"..."
He could vaguely hear some very distant noises. He had yet to gain the ability to see perfectly but he noticed a silhouette through his half delirious state of mind. He tried to sit up or take control of his senses but that was beyond help.
"...sen!"
"Corsen!", he finally distinguished someone calling that name, "Corsen! Is he awake?"
The silhouette moved at the sound and approached the door as he lay in his bed, watching it. He focused his vision a bit more. The silhouette was bright red or so he imagined.
"Could you keep it down?", the silhouette opened the door and scolded whoever was making a ruckus of it. She said some other things which he couldn't distinguish.
He struggled to lift himself up, having gained a considerable percentage of his conscious.
"Ah!", Corsen noticed him and moved towards him, "You're awake...Jack!"
He looked at Corsen's face who was leaning down to check on him. She had the reddest hair he'd ever seen. She shone like a sun engulfing the desert on the hottest day.
"Who...?", he muttered.
"How are you feeling? No, don't move yet. You're really wounded. Hey, look at me", she lifted his face to look directly into his eyes, "Jack, you look so pale. What's the matter? C'mon, look at me".
She repelled any effort he made to look away from her ocean green eyes.
"Who...? Who are you?", he muttered again.
"What?", she was puzzled, "Jack, it's me."
She stood in front of him.
"Why do you...know me?", he asked.
She paused for a long while, staring straight into his eyes.
"It's fine. Just...are you feeling alright? You were hurt really bad when I found you in Halen. That's not a salvageable place anymore I suppose. I've brought you to our camp in the King's forest. You'll be safe here", she replied before fixing herself up and started towards the door.
"What are you going to do to me?", he asked.
"Nothing", she chuckled, "You can stay and recover. You are a merc, aren't you?"
"Something like that."
"We are too. We are the Beast faction of the King. Welcome aboard."
"I am not joining you", he replied quickly.
"For now anyway. But Beast faction is a lot more than just King's chosen knights. We have use for everyone. Even the injured."
Saying that, she left the room. He sat there in thought for a while and then examined himself. He was bandaged head to toe. He struggled to remember what had caused him to end up in this situation. He knew he had been fighting all day but what made him to collapse, whether it was exhaustion or a critical blow, he couldn't recall.
For a long while he sat there, all alone, thinking about various things. Then a knock came on the door and it opened. Corsen was back followed by another man.
"He's still awake", she said to the man who came with her, "And he's going to be up and running in no time at this rate."
He nodded to her with a pleasant smile.
"You must be very confused but you should rest assured. Corsen tells me you are a merc like us. You survived Halen...somehow. That's impressive in its own right but you can relax now. I'm Wolfe, I lead the Beast faction. If you've never heard of me, I'm also one of the twelve elite guards of the King."
In fact, he had seen Wolfe before. Anyone who had been close to the castle knew his name. Though most had never laid eyes on the King himself, everyone knew Wolfe.
He didn't give any reaction to Wolfe's nice introduction.
"Should we let him rest?", Corsen intervened, "Jack is probably going to need some time."
Wolfe nodded , whispered something to her and went outside first.
"Hey lady", he stopped Corsen before she exited the room, "How do you know my name?"
Corsen looked at him with a lost look in her eyes. She remained silent for a while before she spoke.
"Well...who knows?", she smiled painfully, "I just know it somehow."