At the light of the moon and the brilliant night sky, the snake drifted ashore, coming from
nowhere, being born in that great moment.
By the morning, it awake and began to move through the forest up ahead, its white scales reflected almost all light that came in contact, and it had eyes like jewels, colored with a golden-yellow similar to topaz.
While on the forest, it passed by various creatures, and it would ignore them and be ignored by them as if it wasn't even there to begin with, that continued even as its stomach began to ache with hunger, a brand new feeling for the newborn, it couldn't have known neither the cause or the solution of its problem. So, the snake simply kept going.
After a long time slithering, it encountered the end of the forest, which wasn't quite large. The sunlight that hit its eyes as it came out of the shadows cast by the trees seemed even brighter than at the beach. Squinting its eyes into focusing the view, in front what lied was a house, made with the trees of that same forest, in what at first seemed like a clearing.
Neither the new place nor structure concern the snake, what really caught its eyes were the two children, a boy and a girl, both around 7 years old, playing at the backyard of that house, aside was a woman, hanging some laundry while watching over the kids laughter with a smile on her face.
In that little moment, the unknowing snake began to *imagine*, his first thoughts, with no concepts to help or chain its imagination and forgetting its own suffering from hunger, as a truly free creation. The image of that happy boy as he would be as an adult filled the snake's mind.
By the next moment, in the spot the snake was, only an adult man where to be found, naked and hungry, he could only struggle to get closer to the house, until he collapsed.
Where… am I? — The snake wondered as he regained consciousness, waking to the sound of birds of the forest and the sight of a wooden ceiling.
"Oh, dear! He's awake!" Exclaimed the woman, signaling to her husband that the snake-turned-man had woken up, that arrived at the same time the woman left stayed by the room's door, as he waited for something to happen.
"Whe~r ahm~eie?"[1] The snake broke the silence, but it sounded like an ape croaking like a frog. And of course it would sound like that: Specially without even knowing what the human language was supposed to sound like. Somehow, his stomach growled an even more absurd sound, it could easily be mistaken by the earth being shaken by monsters.
"Hey man, are you alright? Don't over exert yourself." The man who had a serious look on his face quickly changed to a concerned expression, wanting to make sure the man in the bed wasn't dying right on the spot.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just haven't eaten in some time." Replied the snake, having his hand on his belly, and a weird smile on his face.
While the man helped the bedridden to get up and reach the table for something to eat, having now taken a closer look on the snake's new face, he couldn't help but think: He seems familiar, somehow. No, he seems eerily similar to something I know so well, yet I can't quite put my finger on it. — The man's worry, while valid, was in vain.
The snake had assumed a form which merely resembled him, since it was based his son's, yet not exactly a clone. As if he were a young adult, around 18 years old, with no facial hair, fair, smooth skin, each hair strand in his head appeared to be bathed by gold, and still retaining that topaz color in his eyes. In contrast to the older man, who had just passed his "golden age" and had a full beard on his face, though still white, he had darker, drier skin from years of work and much darker brown hair.
"So… what's your name?" The man asked.
"I… don't know, I don't think I h-" — "Archeron" was suddenly but gently muttered into the snake's mind like an old memory, which seemed to be from a motherlike figure.
"Archie! Uhm, I guess… Sorry I'm still messed up." The snake hastily said a nickname after the interruption.
"You can call me Ron. So, Archie, where are you from? And what happened to you to end up in that weird situation?" Ron asked, a little embarrassed that the man in front of him had been found butt naked by his child and wife, and had to dress him afterwards.
"Hehe~ About that, I can't recall where I'm from, I have a feeling that I lived here in Vêniex, and somewhere else at the same time, for what seems like forever. All I know is that I woke up on a beach and went through the forest where I came from, nothing more." Archie answered honestly in a strange tone.
"Are you saying there's land outside of Vêniex?" Ron asked shocked, as it's common knowledge that Vêniex[2] is the only continent on the entire globe, and continued: "I don't know about that. Look, if you need time to settle in, I can help you around here, you don't seem like a bad guy."
Undoubtedly lost in these lands, Archie had no better choice but to accept Ron's help. Starting his new life, Ron showed him around town and gave him work. He gladly helped as a lumberjack and carpenter, much needed in the village at the time, his friendly and helpful attitude quickly won him the friendship of the town's residents. Until the day he saw a sword for the first time during one of Ron's training sessions, he couldn't help but approach him and ask, with sparkling eyes: "Whoa! Ron, you know how to wield a sword? That's so cool."
"Hahaha, it wasn't uncommon for many in my age to have gained a taste for the sword during military or mercenary service. I still practice it sometimes."
And those childlike eyes kept talking to Ron, sparkling even more than before: "Can you, like, teach me? It'd be amazing to know how to use a sword."
"Okay, I think I can teach you at least the basics, who knows when it might come in handy, but keep in mind, I've never had a knack for it. Take this wooden sword, and attack me, I've got no idea how to properly teach someone, so I'll see what you're capable of and help you from there." Ron said, tossing the wooden sword he was using to Archie, and grabbing another for himself.
Archie began attacking, and throughout that training they both realized he had little talent, yet somehow he had great physical strength, capable of rivaling Ron's ability if he put in the effort, however neither were really concerned, Ron seemed happy to gain a sparring partner, while Archie was focused on understanding Ron's advice correctly and improving.
For the following months, Archie couldn't think about anything other than the sword, having fallen in love with it and training almost everyday with Ron's help in his spare time. He would eventually decide to ditch the job at the carpentry with Ron, bidding farewell to his colleagues.
"So you're really leaving me and those guys with all that work, huh?" Ron confronted him privately afterward.
"I'm really sorry, but I want- no, I need to learn everything about the sword. I'm really grateful for everything you've done to me and for the time you've spent teaching me, but I think it's time for me to get some real experience."
"You know, you are so strange to me, like, you appeared out of nowhere, with nothing on you. You still can't remember much about yourself, and sometimes you say strange things. Yet, you seem so innocent and honest. I've never seen you tell a blatant lie, or make any major mistakes, really. You treat everyone with care and seem like a kind-hearted man." — You even resemble a child sometimes — The thought crossed through his mind as he sighed. "I'll convince myself that you're making the right choice, but still, you've got no experience at all. What's your plan, then?"
"The thing is, I've happened to hear that a caravan of the Ventierion family will be arriving in town sometime next week, and that they're willing to recruit some new guards for it. If I pass, I may go with them, and besides gaining experience from other guards and in real battles. I might, maybe~, get a good position within the internal Ventierion forces." Even he knew that last statement was stretching his luck.
"It's actually not that bad of a plan. I'd suggest you keep it a little more humble, but I'm not the one to dump on your ambitions. Just make sure you pass it, I didn't teach a moron." Ron said and extended his fist with a friendly smirk.
"Yeah, I promise for sure!" Archie replied grinning, bumping their fists.
That week before the draft, Archie trained tirelessly, with Ron and alone with the trees of the forest he had slithered out of, the only breaks he took were for basic needs.
[1] "Where am I?"
[2] Pronounced as the same as Venice: /ˈvɛnɪs/. Also called as Pangaea by scholars.