Caius

"Why Cauis? How could you do this to us?" They had all encircled me, a faceless hoard. As hard as I tried I could not pick out a single face within the crowd. Their voices melding together, getting louder and louder. "Why? Why? Why?" They said in unison, moving in closer, grabbing at my clothes, clawing at my skin. I did this to them, I did this, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

My eyes flew open, burning as the light sweep into my eyes. My breathing heavy, beads of step dripping down my forehead and neck. I sighed as I relaxed into the bed of leaves and twigs I had made, slowing my rapid heartbeat. Starring up at the canopy of trees, as little rays of sunlight were seeping through. The forest was quiet all except for the sound of birds or the rustling of leaves as small animals hurried by. I took a deep breath, fresh pine filling my senses.

"Did you have a nightmare?" A voice asked. It was a very high pitched but delicate sound, a women?

I jolted up right in my makeshift bed, the twigs snapping beneath me. My eyes scanning the area until I found the source of the voice. She sat with her legs crossed, on a giant tree root a little ways away from where I was. Everything about her was pure white, her hair, her skin, the long dress she wore and the little crescent moon in the middle of her forehead. She wore a long silvery cape with a hood attached to the back over her shoulders, something about it looked so familiar. Her eyes scanned me meticulously, a little smile on her lips.

"Who are you?" I asked, slowly inching my hand under the tree root that was right beside my bed. I kept my eyes glued on this unknown girl. How long had she been there? How long had I been asleep? Instead of the cold metal I was expecting to find, all I could feel was the wet earth beneath my fingers. I reached deeper, hoping I had just tucked it further in.

"Are you looking for this?" She said as she pulled out my dagger from the cape she had over her shoulders. "You know you should really introduce yourself first before you ask someone who they are," she said in a playful voice, twirling the knife between her fingers.

My eyes narrowed, she had probably searched my stuff while I've been asleep. I felt like kicking myself for being so careless. My eyes scanned her again, she was very petite. I could probably pin her down if it came to it. I raised my hands slowly, hoping to prevent it from escalating to a fight. "My name is Caius, and who are you?"

"Hello, my name is Anita," she said. She elegantly leapt off the tree root, a big smile now spread across her face as she skipped over to where I was sitting and crouched down. "Hmm, you were sweating a lot, it must have been a really bad dream huh?"

"No," I said as I got onto my feet. "Can I help you with something Anita?"

"No, not really," she said still smiling. She stood up with me, the top of her head only coming up to my chest. Short. She held out my dagger, offering it to me as she looked up, her gaze not wavering as our eyes met. I reach for it hesitantly, gauging her reaction. It didn't seem to faze her, instead she pushed the dagger closer towards me. I grabbed the cold chunk of metal and secured it to my belt. "Well now that I've returned your lost dagger, I say we head out and find some food because I'm starving!"

"It was not lost, you took it while I was sleeping," I said.

"You didn't know where it was, therefore it was lost," she said. I didn't know if she was mocking me or if she had genuinely meant that statement. I shook my head. Who was this bizarre girl, what did she want? Although bizarre, she didn't seem particularly hostile.

I began packing all my stuff into a small duffel bag, double checking the small amount of supplies I had brought. After putting that aside, I continued to clean up the camp before breaking apart the bed of grass and twigs. By the time I was finished it had looked like no one had been through this area of the forest. From the corner of my eye I could see Anita leaned against a tree. She stood there, eyes following me as I went from task to task, humming quietly to herself.

"Dagger returned, camp all cleaned, food now?" She said, as I turned around to face her. As if to make her point even more clear, a loud grumbling sound rang through the forest. Her hand reaching up to clutch her stomach. I felt a smile tug at my lips.

A small frown had pulled up on her lips as she looked down at her stomach, a few pieces of her hair caught in her mouth."You're... a witch?" I said as I remembered where I had seen the cape before. I scanned her small frame once again. The cape and crescent shaped tattoo should have given it away. The silver cape was given to anyone who was able to even grasp magic, the crescent tattoo to those who have mastered it. On closer inspection, on her hips hung small pouches, which I could only assume held herbs and powders for witchcraft.

"Yes sir," she said skipping along the uneven forest floor. "Now are we getting food or aren't we?"