Dreamcatcher [OLD]

Akane walked solemnly through the woods. Mushroom people ran away from under his feet as he stopped at a bright green bush. He started picking purple berries from the branches, dropping them into a small satchel that hung from his shoulders. He sighed deeply. Those kids hated him. He was sure of it. But that didn't matter. He had to feed them. They wouldn't know which plants were edible and which ones were fatal to the touch. Where did these kids come from? They were strange...

He got up, having gathered as many as he thought he needed, and started making his way back to the tree house. Suddenly he heard shuffling in the bushes, and his ears shot up, his senses heightened.

Ro burst out of the bushes with an alarmed look on his face. 

"What is it, boy?" He asked anxiously to the creature.

Ro turned around and ran back as fast as he could. Akane ran after him, berries falling from his satchel in his wake. 

it was late afternoon by the time he arrived at the tall tree, its ladder swinging in the light breeze. Akane started climbing up as fast as he could. Ro screamed at him from the top of the tree, pacing around on a branch impatiently. 

Akane reached the house with the door wide open. 

"Oh, no."

He ran in as fast as he could, throwing the bag to the floor. The room was empty. The bed unmade. The journal open.

"Where did they go??" 

He searched the small room for a minute, but to no avail. Ro offered no help by eating all the berries Akane had collected.

Akane grabbed the journal before flopping down in disbelief in the middle of the floor. He curled up into a little ball and felt a tear squeeze through his eyes. It was his fault they will die. It is way too dangerous out there. Too many creatures they don't know about, too many evil people. He was a murderer. A murderer. A murderer.

Ro nudged him, trying to help him out of the depressed state. He pushed the weak little ball of anguish out of the cabin, and Akane made a loud crunch as he landed on the ground beneath the tree. Ro scrambled down after him. 

Akane groaned as he sat up. "I think I broke my tail in another spot that time..." 

Ro scampered down the tree and landed next to Akane. The boy stood up on shaky legs, and looked around him. "I have no idea where they could have gone," he muttered under his breath. "IKANI!! AHNORA!" He called out to them, his hands shaking by his mouth. 

He fell back down on the ground. "There is no hope. They are gone." He lay down, his ears paying attention to the small sounds of chitterwibblers and Kockaloolas. They hated him. Why should he help them?

     

Meanwhile Anora and Tikaani trekked through the thick brush of the forest. It got more and more dense, and the branches were clinging to their clothing, ripping it more and more. They were starving. "Do you recognize any of these plants from Virginia??" Tikaani panted as he stepped over a large log and a strange lizard-like thing scuttled away. "Nope. They are all so weird, and I don't trust them," she said. They kept walking, their legs aching, stomachs growling, eyelids heavy. Suddenly they heard a noise. Talking. The sound of people. Of civilization.

"Over here!" Whispered Anora, waving Tikaani over to a break in the trees. "It's a town!"

Tikaani peered into the bustling crowd of people beyond a wooden fence. A lot of them were as strange as Akane, with animal parts, a lot were wearing clothes similar to Kimonos of their own world, and they seemed to have come up on a marketplace. 

     

"Get your beanacles right here! Fresh off the tentacle!" 

"Fresh batch of homemade snorf! Get it while it's hot!"

"Artisinal quilted izers! Only 5 koi while supplies last!"

Tikaani started towards the noise.

"What are you doing?? Get back!" Anora hushed at him.

"We need help. We are all alone. I'm going in." He said defiantly and walked right in. 

"Nononononononono," Anora feverishly paced back and forth in the brush. "Oh whatever, I'm dead already anyways," she sighed and followed him out. 

Tikaani walked up to the fence, shaking it to get attention. The crowd looked at him in fear and suspicion, mothers shielding their children's eyes, elderly closing the doors to their shops.

"Hey! Can we get some help here?" He called over the edge. People's eyes widened, and they hurried away from the two kids. 

"What is up with these people?" Asked Anora, confused. Where they scared of them? She looked down at herself and saw her ripped, dirty clothing. Maybe they were a bit scary... but so were some of the creatures in the crowd!

     

General Limmbrig stormed his way through the crowds. The citizens of Anju, Kanan scattered at his wake, his great broad forehead furrowed and his muscles tense. Another intruder. Another enemy. He walked right up to the fence and peered over the edge.

Tikaani waved nervously back at the man. He had a billowing beard, white bushy eyebrows, and scars disfiguring his face. He laid a huge hand on the side of the fence and growled.

"What are you two rascals doing out here?" He roared at them. Anora flinched and felt tears coming on-- she was tired, hungry, scared, lost... and this man...

"We were attacked by a man named Akane," Tikaani defiantly talked back, not blinking.

"Attacked?? That guy has been living out there in the woods for a while, I never thought... well... if that's the case, you guys better come on in, because we are required to show hospitality to those who suffered from our own citizens. Are you sure you didn't provoke him? Akane? Really?" The man seemed truly flabbergasted.

"Yes sir," Tikaani went on, relieved that his plan was working. "He even wrote of his plans in his journal."

The man's eyes went wide. 

"Really? Well that's solid proof there! We'll catch the guy and search his journal! Okay, on with you two!" He reached down with his thick arms for the kids to climb up. Anora wiped a tear from her eye and looked at Tikaani. Why was he making this up? Couldn't they tell the truth? What will happen to Akane now?

The two of them followed the man through the market, people giving them strange looks and hiding in their shops. "I'm sending some police out there right now," he said confidently, as a small blue bird flew up to him. He whispered something to it and it flew away like a rocket. 

"We'll catch that nutcase."