S.A.S. - Book one: Secrets (Rewriting)

Chapter Eight: Collapse

"Who are you?" Red asked, helping him over to the tree he and Flame were just sitting by.

"Um, my name..." Red looked at Flame, who was gripping his paw so tight, he thought it was going to fall off. "My name... I - I don't remember my name" the FoxCraft replied softly. Flame looked at Red, who was trying to pull free from Flame's grasp. Gasping, she realized she was holding on too tightly.

"I am so sorry!" Flame let go quickly, and Red massaged his paw carefully, allowing blood to flow back to it. The grey FoxCraft tilted his head sideways.

"Are... Are you two together?" he asked. Flame glanced nervously at Red, who shrugged. He didn't really think that it was so necessary to keep it a secret anymore.

"Yeah, but please don't tell anyone" Red answered, then he asked, "if you don't remember your name, then what should we call you?"

"Um, I don't know." He looked down at the ground. "I don't even know where I am or how I got here..."

Flame looked sympathetically at him. Red glanced in the direction of the camp. We need to get him to the camp. Moving to the side, he motioned to Flame to follow him. "We need to bring him to the camp. Someone can stay behind and help him remember who he was" he told her.

Flame nodded, then turned to the blind FoxCraft. "We're going to take you to our camp, ok?" she told him in a soft voice, touching his shoulder with an outstretched paw. "Just follow me, OK?" Together - with the blind FoxCraft being led by Flame's tail - they slowly made their way towards camp.

As they walked, Red took a good look at the FoxCraft. He wore a sky-blue hoodie and had white ear tips. He had pale but bright sky-blue eyes, like his jacket. He wore a necklace, though Red couldn't see what the symbol on the pendant was. He also had a pure-white tail, but had three metal rings surrounding it it. Red didn't know what metal it was, but it didn't matter.

As they neared the camp, the terrain got smoother, and it was easier going for the three.

"Red! Flame! Thank the stars..." Fern trailed off as she saw the blind FoxCraft. "Um, who's this?"

Red looked at her, not sure what to say. "Uh, we found him in the forest. He doesn't remember anything about himself or even how he got there."

Fern tilted her head to the side. "Um, OK then. We were just beginning to leave. Jack got his thing done, and so did Fruso, our mechanic."

The blind FoxCraft seemed to look at Fern. "Where are you going?" he asked. Fern looked uneasy that he could see exactly where she was.

Fern answered honestly, "we're going to fight the Council. Right now, Flame and Red need to come with me to the village."

The blind FoxCraft's eyes seemed to get bigger. "The Council?" he said startlingly. "I - I remember this!" Red and Flame looked at each other.

"What do you remember?" Red asked curiously. The FoxCraft looked at the three surrounding him.

"My name... my name is Silver," he said excitedly. "And I remember..." suddenly his face turned from one of excitement to anger. "I remember what the Council did to me and my family and friends." the three others looked at each other in surprise.

Red wanted to comfort him, console him. He couldn't, not without giving up his most dangerous secret. Flame seemed to realize this.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"A lot. It's a long story." Silver said. He reached out. "I also remember this..." Clenching his hand, a pure white, glowing, and jagged sword appeared in his fist, seeming to shift into view by two ghosts of it coming together and forming something solid. "I'm a Phase Shifter, someone who is able to bring anything to and from pocket dimensions connected to worlds. This one has five." Letting go, the sword disappeared.