Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
A rhythmic and dull sound echoed throughout the darkness. At first, it felt far away, but each thud made it a bit clearer, a bit louder. Sounds became sensations, each thud accompanied by a soft vibration, felt more in the body than in the ears. It was like an alarm, a call to rise, slow and steady yet seemingly never-ending.
And so he did just that, darkness giving way to light as his eyelids slid open. Pain, that was the first thought that flashed through his mind as he opened his eyes. The light stung, it felt like small needles that dug into his eyes, not even the soft brown colour of the wooden ceiling above him helped combat the small flashes of pain.
He blinked. Once. Twice. Light and darkness flashed before his eyes as he blinked, the two slowly merging as his eyes got accustomed to the light. It was darker than he had expected, the room he was in could even be called dim, yet the light had stung him when he first opened his eyes.
The sight that greeted him was a plain room, wooden walls devoid of decoration, only a single window inlaid in the door letting in some light. A few barrels and sacks occupied the room, tucked away into the corners to make space. The low thumping still persisted as he laid there, rising up from the floor to enter his back.
He tried to move his arm, but a jolt of pain shot up his arm the moment he moved his finger. It felt like lightning rushing through his vein, tiny blades carving open his flesh. But strangely enough, sound refused to escape his lips. He knew it was painful, but he couldn't even grunt, it was as if his instincts were telling him that this pain wasn't worth fretting over.
He drew in a slow breath, his lungs felt stiff and cracked now that he actually paid attention to it. Slowly, he tried to move his body again. First, a finger, then two, then his hand, then his arm. Slowly but surely he managed to move his body without pain, slowly but surely his movements got smoother as his muscles warmed up.
"Oi, there's movement. Quartermaster, you're up!"
A voice cut through the rhythmic thumping as he was warming up his body, a tanned face had passed by the small window while he was focusing on his own body. He tensed up slightly, the realization that he had no idea where he currently was suddenly washing over him.
Had he been captured? Kidnapped? Were they the reason just warming up his muscles hurt that much? And if he was here then what about... what about who? Who was he trying to think about, who was he suddenly worried about?
His previously calm blinking suddenly turned panicked as his apparently slow mind reached the core question he should have been asking from the start; Who was he? He tried to think back, tried to remember. But all he came up with was darkness. Name, age, appearance, history, he couldn't remember anything. The first memory he could recall was that quiet and rhythmic thumping that broke through the darkness to wake him up.
An even softer symphony of thuds came from outside the room as his mind was racing, a shadow covering the light that the window let in. The door was pushed open and the shadow walked in, a tall and muscular woman whose skin had seen so much sun it turned dark stepping into the room. She was accompanied by a dry wind and the scent of sand, shutting out both of them as she closed the door and strode forward.
He got a better look at her as she got closer, not only was her skin baked by the sun but she also had several scars marring her skin. The bare arms revealed by her torn shirt, her abdomen, even her face was filled with scars of varying sizes. The largest by far was the one that covered her entire right eye, it was about the size of a fist and had removed the entire eye, only a black pit left to tell its tale.
"Hey, Kiddo, are you firing on all cylinders?"
The woman squatted down at his side, brushing aside her short black hair as her lone eye wandered across his softly twitching body. His pupils shrank slightly, he didn't know what to think, what to do. Was she a friend or a foe? Did she know who he was? He did not know, and thus he could not react. His lack of reaction, however, drove the woman to act, unfastening the waterskin at her waist and pouring its contents onto his face.
"Drink. Drink and fire up those cylinders."
The liquid she poured over his face was clearly not water, it was a deep red and stank of alcohol and bitter grapes. Some of the liquid entered his mouth and slid down his throat, settling in his stomach. Bitter, it really was as bitter as it smelled, it probably wouldn't be going overboard to call it disgusting. But it did indeed help. The splashes of the cold liquid washed away needless thoughts and cleared the way for more appropriate thoughts.
No, he did not know if this woman was a friend or foe or if she knew anything about him. But did that matter right now? No, it didn't. He had no idea who he was or where he was so how would he ever be able to figure out if this woman was a friend or foe by just looking at her? He had to ask, question and investigate, only like that would he learn. The woman's lips curved slightly when she saw the clarity in his eyes, putting away the water flask as she nodded her head.
"There ya go, now you're looking a bit more present. Kiddo, I'm Zheng Yi Sao, but you can just call me Quartermaster as long as you're riding with us. How you looking? You were practically buried in the sand when we found ya so I imagine a thing or two inside might be fried from the heat."
Yi Sao's eye swept across his body again as she spoke. A youthful body, bright golden eyes and dim grey hair, a simple but neat pair of white clothes covering his body. He looked more like a young master or a scholar than someone who should be mulling about within the Wandering Desert. Then again, if her guess was correct then he may, in fact, be one such scholar, he'd probably just gotten kidnapped and dumped here when they were done with him, it wasn't exactly an uncommon tale.
"Fried... Probably? You wouldn't happen to know who I am, where I am, and how I ended up here, would you? I'm drawing a bit of a blank on everything so I'm having some issues with staying calm."
Polite yet slightly casual, definitely not a young master, that was Yi Sao's analysis. Some things couldn't be erased even if the memories of it were, if the youth had been a young master then there would be traces of that past arrogance or grace in his voice. But there was nothing, he spoke just like the kids she sometimes walked past when they anchored by a city.
The situation also seemed a bit worse than she had expected, but then again, just being alive after being tossed into the Wandering Desert could be called a miracle. His eyes were clean and pure, that bright golden almost piercing through her. He wasn't lying, she could judge that with perfect clarity. The heat had fried his brain and robbed him of his identity.
"Got it, so you're stuck all the way up shit creek without a paddle, not an ideal situation. But ya know what they say, piss poor luck rarely arrives alone so I've gotta keep up the bad news. Sorry kiddo, I ain't got a clue who you are or how you ended up here. Well, not technically, I know why you're on this ship but not why you were ditched in the desert. As for where you are, you're currently aboard the Sand Sovereign, you won't find a prouder flagship on all the Wandering Desert."
Yi Sao spoke somewhat crudely but concisely, providing what little answers she could. But perhaps as was to be expected, even the answer she was able to give was of little help to someone who couldn't even remember their own name.
"Wandering Desert... Sand Sovereign... Neither of them sounds familiar. A bit foreign to the tongue even."
He almost felt like shaking his head, the words felt like blocks on his tongue, unfamiliar and strange. Was it because of his lost memory or because he had never heard about them before? He couldn't quite tell, that was one of the annoying parts of amnesia, the constant questioning and uncertainty. But luckily, in cases like this, there was generally one thing that would always be on your side.
"It is what it is, kiddo. If you can't do anything about it then ya can't do it, simple as. Best to just give it time, time'll heal just about any wound, be they physical or mental. Well, that's assuming the wounds don't just kill ya before them, not impossible really. We picked you up so we'll take care of ya until you decide to dip, as long as you're willing to work on the ship at least. Whaddaya think?"
Yi Sao held out her hand as she spoke, almost waving it in front of his face. The line of business she was in had a near-constant turn-over, the need for new hands on deck was always present, always nagging at the back of their minds during each confrontation. The boy had the luck to survive being dumped in the desert so who knows, he may end up being like a lucky charm to them.
As for the boy, he had nowhere else to go, not even a name to go by, so he could only latch onto what he had right now and hope that Yi Sao was right, that time would heal all wounds.
"Please take good care of me, I'll do my best to work properly while I'm in your care."
He stretched out his arm, it had been the first part of his body that he warmed up so he could move it mostly without a problem. Yi Sao clasped his hand and shook it, she put a good deal of strength into her grasp but he didn't react so the corners of her lips turned up a bit further.
"Hey, you're hardier than you look kiddo, that's good! I'll be calling you kiddo, that's what you are after all, but can't let the rest of the crew enjoy the same privilege as the Quartermaster so we've gotta give you a name, at least until you recall your own. But don't get your hopes up, I'll stick to the nice and simple name of Wanderer. Don't like it? Tough luck, remember your own name if you wanna change it."
Yi Sao pulled on his arm as she spoke, pulling him to his feet while naming him. She helped Wanderer stay upright, her hand pouring hot energy into him to shock his muscles awake. It was a bit unpleasant, but the back of his mind once again told him that a sensation like this wasn't worth fretting over so he didn't make a sound. Yi Sao smiled again when she saw his lack of reaction, patting him on the back and pushing him towards the door.
"That's a good kiddo, you may just fit in real good here. Follow me, gotta greet the Cap if you're gonna spend any more time here. He's pretty similar to me, but if you annoy him then he may just dump you on Skewer's Rest when we reach it so try not to poke fun at his appearance."