. I’m in a cave. How do I know what a cave is? I try and think. Shards… the shards give me information. How? What are they? Why do they feel so… familiar? I sit up, and wince as a sharp pain runs through me.

I try and think. They must have something to do with what happened to me, right?

…

Looks like they don't want to answer that one. 

All I can tell is that they’re remnants of, well, something. 

I should probably find out where I am. With an effort, I push myself off the ground and stand up. 

My muscles feel so stiff, but then again passing out on an uneven cave floor of jagged rock was not exactly my choice.I’m definitely in a cave. A soft blue light begins to fill the cave, its source unknown to me. I glance around and realise it’s coming from me, most likely my eyes. 

I look around. I'm in a room - if you can call a slightly wider portion of the cave a room, and notice this room is a dead end. There is only one passage branching off of the room, and because I really don't want to be stuck here forever, I don't really have a choice but to follow it. 

After a few minutes of increasingly nervous walking, I see it.

The exit is ahead. My fears of being trapped in a labyrinth like maze of tunnels fades as I approach. 

Reaching the exit, I look outside. It appears to be daytime, although dark clouds completely fill the sky. an uneven valley of purplish rock with jagged protrusions large enough to be called mountains poking through the uneven ground stretches before me.

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Closer to me, There is a group of humanoid creatures mindlessly moving about. Their faces look up at me as I examine my surroundings. Hundreds of near identical faces, silently watching. They are humanoid, with rock like plating covering most of their torso and hands. Their eyes glow softly, each with a different colour. They each look eerily similar to each other. And to me. Profoundly uncomfortable, I duck back into the cave.

My kin.

...

What? 

No…

That can't be what I am. 

Can it? No. we are different.  We have to be. I think… I think!

I can think! They are mindless, not like me. Is that what I was? I can't go back to that. I need to leave. Through the fog, vague memories return. 

We’re walking. No danger. Safe while my kin surrounds me. Together we are protected. Dangerous alone. Dangerous where we came from. We must find shelter. Need to protect ourselves.

I need to leave this place. I don't want to remember what it was like before I awoke. I don't want to lose what I have gained. I don't want to be a mindless… monster, like them.

I want to be me.

I want to be Nova.

I leave the cave.

My kin watch as I slowly move around them. They observe, but oddly, they don't follow, even as I climb my way out of the massive valley I woke up in. Finally making it out, I see… well nothing interesting. It's the same uneven fields of purplish rock, colossal protrusions, crevices in the ground, and Thin clouds of dust lazily moving across the landscape. The sky is still covered in dark clouds as far as I can see. 

Even after fully taking in my surroundings outside the valley, I don't spot a single living thing. Not my kin, No vegetation, animals, or anything at all besides the seemingly endless monotonous stony landscape.

There has to be something… right?

I pick through the shards, looking for any knowledge of beings like me. Beings who can think. 

No information comes.There have to be some.

If there are, I will find them myself - the shards don't seem to want to be particularly helpful.

I don't want to be stuck in this place for… however long I’ll live.

I pick a direction and start walking.

…

Several hours have passed, and the scenery still looks the same. I sense something behind me. A familiar sensation, one I should know. It doesn't feel like a threat, and it was quite faint, probably on the other side of the valley. All the shards will volunteer is that it has something to do with my kin. unfortunately, that doesn't give me much to go off of.

I sense it again, farther this time. It seems my kin are moving away from me. 

It feels so familiar…

I try and think back, but reaching my old memories is like catching fog, and I need to press on - after all, It will be night soon. I should seek shelter. A place to think, and to escape whatever elements there may be during the night. Searching, I spot a cave in one of the protrusions. They seem to be common enough, I should be able to make it there before night falls.

…

I don't. It's cold. I expected the cold, what I didn't expect was that I didn't seem to feel the cold. I can tell it’s cold, but I don't mind.The only difference night brought was the cold, which I knew should be freezing, and darkness. The soft glow of my eyes was just enough to see by, so I continue on. 

Eventually it stops growing colder, although I still don't know why I am able to simply withstand it, and the shards either don't have or aren’t willing to share what I want to know. again. Fortunately, I reach the cave quickly. It's less a cave, and more a crack in the side of the rock. It’s not very deep, but it is enough that I can comfortably rest safe from the cold, dust, and anything that may come out at night.

Entering the cave I rethink some of my questions. Wherever I am seems to not have much of anything, although any information would certainly help…

The shards don't volunteer anything. 

I can find mundane knowledge when I search them, but anything important seems to be missing. I still can't answer what I am, where I am, or what happened to me. I don't know anything about them, other than that they contain information and are somehow related to whatever happened before I awoke. 

I don't even know if there are any other beings that are able to think. 

I need to distract myself, these thoughts and questions are getting me nowhere. Shifting my attention, I notice several oddities. I don't feel tired. I’ve been walking the entire day, and still don't notice any fatigue whatsoever. I also don't seem to be hungry or thirsty, which I suppose is quite useful seeing as I have not found any water or life at all after I left the valley. As usual, I cannot find any information on why this seems to be, all I understand is that there seems to be a connection between them.

The next oddity is that the cave is growing colder, colder than the outside. The cave is small, and there is nothing that should be causing this, at least that I know of. Especially seeing as the outside temperature seems to have stabilized.

Finding a relatively comfortable spot, comfortable for being in a cramped cave made of jagged and rough stone, I sit. I should wait out the night. It shouldn't be much longer, at least the shards have that information.

Frustrating.

The shards never seem to give me the information I need. Yes, they are helpful, but I still know so little about the world despite the knowledge they’re giving. 

I slam my hand against the wall in frustration.

I feel the familiar sensation again, the one i felt from my kin after i left the valley, only much more powerful. It seems to be coming from… me? My eyes widen as I remember what it is. Magic. 

Unfortunately, I don't get to see the magic as I feel all of my energy rapidly leaving my body, too fast for me to try and stop - if I even knew how to stop it.

I pass out.