Monday, Funky Monday.

Now, reread that sentence and tell me what your unconscious mind told you it was. Odds are, you're slightly dyslexic.

Chapter Four: Monday Is Never A Good Day


"Hm? Eh, Garou? What's wrong?"

"I just looked; the giant crab ain't there!"

"What?"

"I even jumped through the waterfall and it didn't even attack me!"

"Really? Well, let's get going then!"

The two young boys jumped from their perch above the cave opening onto a wide stretch of grass. A river ran through the area from the right of the plain to the left. One of the boys, named Garou, ran towards the left side, carrying a crystal chalice in his hands, but the other walked to the waterfall in front, over which a rainbow shined.

"You're sure it's sleepin'?"

"I'm damn sure, now come on!"

"Eh, I dunno, Garou." The boy squatted slightly. "That's not normal, that is."

"Can we get a move on? Please? So we can get our myrrh and get out?"

The boy in front of the waterfall stood up, looking upwards at the rainbow. "Odd spectrum it's got today."

Garou sighed. "Oh, of all things-of all things, you've got to comment on a bloody rainbow."

"Well, it is odd in my opinion, I mean, look-" he gestured towards the arc of light "-it's missing several colors. There's no blue or violet or green or anything."

"Let's just get our myrrh, eh? Then we can admire the demented ribbon of light afterwards."

He looked up, heaved another sigh, then turned towards his partner. "You know, I don't even know why I bothered to go with you this year."

"Something to look forward to in Alfitaria, eh? That'll be the last time we'll see eachother."

"It's good to hope." He'd just started to walk when they heard a rumble. A slow grumbling could be heard behind the waterfall.

"Merro?" Garou looked up at his friend rather nervously. The boy named Merro had frozen. The grumbling grew louder. Little specks of dust around the cave opening and around the walls surrounding the waterfall were shaken into the air, the ground around them quaking slightly.

"Garou...? You didn't do anything when you jumped over the waterfall, did you?"

"No...I swear I didn't!"

It was as if the earth beneath them might give way at any moment. Then it stopped. Garou wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and drew a poleaxe, setting down the chalice beside him. Merro cautiously donned his sword and shield, unconsciously aware that the lower half of his body was shaking slightly.

Oddly, the river's pace seemed to slow down...in fact, the river had ceased to run completely. Merro noticed this, but was already anticipating something else. What he was waiting for, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't at all keen to find out.

Unfortunately, he found out. A hulking, spiky mass erupted from under the riverbed, a snakelike beast covered in shell and claw. The entire length of the beast ran from the river's mouth through the border of the arena, to the opening behind the waterfall, a waterfall from which emerged the head of the monster. Eyes bubbling, jaws snapping, immensely huge claws tearing through the air...

Merro was paralyzed, unable to move in utter fear. Garou, the more courageous of the two, came to his senses more quickly, scooping up the chalice in one arm and attempting to drag his friend back through the cave with the other.

Merro hadn't registered his friend struggling to bring him back through the passage, his brain frozen with the image of the monster they were trying to flee. His mouth was trying to form words, but they caught in his throat before he could get them out.

"Ah-"

"MERRO! MERRO, COME ON!"

The feeling in his legs seemed to disappear. They collapsed, and Garou was pulled to the ground.

"Wh-"

"MERRO, GET UP! GET UP!!" Garou's pleads fell on slightly deaf ears.

The monster targeted them at last, smelling them on the air. It lunged forward, gouging the ground with the spikes on its underbelly.

But Merro's panic caught up with him at last.

"RUN!!"

They barely made it back through the cave with the beast at their heels.

---

Dear Mother,

Hope everything is going okay. We're on our way to the River Belle Path, where we'll be collecting our first drop of myrrh. Carly and Richie have settled down, but otherwise it's been quite boring without a diversion of some sort.
We met a caravan off the side of the road today, though. You wouldn't believe it: two members missing, along with their crystal chalice! We arrived there, and not a moment too soon; they might have died had we not been on the trail. They were quite panicky, their comrades having stolen their chalice and without a clue as to where they might've gone off to. Of course we (we meaning Richie, Carly, and Hourai) volunteered to look for them, but I doubt we'll find them anytime soon. They're riding with us right now, but they're in no condition to fight, or do anything else otherwise. I don't particularly mind, but if this gets in the way of our own quest, I won't be kind. I want to go round the world, mother. I want to see what is happening all around us. We've been stuck on the peninsula for nobody knows how long, stuck here with our outdated ways, with no contact with the outside world. Our last caravan succeeded, but their journey brought back precious little information on the outside world. Their news were, if possible, worse than no news at all.
I hope to bring back some goods from Alfitaria and Marrs Pass. One of the lilties from the Alfitaria caravan told me that the Pass has some particularly fine materials for dad to use; I'll send some home when I can get them.

Hawk

PS. The monsters have grown unnaturally strong. It suits me perfectly, as I doubt they'd have been any challenge in a normal state, but Carly and Richie seem to have problems merely surviving out here, with or without monsters to fight them. In fact, the only person out here who seems capable of taking care of themselves, apart from myself, is Hourai. Insane gobsmack that he is, he's very knowledgeable about survival in the wild. I have a feeling he's going to save our necks more than once during this trip, and I also have a feeling that, when that time comes, I won't ever be more thankful.


End Chapter Four.