"Hah!"
With a quick, scared gasp of breath, Noah almost jolted up from his sleep with a terrified expression written all over his face. His ocean eyes were wadded round as he panted hard. His body was still trembling, making his throat parched in fear.
But the sight of his surroundings startled him even more, making his jaw drop in shock!
As soon as revived his senses back and glanced around himself impatiently, he found himself lying down on a cold floor, over a rugged straw mattress. The room was locked from the outside, but it looked kinda dark and shabby, with very dim rays of sun entering inside from a broken piece of the glass window at the corner. Sensing a strange uncomfortable sensation in his clothes, he further monitored himself, rolling his orbs.
He was wearing a thin, white linen tunic shirt with long ruffled sleeves covering his entire arms. The laces around the V-neck collar were loosely tied as if someone had done it intentionally so that he won't feel suffocated in his sleep. Underneath, he was decked in tight-fitted linen trousers with a big, unique leather belt tied around his waist, followed by ankle-length boots.
His entire attire looked strangely familiar to the medieval period which he had followed up in documentaries or books. Confusedly blinking his eyes while observing his dress code, he murmured in a husky voice, "Am I still alive? I…I guess I was saved…but why am I wearing such strange clothes? Gosh, they feel so uncomfortable and itchy—"
CREAK!
But, the giant wooden doors of the room suddenly opened wider making a sharp creaking sound. Along with that, bright sun rays filled up the dark room from outside which made him notice a tall, young man, with a compact physique walking inside the room. As he tried to blink his eyes a few times to have a proper view ahead, the man reached him closer and addressed him in a cordially familiar voice.
"Are you awake now, Sheoran?"
Wadding his eyes round in shock and disbelief, a tremendous splurge of anger grew inside Noah as he finally obtained a proper look at his face. He had exactly the same face as Henry but was strangely different in his posture and clothes. Like him, he too was decked up in that medieval period attire, with a cold pair of eyes glued extensively at him.
Moreover, the only difference he noticed between the person standing before him and Henry was in the hair color. The person had smooth reddish brown hairs stuffing his forehead, whereas Henry had pure, sleek black hair.
But, unable to keep his calm by confrontation the same face again which made him taste the grave betrayal, Noah gritted his jowls and jumped up from the mattress. Like a madman, he rushed closer and clenched the grip around his collar, swirling his furious eyes at him.
"You bastard! You goddamn traitor! I trusted you…I always treated you as my young brother, but not as my colleague! Yet, you watched me drown in the pool!? H-How…How could you do this to me? Why didn't you lend your hand to help me!?" His fervent screams filled up the entire room.
However, being confronted by him all of a sudden, the person stood awestruck for a few seconds before he frowned his brown eyebrows at him, "What? What are you talking about?"
A disgusted smile sliced his lips as Noah clenched his grip around his collar, further shrieking at him, "Woah…I can't believe you would be this kind of shameless bastard! You almost pushed me to death and now, acting all innocent? What a nasty man! Don't you at least have a bit of humanity left?"
"What the fuck about you accusing me, Sheoran?" This time, that man raised his tone a bit higher against him. With a strong jolt, he unleashed his grip from his collar and grumbled hard, "Have you gone insane? I am the one who looked for you and brought you back here when you were almost lying drenched and numb near the lake! Instead of expressing a bit of gratitude, why the heck you are spouting nonsense?
What's wrong with you, Sheoran?"
"W-What?" His sharp words felt too surprising for him to process as Noah stood like a frozen rock, almost holding his breath for a second. Gulping his saliva, he further argued after a small pause, "W-What the heck you are blabbering out? I was drowned in our school pond and you walked away even after watching me sinking deep below! A-And…w-why are you calling me with that w-weird name? Who is Sheoran?"
This time the young man rolled his brown eyes wider with an immense fear evident in them. Perplexed by his expression, he almost rushed closer and clasped Noah by both his shoulder.
"Hey, don't scare me like this man! You are the one who is spouting nonsense here! You tried to drown yourself in that Blues Lake, and I still don't get why? Why did you try to take away your own life? What made you take that extreme step, Sheoran?" He shook him a few times, clenching his hold over his shoulder.
"What?" Baffled, and anxious at the unexpected turn of events, Noah gulped again as he tried to protest against him, "W-Why the fuck I would try to commit suicide? W-What's wrong with you? Did you hit your head or something? You are making me confused here! Are you trying to play dumb by not remembering how I almost drowned by trying to save that child? Also, stop calling me by this weird name, I am not any–"
"Sheoran!!" Before he could complete his protest, that guy shook him a little hard and shrieked aloud, looking a bit panicked from his expression. "D-Don't tell me, have you lost your memory? Is this why you are being strange like this? Gosh…you are scaring me now! H-Have you also forgotten about me? I am Kirin!! We were only each other's sworn companions here, don't you remember!?"
"K-Kirin?" Noah's voice almost choke in shock as he tried to utter the words after him. Wadding his eyes round in shock, he quivered, "I…I don't know any K-Kirin. For me, you are Henry! You betrayed and left me on the verge of death! Why are you pretending to be someone else now? What are heck is going on here—
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHEEKKKKK!"
Before Noah could finish his statement all of a sudden a terrifying scream escaped from him, causing a sharp echo to ring in between the walls of the room. Baffled at his horrified shriek, before Kirin could utter a word, Noah lifted up his shaking fingers and pointed at the small shining dagger tucked within a pouch of the leather belt around his own waist.
"W-Why…Why is this th-thing tucked with me? W-What is this dagger doing around my waist!? T-Take it away! Take it away from me, p-please! It's freaking me out! H-Hurry, please!" He was trembling like a newborn fawn, almost reaching the verge of tears with a pale look on his face.
"C-Calm down…You had never let me touch your dagger…Besides, it is your favorite one!" Confused at his unusual frantic reaction, Kirin mumbled in a baffled tone.
"W-What the fuck are you talking about!? Why would I keep a fuckin' sharp object with me!? C-Come on, take it away!! I beg of you, please—" Noah cried out for help bitterly.
"O-Okay, okay…stop shaking like a fawn!" Watching him freaking out too hard, Kirin reached him closer and took off the leather corset from his waist. Peering a stiff gaze at him, he queried back, "Why are you freaking out from the sight of your own dagger? How is it unnatural for an assassin to carry a dagger with him?"
Noah gasped in awe, hearing his unexpected revelation as he murmured, "W-What? W-What did you say?"
Kirin frowned his brows before he declared aloud, "Now don't tell me…you have also forgotten that we are assassins!?"
Like a huge bolt of thunder that landed straight over his head, Noah almost choked his voice as his heart pounded crazily fast.
"A-Assassin? I am…an…assassin?"