A Curious Duo

Putting aside the man's...strange choice of words, to say the least, I began to shake him lightly so that he would wake from his slumber. The man's eyes slowly peeled open and his incoherent ramblings had ceased once he fixed his gaze upon me.

"Brother...? I-I don't...understand..." The man slumped over and his face was contorted into pain as he greedily stared out at the meat roasting over the fire. I gingerly grabbed a piece from the fire by its wooden handle and handed it over to the man, who gobbled the piece of meat down faster than Xymriss did his own portion.

Soon, there were only a few pieces left for me, but my hunger had long since faded away, leaving an empty pit in my stomach where a feeling I had not felt before rested. The man looked me in the eyes and sat there silently for a moment.

"Do you remember me...?" He asked in a strained voice.

I scrunched my eyebrows and shook my head as I said "I can hardly remember anything, let alone a potential long-lost brother. I haven't remembered my own name yet, nor my birthplace or parents, so no, I'm afraid I don't know you, though I can't deny we're related..."

The man laughed in a surprisingly light-hearted manner before saying "Well, that is of no real importance. When I first found myself in this place, I too had lost my memories. It was only until I found my companions that I had regained my memories and started to search the realm for you, Brother."

I raised my brows with intrigue, all fear and hesitance out of the window as I asked "Really now? And who are the companions of yours? They must be great if they can bring back lost memories?" The man shook his head and said "It was not them who brought my memories back, but a power I had acquired upon landing in this world..."

The man reached a hand into a pouch fastened on his belt and pulled out a light blue crystal that greatly resembled mine, but it radiated a cool and peaceful aura, much unlike mine. The strange feeling I felt in place of my hunger suddenly exploded as a pain gripped and clawed at my throat as the crystal in my own pouch burnt my leg through the pouch itself.

The man put the crystal away and tried to reach out to me, but he winced in pain and slumped back against the wall as I shook my leg a few times to rid myself of the pain. "Well, that was unexpected." I said as I moved over to the fire and plucked a piece of meat from its embers.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen, I-" I held up a hand to stop the man from talking as I took a great bite from the meat and looked toward Xymriss and asked "Well, what do you think we should do? I mean, you're the one whose the strongest here..."

The man followed my gaze and his eyes widened when Xymriss' dark blue frame came into view. Though Xymriss was here in the beginning, he slithered back into the depths of the cave to give us some time alone, but I guess the man hadn't seen nor heard the overgrown lizard and was too occupied with his food.

"W-Why is there a D-Dr-Dragon here!?" The man stuttered as his body flashed with a blue light before it disappeared and revealed a set of dark grey plate armor with blue trimmings and gold embroideries around his right breast. A similarly painted steel shield and sword appeared in the man's hands as well, but I could tell from a single glance that he had naught the strength to wield them.

I raised my hands in a placating manner and said "Calm down. Xymriss is a good Dragon. He helped me out a bit when I awoke after I somehow freed him from a seal or something." After seeing the man's muddled expression, I sighed and said "Look, the details are hazy because I banged my head! If you want to hear the full story, ask the man of the hour himself!"

I plopped down next to the fire and grabbed another piece of meat before gesturing with my half-eaten slab of meat for the man to talk to Xymriss, who was yawning off in a corner with a bored expression on his face. The man cleared his throat before saying "I-I believe that I have lost my manners. My name is Takayoshi Sashihai, and I am a Scion of the Seventh Dawn, or better known as the Warrior of Light."

Xymriss snarled and a fire was lit in his eyes as he snaked his head toward Takayoshi and venomously spat "Don't you dare say that in my presence! I care not if you are related by blood, for you will leave or I will devour you, pitiful "hero"!"

Takayoshi tried to stammer out a response, but Xymriss let out a roar to silence him. The Dragon's eyes were filled with a bitterness and an unquenchable rage as he said "I knew I smelt that things corruption upon you! You will leave, and never return!! Your kind has taken everything from me, and I shall not have you take my pupil..."

Those words shocked me since I had never considered being a pupil to a Dragon, and Xymriss had only acted like I was an errand boy anyways. "Wait, wait. Let's not get hasty here." I said as I stood and placed myself between the two.

Xymriss hissed and said "You will move if you know what is good for you, Little Dragon. His kind bring nothing but destruction in their wake, and I will not let you be devoured!" Xymriss' expression grew desperate as I stood there, unmoving. Xymriss raised a clawed foot and swiped out at me, but stopped mere ilms away from my face; a small line of blood dripping down my cheek from the wind pressure of Xymriss' attack.

"I did not mean to hurt you, Little-" I brushed off Xymriss' apology with a sly smirk before saying "If you really want to apologize, then consider taking Takayoshi in along with me. I know he said he's a "Warrior of Light" and all, but he knows of my past. He might know of ways to get my memories back."

Xymriss struggled with his response for a while before letting out a rumbling sigh and saying "Fine, but I'll not let that one out of my sight. He can stay, but if he tries anything funny..." Xymriss let the threat hang in the air with a palpable amount of killing intent; so much so that it had froze me and Takayoshi both.

I forced my stiff body to move as I brought my still smoking portion of meat up to my mouth and tore another chunk from its tender surface. Xymriss glared at Takayoshi for one last time before retreated back into the depths of the cave, leaving us alone once more.

"So, is he always like this?" Takayoshi asked in a hesitant voice as he glanced around like he was expecting something to leap out at him. "Not really. Are you usually like...this?" I asked as I gestured toward the obviously nervous man with my hand.

"Oh, ah, ahem. This is quite unbefitting of me, isn't it? My apologies. If my comrades saw me like this, I-" When Takayoshi realized that I was staring at him with a deadpan expression, he stopped his rambling and averted his eyes as he cleared his throat once more.

"What? Did an encounter with a Dragon shake you up that badly? I mean, you were talking my head off just moments before you even realized he was there..." My voice was oozing with boredom, my earlier intrigue now disappeared after Takayoshi's little display.

"Don't act like you weren't scared when you first met him!" Takayoshi retorted with a small frown as he crossed his arms; his armor clinking around with every movement. The memory of my first contact with Xymriss reentered my mind at that moment, making me cough uncomfortably before I shrugged my shoulders and finished my meal. "I handled it better than you, wimp."

Takayoshi let out an aggrieved sigh and started to brood silently as I made my way over next to him and sat down against the wall. "How'd you get your armor and such to appear out of nowhere?" I asked as I eyed his clean and polished armor.

"Oh, that? To put it simply, I used aether to draw all of my gear out of my crystal's dimensional storage before using the aether already tethered to the gear in order to actually equip it." Half-way through Takayoshi's explanation, I had zoned out and was eventually brought back to reality by a hard push from Takayoshi.

"You weren't even listening, were you...?" He asked with a deep frown on his face. "Oh, I, uh, yeah, I was listening..." I said while unconsciously scratching my chin. Takayoshi reached over and flicked me hard on my forehead and said "You may not remember your bad habits, but I sure as hell do! You always scratch your chin when you're embarrassed or lying, and its probably both right now."

Though I certainly froze up at his accusations, I had more pressing matters that I needed to be attended to. "Well, since you know my habits or whatever," I said with a sigh, "then you must know who I am, and what my name is."

There was a strong silence in the air before Takayoshi finally clenched his jaw and spoke. "As you know, we are Brothers. Twins, in fact. Though our eyes are vastly different, our bodies are one and the same. Haaahhh. This is...not something I would have dreamt about, but I can't complain now that I've finally found you."

Takayoshi took a deep breath before continuing. "Your name is Takahide Sashihai, nicknamed "Hide" by our parents before they died in the efforts to reclaim our home in the East." Takayoshi's hands tightened into fists as a slumbering rage surfaced in his eyes. "Those Garlean bastards killed our parents and left us to die after they pillaged Doma and slaughtered Lord Kaien!!"

As quickly as his anger erupted, so to did it seal itself away. "Forgive me, that is not what you wanted to hear. Our parents were vassals to the King of Doma, Lord Kaien and his son, Lord Hien. We grew up alongside Lord Hien, and had never truly known what our homeland was like before Garlean rule had claimed it. We were always on the road, us three, until a man with long blonde hair, light blue eyes devoid of humanity, and a insatiable thirst for blood found us."

Just remembering the memory obviously made Takayoshi's blood boil. He clutched his pants tight enough to rip holes in them as he continued. "Then, that bastard took Lord Hien, and left us bleeding out on the road. I remember waking up to my companions standing over me and tending to my wounds, but you were no where to be found. Ever since then, I had spent my entire life looking for you..."

Takayoshi smiled lightly as he mused "Who would've thought that me, the younger brother, would be tasked with finding his older brother. Aren't you supposed to be the one with an outstanding sense of direction?" Silence once again followed after his words trailed off, but that was only for a moment.

"Taka. That's what they called you, our parents, no?" I asked while keeping my gaze to the floor beneath me. Takayoshi blinked his eyes several times before nodding his head with a flourishing smile spreading across his face. "Y-Yes...that was the nickname they gave me...you...you remembered...?"