RE:WRITE

8.0 Ignis_Chapter 2: To Protect

When I opened my eyes, I saw a rocky ceiling covered with vines. I sat up and looked around.

I was in a damp, dark cave and couldn't see anyone in front of me. Just as I was about to call out, a hand suddenly stretched out from behind me and covered my mouth.

"Shh! There might be monsters outside, whisper if you wanna say something."

I nodded and the hands withdrew. I turned around and saw a scruffy, brown haired boy wearing a ragged leather jacket, a dirty blue shirt and a pair of muddy gray shorts. He was the boy I'd saved from that horrifying black smoke.

"What was that...thing?" I whispered.

"Dunno."

"Where are we?"

"Dunno."

"How did you get here?"

"Dunno."

"..."

"..."

I stared at his brown eyes for a while before my gaze drifted to the side. I saw the little girl from before, leaning against the cave walls. She had brown hair just like the boy but where the boy's hair was short, rough and unruly, her's was long and silky. Her clothes were in better condition too; her baggy blue shirt and gray shorts weren't caked in mud and there weren't any noticeably large holes either.

I shifted my gaze back at the boy.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Name's Jeffi." He said, then he pointed towards the girl, "That's my little sister Yunni. My turn now, who're you?"

"Aia Genrion Ignis."

"Wow, sounds fancy! I'll just call you Aia then."

"Uh...okay?" I frowned. This child is a little...

"Oh yeah!" He said, interrupting my thoughts. "How did you do that Aia?"

"Do what?"

"You know! That scary red aura and those flaming fists! They were so cool!"

I hesitated. "I don't know...I just felt...angry."

"Angry? What for?"

"That thing. When it attacked me, it made me remember...the haze."

"The haze? What's that?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Do you not remember it? Do you not remember being trapped in that state for who knows how long? Unable to move. Unable to feel. Unable to think."

"Oh...that." His expression darkened.

We were silent for a moment, solemnly recalling our experiences from the haze.

"Where do you live?" I said, hoping to break the silence.

"Dunno. We were in the middle of this forest for a really long time. Or maybe it wasn't that long? I don't even know why we're here. I mean, why would a couple of kids like us be in such a scary place with all of these monsters roaming about? And I remember that we were smiling all the time, like we didn't care about the danger at all. Some guy in shining armor or a shadowy figure in black would come by and talk sometimes but I don't remember what we talked about. But this morning, I felt a cold breeze and I could hear the leaves rustling. But I couldn't stop and enjoy it for long because then there was this loud roar and I just grabbed Yunni and ran as fast as I could but then we ran into that smoky thing and I felt like...like we were going to die. And then you showed up and beat it up!" He said, his eyes sparkling near the end.