STRAY CLOUDS

PART ONE: YOUNG FLAME

Q: What is Oscar's ugliest scar?

A: There are two, actually. The loss of two of the dearest women in his life.

- - -

I stopped the urge to vomit and gulped down whatever was trying to find its way through my throat. My head felt dizzy and tired. I remembered the earthquake, and then my vision darkened, but even now I could not open my eyes entirely.

I had no idea how much time had passed. Even though the impaling pain was gone, it left a bothersome headache. Still, I managed to guess that it was still nighttime, and I wasn’t alone.

My feet shuffled across the earth as I felt a force shouldering me, dragging me somewhere. Someone was dragging me on her shoulder. Yes, it was a woman. I guessed it through the touch of her soft body, though no one came to my mind.

"Pull yourself together, Scar," muttered the female under her breath beside me, probably having trouble dragging me. She should have been the one shouldering me, but I did not know who this voice belonged to.

I tried to mutter something, but ended up groaning. I tried harder, but failed. In the end, the dizziness in my head claimed it, and I lost consciousness.

I did not know how much time it took for me to wake up, but by the time I woke up, my head was still dizzy, though far better than before. The smell of alcohol was oozing out of me, and I found myself lying in a warm bed. Weird, I thought. I do not remember drinking last night.

I tried to sit upright and felt my left palm was clasped by someone else. It was a pair of soft palms, small and gentle like a female’s. I turned towards the other person and blinked twice, looking at the owner of the palms. A fair maiden was sleeping alongside me, in the same bed, with the same blanket.

'Yasmine,' a name appeared in my head as if it was natural. I pulled my other arm and cleared out the strands of hair from her cheek. 'Pity, she fell in love with someone like me.'

My arm became stiff at that very moment. Who is this girl? Yasmine? How do I know her name and where is this swirling emotion coming from? All sorts of questions arose in my mind, and I felt sore in my throat. Water, I need water.

With that thought, I pulled my arms away from her gently and rose with the utmost effort. All my bones and muscles felt sore, but I managed to stand up. I leaned against the wall to calm my nerves first. All sorts of crazy things were happening and I could not calm my head.

I looked around the room to find that it was not my apartment. But those thoughts could wait; I needed water immediately. There was no water on the side table near the bed. The room appeared foreign to me, and so did all the things. It was quite a broad bedroom, though the way it was held did not appear to be a home where people stayed every day.

Dry wood burned soothingly in the fireplace, warming the dim room a little. Even though everything was well placed where it should have been, I felt discomfort looking at it. The chilly atmosphere, coupled with the foreign room, was the reason for my discomfort. Breathing heavily, a couple of times, I walked in search of water.

I did not find the water, but I did find the washroom. As soon as I stepped inside, I drew my head to the sink and let the cold water run through my hair. The cold water gave me a surreal peace of mind, and I drank the water to satisfy my sore throat. The water tasted a little sweet and satisfying.

But my head felt dizzy again the moment I saw the face reflecting in the mirror. The face that showed up in the mirror was not mine, though it had some faint resemblance to my late teenage self. It was far more handsome. Be it the flamboyant scarlet hair or the distant scarlet pupil that was almost alien to me. There was a mark on the right eyebrow all the way to the end of the forehead. A cut mark from a knife, maybe.

As my senses cleared up, I could put together what was going on. I recalled who this face belonged to. I must be dreaming, I told myself. There was no other explanation.

[Synchronisation ended.] A transparent text appeared before my eyes, and my facial expression darkened. The texts were in some unknown language that I did not know, but I could understand them pretty well.

[Preparing the Status window.]

Then a larger transparent window appeared on my retina, proving my fear right.

_____________

Name: Oscar Emberheart

Bloodline: Unawakened.

Rank: Knight Squire.

Private attributes:

-Strength: D+ (Progress: 92/100)

-Agility: C (Progress: 87/500)

-Perception: C (Progress: 11/500)

-Spirit: B- (Progress: 112/2000)

Trait:

-Purgatory (Unawakened)

Destiny points: 0historical

______________

[The Creator of Forbidden Realms awarded you 10000 destiny points as a beginner bonus.]

"There was no denying it," I muttered. "Was this the assistance the author was talking about?"

As my mind became clear, I recalled everything. I answered a thousand questions from the creator of Forbidden Realm and got the opportunity to help the author finish this tale, but in no way did I expect this. Well, it’s not every day I get transmigrated to someone else's body. Other than feeling the cold, I felt lost.

I felt like I'd been scammed, and the scam was of such a high level that I could not even perceive it even after being scammed. Even now, I feel it was a dream. I pinched my cheek until it was swollen and red. It hurts.

"Scar," a gentle voice called from the bedroom. It was the girl, Yasmine.

With no other choice, I returned to the bedroom to confront the fair maiden, albeit with some trepidation.

Yasmine was standing near the window. The sun had not risen yet, but there was a faint light flickering. She wore a loose nightgown while her silver hair was in a braid. The cold wind from the window swayed the unorganised strands of her hair, as she stood there as if the cold had no effect on her. Unconditionally, she looked strikingly elegant.

All sorts of emotions swirled in me, and the most apparent was pity. I felt sorry for just seeing her. Scar had treated her worse than a mortal enemy so that she would get away from him. He swindled money and went as far as stealing money from her. He broke her heart countless times, despite she having to make time to take care of him with her busy schedule. Yet she was here, taking care of him when everyone else had given up. I did not know how many times she helped him, like today, to get away from being passed out in a bar or behind bars.

I had read the description of her in the book. A tall woman with long legs and a body with a supple shape. Her eyes were sparkling and her rosy-full lips parted at seeing him. She looked at him for a while and sighed.

"How long will you keep doing this?" she pleaded.

A question mark appeared in my head, and Yasmine seemed to notice it too through my face.

"How much longer are you going to waste your life?" she asked again, with a painful exterior. She was so pure, even I felt an ache in my heart. "Your family has already stopped sending you money. Are you waiting till they disown you?"

'Don't say a word,' I screamed in my head. Though I could make out her words and it appeared I could converse in Mahendi too, I still chose to stand idle. I was not in my right mind with such crazy things happening in my life. All my emotions and feelings were heightened, and I could not think clearly.

Everything was still surreal in my head. Surely, disaster will follow if I open my mouth now.

"Are you going to be silent the entire time?" She asked, heaving her chest up and down and on the verge of crying.

I was about to raise my arm to console her, but stopped. For some reason, I couldn’t utter a word, nor could I confront her eyes either. Was it the residual emotion of Scar that was doing all this? Or was it my innate introverted disability to sentiment? I did not know for sure, but I certainly did not want to see someone crying before me, especially when she looked so strikingly beautiful.

"I'm leaving," Yasmine said while she collected her purse from the desk. She strode off from the room, giving one last look at my face. "Please, I do not want to see you passed out in the street or in the bars again."

'I did nothing,' I yelled inwardly, seeing her go.

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Edited by Mysteries. Proofread by kqwxz.

Map of Shrankor in this paragraph comment.