Chapter Two

John soon left the village, heading for the hill he had stood upon when he first saw Harmony. He flew at a leisurely pace, thinking of his life thus far. He'd been to underground kingdoms where dwarfs reigned and he'd been to cities in the sky where gods ruled through, not fear, but adoration, kindness, and honesty, but never had he been turned away so heartlessly. 

    'It's disheartening, if this is how my own race treats me,' he thought, 'what did the other races truly think of me?'

    "I wonder why they turned me away?" John wondered, speaking his thoughts aloud as he landed on the hill and started walking to the large tree at the top.

    As he walked towards the large tree, he began to hear the sound of snoring. John became perplexed, when he was there not an hour before there had not been a single person, yet now there was snoring?

    John neared the tree, creeping up quietly, like a skilled hunter stalking his prey, he slowly moved around the tree, drawing his large knife from its sheath before he finally saw the cause of the loud ruckus. John snaked his hand towards the man sleeping in the shade of the tree, slowly raising his hand before… THUNK! John hit the boy lightly on the top of his head with the pommel of his knife and backed away quickly for, if a trap was laid, he did not want to get caught.

    "Ouch!" The boy exclaimed in protest of the pain. 

    The boy looked to be slightly older than John, with a wild mop of blonde hair atop his head, his face was something that many would think Hepeastus himself had sculpted, his blue eyes were bright, yet they looked around lazily, his nose was placed on his face perfectly, his mouth was curled down into a frown, his thin lips pursed. He wore an outfit typical of an athlete, comfortable running shoes on his feet, a pair of loose, breathable athletic shorts reaching down to just above his knees, and a breathable and moisture resistant shirt covering his chiseled torso.

    "What'd you do that for?" the boy asked his eyes finally stopping to rest on John, seemingly unconcerned with the knife still resting in John's grip.

    John surveyed the boy in front of him, taking a long amount of time before he finally replied, "I did that so that I could wake you and ask what you were doing here.

    "Wasn't it obvious what I was doing?" the boy asked incredulously, "I was sleeping! Did you really have to hit me to wake me up?"

    "I can never be too careful, I learned that the hard way," John said, his mind unconsciously slipping back to a moment in his past, one that still haunted him to that day.

 'No! Not now!' He screamed in his head, not willing to look back on that day right now, though he was never truly willing to look back on it, but he knew that it was a trauma that he must overcome at some point.

"I'd argue with you on that point, but it would take too long." the boy said, before seeming to realise something, "You never introduce yourself! What's your name?"

John chuckled a little, "I do not know much in regards to proper social interactions, but I at least know that it is considered polite to introduce yourself before asking the other party who they are."

"Fine," the boy said, sighing out of exasperation, "my name's Rei, now what's yours?"

"My name is John" replied, happy that he finally knew the name of the rather lazy looking boy.

"What are you doing here, John?" Rei asked, though he was caught up in his thoughts, ones such as,  'What is this guy doing in the middle of nowhere?' or, 'I can't seem to understand his personality, one moment he's serious, the next he's happy about the smallest things! Does he have a screw or two loose?'

"I was going to try to live in Haven, but the village elder turned me away." John said, he seemed to be saddened but, listening closely to his voice, the only thing that was evident was exasperation, he was tired with his life of running from magical creature collectors and smugglers, from bandits and crooks and all manner of villains, all just to find a home.