He felt a tug on his hand. It snapped him out of his thoughts. He realized Zeli’s sub-father was hurriedly leading him outside.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"To the healer. There’s something wrong. You don’t even know your own name."
"No, no, I’m fine. I really am," Enzo denied.
But his hand was held in a vice grip. He couldn’t resist. He turned to Zeli, who was walking beside him, pleading for him to talk some sense into his sub-father.
Zeli gave him a pitiable look.
Enzo couldn’t help rolling his eyes. I need your help, not your pity, he thought.
He despised this skinny body and the strength it lacked. He could only allow himself to be dragged. But honestly, he thought they were overreacting. He was only surprised by the name. There wasn’t a reason for them to drag him to a doctor to have him checked.
Not to mention the state of this place; what kind of good doctor would they have?
So, with Zeli and his aub-father worrying about him, he could only allow himself to be dragged.
"Gato. Take a look at You. I think there’s something wrong."
"Kifa? What’s wrong with You?"
The healers’ building was a large space. It had a myriad of herbs and shavings. The area wasn’t what he expected. Some dried herbs were placed in stone jars. Others were on top of the jars. Someone was lying on fur.
The fur here was nothing like the ones in Enzo’s home. There were large and small pieces. All of them looked warm and fluffy.
When the trio stepped inside, Enzo reluctantly so, a middle-aged man appeared from behind a large leaf that acted as a curtain. Rather than the man, the leaf was the first thing Enzo noticed.
He had never seen one quite so big. It was large enough for him to use as a comforter or a door. He wanted to go out and find it and bring it back. Not having a door made him insecure.
Next, he noticed the person who came from behind the curtain, Gato, another tailless.
Kifa didn’t spare any details, not that there was much to tell, but Enzo learned a few things.
It turned out that the original often went gathering by himself. He knew the usual routes for the gathering party, so he would do his own gathering after they had left. On one of his gathering days, he met with misfortune.
A meng-meng beast the hunting team was trying to catch went into gathering territory. Of course, all the other sub-beasts were safe at home. No one thought of the original owner, and he was almost trampled to death.
He jumped out of the way at the last moment and hit his head. He was brought back to his home to recover after seeing the priest. It had only been one night, but the original owner, whether he didn’t have the will to live or the blow was too heavy, died.
Hearing that the incident had happened the night prior, Enzo couldn’t believe it. There was no sign of injury on him. He didn’t have a headache or anything related. He subconsciously touched his head and didn’t even feel a bump.
After the two finished speaking, Gato turned to Enzo. He scrutinized him. His gaze shifted from his face to his arms and legs. Under his gaze, Enzo began to feel nervous.
Primitive societies treat normal illnesses as signs and omens from the gods. He didn’t want to end up being considered a bad omen. His hut might be shitty, but at least he didn’t have to roam.
Not to mention, he didn’t know whether being a bad omen meant roaming or killing. He wanted neither.
So as Gato examined him, he gripped his coarse fur tighter. He bit the corner of his lip and hoped for the best.
"His wound has healed. There are no other injuries on his body." Gato said to Kifa. He turned to Enzo, giving him another once-over. "There is no external injury, but there might be something wrong with his mind."
Gato pointed to Zeli and asked Enzo, "Who is he?"
Enzo thought it was an odd question, but answered. Gato did the same for himself and Kifa. Then he asked a question Enzo definitely didn’t know the answer to.
"What is the name of the chief?"
He opened his mouth to answer and found he didn’t know what to say. He had no clue what the chief’s name was. He only learned their names because he heard them. Was he supposed to make up a name?
Bluffing after hearing the name is one thing. But he had no idea what the chief’s name was or what he looked like.
He watched Gato nod as if confirming his hypothesis. His heart began pounding in his ears. This was it. He was about to be deemed a bad omen and sent away. His hands were slick with sweat.
He felt as if he was waiting to be executed. When Gato opened his mouth, he braced himself, turned his head away, and waited for the final verdict.
"He has the forgetting disease. He does not know anyone around him, and he has forgotten who he is. Some can remember, but some never remember. It is not common. This is my first time seeing one. But I am certain this is what happened."
"What should we do, Gato? His life is already pitiful. Is there any way to make him better? He is a cub who has already lost his beast father and sub-beast father."
Gato shook his head. As he explained the disease to Kifa, Enzo couldn’t help doing backflips internally.
Firstly, he wasn’t designated a bad omen. The worry had already taken years off his life. Secondly, there’s actually a forgetting disease. The primitives have understood amnesia. He doesn’t need to find an excuse and hope he didn’t get burnt at the stake. The excuse was ready-made.
Thirdly, backflips, backstroke, lunges, jabs, side kicks, pirouettes- Enzo was doing them all in his mind. On the surface, his face was blank, but he was celebrating so hard that his soul vibrated.
By the time Gato told Kifa of the precautions, Enzo still hadn’t gotten out of his celebrating state of mind. Zeli was the one who pushed him and woke him up from his trance.
He realized they were leaving. He quickly said goodbye to Gato and walked up to Kifa and Zeli.
The journey back to their hut was quiet. Each person was caught in their own thoughts. Enzo was now thinking about what questions to ask. Since he had been seen by the healer and diagnosed with a forgetting disease, he should be able to get some answers.
Most importantly, he was heading towards the food. The sun was high in the sky, and he had been hungry before arriving at Kifa’s hut. Now they had gone to see Gato, and he was even hungrier.
That bit of water he drank evaporated long ago.
Lucky him, Kifa didn’t say anything. Only went back to the kitchen to continue cooking. He left Zeli and Enzo to their own devices.
Zeli kept staring at Enzo. Finally, Enzo couldn’t take it anymore and asked. "What is it?"
"Do you really not remember?" There was conflict in his eyes.
Enzo’s interest was piqued. Did something happen to the original besides almost dying? He remembered Kifa saying he was a pitiful cub. He hadn’t paid attention to it at the time. With Zeli’s question, he was curious to know.
"Is there something I should remember?"
Zeli shook his head so fast that Enzo thought he might get whiplash.
He chuckled, "Alright, I don’t remember. So whatever it is you don’t want me to know, I won’t know unless you tell me."
Zeli released a breath.
Enzo raised a brow and narrowed his eyes. Seeing Zeli like this, whatever it was must have been huge news. And he’s so afraid of mentioning it; Enzo could only imagine.
Since he didn’t know what it was, he poured his focus into learning about his surroundings. Having amnesia was the best excuse to ask as many questions as he wanted.