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The next day, Cocidius fell out of bed and crawled to the bathroom. He filled up a bucket with frigid, uncaring water. He brought it outside, near the afternoon-warmed pond in the back of his house. He unclothed him self, and then dumped the bucket of cold water over his naked body.

After that, he readily jumped into the warm waters of the pool and prepared to bathe himself.

After getting used to the water, he sat down and relaxed in an underwater chair he had placed there a long time ago. He saw a rabbit across on the other side of the pond, and it sat watching him intently, its eyes bugging out; an unsettling sight. It’s not pretty to see a rabbit with it’s eyes bulging out a few millimeters or so. Then, with it’s small paws, it grabbed the outer edges of it’s mouth and stretched it wide (like a horizontal line) like a blown-up balloon-person, it’s eyes still bugging out. Cocidius made a confused face and stared at it, while lounging in the water. Then, it took it’s paws and smooshed it’s face vertical (like this: I), it’s mouth making a tall O-shape, it’s eyes still bugging out. It was like it was making faces!

"Heh heh! You’re one crazy little thing, aren’t you?" He said to the rabbit. "What are you? A deformed Hare? That’s some big ears you have! It’s like one of those fabled-elephants on the Unknown continents!" He looked at it more closely. It’s face was more round than oval, like a cat’s face. It’s ears went out and down to the ground; huge furry flap-like things. Thin, cream colored hair came out of it’s ears, and it’s body was the color of a Silver Elven-red head. It was quite a cute and beautiful animal, what ever it was. "You’re not a rabbit or a Hare, are you?"

"Mwerrow!" It said, seemingly responding.

"Meow? You can’t be a cat! Are you?"

"Meowwworuuu!"

"You’re a cute little fella. C’mere! I bet you could use a bath," offered Cocidius, however, feeling stupid. It probably didn’t under stand him anyway. It was just an animal.

However, it meowed again and hopped into the water.

"No. You are definitely not cat."

"Meowruu?" The thing asked.

"You know, Elven cats hate water. They bloat up because they are allergic for some reason to water contact on their skin. But I heard that a long time ago, cats just didn’t like water. They cleaned themselves with their tongues.

"Wrow. Reow!" It said, a sweat drop appearing on the back of it’s head. For some reason, it came across as; 'Oh, that’s nice!' ‘Like that’s feasible,’ he thought.

"That’s right. I can speak to you like this. I can speak to anyone like this." A voice said, emanating from the cat-rabbit’s moving mouth. It was actually meowing, but Cocidius under stood it.

He jumped back, surprised. And then cat-rabbit swam over to him and settled on his chest, purring.

At first shocked, Cocidius eventually settled down for a moment.

"Well, you bathe yourself," He said after a moment. "Cause I’ve got to clean up my own self."

"Sure, okay." It said.

So Cocidius started cleaning himself. The cat-rabbit got out, shook off, and settled down on the grass, and dried it’s self under the warm sun.

As soon as Cocidius stood up to start to clean his middle-extremities, the cat-rabbit’s eyes grew large, and it’s jaw dropped.

Cocidius looked at the cat-rabbit confused. "Okay…" He thought.

After a moment, it got over what ever it was surprised about, and it’s head settled back down on the warm ground. But it kept it’s eyes on Cocidius’s certain something.

"You know, I have to leave tomorrow. Why don’t you come with me? I could use a pet to get close to."

"Pet?" It yelled. "Hey! I’m a sentient too, you know!"

"A what?"

"You know, a sentient! A thing that can think, make it’s own decisions, exetera, exetera, exetera!"

"Oh, so you want to be my companion?" Asked Cocidius.

"Yes. More so or not."

"Are you a guy or a girl cat-rabbit?"

"I’m a female."

"Okay."

"Hey, can’t you figure out a simpler, shorter word that Cat-Rabbit?"

Cocidius thought for a moment. "Let’s see. Cat. Rabbit. Raccit? No. Catbit? No. Cabbit…?"

"Yeah!" She interrupted. "Cabbit will work!"

"Okay. How bout a name?"

"Um. How about Harmony?"

"He wants to name me after that girl friend of his…" She commented under her breath.

And he shot her a strange look. "What?"

"A… A…A musical term? That’s dumb!" She asked.

"Yeah. That is kinda stupid, isn’t it?" And the Cabbit’s head bobbed up and down.

"Well, how about Little Devil; Akuma-chan? Or Oni-Chan?"

"I like Akuma-chan better, but why little devil?"

"I saw those faces you made at me! That was pretty weird!"

"Oh," she said, embarrassed. "Okay."

And with that, they were going to be traveling companions.

* * *

Sitting on his shoulder as he walked, she asked, "So where are you going to?"

"Oh, probably to Elrinesh, the capital. I’m gonna start my Bounty Hunter service.

"Oh yeah…"

"I never told you that…" Cocidius wondered questionably.

"Um, well, I just figured…"

"Why?"

"You know, you just seem like, you know. The type person…"

"Thanks, but you wouldn’t say that if you knew me."

"Oh, well… Okay. I’ll just give you time."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing." Akuma replied innocently.

"Ha ha ha!" Cocidius laughed to break the tension.

Akuma looked at him, and then kind of relaxed. She rubbed her head up against his, and they walked off to Cocidius’s home to get good nights sleep. He planned on leaving the next day.

Cocidius awoke early the next day. He rounded up his stuff and prepared to say good bye to his family.

He placed all of his junk in the living room, which only comprised of a backpack with about four changes of clothes. The rest of his supplies he would have to go out and get from the General Store.

"Cocidius! Do you have to leave so soon? You turned 16 only days ago!" Pleaded his mother.

"Mom! Stop it! The longer I stay here, the longer you all go without money. You all need money! Anyway, I will come back every other week to give you it."

"Cocidius," boomed his stepfather’s voice, echoing faintly off the walls. "You really don’t have to do that. I just got my new job, and I’ll be making 10 silver a week! That’s plenty enough to keep us going."

"Well, we’ll see. If you guys ever flounder, I’ll be happy to give you money." He offered.

"Oh, my Cocidius has grown up so fast! Thank you." Said his mother in tears. And then, she gave him a long hug.

"Yeah, bye. Have a nice life Cocidius." Said Nikki, her arms crossed on her chest. "Oh yeah," she said, her memory retelling her what she wanted to say. "If you die, can I have Akuma-chan?" She asked, looking at the cabbit, attempting to pat it on the head. From her perch on Cocidius’s shoulder, Akuma pawed at her incoming hand, claws out and waiting to rip flesh. As soon as Nikki saw the over-sized claws, raised, ready to strike, and with her name on them, she then changed her mind.

"Hey man. You should keep tabs on that thing!" Said his sister, carefully stepping back. Akuma flashed an angry face at her. "You know what? Never mind. She doesn’t look like the cuddly type anyway…"

Akuma, her anger flaring up, then attempted to jump out at Nikki. Cocidius caught her in mid-air, her arms sticking out strangely in a super-hero position.

"Mwerow? <Hey! Why’d ya do that,>" she asked.

"<Now, I can’t have you tearing up my sister on the joyful day that I leave her! It’s not much of a parting-gift. > Cocidius thought to Akuma. He put her on the ground by his stuff.

"Heh heh… That’s an awfully feisty little pet you got there! By the way, where did it come from?" Asked his father.

"Oh, Akuma-chan? I found her the other day while bathing." Akuma then hopped up onto his shoulders.

"Well, that’s interesting. It doesn’t have fleas does…" Started his mother.

"…Of course not! I’ve already checked her. I’m not stupid."

"Okay, okay!" His mom said defensively, putting her hands up in the air as if to say if it was her mistake. "Also, I never said you were stupid…"

"Okay mom! I’ll see you later!" Cocidius said with a chuckle, and he then gave her a hug. He then shook his father’s hand. "I’ll see ya later pop." He then walked over to his sister and gave her a big bear hug. He lifted her off the ground.

"Hey…" Nikki yelped in pain. "…Let go! That hurts you big dork!" He then put her down and let her go.

He turned around and walked over to his backpack. He pulled it over his shoulders, Akuma temporarily hopping onto his head to avoid the straps. She then settled back down on his right shoulder.

"Well, I’ll be off now. Bye!"

He walked past his parents and out the door. And out to Elrinesh, the main capital. His parents waved him off in the morning light, and then shortly returned inside.

* * *

He walked to the general store, just two blocks down the street. He came to it and walked into the store. As he walked inside, a bell rang to tell the owner, Mr. Owens, that he had a customer. He stopped briefly just inside the door to look around. The large, multi-shelved room was musty and dimly lit. A lamp on the back wall behind the counter was lit, and a window on the left wall was all that gave light.

An old man, probably about fifty-something, walked forward out of a doorway that went to a back room, and stood next to the counter.

"Cocidius! Nice day, is it not? So what brings you here?" Asked Owens.

"Oh, I’m just preparing to leave." He said, his eyes still looking around at the items that lined the shelves.

He walked around for a moment, confused where everything was.

"Looking for anything in particular," he asked after a moment, watching Cocidius wander around aimlessly.

He turned around to face the manager. "Actually, yes." He replied.

The old man took a hanker-chief off the counter and briefly wiped his hands with it before shoving it into his work-overalls. "So what can I do for you?"

"Well, um," he started, clasping his hands together nervously. "…I’m about to travel to Elrinesh. It’s only about a week away, so what do you suggest?"

"Well, lets see now. Um, for starters, do you plan on traveling alone?"

"Just me, Akuma-chan here," motioning to Akuma. "And my horse."

"Well, do you need a lantern? Or some torches?"

"I’d like a small lantern please."

Owens walked into the back and searched for a lantern. "Let’s see now… Yes. Well, you’ll need some oil…" A glass-like clang was heard, and then a rustle. He came back with a lantern and his arms full with two oil flasks.

"Now, I suggest that you keep the oil flasks in a pouch separate from your bag, or on the outside of your bag. They’re metal, so they should be pretty durable…" He said with a grunt as he hastily placed the items on the counter. "Ho jeez! I’m getting’ old! Pretty soon I’ll have to have Sean, my grandson, take my place! Heh heh! Well, anyway, what else?"

"Um," Cocidius wondered, thinking for a moment. "How about some rope? Fifty foot of superior hemp, please."

"Alright. I’ll be back." He hobbled back into the back, and shortly returned, an amused look on his face. "Oh yeah, I forgot," He explained. "The rope is out here! Look over on the third aisle over there." He said pointing.

Cocidius turned around and walked over to the designated aisle. He walked a few feet, and look down into a box marked, ‘Premium Hemp Rope. I’m serious! It’s strong…’

"Okay…" Cocidius murmured to himself, thinking about the strange sign.

He reached down and pulled approximately fifty-foot of the rope out of the box. "Um, sir? I’ll need this cut…" He turned around to ask the man for some thing to cut the rope with, and he saw Mr. Owens with a huge battle axe in his hands, poised back to strike. "…Oh my lords!" Cocidius yelled.

"Out…of the…way! Unnghh…!" Said the old man. Cocidius jumped out of the way seeing that he was not able to hold it much longer, the old man came down hard on to the rope Cocidius had laid out. It cut the rope well, with the axe stuck over an inch into the wooden floor.

The man wiped his brow off with his hanker-chief, and stuck it back into his pocket. "Hey, will you get that out for me?" Asked the man.

"Sure." Cocidius placed his hands on the axe’s handle, expecting it to be heavy. He prepared himself, and then put his back into it, and almost fell over backwards as he pulled the light axe from the floor.

"Oh, wow! You’re a strong one aren’t you? Jeez! Even my grandson has a hard time picking that up.

Cocidius started to feel overzealous, and then said, "Well, I guess it don’t even know my own power…"

"I used to be able to pick up two-hundred pounds!" Said the old man.

Cocidius’s jaw dropped. "H…How heavy was that?"

"It was a whopping three pounds, I’d say!"

"T… That’s all?" It was a large axe, so how could it be so light?

Akuma then started to laugh. To make it worse, it was in his head, and he couldn’t make it go away.

"Akuma! Stop it!" He yelled verbally to the little cabbit.

"Yeah… Well, anyway. That was three thousand and seventy-five years ago! I’m much weaker now than I was then!" Said the old man, with pseudo-pride wrapped about him, trying to restore his previous self-esteem.

"Three-thousand and seventy-five-years ago? Wow, how old are you?" Asked Cocidius in wonder.

"Well," He started, his voice matter-of-fact and proud. "As you see, I’m of Welvish descent, and we all know our kind of elves live a lot longer than you. My mistake," he said, his voice quivering. "Was that I chose to go after a Wood elf. We all know that they live only about two-hundred years, compared to a normal elves life span of just about one-thousand years, provided that they don’t find a love. If they do, we all know that we’ll live forever supported by each other’s love! I have less than a year to live now."

Once again, Cocidius’s jaw dropped. "Hey, how come I didn’t know all of that?"

"I figured so, Cocidius. You’re just a farm-boy, and only sixteen at that. Your youth is you excuse for your ignorance."

"How long will I live?" He asked.

"God Cocidius! I told you to go to school! You’re family wasn’t that deprived of money," Akuma said to him mentally.

"Shut up Akuma-chan!" He mentally shouted. "It’s not my fault! My parents forced me, and the local libraries didn’t have all this stuff in books! Hey, wait a second…"

"…Hey are you paying attention to me? Humph! Never mind! Go on staring off into the distance!"

Cocidius snapped out of it. "Sorry. Here, let me have some of this too." He said as he grabbed a metal can of flint and steel.

"Oh, the deluxe one that’ll last you a life time?"

"Whatever…"

"Okay! Now will that be all? A lantern, two oil flasks, fifty foot of superior rope, and a deluxe-flint and steel?"

"Yep. Here. Just take this gold and keep the change."

The man’s eye’s lit up as Cocidius pulled a gold coin out of his hip-coin-pouch. "W...Wow! But, I’ll owe you…"

"That’s okay." Cocidius said, motioning his hand to emphasize that he should keep it. "Thanks." He then packed up his gear, and left the store towards the Red Scale Inn.

* * *

He walked up to the Red Scale Inn, the next on his agenda list. He walked up to the door and gently pulled it open. He looked inside. It was dimly lit, and the only light sources were a few select windows and a few candles. He heard the rustle of Margaret; the innkeeper’s willing bar maid. Many men made moves on her, and all failed. But to her, Cocidius was a different case. He also noticed a Tirgrin man and another human standing at the bar. He quickly walked to a corner table and sat down. He pulled Akuma off his shoulder and placed her on the table directly in front of him.

"<Alright. How did you know about my past? Hmm? Answer quickly! >" He demanded.

"<Uh, well, I’ve been kinda stalking you your whole life. Wait, that didn’t come out right. You see, it’s like, I’m a guardian angel, but not an angel. Kind of like a protector. I’ve been with you, mentally that is, for a long time…"

"Okay, okay. That seems right. My whole life I’ve always felt like there was always someone there to help me. So, what to you so long?" Cocidius joked.

Akuma forced out a nervous laugh. "<Yeah. >" She was glad he bought her story.

Over at the bar, The Tigris man stood, while the other man sat and had a drink, both of them basically staring at the pink cabbit and Cocidius.

1st guy "What’s with that guy?"

1^st guy "Look! Look! It’s like it understands him!"

2^nd guy "Wow. You’re right."

2^nd guy (The tiger man) "I’m not your pet!"

1^st guy "I didn’t say you were!"

Tiger Man "I was afraid I might have to put you back in your place!"

1^st guy "What? Serrin, man, where is this coming from?"

Serrin (Tiger Man) "Don’t worry about it…"

1^st guy "No, seriously! Where is this coming from?!?"

Serrin "Just shut up Fred!"

Fred (1^st Guy) "Okay, okay! Just relax. You know? We fight too much…"

Serrin "Whatever. Just shut up Fred."

Fred "Okay…" He said submissively.

"Look at that man and that Tigrin man! That’s strange! You never see Tigrins anymore! They’re really rare. He must be one of the few remnents of his race. I may not know much on Elven cultures, but I know a lot on my Xenobiology and the likes! The library had that much…" Commented Cocidius, reflecting on his inablility to know about his own culture.

"<Yeah. You’re right. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one." She lied. "You know, they think we’re delicacies! Lets get our food and get out! If you want me, I’ll be in your back pack!>" She then hopped into the open hole and settled down inside.

He picked up his backpack and went to the inn’s front counter. He glanced at the Tirgris man lounging back against the bar counter, his elbows on the counter top, to see him staring at him. He nodded his head politely, and he did like wise. The small man, probably his partener, did an elaborated bow, and the Tirgris man smacked him lightly upside the head. He stood back up real fast, kind of stamering to stand up straight. Unfortunatly, about to tip over. Cocidius observed that he was probably a little tipsy.

He turned back to the bar maid that was now standing in front of him.

"How may I help you Cocidius?" And she gave him a little wink.

He felt his face become red. He started to glow a faint pink. She leaned over the counter, her elbows proping up her head. Her chest was all but falling out of her blouse. Cocidius swallowed hard.

"Did you come here to see me?" she asked and then giggled.

"Um, uh, I’m sorry Margret. No, I didn’t. I, um, need some salt cured ham please. I’m going to Elranish. Please, um, give me how much you think I’ll need. Thanks…"

"You know, Cocidius, you’re all I need, and I’m all you need. But if you want to play it like that… Well, come help me get the meat." She asked dauntingly, motioning for him to follow her with her index finger.

"Uh, uhh, you’ve worked here a while and I know you’re, um, probably strong enough to get it. Um, yeah."

"No, really." She said seriously. "I need you to help me." She said with a note of disappointment in her voice. Obviously, her fun was now over with.

"Uh, oh. Okay…" He took off his backpack, and stepped behind the counter.

"<Noooo!>" A voice rang in his head. "<Don’t leave me with this cannibal! He’ll snatch me up as soon as you leave! If it wasn’t for me being able to communicate with you, I’d be screwed, huh? Heh, heh, heh! Right?!?>" Moaned Akuma.

"<You’ll be fine Akuma-chan! Just yell if you need help.>" And with that, he gave his backpack a little kick. "<Now, shut up!>"

Serrin and Fred looked at each other and gave a questioning look.

"<Where are you going? Hey! Don’t leave me!!>"

And then, Cocidius walked into the back room with Margaret.

A moment later, Serrin looked back towards the cooler and said, "Hey Fred? What do you think they’re doing? They’re taking an awfully long time."

"Who knows? Maybe the kid’s getting’ some?"

"Well… Naghhh! Did you see the way that kid was acting? He’d probably make a mess of himself by just thinking about her! Ha ha ha!"

They both shared a chuckle.

A moment later, they came out, Cocidius’s face red with anger, carrying a huge slab of salt-cured meat. His hair was all messed up, and so was hers. However, he was glowing a violent red.

Serrin turned around, shock in his eyes. He let the piece of straw he was chewing on, drop from his mouth. "The kid actually got some! And no wet spot on his pants!" Serrin said in shock.

"Not every one has the same experience that you had! Not even I did! And it’s not like you can see his pant’s well. It’s drowned out by the light!" Commented Fred, a little bit too loud.

Cocidius, fixing his hair, and his glow slowly disappearing, looked back at Serrin and looked him up and down. Then gave a slight chuckle. He then looked back a Margaret, fixing herself back up after the ‘incident’. While getting the meat on a top shelf, Cocidius had to stand precariously on two wooden crates. Margaret noticed the boxes shaking, and tried to stop it by holding on to them. However, as she went to grab and secure the boxes Cocidius was standing on, she tripped on a rock in the dirt floor, and knocked Cocidius down.

He fell right on to her, and hurt himself by smashing his body accidentally into Margaret’s knee that was up in the air as she was on the ground. Currently, he felt like he broke a rib.

He bent down slowly, in pain, and opened up his backpack and took Akuma out. As soon as she was on the floor, Serrin had taken note of her smell. The smell of fear. He then licked his lips. She quickly hid behind Cocidius, and stayed there. He then put the meat into the backpack. Now, it was quite cumbersome. It would be better once he placed it on his burrow.

He staggered out of the inn, with Akuma now riding atop of his backpack. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Margaret!" He called back. He heard a slight whoosh sound behind him, and ignored it.

He then left for the stables to retrieve his horse.

* * *

He arrived at the stable that kept his horse. It was the "Lucky Horse Holder. Established?"

Cocidius squinted into the now well lit sky, dawn gone by two hours. The warm light showered down unto his head and shoulders, warming him and the rest of the land out of it’s morning chill. He walked casually towards the door, and prepared to enter the large, indoor stable.

He opened the door and looked inside, his eyes straining to adjust to the dark. He stood in the doorway to let his eyes adjust to the darker indoors, and then proceeded to the counter.

He looked around at the sheer area size of the stable. It must have been able to hold over two hundred horses. Morning sun light came down through the roof slightly, most of it’s rays filtered out by the thick over laying, yet poorly insulated, roof. It must have been a real pain to mop up after a large storm. But the capacity of the stable by it’s self still impressed him.

A man, probably an attendant, noticed Cocidius from quite a distance off in some corner, yet in view. He walked over to the front counter. As he crossed the large hay-lined floor, he called out, "Sir! What can I do for you?"

"I’m here to pick up my horse, Pipin." Replied Cocidius.

The man stopped a good fifty feet away and said, "Alright! I’ll go get ‘im!" He then spun around quickly and made a light run towards Cocidius’s horse. Or so Cocidius thought.

Sure enough, the man did come back with the correct horse. The horse neighed at the sight of Cocidius.

"Well hello to you to!" He cooed. He stroked the mane, and then the bridge of the horse’s nose. The horse pawed the ground, and gave off small sounds of happiness.

"Wow." Said the attendant. "You must be close with your horse. It’s actually happy to see you!"

"And why shouldn’t it? I love it and it loves me. I take great pride and love in taking care of him. So why do you say that?" Asked Cocidius, a little disgusted at the man’s ignorance.

"Um, I don’t know." Said the man, taken back by Cocidius’s comment. "Well, mine, is well, just there, you know. It’s not happy to see me, or sad or angry. It’s just, well, it’s hard to explain…!"

"Just love it and take care of it like it’s your younger brother or sister. And groom and help clean her too occasionally!" Advised Cocidius.

"Oh, um, okay. Thanks man." The guy said with a guilty smile.

Cocidius thought for a second, then asked, "How long have you been doing this? Are you new?"

"Yes. I am." The man replied, with a disappointed tone audibly heard in his voice.

"That’s okay." Cocidius comforted him, with an extra pat on the head. "Over time, you’ll get over it."

"Okay. Um, let’s see. He’s been her for two weeks, two copper a day…" Said the man aloud, counting in his head.

"That’s twenty-eight copper." Said Cocidius, before the man could count that high.

"Yeah, that’s right. Twenty-eight copper, please sir!"

"Alright. One second." Cocidius pulled out his coin-pouch and pulled out a silver and a half-silver bit. "There. Have thirty. I presume you’ve been taking care of my horse your self?"

"Yes sir." Replied the man.

"Well, here. Have an extra silver. After two weeks, you deserve it. He looks great." Offered Cocidius, felling very generous.

"Thanks sir!" The man said happily.

Cocidius then left to the market, riding his horse. He was going to search out a good burrow, or maybe a young pony to carry his supplies.

On horseback, he slowly walked through the very empty streets of the market area of Kanar. Mainly the northern section. It had taken him a while to get to the northern Market area from the southwestern living quarters, Inns, bars, and City Officials Offices.

His horses silently clopped on the ground, the wide cobble-street just now starting to fill up with market-go-ers. He kind of wished that it had stayed relatively vacant, for the day’s forever advancing could not be stopped. The time had ticked away like a fast metronome, willing him to hurry with every repetitive, annoying click.

He eventually came to a small rugged area, with only a couple burrows penned up in a dirt area just off the street and onto the grass.

A man with a huge, three-foot tall turban on his head, approached Cocidius, walking very fast while still keeping the turban balanced.

The dark man came up to Cocidius and smiled with yellow teeth and a crooked grin.

"How may I help you, verdy verdy much, sire? Would youz like one of my fine don-keys? I assure you dat dey are verdy verdy good of quality sire! How about it, yes?" The elf asked, with a strange accent.

"Yes, well. I would like a burrow, please. I’ll take your best one."

"Oh, sir. All are very many good burrows! But my best one, no, she won’t fight your command at all. No sir! She’s has not one stubborn bone in her whole body!" Claimed the man.

"If that’s true, I’d like her!" Said Cocidius, his hopes sky-rocketing through the roof.

"One gold!" He offered.

"Hmm, how about sixteen silver."

"Sixteen? That’s an absurdity, sir! I no fool! Nineteen, no more, no less."

"Sixteen."

"Eighteen."

"Sixteen."

"Eighteen, or leave my shop sir, yes?"

"Fine." Cocidius agreed. "Eighteen it is."

"Okay. One moment, please, yes sir!" The little brown man turned to the corral. "Charlotte! Oh mi precious little little Charlotte!" He called. "One second. She knows her name…"

A burrow then came forward. It must have been the most ugliest donkey Cocidius had ever seen. It’s fur was not the problem. It was the growth on it’s nose, and it’s swayed back.

Cocidius’s jaw dropped. "What is this? Some sick joke?"

"No, no sir, no? She may be weird looking, yes, but yes she a good good ass! She have no stubborn bone, like I say!"

The man then took it by the reins and led it all around. He pulled a rug from the ground to reveal a hidden pit of red-hot charcoal. He then hopped over it, and the donkey quickly walked through the pit behind him.

"See? No stubborn bone in body of hers!"

"Wow." Cocidius commented, dumbfounded. That thing would probably follow him to the ends of the earth and back!

"Do we still have a deal?" Asked the man, with a sparkle in his eye and his yellow-stained teeth.

"Okay. She better be worth it!" Said Cocidius, handing the man the silver. After the man snatched it away, he threw him the rein.

"Here. She now yours! Be happy, I be, er, I am happy! See? Even my common speech, no? Is improving!" Said the man. He then kissed his new money, and placed it in a new pouch.

"Sorry. It my ritual after a sale, he he he!"

"What ever." Cocidius then turned away, tied the donkey on a short eight-foot rope connected to the horse. He then took the meat out of his backpack, and prepared to store it on the burrow. He put it down, and grabbed a bag out of his backpack. He opened it up and then tied it onto the donkey’s back. He then put the backpack back onto the horse’s sides.

"Thank god for meat storage bags!" He said. The bag was made out of a tough canvas that was built magically not to let any meat fumes out. Therefore, he could carry the meat without the worry of animals. He put the meat into the back, zipped it up, and then walked back to his horse.

He mounted the horse, and then turned away and slowly went to the next place on his list. The Weapon/Armory shop. However, his horse seemed to strain to walk. Confused, he looked back to see the donkey sitting on it’s butt, trying to resist the horse.

"HEY!" He called out angrily. But when he looked to where the man and his donkeys had dissapeared to, he found that they were all gone! All that was left was a large cloud of dust, marking the man’s haste to leave. He swore quietly under his breath.

After finally getting the donkey to follow the horse, he approached what he had come to know in his youth, the Weapon and Armory shop. He was here to pick up his full Chain shirt and grieves, and his Great sword of Mithril.

He opened the door to the small shop; the walls lined with suits of armor and various weapons. The whole store seemed to gleam with the light that reflected off the items, and at first stunned Cocidius when he first entered. He had forgotten about that little annoyance.

Earlier in his life, he had stolen daggers from here with…

…Harmony…

…He snapped back into reality, for some reason, an old memory of a forgotten person resurfacing. ‘Who’s Harmony?’ He asked himself.

"Um, can I help you?" Asked the shop owner as he stepped out from the back of the shop. "Oh, it’s you Cocidius! I almost didn’t recognize you! You looked kind of off in space there for a moment, and you had a weird, hurt look on you face… Are you okay?" Asked McArty, the storeowner.

Harmony…

…The karate tournament…

* * *

Two weeks before he turned eleven, he sat at the Great Tree. He was watching the sky, and then he heard the faint steps of someone approaching. He sat up to see Harmony, an Elven girl from his school, standing a couple feet from him, all dressed up in a white dress, and her hair all fixed up. Her face was red with embarrassment, and she looked down at her feet, scared to look eye to eye with Cocidius.

"Um, uh…" she started. "I… Cocidius, I , uh, well, I like… I like…" And then she turned around and silently walked away. Cocidius looked at her, confused, and then put it aside. He lay back down to watching the clouds, never thinking about that odd meeting again. Harmony went home, upset and sad.

"Mommy!" She cried. "I couldn’t do it mommy! I’m a scaredy cat! I HATE myself!" She then ran into her room and slammed the door. She cried for over three days before she thought of something to do.

One week after Cocidius turned 11, as he was lying by the Great Tree (big enough to fit his town’s population of 650-something under it for a picnic.), Harmony approached Cocidius, this time, not in a dress. She was in a white-cloth karate suit for some reason.

"Hi Cocidius. How are you doing?" She asked, sitting down next to him.

"Oh, I’m cool. How bout you?"

"I’m okay." She answered.

For a moment, they both turned their attentions skyward. They lied back on the soft grass and looked at the clouds slowly roll by on that clear day.

"Clouds are cool. Hey! Do you see that one cloud?" Cocidius asked as he pointed out an ear shaped cloud. "It’s a cloud with a pointed ear, like us."

She squinted in the brightness of the blue sky and her eyes focused on the cloud he had his finger-point trained on.

"I see it! Do you see that one over there?" And she pointed to another one.

"Where?" He asked.

"Right there, silly!" She said, grabbing his head, and moving the line of his sight to where she was looking at.

"It’s a heart!" She proclaimed.

"Yeah, cool! With a arrow in it, and it’s fading away, like it’s dying!"

Then, he thought he heard a sniff, and he turned to Harmony. She was looking strait up; eyes still up at the clouds.

"Hey, I have a challenge." She said calmly.

"Huh?"

"I’ll verse you in karate. I want to see who’s better." She said with a sharp look towards him and a smile too.

"Uh…" he started to reply, startled. "You’re into that kinda thing?" He asked in confusion. "I though that you were all girl-like, you know? Into cooking, and cleaning and stuff."

"What if I’m not really into that?" She asked quizzically.

"That would be cool!" ‘Wow!’ He thought to himself. ‘Finally, a girl who’s not a girl! Wait, that didn’t make sense…’

"C’mon! Let’s fight tomorrow. And we stop when one of us is unconscious, Okay?"

‘Unconscious?’ He thought. "Um, I don’t want to hurt you!" He said with genuine concern.

"Why?" She asked. The question shocked him. "You beat up on the other boys."

"Yeah, well, that’s different. You’re a girl. Girls are meant to be, well… Not hurt! Girls don’t like it. We don’t either. It’s just a weird thing to see who has the biggest ego!"

After that, she looked at him, her eyes are huge. And there was one tear in her left eye.

"Wow. That’s the most non-pig-headed male comment I’ve ever heard! That’s… That’s, beautiful." She commented

And then, one of those moments happened. Every young boy’s nightmare. The way she looked at him, it was like she was gonna ‘eat’ him up or something. That’s how he felt. He started to tremble and get nervous. In fact, he started to glow a mint green (Green means happy), yet, of all the years he’s hated girl cooties, he strangely didn’t want to move away. His heart’s thump was all he could hear. He sort of wanted to embrace it, but…

…But, she stood up and looked down at him, smiling.

"Please Cocidius? I really want to test my self! Meet me at the dojo! Okay?"

His glowing became brighter, and he nodded his head in hopes of another moment like that in the future.

The next day, he showed up at the dojo, and he saw Harmony warming up. She was graceful and powerful looking! His jaw dropped in love! ‘Wow! She’s awesome!’ He thought. ‘The perfect girl! She’s a girl, and she doesn’t act like one!’

She stopped, and turned to him. She gave him a courteous bow, and then walked off the mat to let him warm up. ‘Her clothes are awesome too!’ Her pants are black-button ups (‘I’d be cool to see them accidentally fall off…’ He thought. And then, he shocked himself. ‘Did I just think that about a girl?’ He questioned himself), and a red gee (ß a karate shirt).

He took the floor, stretched out, and warmed up in a series of awesome, beautiful, flowing, awe-inspiring kata’s (ß Series of blocks, punches, kicks, and maneuvers), in which, most of them, he did powerful moves, with agile flips, rolls, and jumps. A crowd for the fight started to show up. People were cheering him on, and making him lose his concentration. Harmony then went on a rampage, bopping anyone who made noise. He was now able to get back into the flow.

After ten minutes, he was warmed up, and was ready.

A huge mass of people then started cheering.

After they settled down, they then began their match. At first, both of them spent the time throwing punches and kicks, and the other equally blocking them. After five minutes, they took a break for a second. As they were about to begin again, the crowd parted as a dark haired guy, with a brown haired guy in yellow and white attire, chasing the first, ran towards the tournament. They both jumped in the air and over Cocidius and Harmony’s fighting ring. Harmony, visibly upset, picked up a cinder block, tossed it with enormous power, and caught the brown-haired guy right in the side. The umbrella dropped from his bag, but Cocidius didn’t notice it landed right in front of him. He was too busy laughing, watching Johnny get creamed after trying to chase after Rashin.

"Thanks Harmony!" Rashin called back.

Johnny fell behind the crowd in to the Town Center fountain and everyone heard a huge splash. For some reason, Johnny didn’t seem to get back out. A little white dog did, however.

Then, Cocidius and Harmony’s attention snapped back to the match. Cocidius dashed forward to hit Harmony, but his foot rolled over the umbrella and he rolled right on over to Harmony’s foot, just coming up as he came at her.

He heard a ‘thump’, and everything exploded into stars. And everything then went black.

* * *

He woke up a moment later, faintly hearing Harmony crying out his name.

"Wake up! Wake up! Please, don’t be dead! I Lo… (And then, Cocidius slipped back into unconscious for a moment, and then woke up again)… you! Please don’t die on me! I didn’t mean to hit you so hard!"

And then, his eyes opened to painful light, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust. He now felt something warm running down his upper lip, but he couldn’t feel where it was coming from. Half of his body was still numb.

"Harmony?" He said weakly.

She looked down upon him, her beautiful (‘beautiful?’ He thought fuzzily) eyes, wide open, filled with tears.

"You’re alive! Your alive!" She then pulled his semi-limp torso towards her and hugged him in relief. She noticed the blood hiding on her chest and she saw blood slowly trickling from his nose. She used her gee to wipe his face. In guilt, she felt something grabbing her chest, and squeezing it. She felt so bad. Then, she really started sobbing.

"I’m sorry!" She barely edges out between sobs. "I’m so sorry! I never wanted to hurt you!" She repeats, between sobs.

Then, she lowered his upper torso to the ground, got up and bolted off, crying like crazy.

There was a tight, hurting feeling clenching his chest, and he couldn’t get it to go away. ‘What’s wrong with me? What am I feeling?’ He asked himself.

He watched her run off, and tears came to his eyes, stinging. It forced him to wipe his face off. It only made it worse as dust got into his eyes.

"Hey, kid? Why are you crying now? You know, you almost stopped breathing there for a second!" An old man with Silver-Grey streaked brown hair (common to Grey Elves) said to Cocidius, hovering over him. "Here, let me help you up kid!"

As he stood up, he looked to where Harmony ran off. He could still see the dust she raised from dashing to where ever she was going. The crowd not started to scatter, too.

"Jeez louweez!" The old man said. "I say that there was cheatin’! She probably scheduled that to happen, so you would slip in to her kick so she could…"

But he wasn’t even listening to the old man. He stood there, incessantly staring down the road she ran, the dust now settling slowly.

‘Please, don’t be dead!’ Her voice echoed in his head. " I lo… …you…!’

His head was now pounding hard. ‘What did she say?’ He wondered. He rubbed his head, a headache now annoying him. The shock from unconsciousness was fading. He wiped his nose, and he recoiled in pain. He felt something wet on his hand, so he wiped it off on his gee, continuing to stare off towards Harmony. There was blood now all over his white karate-gee where he had wiped his hand.

"Oh, I see! You must have broken your nose…" The old man commented as he saw him jump in pain.

‘What was she saying?’ He wondered. His head was now worse off than before, and his nose was throbbing, and with each beat, he could feel his heat pulsing his head, unknowingly, blood spilled out of his nose, oozing down his face, dripping off his chin, and onto his gee. ‘Was it, "love" she said?’

Then, Cocidius saw the old man walk in front of him, and his hands cupped around his nose.

He just caught the tail end of what he was saying; "…this might hurt!"

"Huh?" He said in confusion.

Then, CRACK! He suddenly felt his nose pop back into place from the man’s sudden jerk with his hands, and once again, everything exploded in a black flash. However, he stayed conscious.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed.

"Sorry kid, it had to be done, or you would of bleed to death! You must have balls kid! You didn’t even seem to notice you were leaking from your nose. I hope you aren’t in shock or anything… Well, c’mon, lets get something on that nose of yours!" He says. And then he grabbed Cocidius’s arm and gee, and made him wrap his nose with it to catch the blood, and he then tilted his head down.

"OOOOWWWWW!" He yelled as he bumped his nose with his hand.

"Hold it like that kid, it’ll help stop the bleeding! C’mon, lets get your to my clinic."

"Your not gonna put leeches on me are you?" He said in a nasal voice.

"What, are you poisoned kid? Hell no, I ain’t gonna put leeches on your ass! What do you think I am? Some stupid High Elven Torture master? A witch doctor or something? You’re crazier than this old coot!" He said, with a thumb pointing at himself. "Don’t worry. I’m just gonna stop the bleeding and repair the cartilage with a couple spells, okay?"

"Oh-kay." He said, his voice nasal-like.

As he walked off, he thought one more time about Harmony. He later forgot about her as she basically disappeared from his life. After that, he always felt like he had a hole in his soul…

…The Karate tournament. Harmony…

For some reason, that long forgotten tragedy came back. He had totally forgotten about Harmony. The first girl he ever liked and or loved. But how could he forget about her? Now that he thought about it, he lived only but a couple houses away from her. But, he also recalled that ‘girl’ three houses down, leaving to become a monk or something with a wizard or something about two years before his 16^th birthday.

"Hey Cocidius? What’s wrong with you?" Asked McArty.

"Oh, I’m fine. How about you?" Cocidius asked politely.

A little shocked, he answered, "Oh, I’m okay. Wow. You’ve grown up! The last time is saw you was, well, when you tried to steal a dagger!" He recalled.

"Yeah, that’s right." Cocidius said, remembering. And also, unconsciously, he fingered his dagger at his side, which was the high quality dagger he had stolen long ago.

"Anyway, my mom came in here a couple of days ago and ordered a Full chain shirt and grieves, right?"

"Why yes she did."

"Do you also have my original father’s sword? My mother said that you’ve been holding on to it until I left."

"Yes I do. Your father was a great man. So, do you plan on adventuring around?" He inquired.

"Not really." Cocidius said, with a frown on his face. "I can’t afford to do that. My parents need money. Adventuring is a too unstable source of income. So I’m going to Elrinesh to become a bounty hunter! I’m gonna be rich in a matter of months!" Said Cocidius, happy and proud of his chosen profession.

"Yeah. Sure. Anyway, let me go get your stuff." He said as he turned about to go into the back room.

"Okay." Cocidius looked about and relaxed against the counter. He saw a cool looking dagger, and an urge told him to swipe it. But he struck down that feeling, and relaxed until McArthy came back.

A moment later, he came back with a bluish-sword, grieves, and Chain mail draped over his shoulder. He laid out the items and pushed the items to Cocidius. "It’s already paid for. Your mother paid in advance, much to my objection!" He joked. "Have fun." And with that he dodged back into the back room to tinker with some armor.

He put on his armor over his clothes (which fit well and looked fine) and put his sword in his shoulder scabbard. He was now decked out. "Yes!" He said to himself.

As he started to leave, his eye darted back towards the dagger…

He went outside to see his horse and mule halfway down the street. The dusty cobble street was luckily empty, or he would have been out on his horse and burrow.

He fingered his new dagger at his side, and then decided to run down the street and catch up with the horse.

"Hey! What do you think you’re doing Pippin?"

The horse recoiled at his foreign touch. He didn’t recognize Cocidius. It started to let out many nervous neighs and other sounds. He started to get quite antsy.

"Hey buddy! It’s me! Shhhh! It’s okay. Do you recognize my voice?"

The horse started to settle down, and Cocidius gently patted her on the bridge of her nose. He gave a little scratch, and her nose happened to be his most troubled (a horse can’t itch it’s own nose of course) spot. So he always loved it when he scratched him a little there.

He immediately warmed up to Cocidius as soon as he recognized him.

"Oh, that’s a good boy! Now, let’s go."

"<Wait! >"

"What?" Cocidius asked to the air.

"<Cocidius! Help! >"

He turned around to see Akuma running up the road, soaking wet.

"Hey! What happened to you!" Asked Cocidius. "I thought you were on my back pack." He said, pointing to his backpack behind him.

"<No! That Tigrin man abducted me and attempted to boil me alive! >" Akuma explained.

"Why did you not tell me? What’s wrong with you?" Asked Cocidius, accusingly.

"<It’s not my fault! I guess Tigrin’s have telepathic powers too, or maybe he had a spell. I don’t know! It was like having a mental gag on! It was horrible. Anyway, so once he turned his back for once second, I jumped out of the kettle…>"

"Kettle?" Cocidius interrupted.

"<…Yes! A kettle! Anyway, so he turns his back, and I jump out of the kettle. I run to the door and that Fred guy…>"

"Fred?"

"<Yes! He’s the only human the Tigrin was with! >"

"Okay." Cocidius nodded his head.

"<Now stop interrupting me! Anyway, so he jumps, he being Fred, in front of me! I jump up and phase through him and the door! Then I just followed your scent here. >"

"Phase?"

"I made myself invisible-like and passed right through him, like a ghost would."

"Oh, man!" Cocidius moaned, trying not to fall out of his saddle with laughter. "That’s funny!"

"<Hey! That’s mean Cocidius! >" Complained Akuma.

"Oh, I’m sorry Akuma-chan! It’s just so funny. Anyway, shake your self off, and get up here." Cocidius said, patting his shoulder.

The little cabbit shook most of the water off it’s soft, furry pinkish coat, and then with one hop, jumped up on Cocidius’s shoulder.

"Alright. Lets get going. Hopefully, we can get a good camp sight by nightfall. It’s already late Afternoon. Look," He said to Akuma, pointing his finger up at the sky. "The sun is already well past the middle of the sky. We’d better get a move on!"

And with that, they rode off to Elrinesh, the capital of Elvaniresh.