A New Dawn

"Buru..."

The feeling of Burupya's soft nose against his cheek slowly brought Teito back to consciousness. Groaning slightly, feeling the back of his head throbbing, his limbs feeling oddly heavy and aching, the young brunette slowly opened his eyes to see the pink dragon in front of himself. Looking concerned, the little Fyulong held a paw out to the other's face and gently pawed it, trying to coax his master awake again as he stood on his two back paws on Teito's chest. Wincing slightly as he shifted away from the wall where he had been leaning, Teito slowly raised a hand to gently pet the little dragon, sitting up properly. "Burupya?" He mumbled slowly, waiting for the fuzziness in his brain to fade.

After a few moments, he looked up. Where was this? The victorian-styled buildings looked like something from one of the other districts, putting him instantly ill at ease, before slowly realizing that this was most certainly not anywhere that he'd ever known or even read about. It was far too... quiet. The only sound being the buzzing of the lamp lights above, a stark contrast against the night sky above, stars twinkling in the blackness. Staring up at it, his eyes widened in sudden surprise as one of those lights... went out. Distinctly so.

What on... Slowly, he stood to his feet, feeling his zaiphon ready instinctively. Where was this? It wasn't the Church... the Church! His eyes widened and he swung around, almost desperately looking for a sign, any sign of Frau and the others. "Frau!? Castor, Labrador, anybody?!" He called out with a shaky voice, feeling a deep sense of frightening uncertainty welling up inside of him. No one answered. In fact, it seemed like a complete ghost town in this place. Despite there being houses and lights, there was no sign of a living person anywhere.

Burupya lightly nudged against his cheek, clambering up onto his shoulder and offering a reassuring purr. Feeling suddenly so very alone and lost, Teito's knees buckled slightly. Alone again. Everything was gone. Maybe this was just a bad dream...

LAIKA OF GANGNAM STYLE

For someone who just woke up in a musty old alleyway, Ringabel at least seemed fine, for this sad version of fine. Traverse Town, as he'd read, was a town stuck in unending darkness. Ringabel just hoped he could make sense of why he was here. Or, had he always been here?

He figured the best course of action now was to ask somebody for more details. Preferably a pretty somebody. It was too bad there weren't much ladies in this part of town. Actually, there really weren't any people here at all.

It must have been about an hour into the lost one's wandering that he heard a voice erupt from the nearby streets. Somebody was in trouble. And she was probably very pretty, given her smooth falsetto. Ringabel didn't take a minute to contemplate things over or anything similarly common-sensical. He just blabbed, "I'm coming! Hang on!" and hoofed it to his soon-to-be beau.

Traverse Town's charm didn't make it any easier to see what exactly the dilemma was, but at least he could make out this lady's...uniquely boyish outline. She appeared surprisingly fine, despite screaming as loud as she did.

"I heard you screaming from across the compound, dear," Justifed Ringabel. "Are you alright?"

The sound of someone approaching caught Teito's attention almost immediately. Eyes widening, he looked up in hope, wondering if it could somehow possibly be Frau or one of the others... and the hope was promptly crushed the moment he saw the other. A man with a look as ridiculous as Frau, but certainly no one that Teito knew. Shoulders slumping, disappointed and a deepening sense of... fear, pain, sadness?, Teito sighed slightly. Of course life could never just be kind to him, could it? Burupya, sensing his master's distress, lightly purred and rubbed against the other's cheek, waving his tiny pink wings and tail in the air in an attempt to comfort. Appreciating the effort, though it did little to stem to rising tides, Teito gently lifted up a hand to scratch the little dragon under his cheek.

"No, I..." He responded, hesitating slightly at the other's question. Although some may have found the other's use of "dear" to be strange, Teito was used to others, usually older men like Castor, referring to him in such terms. (It didn't help anything that he wasn't exactly the kind of person who understood social norms.) "I'm lost." He finally admitted, slowly, uncertainly. Part of him simply wanted to run away and try to find out what had happened on his own, the part of him that refused to trust anyone else. But... this was probably the most lost that he'd ever been. "Where... where am I?"

Biting his lip slightly, Teito looked down, clenching his hands slightly. Burupya, still purring quietly, continued to nuzzle against his master and looked up at Ringabel in curiousity, waving his little tail around. "Buuruuu!" He trilled, hopping onto Teito's head and looking at the other.

LAIKA OF GANGNAM STYLE

i.imgur.com/22aRc1Q.png

Ringabel winced; he'd had been asking himself that same question for several days now. “That’s...a good question, isn’t it?” he sympathized. “I’m afraid I’m no more informed than you are, dear. You see, I only awoke a fortnight ago with no recollection of who I was, let alone where I was. In fact, this town could be my home, and I wouldn’t know it.

“Anyway, I digress,” the amnesiac idly considered the strange animal that made itself comfortable over the bed of hair. “If it’s any help, I know that this town goes by the name of Traverse Town. Many strays wander its streets...but unfortunately, as do many Heartless.”

Obviously he couldn’t help the situation. He couldn’t just un-lose someone, when he couldn't unlose himself. But he figured he could do something to alleviate the poor thing's spirits. She looked absolutely miserable.

"Nevermind," Ringabel dismissed with a newfound grin. He vined an arm around the small frame, and beckoned, “Come; You look lonely, and it wouldn’t become me to leave a pretty lady to walk by herself. Your trek must have left you famished, and luckily, I know a diner around here that you’ll love.”

"I... kinda figured that." Teito admitted to the other's confession that he was at just as much of a loss. His eyes did widen slightly as the other explained that he'd awoken without any memory, which must have made his landing here far worse than Teito's. "That's... awful." He said softly, with a tone of understanding sympathy. Teito himself had amnesia, which often caused him to have painful hallucinations and dreams of his past. He knew how terrifying and unsettling it could be to not be able to remember something-- to just have a big black hole in your memory. To not remember anything must be even worse.

"Traverse Town? Heartless?" He queried further, looking around as if to see these mysterious creatures himself. The streets were completely empty, no sign of any life around. Except perhaps for the moths and the flies there were flying around the buzzing of the street lamps. Really, it was actually somewhat eerie. A ghost town.

Teito stiffened up immediately as Ringabel gently moved an arm around himself, resisting the immediate urge to force him away. His Zaiphon flared up for a brief moment, although only in energy as he hadn't made any movements to direct it. Wait... young lady? "O-oh, you misunderstand..." He stammered, quickly moving away from the other, using his hands to move the other off of himself, an awkward blush beginning to rise. "I'm not... a... girl..." How mortifying. He knew that he was small and "delicate" looking, but being constantly mistaken as a girl got... frustrating after awhile.

"Wait, uh... we went about this wrong." Clearing his throat awkwardly, Teito stepped back and held a hand out to the other. "My name is Teito Klein. I'm sorry about the mix up..." Why was he apologizing?