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((Continued from Oric's Cabin))
Oric walked up the side of the river until he reached the shallow point. Oric lifted his bag and sword over his head as he trudged through the slow moving current. He finally reached the other side and knew that it was due west from here on out.
"Well Muchie, this is it. From here we move with the sun."
Oric took out his sword and walked over to a near by apple tree. He cut down an apple and cut an X mark onto the tree.
"This will serve as a reminder. An apple tree with an X."
Oric sheathed his sword and ate the apple as he moved along.
As he moved further from the house he came into a clearing, with a lone half-buried boulder in the middle. Oric remembered this place. His dad brought him here once to show him more complex sword moves... That was nearly 10 years ago though. Oric sat on the rock for a moment though. He took off his shoes and let the water left over from his trudge through the river pour out.
"Ya know Muchie, I'm not sure why I feel compelled to do this. I was so certain last night, but now... well I'm starting to wonder what am I doing?"
The red haired lad sighed as his rodent pal just sat in his hair, occasionally poking out his head to take in the surroundings. Oric was pleased with the progress he was making. He didn't know how far he was goign to go, but the sun was still barely over the horizon. Unfortunately, this made the path forward look dark except for the orange-ish light that reflected off everything, filling Oric with a feeling of forboding. While the path behind him, back to his home, was more lit up by the morning light, and looked far more comforting. Oric shook off this momentary feeling though, knowing it was all in his head. Still, it was hard, sure he had been this far before, but Never did he plan to just keep going. Oric shifted his mind to things more comforting. He imagined what wonderous things layed just beyond the forest. To him, the forest was the only world he knew. He was imagining all the possibilites. Things from stories he heard and read, and even things from his 'dream'. He wondered, What else is there besides the forest? Is that aqua-city place from my dream real? What's a beach look like? What is snow? What is a desert? Are there really more people out there like me? These questions may seem silly, especially coming from a 16 year old, but for Oric, who had never left the forest in the sixteen years he spent on this planet, those questions were very serious, and his curious nature kept giving him things to ponder, taking his mind off the scary idea of entering the unknown.

Oric heard the strange man. He scurried to put on his boots again. He hopped of the rock and stood as tall as his 5'4" body would let him.
"YOUR forest? Excuse me, but this is MY forest. I've spent my entire life here, and you-" Oric stopped in mid-sentence.
"You're a person!" Oric's eyes lit up with wonderment.
"Amazing I can't believe it, I've already ran into another human!"
Oric spang off the side of the rock and scurried over to Lonewolf, making sure to keep out of any striking range the man might have.
"Are you a human too? Is the city nearby? and..... is that a tiny person on your shoulder?" The red haired boy leaned in closer to get a better look at the strange man with the tiny girl on top his shoulder.

The mere mention of katana snapped the boy back down to reality.
"Huh?" Oric quickly glanced down at his own katana. "Yes, I was taught by the best katana master in the world, my father." Oric said with a boastful puff of the chest. But it wasn't long before Oric's curiousity got the better of him and sent him into another world again.
"Whats a robot? Is it like a rabbit? 'Cause it doesn't look like a rabbit. And- OUCH!"
Oric was cut short as Muchie bit his ear. Oric turned to look at the mouse calmly sitting on his shoulder now.
"Right, my bad." Oric turned back to face Lonewolf and bowed slightly.
"Hello, my name is Oric. Oric Ana Eddu. I'm pleased to meet you..." Oric lifted his head back up and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

As the boy rambled on about introducing himself, Lonewolf was not paying much attention as he unsheathed his dagger. "I don't care who you are, kid, and I only giive my name to those I deem worthy. Now prepare yourself." Lonewolf twirled the dagger in his hand. "Let's see how good you are with that katana. En gaurde." Lonewolf got into a fighting stance.

Lonewolf gave Violet a glance, and she scurried off his shoulders, already knowing that look.

Lonewolf flipped the dagger in his hand with a smirk then tossed it up into the air.

Muchie ran up to the little P.A.L., interested in meeting someone his own size... more or less. He stood on his hind legs and scratched his ear.
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Oric jumped back having discarded much of his weight, he was feeling much more agile, which was good, becuase this guy looked like he meant business, twirling his knife in the air. As Oric began to get on egde, his aura began to fluctuate like crazy. Big, small, big, small; the boy's aura was not stable at all, but the size of it when it was large was to be impressed by. Oric got into second position, ready for, hopefully, any attack.

Oric blocked Lonewolf's knife with his katana, but his sword viberated in a way that Oric didn't like.
"Quit it! I ain't done nothing to you!" Oric yelled as he pushed Lonewolf's knife back with his sword before quickly back flipping to get some distance.
"Why are you fighting me?" Oric asked, unhappy with his first human encounter