All I have is a name...

[Spiiro]

If it were not for the waves breaking over him, Spiiro didn't think he would ever wake.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, the salt water blurred his vision. His fingers pressed into the sand beneath him, lifting his face off the wet ground.

"A beach.." He thought to himself. But what beach? On what land?

Spiiro brought his right hand to his face, pushing his ocean soaked hair out of his face, and rubbing his eyes. His vision began to stabilize, but it granted him no answers. Rising to his knees, he surveyed his surroundings. To his left, a massive, battered broadsword with a piece of cloth tied to the end of the handle and around the blade, it must be his. Reaching over to it's hilt, he pulled it closer as he continued to search the area around him. He could see mountains in this distance, and a forest not so far off on the horizon. His exact location was a mystery. Finding the energy to get to his feet, Spiiro clutched his forehead. His skull felt like it was trying to escape.

"Where am I?" He again thought to himself. All he could remember was his name. Spiiro looked down at himself, his clothes were ragged, the cloak around his shoulders was almost in tatters, and his breastplate had seen better days. He had no bags or pouches, no other belongings that he was aware of. Perhaps he was shipwrecked...

Spiiro turned his body towards the wild ocean behind him, hoping maybe it would trigger a memory. He saw no debris, or any further signs of a wreck. As he struggled to remember how he wound up face down on a shore, a terrifying thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.

He couldn't remember anything. No recollections of a home or a family, no images of his life before today. His mind was blank. The more he tried to think, the more intense his headache grew. Taking a few steps up the beach, He secured the weapon around his shoulder with the attached cloth.

Being driven by instinct alone...He began to walk.

Where he was going, he was still unsure.

[Spiiro]

“I don’t even know where I’m going.” Spiiro thought to himself.
He had barely made it past the beach before exhaustion began to settle in. He had no food, no water, and no idea where he was. Something told him to make his way to the woods not too far off. He had hoped he wouldn’t find anything to fight off, he could barely stand.

With every step he took, he tried harder to regain a memory, any memory. What was he like as a child, what did his parents look like? Did he leave anything behind from wherever it was that he came from? Was he a soldier, a knight? Maybe he was a criminal on the run. As millions of thoughts ran through his mind, the pain in his head once again intensified. He needed shelter, he needed help. Taking a moment to look behind him, he realized in the state he was in he wasn’t going to make it very far, he had only put a few miles between himself and the coast. With no roads around him, he could be going anywhere. He could be walking to his death.

The air around him was cold, and the ocean water soaked into his clothes has only made it worse. Not only was he starving and tired, but he was freezing as well. Spiiro almost chuckled at his terrible luck.

As he continued to trek across this unfamiliar land, the fatigue was taking a bigger effect, he began to talk to himself.

“So who are you...Where are you from? What difference does that make; I don’t even know what land this is. Why would I know what land I’m from? All I know is my name. Spiiro. Spiiro. And this sword is it mine? Or did I take it from someone? Am I a soldier? A guard? No, no, even this armor looks poor. I’m no noble, or trained swordsman. I’m just a man….a man with NOTHING!!!”

Frustrated he removes the broadsword from his waist and launches it through the air, letting it hit the earth with a thud. The energy it took to throw the weapon brought him to his knees. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, taking a deep breath. He tried to calm himself, now was not the time for anger. Survival was all he was concerned with, his memories would return, or so he had hoped.

What he hadn’t concerned himself with was his surroundings. In just the few moments between throwing his weapon and dropping to the ground, he must have missed the lone animal that had suddenly appeared in his path. He couldn’t identify it, a tall bird with a thick neck, and a truly menacing beak. The neck and head were tapered with white feathers, while the torso had black. There was no way this bird could be capable of flight, too tall, six or seven feet with wings that were far too small. Spiiro was much more concerned with the beak. It appeared to be sharp enough to rend flesh from his body. It’s long, scale adorned legs ended with talons on each foot.

“Maybe he eats plants….” Spiiro thought out loud.

The bird let out a threatening squawk.

“Maybe he’s territorial…Maybe I’ve come across a nest? “

The bird changed its stance, seemingly ready to attack at any moment.

“Maybe he just wants to eat me”

The bird let out a final, ear piercing shriek and charged Spiiro, who was now unarmed. He silently cursed himself for tossing away the only weapon he had. The murderous animal closed distance fast and snapped at Spiiro with that deadly beak. Spiiro’s only option was side step the predator and thrust vicious right hand to its face. The bird stumbled back, but it still stood between Spiiro and his sword. He had to act quickly before the animal recovered.

Spiiro attempts a mad dash past the bird, but is quickly cut off, and receives a bit across the arm. He screams in agony as the beak did its job, tearing the flesh from his left bicep. The reward was worth the risk however; as Spiiro was close enough to his weapon to make a desperate leap over to where his broadsword lay. As he tried to lift it, he discovered it was very hard to lift a two handed weapon with a sliced open arm. The animal prepped for another attack while Spiiro struggled to grip his weapon. Attempts to keep hold of the hilt with both arms were futile; he had no choice but to try it with one arm.

Unsure of the technique, considering the impressive weight of the blade, Spiiro switched to a reverse grip with his right hand, holding the blade down opposite his thumb. It was heavy, but his life was in danger. He lowered his shoulders and bent his knees, keeping his left arm limp to his side. Raising the weapon in front of him defensively, he waited for the bird to make its move.

Just as he had hoped the wild predator came charging in, Spiiro side stepped again, and used all his remaining energy to bring the blade across the thick neck of his attacker, severing its beaked head. Crimson spattered across Spiiro’s face as the bird stumbled and fell to the ground dead.

Again Spiiro fell to his knees, breathing heavily. He looked at the corpse of the animal and let out a primal yell, taunting his dead foe. His body was depleted, and he collapsed to the ground staring up at the sky.

At least he would die knowing he could fight.

As he began to close his eyes, something drew his attention. He lifted his head off the ground to see a small blue light hovering above the body of the bird. It seemed to call to him. Rolling over to his stomach, he began to crawl towards the corpse. As he drew closer, he could feel a pull from the small blue light. He wanted to touch it. With all his might he reached his bloody left hand up towards it.

What happened next was by all accounts, miraculous. The blue light seemed to jump straight into Spiiro’s hand, and surged up his arm, and then throughout his body. The feeling was intense and otherwise unexplainable. He could feel his eyes roll to the back of his head, his back arched and his muscles tightened. And in a flash, it was over. All Spiiro wanted to do was stand….Actually, he wanted to run. Something happened. His body felt refreshed, new and powerful. His fatigue washed away, but confusion took its place.

“What……In the name of….” Spiiro’s shock stopped his own sentence. He looked at his hands, the blue glow that had entered his body faded. Peering to his left arm, he noticed the wound had stopped bleeding, while still open, he no longer had to worry about bleeding out. He also no longer felt the agony from the wound. His confusion brought his gaze to the dead animal, which had now changed to a sickening gray.

Spiiro’s memory had been hiding secrets after all.

[Naminé15]

The wanderer’s left golden eye kept wide open, just like her other eye, which queerly was of a kind of red color. Calladium Maphilith, that was her name, couldn’t stop gazing at the great view she had right before her: the sand, the sea and the mountains far away. She smiled. She loved the sea and the beach. In her memories, she could still remember it was in a place like that, a village near the coast, that she spent her entire childhood. As a little child she would almost every day find ways of escaping, just to get to sink in those salty waves over and over again. It was so fun.

Now that she was no longer a child, her passion for the salty water remained the same. Walking on the shore, her feet bare, while her hands held her boots, she just stepped forward without any hurry. The waves hit her legs gently, reaching her knees easily, but she didn’t mind as she found it actually very pleasant.

---

After having walked a few more meters, Calladium spotted the image of a person far from her on the shore. As she approached it, the image became clearer; she could see a man in the distance, carrying a heavy broadsword, he had no sophisticated looks. He must be a wanderer just like me. Stepping out of the sea, her boots still in her hands, Calladium moved towards the stranger who remained standing still on the sand.

[xBeautyxRefinedx]

Natalie was sitting, perched upon the large, familiar rock that lie under the nest of trees on the warm, sparkling beach. She gazed out to the water, boring as ever, the same 'woosh' of the waves, the same scent of the salty sea foam. Sigh. She wondered if there was any sort of other life apart from this island. She missed the city and the nightlife. She missed the constant bustle. She missed her family. Ever since she was abandoned on this island at a young age, her life had changed drastically. She lay back down. Reminiscing. But something was strange today... She hopped off her rock at the sound of an agonizing yell from the other side of the island....was this her imagination playing tricks on her, once more? She danced over to the ledge, overlooking the sandy shores. She saw a woman walking through the sand. Natalie gracefully slid down the ledge and began to confront this strange female whom she had never seen before. She hadn't known of life on the other side of the beach.

[Spiiro]

Spiiro couldn't help but stand stone still. His confusion got the better of him. The blood on his shocked face was still quite warm.

He finally released his muscles from the tense stance he had placed himself in. His shoulders dropped as he let out a sigh. He had only been awake for a few hours, and already he had far more questions than he desired. He tried to gather himself, but the experience had shaken him to his core. He finally spoke out loud the thoughts that were flying through his head.

“Did I just…..No. Impossible. I couldn’t have taken it’s….”

Spiiro looked over at the dead animal once more, and as he expected the animal was still a sickening gray, as if it had been rotting for some time. Whatever Spiiro took from it must have something to do with the decayed state of the body.

His attention was soon diverted. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw the image of a person. He made no attempts to turn and face them. Instead he waited.
Glancing again through his peripheral, he could vaguely make out the image of a woman treading through the water carrying a pair of boots. Spiiro took a moment, and decided.

He swung his body in her direction and tightened his grip on the hilt of his weapon, still holding it reverse style. He lowered his body and brought the weapon in front of him as he did with the carnivorous bird. He gave her not a moment before he bellowed out a warning.

“Not a step closer!! I apologize, but first I need answers!! Start with your name, and then tell me where I am!!??”

Spiiro hated to draw a weapon on a stranger, but on a strange land with strange creatures, trust would need to be earned.

[xBeautyxRefinedx]

Natalie stopped as she saw this man, he seemed to be frightened.. frightened in a mysterious way. She hid behind a tree, holding her breath; she didn't want this maniac of a man to slice her open with that gigantic weapon of his. Natalie ignored the other woman, and slowly came out from behind the tree; holding out her hand in a greeting to this stranger, as a sign that she didn't mean any harm.
"You seem scared...you look like you'd just seen a ghost or something," Natalie spoke with a warm smile.

Natalie looked over and saw the dead bird... she prayed she wouldn't end up like that.

[Spiiro]

Spiiro’s surprise couldn’t be measured in words. He slowly turned his head to the direction of the new woman’s voice. He didn’t want to lower his defense, bit her demeanor was calm and apparently harmless.

He took his attention off the woman on the shore for a moment to focus on the new stranger.

“Bloody Hell is this an island of girls!?” He muttered to himself.

He saw in her face that she was cautious, and he knew how he must appear to an outsider. Maniacal, crazy, dangerous, maybe he shouldn’t appear so aggressive.
He caught her gaze falling to the dead animal he had just slain. He met her gaze and offered her a cold, yet oddly comforting greeting.

“You shouldn’t end up like that bird provided you don’t try anything suspicious. Now please….I will lower my weapon if I can get your name as well. I’m very lost, and very confused.”

Spiiro prayed the two strange women approaching him from either side were far more peaceful than this lands wildlife.

[xBeautyxRefinedx]

Natalie laughed softly at his remark. She seemed fearless, not afraid of this new being here on her island.
Her eyes sparkled as she spoke. "I didn't plan on being suspicious.. But if I do have a say, the man in rugged clothes and a bigass sword is calling me suspicious?" She flicked her long, brunette hair over one shoulder. "The name's Natalie; I've lived here pretty much all my life.."

Natalie studied this man closely.. he was quite defensive in his movements, very cautious, yet mysterious. She yearned to know more about him.

[Spiiro]

Natalie.
It might as well have been the first person he had ever met. She approached him with no reservations or fears. He realized he probably looked more afraid of her than she of him. After a moment of embarrassment washed over him, he lowered his weapon, and took a far less defensive stance. He let out an apologetic sigh.

“Forgive my appearance….I must have shipwrecked…or…I don’t know. I might as well have fallen from the sky. I can’t remember anything. And forgive the aggression, but the only living thing I have encountered in the past few hours has tried to kill me.”

[xBeautyxRefinedx]

She smiled as he lowered his weapon. Natalie guessed he had decided not to kill her, which is always a good thing. He was kind once he didn't look threatening.

"No reason to be afraid, my friend... and no need to apologize. You obviously have no clue how the hell you got here, or why you're here." She looked around, and back at him. "But don't worry, I'll try not to kill you. I like the company."

She took his arm and led him away from the shoreline, and into the depths of the sparse forest until they reached a flowing spring. She motioned for him to drink, as he looked awfully parched and dehydrated. She picked a wild fruit off the bush and sunk her sharp teeth into the berry.

"The water will help calm your nerves... it is very refreshing." Natalie said happily.

[Spiiro]

Spiiro saw the water in the spring and couldn’t help himself. He plunged his hands in and splashed water all over his face, spraying poor Natalie in the process. He pushed his messy hair back and ran his wet hands through it. Closing his eyes he let out a sigh of relief, and then plunged his face directly into the clear blue spring, taking a massive gulp. As he lifted his head, his hair once again soaked and in his face, he soon realized how foolish he may have looked.

His eyes opened and shifted over to the young lady next to him, still holding the fruit in her hand. She looked perplexed but amused.

Spiiro gulped the water down and stood up, finally separating himself from his sword by placing it on the ground by his feet. He again surveyed his surroundings. The spring was amazing. This land was truly mysterious, from predator-birds to women appearing from nowhere, and now to this. He peered over at the woman who had given him food and water, noticing her sharp teeth; he raised an eyebrow, but kept his thoughts to himself. He had other pressing matters on his mind. He looked at her, with slight frustration in his eyes.

“Look…I don’t mean to barrage you with questions…But you seem to live near here. You didn’t happen to see anything that could explain how I arrived here do you? And what happened after I killed that bird….I think I took something from it.”

He felt terrible to poison his first meeting with this woman with nothing but questions, but his desire for answers was burning away at him. He wanted to relax, needed to, but something in his gut told him to find answers. Maybe it was a shred of his former self returning. He knew his face told a story. Confusion, anger, gratitude, his mind was racing so fast he had forgotten a simple, yet ever so important gesture…

He changed his tone, and sighed yet again.

“Thank you…for the water….”

[xBeautyxRefinedx]

Natalie was amused by this man, Spiiro. She gracefully stood up and brushed the water off her soft face with the back of her hand. She saw the irritatedness in his blue eyes which quickly spread throughout his face as he spoke.

"I was here when I noticed there was someone else here. I'm sorry, I'm just as confused as you are as to why you're here....but you ask too many questions. What has happened, has happened, and there isn't anything you can do about it," Natalie spoke, reaching over to touch the wound above his eye. "you have a-...nevermind.." she said as the wound disappeared as her fingertips grazed the surface of his skin.

She took another bite of the fruit, noticing he had curiously caught a glimpse of her unnaturally sharp teeth from when she took that previous bite. Natalie moved to the bush, grabbing a fruit and tossing it to him.
"Take this. You need to relax... just breathe deeply and your senses will soon heal themselves." She sat on the ground next to the spring, dipping her hands into the cool, clear water.

"And you're welcome.. by the way. But no need to thank me, Spiiro, you're just an unintentional guest on my land," Natalie smiled once more at him.

[Spiiro]

She was right. He needed to relax.

He looked at the fruit in his hand, and finally let go, taking a bite. He had forgotten how hungry he was, and in mere moments, he had eaten all but the stem. Again, he felt as if he had showed a foolish side. How long has it been since he was in front of a woman? Or even another person. Why was she so kind to him? Tried as he might even with his memories clouded he couldn’t conjure up a similar feeling of being treated this way. For some reason when he tried to remember things, his head hurt, and his heart sank. Something hidden in his memories was dark, and possibly painful.

But she was still right, what has happened, happened. Spiiro could no better alter the past than he could turn water to gold. His only supernatural ability scared him as it was.

Sitting down a few feet from her, glancing again at the spring, he saw his reflection in the water. He now realized how unkempt he looked. His armor was old and had signs of damage, his clothes had seen better days. He examined his face as beads of water dropped from his thin beard. Despite his appearance and confusion, he did finally feel relaxed.

He also realized what a terrible guest he was being, unintentional or not, at some point he must have been taught manners. He attempted to converse with the young lady.

“So…I notice you have some curious looking teeth…” Spiiro blurted out. He winced.

“That was rude. Seems I have also forgotten how to speak with another person. I don’t know where to start really. In just under a day I appear to have been tossed here by the tides, and I’m fairly positive I stole some kind of energy from that bird I killed. I understand I need to rest…But I would like to see what this land has to offer. Perhaps I can find something here that can give me clarity. If you would like to join me, maybe I can repay the kindness you’ve shown me here….and for rudely asking about your teeth…”

Spiiro was positive he again sounded foolish. His ability to interact with anyone was clearly diminished. He would understand if she refused, especially since he brandished a sword at her just a short while ago. He was also sure his face betrayed his emotions once more.

[xBeautyxRefinedx]

It wasn't in her nature to be mean to this man. She looked at him and offered another fruit. Natalie took no offense to his question, but was more curious as to why he asked. Her teeth were unusually sharp, as if they were... vampiric. Vampires... her parents. Her family. She had remembered their faces clearly- pale, cold, tough. She turned away from Spiiro and looked down at the water, as if she were smacked in the face with remembrance. Natalie had not found out what had happened to her parents. She didnt know if they survived. But she then looked back at Spiiro. Trying to change the subject.
"Your clothes are tattered. Come with me." she quickly got up and moved deeper into the forest, where they came to a clearing, and a small house at the end of the space. They had arrived at her cozy home, the door left open. Inside, she handed him new clothes and new armor from the hidden weaponry shed in the back of the house.

She sat down on the cool floor and sighed.
"it's a long story. I don't want to overwhelm you with a matter as simple as me being born with vampire blood in my veins." Natalie didnt want to frighten Spiiro, but he was wondering about her teeth. She doesnt like to keep secrets. After all, it would be a bit inhospitable for her to not tell her guest she's part vampire...it's only being polite, right?

[spacegy4]

It was time for one of May Falco's many routine training simulations to begin. Red team was assembled for the operation. "So you think she might pull off another one of her miracle maneuvers like in the last mission with the zergling?" An observer quipped. "I seriously doubt it, she only has a psi index of 5 so you should remember that couldn't have happened." Standing as tall as her 5' 5" could stand she hefted her C-10 mark VI canister rifle to her shoulder while silently contemplating the mission while waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. Suddenly she was overcome with emotion. Something had left her but she didn't know what. On Shi the planet had been overrun and her parents and family had been killed or infested. This launched her into a rage that generated so much psionic energy that enveloped the entire facility and killed everyone inside, as well as causing the unthinkable to occur.

She woke up finding herself laying on the ground in an unknown location nearby some sort of building. Possibly a house. Her hostile environment suit and canister rifle were gone. She was instead wearing an adventuring outfit and was only equipped with her Warp Blade. Where was everyone? Hello? She struggled to get up and tried to get any person's attention. "Please help me. I'm down here." She whimpered as she struggled to begin to stand up under her own strength.

Unbeknownst to her the dramatic entrance she made created a massive wave of psionic energy that broadcast in all directions. Anyone within a very large radius would feel it and be able to tell which direction it came from. Like a focused headache in the mind of sorts. It could likely be interpreted as a cry of both anguish and a vain call for help.