Reincarnation Junkie

Chapter 20

As the head settled into a solemn sort of silence, I decided that it would be best if the children and I could leave soon. I recounted our brief stay in the forest so far and described Mercy's method of navigation. The head acknowledged that the method was strange, but not without merit: the inexplicable wind, which Mercy had read about in the journals of legendary human explorers, was a manifestation of some old spirits who liked to collect all sorts of floating kites and often summoned a wind to carry all the leaves of the forest to their resting ground. That resting ground happened to be near one of the exits of the grand forest gorge known to humans as the Kapre's Tampi.

"A strange name, by the way." The face concluded with confusion. "There are neither kapre nor beings who wear tampi here."

"It was probably an artistic choice." I said, looking at the thick tree trunks past the fleshy neck wall.

I suppose, if you had nothing better to do, you could imagine that the trunks of these trees were like the bipedal legs of many gigantic kapre.

Or perhaps the kapre that existed in this world had grayish legs.

"Beast," the head said suddenly, "I appreciated our brief counsel. It has been some years since I had company. Well, aside from this friend..." The horse's head, having lost interest in whatever it was staring at, returned to dangling at the end of its neck, pointed in the massive human face's direction. I felt my paws grow itchy for violence once more as I remembered the strange feeling of hitting it like a rubber ball.

The face continued, "Since you've been introduced to this world, I hope that you enjoy it. Don't feel obligated to those children, for their kind is unkind. If you must be with them, limit your time as a beast and adopt their own form so that they do not misunderstand the intentions of other beasts at sight."

"That's a fair point." I agreed, instantly changing into a human shape. The feeling, or I suppose non-feeling, of wood as skin on my face enchanted me once more. I flicked out the folds of my green-gray skirt with my hands, feeling delight in the movement. "The children made this apparel for me. Isn't it nice? I wouldn't have thought of it myself, but it's very convenient to wear a mask."

"Why not cover the lips? Your lips are the most important part, as a human." The head scolded for some reason.

"It looks beautiful."

"...Your past culture in another world does not justify this opinion." The head said honestly.

"I feel beautiful."

"That is much more reasonable."

The head sighed once more, but this time I was not as disgusted with the scent of flesh in its breath as I was previously. Could it be that I had lost my sense of smell with this wooden face? Well, all for the better, really. I was no longer much of a hunting beast.

Several of its many legs kicked and swayed in an attempt to right itself. I went forward to help it, taking care to not step in the dubious puddle of goo that had poured from the lump on the creature's back...or neck. Say, the anatomy of this creature was really strange; I wouldn't be shocked to learn that the disc-like hooves on its feet were actually teeth instead (for that matter, what is a tooth?). No, I'd just be even more confused without ambition.

The human face was righted, situated like a coin sitting heads-up, if coins also had legs. I could only see the tips of its eyelashes, the tip of its round flat nose, and the bed of its chin jutting out from the oozing white lumps of dubious flesh. Could the face still see me in return? I couldn't tell, but it looked like a difficult angle.

During this process, the horse-like head had perked up once more and began to eat away at the walls of neck it had layered around us. Much like before, each bite was characterized with a sickening snap of tendons and cartilage. After forming a hole at one portion, the head entered and dragged along its neck, slowly reducing the height of the flesh walls from top to bottom. Like a loose drawstring running through the waistband of a pair of sweatpants, the head traveled as a bulge inside of its own flesh.

Most mysterious indeed.

"I'll bid you and those children farewell, then. I only know what I have encountered within this gorge, and so I hope you will forgive me for not having any further wisdom to share." Said the face.

"Mhm, yeah, it doesn't matter, so don't worry." I continued to flick my skirt out. "Everything will happen anyway."

"...If you keep doing that, your garment shall become worn. The internal strength of you beasts is simply too much for such crude fabric."

I stopped flicking the skirt, not without complaining, "You are certainly a head, since all you do is think and worry."

The face laughed.

It took some time, but the flesh wall eventually became null, and the horse-like head retracted once more into the amorphous creature. The hide, which once hung on the horse-like head like a scarf, stretched once more to cover the expanse of naked skin, presumably even over the massive human face on the back. I couldn't see how it looked right now, but it must have been horrific.

The ten children stood by in a disorganized mob and looked over with apprehension. Perhaps roused by the sight of myself, tension was visibly released from each of their shoulders.

After noticing that the creature behind me was still harmless, Mercy rushed over with the nine other kids not far behind.

"Ako, are you okay? Did anything happen?" Mercy asked in an anxious whisper.

"Everything's fine. We can continue on our journey." I replied.

"Well, alright." She nodded then smartly turned to the creature: "Thank you for imparting your knowledge, you...ah..."

"Just call me Apo." The human face bellowed from its awkward position.

"Yes! Many thanks, Apo!"

Mercy elbowed a few of the surrounding children who then also parroted her thanks in variation. I was sure that, if I was standing at the right angle, I would have seen the face's nose flare in acknowledgement.

"The wind will continue for some time, but even without it, you can continue to walk in the same direction. There are no 'magical' passes or barriers here, just a few convenient spirits and myself." The head said. "Remember, you should be on the lookout for a purple boulder. Well, since you have this nice halo about, it shouldn't be hard to identify."

"Yes! Thank you, Apo!" Mercy chirruped.

The creature, with the retracted horse-like head, continued to watch us walk away until the gleam of its eyes faded from view.