Author's note: HI! Sorry it took so long, this is the longest Encounter chapter yet. I am trying to get back into the feel for this story so if it drags on to much, or is boring, Sorry. I'll try better next time.

Second Encounter

Chapter 5: A New Compainion and a Nice Night

" So he just had to stand there and watch as his family got tortured over and over?" DG asked quietly, watching with Glitch as Cain cleaned up at the little lake a dozen yards away.

"The most imaginative tortures are saved for those who resist Azkadellia" Her tattered, torn, and mostly brainless companion answered, then averted his eyes as she glanced at the zipper running down his scalp, clearly somewhat ashamed of it.

Cain stood and walked back toward them, his face clean and shaven, his blond hair trimmed short. He now worn clean, neat clothes that had been salvaged from the decrepit small cabin.

As he came closer, DG called curiously: "How long were you trapped in there?"

Not stopping, he nodded to a tree beside them, "Ever since that was a sapling."

She and Glitch both tilted their heads back to look to the top of the thirty-foot tree.

"Sooo," Glitch whispered, "quite a while…"

Cain paused, and after a halting silence said "Much obliged for the help" then continued on to the side of the cabin.

"You're welcome Mr. Cain," DG trailed after him, Glitch not far behind, " Um, I'm DG by the way and this is--"

" I know," Cain cut her off while digging through the weeds and vines on the ground, "a Headcase."

Glitch chuckled with a slight grin. " I have a proper name you know……….." a thoughtful/trying-to- remember look came over his face and after a minute the smile dropped, "…And when I remember I will tell you."

"What's a Headcase?"

"It's what the state does to reeducate criminals," The blond man was now pulling on a gun holster, "They rip out their brains, making them prisoners of their own minds."

DG looked back at the 'Headcase', his mouth was open slightly like he was about to speak in protest, but then dropped his head.

Cain slowly lifted a toy lead horse from the beat up box. He rubbed his fore finger down it's painted mane, then tucked it into his vest. Next, he pulled out a tin star, which soon joined the worn toy.

"Ain't that right convict?" he shot.

"Hey! Whoa!" Glitch exclaimed and came closer to call after Cain's back as the man went to get something. "I ain't no convict!," He paused "And just in case I am it was a bogus charge, a frame job, I'm sure of it!"

Cain came back with a old trench coat and a hat. "Yeah, well, I'll see you down the road."

Glitch nodded smartly, but DG came running over to them. "Well, actually, a road is what we're looking for. We're looking for the Bri…" she turned to Glitch and they both finished the sentence, "Brick Route. Which leads to a place called Cen…." once again he helped confirm the info, "Central City. Do you know of it?"

"Yeah, it's where Zero headed after…………." he gazed up at them, "It's where I heading now." He walked off and once again DG came after him with Glitch tagging along.

"Great! We'll go with you."

"I got business, besides, I don't travel with kids or convicts."

"Uh, I'm not a kid, and the people who came to your house came to mine, I'm just looking for my parents."

"And I'm looking for my brain." Glitch inserted.

"And maybe we can--"

"Maybe we can what?" Cain cut her off, "Find my wife? My boy? They're gone. Probably just like your folks are."

………………………………...

"Look, nothing personal, kid," the man said to DG, "but look at you, first sign of trouble and you're just gonna cut and run."

Glitch looked at her, was this the same girl he was talking about? Surely not. The girl he was looking at now had dangled from a hundred feet fearlessly, ran after what seemed like armed guards with just a stick, and boldly opened a tin suit with this guy in it. Plus, he highly doubted she would cut and run without a fight, she had quite a spirit.

"Nothing personal, but when we found you, you were in a tin box." score for DG. "You don't know me. Come on Glitch, we'll find the way ourselves"

They started making their way across the grassy field, leaving the Cain-guy behind.

"The way?" Cain's voice followed him, "The way leads across the fields of the papayas."

Uh, oh. Glitch froze and turned back "p-papaya?" Weren't that those creatures who…….DG stopped and looked back at him and he shook his head.

"What!" She threw her arms up in the air with such an expression he almost laughed, "I've been tossed into a storm, trussed up by lawn gnomes, chased by madmen on horseback." she stomped over to them, "how bad can papayas be?"

The tattered man shrugged, not certain about what he thought he knew.

Cain, however, knew perfectly well, " I seen them gnaw people in half in under thirty seconds."

Glitch and DG glanced at each other.

The blond sighed, then, "Zipperhead keep your mouth shut,"

Zipperhead?! How mean! I don't talk that much……..

"And kid, you stay behind me,"

DG went closer, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Trust me," he answered, " heart has got nothing to do with it."

………………………………...

The world was spinning, tracks led on forever through the deep snow, a doll in a green dress spun in place, the yawning abyss of a cave entrance, a voice that--

DG sat up and rubbed her head. Why was she having such weird dreams? She shook it off and looked around.

The three of them had walked til it was dark, luckily they had just reached the edge of the forest by then. That was where they were now. It was still dark, but she could still see pretty well thanks to the moon. Cain was asleep with his hat over his eyes and Glitch was laying a couple of yards off--wait. DG did a double take.

That wasn't Glitch, it was just his coat.

She raised her eyebrow, where did he disappear off to?

……………………………….

He was laying on his back in the open field they had crossed earlier, gazing at the clear star-studded sky. Man, they were gorgeous tonight. Shining so bright, an impression was left behind when he finally looked away.

What was left of his mind ran over what he could remember of the last two days happily, he was no longer alone like he had been for so long. Of course Cain was a tad scary, and clearly believed he was a convict and DG was always charging ahead so determined to reach her goal, he was always running to keep up. But still, it was far better than his life in the last……how long?

The next matter to ruminate on was that odd, familiar feeling he kept getting ever since DG had appeared.

Soon his dark eyes were closing and a cool wind blew by. " A cup of Hot Chocolate would be nice," he muttered to himself, half- asleep, " It seems like forever since I….had….."

His body surrendered and in a full sleep he fell.