Wandering Minds Chapter 1
Please note that I don't own this story. I simply post it with permission from the author, my friend Timbit the Lynx-Angel on FictionPress. We both hope that you'll like it!
*****
Darkness. That's all there was at first. I was unable to move and I couldn't see anything. I almost felt tied up and imprisoned somehow - as if I was inside a cage that was perfectly shaped like my body, or imprisoned in ice.
Suddenly I was able to feel the ground I was lying on. Dry, but still a little moist. Then I felt something - something wet. It was moving slowly up and down my legs; water.
Finally I was able to clench my right hand, scooping up a handful of earth. Just then, I felt someone grab me and pull me forwards. I immediately started panicking, but I wasn't able to struggle much more than a silent shaking.
I was suddenly lifted up and flipped onto my back and suddenly I felt a pair of strong hands pump onto my chest.
Suddenly audio steamed into my ears and I heard myself cough and spit out water. It took a while for my vision to return though.
"Are you okay?" My vision was blurry, but after a while it became clear and I was able to see who stood leaned over me.
He was a wolf and he was mainly covered in grey fur and the fur on his muzzle was white. He had a serious expression on his face and his yellow eyes looked down at me, as to see if I was injured in any way. He wore a black T-Shirt and a pair of blue jeans, which I found very plain, even though I didn't actually know what I was wearing myself.
"Are you okay?" he asked again.
I coughed again and nodded weakly. I tried my best to speak, but I couldn't find the strength to do so. The wolf seemed to understand and bend down to help me get up. His right hand grabbed mine and he used his left hand to hold me behind my back, to make sure he didn't hurt me when he yanked me up from the ground.
When I stood on my feet, I almost collapsed again, due to the weight of my own body. The wolf quickly grabbed me and put my arm around his shoulder for support.
"Easy there kid," he said and helped me down in a sitting position. I was still a little dizzy and confused, but my head and my feet felt like they just had to get used to being upright again. "Do you know what date it is?"
I thought for a few seconds, trying to search my memory for the date. Weird, I thought. I couldn't remember! In fact, I wasn't even able to come with a guess! I managed to shudder: "N-n... no..."
"Hmmm... okay," the wolf muttered. "Do you remember anything at all?"
I thought for a moment. Let's see... there was my name... but what was it now? I thought for a good twenty seconds before I gave up. Oh well, then there was... nothing - nothing at all. It was as if I was newborn and had no memory at all yet - like a book that was yet to be written, if you understand.
I shook my head, too scared to say anything. Have you ever tried to wake up, unable to remember anything? Well, if you haven't, I can assure you that it's the scariest feeling in the world. You don't know where you are, and who you are; you don't know anything, and if you wouldn't be scared in such a situation, I don't know what to call you.
"Weird..." the wolf muttered and rubbed his chin a few times, his fingers trailing along the white fur. I could tell from his facial expression that he was thinking.
"Here, come with me," he then said and helped me to my feet again. I had my arm around his neck for support again and I carefully took my first step forwards. I stopped in the middle of the step, just to make sure that I wouldn't fall over, since I was still unused to standing up.
"Do you think you can walk?" he asked. His voice signaled that he was willing to either wait for me to take the time I needed, or to carry me if necessary.
I carefully took another step, and when I didn't fall, I nodded at him as an answer. Soon we were walking across the beach. The wolf made sure to not drop me or go too fast.
Finally I was a car holding by a fence on the top of a little hill. There were lots of trees all around, and the air was fairly hot, so I guessed that it was summer. I could also see that the sun seemed to shine brightly, but I felt too weak to turn my head upwards and look at the sky, even though the little of it I could see was clear blue.
The car was black and looked kind of expensive. Whoever this wolf was, he seemed to be someone who made a lot of money on whatever job he had. He helped me up to the right side of the car and helped me sit down on the front seat. Soon he entered the driver's seat from the left door.
He inserted his key into the car and the car started up with a soft humming from the engine and soon we drove down a silent road. The car's engine made very little noise and I started to feel better as we kept driving.
"So... who are you?" I asked the wolf as a city came into sight in front of us. Some of its buildings were incredibly tall, while others were seemingly smaller - actually much smaller.
"My name's Aatu Fenrir," the wolf replied and slipped on a pair of black sunglasses, which I thought made him look very classy for some reason. "But we'll have to wait with your introduction till you get your memory back."
As we approached the city, I saw a sign that read 'Welcome to Seylia City'. I didn't know what kind of city this was, and the name didn't appear familiar to me, but maybe Aatu lived there. Or maybe he was going to take me to a doctor or something, who knew?
When we came closer to the city, we came to something that looked like a civilian neighborhood with lots of villas and smaller houses. It seemed to one of those suburb neighborhoods close to big cities where everyone worked in the city itself, and their children attended school in the city. It did seem like a nice neighborhood though, but I barely had time to look around before we came into the city itself.
I almost pressed my face against the window as I looked outside. The skyscrapers had seemed enormous when the city came into sight, but at close hold, they _were_enormous! They were so tall that I almost couldn't see the top of them from inside the car. Most of them seemed to be office buildings, while some seemed to be apartments and hotels.
The traffic also seemed to become tighter and busier as we drove down the driveway. The cars were practically covering the asphalt and to me it looked like a sea of cars and other vehicles. The sidewalks were crowded as well, people going in all directions, making it look like a river of people.
"Ever been to the capital before?" Aatu asked me with a snicker as we stopped due to the red traffic light.
"Not what I remember..." I said, still amazed by the city's size. As we came to a crossroad, I saw a gigantic screen hanging on a building. The program that was on seemed to be a newscast and even though I couldn't hear them from inside the car, they seemed to be discussing a political meeting of some sort.
I turned to Aatu, who suddenly pressed a button on the radio panel, and soon a holographic image appeared between us. It seemed to be the same program as the big screen, and even though he didn't actually look at the image, Aatu seemed to be very interested in what they were talking about.
"... Haven't been found anyone," the newscaster said. He was an otter, wearing a black suit, like most other newscasters would, and the holographic projector gave the images a weird blue color, instead of the normal colors they had on the big screen on the building. "But Titania's wreck has been found. Story at eleven..."
"What's Titania?" I asked Aatu as we turned around a corner. I had noticed that most of the other cars weren't as styled and high class as Aatu's, maybe he was rich.
"A big cruise ship." Aatu turned down the volume of the sequence and looked at me, as if he was studying me somehow. He then let go of the steering wheel with one hand and rubbed his chin again. "It went down a few days ago... maybe you're a survivor."
I thought about it. A cruise ship that went down on the sea... If I was a survivor, I would be surprised. If I was, then how would I be able to get all the way into shore without drowning before washing up on the beach?
"But we need to make sure before we guess," Aatu said, almost sounding like he spoke to himself instead of me. Suddenly a he stopped the car. I looked out of his window and saw a tall building. It also looked like an office building, and there was a sign at the front which read 'InterClaw Org - Seylia Department'.
"What is this place?" I asked amazed and looked at the building from roof to floor. It almost looked like an enormous glass square with lines parting it, making out the windows. Maybe it was a hospital of some sort, so maybe that was why Aatu had taken me here.
"Just my work," Aatu replied with a snicker before he exited the car and went over to my side to help me up. I had an easier time standing up now, so I didn't need that much support. Aatu still insisted on helping me though, so together we made our way towards the building. I heard a little sound when Aatu locked the car and we walked up the staircase to the building. The building looked very expensive and very important, so maybe that explained Aatu's expensive car, since he might make a lot of money on this job.
*****
The hallway we entered was very plain. The walls, floor and ceiling was plain white, which stood in powerful contrast to Aatu's fur color. I looked down at myself to see that I wore some torn clothes. From the looks of it, it seemed to have been jeans and long sleeved T-Shirt.
I also got to look at other parts of my body. My fur seemed to have a grayish color and some white on my chest. I know this sounds weird, but I couldn't even remember what species I was. This amnesia thing was just something I wanted to get over with; I just wanted to be able to remember everything again, so that I could live a normal life. Hopefully Aatu would help me.
I then noticed that there were paintings on the walls on each of our sides. Most of them showed things that looked like stuff you'd find in ancient palaces or under the sea; ancient artifacts. There were also some paintings of ancient looking temples inside jungles and other places, which totally matched up with the paintings of the artifacts.
"So, exactly what is this place?" I asked as we came to something that looked like a lobby of some sort. There were lots of people there, all doing various things. Some were behind a desk, working and talking to people; some were sitting in some couches, talking, while others seemed to hold a coffee-break.
"It's... well, I'll explain later," Aatu interrupted himself. "Your condition is more important."
"Hey, Aatu!" Aatu stopped. I was still supporting myself with my arm around his shoulder, so I had no choice but to stop too. He carefully turned around, which made me do the same.
The person who had called out was some kind of hawk. He wore a white long-sleeved T-Shirt, a red vest and grey, faded jeans. His feathers were a mix of jet black and grey, while the ones on his underside were white.
"Yes, what is it?" Aatu asked the hawk. When the hawk saw me, he seemed a little surprised. It could either be because he'd never seen me before, or maybe it was just because of my torn clothes. But before the hawk could talk, Aatu must have sensed that it would take too long and said: "Can't it wait Gavin? I have to help this guy."
"Oh, okay," Gavin replied. Then he asked: "Who's your friend there?"
Aatu sighed. "That's what we'll have to find out."
Soon Aatu started helping me towards an elevator. It was just your standard elevator with a tiled floor, mirrors on the walls and the ceiling. I carefully entered with the help of Aatu. Just before the door closed, Aatu told Gavin to get some clothes for me.
Meanwhile, I looked into the mirrors of the elevator to see what I really looked like. I hadn't thought about it till now, even though I had had plenty of chances to do so earlier. From the looks of it, I appeared to be a cat of some sort. My fur was mainly grayish, but not as dark as Aatu's though. My face was pretty flat compared to Aatu's, but he also had his long canine snout. Some of the fur on my muzzle was white and there appeared that there was some black fur tufts on my ear tips.
I carefully brought a hand up and touched my face, just to feel what I felt like. I took a step closer to the mirror on the wall. My irises seemed to be a greenish yellow, and
"Who was he?" I asked Aatu as the elevator started going upwards. I had let go of his shoulders, since I felt secure enough to stand myself. The elevator's movements were silent and kind of relaxing, so I didn't have a hard time finding my balance.
"Gavin? He's just one of my many coworkers." Aatu's voice sounded like he was an old man about to tell a story about life-experience to his grandson. "He mainly works in the field, but is horrible at the research part. But I guess that's just how kids are nowadays."
He chuckled at what he had said, while I just smiled a little. The last sentence he had said made it sound like he was way older than I thought he was. Gavin had seemed to be in his early twenties, so if Aatu called him a kid, he must have been a few decades older.
"What's this place about anyways?" I asked. It was a question I had asked myself the moment I entered, so I felt like now would be a good time to ask, since we were in an elevator anyway.
"How do I say this...? Okay... Titania, the ship that just went down, right?" Aatu asked. I just nodded, waiting for the rest of his answer. "Someone has to look through the wreck for values when it's found. InterClaw will be doing it."
"So you guys are looting old shipwrecks?" I asked, trying to understand it all. Maybe I should have waited till my brain was clearer.
"Not always, but I'll explain later," Aatu said, as if he had read my thoughts. Suddenly a ding was heard and the elevator door opened.