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He opened his eyes and knew pain. It was in the sharp light that cut his eyes, the aches that worried his limbs and the biting, struggling monster that clawed within his head. He didn't think any of those things, he just knew pain and accepted it as something he had always known.
Three shapes stared down at him with knowing eyes and, knowing nothing else, he stared back. What were they, he wondered? Somehow he knew that in general shape they were like him, but were they men or demons or something else again? Which was he? Needing to name them he did: the striped man, the demon and the giant. They gibbered and yipped over his head as if the sounds held meaning to them.
The striped man made a quick, harsh noise and the others quietened. Then again, louder. Finally the striped man knelt down to his level and grabbed his face so he looked at him. The lights that glittered on the striped man's chest were pretty. Curious he reached out a finger and was amazed to find them cold despite the suns that burnt within them.
The demon with the beast on his head made a high pitched squeal of sound. It made him think of dark places he didn't want to be within and he shivered. The striped man shoved his face away, barking as softly and his actions were rough.
Standing, the striped man waved his arm and plucked a beam of sunlight from the air. It shimmered for a moment, a fragment of sun and sky, before it came arching down towards him. Unafraid he watched the sky fall until it landed, bright and cool against his neck. He had never known the sky could be so colourless or so sharp. It bit at him as if it were alive. Looking closer he saw it was – a blue faced spirit lived within the splinter. He stared at the new puzzle and it stared back.
Above him there was another rumble of noise, rolling to and fro with the spin and weave of the world. He dismissed it. He was too intrigued by what was before him. He wanted to touch the spirit but his finger wouldn't enter the world in which the being lived. It felt cold though, in that world, cold under his finger and cold against his neck. So different from his world where the sun burnt down.
He looked from the striped man to the spirit, wondering if the striped man could see the spirit too and how he had captured such a rare thing. He wanted to get closer to the spirit, to find out what the spirit could teach him. Drawn by instinct he tilted his head and laid his cheek against that of the spirit.
The demon gave another attacking bray. The sound of the world rending and minds breaking. He jerked back at the noise, the sting of the sky-shards tooth a fitting accompaniment. Looking back he saw with disappointment that the spirit was gone. If that mad jangle of hand had caused the wonderful creature to flee then it must signify something evil. Listening to the sound he knew fear.
The striped men waved the shard again, towards the demon this time. That must be how one banished a demon, he realised. With a growl and that accused shatter of sound he hated the demon turned and walked away. He watched him go and knew relief.
The striped man must have been angry that the demon made the sky-spirit disappear. He wondered if there was a way he could bring the spirit back and whether it would make the striped man happy if he did. The striped man was looking at him with an expression he wished he understood. It seemed like it should be important.
He was so busy looking at the striped man's face that he didn't realise the striped man had raised the shard again until the giant barked. The striped man and the giant looked at each other and made noises at each other. He waited, washing the flashes of light that danced around them as they moved. He speculated on whether the lights had meaning.
Finally the striped man made a shifting movement with his upper body and walked away. He watched him leave and knew sadness. He wondered if that was what he had seen in the striped man. The giant didn't say anything but stepped closer. He felt a reassuring weight settle on his head. The stoking gesture soothed away some of the pain he had been feeling. In the giant's shadow even the sun seemed less harrowing. He relaxed under the touch and knew comfort.