Recollections


By: Ebony Kain Darkchilde

Chapter 1

don't think 'cause i understand
i care
don't think 'cause we're talkin'
we're friends...
watch this space
i'm open
to fall from grace
~sneaker pimps

He looked at the tall headstone. Inscribed on its face was the name "Tempest." This was his father.... or so he had been told. He couldn't remember much of his past. Seven days ago, he'd woken up in a hospital, in Scotland. There had been people standing over him. The faces... he'd been able to recognize them, yes. But there were no names to those faces. No real memory of who they were. Who he, himself was. Just vague images....

A spark of memory. But a not enough. Nothing but pictures. Of Japan. And was it.... ten years ago? He remembered fighting.

Kayin closed his eyes.

No... it had been a mock fight. With a boy about a year younger than he was. With wild brown hair and coffee brown eyes. They had been tired when another boy had come over telling them to stop. This one was older than both. But there was no name attached to him.... to any of them.

Kayin opened his eyes and looked out over the water. He stood up and brushed off the grass from his faded blue jeans and walked over to the edge of the cliff. For a long moment he stared at the sky, an orange gold sky with black clouds just beyond the horizon. A storm was coming. A bad one. He should get going.

Kayin sighed and turned away from the edge of the cliff and began walking toward the forest path that led to the town. He paused and stared at the dark forest. Something seemed.... out of place here.

Another flash of memory. Gone as quickly as it had surfaced. But something had stood out in the memory: A sword. A large claymore, bright with the reflected light of the setting sun. A tall man had held it. But the features on his face had been indistinguishable.

Kayin sighed. Would he ever get all his memory back?

He continued on the forest path, head bowed. He then came to an abrupt halt when he saw someone's shoes in front of him. Kayin raised his eyes to see a young man with wild brown hair and coffee brown eyes. One of the people he'd met when he'd woken up.

"Hello....um... Eiji," Kayin greeted him hesitantly, hoping he'd gotten the name right.

Apparently so. "Hey Kayin. How are you doing?"

"I'd say 'I've been better' but...." he stopped. Unable to finish, pain welling up inside seeming for no reason. "I... just wish I could remember..."

Eiji nodded sympathetically and placed a friendly hand on Kayin's shoulder. The latter dropped his eyes again and stared at the ground, no knowing what else to say or do. Eiji let his hand drop, "Kayin, we should get going." Eiji said. "A storm is coming."

Kayin shrugged, but let Eiji lead him away. The storm didn't matter to him. He just didn't feel like being alone anymore.

Kayin looked up at the clock for the third time in 15 minutes. This was taking so long.

"Okay.... we'll try something else. I'm going to hold up some pictures, and I want you to tell me the first thing it reminds you of, or how it makes you feel. Alright?" Kayin nodded at the psychiatrist. "Alright." The man held up the first picture. It was of a garden, with a narrow path running through it.

Kayin cocked his head to one side as he regarded the picture. It did remind him of something. A small spurt of memory. There was a tall man standing beside him. He had reddish hair and wore a long trench coat with large shoulder pads. Standing across from them was another man, not as tall as the first, but tall. He was dark in complexion and had dark hair. Next to him were two boys, both of them he recognized. One he had fought with, the other was the boy's elder brother. So close.... the younger one.... was that.... Eiji?

"Eiji?"

"Huh?" Kayin asked, shaken from the memory.

"You said 'Eiji,' " the man across from him said.

"I did? I hadn't realized."

"I see. But, who is this 'Eiji'?"

Kayin shrugged, "Eiji Shinjo, I'd guess. He was one of the people there when I woke up."

"Is that who this reminded you of?"

"Sort of...."

"Well, at least we're finally getting somewhere."

Kayin nodded, but inside, he felt cold when he remembered that older boy from these short bursts of memory. Something about him. He just felt animosity toward him. But he couldn't figure out why. Something was stirring in the deepest recesses of his mind.... something that wanted to be unleashed.

Kayin sighed. His friends were having even less success with trying to help him regain his memories than that shrink had. Kayin turned his gaze toward Eiji, who was staring out the window with a pensive visage. Kayin absently wondered why Eiji was not taking part in this. He usually seemed concerned with what was happening.... but something was wrong with him tonight.

Kayin turned back to the petite green-haired girl sitting in front of him. Her name was Ellis, and she worked in a circus. He was told that she was a great acrobat. He'd like to see her perform sometime. She was nice and had a sunny disposition. Always bright even when everything seemed to be going down hill with no apparent chance of going up again. She made it seem alright again. She was kind and gentle, seeming almost naive at times. She made him smile when he didn't think he possibly could.

She handed him a photograph. Kayin looked at it. It was of him, Eiji, and Ellis. They were standing in front of a large circus tent. Kayin and Eiji were holding Ellis up and looked like they were about to throw her. The picture made Kayin smile. He didn't remember, but it was a nice picture. And it proved that he did have a life with these people.

Ellis showed him more and more pictures, telling him the story for each one she could remember. Eiji helped her with them when he could. And they continued like this for the rest of the night.

Kayin awoke to the sun shining brightly on his face. He pulled the blankets up over his head. It was delightfully darker here. He didn't want to get up just yet. It was too early. But he changed his mind when a pillow came crashing down on his head.

Kayin threw back the covers and stood up to face his attackers, who just happened to be Eiji and Ellis.

"What are you doing??" Kayin asked, a little angrily. Eiji laughed and Ellis' face turned bright red before she turned around.

"What?" Kayin question before realizing he was only dressed in his boxers. "Uh... oh. Oops..." Kayin glared at Eiji and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans.

Ellis asked, "Is it okay now?"

Kayin, still glaring at Eiji, replied, "Yes."

Ellis turned back around. "Okay. Let's go now."

"Huh? Go where?"

"We're taking you to breakfast," Eiji supplied.

"Oh I see."

"You'll like it Kayin," Ellis piped. "At least... you did before." Her expression grew sad for a moment, but she quickly hid it. "Anyway, Iku zo!"

Eiji, Kayin, and Ellis were exiting the restaurant when Ellis asked, "What should we do now?"

Eiji looked thoughtful for a moment and made several suggestions to Ellis, who dismissed some, approved others, and made some of her own. All of this was lost to Kayin, however. A man had been standing across the street for some time, staring at the trio. Kayin wondered who it was, but then their eyes locked. Kayin found himself unable to tear his gaze away from those haunting green eyes.

He looked at the man. Something inside him knew he knew this man. Should know this man.... but he couldn't remember. Names raced through his mind.... trying to fit one of them to this face he now saw before him. He had to know! * Who are you?! * his mind screamed at the man.

It then seemed to Kayin that something in his mind had exploded. He gasped sharply in pain and began to fall backward. He obscurely heard Eiji and Ellis calling to him.... but it sounded as if they were far away. Blackness began to fill his vision and he vaguely felt strong arms catch him before everything was gone.

Kayin saw a black dot hanging in his mind. The black dot slowly began to grow, encompassing first his mind, then his body. It replaced the very Earth itself. Stars flickered and died at it's edges; whole galaxies were subsumed by the gentle ubiquity of the dot. Blackness became alpha and omega of the universe in all times and plains, silently dilating into unknown and unknowable dimensions. Inexorable, unbearable blackness, sated by its being, rent itself at its source. A tiny circle of white appeared. Kayin's reeling mind surged gratefully toward the light and tumbled ignorant into freedom.

Infinite light shaded into rainbows of sound bridging immense fluid shapes. His mind slid slowly downward, struggling for symmetry amid primal malleability. Something.... someone was telling him to seek out just one color; all else was distraction. There, below, the consummation of asylum, the olive green shade which dissolved into gentle laughter. But the danger.... to him? *Get out now!!* a voice cried to him. *Who are you?* he questioned. A tall, dark figure stood before him. Fire burning within him, a fiery aura surrounding him. The man reached out to him, trying to help him?* Get out of here Kayin!!* But then there was an explosion. And the fire, fire everywhere, searching, aching, needing, burning itself out, guttering feeble defiance against the returning blackness. Breathe on it, hurry, the ember needs you. Don't let it die. Not again.... *Again?*

Shivering violently, Kayin returned to consciousness.

"Kayin!" Eiji said, his voice trembling with exhaustion.

"Nurse, hot wraps, quickly!" snapped Dr. Johnson. "Kayin, can you hear me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Who am I?" Eiji interjected.

"Shinjo.... Eiji."

"Just rest for a few minutes," soothed Dr. Johnson, "sleep if you like."

*"Shh... Just rest now Kayin. Beautiful hunter... sleep if you like."*

"Tyrith..."

"Huh? What's that?" Eiji questioned.

"Leave him alone, Mr. Shinjo." Dr. Johnson said sharply, "He's asleep."

"Will he be all right?" Eiji asked anxiously.

"I don't know. You know him better than anyone else. Do you know what he was talking about?"

".... .... .... I... no. I don't."

Dr. Johnson eyed Eiji suspiciously for a moment. Eiji did know something. But he didn't want anyone to know. For what reason?

*Kayin felt himself being lowered onto a soft mattress. Strong hands began to remove his clothes: his jacket, his boots, and now starting on his belt. He struggled violently, but instantly regretted it as his sore and wounded body surged with pain, causing him to gasp and keep still as silvery tears found their way onto his face.

"Shh... Just rest now Kayin. My Beautiful hunter... sleep if you like," a dark voice murmured with a seductive note to it. "It will be much less painful for you. I can assure you that." Kayin felt the unknown man's hands traveling over his body. Then they untucked his shirt and pulled it off over his head. Kayin shivered involuntarily as the cool air touched his skin.

"Shh..." Kayin froze, unable to move when he felt the man begin to leave a trail of soft kisses from his throat, to his chest, and back up. The hands slowly traveled down his body, fingertips barely touching his skin. The hands paused when they reached the top of his jeans, then undid and began to remove them. Kayin struggled again, ignoring the overwhelming pain that seared his body. Then Kayin was struck across the face, the salty and almost metallic taste in his mouth making him realize that he was bleeding.

"I told you to just relax," the man hissed, not quite as gently as he had before.

Kayin ignored it, he only began to struggle more violently. He was rewarded by an unseen force causing two of his ribs to break. He cried out in pain and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. The strange man licked the spider thread of blood away, then his lips caressed Kayin's. Kayin bit the man's lower lip, hard enough to draw blood.v Then it seemed that Kayin's entire world exploded in a blinding flash. His very mind and body seemed to be held together by hot wires of pain. Kayin wanted to black out, to die... anything to make the pain stop.

Another wave of pain came crashing upon his senses. Kayin screamed.*

Kayin awoke late the next morning. His head hurt and he wondered where he was. He looked around and saw that his best friend, Eiji, was curled up in a chair beside his bed. He smiled at that. Looking around a bit more, he concluded that he was in a hospital... and that Eiji had been there for a long time. He probably refused to leave... and knowing Eiji as he did, they didn't try to convince him otherwise for very long.

Eiji stirred and instantly noticed Kayin was awake.

"Kayin! How are you feeling?"

"Drained," he said simply.

"Are you hungry?"

Kayin shook his head, "I don't have the energy to be hungry."

A doctor now stood in the doorway. "Would you eat if we brought you something?" he said.

"I'll be hungry later, I suppose. How long have I been here?"

"You've been unconscious for two days now."

"That long??"

A nurse returned with some food and a glass of something on a tray. The doctor handed the glass to Kayin. "Drink this. It'll restore you're energy."

Kayin sipped from the glass slowly at first, then greedily as the cool tart liquid sharpened his thirst. When the glass was empty, he looked at the doctor hopefully, for the first time, the doctor smiled.

"Would you like some more, Kayin?"

"Yes. And even those awful wafers look edible."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Eiji laughed. "As long as you're hungry, I know you're alright."

Kayin made a face at him, but didn't let Eiji's teasing prevent him from dispatching the wafers and another glass of whatever it was. Then he settled back comfortably into the bed.

"Would you be willing to answer a few question, Kayin?" the doctor asked. "Or would you prefer to rest awhile longer?"

"I'll do okay for now. Ask away."

The doctor nodded and sat in the chair Eiji had occupied before he'd woken up. "Alright then. According to what Mr. Shinjo has told us, two days ago, you, Eiji, and Ellis had gone out for breakfast. Sound right thus far?"

Kayin nodded. The doctor continued, "Then it seems that Eiji and Ellis were discussing what you should all do next. Yes?" Both Kayin and Eiji nodded. "Then, Eiji said that he and Ellis had turned to you for an opinion. You didn't answer. Then, Eiji said you gasped and fell backwards. Eiji had caught you, but you were already unconscious. Do you know what happened?"

Kayin stared off into space as the events of that day came flooding back to him. His mind whirled and he moaned in renewed pain. He felt Eiji's hands on his shoulders and heard his concerned voice. Kayin clung tightly to Eiji, trying to force the pain away.

When finally, he had pieced his mind back together enough to remember where he was and what was happening, he carefully let go of Eiji and sat up. "I'm... I'm sorry... I..."

"It's alright Kayin," Eiji answered.

"Do you think you will be able to continue? You had woken up shortly after you were brought here... and you had said 'tyrith.' Can you tell us what that means?"

Kayin felt cold suddenly. That name... Tyrith... the man from his dream, his memory. Kayin shivered. "Tyrith... he... I..." Kayin held his head in his hands. He didn't want to remember that. That he'd been... But he had to. He needed to know what happened after. Was it Tyrith who was responsible for his memory loss? Was it after this incident? He had this terrible feeling inside that Tyrith was somehow a key to all of this. He needed to get all of his memory back. No matter how bitter some may be.

Kayin took a deep breath, and began. "When we came out, we had stopped to figure out what we'd be doing next. I noticed that there was a man across the street who had been watching us for sometime. I began to watch him... then he looked at me, as if he knew I was looking. I felt like I should know him. Then it seemed like everything just... exploded."

The other two men stared at Kayin for a while... taking in everything he'd said. Kayin took another deep breath and began again. "I remember people standing over me... they were asking questions..." Kayin put his hands to the sides of his head and began to massage his temples. "Someone said something... it.. frightened me. I... I think I fell asleep again. And I..." Kayin found it very hard to continue. It hurt so much. He couldn't tell them what he then remembered from that. He just couldn't.

"Doctor," Eiji said, "I need to speak with Kayin alone, please." The doctor nodded briefly, then took his things and left silently, closing the door behind him. Eiji waited a few moments, then turned back to Kayin. "Kayin.... when you woke up before... it was me and Dr. Johnson talking to you. We were the ones asking you stuff. Dr. Johnson told you to rest for a while, and that's when you had said Tyrith." Kayin looked at Eiji and waited for him to continue. Which he did, "Kayin," Eiji's voice shook slightly, almost imperceptibly. "Kayin, you are a bounty hunter be trade. So was your dad before he died. Kayin... you had been tracking a man named Tyrith when you..." Eiji sighed with frustration, then took a deep breath. "Alright.... Kayin, you had been tracking a man named Tyrith for a while. He was a murderer, or somethin'. Anyway, me and a few of the other Toshin fighters, Sophia, Rungo and Ellis, had found you in the middle of a fight with him. You had been, by far, the worse for wear. Then he hit you with something and you were knocked out. We ran to help you, when he saw us he ran and Sophia went after him. The rest of us tried to help you, Ellis ran to get help.... we got you to a hospital and you woke up a few days later, and well... you know the rest, don't you."

Kayin nodded. "So that's who he is...." Kayin stared down at his hands in his lap.

"Kayin... what did you remember?"

Kayin didn't want to tell... but he found himself telling Eiji what he had remembered... all of it. Eiji listened to his friend without saying anything. He felt at a loss of what to do. He wanted so badly to help Kayin, but didn't know where or even how to begin.

"Eiji," Kayin startled Eiji. He had gone silent after telling what he'd remembered. Now he spoke again. "Eiji... you said that Sophia had gone after him.... did he.... get away? Or was he caught?"

Eiji looked down, then away. With a grim face he answered Kayin, "He got away Kayin. But... Why do you ask? You can't be certain that it was Tyrith that... did that to you."

Kayin shook his head, "No... I know it was him. I don't know how I know, I just do. I don't even know what he looks like it's just...." Kayin sighed sadly, "It's something I just know. I can feel it. It was him. You're just going to have to accept my words for now Eiji. I can't explain it any better than I am. I, myself, don't even know how I know. I just do."

At this, Eiji could only nod. Then, "I want to help Kayin. Any ideas on how to begin?"

"Maybe the guild."

"Huh?"

"I am a bounty hunter after all. Maybe the guild has some leads."

"Kayin..... What is a guild??"

Kayin looked at Eiji for a moment. He didn't know what he was talking about himself, at first. But after a few minutes, things seemed to settle into place. "That's where a hunter gets their jobs. You go there, ask about the latest news.... they tell you what's goin' on, who's got the highest price on their head, who's been caught, killed and so on."

Eiji blinked several times, then nodded his head dumbly. It briefly occurred to Kayin that Eiji looked very cute when he was confused. That thought had come unbidden into his mind, and he turned his gaze away from Eiji to keep him from seeing him blush.

They began their journey the following day. Scotland was their destination. Where exactly, neither one knew. But Kayin was not relying on his memory for all of this hunt. It was instincts that he didn't know he had. Ideas came to his mind, and he acted on them. So far it was working. Things at first made no sense to either Eiji or Kayin, but after a while working through one, things fell into place and another piece of the puzzle was solved.... but there was so much left that he needed to figure out. And this was the only way he saw how to begin.

Kayin stared out the window at the night sky. It was beautiful. For once, not raining. There were few clouds and the stars shown brightly against the darkness, like diamonds on black velvet. There was no moon that night, which made the stars all the more stunning. But it was cold. The stars seemed to hold the secrets he needed to know. And they winked at him as if to mock him. Beautiful and cruel. "Like him...." Kayin startled himself with the words he spoke. As if his lips had moved of their own accord to form those words. Kayin felt cold again. As if the cold night air had seeped into the room and into his bones.

Kayin turned away from the window and approached his bed. Eiji and he had gotten a room at a hotel in Scotland. They were on their way to find this guild Kayin had supposedly worked at. It had been several hours since Eiji had fallen asleep. But Kayin hadn't been able to do the same. Too many thought had been rushing through his mind. To many feelings he didn't understand. Too many images that kept bringing him closer, yet even farther away than before, to finding out who he was.

Kayin stared across the room to where Eiji lay curled up in his bed. Kayin looked at Eiji. He was a handsome young man. He was finely muscled, yet had a small frame. His face was narrow and unflawed. His hair was even more wild than it usually was. A perfect image of beauty. Yes, beautiful was the perfect word to describe Eiji, yet he was so much more than that.

Kayin felt heat rising to his face again and was thankful that Eiji was not awake to see it, and that Eiji didn't know what thoughts had been racing through his mind just then. Kayin quickly got into his own bed and pulled the blankets up over him. He hoped that a good night's rest would clear his mind and put such thoughts out of it. But as he began to fall asleep, it wasn't Eiji his mind brooded over..... it was Tyrith.

End
Chapter One

Woe unto thee who tries to plagerize my story!! 1