Realities

Chapter 2: Yowai, the Fainting Faun

"Anchi, wake up! Are you there? Hello!" Anchi just barely opened his eyes. Who was that talking? He thought this place was deserted, and how did he know Anchi's name? "Huh," Anchi replied sleepily. "You're alive! I've been looking everywhere for you. I asked the trees to lead me, but they kinda said you left and then I asked the fields around and the grass was all like, 'He's at some cave somewhere.' I asked them to show me and they were quite stubborn and wouldn't show me where you were. So I asked the nearest cave dwellers and they pointed me to you!"

Anchi knew that squeaking voice anywhere, and that obsession with nature, but it couldn't be. Anchi was wide awake now. "Yowai, is that you?" He looked at the faun. Yowai's stare was piercing and a bit too close. Anchi was used to it though, the faun did that to everyone who was sleeping. Yowai said it was because they looked so peaceful he couldn't help but admire it, but when you have no clue someone is watching you then you wake up with a face two inches away from yours you can't help but be startled. At least when people realized it was the friendly faun they calmed down. He just had no grasp of personal space.

"How long was I missing," Anchi asked in a monotone way. "Well, when you didn't come back immediately I knew something was wrong, and there was word that a higher up was mauled in the forest so I looked into it. So it was one day." Yowai shrugged as if it was nothing. He was completely unaware that he had an amazing talent. The ability to figure out when something's wrong within days of the actual problem. It was very useful in a rebellion, especially that lost so many people.

"Why are you hiding here? What happened? Besides the animalistic style of assassination." The fauns emerald eyes implored Anchi to tell him the whole story. Anchi knew his friend had been serious about the whole thing, he just never said things right. "I was just resting. You know stalking all day and most of the night is kinda exhausting, and then of course killing him. So I just found somewhere to stop for the night." Anchi stared deep into Yowai's eyes to see if he bought it. Yowai clearly wasn't impressed with his pitiful excuse, but didn't question further.

As Anchi and Yowai exited the cave Yowai got a good look at Anchi. "Um, maybe we should take a small detour through a river or something. Clean off that, that," Yowai began to stutter, "That, blo... bl.. bloo.." Yowai blacked out before he could get the final word out, but Anchi got the picture. His friend was afraid of many things, but one of his biggest fears was blood. Even if it was in small amounts Yowai was prone to faint.

Anchi just watched as his goat friend landed on the ground. Yowai's body hit the rock with a low, meaty thunk. Anchi sighed, this happened a lot. He was actually surprised his friend left The Citadel, or even joined the rebellion in the first place. According to Yowai, he joined to keep an eye on Anchi, but how could he with his phobia list? Anchi dragged Yowai into the cave. This was it, his chance to leave this place behind.

He set out, daylight streamed through the trees, illuminating the forest. The only word Anchi could use to describe it was beautiful, what a beautiful messed up world he lived in, where everything was wrong and nothing was right. Oh, the beauty. The beauty Anchi found disgusting, he was part of the messed up half, there was no way he could stand in the beauty. No way to go down to a river of cleansing. Nothing would clean what lived within him. Nothing could change what he was, no matter how hard he tried.

He knew deep down he could never truly escape his friend, no matter what he would come after him. Why was he so stupid? Why come after one who could do you harm? What was the point? He could understand if it was a gentle soul. One who created, but not the one who destroys.

He knew since Yowai would always come looking for him there was no way he could leave, the faun was defenseless against danger. Anchi sighed deeply, he went down towards the end of the River Cleansing where others filth as already flown and walked through the water. When he was done he turned to leave when he heard a chanting faintly in the distance.

Who was there? They didn't sound far, and it was his job to know everything that went on in the forest, for elves and centaurs had their military camps here. Now clean, not even a stain on his clothes, he rushed to observe the chant.