I... dunno yet XD
an excerpt

Chapter 1:

"There isn’t much better than this…” he thought, leaning back against the trunk of the tree he was currently sitting in, leg dangling off the branch, multi-colored eyes scanning the horizon. From up here, it looked like anything was possible. There was no end to the land, life, prosperity… nothing. Everything was limitless. That’s what it felt like. To the west, the land rolled away in crop fields and the greenest grass anyone will ever see. To the South, the Rottüra River flowed around the little village, ending abruptly as it found nowhere else to go. And to the North and east, the tail end of the Rottüra Mountains snaked around his village like the tentacle of an octopus curling around its child to hug it close.

The view was amazing, once you got high enough. Or so Peixus had always thought. No one else ever really showed interest in climbing up these trees to watch the land. That was probably because, as of right now, Peixus was about 100 feet off the ground, and the tree still stretched on. There were some tall trees around here that was for sure. He smiled lightly as he thought of how his friends would call him crazy for seeing him up here once again.

Right now, though, no one was around to bother him. He closed his eyes and let out a content sigh as his head rested against the tree trunk, thankful for the alone time, not that it would last.

“Oi! Peixus! Get down from there, will ya?”

See? That didn’t take long at all. Only half an hour, at that. He opened one eye, the vibrant red-orange one, and looked down the length of the tree to spy his friend, Rease. Of course Rease had been sent to fetch him; that’s who they always sent, though he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. Rease would spend half the time walking around and lazing about before finally finding Peixus, and then they’d spend another ten minutes arguing before Peixus dared Rease to come up and get him, which he never did because Rease is, as a matter of fact, afraid of heights. No one is quite sure how he got the Sparrow as his Animal.

“Hey! I know you heard me, so say something! It’s creepy when you just smile like that…” Rease complained, frowning at his friend.

Lazily, Peixus moved his head until he was looking straight at one of his favorite fish, Pip. Pip was a goldfish, with all the normal goldfish makings, and male. He was a good, smart fish. A lot smarter than people really give goldfish credit for.

“What do ya think, Pip? Should I go down without a fuss?” He almost laughed as he asked the question, and knew that Rease had heard him by how he’d just crossed his arms and was now scowling up the tree. Pip opened and closed his mouth, wiggling his tail around in the process so his body moved in a “no” motion.

“I dunno, Rease… Pip doesn’t think I should.” Okay, really, now he couldn’t help but laugh. Seriously, it looked like steam was about to come out of Rease’s ears, he was so frustrated. Peixus belted out a cacophony of laughter, holding his belly in the process and somehow managing to stay balanced on the branch. The laughing stopped rather abruptly, however, when a little bird flew up in a fury and started beating his head with its wings.

“Ow… ow! Bloody… okay, okay, I get it, I’m coming.” Peixus exclaimed, protecting his face from the bird with his arms. Sparrows may be small, but they hurt! Good thing that wasn’t a swan or it could’ve killed him. Remind him later to thank the Gods for not pairing Rease up with a swan.

Once he reached the ground, Peixus brushed all the twigs and bark and insects off of him, and then checked to make sure all his fish were present. Pip, Dot, Wakko, Yakko, and Buttons. Yup, all present and accounted for. He turned to face Rease now, having to look up in order to do so. Now, Peixus wasn’t exactly short—he was 6’0”, after all—but Rease was ridiculously tall at 6’5”. The two looked as different as night and day. Peixus had white, yet tanned skin, with dark hair with streaks of red, orange, and gold going through it that went down to his shoulders, and multi-colored eyes, one a bright and vibrant red-orange, the other a brilliant pale gold. Rease, on the other hand, was brown skinned, with short, buzz-cut chocolate brown hair with streaks of grey in it, and brown eyes. Rease always complained about feeling plain around Peixus.

“Okay, fella’s, get back together now.” He instructed, and immediately the fish, who were each in five separate little sphere’s of water, moved together so that they were now in one big sphere. He smiled, thinking that it was a good thing Vrailla was on good terms with Wérrà, or else he wouldn’t be able to take his goldfish everywhere with him. The magicians in Wérrà had been kind enough to create sphere’s of water for all aquatic Animals, so that they could always be around their human without dying. Though it did get a little difficult when said Animal was big, like a dolphin, and the house was rather small… There was never enough room in his house, seriously.

“I can’t believe you shirked off duties again, Pei! Sheesh.” Rease was saying, rolling his eyes in irritation.

“Wha? I didn’t shirk my duties!” Peixus promptly responded, sounding insulted at the accusation, “I just took a little break, is all.” There was a this-smile-is-way-too-innocent-for-me-to-really-be-innocent smile on his face at this, which just made Rease scoff. The sparrow, named Jack, resting contentedly on his shoulder chirped as if scolding Peixus.

“See? Even Jack the Sparrow agrees!”

“Pssh, that hardly counts, he could very well be scolding me for not immediately feeding him.”

“…I would have a retort to that if it weren’t completely true.” This time, Rease scolded at Jack, because it was well known that the little Sparrow was a glutton who would eat twice his own body weight if given the chance, and only twice that because any more and he’d be likely to explode. Jack was constantly raiding kitchens and pillaging the food.

“So, what’s so important that you had to come fetch me?” Peixus asked, curious because most people by now had given up on him not shirking his duties so it wasn’t normally cause for anyone to send for him.

“Oh…” Rease said, with the annoying air of someone who knows something big but is about to say it in a tone that makes it seem small so the other person will react too much, “I dunno, something about the Montré army being on the move and coming here…”

See? Peixus knew it was going to be said like that, and thus he couldn’t help but respond with too much enthusiasm.

“What?! Google, Rease, you could’ve mentioned that earlier!” With that, Peixus hurried up his steps, running through the forest to get back to the village, where there would undoubtedly be a meeting being held in the Elder’s house. Rease immediately started running with him, not wanting to be left behind, and together they left the forest and came upon the village, Jack the Sparrow flying ahead and the five goldfish swimming as fast as they could to keep up.

When they reached the village, it was to find it pretty much empty because everyone was making their way towards the center of the village where the Elder’s house was. There were a few other stragglers as well, but everyone was hurrying towards the meeting. Rottüra Village was one of the bigger villages in Vrailla, with over 100 families numbering over 200 people, plus all the animals that ran around here constantly. It could sometimes get a little crazy around here, especially when the little kids got excited, but it was all in good fun.

Finally, they reached the center of the village, where the Elders were standing outside their house on a raised platform, addressing the crowd. Peixus waved goodbye to Rease and made his way through to get to his parents, Haine and Nyami. He could see his mothers Dolphin, Nea, floating next to her in her sphere, and kept his eye on her. When he reached them, Nyami looked around and smiled a hello, before motioning up at the Elders with her head. Peixus looked up at them, wondering what they were going to say about this army coming towards the village.

Every village had their Elders. They were the oldest of everyone, of course, but also the wisest and strongest. Having been around so long, their souls were exceptionally strong, and so were their connections with not only their Animal but also of the entire species their Animal is in. There were four Elders, no more and no less and they pretty much acted as council for the entire village. The Elders in Rottüra had some of the most magnificent Animals anyone could ask for: A Peacock, an Elephant, a Beluga Whale, and a Lion. They all looked beautiful and powerful up there, standing side by side up on the platform.

“Settle down, everyone, settle down.” Elder Palie was saying, trying to get everyone to calm down. She was the only woman among the Elders, but that was okay because she didn’t need another woman to get everyone to calm down. Her Animal was the exquisite peacock, standing daintily up there, trilling softly to everyone. Elder Palie gave a firm nod to Elder Ruan once everyone had quieted, telling him to go on.

“Well,” He started, clearing his throat of phlegm, “as I’m sure you’ve all heard, a small contingent of soldiers from Montré are heading this way. Now, as of yet we don’t know what they want, so we ask you all to—”

“Oh please! We know exactly what they want!” Came a call from the back of the crowd, and everyone turned in alarm to see who had dared to show disrespect by interrupting an Elder. Of course, as Peixus had figured, it was Liam, the guy everyone pretty much accepted was crazy. There was an audible grown as the he forced his way up to the front of the crowd, glaring dangerously at everyone, his old bloodhound, Rask, who was also his Animal, trailing behind him.

“Excuse me?” Elder Ruan said, furrowing his brows and leaning forward slightly to get a better look at Liam.

“You heard me. We know exactly what they want, you just don’t want to accept it.” Liam growled, his voice deep and husky. It seemed he’d been at the drink again. He spun around, this time addressing the villagers, “They want to invade Vrailla and take over! We’re just their first stop, is all!”

There was a collective gasp at this, and almost everyone took a step away from Liam, as if they thought his crazy might be contagious. Peixus stayed where he was, Pip floating above his shoulder, watching Ol’ Rask pant heavily from his small walk, and thinking that there was only one way this day could get any worse…

“Liam, stop spreading your lies, you old sod, and let us Elders finish.” This was said by Elder Van, the youngest of the elders, the one whose Animal was the Elephant. His voice was deep and resonating, yet calm at the same time, and his skin seemed to be melting off of him in long wrinkles. Liam opened his mouth and then shut it with a snap, not seeming to want to fight with Elder Van. That was a good choice. No one wanted to fight with Elder Van; his Elephant could really wreak havoc.

“Now, as I was saying…” Elder Ruan said, passing over the interruption like a small bump in the road, “we don’t know exactly what they want, but us Elder’s think that someone should be sent as a sentry to ask them.”

There was a loud, audible groan from the crowd.

Everyone turned to look at Peixus, and he clamped his mouth shut, realizing now that that groan had be out loud, not just in his head. “Dammit…” he thought, cursing his mouth.

“Do you have a problem, Peixus?” asked Elder Terr, stepping forward and looking down at him with the air of one who has both all the power and all the patience in the world. The lion stood up as Elder Terr stepped forward, looking at Peixus with that same air, only much more dangerous.

“Uh, nope, no problem here, Elder Terr.” Peixus said, chuckling nervously and scratching the back of his neck, shrugging in the process. Elder Terr narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Good, because you’re who we’re sending.”

Inside, Peixus slowly collapsed like a flan in a cupboard. On the outside, however, he still stood up straight, as if ready for this. He had figured this was coming, though, because he’s who they always send. Really, he shouldn’t complain, because by doing this he could afford to laze about and not do his duties. Everyone recognized how dangerous being a sentry could be, especially with as hostile a land as Montré, so they gave him a break by letting him relax more than others. It was just annoying, because the only reason he was a sentry was because he had a calm nature and his Animal was viewed as harmless by everyone but him.

“When should I leave?” He asked, trying to keep his voice steady. This stuff always made him nervous. He wasn’t sure why he ever agreed to it in the first place.

“Let’s discuss this… in private.” Elder Van said, and then turned to address the crowd, “worry not, citizens, we shall find out soon enough what the soldiers want and whether or not it’s cause for concern.”

Slowly, grumbling all the way, the crowd went off, until only Peixus, his mom and dad, and the Elders were left. Elder Van motioned inside with his arm, and they all followed him into the safety of the house, where prying ears could not hear. It made Peixus feel uncomfortable.

“When should I leave?” He asked again as soon as they were safely inside the main room, sitting in chairs that formed a circle so they could all look at one another.

“As soon as possible, I’m afraid, so they don’t get too close without us knowing their agenda.” It was Elder Palie that answered, and she seemed genuinely apologetic about him having to go face the Montré army by himself. Still, something in her tone made him narrow his eyes in suspicion.

“How far away are they?” Even before he finished asking, he could tell they’d been hoping he wouldn’t and knew it was inevitable at the same time.

“About… a day and a half.”

“What?!” This time, it wasn’t Peixus, but his mother, that made the exclamation, stepping forward in hostility. “You want to send my boy out there for a day and a half, on his own to address an army? What if they follow him back and kill him!”

Everyone was alarmed by this. Usually, Nyami was very calm and in control, she rarely yelled over anything. This, however, was cause enough to get anyone to yell. After all, who wants to send their only child into such dangerous waters?

“I’m sure Peixus will be fine, Nyami…” Elder Van started, but was immediately interrupted by the wrath of the mother.

“No! No, no, no, no, no! Maybe if they were half a day away, but this… this! No, no. He won’t do it, he won’t.”

Peixus rolled his eyes as his mother once again made choices for him. She was impossible. It annoyed him a lot. He was, after all, at 19, an adult, and had been one since he turned 13. His mom needed to loosen her grip on him.

“Mom… Mom, it’s fine. I’ll go, and I’ll come back alive and whole. You worry too much.” He smiled to reassure her, but it only made her angrier.

“How do you know? How do you know you’ll be fine? I know you’re good with a sword and hand-to-hand combat and everything, Peixus, but… really, most of us have…” She changed tack half-way through, which was a wise decision because he was glaring dangerously at her, “I’m just worried, is all.”

“Honey…” Now his dad spoke up, softly taking Nyami’s hand in his own, “Peixus is an adult now. You can’t tell him what to do forever. He’s strong, he can handle anything.” This is why Peixus loved his dad so much. His dad didn’t care that his Animal wasn’t really… battle friendly. All his dad cared about was Peixus being strong and never giving up on what he wanted. And right now, Peixus realized, he wanted to do this, to prove, at least a little, that he could handle himself going away for a three days on his own.

“So it’s settled then!” said Elder Van, clapping his hands together in his gusto, so loud that everyone else jumped from the sudden noise. He didn’t seem to notice as he continued, “We’ll send someone to get your provisions and a horse set up, and you’ll be ready to leave within the hour.”

Peixus nodded, and then got up and let himself out. He heard a “wait!-” but didn’t heed it. Right now, he just wanted a little time by himself, maybe talk to his best friend. About a quarter of the way to the edge of the village, he stopped, and then took a sharp right, heading towards the stables. There were three stables, all in the same area so that things were kept simple. The people whose Animals were horses, cows, sheep, or any other animal like that stayed here mostly. There were three houses for each stable, each with enough room for those who decided to stay in them.

Pepper was in the dark red colored one, which was the one on the far end. He looked up at the sun and saw it was nearly noon, so he knew she’d be in the barn right now. She always spent the morning taking care of her horses. Pepper was a tough girl, one that no one really wanted to mess with. Her parents named her Ilaria, but no one dared call her that anymore. She was the type of girl who wasn’t really masculine, but merely had been absent the day femininity had been passed out.

He entered the barn, almost choking on the smell of manure and livestock. No matter how many times he was in here, he just couldn’t get used to the smell. His different hued eyes watered slightly, but he wiped them and it went away. This was why he didn’t like barns, or the creatures in them.

“Pepper? You here?” He called out, trying to spy her. The problem was, she was rather short, and could very easily be hidden by one of the animals. As he took a step forward, a little red head popped out from behind a stall, first looking curious and then smiling so big that the freckles seemed to jump backwards, scattering everywhere. There might even be one hiding behind the left ear.

“Pei! Come over here and tell me what’s up. I hear there was a ruckus down in the fort.” Pepper whispered, her voice still carrying across the barn back to him. Peixus never really understood why she felt the need to whisper. She said it was out of respect, but none of the animals ever seemed bothered by people talking at a normal level. Then again, none of the animals here were of his Animal, so he wouldn’t really know that well. Still, he did his customary eye-rolling at her calling the Elder’s house the “fort”, and walked over to where she was. She was, of course, with her favorite horse, Paprika. Paprika was a spirited, fiery young mare that always made it clear that she didn’t care for Peixus or his fish so he can just go away, thank you very much. The horse snorted in contempt at the sight of him and stuck her nose in the air and to the left so she wouldn’t have to look at him.

“Hello to you, too, Pap…” Peixus grumbled, using his nickname for the horse because he knew she hated it. Paprika beat the ground with her hoof and lowered her head threateningly, which promptly made Peixus back up slightly. It wasn’t that Paprika had any horns with which to gouge him—though she probably wished she did—but more that getting run down by a horse was not on his list of things to do today. And Paprika knew how to make it hurt, the sadistic little…

“Paprika, settle down. And Pei, stop calling her Pap, it only makes her want to hurt you.” Pepper said, glaring firmly at both horse and man. At the same time, both Paprika and Peixus looked at her innocently, quickly getting over their fight. Pepper rolled her eyes and muttered something about them and “impossible”.

“So?” She asked, leaning down to check Paprika’s feet for rocks.

“So what?” he responded, looking out the window to see if anyone was looking for him yet. There didn’t seem to be…

“What’s going on?” The annoyed, exasperated tone in her voice made Peixus break his gaze from the window and look at her. She was looking up at him with a horse’s foot in her hands and an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, that. I’m being sent off as a sentry to the Montré soldiers that are about a day and a half ride away.” He said, shrugging slightly. He’d already decided on going, so discussing it really didn’t matter, whether she agreed with it or not.

“Really now? Well, that’ll be nice for you. I always said that you should travel some time. It’s a lot of fun.” Pepper smiled at him, and then went to get a brush from the tack box. He had to laugh at her response. She’d always been the type who didn’t really care if the situation was dangerous or not, just so long as it got you out of the village. When she came back into the stall, he ruffled her hair, which of course made her punch him in the arm as hard as she could. It was all in good fun.

“At least you agree with it. My mom’s going crazy.” He said, rolling his eyes and scoffing slightly under his breath as he remembered the scene his mom had made.

“Yeah, well, mothers’ll do that… Hey, you should take Paprika with you!” Pepper exclaimed, turning around and smiling with excitement as if this was a really good idea. Peixus looked at her like she was crazy.

“Uh, Pepper, have you forgotten how much Paprika hates me?”

“Well, yeah, but… wouldn’t it be great if your relationship were to say, deepen?” Pepper said, jumping forward to get in his face, wild, fiery red eyes dancing with possibilities.

“Why are you talking crazy?” He said, backing up with an utterly confused look on his face.

“My god, Peixus, you’re dense.” She turned from him, raising her hands in defeat and going back to taking care of Paprika. Peixus rolled his eyes. Sometimes… just sometimes… Pepper liked to act crazy when she got a “good” idea. She was quite ridiculous like that. He seemed to have a magnet that drew in crazy women.

“But really, you should take Paprika. She’s the fastest horse this village has, and also the smartest.” Pepper continued, coming back to the side of sanity.

“Hmmm… well, I’ll think about it, ‘kay?”

“’Kay.”

Peixus laughed at her, and then glanced out the window. A few people were making their way over to the stables, carrying provisions and weapons. He let out a deep breath.

“Looks like it’s time to go.” He breathed out a sigh, sticking his tongue out at the people coming towards the stable. Why were they in such a hurry? It’s not like the soldiers were extremely close. They wouldn’t be in such a hurry if it was them going out there by themselves. Granted, if he was in their shoes, he’d probably want the sentry sent out right away, too. The sooner it was known what was going on, the better.

The door to the barn opened, and in stepped Elder Van, Elder Terr, his parents, and a small contingent of people carrying in provisions. As they stepped in, Elder Van smiled, spreading his arms out in what was clearly supposed to be a warm gesture. “Funny,” Peixus thought, “I don’t feel very warmed.”

“Ah, Peixus, there you are. Picking out the horse you’re taking, I hope.” Elder Van said, looking around at all the horses, not seeming to have noticed that Pepper was there yet.

“Yos sir! He’s decided to take Paprika, here.” Pepper said, jumping out from behind the horse so that they could see her, smiling like the little devil she was.

“Hm, excellent choice. Paprika is the finest horse we have here.” Elder Van nodded approvingly, and then started ordering people to get everything set up. No one noticed Peixus frowning at Pepper, or her turning her head to stick her tongue out at him before bouncing off to get a lead and saddle ready.

Peixus stayed where he was, leaning against the side of Paprika’s stable, thinking about the journey ahead. It was small, but, it would hopefully be enough. He wanted to get his rank in the village pushed up. No one really respected him here. And how could they, with an Animal like his? Animals were everything in this land. A hand touched his shoulder, causing him to jump slightly before he realized that it belonged to his father.

“You okay, son? You look troubled.” His dad said, frowning with concern. His Tiger, Balla, came up and bumped his head against Peixus’s leg, purring loudly. Peixus bent down and scratched his ears, shrugging.

“Not so much troubled as thinking. I’m fine, really.” Peixus grinned, looking around at everything being set up for him, “Seriously, this isn’t that big of a deal. It’ll just be weird being out on my own for a couple days.”

Unexpectedly, his dad let out one of his great, booming laughs at this, slapping Peixus on the shoulder in an amiable way.

“I remember the first time I spent the night alone. I nearly tripped and sat in the fire because I heard a squirrel rustle some leaves.”

Now both of them were laughing. Peixus had to admit, that was pretty bad. His dad did have the tendency to assume the worst sometimes, though it’d gotten better over the years, probably because his mom assumed the worst enough for both of them and someone always had to calm her down. Somehow, Peixus had turned out to be calmer and steadier than either of them combined. No wonder people make jokes about them being from different families. They walked over to where everyone else was setting things up for his trip, his mom trying to make sure all the food would fit. Looking at it, Peixus didn’t think it would. His mom seemed to have packed enough for a week.

“Mom… isn’t that a little much?” He asked, raising his eyebrows and wondering when he’d ever eat so much in three days.

“No, it’s not. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if it’s not enough…” His mom sounded strained, and the look on her face made it clear that she wasn’t joking. Leave it to her to think that going out of the protection of the Orbe means immediate starvation.

“Don’t worry, I can catch my own food if I run out, which I doubt I will.” He smiled reassuringly at her, hoping she’d remember that he didn’t normally eat that much anyways. His appetite had never been very strong, and it didn’t take much to fill him up. It was almost a blessing, really, because that meant there was always more to go around the village for those with big families, like Rease’s. Rease has three brothers and two sisters, plus his parents and all their Animals. It was insanity in that house. Rease, being the youngest, never seemed to get enough to eat when he still lived with his parents, so Peixus used to give him leftovers.

“Okay!” said one of the people packing up the small bag, “That’s enough, it’s all ready.”

“Excellent,” Elder Terr said, rubbing his hands together happily, “you ready, Peixus?”

Peixus nodded, actually feeling a lot more ready than he really thought he would. Pepper brought out Paprika, all ready to go. They all walked out of the barn, towards the end of the town. The bag was strapped securely to Paprika’s saddle, and then on the other side a sword was strapped. He had his fish in a small bag that went over his head and around to his side, that way he wouldn’t have to worry about losing any.

“I’m ready.” He said, turning to them all. Pepper handed him Paprika’s reigns and, to be completely honest, he thought the horse didn’t look too happy about it.

“Peixus, you know you’re instructions? You’re to—” Elder Terr began, but Peixus raised a hand to stop him from continuing.

“I know what to do. I’ve done it plenty before. I go up, respectfully, ask to see their commander, and inquire as to why they are coming so close to our village. Nothing more, nothing less. I got it, Elder Terr.”

Elder Terr smiled and nodded, “yes, you do, Peixus. Very good.”

He turned to his parents, standing side by side, his father’s arm around his mother, holding her shoulder. It looked like his father was holding her back, like she wanted to rush forward and cling to him so he wouldn’t go. No one in their community liked going out alone. It was dangerous—one never knows what could attack them out there. But he had always been the best at sword fighting and hand-to-hand combat, so he felt fairly confident about this.

“Well, bye mom, dad. I’ll be back before you know it.” He said, walking forward and giving them both one-armed hugs. His mom looked about to cry. Turning, Peixus faced Paprika and realized: He has to ride her now. Oh, this’d be interesting. Peixus glared at the horse, and then walked over and pushed himself up, albeit a bit clumsily. He’d never claimed being good at riding horses.

Before he really got settled down in the saddle, Pepper hit Paprika on the butt and yelled “hiya!” Immediately, Paprika shot off, like a hare running from a wolf. She thundered across the ground, the wind whipping in her hair. Peixus leaned his head down, holding onto the reigns for dear life. Once, he looked back at the village, and lifted a shaky hand in the air to wave. It didn’t stay lifted for long before he put it back down to steady himself. Still, he could’ve sworn he saw Pepper laughing hysterically.

End of Chapter 1.

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Chapter 2:

Night was falling when he finally managed to get control of Paprika. She was a stubborn, wild horse that was for sure. That was exactly the reason why Peixus hadn’t wanted to ride her, but, he had to admit, she was damn fast. He’d have to see if her speed outweighed her impossible nature. The sun was setting to his left, pink clouds stretching out like ropes trying to reign in the sun to keep it in the sky, their color bleeding out red from the strain.

Paprika walked contentedly along, having burned out her energy from all that running. She stopped easily enough when Peixus pulled on the reigns, and didn’t move as he swung off and started walking beside her. He was going to walk a little ways, find a nice spot to stop for the night, and then sleep. He’d continue tomorrow at dawn. Hopefully he’d get to the soldiers by noon, perhaps earlier, depending on how fast they were moving.

He came upon a little copse of trees, with a small stream trickling down through it, probably come down from the Rottüra Mountains. It seemed like an excellent place to stop for the night, so he brought Paprika in, tied her to a tree near the water, and set out to get ready to sleep. It had been a long day and all he wanted now was to settle down and get some rest. There was bread, cheese, and some frozen meat in the pack that he ate after starting a small fire, making sure to keep the smoke minimal. After eating his share, he gave Paprika some of the carrots in the bag, and then unfolded a blanket on the ground to lie on. Thankfully it was summer, so it was nice and warm out at night.

“G’night, Paprika… don’t run away in the middle of the night.” Peixus said, giving the horse a warning look. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she ran off. “Well,” he thought, drifting off to sleep, “if she does, then I’ll know never to ride her again.”

Dawn came, with birds chirping and the sun blaring down from the sky above. There was a groan, the type of groan that comes from a good night’s sleep being rudely interrupted by the sun. Peixus rolled over, and promptly got a face full of dirt. Immediately, he pushed himself up, spitting out the dirt that got in his mouth and brushing it off. Blearily, he looked around for the blanket, which seemed to have disappeared.

He frowned when he found it.

“What the… Paprika! You sneaky little devil. How’d you do that?” He said, getting up and pulled the blanket off the horse. She snorted angrily at him, and he very nearly growled back. Peixus couldn’t believe this. She’s stolen the blanket from him! Bloody horses… why did they have to be so intelligent? It was really annoying sometimes.

“Well, come on, we’ve got more to go and the faster we get, the sooner this is all over with.”

Half an hour later, everything was packed and ready. He’d eaten, and so had the horse. Peixus brushed off her mahogany coat, knowing that if he didn’t do that and she came back covered in dust and dirt, Pepper would be pissed. Besides, it would probably look better if he rode up on a relatively clean horse rather than a dirty one. He hopped up onto the saddle, surprised he’d remembered how to tie it right, and somehow got her moving.

“Okay, Pap, run like the wind.”

And they were off, rushing out of the cove of trees and onto the faint road that stretched on to where the army was waiting. He had the idea of where they were. He knew this area well enough to know which way an army would come. After all, the village traveled this area ‘round the course of the year, to keep their livestock full on fresh food and see if there’s a better place to plant their harvest.

The sun was almost half-way through the sky when he finally came upon the army. Up on a hill, he could see it quite clearly. The land opened up before him from here, the grass green and lush in most of it, though there was definitely signs of the dry season peeking it. The army was smaller than he thought it was going to be. He judged only about two hundred soldiers, judging from the amount of tents.

“Huh… well, c’mon, Paprika, might as well get this over with.” He said, reaching over into his bag to bring out his fish. He felt better when they were out in plain sight around him. Safer, really, though some would wonder why. Peixus clicked his heels to get Paprika into a trot and started toward the camp.

As he came to it, he slowed up, so as not to cause alarm. Unconsciously, his hand reached for his sword, so that he could bring it out just in case. The people of Montré weren’t exactly known for their friendliness towards people who weren’t of their country. It was easy to tell who lived in which area. In Vrailla, everyone had all sorts of eye, skin, and hair color, depending on their Animal. In Wérrà, everyone was dark skinned and usually covered in chalk because of drawing their Alchemic circles all the time for their magic. In Montré, on the other hand, everyone tended to be rather pale and weak, because they had given up on farming and working hard and believed in industry and technology.

He came upon the biggest tent in the group, and stopped Paprika. Peixus swung off, trying to be graceful but having the feeling that he failed epically. Some of the soldiers around him were smirking, a few openly chuckling, though he didn’t know if it was because of his ineptitude with a horse or the goldfish swimming around his head. Wakko passed by him on the left, looking around with a slightly scared expression.

“And how may we help you, boy?” One of them said, an old man with his belly rolling over his pants, a cocky expression on his face despite the fact that Peixus was clearly in better physical condition than him. Did the man really just call him “boy”? Peixus always forgot that Montréans lived a lot longer, and so no longer considered 13 to be of adult age. Still, Peixus kept his cool. He spent his whole life being ridiculed—this was nothing new.

“I was hoping to talk to your general, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.” He said, politely and with respect. The men laughed, and the guy who had addressed him hitched up his pants and took a few condescending steps forward. Peixus could see the gleam of what they called a “musket” leaning against the tent wall next to him.

“Yer lookin’ at ‘im. The name’s General Yurr.” The man spit, then, into the sand. He didn’t give out his hand to shake, nothing. Just kept standing there, thumbs through his pant loops.

“Well, General Yurr, my name is Peixus. I have come to inquire about why you and your army have come so far north.” Peixus was beginning to feel uneasy, so he was just got straight to the point. Word seemed to have spread that he was here, and soldiers were coming in from all sides. Paprika pressed close to him, eyeing the crowd.

Everyone laughed at what he said. It seemed funny, somehow, though Peixus had no clue as to why. There was nothing funny about potential attack, especially against a culture that had given up moral code for “better” weapons.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business, boy.” General Yurr said, his voice a low growl that reminded Peixus of an unfriendly lion too much to be comforting.

“I’m from the Rottüra Village, so I believe, with all do respect, that it’s completely my business.” Peixus responded, a little less friendly this time, hand on the sword again. Looking around him, he furrowed his brows at the slightly blank, confused look on everyone’s faces. Did they not know where the village was, or what it was? He didn’t get much time to think about it before the general spoke again, sneering as if he’d just gotten the best news he could hope for.

“Listen, kid, it ain’t your business, ‘cause our orders are no survivors.” The general said, nodding to the soldiers. Everyone around smiled, and starting pulling out their muskets.

Peixus turned around, grabbing the sword at the same time. The fish’s spheres swelled up, at his command, becoming bigger and bigger. The thing about the spheres is, they were magical, with a very strong force field around them so the water won’t escape and no one but the controller of the sphere can ruin it. Before he could do more, however, Paprika gave out a loud shriek and went up on two legs, kicking out at the nearest soldiers, hitting them squarely in the chest. The soldiers fell, and others followed behind them.

Before Peixus could react, Paprika swung around him. He instinctively grabbed hold of the saddle, and she took off running as he tried to shimmy up onto the saddle proper. They were almost through the camp when the shots went off, flying in the air around them. He could hear the general shouting orders, and looked behind to see soldiers getting up on horses of their own to chase after.

“Uh-oh… go, Paprika, GO!” He shouted, as if she needed any incentive. She broke out in a flat gallop, and Peixus lowered his head and rose himself up so that they were more streamlined. They were flying by now, the ground passing like it wasn’t even there, just a passing mirage in the air.

Looking back, Peixus could see that he was gaining speed on them, Paprika being much faster than any of their horses combined. They were slowly but surely fading into the distance, some still trying to load their muskets and aim at him.

“We’re almost home free, Paprika, almost, just keep going.” He urged the horse, pushing her harder and harder than he really thought possible. But he wasn’t really correct in thinking they were safe.

There was a blast behind him, followed almost immediately by a searing pain in his shoulder. Peixus let out a scream, forcing himself to ignore the pain, the goldfish puffing up to the best of their ability, the spheres swelling up once more.

And then they were out of there, home free for good, passing up over the hill and out into the horizon, Paprika still going as fast as she could. He looked behind him, watching the horses flounder up the thick dirt hill. A thought hit him: They couldn’t catch up, but they could follow. In a blast of clarity, he knew that they were just sent up here to do something, to kill people, but not necessarily on a certain village. It was like they were just randomly sent up, and it just depended on what village they came across first…

“Dammit…” he thought, and grabbed Paprika’s reigns with his good arm and forced her to the right. She wanted to go straight home, but he had a better idea: To the mountains. It’d throw the army off, if only for a little. He couldn’t let them get into the village. If what the general said was true, they’d kill everyone. “No survivors” played in his mind again and again and again, like a screeching gull.

Eight hours until nightfall, they reached the mountains. They’d slowed down by now, going at a trot now, Paprika’s head sweaty, her tread tired. Blood was still coming out of his wound, but Peixus was trying his best to ignore it and keep conscious. They were coming through the woods that marked the side of the mountains, all the way up and up, stopped seemingly just before the tip, which was covered in snow all the time.

“Ugh… this hurts… bad.” He said, mostly to himself, gritting his teeth. Paprika snorted and shook her head, and he was sure she was rolling her eyes.

The horse stopped, out of nowhere, almost causing Peixus to fall off. She made a circle, looking around at something that he couldn’t see. But he could hear it. The rustle through the trees, like something was slinking through towards them.

“Oh, now what…?” He groaned, leaning forward to rest his head against Paprika’s neck, keeping one, pale gold eye on the forest. Something slunk forward, he could just see its shadow crouching in the bushes…

“BOO!”

Paprika freaked, rising up and kicking out at the woman that just popped out of the bushes, closely followed by two lynx’s. Peixus, on the other hand, just yelled out and fell backwards off the horse. The woman, whoever she was, laughed hysterically, before walking forward.

“Hey, horsie, calm down there!” she said, chuckling at the horse, her lynx’s seeming to laugh as well. “You okay there, buddy?”

She was now leaning over him, staring down at him with golden cat-eyes, her blonde hair falling over one side of her face. Peixus looked at her, blinking, wondering who she was and what she was doing out here. Paprika walked around, hooves slamming the ground, snorting in frustration and annoyance. He looked back at the woman.

“Who… who are you?” he finally managed to ask. Clearly, she wasn’t of the army, because she’s a woman, and her eyes gave her away as part of Vrailla.

“The names Kitta. With two t’s.” she said, her voice high, but pleasant, holding up two fingers to the side like it was of utmost importance he now how to spell her name. He rolled his eyes around in his sockets, looking over at his fish that were hovering a bit off the ground next to his head. Peixus didn’t say anything, just put a hand to his shoulder, where he’d been hit.

“Oh snaps! You’ve been hit! Quick, grab the gangplank and keelhaul ‘em!” She was yelling utter nonsense now, grabbing him by the arms and pulling him up, then pushing him onto one of her lynx’s. He didn’t really understand what was going on anymore. She grabbed Paprika’s line, and pulled the stubborn horse along. Peixus blinked, starting to feel the oncoming’s of unconsciousness, watching in wonderment as this girl he didn’t even know and who seemed to be insane took hold of the situation.

“What in the world is going on here…” he thought, and then everything went black.

There was a sort of growling, purring noise from nearby that he couldn’t quite place. It sounded like a cat, but not like any cat he’d heard before. Balla had a much deeper, gruffer voice. This one sounded like it was smaller, but still big enough to tear his arm off. Definitely not a small cat… Somewhere next to him, a furry paw touched his arm, pushed it really, and the noise grew louder.

Peixus’s eyes flew open, and he found himself staring right into the golden eyes of a lynx.

“AHHHH!” He yelled, scrambling up and to the side. The big cat jumped backwards, hissing and yowling in surprise, fur rising to make it into a puffball, its little tail up at a 90 degree angle with its back. It took both of them a minute to calm down. Peixus could feel his heartbeat slowing as he looked around, trying to remember where he was and how he’d gotten here.

He was in a cave, the opening wide in front of him. It clearly wasn’t supposed to be a den, the mouth to those tended to be lower to the ground so others couldn’t see in. No, it was probably just a momentary stay, or a place to keep dry when it rained. Trees were all around them, pine needles and leaves scattering the ground with their colorful decoration, the leaves an orangey-pink color, soft and pretty. He was pretty far up the mountain, he could tell that from how difficult it was to breathe. Not so difficult that he couldn’t, but hard enough to make it a bit of an effort.

Peixus frowned to himself. His head was starting to hurt; there was a slow, steady pounding, as if he could feel his blood circulating up there. The cat bumped its head against his arm, making him jump again, but only a little bit this time. He pet the creatures head, being use enough to cats that it wasn’t any mystery what one wanted when they did that. Staring at the creature, something stirred in the back of his mind… there was a woman with blonde hair and golden eyes, leading two lynx’s.

“This lynx must be her Animal… I wonder where she went.” He thought, now hoping that wherever she went, she’d come back alone.

“Hey… where’re my fish?” He said, turning his head around so fast everything started spinning. “Ow… okay, slow movements.”

Peixus got up, slowly, and walked around, looking for his things. He found them, not far away, the bag that held his food and blankets open, and the bag that held his fish closed and carefully set against the grey rock wall. Quickly, he reached over and opened it up, finding himself being stared at by five fish. They looked a little scared, but other than that, whole and alive. He smiled in relief, reaching in and grabbing the sphere, for they were all in one combined sphere now. Splitting it into five, Peixus let them swim around at their pleasure, watching the lynx to make sure it wouldn’t eat them, but the creature showed no interest. Maybe the girl had told it not to…

Speaking of the girl, he could hear someone coming now. They were being rather loud, running around and laughing delightedly, as if everything in their world was good. After a few minutes, a girl came into view, holding a back loosely over her back. A lynx bounded after her, swatting at her with its paws good naturedly. They were playing, he could see, and the sight made him smile. The lynx in the cave with him stood up and went to the mouth, purring loudly and yowling a hello. The woman looked over, her blonde hair flying in the air, part of it covering one eye. She smiled when she saw him.

“Finally up, I see. You slept nearly all day! Not that I could blame you, with that beating you took.” She said, entering the cave and setting down the bag, which Peixus could see now was more of a make-shift carrying package for some food. He narrowed his eyes at her, confused, the events of yesterday still muddled in his mind.

“You were hit.” She said, a little condescendingly, as if it should be obvious, one long finger pointing to his shoulder. Peixus looked at it, and gasped in surprise. There was a cloth over it, almost all the way soaked through with blood. The cloth looked like it had been torn from his own shirt and, looking at his sleeves, sure enough, there was a tear there.

“Oh, that’s ri—Wait! Where’s Paprika? Oh, Pepper will kill me if I lost her…” He stood up quickly, barging into the outside world, looking around wildly for that silly horse. Seriously, Pepper would be furious…

“The horse, you mean? Is that her name… she’s over in the grove a little bit away, grazing.” The woman sounded very nonchalant about everything, too busy with her food to bother with much else. Peixus looked over to the grove at the bottom of the hill, and sighed in relief when he saw Paprika. She looked up at him, waving like an idiot. The horse snorted, shook her head, and turned her backside on him.

“Well, I’m glad someone hasn’t lost her charm…” Peixus mumbled, rolling his eyes and Paprika’s ever-strong contempt for him.

“Listen,” he said, coming back into the cave, “thank you very much for taking care of me… uh, what was your name again?”

She looked up at him with big, golden eyes with the air of someone not used to people forgetting their name and very hurt by it.

“You… forgot my name?” she said, her voice like she was about to cry. Then that all changed, and she stood up, now looking furious, “how could you forget my name?! I told it to you quite clearly! Remember?”

He backed up slightly, shaking his head, wondering why she was getting so mad over this. After all, it’s not like when they met he’d been exactly capable of remembering much of anything.

“Pah! Why are men so dense?” she turned to one of her lynx’s, patting it on the head and continuing, “huh? Why are they, Lorri?”

‘Lorri’ shook her head, and moved her shoulders in a motion that was clearly supposed to be a shrug. Peixus rose and eyebrow at the woman, wondering if she was just going to tell him her name again or kick him out of here. He looked at his fish swimming around him, Dot coming close to his face, looking from the girl to him and back, obviously wondering about her sanity as well.

“Well, if you must know again,” she said, getting up and turning around so fast that Peixus had to blink several times to get the blur out of his eyes, “the name’s Kitta, with two t’s.” As if to make the point, she held two fingers up sideways, and as she did that Peixus suddenly remembered that she’d done that before.

“Oh yeah, Kitta… I remember that whole hand motion now.” He said, laughing slightly, because it was a little ridiculous to feel the need to always inform people on how to spell your name.

“My name’s Peixus.” He said, smiling now, “and these are Pip, Dot, Wakko, Yakko, and Buttons.” He motioned to each fish individually, making sure she knew which was which, though it seemed that only he could tell the difference.

“‘Ello, Peixus, Pip, Dot, Wakko, Yakko, and Buttons.” Kitta said, laughing and waving to each of them in turn, “this is my best girl, Lorri,” she motioned to the lynx on her right with the white pelt, “and this is my old man, Kiona.” The one with the darker, grayer pelt purred loudly at his introduction. Peixus didn’t really know why he was called the “old man”, because he looked fairly young, but figured either he’s not very good at telling cat ages or Kiona acts like an old man. Both were very possible situations, after all.

“Okay, kiddies, let’s eat!” Kitta turned to the food she brought, which consisted of fish, giving some to both of her cats, before turning to Peixus, “I’m guessing that you don’t eat fish, so I got you some deer.” She motioned to the deer that was lying on a neat little leaf platter a little ways from the fish, uncooked and looking very bloody. His stomach churned slightly at the sight of it, but he went and grabbed it and started eating anyways. It’s not like he’d never eaten raw meat before, after all.

“Thanks for this. I’m starving.” He said, thanking her both for the food and for not trying to feed him fish. A lot of people had tried to get him to eat fish, seemingly forgetting that he couldn’t eat it. People couldn’t eat their Animal, after all. If someone did that, they’d feel like the worst possible person in the world, like part of their soul was missing from them. Few people could live with the knowledge that they’d eaten their Animal.

“So, you’re from Rottüra Village, right? I’ve been down there a few times, stealing food mostly.” She spoke in a very conversational mood, so much so that Peixus almost didn’t catch that she’d been stealing food.

“Yeah, I—Wait, that was you?!” He had to do a double-take, and stared at her with a hard gaze. So that’s who’d been stealing the food! The whole village had been in a ruckus over that, couldn’t figure out who had done it.

“Well, yeah, we get hard winters up here,” she pouted and sighed heavily, most likely to get his pity, and it worked. Peixus didn’t doubt that it was hard to live on your own.

“Why are you up here?” he asked, not wanting to be rude but wanting to know regardless. He couldn’t imagine living on his own.

“Because I didn’t like my village. I’m from Danub Village, and the place is filled with asshats.” Kitta spoke very matter-of-factly, showing that there would be no point arguing over this, but shrugging all the same to show it didn’t really matter. Peixus got the feeling that her soul just isn’t one for socializing like that. Cats were known for their independence, after all.

“Asshats, eh?” Was all he said, amused at her choice of words. He’d never heard that term before; it was probably something that she’d made up.

“Yup, all of ‘em.” She took a big bite of fish, chewed, and swallowed before saying, “So what’d you do to the army to make them shoot ya?”

“Oh, that… it’s a lon—Oh google! The army! I completely forgot!” Peixus jumped up, scarfed down the rest of the deer, and turned to grab his stuff. “Sorry, Kitta, but my village is in danger, I gotta go!”

He didn’t hear what she said as he bolted down to where Paprika was, fish following behind him. When he got to the horse, he quickly set everything up, put his fish in the bag, got into the saddle and took off. He looked back, once, at the cave, and saw Kitta standing there, leaning against the wall in a sad way. Her cats were at her side, Kiona looking out at them as they left, Lorri mewing up at Kitta. Peixus looked forward again, shaking off the feeling of foreboding that suddenly came over him. Something was wrong…

It was nearing nightfall when he finally got back. He stopped Paprika just over the last rise, looking down from the mountains into the village that he’d always called home.

There was still smoke rising in columns from the houses, like black hands reaching up from the grave for help, withering away before reaching the great platform that is the sky.

Peixus took a deep breath, steadying himself for what he would see when he rode into the village. Clearly, the army had already moved on. They’d come, they’d attacked, and they’d left again. The words of the general rang in his ears: No survivors… no survivors… no survivors…

As they came closer to the village, Paprika started shaking her head, looking around with wild eyes. She looked angry and scared at the same time, just like how he felt. He hopped off, landing heavily on the charcoal ground, ground that had once grown crops to feed the whole village, his boots making a strange, echoing sound in the coming darkness. Peixus looked around, horrified, as he led the horse forward into the village, his multi-hued eyes whirling in fear and confusion, but also, anger.

He couldn’t believe it. He really couldn’t. How could they do that? What gave Montré the right to do something like this? How would they like it if Vrailla came storming into their villages and cities with an army, massacring everything they came upon? Everything looked so utterly and completely ruined. Seeking comfort, Peixus reached into his bag and drew out his fish, letting them swim around as they pleased. It was always nice to have them around him; made him feel better. That was something he needed now, above anything else, because everything looked desolate and ugly and he couldn’t see anyone around anywhere.

Of course, now that he thought about it, that could be a good sign. Where was everyone? He hurried up a step or two, pulling Paprika for a second before she started hurrying up, too. There was no one around; not even bodies. It was oddly reassuring and a little scary at the same time. Something in the pit of his stomach told him not to get his hopes up; the Montré army weren’t known for the mercy when killing.

Peixus rounded another corner, entering the village proper. He could see the Elders house, rising up slightly above all the others, directly in front of him. And on the top of it, where the Orbe of light resigned, watching over and protecting the village…

Was nothing.

He started forward, his boot scuffing the dry dirt, not sure what exactly running up the tower would do but wanting to do it anyway, as if when he got there he’d find the Orbe, but before he moved very far he heard a faint cough to his left. Swinging around, he made a grab for his sword, bringing it out in one fluid movement as he faced the unknown cougher. After all, it was only an assumption that the army had gone on.

What he found, however, was not someone from the army. Instead, his eyes stopped on the brown-haired head of his friend Rease.

“Rease!” He said, dropping his sword with a clang and running forward to his friend, “are you okay? What… what happened, Rease?” His eyes went immediately to where Rease’s hand was holding—his side, pierced open by something. It wasn’t a sword, but something else that made that wound, and Peixus had a pretty good idea it was the same thing that had gotten his shoulder.

“Hey, Pei… we… we thought you were dead…” Rease coughed again, his mouth dry and blackened from all the soot, “the army, y’know, it came. And it went. Killed some of us, but not many. They’re hidin’ up there.” He pointed, weakly, for a second, just long enough for Peixus to look over and know where they went. There was a big cavern up in a mountain near here, big enough to fit the whole village if needed. That’s where everyone must have went.

“Why are you down here, Rease?” Peixus asked, confused as to why his friend had stayed, instead of going with the rest of the village, where they’d be safe.

“Well, some of us…” he started coughing again, this time blood spilling out of his laps. It hit Peixus’s pants as he tried to hold his friend up, but that didn’t even register in his mind. “Some of us had to come and protect the village, ya? That’s why I’m here. I got… I got hit… and ‘ve been out for some time, I reckon.”

Peixus took a deep breath, gulping down the air like a fish out of water, trying desperately to breathe in what seemed like unfriendly air.

“Okay, Rease, c’mon, I’ll take you back up there. C’mon now.” He tried to get his friend to get up, but Rease didn’t have the strength for it. He just fell back to the ground, blood trickling down his nose now. Peixus wasn’t sure what to do. There didn’t seem to be anything he could do, and he knew that, but wouldn’t accept it.

“Rease, come on now, don’t do that. You’ve got to get up, just for a second, I’ll get you on Paprika.” Peixus said, his voice full of desperation. He’d grown up with Rease, he couldn’t just let him die. Not like this.

Rease started laughing then, small, coughing chuckles, “You never did know when to give up, did you? Always had to be so stubborn… even when… even when people told you you’re fish were useless.” He chuckled some more, and then it died away, as suddenly as it had come.

“Jack the Sparrow’s dead, mate.”

Peixus stopped trying to pull Rease up now, and looked at him, horror-struck. Everyone is attached to every creature of their Animal, but there’s always those few certain ones that are special. The ones that stick around because they want to, not because you make them. It’s those ones that a person’s spirit bonds with specially, and when they die, it’s like losing a part of one’s self. For Peixus, he had five like those. Rease only had one: Jack the Sparrow, now departed.

Rease started coughing again, turning slightly so the blood spilled to the ground, splattering the dirt to make dark red mud.

“Rease, you can’t give up now, okay? We’ll… we’ll fix this, somehow. We will. You’re not going to die.” He couldn’t die, because if he died, than that meant others were dying, and Peixus didn’t want to think about that possibility. It’d be terrible. What if… what if his parents were dead? What if Pepper was dead? Or any of the others in the village that he’d grown up with? This was such a tight-knit community; losing one of their own was a tragedy.

But the Montré army’s weapons were both strange and deadly. Peixus himself knew how lucky he was to be alive at this moment. Rease coughed some more, his strength visibly leaving him with every second, until, in the middle of one coughing fit…

He died.

Peixus could hardly believe it. Rease, dead? No! No way! Rease wasn’t any older than himself! There’s no way that he could be… dead. Just no way. He had way too much to live for. Rease had a… a wife… he had a wife, and they’d been planning on a family, and…

“Rease? Rease?! Don’t die, Rease, don’t die!” Peixus started shaking him, yelling into Rease’s ears, all the while watching his best friend’s eyes get that faraway look that only the dead could get. It was a look he’d seen only a few times, at funerals here and there. But those had never made him feel so sad, because those people had lived full lives. Now, there were tears running down his face, and Peixus didn’t bother to do anything about them.

He kneeled over his friends body for a little while more, pain and anger swelling up inside him. It wasn’t until one of his fish, Dot, bumped against his face that he looked up, staring at her with tear-swelled eyes. He tried to look away, but her gaze held, and slowly, he calmed down, back to the tranquil nature that he tended to have.

Standing up, he wiped his eyes, grabbed his sword and put it back in its sheath, and then took Paprika’s lead. Silently, he led the horse and his fish off, away from the village, to the cavern where everyone else was, undoubtedly believing him dead. On the way there, all he could think about was Rease’s cold, hard brown eyes, and the wish that somehow no one would find this his fault, because it sure felt like that right now.

When he finally made it to the safety cavern, he felt more exhausted than he ever had in his entire life. It was like he was completely drained of energy and will. Who knew what state he’d find his friends and family inside that cavern? Who knew how many were able to make it up there? Peixus hadn’t stuck around the village to see if anyone else was dying or dead in the streets.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the cave, stumbling in really, Paprika trotting slowly next to him, her nostrils widening to catch all the scents coming out of there. Peixus could smell it, too—it smelled like fear. He hurried up, entering the cavern at almost a run. It was dark in the cavern—not so dark he couldn’t see, but dark enough that he had to wait a few seconds for his eyes to adjust. He could hear the sound of scores of souls breathing.

“H-hello?” he called out, almost too afraid to, wondering who would answer back. It was still dim, there were few torches lit in the area, probably so that it wouldn’t attract too much attention from unwanted, peering eyes. He could make out a mass of shadows, like a bunch of animals huddled together.

“Peixus… is that you?” One of the shadows moved, standing up with one of the torches, revealing his mother. She looked harassed—her hair was askew everywhere, there were dark shadows under her eyes and her eyes were all red and puffy, like she’d been crying. It made Peixus sad just looking at her.

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me.” He would’ve said more, but she squealed and leaped at him before anything else could be said. Peixus almost toppled over, but somehow managed to hold himself up while his mom clung to him, crying pitifully.

“Peixus, oh, Peixus… I thought… I thought you were dead. You have no idea…” she chocked up then, unable to speak, which just made it worse. She’d really thought he was dead? Well, Peixus wasn’t all too surprised. He’d gone out as a sentry to the army, been gone for a whole night and a day, and in his absence the army had attacked the village. Peixus would have assumed he was dead, too.

His dad came up, his eyes slightly swollen, too, but not nearly as bad as his mother’s. Haine didn’t say anything, just silently pulled his son and wife into a big hug. They stayed like that for a second before Balla stood up on two paws, front legs spread wide as if he wanted in on the hugging action, too. All three of them had to laugh when they saw this, and broke it up. Looking around, Peixus now realized that everyone else had been watching. In any other circumstance, this would’ve been embarrassing.

“Who… who made it?” he asked cautiously, almost too afraid to get the question out. He looked up at his dad with mismatched eyes, instinctively wanting to hear it from his father than from anyone else. Somehow, when bad news came from his father, it always hurt less. Haine ran a calloused hand through his black, orange-streaked hair, letting out a guttural sigh.

“Quite a lot, actually. We lost the Jackul’s, the Hundi’s, Wirta Verundi, and a few others… Oh, and… we lost Elder Van, too.”

Peixus’s eyes widened in horror at this. They’d lost an Elder? But… how could this be? The Elders were always heavily protected in times of battle. Had Elder Van thought he could fight, too? Granted, with his great big Elephant and his rather uppity attitude, this really shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Elder Van had never been one to back down from a fight. Still, losing an Elder… it was a harsh blow.

“How… How’s Elder Terr taking it?” he asked, glancing around towards where the Elders were before quickly looking at the ground. The Elder’s, the one’s left, were gathered around the back corner of the cavern. Elder Palie had her arm around Elder Terr, whose head was in his hands, his lion lying at his feet, growling softly. Elder Ruan was standing off to the side, sitting on a rock, his Beluga Whale floating next to him. They were all silent.

“Well…” Haine began, glancing at the Elders as well, “Elder Terr kind of… went a little nuts. Ran back into the house with his Lion, came out seemingly alone, but then, all of a sudden… soldiers everywhere were being sliced open…” his father shuddered, as if remember something horrifying, but didn’t say anymore. He didn’t really need to. Peixus could imagine how terrible and strange that must have been. At the same time, though, he couldn’t help but smile.

“That should have given the army quite a scare. I just hope they remember that lesson the next time they plan to storm a village.” Peixus said, almost laughing. His father shook his head and rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face.

“Peixus… Peixus?” came a voice to his left, and Peixus looked around to find himself staring straight into the gray eyes of Rease’s father, Runal.

“Yes?” he managed to choke out. He couldn’t think of anything else to say. At that moment, it all came crashing down: The village, Rease… everything. Peixus was almost crippled by it, looking into the soft, gray eyes of Runal, who was always like a second father to him. How much pain Runal must feel right now…

“Have you… did you… see my son, by chance?” Runal’s voice cracked, making his words louder than they were meant to be. Everyone looked around at this, some surprised to see Peixus there, for not many had looked up at his entrance. Most were sitting or lying on the ground, staring at the ground or ceiling.

“I… I…” there was a moment where Peixus considered lying, and almost gave in to the temptation, but then plowed on with the truth, “I did, Runal. I’m sorry… he… he died. I… I watched him die.”

Tears streamed down old Runal’s face, and he nodded, almost wisely, and turned around to go back to his family. They were all in tears now. Rease’s wife was sobbing into her shirt, his sisters all hugging each other… only his mother wasn’t crying. Only her. She seemed beyond tears, like the death of her only son was too much to bear, and she wouldn’t, or couldn’t take it. Instead, she looked Peixus square in the eyes, her harsh yellow eyes, so much like the hawk sitting on her shoulder, piercing through his. He couldn’t hold her gaze, and looked at the ground, realizing that tears were streaming down his own face.

Quickly, he wiped the tears from his eyes, turning around to once again address his parents. Before anything could be said, however, someone punched him in the face.

A few facts that need to be mentioned right now:

There are some girls who will threaten to slap you.

There are others who will actually slap you.

There are a few who will punch you as hard as they can in the arm, but they’re fairly weak, so it’s really not that hard.

And then there’s Pepper.

Pepper is 115 pounds of pure power, and not even human power—oh no, that’s 115 pounds of pure horse power. And horse power is, of course, quite a bit stronger than human power.

So, needless to say, Pepper isn’t the type of girl to put that power behind a threat to slap, a slap, or even a punch in the arm. No, that’s far too flaccid for her.

She’d much rather punch people in the face.

Peixus fell backwards onto the ground, banging his head rather sharply against the rock floor. He groaned, his vision going white-hot for a minute. It took several blinks before he could see who had punched him and had now preceded to yelling at him at the top of their lungs.

“You IDIOT! How could you? How COULD you? I can’t believe you were so stupid as to get yourself hurt! And then you disappeared for the night and we didn’t have a clue where you were or even if you were ALIVE… what if you had been killed? Hmm? Did you ever stop to think of that? Well, did you? Answer me, boy!”

He furrowed his brows, frowning up at the shape that was beginning to form, a shape with red hair and freckles.

“Pepper?” he asked, weakly, his voice still out from the shock of getting punched and then falling.

“No, genius, it’s your mother. Of course it’s Pepper. Now get up.” Pepper said, her fists on her hips and a glare in her eyes. Clearly, Pepper was mightily pissed.

Peixus stood up, carefully, slightly dizzy from hitting his head. He rubbed his eyes a bit and, when he opened them again, could see clearly. Now he rubbed his jaw and nose, where she’d managed to punch him.

“Geeze, Pepper, you could’ve broken my nose.” He said, feeling it to make sure it wasn’t broken. It wasn’t, but it still smarted, so he decided to stop touching it. He’d have quite the bruise there tomorrow. Pepper just rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “men are such babies…” before rounding on him once more.

“Where were you last night? What happened to you?” She frowned at him, waiting for a response. Looking around, Peixus could see that other people were paying attention now, obviously quite curious as to what had happened to him. He sighed and sat on a rock in the cavern, wondering how best to put this.

“Well, see… I went to talk to the army, and they kind of… attacked me.” His mom let out a gasp, and made a move as if to hug him closely and start yelling “my baby, oh, my baby!” but his dad stopped her, thankfully. Peixus didn’t think he could take that again.

“I got out okay. They’re horrible at aiming those musket-things of theirs, but they did get my shoulder,” he motioned to his shoulder, where there was still a blood-stained bandage, though now it was mostly covered by dirt, “I rode to the mountains, because I think they were sent up randomly, to hit the first village they came across, so I thought that I could lead them to the mountains and then they’d waist time looking for a village that wasn’t there.”

Pepper crossed her arms across her chest at this, scoffing as if it was a stupid idea. Looking back on it now, it probably was, but if it had worked it would’ve been a good idea.

“Clearly that didn’t work, and by the time I got to the mountains, I sort of… passed out. I woke up in a cave that some girl with a couple of lynx’s lived in.” For some reason, he found himself smiling at the memory, wanting to laugh as he thought of the ridiculous antics of the girl. He stopped himself, though, as Pepper’s frown grew deeper, not wanting another punch in the face.

“Anyways… I woke up there, disoriented and lost, she gave me some food, and then I took off to come back here.” He finished, rather lamely, shrugging his shoulders as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. Pepper looked about ready to start yelling again, but luckily Elder Paile interrupted her.

“You were very brave, Peixus, and we thank you for your attempt to save this village. If only it had worked…” something in her tone, something sad and foreboding, made Peixus jump up, remembering something.

“Oh yeah! The Orbe, it’s gone, what are we going to do?” he said, looking around at everyone. No one looked surprised by this news, which was of course expected, but still, he felt put out by being the last one to find out. He also had the feeling that they all knew something he didn’t.

“Yes, Peixus, we know. We’ve already sent someone to Vrailla City to see what we can do about this, and to inform the High Council of what the Montré army has done.” Elder Paile smiled sadly, and then sighed, going back to sit with the other Elders. Peixus fell back onto his makeshift seat, feeling deflated and defeated. The Elders always managed to make him feel like a child, no matter how old he got. It was rather annoying, and a bit disconcerting.

“Move over, dear, and let me see about your shoulder.” His mother’s voice said in his ears, sounding worried and eager to help at the same time. Peixus scooted over, holding his arm up as she undressed the bandage, assessed the damage, and went about to try and fix it. He sat there, taking the almost abusive care she put into it, wondering all the time what was to come of this. Like before, on his ride back here, there was a feeling in the pit of his stomach like something was wrong. This whole situation just felt like the beginning of something much, much worse than they could imagine.

He somehow ignored it, though, pushing the feeling to the back of his mind, telling himself it was nothing. The High Council would do something about it, and this whole thing would get put under control. Reassured, if a little forcibly, by that thought, Peixus watched as Pepper unsaddled and unbridled Paprika, taking proper care of the horse. She kept shooting glares at Peixus, as if blaming him for letting her horse get into such a state, and Peixus couldn’t help but chuckle. He was home, at least, and that’s all he really wanted.

End of Chapter 2.

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Chapter 3:

The village really was in shambles. Most of the homes were broken down and crumbling. One actually collapsed on someone while they were trying to fix it up. They didn’t die, luckily. Their Animal saved them. It was a relief, really, because it was obvious that no one could take another death, or another funeral.

That had really been the toughest part. The funerals. It took place the day after Peixus came back. The rest of the villagers finally came down from the cavern, put out the last of the smoke, and then started collecting the dead. On the whole, when compared to how many villagers there had been, there wasn’t a whole lot of dead, but that wasn’t very reassuring. There were still too many.

Rease’s had been the worst, and not just because everyone had loved him. He had had a quirky sense of humor; always good for a laugh. No, it was the worst because, in the middle of burying him, his wife had broken down into hysterics, yelling about their fatherless baby and wouldn’t let Rease be buried. It took quite awhile to get her off his body. It was horrible. All the screeching, yowling sobs, like an angry, wild cat. Peixus found out that day, too, that there were those who blamed him for this. Rease’s mother, Gilda, the first among them. She’d approached Peixus while her daughter-in-law was having a fit, eyes raging and mouth set.

“This is all your fault, you know! If you hadn’t gone down there… if you hadn’t aggravated them… my Rease would still be alive! It’s your fault! Your fault!”

She’d made a move as if to hit him, and people around him moved, too, as if to step in the way. Gilda didn’t hit him, though. No, instead, she just spit on his shoes, and walked away, leaving behind her loathing glare. Since then, no matter how much people tried to tell Peixus it wasn’t his fault, it ate away at him. Gilda had always been so nice. Maybe a little harsh, but, she’d been as much his mother as his real mother was. Her hating him, and blaming him for what had happened… it struck a chord.

It was lucky Kitta had been there, though Peixus hadn’t really thought about that at the time. She’d stepped forward and told Gilda to shut her mouth, saying it wasn’t Peixus’s fault… it was sweet, really. Kitta had come down from the mountains the day after Peixus had returned, immediately glomping him. He’d fallen to the ground, and she’d said “what up, Fishboy?” and she’s been here ever since. He wasn’t quite sure why, because he would’ve thought she would like to stay in the mountains with her lynx’s more. She said it smelt interesting down here so she’d decided to stick around for awhile. Peixus had a suspicious feeling there was more to it than that…

That was two days ago. It was now the fourth day since the army had come, and everyone was still trying to figure things out. Elder Terr, who had always been known for being good in a crisis, wasn’t much help, mourning the death of his brother as he was. Elder Palie and Elder Ruan were helping out a lot, though, carrying on instructions to get things underway, pulling in favors that other villages owed them for help with food. This year’s harvest was pretty much ruined.

About mid-day, Peixus was working on moving some of the ruined, burned wood into the forests near the village, so that it wouldn’t be in the way. He had just dropped on down and looked up at the sky, brushing the sweat off his forehead, when he saw the eagle circling overhead. Immediately, excitement started stirring in his gut. It looked like… yes, it was! It was Turri, Niala’s Eagle, who’d been sent to Vrialla City with the message. That meant that the High Council had responded!

Peixus ran back to the village, grabbing Pepper from the barn on his way. He literally ran into the barn, yelled that Turri was back, grabbed Pepper by the arm and pulled her along after him. Her punching him really hadn’t done anything to their friendship; it was typical of her, and the bruise had mostly gone away. There was still purple under his eye, but it wasn’t too bad.

When they made it back to the village, everyone had seen Turri, and was gathering at the Elder’s House. Niala and Turri were up on the platform with the Elder’s, discussing the message that had been sent. Niala was the new Elder, taking place of Elder Van. Peixus had to keep reminding himself of that. It was weird, having a new Elder. It would take some getting used to.

Watching the Elders up there, whispering to each other in harsh voices, he couldn’t help but get this sense that the village was about to get some bad news. A hard lump settled in the bottom of his stomach as he thought about that. This village did not need any more bad news. It had gotten enough bad news to last it a decade. Looking around, Peixus could tell that he wasn’t the only one thinking this was going to be bad, for many, who moments before had had hope in their eyes, were now starting to look downcast.

After a few more minutes, Elder Terr took a deep breath, shook his head, and turned to face the villagers. Immediately, everything went quiet. The animals stopped making noises, people stopped whispering to each other—there wasn’t even the sound of shuffling feet, or taking breath. It was always amazing to see how Elder Terr was able to hush a crowd without any words. He need just face it, and all goes quiet.

“I’m afraid we have some grave news…” he said, his gruff voice quiet but carrying all the same, “it seems that the High Council is unable to get us another Orbe.”

Immediately, there were cries of outrage. Everyone was shocked, and some angry enough to actually call out. Peixus stood there, feeling like he’d just gotten a blow to the stomach. The village without an Orbe? But… could they survive without one? They’d had one for as long as anyone could remember. What would they do without an Orbe? Grow crops without its protection? No one would be able to feel comfortable again. The village would be a breeding ground for debilitating diseases and crop failures.

“I know, I know…” Elder Terr was saying, getting everyone quiet again, “it is outrageous, we agree, and we’re not sure what we’re going to do, but… we’ll think of something.”

Elder Terr turned back to the other Elder’s, their faces grave with worry. Haine put his hand on his sons shoulder, trying to get him to move, but Peixus didn’t. He was stuck in his thoughts; something was stirring, slowly but surely, an idea forming…

“Peixus? Son…?” Haine said, coming around to look in his son’s face. Peixus’s mismatched eyes were glazed over, but a smile was slowly forming on his face. “Peixus…?”

Peixus looked up at his father, grinning broadly now, his eyes now in sharp relief to the glazed look they had moments before. Haine could tell that his son was not responding to him, though, but something had clicked in his mind. Peixus moved away from his father, going up to the Elder’s platform, calling out when he got there.

“Elders! Elders!” he said, getting their attention immediately, as well as everyone else’s, “What if we send someone to Wérrà? Get another Orbe directly from them?”

He was really excited about this idea, nearly bouncing on his feet as he spoke of it. The Elder’s just looked confused, though, like they didn’t get what he was saying.

“What do you mean, Peixus?” Elder Palie asked, uncertain about this idea.

“I mean,” he said, emphasizing his words and hoping up on the platform, turning to face the villagers, “Sending a sentry to Wérrà and asking their High Mage’s if we could have another Orbe. We might even be able to ask them to find out why the Montré army is attacking in the first place. And, if the army’s going after other villages, those ones will need Orbe’s, too, so we could get enough for all the villages.” He was grinning like a lunatic, he knew, speaking very fast from excitement. It just seemed like such a good idea. What could be more perfect than asking the High Mages themselves? It’s not like it took a long time to make an Orbe. Or at least, Peixus didn’t think it would, but then, he didn’t know much about how Orbe’s work.

Now, facing the crowd, he could feel his excitement leaving him as everyone stared dumbfounded at him. No one seemed to be going for that idea. Silently, he cursed Vrailla culture. No one liked to leave their land, at least not for very long, and a trip to the next country over would definitely take awhile. Plus, no one really knew if everyone in Wérrà liked Vrailla people or not. It could potentially be very dangerous.

“Come on, people, think about it: We could get an Orbe without dealing with a middleman, and if they say no, well, at least we know there are no more options from there.” He said, trying to pump up some excitement for the idea. Everyone started muttering to each other, and he was almost certain that they thought it was a horrible idea. Not even the Elder’s looked pleased about it.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea, Fishboy!” This came from Kitta, who no one had seen all day but was now lounging in a big old tree planted near the Elder’s house. It was slightly burnt, but not beyond help, which was good because it was sort of a memorial for their first Elder, who was buried at the base of it. A lot of people were glaring at Kitta now, not just for desecrating a memorial tree, but also because they just didn’t like her. She seemed to have this affect on people, especially women. Peixus’s mom and Pepper really didn’t like her.

“Thank you, Kitta, at least someone thinks so…” he said, looking around to see if anyone else was going to speak up on the matter. Kitta’s response to the idea seemed to have triggered a ripple in the crowd.

“It’s not that we don’t think it’s a good idea, it’s that… well, who would be crazy enough to go?” someone said, and a resounding chorus of “yeah!” and “that’s right!” went up everywhere. This stopped Peixus for a moment, because he didn’t know quite what to say. Kitta seemed to, though.

“Why, Peixus and I will go, of course.” She had hopped down from the tree by now and was sauntering up the platform, stopping only when she stood next to Peixus, her golden eyes dancing with mischievousness.

“And why should Peixus go, miss Kitta?” Elder Ruan asked behind them, speaking so suddenly that Peixus jumped a bit. Kitta just coolly turned around to face him, pushing her hair back with one hand before putting both hands on her hips and leaning forward to talk to the Elder.

“Be-cauuussee… he’s the sentry!” the way she said it was almost rude, as if this should be obvious to begin with. The Elder’s glares at her in surprise to her tone; no one spoke to them like that! At least, not usually. Peixus fought back a smile.

“Well what if he doesn’t want to go?!” came Peixus’s mother’s voice as she climbed up onto the platform, all the righteous fury of a mother in her light gray eyes. Peixus had to gulp down the fear that rose in him before he could respond.

“But… I do want to go, mother.” His voice was weaker than he meant it to be, but considering the anger glancing through his mothers eyes, he wasn’t all too surprised, “Now, listen to me, mom, listen: I could get an Orbe for the village, we could… live comfortably again, without worry, y’know? And I don’t think I’ll be in much danger just going to Wérrà, they like the Vrailla.”

While his mother was still obviously anger, Peixus could see that she was trying to come up with a viable argument against this idea. It took several seconds, but she finally got one.

“You don’t know the land over there! You could easily get lost, or killed, or worse!” Nyami was quite clearly now going into slight hysterics. After all, did she really think that there could be worse after getting killed? Well, tortured and all that, yes, but Peixus didn’t find getting tortured a very likely thing to happen. Still, this stopped him, because it was true, he didn’t know Wérrà land very well.

“Pssht, I’ll be with him, of course. I know Wérrà as well as Vrailla.” Kitta said, brushing off Nyami with a wave of her hand. Everyone looked at her in surprise, which prompted her to say, “what?” Her voice and facial expression was very innocent, as if she didn’t know why everyone was looking at her all of a sudden.

“How… how do you know Wérrà so well?” Elder Palie asked, suspicious and cautious at the same time. No one was really sure Kitta was trustworthy; she was only allowed to stick around the past few days because they all knew she saved Peixus’s life, and he seemed to trust her. Peixus did, too, to a point, but he knew that there was always something in her that did things for her own good, and not for anyone else’s.

“Well, you can’t have expected me to just leave my village without exploring for a bit, can you?” Kitta asked, hands on her hips again, her tone one of utter disbelief, “Of course I went into Wérrà and poked around for awhile. It’s a very interesting place. I’d love to meet up with some old friends…” A toothy smile spread across her face at this, showing long eye teeth which somehow made her look creepy.

“Well, uh,” Peixus said, trying to pull everyone away from Kitta’s odd self, “there you go, I have a guide through Wérrà.” He forced a grin in an attempt to calm everyone down, but it didn’t really work. His mother still looked furious, and, looking at the crowd, so did his dad and Pepper. A lot of other people looked cross, but not angry, and a few—the ones who had gotten it into their heads this was his fault—looked almost pleased with the idea of sending him off for a while.

The Elder’s reconvened for a minute, whispering again, before Elder Terr again stepped forward, clearing his throat in preparation to say something that not everyone would agree with.

“The Elder’s and I have decided to discuss this option. By sun down, we will call you all here again and give you our decision. You all can either go back to fixing up the village or… whatever else you were doing. No one, and I mean no one, is allowed to discuss this topic further until we Elder’s have come to a decision.” Elder Terr looked right at Nyami when he said the last bit, giving her a warning look that quelled her anger enough for her to take a deep breath and nod in defeat. Peixus was thankful for that; the last thing he needed until the Elder’s came to a decision was his mother constantly berating him about the idea.

“C’mon, Kitta, let’s go… for a walk.” He said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her down off the platform before she could do any more damage. A lot of people in this village didn’t like her. Too many, in fact, for her to be safe. This was probably due to her constantly flirting around with husbands and going about like she owned the place. Kitta was one-of-a-kind, that was for sure, but she was one-of-a-kind probably because the rest of the people like her got lynched.

Walking through the woods with Kitta was like walking alone, Peixus thought, looking around to once again find where she went. She absolutely loved climbing up in the trees. Her lynx’s, Lorri and Kiona, were stuck on the ground, unable to climb up trees, though they didn’t seem to mind her going up without them. She probably did this a lot to them and they’d just gotten used to it.

“Hey… Kitta?” Peixus said after several moments, unsure if she was around or not, but wanting to talk none-the-less.

“Yessum?” came her voice from high above, and looking up Peixus could see her head sticking out through some branches.

“Why do you want to come to Wérrà with me? Really?” he asked, unsure if he really wanted to know or not. He had to ask, though. He’d curse himself later if he didn’t.

“Why…? Well, because, I suppose, it smells interesting. And I love Wérrà; very nice country they’ve got over there.” She said, hopping down through the branches to land on the ground, a big smile on her face like always. Peixus narrowed his eyes at her, unsure if he believed her or not.

“I don’t think I believe you. You don’t seem like the type to do something just for those reasons; you’ve got your own agenda, don’t you?” he asked, suspicious but polite like usual. He didn’t want her to leave, because he would need a guide to get through Wérrà.

She shrugged, turning away from, looking vaguely over her shoulder while she spoke, “maybe, maybe not. You can either take it as it is, or I’ll leave. You’re gonna need a guide, buddy, and you know it.” Peixus stopped walking, looking at her in surprise for that blunt honesty. Sure, she didn’t tell him why she was really coming, but he now knew that there was something in it for her, and somehow that was reassuring.

Kitta turned around, an eyebrow raised at his silence, waiting for him to speak. He let out a deep breath in a laugh, rolling his eyes slightly at her countenance.

“You know, I bet you’re just in it for the food.”

“Oh! You’ve got me! However did you guess?”

They both started laughing then, Peixus rolling his eyes again at her. Kitta was really ridiculous, but at least she was fun. Life couldn’t be dull around her, he could tell that already. He could also tell that she probably would do something if there was eating involved; over the past few days she’d managed to eat more than her share of meat, which was another reason the villagers were irritated with her. It seemed only Peixus could put up with her wild, nonchalant mannerisms. Well, him and his dad. Haine seemed to find Kitta a riot, something that annoyed Nyami to no end. It was probably because both their Animals were felines.

“So, tell me, Kitta, why’d you leave Danub?” Peixus asked, curiosity sparking interest in this topic again. He wanted to know the real reason, not the reason she’d given when they’d first met: Because they were “asshats.” Something told him there was more to the story than that. He even had the sneaking suspicion that they’d kicked her out.

She shrugged, skipping a ways up the trail, before turning and shrugging again.

“I guess village life just wasn’t for me. Besides, no one really liked me there, guess they couldn’t handle the Kitta… alas, such is the life of one with too much charisma for others to handle!” She did a weird upward hand movement that looked far too complicated, the tone of her voice taking on a sad quality like she was supposed to be pitied for this. Peixus was too busy not trying to laugh at her calling herself “The Kitta” to notice any of that, though.