A new day rises

And a new day of eating, talking and fighting begins.

Maybe not in that order, but yeah.

I think it’s been like two weeks since me and mister Butler last came here and started building that wall.

And I got to say, he has been very busy.

Almost never taking a break

At least not when he realised how unfathomably big his project was.

I got to give it to him, he’s managed to create the rough area where the wall is to be built.

Even making it go up to your knees

Making a large semicircle of hardened earth.

Large enough to house thousands upon thousands of centaurs.

But at this rate

It’s gonna take months for him to finish it.

Sooooo, he’s not gonna make it.

And he knows it

But he still presses on, even after I told him to chill out.

I’ve even offered to help him.

But he quickly declined

And I mean, I understand why.

I don't know how to make that earth magic.

Maybe I could dig a hole with my hands and.. Eeeh

Smear it on the wall to make it sturdier?

But that would probably do nothing, and it would be incredibly boring.

At least I’ve had fun

These guys know how to enjoy themselves.

Either running around at super high speeds

Or doing contest that usually ends with either side conceding something.

They are also refreshingly honest

Almost always just telling you what’s on their mind.

Although it can sometimes be a little awkward

Getting weird compliments, such as

“Nice head”

Or “Flat bum human”

Which eeeh

I guess is nice to hear?

But erm

Sometimes the small games can turn a little sour.

Like that time I had the arm wrestle match with that stupid centaur

Almost turning a normal misunderstanding to a bloody battle.

Stupid centaur

Luckily, miss silver where there to fix the little issue.

And weirdly enough, got a hundred more centaurs that seems to buzz around her.

She’s like some sort of natural-born leader.

Having over a thousand centaurs that follows her religiously.

Although, if you ask her

She says that she’s no leader...

Eeeh, doesn’t really matter I guess

It does not concern me.

And when I think about it

There’s been a lot more “games”

That has turned bloody.

Or maybe not bloody, but eeeh

Ending with either a fist to the face or a “Dual”

Which seems to be some sort of private matter that’s always concluded somewhere out on the stepp

But it always ends with just one coming back…

A new day

A new fun day

Or, at least for me.

Mister butler is almost constantly unnerved

Being anxious and jittery all day long

And all night long.

He needs some sleep if his dark eyes are any indication.

When I tried to tell him to relax

He mumbled something about displeasing a god

How that was a sin that would go punished.

To which I tried telling him to relax again

This centaur god seems super chill.

I kinda like him.

But nooooo

Mister butler did not listen.

With his head in the clouds, he continued building the wall, with a vigour that would shock most.

Except for me

Cause I knew he was just being unhealthy.

Like you can't finish it in time

Just relax and do the minimum of what is required.

Which is to say, a small mid-height wall that at least gives you a little cover from...

Arrows?

Maybe small rolling balls

Hehe, the god was not specific with what he wanted.

So why do you have to take this so seriously?

But of course he does not listen.

Even after I told him that gods are not that different from us

Which he seemed to find really disturbing

Muttering blasphemy and that I should watch my words.

Stupid Butler.

I’ve found a new friend.

A big, very manly looking centaur that speak no words and seems awfully awkward around other centaurs.

Maybe he’s mute?

Or maybe he was bullied when he was little.

But no matter

Something about him made it very easy for me to tease him.

And his very expressive facial expressions made it an absolute joy to do.

Thinking about it, I wonder where he is?

Thinking that, I looked around

And very quickly saw my prey-

Ehm, I mean friend.

Standing a few meters away from me, looking everywhere but to me

Comically bobbing his head around

Hoho, so you're avoiding me?

Well then.

You’ve got something coming for you.

Moving up to him, I smiled wide

But let my eyes narrow in

He acted like he had just noticed me, giving me a small nod.

But I ignored it.

Continuing walking forwards, slowly.

Getting closer and closer

He shifted backwards a few steps, looking unsure

Glancing to his sides and letting his mouth droop a bit.

he seemed confused.

I continued forward.

Smile growing wider, my arms lifting up my sides.

He stared me down, mouth closing.

Then his eyes opened wide, seeming to realise my intentions.

He quickly tried to turn around, but his body was too big to swing around fast enough.

He was too late

I was already within striking distance.

Jumping forward, my arms spread wide in an embrace.

Clutching tight around his tall body, squeezing even harder

And saying.

“Gooooood morning sunshiiine!”

Making him incredibly uncomfortable, going stiffer than an iron sword

But making me incredibly entertained.

He might not have responded verbally, but his averting gaze and awkward shuffle told me enough.

Something that greatly pleased me

Before he could throw me away, I exploded into chatter.

“How have you been? Long night? Any lady friends saying their hellos? Any matches you’ve won? Any new friends you’ve met? Wanna play a game after? I sooo totally will win today's arm-wrestle match, or should we play tag again? Noo I know! We should play hide and seek! And dont give me that look, it’s not my fault you're so big and easy to find.”

Talking way faster than normal

Something he seemed to be easily following.

Nodding along while trying to shove me away

But failing quiet expertly, or maybe failing intentionally?

A few minutes passed, but eventually I jumped off.

Making sure that the surrounding centaurs got a good laugh from his misfortune

And one of my own, hehehe

I’m not doing it to be mean!

It’s just so much fun..

“Heey, can you let me ride you? I wanna see some more of the stepp”

I asked, feeling rather confident today.

Usually, he would just deny me.

But something about his posture made me feel sure that he would accept.

And accept he did, giving me a small nod while indicating his back

To which I happily jumped up

Laughing in glee as he took off

Running faster than any other centaur I’ve ridden nor seen.

Something I won't tell miss silver.

She would get absolutely livid and start trying to compete.

But maybe that would be okay?

It would be fun.

As we ran through the stepp

Little words where spoken

Just enjoying the view

The wind splashing into our faces

The rabbits scurrying about in panic.

The manly centaur. Or should I call him manly?

Yeah, Manly. He is a hell of a runner

Making my butt hurt, and my eyes tear up

But it was hell a fun.

Sometimes doing rapid turns to try to throw me off

Something he almost never managed.

Maybe because I always managed to notice him before he tried to throw me off

Or he did it on purpose?

Nah, not possible

I’m just too good at holding on.

Anyway, we’ve been running for a long while.

The silhouettes of the wall and the mass of centaurs have vanished behind the horizon.

Leaving us alone

And hungry.

“Hey, I’m hungry, let’s eat!”

An affirmative nod in response.

From what I’ve seen, centaurs are not like fauns

They don't eat mana

But I’ve also seen that they don't eat grass.

No

They eat rabbits

And they eat them raw

It’s actually pretty disgusting.

I’ve also seen how they hunt, and it’s pretty smart for a race that only uses swords.

Using their numbers to encircle a group of rabbits

Then systemically stabbing them or slicing them until everything's dead.

Sometimes I wonder how there can be enough rabbits for hundreds of thousands of centaurs

But then I think.

I don't really care.

As long as I have my rabbits to hunt, I’m happy.

Anyway, me and Manly don't have the problem of group hunting

As I have a bow!

Very convenient for stuff like this.

Saying that, we’ve already killed four rabbits.

And Manly seems to indicate that we should settle down to eat.

A few minutes pass, and a very hot fire stone later

And we have our grub.

Four delicious and skinned rabbits to eat.

Manly is a bit odd

At least for being a centaur

He seems to not want to eat the rabbits raw

Instead, waiting for me to cook them on a rock.

Maybe he’s a picky eater?

Or he just wants to try them cooked?

It’s hard to get a grip of his personality when he’s mute.

Or maybe he’s just shy?

Hehe, that would be cute.

“Manly, do you enjoy it?”

He looked up from his half eaten rabbit

Looking a bit confused

“I mean the rabbit.”

Nodding and quietly biting down on it.

“Manly, do you have any family here?”

He stiffened up at the question, stopping in the middle of a bite.

“Oh, sorry. Erm, any friends here?”

His eyes looked up, narrowing a bit

Then nodding meekly

“Hehe, yeah you're not really that easy to speak to. So I guess it can be hard to get friends.”

He continued eating.

“But dont worry Manly! I’m your friend now, so if you need any help with anything, just ask me”

His eyes shot open, still eating the rabbit but eyes darting from me to the rabbit.

“Hahaha, dont look so surprised. Of course we’re friends. Anywaaaay, what do you do for fun around here?”

A light shrug, finishing his rabbit, reaching down for a second.

I pouted a bit at his response.

“You're a bit booring, you should loosen up.”

He narrowed his eyes on me, slowly going in for a big bite.

“Oh yeah haha, your mute. But eehm, Ooooh I know! Is there a love in your life? Such a big stallion as you must be very popular.”

I said, bumping my elbow into his exposed flank.

And was met by a body harder than stone

Damn, that’s a lot of muscles

Looking up at his face, he seemed to stare up

Seeming, puzzled.

But very thoughtful.

“OHOHOHO, soo mister Manly has his eyes set on a girl? Let me meet her!”

He looked down to me.

And gave me a very, very small smile

A first from him

Then he shook his head and patted me.

I quickly shooed his hand away.

“Hey! I’m not a kid. I know what love is! I may have never felt it but I can totally understand it.”

His eyes narrowed

Looking down on me with an expression that said

Kid? You’re like a baby

And then he patted me again, a little more forcefully

To which I swiftly punched his hand

And tried to punch his face, but got blocked.

“Dont look at me like that! I’m no baby, you stupid maan-- no. You baby faced centaur!”

He seemed amused

Not smiling, but eyes rolling around as if not believing my statement.

Uuurg!

I leaned back, gathering power for a full on slap

Aiming for his rump, but making it look like I was aiming for his face.

Hopefully, he would not be prepared for it

Staring dagger at his cheeks, using every move in my repertoire to fool him.

But second before I could carry out my master plan

He seemed to freeze

Looking above and beyond me

Somewhere behind.

“Hey, dont look away when we’re having a fight!”

Ignoring me, he continued staring

Narrowing his eyes as his pupils seemed to.

Narrow?

Looking like snake's eyes or cats.

Woah

I did not know centaurs could do that.

Quickly shaking myself from my thoughts

I slowly shuffled around, still peaking at his eyes that were totally enthralling.

As my body was fully turned around, I took my eyes away from his, looking at where he was staring

And saw a mass of... Something at the horizon

“Oh, is that more centaurs coming?”

I asked, not looking back to see his answer.

A few seconds of silence passed.

In which I had stood up, wiping away the little grease and blood I had on my hands.

“Hey! we should go and greet them.”

I turned around to see his face.

Meeting a shake of his head

“Why not? It’ll be fun.”

He shook again, but still looking at them in the horizon

Hmmm

Maybe

Maybe he’s scared?

“Are you scared?”

Taking his eyes away from the centaurs in the distance, he very quickly looked up to me

Giving me a big frown

Hehe

Okaaay, not scared

Then maybee.

“Are they bad people?”

At that, he seemed to pause

And looked down at the coming centaurs

Okay, maybe they are?

He seems to be unsure.

Hmmm

How will I convince him to take me there....

Oh, I got an idea.

“Hey, can’t we just go closer and have a look? If they are bad people, you can just run away with me. You're the fastest centaur I’ve ever seen, so it should be no problem for you.”

He seemed to grow a little taller at my praise

Looking skywards as he thought

Then he looked to me and nodded.

“Sooo, is that a yes?”

He nodded again

“Yes! Then let’s goooo”

That was easy

He seems to like praise

Hehe, I can use this.

As he stood up, I climbed up on his back

And he set off, galloping forwards

Not at full speed, but quickly enough.

When we got closer

A few things got clear.

One

They were not just a big group

But like an entire army of people

Stretching far beyond just a few hundred.

And two

They were not centaurs

But fauns

Even at this distance I could tell.

I could still recognise their hooved feet and horns on their heads.

Manly seemed to have noticed my change in mood and stopped

Glancing back to me.

But I stayed silent.

Looking at the slowly moving army of fauns

Or, not army

More of a big mob.

Few seemed to have any weapons

More carts and big sacks

Looking more like refugees than soldiers.

Maybe they were?

But why

They have such huge walls

They should be far too big to destroy

Unless...

Mister dragon came back and..

...

My hands clenched around my bow

Eyes turning a shade of red

But I stayed still.

So very still-

Soon after

I could distinguish faces.

We had waited for several minutes for them to get closer.

Every second made my heart beat faster.

When they were close enough, I saw someone

At the top of the mobs of fauns

I saw a familiar face.

Or many

But one of them

Belonging to a certain old faun

Looking towards me with a mixed expression of relief

And fear-

Why?

I don't know

But I could feel a lump forming around my chest.

A lump that had been collecting through my entire life

A lump that never wanted to disappear

Please

Don't let this be my fault.