Gasp!
"By the gods, what have I done?" Asked Keith, he was covered in blood and unable to recall anything that happened in his mind.
"I'm afraid the hunger took over you once more little one. We still have plenty of road in front of us, we better hurry." Said Show, whispering into his hear.
Keith hit his head against the ground, willing to remember what he had done, but no memory resurfaced.
So much frustration.
Ardi looked at him from afar, thinking about memories he had never witnessed, Show's. The monster knew the kid's suffering, this unleashed pain, the crash of his mind each time the hunger took control over his body. Each time he almost broke his mind, he forgot, it was somehow a good thing.
The problem being, a feeling deep buried in our dear ghost, Ardi... Something he would push back out of his mind the second he thought about it. Ever since he encountered Keith, he fought his own feelings. The ones he had lost half a millennia ago.
He walked without a noise, dragging his feet in the dust. The few particles he managed to lift caught his attention. He held his arms looking thoughtful, refusing to believe his well hidden sorrow.
"What's wrong with you?" Asked Keith.
"It's..." Ardi saw the red eye shining in the dark jungle. He re-examined his speech instantly. The thought of Show tearing apart a soul was good motive. He chose his words carefully and kept Show's for himself. "Nothing, I was wondering on your agility, it's crazy how easily you move when you're out of control." He said.
"I don't know how it works either, but what I can tell is that it sure is the worst feeling ever, I want to eat like I do again, every day, every fraction of my time when I become hungry. I want to feel the replenishing energy filling my whole body and flooding my brain with tingling." Keith paused for a second, he touched his lips and observed his limbs.
"It helps me a lot. It erased many scars I had and healed this broken body of mine. Come Ardi, we have a long way to go, if we manage to find Cowtch, we'll depart as fast as possible."
Ardi replied. "Oh he's not that far, he went this way, he stuck himself between two trees and has difficulties freeing himself."
As soon as he had the occasion to, Ardi entered the Explanation, he wanted to have a talk with Show.
"Can he hear us?" He asked, hesitant to raise his voice.
"Only if you wish so. When we're not working on Chinese language, he doesn't come here any often, he doesn't seek communication with me more than he does with you. I, am glad to finally see you here on your own free will old sailor. What brings you here?" Show asked with a pinch of sarcasm.
His shape kept on oscillating, both entities in the Explanation had wavy clothes that seemed to synchronise, but while Ardi had a dim blue shine around him, giving out a calm aura, Show was another synonym for chaos. Each of his moves generated electricity and the sky above their heads moved accordingly.
Ardi answered. "You're far from my age even though you've lived thrice as much as me. But you should already know what I'm doing here. I've seen your scheme plenty of times, you're way too manipulative to be as smart as you let it appear."
This was a worthy catch phrase for a monster anchored in his routine. Mister Show manifested some interest, under the white bull skull, two red lights shone.
"I am sure of it because I'm doing the same. Tell me, what's your plan when we'll reach Jiaozhi? Don't you hope to come back to life? What do you wish to find? I'm an expert with finding the impossible."
With the man's monotonous tone, Show wasn't about to argue but comply.
"My, my... Won't it be the same as yours? I want my body back! Unlike you I'm closer to a living being than completely dead, I can interact with mortals! Plus I have a lifelong relationship with mother nature that gives me gods-knows-how-much-affinities with curses."
Ardi was taken aback, he was half-sure about Show's ability to read minds. "Am I this easy to read?" He asked the monster.
"Not that you are, but I've walked a mile in your shoes, I cannot meticulously observe my own point of view, but over time I noticed how distant things became, I can't let myself fade away into nothingness, I must take back my senses. Nothing this body eats vanishes. Nothing this body touches isn't wounded. Nothing this body sees has colour. I'd gladly sacrifice everyone who did this to me."
A wide smile appeared on Ardi's face. "Then let me be your experimental subject!" He exclaimed. "I am absolutely in if I can have more than a small cape with which I can palpate the bull's ass! If you have the slightest idea about how craving you'll become in ten or in a hundred years, you won't refuse it. What's more? I'd gladly help you mess with the kid." He said, reaching out his hand.
Tens of hands instantly grabbed his to his surprise, he felt the touch, the rock-hard and cold spikes that held his ghostly hand surprised him, nonetheless his wide smile remained. He loved the hand he never imagined to hold, it was the beginning of many promises to his eyes. The stillness of his new partner meant nothing such as dead, it was all vigor and more to come! Nothing to be afraid of.
Keith kept on following east, with Ardi's help to find the stars under many trees, he reached a village with a short population. Women bore light clay circles on their cheeks with red lips, their skin was light brown and their eyes almond-shaped. The man wouldn't get as much compliment from the three boys. 'Just regular ones.' They thought in unison.
A couple approached, curious to see such a beautiful ride in their unpopular village. Alas their question reached deaf ears, Keith couldn't understand a word they said, even if he studied hard to understand the 'foreigners'.
"The man said he was impressed by the size of your cattle, he wants your bull to fertilize his cows." Ardi chuckled. The man knew most languages already, his many years of so-called loneliness around the world were worth it after all. He became able to decipher lots of languages thanks to the structure most used.
Adding some maths to it, he was able to understand most of the continent languages and dialects.
Keith's darker skin and green eyes piqued their interest, they soon understood he was a foreigner and unable to have a proper conversation with them. Keith gave only nod or head shakes to reply, with the help of Ardi.
Eventually the three of them drew in the sand, drawing was a universal language and Keith who didn't knew how to answer followed them.
They arrived in the periphery of the village, next to a wide paddock devoid of trees and grass. Their twenty cows had their guest and so had their master.
'Can't you do your language trick here Mister? You take one's language and we'll be fine in this territory.' Said Keith.
'No little one, we'll attract trouble, and we won't overstay. Hush, don't try to make a fuss everywhere we go.' The shadow replied annoyingly.
The kid slept all day, but Cowtch had a great time, the couple were happy with the result of their encounter and didn't bother letting Keith get some rest.
More and more, Ardi stayed in the Explanation with Show, talking about the many ways the monster used to manipulate the kid until now. Sharing his weapons was a good strategy.
"I use his mother's voice and his father's authority when he's in distress or when he's really frail, it can push him very far. Sometimes I let him believe he's in control of the situation instead of dancing under my strings. He has yet to realize you need someone alive to eat one's language, I bet he'll go rampage when he'll understand the truth behind his parent's death."
Ardi laugh was similar to a bark. "Using one's whole family to extend your lifespan? You're a terrible person!" He said, wiping an invisible tear from under his eye.
"Indeed I am! But what did you sacrifice in exchange of your cursed treasure? You are certainly worse than me. Want to bet on something? When do you think we'll meet Foresee? I'd say in less than a moon from now, what do you think?"
"Half this amount." Ardi replied.
The lack of conversation during nighttime became obvious after three days, Keith became more lonely and chose to tie himself to the bull to keep learning chinese, chasing Ardi out of the Explanation and making him his guideline in case of danger.