However, before Talen could go far, he heard rustling behind him.
He stopped mid-step, sighing. 'Perfect timing as always, Henry.' He thought, wearing his mask.
His face was no longer emotionless, but his eyes remained empty.
Slowly he turned around.Behind him, he saw Henry waking up.
Talen stood quietly observing him.
He observed as Henry stood where he once laid,yawning, stretching, and rubbing his eyes simultaneously.
'What.' Talen thought, surprised. 'You should be on guard, scouting your surroundings, or trying to arm yourself. Not relaxing.'
After all, they were on a planet riddled with dangerous Chaos Monsters that could attack them at any moment, even kill them.
And yet, Henry was so relaxed.
Talen struggled to comprehend.
Still confused,Talen continued his observation of the peculiar creature: Henry.
Once he was done with his careless stretches, Henry spotted the stream. Instantly a bright smile jumped onto his face. "Water." He squealed, running to the stream.
'No surprise there.' Talen thought, watching. 'And he says I'm not normal.'
Arriving at the stream,he immediately crouched down, plunging his head into the water as he began inhaling it.
Seeing that, Talen sighed, walking to him.
Talen stood silently behind him while he drank greedily from the stream. 'I could kill you easily right now.' Talen thought, disappointed at Henry's lack of awareness.
Looking at his rippled reflection on the water's surface, Talen smirked. 'How about a quick lesson, eh.' He thought.
Stepping back, he raised his foot, placing it on Henry's elevated backside.
He waited for him to notice the foot;however, he didn't. 'You're not gonna make it like this.' Talen thought, pushing him into the stream.
His body dove into the cold waters of the stream; instantly he began panicking, splashing water all over the place and onto Talen, crying. "Talen, we are under attack."
While Henry showered him in panic, Talen remembered their poison encounter, sighing. "I can never win against you, can I." He mumbled, crouching.
Hearing Talen's voice, Henry slowed his panic.
Blinking, he turned around.
Once he was able to see, he looked around; there was no one but Talen. "You." He screamed. "You pushed me in here; there weren't any Chaos Monsters." Henry kept shouting, while trying to swim out of the stream.
Talen smiled. "So." He replied, extending his hand to Henry.
Hesitantly, he accepted Talen's helping hand.
"It was punishment." Talen added.
Hearing his words,Henry paused, looking up at Talen's expressionless face.
It portrayed nothing; he turned his head, avoiding eye contact. 'Oh no, no, no, did I do something weird sleeping.' Henry thought, his face's temperature rising.
He looked back at Talen; his face, once empty, now portrayed annoyance. 'What did I do.' Henry thought, taking in a deep breath.
"Uh, so Talen, did I...snore or fart or uh speak in my sleep." Henry asked, his tone sheepish.
Talen looked at him, confused by the question. 'It's Henry after all.' He thought, sighing.
Giving up on making sense of anything Henry says or does, he shook his head. "No, and hurry up; I need my arms to fish." Talen answered.
Confused by the answer, Henry pushed on. "So you just pushed me in here for no reason." He asked.
Talen sighed, bored of his antics already. Again.
Letting go of Henry's hand, he stood up and began walking upstream. 'I'm just gonna ditch him.' He thought.
Watching him walk away, Henry floated in the water, equally confused.
"Why wou..." Henry paused, realizing the reason behind Talen's assault.
'He is just a bully.'
Struggling out of the stream, he shouted at Talen. "Where are you heading, you bully."
Hearing his words, Talen hastened his pace. "Bully, huh? I can do worse." Talen replied.
Henry flinched at his reply. "Bully." He mumbled, running after Talen.
Catching up to him, he hung his hand on Talen's shoulder, taking deep breaths.
Noticing how exhausted he was after such a short run, Talen asked. "Do you even train outside the Zone." Slapping Henry's wet hand off his shoulder.
With steadier breathing, he straightened his back. "No, why would I?" Gulping, he continued. "Where are you heading anyway."
"Remember, I ask the questions, but I'll let it slide once. We're eating fish." Talen said, walking off.
At the uttering of fishing, Henry smiled in satisfaction; after all, he hadn't eaten in nearly two days and his stomach was not letting him forget that.
Both Henry and Talen continued walking upstream.
Talen walked close to the stream, his eyes in search of fish.
While Henry walked far from Talen and the stream, out of fear of the morning's event repeating.
They walked peacefully on their search for fish, getting not only closer to dinner but also to where Kestis and the Cheshire Chimp had battled. But they were unaware of that.
Halfway through their journey, Henry spoke, unable to bear the silence.
"So." He uttered, dragging the word on before he continued. "How are we going to fish exactly?" He asked.
Talen turned his head, looking at Henry.
Noticing Talen's gaze on him, his body flinched instinctively.
Talen smiled.
"Bigger questions to be asked, Hen." He spoke.
Turning his head to the stream, he continued. "What happened back there."
His feet froze mid-step, his body refusing to move any further.
'He could've asked me about the ten great families, the Zone levels, Zone abilities, politics, or even entertainment. Anything but he chose this.' He thought, heart racing, muscles tense.
He took in a long, deep breath, slowing down his racing heart.
Clenching his fist, he forced his feet to move.
He walked quietly, head down, trying to brush away the question, hoping Talen would let it go.
However, Talen was not of the same mind. "I have a sharp weapon." He said, glancing back at Henry.
Swinging his jian, he continued. "You don't."
His eyes frozen on Henry, he noticed him flinch, clearly scared. 'He's too easy.' Talen thought, turning his back to the stream.
Hearing Talen's threat, Henry knew he had no other choice.
Henry only knew Talen for a day, and in that little time, he had come to one conclusion.
And that was; Talen was a mystery and, in turn, dangerous. It was the law of their world, after all.
Taking a deep breath, Henry mumbled under his breath. "What choice do I have." He sighed, readying to tell his tale.
When Talen suddenly spoke. "We're here." He announced.
Placing the jian down, he glanced at Henry. "Get over here." He ordered, jumping into the stream.
With Talen in the stream, Henry felt much safer approaching it now.
Sighing with relief, he thought. 'I don't have to remember.'
However, as he arrived at the stream, Talen crushed his hope.
"Go on." Talen said.
Sighing, Henry spoke. "When I was a kid, like six years old." He paused, taking a deep breath.
"A horde of Chaos Monsters attacked our home...they uh." Henry paused, his voice growing weaker.
"Ate her." He mumbled, under his breath.
As his reflection in the stream morphed into the most horrific day of his life, a tear trailed down his cheek.
The stream reflected the chaos monsters feasting on his mother, eating every last piece of her.
The stream reflected her silent scream, but his ears gave them sound.
He heard them again, her desperate screams for his flee, and the crunch of her bones and flesh.
More tears trailed down his cheek; his hands began trembling, his heart beating like a raging storm.
While Henry lived through his hell again, Talen froze.
'We have a lot in common.' He thought, glancing at his mother's scarf.
Exhaling the breath he hadn't noticed he was holding in, Talen spoke. "So." He paused. "They ate your mother, and you're afraid of them." Talen scoffed.
With a wince, Henry escaped his nightmares.
Wiping his tears, he replied. "I'm not afraid, i-it-it's just." He paused, not knowing what to say.
Talen kept his eyes on the now calm stream as he spoke. "It's just what." He paused, lunging at a fish.
"You know you're just afraid." He said, tone flat as he pulled the fish out of the water, throwing it next to Henry.
"I also watched my mother die." He said, casually.
Henry raised his head, looking at Talen, shocked by the abrupt revelation; however, before he could reply, Talen continued. "Mine was burnt." He paused. "I also couldn't move."
"I just stood there and watched; I know what it feels like."
Glancing at Henry a final time, Talen focused back on his fishing.
He silently continued his fishing, giving Henry enough room to sob.
The silence between them lasted for long; long enough for Talen to catch fifteen fairly large fishes.
Once Talen was done fishing, he jumped out of the stream, sitting down next to Henry, who was still crying.
Watching the tears trickle down his cheeks, Talen felt jealousy, or at least he wanted to.
He had always wanted to cry, missing his mother; he wanted to grieve for her; he too wanted to feel immeasurable hate and anger towards all Chaos Monsters.
However, he felt nothing but a bottomless void inside.
And he hated that; at least he wanted to, and thought he did.
'Lucky.'
Taking in a deep breath. "It's okay to be afraid." Talen spoke, his tone the best imitation of sympathy he could make it.
Glancing at Henry with empty eyes but a mournful face, he continued. "What's not okay is to keep being afraid." He paused. "I'm not afraid of my mom's killers, but you. You're afraid; don't you think that would make your mother sad."
Remembering the worried look on his mother's face every time he was afraid, injured, hurt, or sick, he smiled, his empty smile.
With each word that flew out of Talen's mouth, Henry's head rose.
Gazing at Talen with red, puffy eyes, he spoke, tone low. "You are right. I have lied to myself for the longest time." He sighed. "I am just...just afraid." Henry said, clenching his fists tightly.
Glancing at him with a chuckle, Talen thought. 'I wish I was you.'
"Go get some wood." He said, gathering the fishes.
Henry wiped his tears; he replied. "Okay." He turned around and began walking towards the forest.
However, before he could get far, he froze.
What he saw in front of him, or rather who he saw before him, made his blood run cold. "T-Talen." He stuttered.
Hearing Henry's stutter, Talen thought. 'What now.'
He turned around, ready to berate him, but he stopped before he could even start. He stood up, clenching his fist. "You." He said, his tone even.
Raising his head, Kestis smiled a vicious smile, blood dripping from his mouth. 'My grand act begins now.' He thought, as he fell unconscious, his body falling lifeless on the ground.