Uknown to thyself [Ongoing backstory - OOC welcome]

[Demon Fox]

First off, being new to this universe i will apologize for any lore breaking though i suspect if there is any it will be very minor. If you happen to spot anything drastically lore breaking then please point it out to me and i will change it as soon as i can. This is a part of my character "Garret Irngard" back story, though it takes place after he has lost his memory.

 

 i hope to time it right up to the launch of the  game. the back story of the back story which takes place before his memory loss i am hoping to actively flesh out in game with other RPers, so my character is remembering his past life as i play, hoping to create an ever evolving character that i can get really creative with.

 

There will be time bubbles in these stories, they will flow day after day for the most part but every so often the time will be pushed ahead a few months.

 

Every part to this story will be placed here, in the OP in spoiler tags so that any OOC comments do not break the flow of the story so check back regularly.

 

 

 

 

The soft glow of light trying to break into the darkness, screams of pain and anger, the roar of an open flame and the sharp ping of clashing steel, What does it mean? he doesn't know, a confusing dream perhaps. he opens his eyes and that darkness is rapidly replaced with the blinding light of the sun and his senses are instantly greeted with the smell of smoke and charred flesh.

 

The man stirs as he lay flat on his back, his vision blurry from the sun's sudden greeting. He pulls himself to his feet, stumbling along the floor until he eventually brings himself to a stable, upright position. The man stands at average height, he has short, purple hair and piercing yellow eyes, his clothes are torn, almost as if he's wearing the smelly rags of a homeless man.

 

The man shakes his head to try and clear his vision as he turns around, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. As his vision clears he looks at the hand that had just touched his face, it's covered in a mixture of both dry and fresh blood. His hand begins to shake as he touches his face again, he feels a sharp sting as his hand makes contact and blood begins to trickle down the center of his face.

 

His hands shake even more as he looks past his hand to the scene in front of him, burning wood, crumbled stone and fresh corpses all litter the road, there are supplies spread across the road as well as broken supply carts rammed into a cliff face but there are no Chocobo to be found. He takes one step forward but stops instantly as he feels an odd weight in his right hand, he looks down to see a sword in his hand, a medium length blade covered in dry blood.

 

It's clear there was a fight here, perhaps an ambush and judging by the dry blood it must have been a while a go, He looks from the sword to the wreckage and back again, his eyes slightly widened from a shocking realization "Did......did i do this?" He quickly shakes his head "N....no, i couldn't have i don't even...i don't even know...."

 

The sword drops and sticks into the ground as his body seems to be bordering on going completely limp, he stumbles to the side a little and then drops to his knees "I don't even know who i am..." He shuts his eyes and desperately tries to remember what happened here, or even his name but nothing comes to mind. He punches the ground in frustration and then screams out in anger as he looks at the scene.

 

As the screaming fades to a feint sobbing the sound of cracking wood and moving stone can be heard, quickly replaced by the sound of clanking metal as a man claws his way out from the remains of a supply cart, his armor broken and his weapon hanging loosely from his hand. He stumbles and leans on the cliff face, his breathing heavy as he looks upon the remains. his eyes wander up and focus on the kneeling, sobbing man.

 

His eyes quickly become filled with anger and his grip tightens on his weapon "You..." he says with venom in his voice. the kneeling man looks up at the armored one "M...me?" The armored man screams in anger and lunges forward toward the kneeling man "IRNGARD!" he screams as he charges forward, his blade pointed toward the kneeling man.

 

The kneeling man is shocked and confused, his whole body shakes as the armored man charges toward him "No please!" as the tip of the armored mans blade gets withing inches of the kneeling man, his shaking stops, his sobbing stops, his face becomes calm.

 

The kneeling man instinctively rolls forward, underneath the blade and the lunge and grabs the sword he dropped in the ground, in one swift movement he rolls to one knee and thrusts his blade through the midsection of the armored man. the armored man instantly spitting up blood from his mouth as his life fades from him "You...You murderer...." he says with his final breath.

 

 

The sound of feet rapidly hitting the ground, sharp breaths and hollow cries as the "Murderer" runs from the scene as fast as he can, his eyes slammed shut. He doesn't care what his feet take him, so long as is is far away from here, he can't help but see the man he had just killed, that word repeating over and over in his head "Irngard" does it mean something? is it a name? a place? or maybe some blood tied battle cry.

 

He keeps running and running, he is past the point of breathlessness as the ground suddenly crumbles beneath his feet, his eyes open wide as he feels himself fall, he had ran right onto the edge of a slope, the ground at the top of the slope crumbles and pulls him down, he begins to roll and tumble down a mixture of dirt and stone, his body bouncing off of the hardened and sharp stone.

 

He finally hits the bottom, his back resting against the bottom of the slope as he screams out in agony, sharp stones protruding from his right leg, a nasty gash across his mid section and a spiked stone plunged into his let shoulder. That's the one that hurts him the most, he grabs it and tries to pull it out but it's in too deep, the pain is too much for him to take. He watches as blood runs from his shoulder down his arm and onto his hand.

 

As he watches the blood he notices something on the inside of his forearm, he turns his arm while gritting his teeth from the pain, all he wants to do right now is pass out or die, either one is fine with him. He gazes at the marking, it's a tattoo "Garret" it says. "Is....that my name?" he runs his fingers over it, the pain subsiding for just a moment as he tries to remember, but the pain is so intense it quickly returns and he screams out once more.

 

He starts removing the sharp stones from his leg, managing to get every single piece out due to the pain of his leg being overshadowed by the pain in his shoulder. he lazily turns his body around and starts trying to climb the slope but fails, he doesn't have the strength, the only thing he can do is lay there and die. "Garret Irngard, Is that really my name?" he says as his eyes begin to close, his body going limp from blood loss.

 

 

The smog and stink of molten metal and burning coal a long side the ping and perfect rhythm of hammer striking anvil cause Garret to open his eyes, a little dazed and confused it takes him a while to realize that he is no longer at the bottom of a slope, his e yes widen and he sits up rapidly, knocking a tray that had been sitting over his chest flying off of the bed, crashing to the wall.

 

The sound of hammer and anvil come to a sudden stop, quickly followed by charging, heavy footsteps that get closer with each passing moment, the door to the room is kick open and a tall, highlander looking man burst through "You're awake!" he says, rather excited for reasons unknown. Garret stands up, grabbing random items and waving them around "Stay back!" he says "I'll.." he looks at the items in his hands, useless things that couldn't harm even the weakest of things "I'll do nothing at all....apparently.." The highlander just stands there and laughs. Garret looks at his shoulder, it's well bandaged and surprisingly painless, he then looks down to his leg, he has free movement, no pain at all "What is this place? How did i get here? Who are you?"

 

The highlander walks forward a few steps forward and leans over, looking Garret in the eyes and gesturing his thumb to himself "I'm Siege, The Death Merchant, And you're in -" Garret cuts Siege "Death Merchant?" Siege replies as if the name is no big deal "Oh uhh, blacksmith to you i guess, anyway. This is my shop, my forge and my home, Welcome to Siege Weapons.......get it?" Garret shakes his head and then places his face in the palm of his hand " Yeah i get it but where are we?" Siege just stares at Garret with a straight face, disapproving at Garrets lack of approval for what siege believers is the best name for a weapons shop ever.

 

"We're in Ul'dah" Siege says. Garret looks at Siege with confusion "I may have lost my memory but...isn't Ul'dah near some kind of desert? i wasn't near any desert when i fell.." Siege grins "That's right, i got you all the way from there to here, had to treat your injuries a long the way, you've been out for just over a week" Garret sits on the bed in thought, he takes a deep breathe and looks at Siege "Well, thank you but i should get going" Garret goes to stand up to look for his clothes when Siege grabs his shoulder and sits him down "I don't know what kind of place you come from that makes you think you can just get up and leave, The medical care, transportation and room isn't free, you want to leave? you need to pay what you owe"

 

Garret just stares a Siege "And how do you expect me to do that? I have no money" Siege pats Garret on the head and laughs "you work!"

 

 

It's been a week since Garret woke up, Siege has been teaching him the basics of smithing so he can create basic blades to pay off what he owes for all of sieges help, Garret sits at the counter of the shop while siege inspects the weapons Garret put out for sale, Garret sighs heavily and thumps his head down on the desk "This is pointless" He says with a rather irritated tone of voice.

 

"Ahh don't get your pants in a twist kid" Garret's eye twitches as he lifts his head from the counter and looks at Siege "you have sold two blades total in the past week, none of which were mine by the way so how am i supposed to pay off what i owe you if nobody buys anything?" Siege chuckles and throws a dirty cloth at Garrets face "Quit your bitchin' will ya? business will pick up soon, it's off season is all" Garret shakes his head and pushes himself up from the counter "Since when are there seasons for people murdering each other? Everybody needs a blade, even if it's one of the pieces of crap that you sell" Siege growls and turns around to face Garret "Listen kid, i've been doing this for a long time, i've seen a slump like this before and i'm still open, so shut up and get back to work"

 

Garret shakes his head "Work? For what? doesn't matter if i make a blade or sit on my ass, either way i'm not getting any closer to paying you off so i can leave. You should just close this place down and be done with it or better yet, take these blades you make and steal some money at sword point"

 

Siege lets out a long, drawn out sigh and hangs his head "You don't need to go outside of the law to earn a living Garret, plus this isn't just about me and my well being, i keep this place open for the benefit of the community, do you know what that means?" Garret stays silent for a few moments and then walks toward the stairs to go to his room "No, and what part of me makes you think i care?"

 

Siege walks up to Garret and gives him a light slap across the back of the head "You're an angry one aren't ya, kid. Seems to be getting worse as time goes on" Garret hisses and turns around rapidly, getting in Sieges face "Angry? Angry doesn't even begin to describe it, i have lost EVERYTHING don't you get it? I don't remember my family, i don't remember where i came from, i don't even know if this is my real name. For all i know i could be a cold blooded murderer who killed everyone out there on that road. It frustrates me that i know nothing about myself"

 

Siege places his hand on Garret's shoulder and gestures to the door "Follow me, There's something i think you should see" Garret clenches his fist and stands still for a moment, his eyes closing rapidly before he takes a deep breath and opens them slowly "What?" Siege grips Garrets shoulder and pushes him to the door "Just get moving, kid".

 

Garret and Siege both leave the shop, Siege stops to lock the door behind him as Garret takes a few steps forward and looks to the sky. Shortly after, Siege barges past Garret "This way, kid" Garret follows and they both take a left turn, walking into a narrow alleyway, Garret covers his mouth to get away from the foul, sewage stench as the continue walking through it. A few twists and turns later and the exit the alleyway, coming out to a grubby looking market place. Siege points at the market places "Tell me what you see"

 

Garret looks over the market place, broken stalls, people begging in the streets, the state of the items being sold is less than average quality "Poverty, Suffering.." Garret sees a child run up to a stall and steal a small roll of bread "Thievery too, what's your point?" Siege chuckles a little and shakes his head "You've got a good set of eyes kid, you're just looking at the wrong things. you need to look beyond the surface, wanna know what i see?" Garret shrugs and sits down on a broken bench right near the alley entrance "You're going to tell me anyways, so why bother asking?"

 

 

Siege takes a seat right next to Garret "Look at their faces, see those smiles? sure we aren't exactly well off around here, it's a struggle but people are happy, we all help each other out around here because we know that after everything, we are all going through this together. We're a community, you see those kids taking bread and you think it thievery? you're wrong Garret, these people give those kids food for nothing, so they don't starve, they are free to take what they want so they can get through the day. chances are that kid is going to split that bread with three others"

 

Garret takes another look over the market place, contemplating Siege's words, Siege pats him on the shoulder "You're angry, i get that and yeah maybe you are a cold blooded killer and if that's true, you're failing to see this whole situation for the blessing that it is" Garret smiles as he see's a small girl taking a bottle of water from a stall, he breaks his attention from the market and looks at Siege "Blessing?"

 

Siege nods and then smiles "Yeah, you have the chance to lead a new life without the burden of your old one, you can create new memories. Let's say you are a killer, becoming apart of this community and helping these people would be more than enough to repent for the suffering you caused right?" Garret goes back to looking at the market place "Listen kid, your Debt...don't worry about it, if you wanna leave then i'm not gonna stop you but if you want to be apart of something much bigger than yourself" Siege chuckles and stands up, patting Garret on the head "Then i'll see you at home"

 

Siege walks off back down the alley, leaving Garret to sit there and think on the old mans words.

 

 

It's been six months since Siege told Garret about the community, Garret has started to make a life for himself, trying to make money by working in Sieges shop and doing whatever else he can just keep them afloat. It's midnight, Garret sneaks his way down the steps and onto the shop floor, wearing a rogue like cloak with the hood pulled up as he slowly makes his way toward the door.

 

As Garret reaches the door he hears a loud bang behind him, he spins around to see Siege sitting in the corner staring at him "Going out again, kid?" Garret pauses, one hand on the door handle and the other keeping his hood covering his face "Uh...yeah, just thought I'd go for a stroll, you know?" Siege folds his arms and leans further into the corner "Really? I gotta say, kid. You sure love these midnight strolls, what's it been? a whole month now?" Garret shrugs a little and takes his hand from the door handle, turning to face Siege "Is that a problem?"

 

Siege shakes his head and pushes himself up from the corner, he starts walking toward Garret at a slow pace as he talks "Yeah, It's been effecting your work, sleeping in for most of the day because you're out so damn late. I was willing to let it slide at first, I thought you might have met some girl you didn't want me to know about but then i start seeing bruises, then bruises in place of those bruises and then cuts"

 

Siege stops right in front of Garret and pulls his hood down "Then it dawned on me, You've been fighting in the underground, haven't you?" Garret tilts his head away, the bruises on his face aswell as the cuts that go over the scars he already has on his face are made visible in the candle light "Look, Siege. You've got your way of bringing money into the community and i've got mine. can't we just leave it at that?" Siege pokes a finger on Garrets forehead "No, Garret. That place is dangerous, people die down there, not to mention it's illegal" Garret bats Siege's hand out of the way "So what? I'm bringing in more money for this community in a night than your shop does in a week, i fail to see the problem"

 

"You don't get it do you!? you can't just flood the community with more money than it's able to actually make. within a week people start getting top quality stock, shiny new market stalls and things like that, it's going to make people take notice and then we get higher tax rates thrown at us because one of the poorest areas of the city suddenly has enough money to be one of the richest" Garret puts his face right up to Siege's as he grits his teeth "Stop making excuses through your own jealousy"

 

Siege steps back a little with a raises eyebrow "What have i got to be jealous of? Jealous of you?" Garret opens the door and stares at Siege "Yeah, me. You're jealous because I've got the guts to do the things you never could" Garret pulls his hood and walks out the door, slamming it behind him. Siege stands still, shocked by Garrets outburst, he backs up and sits in the corner once more "It's...happening again.."

 

Garret makes his way down the alleyways until he reaches a blocked path. The path is blocked with boxes and old pieces of wood. He knocks on them loudly, Three loud knocks with a certain rhythm. Shortly after, a door open, a door disguised as boxes. Garret walks through, giving the doorman a nod as he starts to descend the stair case that lay just beyond the door. He enters into an open area full of people, they are all screaming, shouting and cheering as two people are fighting in a sectioned off area in the middle.

 

As Garret reaches the back of the crowd he is greeted by a man that looks to be the same age, he pats Garret on the shoulder and lets out a rather loud sigh of relief "I thought you wouldn't make it, i was about to cancel your fight" Garret nods "Relax Z'ith, It was just Siege giving me a hard time" Z'ith laughs and starts to guide Garret to the pre-fight rooms at the back "So he finally found out, huh? not surprising, you can't hide the bruises forever" Garret nods as he enters one of the rooms, removing his cloak and picking up a bag he has stored there "I don't want to talk about him, i just want to get this fight over with. Who am i fighting?"

 

Z'ith makes a rather nervous face as he lowers his voice, watching Garret get ready for his fight "Lorrik..." As Garret is putting on his gloves, he hears the name. His attention immediately snaps to Z'ith "What!? I shouldn't be up against him for another 10 fights at least" Z'ith pats Garret on the shoulder "Don't worry about, i'm sure you'll do-" Garret cuts Z'ith off "His fights are all or nothing fights! We don't get a share of the money, if i lose i get nothing and I've put EVERYTHING on this fight!" Z'ith lowers his head "Sorry man, i didn't have much of a choice. They threatened me, they said there are some people here that don't really like you, they want you out of the underground"

 

"Take away my money, take away my ability to compete......bastards.." Garret takes a deep breath and looks at Z'ith "I can't win this, you know that right?" Z'iths nods, staying silent as he keeps his head lowered "Look, get out of here, Things are going to turn ugly and i don't want you around when they do, got it?" Z'ith looks up and raises an eyebrow "W...what are you going to do?" Garret smiles a Z'ith as he starts walking out of the room "I may not be able to win, but i'm going to make sure they realize that they can't keep pulling things like this"

 

Garret leaves Z'ith in the room as he heads out, making his way to the center where his opponent Lorrik is waiting, The area is wide, made out into a square with only small, metal barriers separating the fighting space and the people. The crowd chants Lorrik's name loud as garret steps over one of the barriers, he keeps his distance from Lorrik, not taking his eyes off of him as he waits for the the go ahead to fight.

 

Lorrik stares back at Garret with his savage, red eyes. Lorrik is smaller than Garret in both height and build but the man is a monster in a fight, an expert in hand to hand combat and his smaller build only serves to make him a faster fighter. Garret knows there is only one rule here, no weapons. This is Lorriks hunting ground, the perfect place for him to beat on people.

 

A loud crash is heard, the signal to start fighting. Garret rushes forward, Lorrik stands still as Garret runs toward him, Garret stops just in front of Lorrik and takes a position to throw an uppercut into Lorriks ribcage, something Lorrik easily predicts as he steps slightly to the side and catches Garrets punch in his hand. Without any hesitation, Lorrik throws his hand forward, closing his fist just before his attack makes contact with Garret, he hits Garret right in the chest, in the exact place his heart would be.

 

Garret screams out as he backs up and falls to his knee, that one powerful, precise punch could have just ended the fight, but Lorrik likes to toy with his prey, he grins down at Garret and lets go of his hand, he twists his body and delivers a kick to Garrets head, Garret hits the floor like a ton of bricks as blood sprays from his face, a tooth flying into the crowd. Lorrik had broke Garrets nose and knocked one of his teeth out in only his second attack.

 

Garret struggles to move, his vision hazy and his body trembling as he crawls to one of the metal barriers and pulls himself up. He knew he couldn't win this fight but he didn't realize the beating would be so bad. Lorrik sees Garret holding on to the barrier and rush forward, he turns Garret to face him and unloads on him with a flury of precise punches. The ribs, the chest, the midsection and the face, Garret is helpless against the onslaught of punches.

 

It's not long before Garret drops to his knees again, his face bloody and beaten, his bod showing signs of trauma as he struggles to look up at Lorrik. As Lorrik is about to deliver the final blow, Siege jumps over the barrier, pushing Lorrik back and standing in front of Garret "That's enough! He's had enough, you win" Garret just kneels there, staring at Siege's boots as his head sways from side to side. Lorrik laughs at Siege and grabs him by the scruff of the neck "What old man? the boy can't take care of himself?" Siege leans in and whispers in Lorriks ear, Lorrik face turns angry as he leans back and goes to throw a punch at Siege's face, His punch stops as he suddenly screams out.

 

Lorrik looks down as his legs start to give way, Garret is there with a knife driven into Lorriks knee, he looks up at Lorrik with a grin and brutally twists the knife. Siege looks down as Lorrik hits the ground, he sees the knife in his leg and notices his own knife is missing. He picks up Garret, throwing him over his shoulder. he hops the barrier and starts running toward the exit, hoping to escape before anybody realizes what just happened.

 

 

It's been two weeks since Garrets fight with Lorrik, Siege and Garret both sit on the shop floor, no work is being done and the light is dim. They both sit in silence for a while, only the sound of Garret taking a deep breath before he speaks "So, what now?" Siege stands up and walks to the counter, he leans on it and sighs heavily "Honestly kid, I don't know"

 

"We can't just sit around and do nothing, give me a blade and i'll go and slit Lorrik's throat" Garret says as he leans back in his chair and places his hands behind his head "Is that what you are? A killer?" Garret shrugs "I don't know, maybe. It feels like i could end his life easily enough" Siege smacks his hand down on the counter "NO!"

 

Garret jumps a little at the thundering sound "Why not? If i kill him then we wont have to hide out around here anymore. He deserves it anyway, springing that fight on me like that. i wasn't ready" Siege leans over the counter and smacks Garret across the back of the head "I said no" Garret rubs the back of his head, he stays silent for a few moments before standing up and leaning on the other side of the counter "Maybe i'll just go and do it anyway, what are you going to do to stop me?"

 

Siege takes a deep breath and then looks at Garret in the eyes "You know nothing, Garret. You think killing a man makes you some kind of tough guy? you think it makes you strong? Any fool can kill a person. A mans strength isn't measured by what he does, Only by what he chooses not to do" Garret shrugs a little and backs away from the counter "Sounds like a load of crap to me, an excuse made by the weak to try and draw attention away from the fact that they can't defend themselves"

 

"Oh and you call getting your face caved in, defending yourself?" siege says as he walks around the counter and stares at Garret. "I told you, That fight was a set up, It wasn't even supposed to-" Garret is interrupted by a loud crash as a man bursts through the door of the shop. It's Z'ith, His face is all bloody and he looks like he can barely stand "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he says, Rapidly repeating it as he falls to his knees.

 

Lorrik enters shortly after Z'ith, Limping and accompanied by two other men. he stands behind the kneeling Z'ith and grins at Garret "There you are, I've been looking for you. I had almost given up hope but then i ran into your friend here and he reluctantly decided to show me where you were hiding" Siege is about to speak but Garret gets there first "Alright, you made your point, let him go" Lorrik leans down and grabs Z'ith by the hair, pulling him to his feet "my point? I haven't even begun to make my point, little man. Don't worry though, I'm not here to hurt you"

 

Garret clenches his fist as Lorrik pulls on Z'ith's hair, Siege just stands there, leaning against the counter and folding his arms with a raises eyebrow, watching Garret "Then what are you here for, hm?" Garret says as he takes a step toward Z'ith. "I'm here to offer you a rematch" Lorrik looks at Siege and grits his teeth "A fight to the death, blade against blade" Siege covers up a smile as he hears that ".....No" Garret says

 

"Oh really? I'll give you one chance to accept, I would advise you to change your answer. Otherwise i am going to have to take measures to ensure that you will accept" Garret shrugs and folds his arms "my answer is final, There isn't a thing you can do to me that will make me accept your challenge" Lorrik pulls a knife from his boot and holds it against Z'iths throat, Z'ith closes his eyes and struggle a little "Well then, I'll just have to kill your friend"

 

"No you wont, Two witnesses standing right here. you're not going to risk it" Garret says. Lorrik laughs and holds up the blade "This is your knife, the one you stuck in my leg. and my two friends here plus me add up to three witnesses, Three that saw you slit this young mans throat" Garret pauses as he listens to Lorrik, Lorrik moves the blade back to Z'iths throat, grinning as he sees Garret watching.

 

"Alright...I'll do it.." Garret says reluctantly. "Good, It will be at the pit, Two weeks from now" Lorrik lets go of Z'ith and turns to walk out the door "Oh, one more thing" Lorrik turns back around and grabs Z'ith by the hair, he slits Z'iths throat slowly while staring at Garret "Insurance, Just in case you don't show" Lorrik makes a swift exit as Garret rushes forward, Z'ith grabs his throat and drops to the ground.

 

Garret manages to catch Z'ith before he hits the floor as Siege bolts up the stairs to find some rags to stop the bleeding "No no no no no no!" Garret says in panic as he holds his friend in his arms, the blood pouring from the young boys throat too fast. He dies before Siege makes it back down the stairs.

 

Garret just kneels there, holding his friend in his arms, blood coating his hands, arms and his clothes.

 

[Teardrop]

(Keep it coming! I enjoyed the writing, and I can't wait to see more...thanks for sharing your creative work :thumbsup: )

[Demon Fox]

(Thank you! i'm glad you enjoyed it!)

[Kima wolf]

(ooh very, VERY good story, i enjoy it very much keep it coming!)

[Demon Fox]

Thank you! i'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

The OP has been updated with more stories!

[Demon Fox]

Updated with "A Dangerous Game"

[Demon Fox]

Updated with "The date with death"