The Writers' Circle

Yay! Two Chapters in two days! But maybe at the end of this it should just be a line for a lapse of time? Let me know what you think! 
                                                                  ~Gate Keeper


Chapter Two

	Senji walked at a brisk pace down the small, dirt road, the words of his mother's letter echoing through his head. The light from a sitting sun peaked down at him through gray skies, for by the time he had made it out of Highborne the rain had stopped. He would show them, prove to them that he could make them proud. A light breeze had been flowing all day, carrying the scent of thousands of flower with it, but now the wind picked up, whipping around Senji's legs and making him pull his jacket tighter around him. The flowery aroma was now mixed with the promise of more rain. Senji had been looking for a place to stay, but without much success. He was too far North from Highborne and Kingston, and had already passed the fork in the road that would take him to Greater Wall. He thought seriously about turning back for a while as the sky grew darker and darker, but, judging from the directions Madame Maev had given him, and assuming it would take him the better part of the night to make it there, he thought himself better off trying to make it to find a small farmhouse or somewhere to stay instead. He had walked all day to get this far, and he probably still had a day's walk ahead of him before he reached the witch's home. He had tried to think about the different ways he could find out the witch's secret, but the letter kept popping into his head. He was both enraged that his family thought so little of him, and ashamed that he was enraged with them, his own parents. He thought about them, of how embarrassed they must be right now with guests over and their youngest son was some twenty or thirty miles away, sweaty and dirty. The thought of dinner made Senji's stomach growl, for he hadn't eaten anything since his morning tea with Madame Maev. It was almost completely gray now, with just a thing gray strip of light over the horizon. Well actually it was over the Great Wall, which separated Mehdow Bleu from the troll lands beyond. Senji looked east and saw the moon beginning to peak over the lake, reflecting in its deep, blue waters. For a little while Senji had plenty of light to see by, and he kept walking, searching for a place to stay the night. However, it didn't take long for the wind to blow fat, gray clouds in front of it, blocking out the guiding rays. At this point Senji was really beginning to get worried. He had never been outside the mansion after dark, and now if was getting very bleak indeed. He picked up his pace, look frantically for somewhere to stay even as more and more clouds gathered in the sky, blocking out all the stars as well and leaving him almost blind, so that when a forked flash of light split the heavens apart he nearly cried out in terror. The boom of thunder that followed seemed to shake the ground beneath Senji's feet as though it would open up and swallow him whole. And then came the rain, thick, pounding sheets of it that soaked Senji down to the skin and caused his brown, wavy hair to plaster itself to his head and fall limply into his eyes. His hat did no good, for the elegant fabric had been made to be showy, not functional. Senji's only comfort as he sloshed down the muddy road alone and wet was that at least the rain wasn't cold. Thanks to the strange magic's of Loch Bleu, Mehdow Bleu's seasons never changed and, except for the mountain towns, the whole country was kept in a perpetual spring. So, at least it was spring rain, instead of ice or snow. Senji had never even seen snow. His parent's always went south the visit the Mountainside skiing resort once a year, Senji and even Devlin were left behind. 
	"Maybe if I make my parent's proud," Senji thought as he stomped through the mud, soiling his good suit pants and dress shoes, "Mother and Father will be proud of me, and they'll want to take me, too."
	Suddenly Senji slipped in the mud, skidding a little before falling face forward in the mud. He lay their for a moment, feeling the rain pour down on his back, wondering if things could possibly get much worse. The sound of tiny feet pattering in the mud Made Senji look up. Standing before him, her belly almost completely caked in mud, was a small dog. She was small, her fur dark brown with a cream color strip that started around her nose, went down her neck and stopped halfway down her belly. She had steel blue eyes and floppy ears. Clean she was probably beautiful, a show dog for some wealthy breeder, but her fur was matted and dirty, and there was gunk caked up around her eyes.
	"I know are," Senji said, standing and trying to wipe some of the muck off, "You're a Malti Poo. My aunt breeds them."
	A puppy let out a small bark and ran in a circle, stopping to sit suddenly. She raised up on her hind legs and brought her paws up under her chin, her ears folded back to form a perfect begging pose.
	"Oh no. I can have you along. You'll probably just get in the way," Senji said, picking up his filthy suitcase and looking around.
	"Where is that blasted hat," he muttered. The dog let out a quick bark and padded over to a brown, misshaped blob. She picked it up gingerly and ran back over to Senji, sitting back on her hind legs again. Senji, scrunching up his nose in distaste, took the thing from her.
	"What is this?" he asked in disgust as he shook the item violently to get some of the filth off of it, revealing that his hat.
	"It's squished flat!" Senji exclaimed. In response the little dog shook, sending muddy drops of water flying everywhere, mostly on Senji.
	"Are you quite finished?!" Senji exclaimed angrily. Th do snorted as if to say, What do you care? You're already dirty.
	"Yes, I am, thank you very much," Senji said, plopping his hat back on his head despite himself, "Now, if you will excuse me, I must be on my way, though I don't know what my hurry is, I don't think I could get any wetter."
	Senji started sloshing down the path again, mud getting into a filling his shoes. He heard quiet, quick footsteps along with his own, and looked back to see the little dog following him.
	"I wouldn't follow me if I were you, dog," Senji called, "I'm going to the Witch of Ways. She's so evil and heartless, she'll probably eat you right up in one gulp, despite how cute you may be under all that grime." The dog snorted, as if tho utter, What a foolish thing to say! No one eats dogs, especially little chocolate colored ones like me.
	"You do look like a little chocolate treat," Senji said, "and I'm sure you'' tire of being called dog. I'll call you Truffles." In response the dog let out an excited yip, running a bit to walk by Senji's side.
	"I'm glad you find it agreeable," Senji laughed, "Though I am sure you will regret coming with me. You know what they say about the witch" At this Truffles looked up and cocked one ear, No. What do they say?
	"Oh you know, like how she's a wrinkly old hag with filed teeth and eats nothing but raw flesh and that she sold her heart to a demon so she could become the most powerful witch. Things like that." The dog coughed. Preposterous, she said.
	"Well, whatever is true, Madame Maev obviously thinks she's evil. She wants me to find her weakness, though I have no idea why. All I care about is making my parents proud." Truffles didn't reply to this. She just kept trotting forward, her hung hanging out a bit as she panted slightly. Senji smiled.
	"I'm sure she's an old crone, though."
	Truffles snorted.