Choking, the first thing Y/N felt before they even opened their eyes, was searing pain in their chest. They felt water around and inside them, filling their lungs. Flailing aimlessly, Y/N suddenly felt something under their feet, taking the opportunity they grabbed onto it for some semblance of grounding. Forcing their eyes open caused even more pain as salty water flowed in past their eyelids. Attempting to ignore the pain, Y/N looked around in the bleary water. Seeing light far above them, they went for it. Pulling their feet below then and into whatever they were holding onto, Y/N kicked off, for a headstart into the light. It took what felt like an eternity to reach the surface, but when they did, Y/N instinctively took a heaping gasp of air. Treading water was difficult between their coughing and gasping, trying to expel the water in their lungs as well as in taking the stale air around them at the same time. Above the water, the light Y/N had seen seemed much weaker, now only a pale glow from the rocky walls and ceiling above.
Suddenly with the feeling of two people scooping up each of Y/N's arms, they were hoisted backwards, landing in creaking wood. Coughing out the last bit of water with the help of the rocuh landing, Y/N was finally able to collect themselves. Looking to their left, they saw an older women in a large patchwork brown and black cloak gazing curiously down on them. Her dark blue stared inquizitively into Y/N's very soul, her pupils a much paler version of the same colour, almost matching the cool toned light that illuminated her. Messy black hair curled in on either sides of her face, mostly covered up by the hood pulled up over her head. Smile lines creased her eyes and mouth, accompanied by on short scar across the bridge of her nose. But the most striking thing about her appearance wasn't her imposing eyes, or wild hair, but the same streaky markings that scrawled down her cheeks from her eyes. "Now how'd a little thing like you end up in my cave?" Her lulling voice asked, more to herself then the haggared person on her boat floor. "I don't know... I was just... In the water?" Replied Y/N unsure. They scrambled to stand up in the unsteady boat, falling backwards only to be caught by a bench. "How curious." She leaned forward, hands on her knees as she inspected this poor soaping wet creature. "You seem to have been in quite the incident." She observed, pointing to Y/N's chest. Following the boney finger's course, Y/N was met with the sight of crackling scars littering their chest, only able to be seen due to the now soaked, and practically see through white garb they wore. It was like a very long short-sleeved shirt, or dress, the sleeves reached to about mid bicep while the bottom hung down below Y/N's knees. Pain seared through their body for a moment when they looked at it, bringing with it the memory of black flames. A hand automatically came up to their chest as if shielding it. "I guess I was..." They mumbled. "Strangest thing is... I don't know what happened. I don't know much really, how I got here, who I am... ...That's a lie actually, I'm Y/N." They extended their hand in greeting. "Miss.Thana." Responded the woman, holding out her own hand and completely the handshake. When the action was finished Y/N brought their hand up to their forehead. "Oh jeez... That was unatural... Sorry I'm just really a mess right now. Can barely think straight." Laughing at their distress, Miss.Thana patted Y/N knee. "It's truly no issue. Anyone who could come here would surely be as confused as you are, here, how about we go to my home and we speak more there?" She asked kindly. Without many other options, Y/N nodded. "Sure." The boat started moving, but oddly enough, Miss.Thana did not, even if it looked like just an ordinary row boat, she did not work. Seeing their confusion, the cloaked woman chuckled. "Don't think to hard on such matters, not many things make as much sense as they should." Accepting the answer, Y/N leaned back onto the end of the boat, and tried their best the enjoy the ride. The boat followed a small stream that led out sideways from the cave, it was pitch black here, but the journey went on without a single moment of turbulence. Eventually, the tunneling stream spat the two out at a dock near a large cottage. It was made of old wood and stone, somehow it gave the feeling that it had stood there for Millenia and would stand there for many more, even with its horribly cracked and crumbling materials.
The inside wasn't much better than the outside, but it was a lot homier. Most of the room was obscured by tall stacks of books and papers piled high and low. It was a little difficult to navigate their way through, but Y/N eventually found themself a spot in a comfortable armchair next to the fire place. On the opposite side, sat a twin chair, currently empty. Miss.Thana had gone off to her kitchen for some tea, but had promised to return shortly. And so Y/N waited in the paper filed room. Around the chairs weren't as much clutter, probably to keep the books and pages from burning up in the blue and green flames that crackled in the stone fireplace. Eventually, the dark haired woman returned with a wooden tray, two tea cups and a kettle balancing on top. She presented the tray to Y/N, who took one of the already poured cups of tea. Going back to her own seat, Miss.Thana placed the tray onto a table which had gone previously unnoticed. "How do you feel, hon?" She asked sweetly. "A little better... Everything's still a little foggy." Y/N sighed. To be completely honest, it was frustrating. They had bits and pieces of what had happened, who they were, but most of it was just out of reach. "A shame... Have some tea now, we don't want it to get cold, do we?" Miss.Thana encouraged. "Oh, yes, right... Thank you..by the way." Y/N mumbled, looking down at their porceline cup. The outside held delicate depictions of Forget-me-nots, with small leaves and ivy doting inbetween the blooms. The handle was made to look like the ivy had grown up and around it, sprinkled with a few blue blossoms,even if it wasn't entirely accurate to how the plant actually grew. The cup held was looked like water, apposed to tea, it glimmered in an odd way, but it still seemed very much un-tea-like. "I don't mean to offend... But did you maybe forget to put in the tea bag?" Y/N asked cautiously, not wanting to offend their host. "No." The woman answered simply and firmly. "Your drink is perfectly steeped, try it, you'll see." Bidding her words, Y/N brought the cup up to their lips and took a sip. From the sudden flavor over their tongue, it seemed they were quite wrong about the tea. It was really unlike anything they'd tasted before, or maybe it was truly something they had tasted in the past, long ago. It was completely new, but oddly familiar, like that one random smell that takes you back to a foggy Day of your childhood. Before Y/N realised it, the cup was empty. "Good?" "Very! It was, uh...," Y/N words were interrupted by a sudden yawn. Between the warm drink and the comfortable chair, it seemed Y/N was falling asleep. Their eyelids felt heavy as they brought their free hand up to rub their eyes. "Sorry I guess I didn't realise how tired I was..." They apologised, letting their cup rest on their lap. "Worry not dear. you've had a long day, i'm sure. Have a rest. Sadly I don't have a bed to offer you, but you can sleep in the chair if it's enough for you." Miss.Thana soothed, taking the cup from Y/N. When she had gotten up, and got close enough to grab it, Y/N didn't know, and they decided that they would leave that question for when they woke up. Yes, the circumstances were a little sketchy, but gods damn it all, they were tired, and even if they didn't know much about their life, they knew for sure they hadn't gotten any sleep for a long time.
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