The Far Wilds

Part 2

Not ten miles away, another individual was confronting an unfortunate truth. Her name was Candy, and she was officially done with the Brown Forest. They were too hot, and the constant prattle of the wildlife was giving her a headache. She was a wanderer, a vagabond, a free spirit, and the nice part about that was the freedom to be as far away from unwelcome environments as possible. She'd done it with her father and brothers after her mother disappeared. She did it whenever someone mocked her muteness. And she would continue to do it whenever someone got close. It was easier that way- then they wouldn't be too heartbroken when she inevitably left.

So, when a random man started to walk next to her on the path, she followed her usual routine when this happened- eyes forward, pace set, and one hand on her sword in case he tried something.

Unfortunately, that wasn't as strong a deterrent as it always was, for it only took a few minutes for him to say, "so, where are you going?"

"Anywhere," was her somewhat terse reply- she didn't want to be rude, after all.

He instantly got in her good books by not mentioning that she was using the Mindspeak- the telepathic language of the mute or those who didn't want to be heard. The only drawback of Mindspeak was that there was a considerable delay between when the sender meant messages to be heard and the actual receival. Because of this, the following conversation was interspersed with long, slightly awkward silences while the man waited for the delay to catch up.

"Same," responded the man. "My name is Lucas, what's yours?"

"Why all the questions?" Candy asked.

"Just making conversation."

"No one asked you to do that."

"How do you know? You've never talked to me before, I could have a long, tragic history of missing out on meeting distant relatives, just because I didn't talk to them when I had the chance!"

"Are you my distant relative?"

"No."

"So why are we having this conversation?"

There was a pause, made longer by Lucas waiting to see if she was going to say more. Once it became clear she wasn't, he sighed and said, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Lucas, and I'm kind of wandering in a western direction until I hit the ocean, where I'll turn around and go the other direction. How about you?"

"Pretty much the same thing." She paused for a second, then said, her mental voice hesitant, "I'm Candy, by the way."

"Nice to meet you. What say we go together? Two swords are better than one, right?"

"I guess."

And with that, they quickened their step, Candy relaxed the grip on her sword, and they strode off together into the Brown Forest.

It wouldn't be long until they reached Flame's house...and everything waiting for them there.