Winchester looked to Irwin, shaking his head, "Yeah, we can go around next time, but it'll take awhile, and you'll have to climb over a lot of things." He still figured, even as he said this, that Irwin would still take that choice, seeing as how spooked he was by the woman. Winchester laughed as he looked to his hand, "May I have my hand back?" Though he joked, he didn't try to hard to pull his hand away, not wanting Irwin to freak out or anything.

He stayed silent for a moment, closing his eyes. "Uhm, I think she was mistaken, most likely. I mean, what else could it be? I've known you the whole time you've been here, and surely you would remember her, right?" He shrugged, not sure what else to say. Sometimes weird things happened, and even more so these days.

Irwin let go of his friend's hand, and placed it back in his pocket where he started it fiddle with his string again. "Is it mountainous climbing?Or just something that's inconvenient." Irwin wondered. If it was like climbing over a mountain then he would rather face that crazy woman again, if not then he would rather climb over the things. When Winchester brought up his memory, a chill ran down his spine. Of course he couldn't even remember his own name, so maybe he did know this woman. Irwin didn't want even think about that possibility. He shrugged, and looked at Winchester. "True. I never forget people, names, and placed maybe, but not people." He said trying to hide his nervousness.

Winchester shrugged, looking to Irwin, "It isn't too bad, really. I mean, not like a mountain climbing, but... it isn't exactly the easiest." Really, he didn't know how bad it was now, who's to say it didn't get cleaned up? Or that more rubble had fallen, and it was entirely impassable. Of course, that was nothing to think about now, he didn't care. Forgetting about those thoughts, he continued on the path, until they had reached the outskirts of the forest. It looked so peaceful, so nice... in comparison to the city, the cement walls that surrounded them daily. "Come, you'll enjoy it." He smiled and took a few steps into the forest, feeling the leaves crunch beneath him, the trees rather bare at this time. A few animals could be heard, scampering in the forest. They were so very abundant, humans not having encroached on their lands in years.

Irwin smiled, and nodded his head. He followed Winchester, and enjoyed the sounds of birds calling each other. He also heard calls of wolves from a distance, as well as small sounds of mice and other rodents. Eventually a fork in the road appeared, and Irwin looked at Winchester. "Which road should we take?Left or straight?" He asked having the greatest urge to go to the left, instead of straight ahead of them. The road ahead of them looked more worn then the one Irwin wanted to take, so almost answering his own question he said. "Let's take the left one. It looks like no one walked on that path in a long time." He hoped Winchester took to his idea as much as he did.

Winchester was going to suggest the straight path, mostly because when he was younger, him and his parents had taken the left path... It went deep into the woods, beside a small stream, and led to a lake, if you followed it long enough. Only Winchester had followed it long enough to know that. His parents had never made it.

A sigh escaped him, but he didn't argue with Irwin, following him as he took the left path. He was older now, as was Irwin, and he would not wander off. Never again would he leave anyone alone in these woods... Not that he could of done much, the small boy that he was. Images flashed back to him, of being lost in the forest for days, starving, unable to find his parents. He had made it back home, but they never did.

"This leads to a lake, a couple miles in." He smiled, moving beside his friend, hands deep in the pockets, palms sweaty. For some reason, he was still nervous.

"Cool!"Irwin exclaimed. He looked at his friend before looking at the path ahead of him. Irwin has not seen a lake before, the only body of water that he's seen was the bay that he often goes to and thinks about who he might be. A few minutes passed silently, save for the sound of rustling of leaves under their feet, and the sound of small birds. Irwin then looked up at Winchester, and asked a question that has been nagging at him for quite some time. "Do you think it was strange that that woman seemed to have an idea about who I was? I...I mean come on. I lied when I said I remember people. I don't remember anything about me, at this point I don't even think Irwin is my name since it was written on the clothing I was wearing....." Irwin had written his name on a piece of paper, when he noticed that it wasn't the same as it was written on the shirt tag. This perplexed him, since if Irwin was his name shouldn't the hand writing be written the same way, and he knew he was way too old to be having his parents writing his name down on his clothing for him.

Winchester walked in silence for a moment, looking at the ground below him. He shrugged and looked over to Irwin, "I can't say for certain if she knew you or not, I don't know if Irwin is your name, I couldn't even begin to theorize where you came from..." He trailed off for a moment, trying to see his point in all of this. A heavy sigh escaped Winchester as he stopped and looked at the young man, "If you don't like the name, you can change it, but, it doesn't make a difference of your name, or where you came from, what matters is who you are... And what you do with yourself now." Really, it was too mushy and planned, and he hated how it came out. "One day you may figure out what happened, but until then... you can't be stuck in the past, because it wont change, you have to think about tomorrow."

Alright, now Winchester was thinking he sounded pretty ridiculous, but, he was just trying to get his point across. He had spent years hunting for his parents, he waited everyday at the corner for them to come home, for them to walk out of the woods, and have all these wonderful stories to tell him. He lost a good deal of his childhood, spent it waiting and wishing. Then when he did find out what happened, when they finally told him, he felt like he was better off not knowing. Because at least there had always been that hope, "Sometimes," He started, closing his eyes for a moment, "You just really don't want to know the truth."

The young man listened to his friend's story. When he finished, Irwin had a smile on his face. "No one has ever told me that. Every time I brought it up they'd just tell me, I might get my memories back. But this is the first time anyone has ever told me to stop thinking in the past." He said looking at the lake. He then let out a sigh, as his eyes scanned the lake and it's surroundings. Irwin's eyes then fell on something floating in the water. "Winchester....do you see that?" He asked pointing at it. It wasn't any animal or body floating there. Actually from the size and distance one couldn't tell what it was. "You think it might be treasure or something?" Irwin asked as he removed his shirt to go, and get the item.

Without a second opinion, he started his swim to the item. When he reached it, Irwin found out that nothing was there. "Huh?" He asked looking around. "Winchester...it's, gone!" Irwin called as he sighed deeply. He then started swimming back towards the lake's shore.

The item had actually attached itself to something on the back of Irwin's neck. When the old woman attacked him, she had placed something there, then planted this object. Irwin hit land, and said. "Man, that was weird."He then chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. He frowned, and turned around. "Winchester is there something on the back of my neck?" Irwin asked getting panicked.

Winchester smiled and watched his friend swim. He picked up the young mans shirt, and draped it over his arm, not wanting it to get dirty. Winchester was contemplating going in after his friend, but it was then that Irwin had said it was gone, and was already on his swim back. "Uhm..." He was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Irwin, who seemed rather freaked out.

Shaking his head, figuring that Irwin was likely freaking out over nothing, Winchester looked at the mans neck, but he couldn't miss it. "There's something here... But I don't know what it is." Really, it was rather strange, and he couldn't begin to imagine what it was, or where it came from. Nor what it might do to him. "I think..." He paused, tapping his chin, "That it might be what was in the water..." The man shook his head, handing Irwin his shirt. "It's very strange, think we should try and remove it?" At that, Winchester hesitantly poked at the thing, seeing what type of reaction he might get.

Irwin dried his face with his shirt before putting it on. "It doesn't matter if it was the thing in the water or not. How the hell did it get there!" He exclaimed. The young man then sighed, he wanted to calm himself down. He didn't want to upset his friend or make him even nervous, but when Winchester poked the thing, Irwin leaped two feet from him, and spun around. "Don't touch it!" He cried out. "I don't want my head to explode!" Irwin then placed his hand lightly on it, protecting it from anyone else who wanted to touch it.

Winchester sighed and shook his head when his friend had over-reacted. "Well we have to figure out what it is, and how to get it off. Who else you going to get to look at it?" He was rather calm, while inside his head, his thoughts were swirling, he didn't want Irwin to be any more worried than needed. Either way, unless Irwin left it, he would do what? Go to the doctor. Well, Winchester was the doctor, so he didn't have too much of a choice there. "Just let me see it..." He couldn't even think about what it was, or try to describe it, he really needed a closer look.

"Look, I promise I wont touch it again..." He tried to give a reassuring smile, and held out his hand, encouraging Irwin.

Irwin looked at his friend with a childish pout. He wanted to say no, but Winchester is a doctor. "Okay, but don't touch it." Irwin repeated walking back up to Winchester, and turning around so that he could see. The item was a small metal object that sat perfectly on a metal platform. "Does it look dangerous?" Irwin then asked nervously. The last thing he wanted was something that could kill him, on the back of his neck for the rest of his life.

Winchester rolled his eyes at how childish Irwin was being. He was almost going to force him down, and take a look at it, without the young mans approval, but he seemed to give in. As he turned around, Winchester looked at the strange thing. It seemed metal... which was rather strange, how was it attached to his neck? And why wasn't it hurting him if it was? Winchester leaned in, getting rather close to it, his breath warm on Irwin's neck. "Hmm, well, it doens't seem to be hurting you, and it... Well, it looks like metal." Really, he wasn't sure how to explain the thing, or what might of caused it. "It can't be what was floating in the water, I don't think... I mean, how would the metal float?" He sighed and took a step back, shaking his head. "You're sure that wasn't there before?" Of course, he knew the answer, but it seemed kind of funny, he wanted to lighten the mood, perhaps to calm the boy down, because really, this could be serious... but what did he know?

Since Irwin was still a little wet, he shivered when Winchester lightly blew on his neck by accident. "Metal?" Irwin asked looking at him from the corner of his eye. "Well try taking it out, and placing it in the water..." He then suggested. "Maybe it's some kind of new parasite thing." Irwin then added. The young man then reached up and ran his hand over the item. One of his fingers pressed the item by accident, and it instantly buried itself into his neck. "Winchester..."Irwin said turning his head around. "That thing just went into my neck didn't it?" He added feeling himself work himself into a panic again.

Winchester shook his head, not sure what to do, or if he should touch it. He went to lift his hand up, to touch the thing, to see what it might do, what it might feel like, since he had but a small poke, tentative and unwelcome. It was then Winchester saw Irwin reach for his neck, to touch the thing, and of course, Winchester didn't try to stop him, after all, it was on his neck. But then, whatever it was, did something strange, it slowly creep into his skin, burying itself under it. A gasp escaped him when he saw this, and he stood there, mouth agape.

"Uhmm..." He didn't want to say yes, but he was sure Irwin knew already, "It did..."

Irwin gasped, and started panicking. "MY HEAD'S GOING TO EXPLODE!" He exclaimed as he started to run around in circles like a child, Irwin tended to act like a child sometimes. "Ah!I don't want my head to explode!" He then added tugging at Winchester's arm. After a few minutes Irwin eventually wore himself out. He let go of his friend's arm, and collapsed to his knees. "I don't want my head to explode..." He whimpered. For some reason, Irwin was just fixated on the idea that whatever that thing on his neck was, was going to cause his head to explode. If fact it did something completely different.

As Irwin sat there with his hands on his face, things became more strange. It became harder and harder for Irwin to breath, and he started panicking again. Not only that, but his skin became slimy, a tint of dark aqua blue.

Winchester shook his head, trying to calm his friend down, wanting him to not worry. Of course he didn't know what would happen, he couldn't guarantee that he would be alright, and that his head wouldn't explode, but he wasn't about to tell him that he was likely right. He dropped to his knees, just in front of Irwin, and put his hands on his shoulders. But... something felt wrong. He noticed a bluish tint on Irwin's skin, and he seemed like he couldn't breath, like...

"Are you alright?" Winchester shook his head, trying to get the young man to look to him. "Do you need a drink?" The man tugged at his shirt, trying to get answers, to make sure he was alright. Last thing he needed was to lose another person in the forest... After this, he was going to stay in the city forever.

Irwin looked up at him, and his face seemed to be changed the most. His eyes went from their usual light brown to a bright red, and small scales appeared on his cheeks. "Water...." Irwin stammered, as he held on to Winchester for support. "I....I...need...water." He then looked at the lake. His eyes widened, and he pointed at the lake. "Water!Water!" Irwin exclaimed dryly. He has no idea what just happened to him, that thing on the back of his neck buried itself into his brain, and unlocked something that was locked away since he arrived on the Bay Shore all those years ago.

Irwin was in fact not from Earth. He crashed landed in the lake, and used the same machine to turn himself human, since he needed help. Of course when he crashed he never intended to lose his memory. Soon the object surfaced, and fell out of Irwin, and onto the ground with a soft plop.

Winchester gasped when he saw Irwin's face, seeing the blue scales, and the bright red eyes. He stumbled back slightly, but when he heard Irwin gasping, trying to get air... well, actually, water, since it seemed... Well, he was part, fish? This confused Winchester, but he had no time to think, no time to worry. Without another word, he picked the young man up, lifting him from the ground and moving him to the water, letting his form down in lake, just on the edge. He kicked his shoes off, and took his socks off, rolling up his pants. With that, he took a few steps into the water, watching Irwin.

"What's going on?"

When Irwin was placed in the water he started breathing normally again. "What'd you mean?" Irwin asked confused. He then lifted his hands out of the water,and saw that they were different. Irwin then placed his hand on the back of his neck, and saw that the object was gone. He then swam up to the shore, and started franticly looking for it. After a minute he found it, and dropped it into the water. "This can't be happening....." Irwin stated looking back at his hands. He looked up at Winchester. "You can't tell anyone, please! They'll kill me of they find out!" Irwin then exclaimed wrapping himself around Winchester's ankles. "Please......you're my friend...." Irwin pleaded in a soft voice.

Winchester looked around him, then to Irwin, who was so different now. This was something he had never seen, and it wasn't sire what to do about it. Strangely, he was calm, and did not even think about running away. When Irwin pleaded with him, the man felt apologetic, and worried for his friend, wondering why he didn't seem to trust him, and that he would stay. "I'm not going to run away... And I wont tell anyone." He went a bit deeper into the water, knowing that Irwin seemed to know it, not caring about his pants, or anything else.

"Please, just tell me what is going on." His head was spinning, and he was so entirely confused, not sure what was happening.

Irwin hugged him, and nodded his head. He pulled away, but still holding on to Winchester. "I...I don't remember much, but before I washed up on shore....I remember crashing into the bay....and then I did something to make myself look...look like your race....I don't remember what happened after that, but then I washed up on the shore, and heard people talking, then I saw you and your group, and blacked out....you know the rest." Irwin then let go of Winchester. He heard voices, and said. "You have to get going...." He was worried about either being killed or placed up in a traveling road side Freak Show.

Winchester was so confused, he didn't even know what Irwin was becoming, but it was strange, and he was worried... not for himself, but for his friend. He closed his eyes for a moment, just trying to get a clear thought, a moment to think, to try and grasp everything. Then he heard them as well, the voice approaching, which was so terribly strange, since not many came out this way. He shook his head, looking to his friend, despite the sudden changes in appearance, "I can't leave you like this. There is so much I don't know... And... I don't want anything to happen to you." He folded his arms across his chest, and nodded his head, resolving to not just leave Irwin like this, plus... he really didn't want to leave the forest alone, considering the last time he had entered with someone...

The voices were actually not from the town, but the old woman from before gathered some of her friends, and were following Irwin and Winchester. Irwin looked at the entrance to the lake, and saw shadows of people coming. "Well you wanna bring me to your house? If you come to mine it might look a little odd since I live alone in an building." Irwin suggested. "And you can say that something in the lake bit me. These people might believe it." He then added moving so that he was laying on the ground in front of Winchester, looking up at him. This wasn't a good thing, if Irwin didn't get his memory back, then they would have real problems.

Winchester look to where the voices were coming from, and sighed unhappily. He didn't want to just leave Irwin here, it wouldn't be right. Either Winchester would stay here, or he would drag Irwin with him. Just as he was about to suggest it, Irwin said what he was thinking, mentioning that he could take Irwin to his house. "But, I don't know how long you'll last, without water... You seem to need it." The voices were getting too close, and this worried Winchester, but he didn't want to get halfway home and realize that Irwin was dead from lack of water.

The thought of one of his few friends being dead was not something pleasant, and he cringed.