Author's Note: Slightly shorter chapter, but one that I definitely had fun with. I've also done the final chapter with Protagonist Oboromaru, so I know the text boxes imply he has no idea what Pogo's doing, either... But I wanted to reference the ai/aie debate somehow, and this felt like an easy way to do it. :P Also, the one bad thing about Protagonist Lei is that you miss Pogo sniffing out Odio, so I slipped that in here too.

Chapter Two: Pogo

"So what were you doing in that tree, anyway?"

Lei curiously glanced over her shoulder. They'd mostly walked in silence for the past few minutes… After introductions were over, Oboromaru had proven he wasn't the most talkative type. It didn't bother her too much; Lei took some comfort in the fact that there was someone else nearby.

Still, she figured she may as well ask. Oboromaru paused, and Lei thought he was furrowing his eyebrows beneath all that hair.

Finally, he said very matter-of-factly, "Trying to avoid another horde of barbarians chasing a mammoth."

"…Fair enough." Lei shrugged, though she frowned lightly. "I wonder, though. Some of the spirits I saw looked almost normal. Where'd a mammoth come from?"

Maybe she shouldn't question this place too much. What if the inconsistencies were 'normal' here? Lei hadn't seen too much yet, after all…

She looked at Oboromaru again and could tell he was deep in thought over the matter. Then, she suddenly caught a whiff of something vaguely sweet and turned back around. There was a small fork in the path ahead of them, and Lei automatically stepped towards it.

"Does something smell really good to you?" she mused aloud.

Oboromaru nodded, following her down the trail. Really, if their goal was the castle, it would've been faster to wade through the stream Lei had passed through earlier. That would put them closer by. But they'd agreed it might be worth it to explore the forest; they might find something useful.

Sure enough, they soon arrived in a small clearing. Lei knelt down and examined one of the small reddish clumps on the ground. That appeared to be where the smell was coming from; it was subtle yet fragrant, but it was stronger now that they were surrounded by it.

"Does this look like some kind of herb to you?" she suggested. "We might be able to use it for something."

Oboromaru crouched down, carefully shifting the plant around in his fingers. "Perhaps for some kind of balm?"

Lei nodded. "Right; let's go ahead and pick some."

They spread out, each picking a few clumps of herbs. Lei paused when she heard movement nearby. It wasn't Oboromaru—the figure was too short—and she didn't think it was a monster, either… She squinted, trying to get a better look at it.

There—Lei saw a person move off to the right. She stood up, instinctively reaching for her billhook knife, just in case. He was surprisingly fast… He darted off to the other side of the clearing before she could catch him.

Oboromaru had clearly noticed the commotion. He tucked his collection of herbs into his pocket before darting towards their company. But he managed to scramble away from Oboromaru, too. Then, he ran back towards Lei.

Before she could fully process it, he'd latched onto her arm. He was…some kind of short, stocky man with even wilder hair than Oboromaru's. Or perhaps he was still a boy; he was quite round-faced, and his odd proportions made it hard to tell.

Still, it was obvious enough that his entire face had gone red, and he nuzzled into Lei's arm before shouting, "Aiieeeeee!"

"…Well, someone got attached a little quickly," Lei said in bewilderment, not certain if she should be flattered or annoyed or…what, exactly.

Oboromaru watched the scene unfold in equally-bewildered silence. Then, he said, "It…does seem early to be shouting about love, but…"

"Wait, what?" Lei sputtered.

It was clear enough that the strange boy was crushing on her. But love? How had Oboromaru come to that conclusion?

He blinked. "That did not sound like 'love' to you?"

"No," Lei replied in further confusion. "It just sounded like screaming."

Oboromaru raised a hand to his chin in thought. "But you can understand me?"

"…Yes?"

He pondered this silently for several long seconds. The cave boy was still latched onto her arm. Lei glanced down at him, and then back up at Oboromaru. The longer they all stood there, the less Lei knew what to think.

Finally, Oboromaru said, very seriously, "This place is strange."

"You're telling me," Lei replied flatly. Then, she cleared her throat and looked at the cave boy again. "Anyway…are you new here, too?"

He shifted back slightly, blinking up at her and grunting in confusion. Maybe he didn't understand her? But then again, Lei and Oboromaru could hear each other just fine…

"Uh, I'm Lei, and that's Oboromaru," she said. "What's your name?"

He stared at her some more. Okay, this was getting even weirder… Lei slowly said, "Lei…Oboromaru…you?" while pointing to each of them.

"Oh!" He stepped back, put his hand on his chest, and grunted something that sounded a bit like "Pogo!"

"Okay, Pogo…you want to come with us, then?"

Pogo nodded and latched onto Lei's arm again. He was still pink in the face, but…he seemed to have mostly settled down. Honestly, Lei wasn't sure how much of that he understood… But if he was willing to go with them, she'd take it.

"It might be good to bring him along," she mused with a shrug. "And at least that was easier."

Oboromaru fiddled with his mask. "…Sorry."

"I didn't mean—well, it was," Lei said awkwardly. "But to be fair, I hit you back."

"Still. Attacking without due cause is…a habit I would like to break."

Lei hummed in thought as they began walking. Pogo cheerfully marched along beside her, though he'd let go of her by now. That made it easier to concentrate on her thoughts. She didn't know the specifics, and she wouldn't push for them if Oboromaru didn't want her to, but the basic sentiment was one she could understand.

"Yeah," she finally said. "Same here. I'm still a bit short-tempered sometimes, but…that's a nice idea."

Oboromaru nodded and fell back into his usual silence. They soon arrived at the river; this section was spanned by a bridge. And just across that was another wooden sign. Eerily enough, this one was splattered with some blood-like substance, too…

Lei squinted at it, but this one was illegible as well. Pogo cocked his head to the side as he looked up at it. He curiously sniffed the air, grunted in surprise, and darted several feet ahead of them.

"Hey, wait—" Lei called.

She scrambled after him and caught up with Pogo at another weathered signpost. Yet again, it was covered in dark stains and too faded to read. Pogo squinted and sniffed the air again. Finally, he raised his hands in the air and bore his teeth like he was trying to imitate some kind of wild animal. Then, he looked insistently at Lei and Oboromaru before pointing off to the east.

They glanced at each other before slowly looking from the sign to the direction Pogo was indicating. That creepy mountain—the Archon's Roost, Lei corrected herself—was still visible in the distance. Could that be what Pogo meant?

Well, it was getting more and more obvious that something had happened here. Hopefully they'd find some more people soon, but…Lei couldn't shake the feeling that it was unlikely. There was all of the general weirdness, and the fact that both people she'd met so far were just as out-of-place as she was, and now these bloody signs…

Eventually, Lei took a deep breath and said, "I guess we'll figure things out if we keep going. Nothing else we can do, right?"

Oboromaru merely hummed and nodded in response. He was just as uneasy as she was, but…what else could they do?

Lei checked the map one more time. At least they didn't look too far from the castle town… Hopefully they'd find some answers there.

"Let's go, then," she said. "Can't sit around forever."

The odd trio made their way down the forest path, on edge but just as determined as ever.