Chapter 4: Chapter 2 - Answers and Realizations
Gawyn felt like his eyes were playing a trick on him, an understandable response given what he was witnessing. An apparently normal sized goat, with a normal grey fur, normal pointy horns, with bandages wrapped around its whole body, sat down on a chair, greeting him with a weirdly familiar voice. It was as if time had stopped, nobody was saying anything, nobody was doing anything, they were all standing there, in complete silence.
" Why don't we just sit down, relax for a second, and talk about our situation?", the goat said, having noticed the awkward atmosphere
Gawyn silently nodded without blinking once and sat down in front of the goat; the girl followed behind him and sat down beside the goat. Gawyn wasn't thinking of anything, he couldn't think of anything, his mind was completely frozen, not being able to process what was happening.
"So… you're probably very confused, aren't you?", the goat said
Gawyn nodded again, while wondering why the goat's voice sounded so familiar
"Have you introduced yourself, Tinqas?" the goat said while turning to the girl beside him.
Suddenly Gawyn's mind flinched "T-tinqas?" he mumbled to himself
"No, I haven't." the girl responded to the goat, not hearing Gawyn constantly repeating the name he had heard
"I'm Tinqas Murik." She introduced herself with a voice filled with pride that shook the room
"T-tinqas Murik?' he said even more shaken then before "W-what? W-hy?" He continued to mumble, not even able to say proper sentences
"Gawyn." the goat said in a very firm voice
"Y-yes?" he said in an incredibly uncertain voice
"Listen to me. I know it's hard to believe, but.." The goat said
Silence.
"I'm Gabrian" the goat ended its sentence
Gawyn stood up and started laughing
"So that's why your voice was so familiar!" he continued to laugh and then passed out.
Images flew by in Gawyn's head. A completely dark space with nothing in it, or at least nothing visible. A giant door appeared in front of him. A door that was several times bigger than Gawyn. Near that door there was a skinny figure who looked like a woman, her face was completely hidden under her hair, her completely black short hair. The door was slowly opening, slowly reavealing what was inside it, until it was completely open.
A room lit by a distorted and creepy brown light coming from a window, with a table in the front. Sitting on a chair near the table, there was a black goat. The black goat was just standing there. Time passed and suddenly it opened its mouth: someone's hair started to come out. Time passed and then the head started to come out. Time passed and the neck started to come out. The shoulders, the arms, the main body, the legs, until a person came out of the goat as if it were a piece of clothing:a man came out, revealing himself completely and said this word: "Howdy."
Gawyn felt tired. He wanted to open his eyes, but he couldn't find the energies to do so. He stayed with his eyes closed for some time. He heard some footsteps and finally he opened his eyes: Tinqas was entering the room, with a candle in her hand.
"Hello. Did you sleep well?" she asked
"I've just had the weirdest dream I've ever had in my entire life." he said with a tone that fully captured how confused he was
"Ok....." Tinqas said with an uncertain tone
For about a minute they stood silent.
"Ehm… how long was I asleep?" Gawyn asked
"For an hour or so." she said
Gawyn got up from the bed, and saw through the curtains of the window that it was completely dark.
"I'll go tell Gabrian that you've woken up." Tinqas said
"Y-yes." Gawyn said, stll struggling to believe that what had happened an hour ago had actually happned
Tinqas left the candle and started to get moving
"Ah, T-tinqas!" Gawyn mumbled
Tinqas turned to him.
"Thank you for taking me to my room. I mean, when I passed out." he said
She looked at him for a second.
"Get downstair once you feel your head clear enough." she said
"O-ok" he said as Tinqas left the room leaving Gawyn alone.
Gawyn remained still for some minutes, thinking about what to do, wondering how they had managed to come alll the way to Garan; he had many questions he wanted answered, questions he needed answered. So, with his mind clear enough, he left his bedroom.
He went down the stairs and saw both Gabrian and Tinqas sitting around the table, waiting for him. He sat down on a chair and tried to organize everything in his head. A small candle in the middle of the table barely lit up everyone's faces. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out.
"Everyone said that you were dead. I remember like it was yesterday the day when the letter arrived, the letter that said that my brother had died, that you had been killed by the guards. I couldn't believe that letter, I know how strong you are and I know that it wouldn't be that easy to kill you, but then the news of your group's state started to arrive, of how it was almost completely destroyed, of how your ambitions had killed you and everyone who followed you. " Gawyn said with a tired tone
"How did you end up like this?" Gawyn asked as he turned to Gabrian
"I got betrayed." Gabrian said with a somber tone after hesitating for a second
"That is the only possible explanation" he said
"But..." Gawyn wanted to know more, but decided to stay quiet since it seemed painful to talk about for Gabrian
Gawyn looked at both of them and saw that they had the same look in their eyes, the look of someone that had everything in the palm of their hands, and then lost all.
"How is everyone in our group? It's been more than a year since the last time we have been in a town." Tinqas asked
"Most of you have been executed, the only ones left, ten or so, are treated as wanted criminals. A few months ago a guard put on a paper that listed some of the wanted criminals: your name, Tinqas, is on the cover." Gawyn answered
"So that's how it is, huh? Wanted criminals..." she said with a sad tone
Gawyn waited some seconds and then spoke
"Why did you come here? Isn't coming to a city the most dangerous thing you could do?"
"While we were moving, thinking about what we should do, a pack of wolves attacked us in the middle of the night. Tinqas was able to scare them off, but one of them managed to attack me and I was barely able to survive." Gabrian said while looking at his bandages
"Gabrian needed medications, but he also needed to rest, something that sleeping outdoors surrounded by all kinds of animals didn't allow to do. However the most problematic factor was the winter's curse. If Gabrian got attacked by the curse while in that state, he would have certanly died. That's why we had to go to an oasis, a place where the curse wouldn't reach him." Tinqas said
"I see." Gawyn said finally understanding the situation
"Although that is not all. " Gabrian said
Pause.
"Gawyn, we need help." He said
"It's fine, I can give you a shelter for as long as you want me to." Gawyn said
"No, Gawyn, that is not what I meant. I need you to help us get my body back." Gabrian said with a firm voice
That last sentence surprised Gawyn, even Tinqas was in disbelief
"You need me to come with you? Why?" Gawyn asked
"Gabrian, why are you saying this all of a sudden?" Tinqas asked
"The reason is simple: we are too vulnerable. The fact that we're still alive is a miracle; we have managed to survive so far by sheer luck, staying as far as possible from towns, but the enemy will eventually get impatient, and, weak as we are, they will eventually take us down." Gabrian said
"I understand what you mean, but in that case wouldn't it work better to try and regroup with the remaining suirvivors of the resistance?" Tinqas asked
"And how would we do that exactly? We have no idea where anyone is, and no way of contacting them. Searching for them would only make us waste precious time." Gabrian said with an annoyed tone
"I can't come with you, I would only weigh you down..." Gawyn said
"You wouldn't. I know that you don't believe in yourself, but I do, because I know that you have the ability to do so much more than what you're doing. You're inexperienced, but you already know the basics; we will help you so that you can become stronger, and by becoming stronger you will help us." Gabrian said
Gawyn was left speechless, he didn't know what to say, or what to think, so he didn't say anything.
"Tell me, Gawyn, what do you want?" Gabrian asked
"What do I want?" Gawyn asked confused by the sudden question
"What do you want to do? What is your dream, your ambition, that something you are willing to do everything to achieve?" Gabrian asked
"I, I don't know....." Gawyn said in an uncertain voice
Silence filled the room.
"Gawyn, we're going to stay hidden here until the end of winter, and until I fully recover from my wounds, use this time to think thoroughly about your life and what you want to do with it." Gabrian said
"Good night" Gabrian said as he left the room
Following Gabrian, Tinqas left the room, until even Gawyn left to go to bed.
The next day Gawyn felt very tired, he wasn't used to going to sleep so late. He quickly got ready for the day and went downstairs to eat something for breakfast. While he was getting out of his room he heard Tinqas and Gabrian silently sleeping, he figured they were probably exhausted and didn't think much of it. Afterwards he ate an apple and went for a walk. It wasn't safe to leave the house with Tinqas and Gabrian, if one of Gawyn's neighbours heard noises while he was away it would have been difficult to explain without driving suspects. But Gawyn didn't care about that, he just wanted some fresh air.
That day the streets were completely empty, as usual. He thought about the day before, about his brother's words: he had told him that they were going to stay in his house to rest until the end of winter, which meant Gawyn only had three days to think. He thought and thought things over and before he realised it, he had arrived at the gates of Garan. In front of him there were two soldiers scolding some kids.
"Hey Len." Gawyn greeted the soldier named Len
"Oh, hi, Gawyn." the soldier that looked to be the same age as Gawyn responded
"Hi, Gawyn." the other soldier that was a few years older saluted Gawyn as well
"What's happening?" Gawyn asked
"These kids were trying to leave the town" the soldier named Len answered
"We just wanted to take a peek outside! Is that so wrong?" one of the kids said
"Yes, it's very wrong. Haven't your parents told you that leaving town is a crime?" the other soldier named Dennard said and then continued "If you had left town, not only would you have gotten yourselves in trouble but your families as well. You should be thankful that you're getting away with just being scolded. Now you should go back to your homes, it's late"
"Fiiiiine." the kids said in unison and proceeded to go home
"You were pretty harsh." Gawyn said while watching the kids leave
"I know but the earlier they accept that they're going to live their whole life here, the better they're gonna be." Dennard said in an emotionless tone
"Letting them live their dream is only going to damage them. You should know better than anyone..." Dennard continued while looking at Gawyn that hadn't stopped looking at the kids
"Live your whole life here." Gawyn said and then continued "Don't ask questions, don't go outside, find a job that will be useful for yourself and for the town and then die."
Len and Dennard looked at him, both confused
"How boring." Gawyn said, and left his former friends to go home
After Gawyn distanced himself from both of them, Len and Dennard started to talk again
"What a weird fellow." Len said
"Truly. I can never understand what's going through his head." Dennard said in agreement
"Was he a little depressed today?" Len asked and then said "He seemed to me"
"No, he's always like that. The good old soft-spoken Gawyn, the friendly but not too friendly seller of fruits and vegetables." Dennard said in a very tired tone
"His brother and him were very lookalike, but their personalities were so different. Honestly they didn't feel like actual brothers" Len said
"I'm telling you that guy's family is a cursed one. His parents and his brother have already died, I'm betting that one day he's gonna snap and end his own life." Dennard said, very sure of what he said
"How much are you willing to bet?" Len asked
"Ten gold coins." Dennard said
And so the two soldiers tiredly continued their ordinary day, in their ordinary and simple life, ignoring how little they actually knew the person known as Gawyn Teobad.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
MumbleGrumbleJumbl
MumbleGrumbleJumbl Chapter two is finnally out! I'm sorry for the wait, but I wanted to take my time to make it as good as possible, hopefully next chapters won't take as long as this one, but I'm not promising anything. I hope I managed to make this chapter worth the wait, and if I haven't, please tell me why you think that in the chapter commnets! All kinds of criticism are welcome!
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