After a short practice session, I'm now made to put my skills to the test. An old man finishes climbing the pathway leading to the shack. He has a big stick being used as a cane and a rope on the other hand, carrying a couple of rabbits with horns on their foreheads. I would've thought him frail if he wasn't carrying so many rabbits while climbing the hill.
A light chuckle comes from his mouth the moment he reaches the top. "My, I wasn't expecting company. What are you two doing way out in this valley? It's a long way from civilization."
So, we are in a valley? I thought it was just a forest but these trees make it impossible to see past the tree line, even from on top of this cliff.
I swallow saliva before speaking from my male counterpart's mouth, my female counterpart was able to remain quiet. "Hello, me and my... sister don't know where we are. When we woke up, we were near a crater not far from here."
The old man shows concern, not taking notice of the forced way I felt I spoke. "That's terrible, you two must've been close to where the meteor landed a few hours ago. Are you both alright? How much do you two remember?"
I try making the female answer. "We're still a little shaken but we don't remember much. After we first awoke, we identified we were siblings, but we don't remember much else."
I'm a bit nervous, I still have difficulty restricting the male's movements while the female is being proactive, but it worked, his suspicion of us being the same shouldn't be possible.
Which it seems like it worked seeing as the old man remained focused on our story. "That is sad to hear, do you two at least remember your names?"
We shake our heads, though it was at the same time it shouldn't be much of a concern for this. Then male me answers, "We only remember minor details, fragments of common knowledge. Anything specific is just...muddled together."
"Is that so?" The old man puts his hand to his chin. His eyes wonder, examining us rather thoroughly as a chill goes down my spine. Did he notice?
He is silent for a few minutes, making me more and more concerned until he asks, "Are you two the same person?"
My heart nearly leaped out of my... our chest. We try to deny it but as soon as I do, we're made to stop as I notice I'm completely in sync again. With reluctance, I give up on the lies.
My heart was thumping, less so that he noticed and more on how right his first guess was. Immediately he calls out the two who look nothing alike be it height, gender, hair color, or figure, yet he still comes to that conclusion.
"I-I... Yes, yes we're the same." We say in sync. "But it's also true I have no memories. I'm unable to remember much of anything, much less how...This happened to me." Both bodies gesture to the other.
But he began to chuckle as he watched us. "And how long have you two been like this? You two are so in sync I would think it's been at least a day or two."
We shook our heads. "I only remember after the crash. I practiced when I could, first with getting one of me to stop moving then to have me pick myself up. Every moment was full of discomfort as the ground beneath me was never made even. Every feeling was... is overbearing, even if it's happening to one and not the other."
The only thing I'm hesitant to add is the fact I came from inside the crater. A secret I feel no one should know.
The old man takes a seat across from us and listens to our story, a sigh escaping his lips as he mumbles. "A side effect of a poison? No... Maybe a spell...Or a curse...?"
If he doesn't notice I'm holding back that one piece of information, I hope he'll be as inclined to answer my questions as I have been for him. "If I could ask, how did you find out I was both people? Was I that terrible at acting?"
The old man thinks about how to explain it. "The first sign was your souls' wavelength; it was too in sync. Even if you were twins, no soul would look that similar in everything it does. Like every flame flickers its own pattern, souls shift and waver differently no matter the person, but you two have the same size and pattern, everything was always reacting the same way."
'The way I was discovered was something I couldn't hide! Ugh... I guess that makes me feel a little better but it's still frustrating to hear I worked so hard to hide what would've been discovered the moment he first saw me.'
He continued, "The other hint was your attempt to switch speakers. It was rough, you both instinctively returning to the same movement in the minor details, from blinking and breathing to your other habits. Heh, you still need lots more practice if you want to trick someone with my eyes!"
So, he noticed my breathing among other things? And to think I once believed he didn't take notice of anything I did wrong.
But with those words, I now know he isn't someone you run into every day. "Then would you be willing to teach me? You didn't leave a hint you noticed my flaws. You could surely teach me how to not get caught."
He laughs before giving a quick cough to recompose himself. "Ahem, I will do more than that, I will teach you how to defend yourself and survive in these lands. This area of Varen Valley isn't a safe place for just anyone. It's controlled by a troublesome horde of monsters, and it was pure luck that you were near my home when you lost your memory. This valley is controlled by Hobgoblins."
Since he already knows we have amnesia, he goes straight to explaining that Hobgoblins are a race of monsters that acts as the main evolution after Goblins, prioritizing tracking and hunting, sometimes even taming beasts to track prey easier or even ride them if there isn't too great a size difference.
I know that Goblins are a weak race of monsters that attack villages for food. I also remember Goblins being able to evolve into Orcs if they spend enough time working on strength. But I don't remember about Hobgoblins...
"Though they aren't as physically fit as Orcs, they are still quite vicious as the chances of you hiding from them are low. So, it was lucky that the God Tears were falling when they did, else you could have been tracked by their tamed beasts."
When I heard God Tears, I first didn't understand what he meant, but the first thing that came to mind... "You mean the blood rain?"
"Correct. When the sky goes dark and blood falls to Avikin, it is a God's blood that had been shed from within the heavens."
So, God Blood shed in the heavens that fall to the world of humans. And that same blood helped mask our presence, giving us time to find shelter. "But why is it called God Tears instead of God Blood?"
But he shrugs. "Maybe it was a priest's idea from back long ago. Crying when he realized drops of blood from his deity of worship had been spilt."
"The amount of time blood falls often tells of how much blood had been spilled. Since it was only a few minutes of blood fall, it likely was nothing more than a flesh wound, something to be healed in a matter of minutes for a deity. Though I don't know the distance so I can't tell how deep the wound was. If it covered all the Four kingdoms, then it was a wound that could've killed a God in one blow, but at that point, it seems more likely the God of Shadows stabbed someone over a joke using him as the punchline."
I wave all 4 of my arms around when he gets ahead of himself. "Wait, wait, wait...! You are bringing up things I can't remember! First off, the four kingdoms?"
"Right, sorry." He uses his stick and pokes around at the dirt till a rough image of the land is drawn. "The four kingdoms are the kingdoms of this continent, Grenon, named after the God of the Sun. The nearest kingdom to these forests is the Kingdom of Siltria, whose patron is the God of Law."
'Places named after people called Gods? Something is familiar but nothing rings a bell.'
"Siltria has a high military force, able to handle pushing back monsters despite being between all three kingdoms, all three were once hostile towards them for one reason or another but owning the lush lands not occupied by monsters was the main suspect.
"The Kingdom to the South of Siltria is the sister Kingdom of Malikai. They were the first to sign a peace treaty back when I was still young. Though they once fought for Siltria's lands that weren't infested by some of the most dangerous monsters you will ever find, they had calmed down and instead formed an alliance to keep the monsters at bay."
"The kingdom to the East is the Kingdom of Jiiruno, a more trade-based country as it lies in the center of an ocean of sand. Because it's entirely made up of a desert, they require trade with other countries for goods to help in their country's survival. Though they were once too proud to admit it, they now trade with Siltria just as much as they trade with the Northern Federation, who is a neutral party when compared to all others."
"Lastly, to the West is the Kingdom of Kiriad, a Kingdom of Magic despite being surrounded by cold. Or it used to be, the original king was overthrown in place of a new one just before I started living alone. The kingdom changed its name to Renon, in commemoration of its new king."
Again, something familiar but nothing comes to mind when I try to think of it, primarily with the talk of the 'Kingdom of Magic.'
--------
The old man taps his stick-on stone, taking my attention off the map and focusing back on him. "But enough about history, are you hungry?"
The thought of food made me question how long it's been since I ate, only to remind me I don't know. "I should eat something since I don't remember when I last did."
He gives a nod as he gets off the log.
"Then..." He says as walks up to me with the frail body. "You are at least going to be helping me make it." He lifts his stick up towards me and chants something that makes the female counterpart lose consciousness.
[[Make my opponent rest, take away their stamina leaving only fatigue]]
Seeing him act made me shocked and confused, but my attention was drawn to my now sleeping female body while the male was still conscious.
I hear him mumble. "I see, so it does act separately despite having a connection."
He touched my female's left arm as my male counterpart felt the pressure from the finger poking at me. He analyzed the way my bodies work and we both learned much about how I react in my sleep but before I could start asking questions, he answered my worries. "Now let's see how you do with simply one body. As we reach your limits; we'll switch to the female and do the same tasks again."
I'm still a little shaken by whatever was cast on my other being so sudden, but if I don't do anything I won't be able to leave, to find out my former identities. "Alright. Just tell me what I need to do."