Chapter II – Sanbi-Eye

Harry was seated silently in the kitchen, making ASMR sounds as his teeth ripped apart the crunchy multigrain bread of a meaty sandwich. His palate was pleased from no longer being bombarded by strong alcohol, instead tasting the leafy greens contrasting the spiciness and saltiness of a nice chunk of meat loaded inside—it had a cured pork-like taste, chewy texture to it, but it wasn’t overly salty. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful, at least until a certain maid by the name of Arukia burst through the swinging door with teapots and mugs, dropped them in the large sink, looked around the room, then invited herself to sit right by Harry. She approached so close that he could smell her slightly bubblegum-with-grape perfume—very girly, yes, but at the same time, it was kinda ruining his tasty sandwich.

“Since the so-called Sanbi-eye is still here, tell me then—what is Itagiba’s father’s name?” Arukia’s pointy nose looked like it was about to stab Harry in the face like a swordfish.

Harry’s eyes, initially entranced by the beauty of her fierier-than-the-fireplace cyan eyes, felt a gravity tug towards the valley of fun that her breasts looked like.

She placed her right hand right over her fun valley and spoke softly with a half-smile. “Guess right, and you can take a closer peek.”

Gulping, Harry looked away, his cheeks reddening. What do I do now? I have no idea.

“Not even a guess?” Arukia retracted away from Harry with a snappy tone. Looking towards Itanema with a smug chin up, she asked tightly, “Do you even know?”

“Celerino Sanbi Royal.” Itanema promptly replied like a reflex rather than a memory. She kept brooming the dirt towards a corner with a slow but steady rhythm.

“Next one—your final chance.” Arukia lowered her voice, and now a promiscuous tone took over as she bit her lips. It seemed like she was ready to crank up the heat. “I’ll even let you squeeze it if you get this right—what are the three departments of Sanbi kingdom?”

Harry’s eyes widened as that challenge seemed too good to be true. Resting his plate on his lap, he narrowed his eyes towards the same white ceiling, but now his eyes were no longer a blurry mess. Eiri just mentioned that! It was—oh yes! He began blurting the answers out, “Monarchy! And—and—soul energy!” Harry kept on searching, but his memories came up short.

“E-co-no-mi-cal!” Arukia enunicated with the same promiscuous tone as she grabbed the rest of Harry’s sandwich, dipped it into a hearty amount of green sauce, and took a small bite, leaving a red lip mark. With her hand in her mouth, quickly chewing the bite down, she then said, “Who’s the boss of each department?”

“Eiri for economical?” Harry looked at Arukia like he were asking for a plea deal. His eyes looked only, and only, at her brightly cyan eyes—even though there was still the same gravity pull towards the fun in between her breast valleys.

“What? I’m not going to tell you as you go! You’re the Sanbi-eye!” Arukia’s frown and pout looked like her tolerance for his stupidity was quickly drying up. She took another bite, but this time she chomped at least half of what was left, hiding away her chewing mouth behind her hand.

Trying to juggle his memories again, Harry remembered another factoid. “Neferteri for monarchy!”

Still chewing the monstrous bite behind her hand, Arukia shook her head. She snapped her fingers towards Itanema, but she didn’t seem to get a reply. With a nice gulp and a pinched expression, Arukia spoke up to the other maid, “Itanema?”

“The king and queen of Sanbi, Itagiba Sanbi Royal and Neferteri Sanbi Royal.” Itanema once again replied from the tip of her tongue as she kept brooming—one could even think the spontaneous game show was rigged.

Arukia took another large bite, leaving barely a bite-sized piece left. With one hand still hiding her chewing mouth, she brought the leftovers towards Harry’s mouth.

His stomach revolted at Arukia’s fuckery, growling at only getting back barely a piece left, with her girly perfume still wrecking the taste. Still, better than having nothing left. Harry then noticed the red lip mark she left on it—subconsciously, he wondered if the sandwich would taste any different as it neared his salivating mouth.

Arukia bamboozled him at the last second, bringing the sandwich to her mouth instead. She then whipped her hand on Harry’s uniform and stood up to grab a glass of water by partially opening a handle attached to a large pipe on top of the sink. The usual angry gush of water didn’t seem as loud.

Harry silently watched Arukia take small sips of a full glass of water. Part of him wanted to ask for it too, but the other part internally loudly exclaimed, Nope—you don’t deserve it.

With a click of her tongue, Arukia came back to Harry and handed over a half-drank glass with a bonus faint red lip mark. “Here’s your consolation prize.”

Drinking from where the lip mark stained the glass was, Harry could taste the defeat as he saw Arukia swing her tantalizing hips towards the door that separated the atrium and kitchen.

Arukia looked through a window hole in the swinging door, then a sassiness rushed through her voice towards Harry, “Why are we wasting money on you? I can’t believe why the monarchy department agreed with Maiara’s stupid request!” She looked at Itanema, apparently waiting for her to pitch in.

Itanema, still silent, finished brooming the dirt to a pan, then threw it in the fire—rather than the trash.

“You’re still doing that? Argh! The trash is literally over here!” Arukia clicked her tongue loudly this time as Itanema pulled on the handle to wash her hands. Arukia’s tone grew taut as she spoke over the angry gush of water roaring in the kitchen, “Fine! I will tell her that you washed your hands this time.”

Itanema glanced at Arukia, and Harry, then back at her hands without saying anything. Her neutral expression didn’t appear to have much to say either as she pushed on the handle to stop the angry gush of water, bringing a silence to the room.

Meanwhile, Harry’s eyes looked to be moistening up on their own. I actually don’t really know shit! Was I supposed to learn stuff? But how? Nobody even told me about it! Not even Eiri! Harry dropped his head as he held the mostly empty plate in his lap. Fingering the leftover sauces, he nibbled on them to appease the culpable feelings rattling in his chest. The white sauce tasted like homemade butter mayonnaise, while the greenish one was akin to black pepper and cumin mixed with a tangy chlorophyll accent. Good on their own, but when he mixed them with the meaty sandwich, they elevated the taste from something bought at a supermarket to one handmade by a world-renowned chef—or perhaps Harry’s hunger could be pushing the flavors to new heights.

Itanema opened a drawer, grabbed long metal tongs, and started flipping over the meat cooking in the fireplace. The fire roared with each drip of meat juices as she turned them over, letting a meaty, smokey smell escape from the chimney and tantalize everyone in the room.

“What? I’m not the one in the wrong here. We could have gotten a raise instead of this useless guy being pandered!” Arukia, resting against the door, twirled her hair. With an annoyed sigh, she pulled the clothing covering her breasts slightly towards Harry—more teasing than revealing. “Next time, the questions will be tougher, so come prepared!” She disappeared towards the atrium.

Harry, with sauce on his lips, looked towards the closed door, then back at Itanema behind him. I wonder if I can ask her for another sandwich. He saw her struggling to turn over the hunks of meat, then using her bare hands to help flip the meat.

Itanema didn’t seem to flinch or care much about the skin of her fingers sizzling like the meat cuts roasting over the fire.

Doesn’t that hurt? Harry kept looking at her blistering fingers as she kept turning the delicious-looking and delicious-smelling meats.

“Harry! Ready to go?” Eiri slowly poked through the swinging door, holding a furry, leathery bag with a shoulder strap. The bag had red strands of hair on the side, accenting its brownish fur.

An effervescent, butterfly feeling arose within Harry. He left the empty plate back as he stood up and began walking towards her, but his curiosity took the best out of him, taking one last look at Itanema before leaving the kitchen.

Itanema sucked on her blistered fingers of one hand for a hot second, taking them out when they healed completely. She then devoted herself back to the fireplace, grabbing a boiling sausage from the flames and taking a bite. Boiling steam came out of her mouth like she was puffing out a cigar, but she seemed pretty intent on eating it. Not even a single tear came out of her eyes; her face looked in some trance, or a pain-induced meditation, not far from the people who do body suspension.

His brain could not believe what his eyes were seeing. What was supposed to be a glance from Harry turned out to be an open stare. “You—you okay?” he spoke softly; part of him didn’t want to disturb whatever she was doing.

“Really? Are you trying to get a harem by pursuing her too?” Eiri smirked with mischievous laughter as she propped the kitchen door open. “Itanema does like it hot and steamy more than anyone I’ve seen!”

Jumping at Eiri’s voice, Harry turned around. “Sorry! I—ehh—was just looking at the meat!” he said, smiling like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Don’t call her that!” Eiri laughed it off as she nodded her head towards the atrium.

While he walked to where she pointed, butterflies flew in Harry’s growling stomach as he saw a familiar face averting her timid eyes away from him.

In the middle of the atrium, surrounded by stairs and a sizeable fost lamp above, Sora stood by with her hands up front, already red in the face—maybe she had rosacea after all or was in a constant state of embarrassment. She bowed apologetically, speaking at such a fast, worried pace that she wasn’t a rap god anymore but the rap universe itself. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I don’t want to marry too young. I have the family business to care for—and—I’m waiting for my prince to arrive!” She quickly paced towards the door leading out of Sanbi Castle, then opened it wide for Eiri and Harry.

“Huh?” Eiri elbowed Harry. “Maybe you have a chance on the harem after all—if you put her as the primary.”

With nothing but an embarrassed laugh, Harry walked together with the two maids out into the sunny afternoon. He felt the sunshine play warmly with his skin as the same breeze of sea mixed with fish ruffled the grass and plants. Meanwhile, a butterfly feeling tickled his inner gut—perhaps it was a hunger for food, hunger for Sora, or both.

Hugging Sora from the side, Eiri patted her head and spoke with a motherly tone, “That’s new coming from you—but you could have just said no to Harry instead of all of that. He won’t bite, right, Harry?”

Harry scratched his head as another embarrassed laugh came out of him. Wait—so that was a rejection too? I guess I’m getting used to it now. Harry took a deep breath of the outside air, arriving at a familiar tall door with a large jumping Sanbi fish carved and painted on it—that massive door was the only way in or out of the round walls encircling the castle grounds. A flashback passed through his mind as he stood in the same spot where Kibe handed over his badge. “Eiri—can I ask about my badge?”

With a cutesy motion, Sora’s small hands handed a credit card–sized object towards Harry with his name on it.

As if he had reclaimed a piece of himself, Harry grabbed his badge, lightly touching Sora’s fingers in the process, making her blush even more—if that was even possible. “Thanks, Sora!” Looking at his badge, he placed his thumb on the base of the thermometer-like apparatus, making a glimmering light appear on the thinner portion. He looked back at Sora with a broad smile, showing the glimmering light to her.

Sora grabbed the side of her long black and blue skirt. Her rosacea grew intense as her wavering eyes had something to say, but her tiny mouth seemed inept. Deeply bowing, it looked like she was on the verge of booking it at full speed back towards the castle, but perhaps being by Eiri gave her the courage, or outright convinced her beforehand, to remain close to Harry’s hungering eyes.

Harry couldn’t help himself but take another glance at her utterly waifu qualities. In the depths of his brain, the word simp flashed into existence.

“BY THE ORDER OF EIRI SANBI ROYAL, OPEN THE DOOR!” Eiri spoke loudly at the gate, and sure enough, the familiar sounds of screaming hinges began as large, heavy doors creaked open towards them.

Feeling even more so like a déjà vu, Harry could almost see the hundreds of people gathered outside, all curiously looking at him as his previous undersized clothing was so stretched that it made his belly appear twice as big. However, this time, only tens of people were around, and they were all busy going about their business. Some carriages passed by, others walked, and some even curiously glanced at the door as they kept on going. A few gave a nod or a wave as they passed by, but that’s it. As they walked outside, Harry noticed a couple kissing passionately in front of the Sanbi fountain. Their kissing was so intense, it looked like their faces had been glued.

Eiri helped Harry put the bag over his shoulder, then took a step back to look at the complete uniform—her appearance was like that of a mother about to let her kid go to college but treating them as if they were still in kindergarten. “Everything you need is in the bag. Make sure not to lose it, especially the purse! The badge too! Otherwise, you can’t withdraw more balls at the embassy!” Her eyes grew kindly trembling, coincidentally getting wetter. “I’m happy for you, Harry.”

Gripping his badge tightly, Harry nodded as his eyes also grew wet. “Thanks, Eiri. Thanks, Sora!” He could feel this sensation of freedom he had never felt before, but part of him still wanted to stay at Sanbi Castle for a bit longer. He looked back at the massive door as the guard strained himself hard to close it. His chest gripped with a longing already developing, but it wasn’t as strong as the excitement of jumping into the unknown.

With a motherly hug, Eiri spoke in his ear. “Don’t worry too much! Just live day by day, and send me as many winga mails as you want! I will be sure to reply to them!”

Winga mail—Hiromi! Harry smiled, making a higher-pitched agreement hum. “I forgot to ask Hiromi about it! He mentioned he would write to me too! Can I ask how to do it?”

“It’s easy! Just find an embassy, and they will take care of you!” Eiri pointed at Harry’s badge. “That’s why I told you not to lose that, or you’re gonna be boned.” Eiri chuckled. “Like, really boned! Not the good kind of boning either!”

Sora withdrew her head in shame. She would be a clump of carapace if she were an armadillo.

Noticing Sora’s armadillo mode, Eiri poked her sides. “C’mon, Sora! I didn’t even say banging this time! Hmmm, or is the shy mode because you actually don’t want to say bye to your future husband?”

With a shameful shake of the head, Sora seemingly refused to make eye contact, leaving Harry to hang like a sheet being dried in the wind.

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Eiri pointed at a nearby carriage. “Neferteri told me all you need to know about your new job is in the bag and that Sinoi would give you extra details, so have fun, Harry! Sora and I will be here waiting for you!” Eiri winked. “I will make sure no one else proposes to her!”

Harry nodded with a smile from ear to ear. Feeling like a bird about to jump the nest, he walked towards the carriage Eiri pointed at. That’s kinda old. The carriage looked like the oldest of all the carriages he had seen passing by, even more so than another parked nearby. It looked like it had survived at least three wars—world wars! That’s huge! I thought they were the same size as horses! The egua pulling the cart seemed to be taken good care of, at least based on its shiny and voluptuous mane. An old-looking person was up front, holding the coachwhip to control the horse-like mammal. “Hi, Sinoi!” Harry said to the old man, who looked like he was about to fall asleep—or already deeply sleeping.

“Get’in.” A jumble of tired words came out of Sinoi’s mouth as he kept on chewing on a wooden stick.

“Hey, Sinoi! Take good care of my Harry! I will do the same for Itanema too!” Eiri exclaimed from afar, waving a friendly goodbye.

“Ah’wi’do!” Sinoi replied, but his words did not reach Eiri—heck, they barely reached Harry’s ears. With a lazy pull of the egua reins, the wagon creaked as the egua began trotting with the same laziness as its owner.

Harry waved goodbye to Sora and Eiri, seeing them grow smaller with each constant lazy trot against the rocky road that shook the carriage. The massive Sanbi Castle gates grew smaller and soon vanished from Harry’s sight. The only sight left of familiarity was the Sanbi castle’s round wall as the egua kept trotting on the road around it.

Excitement and anxiety are born from the same root: wanting to see the future, and for Harry, that future was right now. The familiar feeling of drinking a gallon of coffee was there, but somehow he didn’t seem to hate this feeling in his chest this time entirely—if that was even the same feeling he had felt before. Perhaps it didn’t feel bad this time as he was doing something about it, as in looking around and absorbing as many details as possible of this new place he now had to call home, or that was his home, to begin with, and he just couldn’t remember.

He looked around, trying to transform the unknown into know.

Strangers passed by, from Cruros to humans, Darfaries, to even Sorefaries. They all looked unique in their ways, with some being as much as eye candy like Sora, to others giving you a bad feeling from just crossing your eyes with them. Animals he had never seen or heard about before were either alive with people, being sliced apart, hanging from hooks, or being fried in parked wagons that were selling street food, competing with the restaurants for people’s hunger. The smells of the streets tickled his nose with a head-spinning amount of new things, from street food he had never tasted before to perfume. Amidst all those smells, something quite familiar rose above everything else—the smell of horse shit. Harry looked towards the ground, expecting to see horse shit staining everywhere, but found nothing. Where is that coming from? Another wave of the same rotten gaseous leafy smell came from a rustic-looking but not as worn-out carriage passing by. A heavy-looking bag underneath the bunghole of the passing egua looked like it was about to rip apart and splat shit everywhere.

Sinoi lazily pulled the reins towards the right, keeping the egua encircling the round castle wall rather than turning left in a T-intersection. Somehow that was the only second signal Sinoi inputted so far. The egua apparently had a decent autopilot to keep encircling the round wall, avoiding people, things, and even the sturdy-looking brick fost lamp that littered the middle of the streets, equally spaced out from one another.

Staring at his badge and seeing his name written near the glimmering thermometer-like apparatus when he touched his thumb on its base, Harry felt a sense of realness strike him. He looked back, hoping to see Eiri and Sora still, but it was for naught as he was already far away. The buildings looked different, but not too different from the ones in front of the castle door. Harry glanced at the signs and noticed some didn’t even have names written but just a logogram of what it was about. A mug of beer with a hearty-looking drumstick was carved in one of them. Tavern? OH! This one is a nari gel place? Harry saw another wooden carved sign, but this time it was a nari gel glass container, including a metal cast writing Manana’s Nari Shop into the cork—giving the sign a fancy-like vibe. Below it was an open door where he could peek inside for a second, seeing a wall of nari gels with various colors and things inside.

“I’wil’rop’y’off’fath’awa’—jus’lax’” Another mumble of words came out of Sinoi’s mouth, barely breaking above the rustling noises of this vibrant kingdom.

What did he say? Harry scooched forward on his seat and brought his head parallel to Sinoi’s. “I-I am sorry—Sinoi. Can you say it again?”

Clearing his throat with a deep cough that sounded like he was coughing up his lungs, Sinoi spat a brownish substance from the corner of his mouth onto the moving ground that looked like a murderous blob, viciously wanting to swallow people. His chewing stick then started to move about his mouth as he chewed on it like a horse would chew hard candy. “I’will’dropya’off’fathe’away’—jus’relax’”

I will drop you off farther away—just relax? Harry just gained a level in his decryption skills. “Ahh—thanks? Oh, Eiri said you would give extra details too?”

“I’dro’y’off’share’wago. Ya’go’fishi’tre—” Sinoi coughed like he had lung cancer, then spit another blob from the corner of his mouth. His eyes didn’t seem open at all—maybe the egua was controlling the whole thing after all?

I drop you off the share wagon. You go—fish tree? The difficulty of that decryption was a bit too high for Harry’s ears. “Fish tree?”

Sinoi let out a long, tired, loud exhale—like someone would if their boss suddenly asked to stay overtime on a Friday night. “Che’ya’map” He spoke louder but just as mumbled as usual.

Check, map? Harry scooched back on his seat and rested his brownish furry leather bag on his lap. Untying the strap in the center, he opened it up. He saw a collection of goodies inside. Two journals with leather strap cover, a folded heavy-paper pamphlet, a writing feather, a somewhat-small leather water bottle filled to the brim, one tube of ink corked tightly, a wax seal toolkit to make blue Sanbi wax seals, Sanbi mail postcard-sized envelopes—whitish in color, and a leather purse. Pulling out the purse, it felt somewhat heavy. Hmmm*—kinda looks like what Hiromi had?* Once he opened it, he saw nothing but a bunch of pearls wrapped in the same golden medal. No amethysts? Oh well. Harry looked for a spot in his bag to secure his badge but found none. I guess I will just put it with my money before I lose it. He placed his badge into the purse; Harry closed it tightly, then slipped it back into the bag. Now that I think about it—I thought money came in bills! Like paper-shape, greenish—oh yeah! There were cents too! Like in the shape of round metal things.

Making his first significant body motion, Sinoi waved his hand left as the other pulled on the reins, bringing the carriage to a slow stop in the middle of another T-shaped intersection. Going forward would keep encircling the castle walls, while turning left would go on another straight road just as large as the one they were in. This road had the identical sturdy fost stone lamp posts equally spaced from each other, each surrounded by a small garden of bluish flowers that vibrantly shined in the sunlight. Sinoi waved for a few more carriages to pass by, then he shook his reins, creaking the carriage as it turned left towards this new road.

The carriage now began leaving the large castle walls behind. Marching to the East.

Harry kept looking around, noticing so many new things, but one thing in particular called to his attention. It was a group of Cruros seated at a table outside a bar, writing stuff in their journals and showing it to one another. The map! Harry pulled out a pamphlet from the bag. Its thick rough paper felt almost like sandpaper, with whatever was written or drawn on it leaving textured grooves—like holding a used carbon copy paper. Carefully unfolding, Harry saw Sanbi Kingdom Shared Wagon Routes written up top, with black inkings of what appeared to be a bunch of interconnecting dots in the roads and rivers with names, prices, and schedules. The whole thing felt familiar—yeah, this is the same Sanbi Kingdom map I saw before! But bigger? Wait—is this a bus route map of the kingdom? Wait! What’s a bus? Harry felt something come to mind. It was large, and it could fit a lot of people. Pretty boxy in shape, rectangular too—rubber wheels! Yeah— Harry looked at all the passing-by carriages and noticed some of them had something blackish akin to rubber, but it was just a thick strip at the end of wood or metal wheels. Did they look like that? I thought it was smaller and the whole thing was covered in rubber—

OH! Fishing Tree! His eyes spotted the village northeast of Sanbi’s capital, by a river flowing into the ocean. Seeing how to get back to the capital, Harry’s eyes followed the dots as they traveled the river upstream to Sanbi East village, which had a connection back to inland travel. From that village back to Sanbi kingdom, it looked like there were multiple stops along the way, with several more throughout the capital. The most populated part, the kingdom’s central region, where the capital lay, looked like a downward triangle. Smack in the middle of that downward triangle was Sanbi Castle, written in large font. Twenty-two pearls? Does that mean it’s far away? Harry’s sense of distance was purely a gut feeling. “Haaa—Sinoi?”

“Wa’?” Sinoi replied in a short burst of wakefulness, his tone seeming more annoyed than before.

“Sorry, but how far away is Fishing Tree?” Harry brought the map upfront, pointing right at the center of Sanbi Kingdom.

Sinoi just made another short burst of noise that resembled words, now sounding more annoyed, “Ju’sta’i’ridg.” He didn’t even look at the map or Harry.

Just stay in ridge? Harry sat back, scratching his neck beard as he looked at the map. Ridge? I don’t see any stop by that name.

The Dead Wozen? That’s the tavern Hiromi met Yacamim! Harry’s eyes lit up, seeing a shared wagon stop towards the eastern edge of the map. With a broad smile, as he looked at how to get there from Sanbi Castle, he counted the cost to be nine pearls, and shared wagons were passing by every day. Cool! It’s on the way to Fishing Tree too!

With six shared wagon stops left behind him, Harry saw the sun getting ready to set. The feeling of discovery was still there, but not as strong as before. Harry’s lips longed for water; his stomach longed for sustenance; his bladder longed for relief; and his coccyx longed for a bed. Passing by a shared front yard of four houses, Harry heard a loud clash of wooden swords; three kids cheered on while another two battled. One of them stood his ground while the other came rushing towards him with an upward attack—Harry could almost see him and Maiara as kids doing the same thing too. Maiara’s uvula dangling as she grunted loudly, swinging her hammer at him, was still far too vivid in his memory. Pain and fear still lingered in his brain, but quirky happiness rose through them. Did I really grow up here like Eiri said?

Meanwhile, the egua’s autopilot kept marching along this empty narrower rough road while Sinoi kept on chewing his mostly gone stick, looking even more immobile than before.

Harry looked behind the kids playing some sort of duel. Not far from them, three ladies talked amongst themselves under a bright fost lamp, while a guy not far from them brought another lamp to life—similar to what Sora showed to Harry. By him, two other guys seemed very busy drinking and chatting away, roasting a nice hunk of meat. One of them raised his mug towards Harry, and he waved back. With the smell of sizzling skin spreading through the air far and wide, Harry imagined himself sitting alongside them, wetting his lips on beer and helping them utterly destroy that barbeque with his salivating teeth.

The carriage kept moving along this darkening rough road, leaving the cluster of houses behind. Another carriage not far ahead coming in the opposite direction had a fost lamp on both front and back, illuminating the road brightly against the setting sun. It was larger than most carriages, with four eguas trotting pulling its chunky weight. It had many seats inside with extra ones on the ceiling, but there weren’t many people. Sinoi made a hustling noise as his hands dug deep into a pocket, taking out what appeared to be a wooden container about the size of a lighter. With a slight clicking noise, he slid his hand vertically on the side wooden gear to unlock the top, then slid the top to the side. He dumped what had to be salt from that contraption into a fost lamp by his feet, making it come alive too, and placing it by his side.

The light from the fost lamp shooed away the encroaching darkness; Harry’s shoulder slumped slightly as his old carriage now felt like a haven against the forest’s darkness. Is that a shared wagon? Oh! It is! The passing-by wagon had Pamto’s Shared Wagon written on the side. Exchanging eyes with the passengers, his eyes were drawn particularly to a girl sleeping—or rather, passed out in the back by herself. Her black undershirt and leggings and white and pink unique clothing looked pretty worn, and they were all soaked in blood and mud stains. Her backpack and bow were resting by her feet and weren’t in good condition either. Harry felt a familiar sense out of her, but he couldn’t pinpoint where or when. He raised his hand towards her, but when he tried to raise his voice to her, the wagon had already passed by.

Sinoi returned to being immobile while the egua carried on, trotting through this darkening road. A few clusters of white gloom shone on the darkening road ahead, with a stronger white gloom in the sky far ahead—perhaps a village was waiting for them there. As they trotted towards it, the noises of the forest were overshadowed by echoes of live music—whoever was playing the trombone was going above and beyond.

I hope this is it! Harry looked at the gloom in the sky growing closer. Wait—this is going to The Dead Wozen stop, so are we going to ride all the way there? We’re gonna be riding all night! Harry looked towards the dark forest around him. An eerie vibe hampered the thrill of discovery. “Sinoi?”

“Wa’?” Sinoi blurted back, still immobile.

“Are you riding all the way to Fishing Tree? Can we stop at The Dead Wozen? I—isn’t the forest dangerous?” Harry scooched forward to listen to Sinoi’s babblings.

“I’SID’STA’I’RIDGE! I’NOT’PAYIN’A’SIN’BAL!” Sinoi blurted out loudly, spitting another blob from the corner of his mouth, and then lashed his reins, increasing the speed of the carriage. “I’ha’a’contrac’t’fill’too—” Sinoi blurted out loudly, with a rather saddening tone. The white sky gloom and the music were growing closer; the village outskirts were mere tens of seconds away.

He has a contract to fill too? The bumps of the carriage grew more intense, making him feel pinching in his bladder. “I’m sorry, Sinoi, but I need to pee!”

“FIN’” Sinoi angrily shouted. “Aft’Dea’Woz’I’stop—” Sinoi lashed the egua again, making it canter harder.

“Thanks—ah, Sinoi.” Harry let out a constrained grunt as the egua’s canter made the carriage shake even more. Clenching his face as his bladder pinched with each bump, he tried to focus away from it by focusing on the village coming into sight ahead.

The carriage entered the village. A cluster of cheaply put palisades defended groups of homes surrounding the main street, where a few shops and taverns were packed closely together in a widening straight road. In the center of the road, a small town square, or, more accurately, a village square, was accented with a giant bonfire contrasting the white light of the fost stones.

A band of six people led the party with loud live music, and a single girl with an unnaturally bulged throat sang away a cheery song that had to be medieval bluegrass. The city folk with their fancy life don’t have nothin’ on our way of life! City girls salivate over sapphire balls! But we village girls never left our mates with blue balls. The crowd sang the chorus outright perfectly. They joyfully danced to the fast rhythm, almost trying to outdo the musicians’ energy.

Harry laughed with a bright smile alongside the cheery villagers’ shouts as the banjo player went off on a drunk solo—perhaps for just a moment, he felt as if he really had grown up in a Sanbi village somewhere, or perhaps he wished it. As the carriage kept chugging along the main road, he placed his hand over his belly to appease his aching bladder, also noticing something by the side of the road after the bonfire. There were a few empty benches against the wall of a store, while above it, the words The Dead Wozen Village Bar was painted up on the wall, lit up by two nearby fost stone lamps trying to compensate for the faded paint and moss growing in the building*.* I guessed right! Harry had built a solid mental map of the shared stops to Fishing Tree. This stop was on the easternmost edge of the Sanbi kingdom’s downward triangular shape, one stop away from what had to be a boat transfer due to a river.

The carriage continued, passing the shared wagon stop without signs of slowing down, and instead heading towards the dark forests at the end of the village. The music was loud, the booze flowed, the bonfire was hot, and sweaty big tits bounced around—it looked like nobody noticed or cared that a carriage was passing through. “Ahea’!” Sinoi blurted out, lashing the reins to force the egua straight into the darkness.

Feeling the road getting bumpier again as the carriage exited the modest-looking village, an eerie sensation came back to him as he stared into the darkness of the forests. The stabbing pain in his bladder grew more intense, putting more pressure on a decisive action. “Sinoi—sorry, but when can we stop? Urgh—I really need to pee!” A bit of pee came out as he clenched his detrusor muscles even more, begging them to be a bit more patient.

“I’shor’bit!’” Sinoi curtly replied as he guided the egua left on a split on the road, leaving the echoes of the live band behind.

Harry looked at the passing ground; if he were to jump off right now, it would probably hurt a lot. Inside his mind, a vision of him getting closer to the edge, pulling his dong out, and letting it rain in the wind seemed plausible. As he scooched closer to the edge to make that a reality, the ground rushing by beneath him and the unsteadiness of the carriage made that nearly impossible.

Sinoi verged right on another split off on the road, towards a new road that seemed less frequently used. The forest was overgrowing, trying to reclaim the narrow road. Only far echoes of the lively band and villagers could be heard, with the white gloom of the village also growing distant in the sky.

A tree branch smacked Harry in the face, forcing him to retreat towards the center of the carriage. I thought the road was straight? Harry wiped away the scratches and leaves on his face. The narrow road made the forest creepier, as if it was ready to jump on him at any second. Harry then jumped in his seat when a cluster of wingas flew from off a nearby tree, screaming at the top of their lungs. His heart pounded as quickly as the live music he heard before. This wired energy feeling inside him grew more real, trying to tell him something, but he just couldn’t figure out what.

Sinoi was reactionless to it—perhaps some folk stop giving shits to the fact that soul death is coming sooner rather than later for them. Suddenly, a short double high-pitched call echoed from the forest as they rode on that dark road. Coincidentally, Sinoi began slowing down to a stop, yelling out, “L’ve’bag’er’n’G’pee!”

What was that? Only the forest, its animals, and the egua neighs made a sound. The same odd short double high-pitched call echoed in the woods again, making the hair on Harry’s back rise. The thought of stepping out of the carriage made his feet hesitate, but his bladder was on its limits. The tree’s leaves seemed to mock him from the shadows cast by the fost lamp in the carriage. “But—leave my bag here?”

“Ya’lots’mud. G’pee!” Sinoi pointed backward. “G’G’it!” Sinoi made a higher-pitched squeal. “G’pee’in’th’woods!” He moved his hand outwards with an energy never seen before—at least for Sinoi. “W’can’t’b’stop’fo’too’lon’.” He said more in this short span of time than the entire afternoon.

“But—but—what about—” The short double high-pitched call kept rubbing Harry’s conscience the wrong way.

“I’DON’CAR’. G’PEE!” Sinoi cut through Harry’s cowardly call.

I-I guess so. Harry felt his bladder muscles about to rip, giving him no choice. He looked at the supposed muddy ground, but it didn’t seem too bad. Slowly stepping out of the carriage, his boots didn’t make the squishing sound he had presumed. He looked back at his bag in the dry carriage as his mind told him to pick it up. But what if I do lose it in the dark? The same ominous wired feeling lingered in his brain and chest, but his bladder overrode his inaction. With one careful step after another, he approached the vegetation on the side of the road and pulled out his junk, wetted from slightly pissing himself beforehand. Apparently, holding it in for so long made his bladder seem stuck at first, but with enough pressure, a torrential stream came out of his body; the overwhelming relief sensation spreading through his lower body was so good that he couldn’t stop himself from letting out a moan. Finally—

A splat sound, one of a leash hitting an animal’s tough hide, cut through the forest noises.

The sound of the egua trotting merged with the usual creaks of the carriage as it gathered speed. Meanwhile, the fost lamp in the carriage left the darkness to swallow Harry.

Harry kept on releasing a torrential stream of piss as he saw the carriage gather speed. The situation seemed so unreal that Harry initially thought it was all a product of his imagination—or perhaps just a dream and that he was about to wake up on a Monday morning, staring at his phone, yearning to call in sick or tell his boss to get fucked rather than deal with that shit. Wait! What the fuck am I thinking? Harry snapped out of it as the carriage kept going. “MY BAG!” He shouted as he was still peeing.

Putting his long Joe away quickly, he kept pissing in his underwear and his pants were getting wet as his feet took off after Sinoi. “SINOI! MY BAG! PLEASE STOP! SINOI!” Harry continued running towards the carriage, but his feet struck something, and he came crashing down forward, tasting the fresh earthiness as his mouth, face, and eyes were plastered with moist dirt. He pushed himself forward with burning eyes to stand up and run again. His heart felt like it was about to explode as the same old feeling of drinking an entire pot of coffee surged even stronger than before, taking away his breath. He tried to tap into that raw energy to keep running at full throttle, but then his legs gave in. Once again, his whole body slumped forward like a tree falling in the woods.

The carriage veered off to the right, disappearing and taking the white light of the fost lamp with it. Sinoi never looked back.

“My badge!” Harry cried out amidst shallow breaths. Standing sloppily up, he cleaned away the dirt from his eyes as he forced his spazzing leg forward. The stitching pain contrasted with the lightheadedness he was developing. All that slowed him down to a zombie crawl as he pushed himself to move forward, one step at time.

Harry’s reddened, watering eyes still had dirt rubbing against his irises. Clearing it again, he focused on the dying sky switching from a reddish-purple-orange into a greenish blue hue. Everything else was covered by darkness. He felt a brisk wind pass by, chilling his scratched arms and the tears pouring down his face. His hearing tuned to every little sound around him. The whistle of the wind against the rustles of the leaves and the animal calls in the night seemed to be taunting him, waiting for him to break down in tears and call for his mommy.

The same odd short double high-pitched call echoed in the forest again, but it seemed louder and closer this time. Goosebumps rushed through Harry as he made himself small, trying to retreat from the source. His teary, dilating eyes made it a tad easier to see the path versus the forest, but he couldn’t see the details of the rough ground anymore as it was way too dark. What should I do? What should I do? He tried to mask his intense breathing by opening a large, wide mouth, but one could still hear the panic swelling with each breath. Cold sweat poured from every pore in his body as he continued to walk backward, clashing his back against a tree.

A sharp metallic bang on wood sounded off from deeper in the forest on the other side of the road. A whooshing sound flew by Harry, striking the tree he was resting against. His hand perused where the noise occurred and felt a long, thin, smooth stick by his head. Feather? An arrow?

“This fucking thing!” A girly voice very loudly whispered from the same direction where the sharp metallic bang sounded off. Harry felt a familiar tone to it but couldn’t pinpoint who it was.

Harry hid himself behind the tree, then tried to peek towards where the arrow came from, but didn’t see anything. Is someone hunting me? Was Sinoi with them? Wait! Did Eiri know about this too? Harry looked around, hoping to see anything or anyone else, but it was even darker inside the forest. I have to get out! Harry pushed himself forward, trying not to make noise as he walked deeper into the woods, away from whoever or whatever that was. With his hand moving outwardly, he was trying to find another tree to hide behind.

Another whooshing sound came through, but this time it didn’t miss. It struck Harry from the back right between the clavicle and scapula of his right shoulder. The arrow lodged itself deep in the muscle, rupturing tendons.

“ARGH!” Harry screamed in pain as his shoulder made a popping sound. His right arm grew weak, and he couldn’t lift it properly anymore. He tried but was met with more popping sounds as hot, aching pain radiated from deep in his shoulder and into his neck and right arm. The pain conflicted with a sudden wave of cool, refreshing sensation emanating from the tip of the arrow lodged inside him. That weird sensation began spreading through his shoulder.

A vicious girly laugh emanated from behind Harry, making its way towards him.

Another wave of sensation began emanating from the same tip lodged inside Harry, but this time it was numbness followed by a paralyzing feeling. Harry’s mind threw a master warning alert as the vivid memory of when something nasty was injected into his neck came to the forefront of his mind. The numbness is the same! Shit! Without thinking, he grabbed the lodged arrow and tried to pull it out with all the strength he had left. “AHHH!” Harry screamed in pain as the arrow got partly out before snapping in the middle. The tip of the arrow was still lodged in his flesh, still releasing whatever nasty concoction it contained. He took off, running deeper into the forest with his left hand, trying to feel ahead, but then he struck what had to be a large root and fell forward onto a bush.

Another sharp metallic bang went off, making another arrow strike him in his lower back, deep into his stomach. The same vicious girly laugh ensued, now closer than before.

“ARGGH!” Harry screamed in pain. The concoction now began to quickly spread and numb his gut as well. The concoction, at this point, had reached his lungs, diaphragm, and heart, forcing them to calm down, suffocating Harry from within as his wide-open mouth couldn’t draw as much oxygen as he desperately needed. His right arm was now wholly numb even though the pain was lingering there, but it now felt like it was happening outside his own body—like the pseudo pain you feel when you see someone else get badly hurt. A loud thought passed through his brain as if his instincts took the shape of another voice in his head: Hide! He slumped himself out of the bush, then wobbled his way forward as he began to lose the sensation of where his body ended and nature began. Striking a tree with his shoulder, he groaned, then slumped towards the ground behind it, resting on his side. With the last remnants of his will to control his numbing body, he covered his mouth with his mostly numb, somewhat responsive left hand to attempt to silence his anguished breath.

The vicious girly giggles grew quieter.

Harry could hear multiple footsteps coming close by, slowing down as if searching for him—for sure, there was more than one person. He tried to stop breathing, but the feeling of suffocation overrode his power and forced him to take another anguished breath. I wanna go home! I just want to go home! He closed his eyes and tried not to listen to the footsteps growing closer and closer, but that’s all his mind focused on. Curling up in a fetal position, at least he thought his body was doing it; tears ran down his eyes and into the moist ground beneath him. A sniff involuntarily came out as the tears grew into a sob. Eiri! Please help me! Eiri’s image came to Harry’s mind as the footsteps passed close by.

“My own lab soreno! Fucking, finally!” A familiar girly voice spoke right in front of Harry as if she was squatting in front of him.

“With due respect, please finish him already.” A male voice pleaded to the girl, but it didn’t seem remorseful. Instead, its deadpan delivery sounded like he was trying to get this over with. “We are diverging from the schedule.”

Harry could not get himself to open his eyes; he remained in a fetal position while sobbing profusely. He pictured himself with his parents and the dog as they ate tacos and watched TV. He still couldn’t remember anything about them, but the feeling of being home was still there. I wanna go home.

“Ya—ya—ya—thirty-seven will erase it anyways!” A girly voice stated in a dismissive tone as a sharp metallic bang went off right in front of Harry, piercing itself deep in his trachea.

Harry squealed like a dying pig, sobbing with pure anguish from his heart. The sob became gurgly. The gurgly noises grew weaker as Harry felt a wave of calmness surface from deep within—telling him to just let it go. Wanna—go—home. Harry let go of everything.