Chapter 2: Chapter 1 - Awakening
A figure laid silently on the bed. His soft snoring could barely be heard over the wind outside. His expression was soft and peaceful for a single moment before he scrunched up in slight pain. The fabric above the bed moved slightly as the person in the bed began to move. He groaned in pain as he burrowed his head into the pillows.
It was like tiny needles were piercing into his skull. There was a flash of white in his mind, someone calling his name, and then darkness.
There was a slight knock at the door. It was not too loud nor too quiet, but it still stirred the figure on the bed.
"Xiu-shixiong, The Sect Leader is requesting your presence." A soft voice called out.
The figure on the bed stirred at the commotion. His face scrunched up in discomfort before he slowly opened his eyes. He blinked. Then blinked again. Rubbing his eyes he sat up and gazed confusingly around the room.
'Where?'
The room he was in was rather large. He was lying on a giant bed that could easily fit up to three people. The silk sheets were a beautiful white with a drawing of black mountains and birds decorating it. The birds looked familiar. He gently touched one and word popped into his head.
Cranes.
He shifted his gaze to the rest of the room. A few low tables with small black and white pillows laid in the center of the room, and what looked like a bookshelf lined the far side wall. Small ornaments and papers filled the shelves.
A small glint caught his eye.
'Is that a…' the word was lost to him.
In a bout of confusion, he pushed the sheet off and dangled his feet over the edge. The robes he wore had fallen off one side of his shoulder, but he paid no mind as he walked towards the shelf. He picked up the small object and recoiled back in confusion.
'Is this me?'
He gazed at the object again. Reflected was a young man barely the age of an adult. His long black hair was a bit messy. It reached his mid back and for a moment he felt like this was all wrong. His face was soft and flawless. His lips were thin and his eyes, his eyes were unique? One of his eyes was a beautiful blue while the other was a startling gold.
He gently patted his face underneath his golden eye. His face scrunched up even more in confusion. This eye didn't feel right to him.
"Xiu-Shixiong?" The voice from before called out a little louder this time.
He startled and dropped the object, letting it clatter to the ground barley missing his pale bare feet.
"Xiu-Shixiong? Is everything alright?" The voice sounded more panicked, but his focus was elsewhere.
He scrunched up his toes, watching with slight amusement as they moved effortlessly on the cool flooring.
'It feels nice.'
The door beside him was slowly opened and a young boy with his hair tied high in a ponytail barged in with slight hesitation. His head whipped back and forth, worry and confusion laced on his face until it landed on him. A look of relief washed over him as he took a step closer and lowered his head, "Xiu-Shixiong, I'm glad you are alright. I was worried when you weren't responding."
"…"
"Xiu-Shixiong?" The young boy glanced up, his eyebrows furrowed. "Xiu-shixiong, are you…alright?" The young boy took a step forward, hand reaching out.
Seeing the shadow move at his feet he lifted his head. When he saw the stranger in front of him, he gasped in surprise and moved away from the other. A slight clattering echoed in the room as his foot came in contact with the object on the ground. He glanced down briefly at the object now laying further away from him, then back at the stranger before him.
It was a young boy. He had his hair tied up into a ponytail and he was wearing white robes. His hand was out in front of him, but he was slowly bringing it back to his side. His face was scrunched up and his eyes were gazing at him strangely as he took a step back.
"Xiu-Shixiong, are you alright?" He repeated, this time more quietly than before.
The boy's tone was gentle and he found himself gazing at the boy. He could understand what the boy was saying, but couldn't comprehend the meaning behind the other words.
For a moment he just stood there. Then, as if something clicked in his head, he pointed to himself, "I am Xiu-Shixiong?"
The young boy took another step back. His back straightened as he stared at him. "Xiu-Shixiong, you're joking right?" The boy tilted his head, his eyebrows scrunching as he spoke.
Xiu frowned at the other. He was happy to find that he could understand the other, but the words he said, although some sounded familiar, he found that he couldn't comprehend all the meaning behind all the words.
"What is joking?" He tilted his head to the side, mimicking the person in front of him.
"Oh, oh no." The young boy paled. He placed a hand over his head and said with a slight tremor "Xiu-Shi- Can you tell me your name?"
Xiu glanced up at him, thinking about what the other had called him, he repeated, "I am Xiu-Shixiong." He pointed to himself once more with confidence.
"Yes, yes, you're Xiu-Shixiong." The young boy was biting his lip as he spoke with an unknown look in his eyes. "Do you…" he paused and took a deep breath, "Do you know where you are at? Or what your full name is?"
Xiu looked around the room once more. The room, though lovely, was almost like a shell of sorts. Like he was looking at a giant object through a vail.
He shook his head then touched his head, "Did I get hurt?"
The young boy frowned once more, "Yo-" He choked, "Xiu-Shixiong," His voice wavered, "What-What happened to your eye?"
"My eye?" Xiu touched his face again, frowning.
'I knew it, something was wrong with my eye.' He thought to himself. His shoulders dropped with his head, causing the other to slightly panic.
"It's fine! It's fine!" The young boy waved his hands in front of him. He kept glancing towards the entrance way with a shaky smile on his face. "Um, Xiu-Shixiong. Could you just wait right here? I'll be back soon." With a tense smile the boy sprinted out of the room.
"Oh, this is bad. Someone get the Sect Leader!" The young Boy's voice echoed into the room. Xiu stayed where he was, but leaned forward just a tiny bit. There were a few loud thumps and a couple of grumbling coming from outside.
After a moment of silence there was a loud shout and the pitter patter of scurrying feet. There were so many voices yelling at one another that it overwhelmed Xiu. He backed away from the door and hurriedly got back on the bed, pulled the covers up and hid.
A moment later there was a loud clattering, followed by loud thudding. He could hear multiple footsteps coming towards him, but he didn't look. Instead he pulled the covers even tighter around him and shuffled towards the edge of the bed.
His hand came across a small space between the wall and the bed and he planned to squeeze himself in between them, but it seemed luck was not on his side.
Rough hands wrapped around his waist and hoisted him away from the small crevice.
"Zhang Xiu!" A voice yelled in his ears. The blanket he was holding tightly was easily ripped away from his body, leaving him completely uncovered. Zhang Xiu froze as a face almost similar to his stared at him with a worried look and a few stray tears in his eyes.
"Zhang Xiu." The voice mumbled. His eyes trailing up his face and freezing when they landed on his eye. The man's thumb gently rubbed underneath his golden eye.
"What happened?" He voiced slowly.
Zhang Xiu frowned and tried to back away from the man. Despite this, the man's hold only tightened.
"Zhang Xiu? What's wrong? Do you not feel well? Does your…eye hurt?" The man's distraught face was a little too close for Zhang Xiu's liking and he tried once again to push the other man away.
"Who?" He wavered not knowing what to say to the man.
The man stilled. His eyes were unreadable. He pulled Zhang Xiu closer to him and said, "What do you mean, who?"
"Sect Leader!" The young boy from before ran up to them and kneeled. There was a sickening thud as his head hit the ground. Zhang Xiu flinched at the noise and tried to shift away from the man once again, but to no avail.
"Apologizes Sect Leader, this lowly one didn't get the chance to tell you the entire issue."
The man holding him turned to face the young man on the ground. Zhang Xiu could see the man clenching his jaw as he spoke, "Go on."
The young man gulped, "Apologizes Sect Leader, Xiu-Shixiong doesn't seem to remember anything." His voice became quiet as he spoke. His hands clenched into fist and his entire body was shaking. Zhang Xiu almost felt petty for the young boy.
A dense pressure filled the room causing the few lingering people outside to gasp in surprise and run away. Zhang Xiu felt the pressure around him growing denser as well and he found his consciousness slipping from him.
"Sect Leader!" Multiple voices called out frantically.
"You must stop! You're hurting Xiu-Shidi!" A stern voice said.
All at once the pressure dispersed and Zhang Xiu was being cradled by the man once more. "I-I'm sorry Zhang Xiu. I didn't mean it. It's okay, your gege is here."
'Gege?' Zhang Xiu could barely grasp the meaning behind the word, but now he knew why this man looked so close to him in appearance. This man was his brother.
"Gege?" Zhang Xiu repeated the word. It was heavy on his tongue and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not.
"Yes? Do you remember me?" The man said with hopeful eyes. Zhang Xiu bit his tongue. He didn't want to let this man down, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember this man. In fact, he couldn't remember anything.
With downcast eyes he shook his head.
The man deflated. His grip on him loosened, but only for a moment, "That's okay." The man smiled, "It's fine."
"Sect Leader." A man in red took a step forward. His long black hair was split in half. Half of it was tied up and held into place by a small round ornament while the rest of his hair lay loose. He had a calming aura about him and he was carrying a book with him. His charcoal eyes avoided his and he leaned towards the man stating to be his gege, whispering something into his ear.
His gege frowned. His eyes flickered to the side as the man in red took a step back. His gege turned back to him.
"This may seem scary to you, but we can work on getting your memories back bit by bit." He reassured. "Until then…" his gege trailed off.
"Until then we can show you around the Sect and get you used to your surroundings." A soft voice intervened.
A young woman with soft brown eyes and pink flowers in her hair walked up to the side of his bed. Zhang Xiu was momentarily distracted by all the flowers that decorated her pink robes. They looked so real, but they couldn't be could they? He reached out tentatively, but a firm hand grasped his hand and led it back to his side.
He looked up at his gege whose eyes were gently telling him that he shouldn't do what he just tried to do.
The girl in pink smiled at him. "It's alright Sect Leader." She took a single flower from her neatly braided bun and placed it on the bed. "It may look fake, but these flowers are real. They are embedded with my Qi in order to keep them in their prime state." She explained calmly.
Zhang Xiu nodded along though he had no idea what Qi or imbedded meant, but the flower was pretty and real and that's all that mattered. He gently touched the flower. It was soft. With a smile he scooped it up with both of his hands and brought it to his face.
It was a rather big pink flower, with a white center. It was pretty. He smiled and said, "It's pretty."
There was a collective gasp and Zhang Xiu quickly looked up in confusion. His gege had turned away, his sleeve covering half his face while the others in the room were hiding their mouths behind their sleeves and avoiding his gaze. The only one looking at him openly was the girl in pink from before and even she looked off. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were slightly wider than before.
'Did I do something wrong?' He thought. He tilted his head to the side. 'The only thing I did was take the flower and smell it.' He glanced down at the flower, 'Is that it?.' He looked back up and offered the flower back to the girl. She smiled and took it back, placing it back in her hair.
"Don't worry. You did nothing wrong." She glanced back at the people in the room. He followed her gaze, watching as the others quickly turned away. "It's just that they are not used to seeing you like this." She mumbled.
"Like this?" He tilted his head again. 'How am I supposed to act?' He thought to himself. His gaze wandered to the others. They were all standing straight, with their heads held high and…unique clothing. Zhang Xiu had noticed it when they first entered, but he never had the chance to really look at them. They were brightly colored and more intricate than the young boy who had been bowing before. Even their hair was done up with ornaments.
'Could they be important people?' He thought. 'Did I offend them?' With a worried expression he fumbled out of the blanket and stood up to greet them, his robe falling off his shoulder even more to the point where most of his chest was showing.
The girl in pink gasped and quickly fixed his clothes. "Sect Leader, I think Xiu-shidi needs to begin his lessons on proper dressing now." She said firmly.
"What?" His gege said. He turned around and his face went pale. "Look away! Look away!" He yelled at the others. Zhang Xiu watched him curiously.
'Is there something wrong with me? Do I look weird?' Zhang Xiu thought. He looked down at his body. It seemed normal to him, but he hadn't seen the others, so he couldn't determine if his body looked normal.
"Sect Leader." The girl said firmly, still trying to wrap the robe around Zhang Xiu's shoulders, making sure it was secured tightly. She frowned.
"Ah, yes." His gege stood up, "Elder Han Taio, help me get proper attire for him." The young man in red robes nodded slightly and the two made way for the large wardrobe in the corner.
"Sect Leader." The girl started, "I think it's best if we hold a meeting after Xiu-Shidi gets dressed." Her hands were clenching Zhang Xiu's robe tightly.
His gege glanced over, a frown painting his face, but nonetheless he agreed. "Elder Wu Delun, go and find a disciple capable enough to watch over Zhang Xiu." A man in green who stood to the side with his arms crossed said nothing as he turned and walked out of the room.
"Sect Leader." Elder Han Taio held up a bundle of robes in his arms for the other to take. He nodded and placed the robes on the bed.
"Elder Guo Mei and Kuo Bai." He paused, his fist clenching and unclenching as he hesitated over the words he was about to say, "Make sure that my didi is dressed correctly." He glanced over at Zhang Xiu who stood there, blinking innocently.
Zhang Xiu watched the alteration before him. It seems he would be getting dressed, but he felt like there was more to the conversation than what was said.
He watched as the one man in red and his gege left the room, leaving him alone with the lady in pink and a lady in blue. The lady in pink smiled warmly as she held up an article of clothing. It was white with black cranes flying on them, they looked just like the image on his blankets.
"I can't believe this." The lady in blue scoffed. Her eyes narrowed and her arms crossed. "Out of all the people, he-"
"Enough, Elder Guo Bai." The lady in pink said sternly. A smile still graced her lips, but her eyes were as cold as winter.
"Here, put this on. Guo Bai, help him with his hair."
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"Gege! Are you not coming? The other disciples and I are going fishing in the river." A young boy with a bright smile laughed as he spoke.
Another boy, with an almost identical face, swept the ground silently. His eyes were cast down and his hair was covering his face. He didn't turn to face the other and instead focused on the ground.
"Really, Gege." The cheerful boy complained. "Fine then. I'll bring you back a fish, okay." With that the little boy left without a second care in the world.
When his footsteps were gone, the boy stopped sweeping. His hands clenched the broom's handle until it broke in half. The splinters pricked his skin until he bled. He watched the blood with slight fascination as it fell to the ground.
His eyes were dark as he held his hand in front of him.
The blood. The voice. The place.
It was all the same. Just like before.
He clenched his hand.
They would pay for what they did.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Pudding98
Pudding98 Alright, first chapter out. Not entirly happy with the way it came out, but my rule of thumb is just to get it out and on paper.
Warning- This novel is going to be more along the lines of the lover being obsessive. It will be darker and more intense. So I warned you and yes the main charcater is going to be more chidlike due to his memory loss.
Thank you for reading!
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