Existentialism nutshell
"Who am I?"
The question rang out in to the quiet of the hut with the unsettling crackle from the small fire as contest never ceased for some reason. Brought back by a clap, Cracel smiles down at me, "Excuse the formalities, I might've let myself get taken away there, heh. I just was inquiring about your name."
"My name?"
The question was again met by the same awkward crackle of the fire who seemed to almost tease me at this point.
I clench my head with my hands as the strange feeling of terror creeps it's way into my bones. The room mysterious gets darker and the only sound I hear is a beep followed by crackles (probably from the fire again) followed immediately by another beep.
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Who am I?
What's my name?
Why can't I remember?!
What's this void?
...
....
Hello?
...
.....
Huh...
I can't feel anything?
....
Guess there really is nothing...
...
That doesn't feel right...
...
...
...
Wait a minute...
What's that rainbow?
It's getting brighter and faster?
What's this---
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"What the hell did you do Cracel?" Lamb looks worriedly between the collapsed boy on the ground and his good friend who stood flabbergasted and looked like he could faint himself.
"I-i-i don't know, I don't think I've ever seen that happen before in my life. Ah we should get the boy a place to rest, the stone ground is no place to sleep," Cracel waves his arms in many directions trying his best to calm his nerves as he goes to pick up the child.
They look at each other unsure what to do with what they can only presume to be a child as the boy's size is a size smaller than even their children but guess they just need a small crib of sorts to hold him.
So Lamb goes and fetches a woman by the name of Retaya who magically crafts from the very stone ground a small crib like structure with her deft hands that perfectly fits the boy. They also managed to make a interwoven grass bedding to make it easier to rest in.
"The boy is certainly in strange attire, I wonder where he comes from?"
"I wish I could say, he just sorta appeared in front of me and I couldn't resist the urge to help him."
"Lamb, you big oaf, helping everyone you see is going to be the end of you someday!"
"Ah shucks, Retaya, how could I not do that? Especially when it's as fulfilling as the harvest of crops?"
"Ugh why is it so hard to be mad at you, Lamb?! Stop it~~!"
Retaya blushes and pouts while Lamb innocently scratches the back of his head confused.
"If you two are done flirting and annoying me, I'm going back to meditati-"
"Aw, Cracel still doesn't like me, tell him off Lamb!"
"What am I supposed to do?! Cracel, help?"
"Of course, you youngsters have too much energy to understand sarcasm every once in a while, heh. Well, take care Lamb, watch over the boy now."
"Wait, I'm not going to assist in babysitting, good luck Lamb!"
...
...
"Well guess it's just me and you, huh kid?"
Lamb looks at the curled up boy in this mini rock crib. The subtle rise and fall of the boy's chest let Lamb know the boy was still alive so with nothing else to do he took the boy back to his hut. He was promptly interrupted by his two children, who being curious sorts, asked barrage of questions Lamb struggled to answer. His wife then came to reign in the children like a shepherd dog does to sheep before then also barraging Lamb in questions and concerns. Lamb calmly reassured his wife their cattle were fine and how he came across the boy that currently rests in a crib he stashed near the fireplace in the center of the hut.
"You should've at least got the boy's name before telling him tales and knocking him unconscious."
"But I didn't knock him unconsc- oooh...Yeah, I probably shouldn't have talked his ear off, huh?"
His wife just proceeded to glare at him for a minute before sighing, "Well, guess we'll do our best to take care of another kid if comes down to it, huh?"
"Aw, Olla, you're awesome!" Lamb grins as he hugs his wife, Olla, who rolls her eyes but hugs right back.
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From the void of darkness, my awareness returns to me. Feeling soft, warm comfort beneath me and slowly blinking my eyes open to see some intricate railings of stone. They almost looked like they were just branches woven neatly together and not the stone that they were formed from. 'Wait a minute, they are stone right?' I reach out and touch the bar. To my shock, it is stone! I look around and get my bearings; I'm in another hut very similar to the one I was previously in with the exception that it was wider to accommodate more people with some more chairs.
It appears to still be daylight outside but it's very difficult to tell given how small the gaps that let one see out were. I'd assume a house cat could probably fit those gaps more so than I.
"Ooo, look! He awake!"
"Shhh, Pit, you're gonna scare him."
A pair of blue eyes stared at me through the bars causing me to lose balance and land on my arse, "See? You scared him."
A second pair of blue eyes appeared from behind me through the bars, only they were a bit paler like a bunch of clouds during twilight.
"Are you okay little one?"
"Ann, stop pestering, you scaring him!"
"Nuh-uh."
"Yeh-uh."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yeh-uh."
"Well you scared him first so it doesn't count," the pale blue eyed one pouts, with her long bright orange hair curling around her shoulders, crossed her arms and looked away from her brother.
I realized they're twins by the fact they are the same height, which oddly was probably double my height, and they have nearly identical faces. Ann has paler blue eyes while her brother Pit has some freckles around his cheeks.
"So, what's name?"
"Pit, it's 'what's your name?' "
"That I said, your name?"
I pause upon being asked, my brain feeling like it was slowly boiling and nothing came up.
"I-i..... don't know...."
"So no name?"
"Pit, don't be rude."
"How no name?"
I shrug, already not sure how to respond to the question, but even more puzzled that I could not know my name like something blurred it with chaos of noise and color.
"So what do we call you?"
"He look like doll, hmmm."
"Pit, he's not a doll."
"No, Ann, he is doll, Daddy put playpen around, he is doll," Pit gave the most malicious grin to me that my legs buckled.
"Dad! Pit about to do stupid stuff again!"
"Nuh-uh!"
"Try to catch me hehe!"
Pit chased Ann away as I released the tense breath of air I was unconsciously holding in.
I then felt the straps of my backpack on my shoulders and remembered that I had some sort of books inside so seeing as I was content being in my little prison a bit longer, I perused the contents.
The first of the three books was- wait why can't I read this? I see some plus and minus symbols on the cover but I can't seem to understand what any of it meant. The second cover was gibberish to me and the third was no better but it at least contained pictures that made some sense. It has a scene of an old combat, with piles of dead soldiers and swords and spears. It was a bit confusing but seemed like a reference to some sort of famous battle or something like that. There also was a scene with a king laveshed in lots of wealth and ladies that I couldn't help be feel a bit jealous, the massive structure in the background of the scene was marvelous with gold lining the pillars in intricate designs. There was another scene but it put the previous looking combat one to shame, there was strange metal looking boxes with large tubes behind a group of green men with strange looking spears, they appear to be knee deep in mud in what I presume to be some sort of ditch, there were also small black looking birds dotting the grey clouds of the twilight colored sky. There were also green looking things in the mud with patches of dark red around it. The ruined buildings in the background gave the unsettling feeling of despair I didn't think I could get off a painting.
"Ah what's that you got there, kid?"