Chapter 2

Moses looked around. He recognized this place as the Forest of No Return, but somehow it seemed unfamiliar to him. It was as if he was in a whole new dimension.

A grand galf stepped out into the open. Moses raised his spear.

"All right, it's huntin' time!" he yelled.

The galf lowered its stance, growling. Then a whole pack of grand galves emerged from the bushes, surrounding the bandit.

"Uh...this ain't lookin' so good."

Moses slowly turned in circles, bracing himself for any one of the galves to attack. However, one galf attacked from behind, tackling Moses to the ground. The other galves pounced as well, all mauling him. Moses could do nothing but scream...

"Moses! Moses, wake up!"

"Ahh, quit eatin' me! Ahh!"

"Moses!"

"Ahh!" Moses woke up, scrambling to his hands and knees. "Oh, Csaba, it's you."

"You're fine now, Moses," Csaba said. "You were just having a bad dream."

"Oh...it was a dream..." Moses grinned with a nervous sweat. "I knew that..."

Giet stepped out of one of the tents. Moses quickly jumped to his feet.

"Ahh! It's a galf!"

"Yeah...that's Giet," Csaba said. "Your best friend...no, our best friend."

Giet whimpered as he moved closer.

Moses staggered away. "Ahh! Keep that beast away from me!"

Csaba raised an eye. "Are you sure you're all right, Moses?"

Giet walked over to Moses, sniffing his feet.

"Ahh!" Moses turned and ran from the camp. "WAAAAHHH!!"

Csaba stood, thoroughly confused. "He must have had a really bad nightmare to be shaken up this much, Giet."

Giet only whimpered in response.

-------------------

Jay walked through the empty Oresoren village. For some reason, he could not find his way around...as if the entire village had been warped.

"Ors?"

Jay spun around to see an Oresoren standing behind him with a plate of scallops.

"Here, Jay, have some scallops. Ors!"

Many more Oresoren emerged from their hiding places, moving in front of Jay.

"Ors! Have some scallops, Jay!"

"You will eat these scallops if we have to force them down your throat! Ors!"

Jay took a few steps backwards. Accordingly, the Oresoren moved forward.

"Ors!!" The Oresoren now charged at Jay.

"Ahh!" Jay staggered backwards until he hit the wall and collapsed to the floor. "Ahh!"

"Ors, ors, ors!" The Oresoren descended on the boy, bouncing all over him while forcing scallops into his mouth. "Ors, ors, ors!"

"Ahh! No! Stop! I don't want...! Help!"

Jay sat up, opening his eyes. He was now in his bedroom alone. He covered his face with his blanket as he gathered his thoughts. What just happened?

Quppo came into the room with a plate of scallops. "Jay! Are you all right? We heard you scream. Ors!"

Jay stood up, blinking hard. Ors?

"You're looking much better this morning, Jay," Quppo said. "We were so worried when you collapsed yesterday."

Jay paused. Yesterday...that thing with Solon...that must be what happened.

Quppo stepped forward with a plate of scallops. "Are you hungry, Jay? I brought you some fresh scallops. Ors!"

Jay staggered backwards. "St...stay back!"

"You'll feel better after you eat, Jay."

"Don't...don't come near me with that!"

"Ors, ors!" Quppo took yet another step closer.

Jay grabbed his head. "Ugh...argh!" He ran past Quppo and dashed out of the room.

Quppo looked very confused. "Was it something I said? Ors?"

Jay stopped at the base of the stairs and sighed.

"Oh, Jay, you're awake," Poppo said. "Ors, ors!"

Jay gasped again. "Ahh!" He dashed out of the house.

Poppo and Pippo glanced at each other. "Ors?"

Jay ran down the road of the village, then stopped in the center. Now he could see the Oresoren all around him, living their everyday lives. They began calling out to Jay.

"Hello, Jay! Ors, ors!"

"Are you feeling better, Jay? Ors?"

"What's the matter, Jay?"

"Ors, ors, ors!"

They're...everywhere! Jay thought. I can't stand it!

"Ahh!" Jay screamed one more time as he fled the village.

-------------------

Today was officially Madame Musette's birthday. Will went to her house with Senel, Shirley, Chloe, Norma, and Grune. They waited patiently in the living room until Musette came downstairs, then they all placed their left fists on their right shoulders.

"Happy Birthday, Madame Musette!" they called in unison.

"Oh, thank you very much!" Musette replied. "It's good to see all of you. You are coming to the celebration tonight, are you not?"

"Of course," Will said.

"We'll all be there to keep things in line," Chloe added.

Musette shook her head. "Oh, you needn't worry about that. You should relax and have a good time, Chloe."

"But I'm a knight. It's my duty to..."

"I know you're a knight. But that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy yourself every now and then."

"Well, that's true..."

"Well then, is anything happening with you all?" Musette asked. "I see that Moses and Jay aren't with you."

"Actually, there is something on my mind," Senel told her. "Yesterday, Jay and Moses left to take care of a 'small matter.' They never did tell us what that 'small matter' was."

"Have you found out anything, Senel?" Will asked.

"Not really...but when Moses got back, he looked incredibly pale, and he just collapsed."

"And Jay?"

"I still haven't seen Jay since he left yesterday."

"I see. Let's go check on Moses. Perhaps now he'll tell us what happened."

The group nodded in agreement, but before they could leave, Moses came into the house, breathing heavily.

"Haa...haa...haa...woo-hoo!!"

"Oh, Moses, good timing," Senel said. "We were just about to check on you."

Moses straightened himself. "Is that right?"

"Coolidge told us that you just collapsed yesterday," Chloe said. "What happened?"

"Oh, it's nothin'. I was just tired after walkin' with Jay."

"Are you sure?" Senel asked. "I've seen you look tired before, but it was nothing compared to what you looked like yesterday."

"Well, I was really, really tired," Moses insisted.

"Hmm, you do look fine now," Will admitted.

"Right! So...now what?"

"Well...today is Madame Musette's birthday..." Shirley reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" Moses put his left fist to his right shoulder. "Happy Birthday, Madame!"

"Thank you, Moses," Musette replied.

Suddenly, they heard a low dong sound, and Moses jumped with a start.

"Whoa! What was that!?"

"That's the grandfather clock," Will told him.

"Oh..." Moses took a deep breath. "O-okay..."

Just then, the cuckoo clock began cooing the top of the hour loudly.

"AHH! What was that!?" Moses screamed.

"That's the cuckoo clock," Chloe said.

"Oh..."

"Red, are you feeling okay?" Norma asked, containing a laugh.

"Uh...yeah!" Moses stammered. "I...just don't like loud noises, remember?"

"But the grandfather clock wasn't loud at all," Shirley said.

"Well...it still startled me."

Norma carefully snuck around behind Moses. "Ooga-booga!!"

Moses spun around with another start. "Ahh! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"

The bandit dashed out of the house, leaving everyone confused.

"I'm just kidding! Sheesh!" Norma exclaimed.

Senel scratched his head. "Okay...that was strange, even for Moses."

"I agree," Will said. "I wonder if that has to do with the 'small matter' they were taking care of yesterday."

"The only way to find out is to go see Jay," Chloe said.

"When Moses came back, he said that Jay went back to the Oresoren village," Senel said.

Before they could decide on their next course of action, Csaba entered the house with Giet.

"Oh, Csaba, you're taking care of Giet today?" Senel asked.

Csaba scratched his head. "Well...I guess you could say that."

"Csaba, have you noticed anything...strange...about Moses lately?" Will asked. "Did he tell you anything about what happened yesterday?"

"He hasn't told me anything, but he's definitely acting strange," Csaba told him. "It started this morning, when he had a nightmare. I don't know what it was about, but it really shook him up. When he woke up, he was afraid of Giet."

Senel's eyes widened. "Moses was afraid of Giet??"

Csaba nodded. "That's right. After he fled from the camp, he ran three laps around the city before coming here."

Norma scoffed. "Typical Red..."

"Moses being afraid of Giet is not typical," Will corrected her.

"We have to go see Jay," Senel said. "I have a feeling that the same thing may have happened to him...whatever it was."

The group nodded. "Right."

They stepped outside to see Moses running down the road towards them.

"Is Red running even more laps around the city?" Norma asked.

Giet ran out into the road, and Moses came to a screeching halt.

"Ack!" Moses turned around and began running in the other direction. "WAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Senel, Will, Shirley, Norma, and Chloe shrugged and let out a simultaneous sigh...