The memories are shadows, ink on the page

[He swiped the journal from an unsuspecting random NPC explorer in the Wilderness. He'll give it back when he's done, but this is faster than waiting for the person to come back, and really it's their fault for leaving it lying about where anyone could get at it.

...especially since he's not sure if he can talk like this. Well. Talk, and be understood by anyone but Krile.

The writing looks... weird. Which is perfectly understandable, since he's kind of. Holding a brush in his teeth and writing that way. It's actually surprisingly easy to do... but his writing doesn't look anything like normal.]

Hey, this is Cloud. What day is it, are the ants still around, and anyone want to tell me why I've got maybe a half-dozen fireflies following me everywhere? They appeared out of nowhere pretty much the second I stepped out into the Wilderness. [And promptly turned into a pony, which neatly distracted him from wondering where the bugs came from.]

[Slight pause.]

I learned my real name, while I was there. Ginko. You can call me that if you want. I'll still answer to Cloud, though.

[For those characters who can read kanji, it should be noted that the characters that make up the name 'Ginko' mean nothing. He spells it with phonetic kanji.]

[The handwriting is recognizably Cloud's.]

I'm told that this book is used for communication. I don't understand how, but looking back through it, I'm inclined to believe it.

I'm also told that my name is Cloud. News to me, but since I don't remember any other name, it'll do.

Since the people who told me those things seemed to be too busy to answer any more questions, anyone else feel like doing it?

[The following is drawn quickly, with ink and a brush. Kindly pretend it's actually a good drawing, and not one crappily rendered in Paint by me.]



You can start with telling me what that is, and what it was doing in my box. [Pause] What I've been told is my box, anyway.

How often do the memories come with multiple [pause] side effects? I thought they usually came with just one, but I just discovered all my cigarettes have turned into some kind of hard candy.

[Pause]

Oh, and anyone who has seen me today, or might see me in the next few days--no, I'm not doing this on purpose. It's annoying, and makes it hard to get things done. Feel free to laugh, but just let me do my job without stopping me to tell me how funny I am.