Chapter 2

Sips awoke with a sudden start. He looked around alarmingly, gasping for air as he struggled to comprehend where he was. Ghostly white knuckles gripped a soft comforter unnaturally while knees levitated slowly to his chest. He wrapped his arms weakly around them as the realization hit him; that it was only a dream. Alone, and in darkness, he wondered if he was still conscious.

It was a dream.

Without thinking, Sips glanced to his left with a hopeful thought, but was quickly proved wrong as the vacant spot by his side was felt thoroughly by restless hands.

Then he felt something. He brought a cautious hand to his face, and found tears continually rolling down his face in well-made paths. They bubbled in his eyes, sparkling in a darkness that proved to Sips that he truly was alone. A sigh left his lips as he rubbed his tearing eyes wearily.

"Shouldn't have expected any different," He mumbled. With a glance outside the foggy window next to his bed, Sips sighed as the moon sunk lazily into the horizon. "No point in going back to sleep…" He figured and stretched after rubbing his eyes once more.

Sips wasn't sure how he had managed to keep on keeping on. With the passing days since Sjin had left the farm, it was painful at best. Everything in the compound had reminded him of the peppy bearded boy. In every Mahogany Door, the Tower of Power- Tower Power- or the Power Tower Flower, whatever he had called it.

And, as it seemed every morning after one of these suspecting nightmares Sips came witness to, he sat still thinking over these things. Alone in the dark bedroom, arms wrapped around his knees, thinking about anything other than something productive.

Soon enough, dim sunlight peered through decaying curtains as pale light painted the dull gray walls of the pent house floor. Old picture frames paintings, and unfinished blueprint plans lie scattered across these walls, and articles of clothes littered the floor. There wasn't a huge use in picking up, Sips figured, seeing as he wasn't sharing the room with anyone else anymore.

With a large groan that tore through the eerie silence of dawn, Sips stretched and rose to his feet. He could hear the now - alerted zombies and skeletons on the ground below, decaying from the sun's harsh rays.

Only a week left until Sjin's birthday. It was the only thing Sips had really focused on for the past month or two, trying to find the perfect present while hinting at the fact that he needed Sjin to come back to the compound. Without seeming too desperate.

So, in a lame cliché act that he decided all friends should do for eachother, Sips decided to start a homemade project for him. Nothing too elaborate, but not too lame. It was a simple heart shaped mahogany wood door hanger that would eventually have the words "Sips co.'s finest birthday present" carved into the center. Eventually. Right now, Sips was having a hard time trying to make the overall shape of the thing. God, how was the joker so good at this stuff? Sips could barely draw an even looking heart, non the less being able to carve one. And then here's this big jaberoni, building the whole compound without breaking as much as a single sweat. Not one whole sweat! Jeeez. What a Joker.

Sips passed by the lopsided thing as it sat atop a dusty counter- the more he looked at it, the more he thought it wouldn't get any better. And it didn't. Sips figured that if he spent too much time working on its shape, the inside would never get carved.

And so, with unrelenting stress sitting nonchalantly on sips' shoulders, he managed to finish the project with a day to spare.

Sips knew how far the farm was from the compound, and seeing as he had only a day left until the big day, he would get a head start on traveling. He quickly mustered about a quarter stack of steak, carefully placed the wooden gift in his pack, and set off across the vast lake he'd drowned in so many times in his nightmares.

It was far. Really far. The sun had said goodbye and hello already. It was like The Beatles were haunting him. Just like that one movie with that guy. The guy that sang about Hellos and goodbyes and then got swallowed by a giant squid whole as his pet dog turned into some purple dinosaur that sang songs. Sips was that guy.

But, lame movies references aside, the farm was finally coming into view.

The traditional looking farm house was no doubt the trade mark picture of Sjin's architecture, and the beautifully landscaped farm sporadically decorated around it was a little too familiar. Sips knew that it was finally time to confront the voice that had whispered lies and false guilt to him.

Sips could hear noises coming from behind the house, and find his way on a cheesy stone path that lay littered around in... a rather cute way. He step by step traced the stone path that lead round the stone bricks and polished wood.

Sips felt his hands sweat and shake with nervous anticipation, the wooden gift wrapped a little too tightly in his hands. He had a vague idea where all of his sudden anxiety came from, what with a carefree spirit mere seconds ago. With a shaky sigh and mustered up cocky grin, Sips stumbled forward into sight of the huge farm that his best friend had spent all of this time working on.

His eyes moved from the dusted grassy floor to the figure that he had been waiting to see for months.

The present loosened in his ghostly white hands as his eyes settled to Sjin.

Author's Note: Hey there all you Sjippers, I'm obviously new here at fanfictiontopia. I'll be trying to post new chapters as soon as possible, but until then enjoy!