Deep inside a dark cavern, hidden away for centuries by the surrounding forest, a young man lay on the ground, unmoving. His clothes were tattered and worn; they could barely be called rags anymore. His once lavish robes of black and crimson were now faded and grayed, reduced to a sorry state. He had on black pants, equally tattered. He didn't have any shoes either, completely barefoot.
Thousands, if not more, voices assaulted his mind. It felt as though the world was screaming at him, all in perfect unison. Screaming, crying, yelling at him, but he could hardly make out a single word.
His eyes snapped open, and just as quickly as they arrived, the chorus vanished, leaving only silence in the cavern and one word echoing through his mind.
Akuma.
Straining to sit up, Aku found himself inside a pitch-black cavern. He grasped at the floor, nails scraping on the rough stone as he rose to his knees. Crawling, he searched the floor with his hands, looking for anything to grab onto, but found nothing. After rising shakily onto his weak legs, he stumbled through the darkness slowly. There wasn't a hint of light inside the cave, entirely drenched in darkness, until he suddenly saw a pale glow coming from somewhere ahead.
Just as he began to walk to the light, he kicked something hard and pain shot up his weak body, a metallic clang resounding through the cave.
His raspy, deep voice groans, "What the… ack!"
The loud clamour of the steel was like a thunderclap to his ears, having been drowned in silence for so long. Ignoring the harsh aching pain now shooting through his foot, he bends down and searches the floor for whatever he hit, quickly finding a metal object lying at his feet. He picked it up, running his hands over the rough steel.
"A… lantern? Well, that's… absolutely useless. Maybe if I had a damned match…"
Reaching into his torn pockets and finding none, Aku let out an exasperated sigh. Holding the lantern at his hip, he continued walking towards the glow, growing brighter as he walked closer. As he approached the source, his eyes strained, forced to squint, and burned as if the dim light were the sun itself.
"On second thought, maybe a match wouldn't have been a good idea."
Raising a hand up to shield his aching eyes, Aku stepped out of the cave into a beautiful, luscious grove surrounded by thick forest. The soft grass felt like fine silk compared to the rough stone he'd just been walking on. He brushed his dirty white hair out of the way of his eyes with a pale hand, taking in his surroundings.
The dim dusk light cast a warm orange glow through the leaves of the surrounding forest. The trees were thick and old looking, as if they'd been growing unabated for centuries. Vines hung low from the branches, reaching down with leafy tendrils.
As he walked forward, the late evening birdsong suddenly ceased, giving way to an uneasy silence. He stopped walking immediately, his hair standing on end. Why had the birds stopped singing? He remained frozen for several moments, listening intently, the only sound being the rustling of leaves throughout the ancient forest.
He let out a long breath, steeling himself, and continued walking forward. He hadn't heard anything, so maybe the sudden silence was only a coincidence? In any case, he didn't seem to be in any immediate danger, so there was no cause for concern quite yet.
As he kept moving through the underbrush, his head swam with questions. Where was he? How did he get here? Where is everyone? And come to think of it, who the hell was he? Why couldn't he remember anything?
For now, however, these questions would go unanswered.
After what felt like ages of aimless walking, he found a dirt path that cut through the dense forest, leading far off into the distance.
The path was overgrown with vines and weeds, but it was mostly maintained, suggesting recent use.
With a sigh, he stepped onto the dirt path and headed down the path, opposite of where he came from.
Aku walked and walked, his legs burning and his mind muddled from fatigue. His throat was rough, completely dehydrated and his stomach was aching unbearably.
As he swayed and nearly fell onto his knees, barely catching himself on a thick trunk, he heard the gentle babble of water off the path. Determination flowed through his veins, urging him to move, even against his body's own pleas that he do anything but.
Step after step, his body screamed at him to stop, but he kept moving, eventually reaching a small stream. Aku's eyes lit up, and he dropped the lantern, rushing to the water's edge. He fell to his knees just shy of plunging into the stream, and forced his head down into the water.
'C-Cold!'
He flung his head up out of the water, droplets flinging off of his hair and glimmering in the dim glow of dusk. Gasping, he wrapped his arms around himself.
"C-Crap, that water's freezing!"
And even better, half of his tattered robe was now soaked, throwing any semblance of warmth it may have provided before out the window.
Shivering, Aku removed his robe and set it on the grass beside him. With a deep sigh, he reached down with his hands and cupped them under the frigid water, then brought them up to his mouth to drink. The freezing cold liquid felt like a balm to his dry, aching throat. He drank greedily until the remaining water slipped through his fingers, then reached back down for more.
As he drank, Aku remained aware of his surroundings, listening and looking for any danger. By now, the birdsong had returned, so he was mostly at ease. However, he didn't know where he was, how he'd got there, or even really who he was, so it was hard to call himself relaxed.
When he was finished drinking, he slowly undressed and stepped into the icy water. He gasped the moment the water touched his feet, but kept sinking in. The water only reached up to about his waist, so he took a moment to collect himself before lowering the rest of him into the water.
Aku's mind screamed at him to come back up the moment his head dipped under the surface, but he ignored it and held his breath. He ran his hands over his body, brushing off the dirt and grime that covered him. His body had scars in multiple places; his chest, his back, and one on his abs.
'Where did these come from?'
He thought to himself, his head swimming with even more questions than before.
'Damn it! What is going on here? Where am I? Who am I? And why do I have so many scars?'
For a few moments, Aku entertained the idea of being some valiant hero that was left to die. But no, he wouldn't be anything like that. He wasn't valiant, and he certainly wasn't any sort of hero. At least, he didn't think so…
Dismissing those useless thoughts, he ran his hands through his dirty white hair, washing away the filth. His hair was long and luscious, reaching down to his chest. It flowed through his hands like fine silk, pure white now that it was clean.
He straightened back up, water cascading down his body in waterfalls as he rose up out of the stream. Shivering, he made his way back to the bank, stepping onto the shore and reaching for his clothes. Still wet and freezing cold, he put on his clothes and sat down beside the river.
"O-okay, at least now I'm clean… sort of."
He looked around, gathering himself for the first time since he left that cave. His stomach growled hungrily, achingly empty. His thirst was quenched, at least for now, so at least he didn't have that to worry about. There wasn't much around him, just the small stream and the thick forest surrounding it. The sun seemed to be going down, judging by how dark it was starting to get, though he couldn't see the horizon.
"Okay, priority one is food. After that… I don't know, maybe try to find someone? Ah, who the hell am I kidding, there's nobody out here, I'm in the middle of nowhere!"
Aku groaned, putting his face in his hands.
"Just my luck! I don't know where I am, I don't have any food, there's not a person in sight, and to top it all off, I don't even know who the hell I am!"
Indeed, his situation seemed awfully dire. He knew he would have to find food soon, he just didn't know where from, but he was in the middle of a forest, so hopefully there would be some food around.
As Aku was pondering his circumstances, the sun finally went down. And somewhere out there in the forest, he heard the snap of a branch, right where he had come from some minutes earlier.