"Wake up." A calm voice shook her and made her open her eyes.
In front of her was a small girl without a face, and another dressed entirely in white. Her eyes seemed unnerving.
She looked around and saw that two other people behind her were brushing the dust off their bodies.
Purple sand was everywhere, and a cave was right in front of them.
"Who are you guys?" She blurted out. It unnerved her to see so many people in one place.
The other two turned. They were, strangely, without any cape. She looked towards the other two, and saw that they both had capes draped around their shoulders.
"Good question." All eyes turned to the small girl. "I am your Guardian. My job is to protect the new players and make sure the Shepherd does her job properly."
"What about your name?" A boy spoke up.
The Guardian sighed. "If you must, my name is Ellyn."
"People never call you Guardian anyways." The other person, who she assumed was the 'Shepherd', laughed.
Ellyn spoke sharply, "Remember who's in charge, Shepherd. Introduce yourself."
The Shepherd flinched, but said, "As you all have guessed, I'm the Shepherd here. Call me Jez."
Ellyn turned to me. "And your names?"
"Why should we tell you?" Someone spoke from behind her.
"We are supposed to guide you in your quest to uncover the mystery of the past and to save the light of the future." Ellyn said. "We told you our names, it would only be simple courtesy to tell us yours."
She frowned. She didn't remember anything. "I-I don't think I remember anything."
"Players are always washed, void of memory." Jez said. "Usually they give themselves their own names."
"My... my name is Laurel." She decided. Just to hear her name on her lips, she repeated, "My name is Laurel."
***
"The girl had chose her name. Laurel."
"What of the other two?"
"Rose and Matt."
"Good. Watch them. Report back to me."
***
Matt felt a jab of déja vú. He felt as if he had done this before.
He followed Jez towards the mouth of the cave. He could see a shining light, like a halo, a bit farther away.
"What is it? A star?" He turned at the unfamiliar voice and saw that it was Rose.
"A star." Ellyn nodded at us. They stared in awe of the star. He could faintly see a figure, a child, in the blinding light of the star.
"A... child?" Matt whispered.
"A star child." Jez walked towards it. A star-shaped light was on her hands, with wings on the side of it. "It's officially called winged light, but we usually call it stars instead."
"Touch it." Ellyn encouraged.
Laurel stepped forward and touched it. A warm glow enveloped her as she stifled a gasp. Matt and Rose took a step backward, clearly shocked.
When the light faded, a brown cape covered Laurel's body.
"What does the cape do? I've seen you wear it, but you never did tell us."
"Matt, Rose, save the star and let's get going." Ellyn ignored Laurel's question.
"What do you mean, 'save' ?" Laurel exclaimed.
