Time passed me by because I was left with practically nothing to do but walk. Again. My mind wandered from time to time, occupying me for a little while, but overall, the trip was pretty boring. No bad guys fought me like I wanted, so I didn't really get some time to stretch like I wanted. 

So, to hopefully pass the time a little faster, I started talking to myself.

"Oooh...Is that so?" I said aloud, swaying side to side with an air-headed expression across my face. My mouth was hanging down and my eyes were crossed; I looked like a complete psycho. "Mhhhmmmm...I get it..."

Ponpa jolted out of his sleepwalk with one eye lid lower than the other. His eye twitched as he watched my wolf stalking behind him, suspicious of him. It wasn't until he looked at me and my weirdly-shaped face that I was the one actually talking.

"Ah....mkaaaayyyy..." Glazed and blank-minded, I didn't even notice Ponpa moving his finger in a swirl-y motion towards me. 

He opened his mouth, but closed it again, not sure if he should say something or not. To Ichiraku, who was really hungry at the moment, Ponpa looked like a blubbering, fat fish ready for the eating. But he could already tell that Hatsumi wouldn't be happy he ate something so unhealthy.

"I'm talking to someone." I told him, which caught Ponpa off guard. 

"Who?" He asked, followed with a pause. "Actually, never mind. Don't-"

"Me, myself, I," Hatsumi raised her hand until it was right beside her face. It moved in sync with my words, but when I put my hand in Ponpa's face, it seemed to really freak him out.

In a hushed voice, I said, "and my hand."

Now fully awake and no weird eyelids, he pushed my hand away. It spoke to him with a sad voice, "Nyo! Don't push me away; I just wanna be youww fweeeennnnndddd!"

"I'd rather not." He replied, frowning at the thought of her hand talking to him for the rest of the path. He heaved a big sigh; she probably will do that, he thought to himself.

Ponpa was unaware of his surroundings as he thought this, so I snuck my hand behind him. His shoulders went stiff as he felt something gaze at from behind. He glanced over his shoulder only to come face to face with my hand, except this time it was colorfully painted to look like a young girl with extremely red lips.

"Gah!" He screamed in a pitched voice. "Would you stop it?"

With a mischevious grin, I shook my head merrily. I waved my hand in front of his face, "Why won't you taaawwwllk to mweeee?"

He sweat dropped, "Why am I stuck with you, of all people?"

"'Cause you're lonely."

He didn't have a comeback, so he just settled for glaring at me. I could feel waves of anger and his want to strangle me roll off him. Even though he was clearly angry, his edge was dull, meaning he somehow tolerated me.

Might as well push his boundaries.

"What?" I asked him with a cocky grin. "Am I so awesome you can't stop staring?"

He looked somewhere else, much less upset, but a glare still resided on his face. At that moment, a clear feeling of awkward-ness settled around Ponpa.

Mission: Make Ponpa Feel Like A Weirdo - accomplished!

 At that moment, bright light flashed onto my face. I put my hand up in front of my eyes to shield them from the sudden shine, but peeked around just enough to see where it came from. It seems to be coming from behind the tree leaves, I thought, realizing it must be dawn.

"We should be close to Zaban city by now," I mumbled, only to find that Ponpa was sleepwalking again. He was ready to pass out as he wobbled like a drunk guy, muttering for a soft bed.

"Yaaa, Pooooooonpaaaaaa!!" I groaned, sounding like a really petty, annoying person. Just like that, his eyes snapped open, he tripped and face-planted like a dumb idiot.

"I swear, you act like a walking, talking alarm clock with a broken off switch." He rubbed his head, checking himself for any injuries.

"Aw, did you break your face?" I asked.

"No."

"Trip again."

He stared me down, but I didn't really care.

"What did you wake me up for, anyway?" He grumbled irritably. After swishing the dust off of himself, he followed behind me, slightly jogging to catch up to me.

"Why aren't we there yet?"

"It's should be a little farther up this path." He said gruffly, most likely upset that he almost fell asleep but he was woken up. I'd be pretty mad, too, if someone woke me up. Only difference is that I'd chase them down. :P

"Hey," He asked, suddenly aware that there was only two of us now. His shoulders went rigid as he searched around him. "Where'd that beast of yours go?"

"Oh, Ichiraku?" I said lazily. "He left earlier during our conversation to do whatever he wants. He'll be back when he wants."

"You said he was your pet, though." He pointed out to me. "Letting them run around at their will with no idea that they'll come back isn't really how owners are supposed to care for them, y'know."

"Who says I'm a normal person in the first place?" I pointed out.

"True."

Ponpa was left to his own thoughts, but he couldn't help but wonder about the wolf. For all he knew, it could be stalking him from behind the trees, ready to pounce and eat him like he's the sweetest, most fattening cookie it's ever had.

"Oh!" I suddenly exclaimed. "There he is!" 

Sure enough, the gargantuan wolf emerged from behind the trees to our left. He didn't seem to be staring at Ponpa hungrily anymore, so he probably had a meal.

"Hey, Ichi-" But I cut myself off as Ichiraku told me something.

"What?" Ponpa asked. She rarely ever quieted down, even Ponpa could tell that, so he was curious. "Is something wrong?"

With a sudden intake of breath, I shouted, "Sugoi!" 

I threw my hands up in the air and hugged the wolf. Ponpa noticed that he had a smug smirk on his wolf-ish features. It sent shivers down his spine because it was staring right at him, too. He could feel the beast's want to eat him again, which made him hide behind a nearby tree.

"That's great, Ichiraku~!" I smiled at him. Then I realized that Ponpa should be freaking out right now; that sounds very Ponpa-ish, I thought. 

Where'd he go?

"Ponpa?" I called out as if I were calling to a lost puppy. He gets lost easily, too, anyway, so it fits him. "Where'd that fat cookie go?"

"I'm not a cookie!" He screamed at me from behind a tree. He had a stubborn, pouty face on as he glared from his spot. "And I'm not fat either!"

"Sure, deny it all you want." I told him as I pet my wolf, who also seemed to nod his head in agreement. "You're still a cookie. A really fattening one."

"Enough with the cookie insults, would you?" He asked, exasperated. "Who is it you're talking to now, anyway?"

I made an irritated, childish face, "I already told you that before, baka~." With amazing speed, I appeared before him and flicked him on the forehead. He shouted with pain and threw his hands up to his face, feeling the injury.

"Grah, stop it!" He growled irritably, one hand on his now red forehead.  

"Never." I told him as I mounted my wolf. "Well, I guess I'll be going now. See ya." I told Ponpa as Ichiraku got ready to dart into the maze of trees.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait!" He shouted at me. I glanced over my shoulder at him, curious to know what he was gonna say. Besides, this is probably the last time I'll see him, anyway.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to the exam."

"Eh~?" He blubbered incredulously. "What are you talking about?"

"Ichiraku knows a faster way." I gestured to my wolfie who seemed to be smirking at him. "He said that he can carry me there, too. I just took the offer, but I'll let you know that I'm quite capable of making it there, anyway."

"But-"

He didn't even finish because Ichiraku and I were already gone. 

"Guys?"

~*~

"Yah~." I groaned happily as I stretched my arms out. Ichiraku and I finally made it to the edge of the forest and were met with bright sunlight and a large city; Zaban city. 

"Now, where's the exam?" I asked aloud, but Ichiraku was already gone, doing his own thing. I didn't mind; I just need to figure out where this is happening. After all, I didn't get any other information on the exam other than the password and the city.

My stomach grumbled loudly and I could have sworn the ground just shook the slightest bit. I sighed, "I haven't eaten anything since those cookies from yesterday..."

Just thinking about the sweet, chewy goodness made me hungrier. They better have some good food, I thought to myself. With an empty stomach growling for food, I marched into the city.

When I saw Zaban city for the first time, it looked like a normal, kind town. If anything, it had the same inviting vibe as that cookie place.

But on the inside, everything changed.

There were people everywhere, but no one even greeted me. The outside world is so much colder than home, I thought as I shivered. I could feel the dark, damp atmosphere waving around me.

Just as I turned the corner, hoping to get away from the creepy feeling, I saw a guy stab himself.

At the crotch.

with a very, very, very pointy...banana?

No thanks, I thought to myself. Pale and weirded out, I spun towards the other direction. I really hope that's the last scarring thing I see here.

But of course, luck wasn't on my side. 

I tried taking a short cut to another street nearby and literally tons of barrels just started rolling down towards me. I would've been completely squished if it hadn't been for my fast thinking. I punched each one that came, but the bits of shattered barrels injured some people nearby so I had to go another direction.

I tried walking down the main street and a friggin' piano nearly ran me over. It wouldn't have been too bad if a mis-shapen anvil hadn't followed. My third path took me into a neighborhood-like place where I heard a loud scream sounding as if they needed help. Naturally, I went to the house where it came from, but before I could open the door, I was picked up by the scruff of my vest.

"Eeh?" I screamed, thrashing around. "What's going on?"

I was lifted from the ground and carried away from the houses. "Put me down!" I screamed, turning to face whoever was carrying me. I found myself face to nose with Ichiraku, which, I'd like to mention, was wet with his spit.

"You're way too young for that." He said in my mind. "Grow some bigger boobs first."

"Okay, first of all, my boobs are perfectly fine!" I told him defensively, putting my arms around myself. "And second of all, lemme go!"

He growled irritably and said, "If you say so..."

I felt him swing me around, making me lose my sense of direction. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air at an amazing speed. With a painful thud, I smacked a door open and landed on a person.

"Gah, where am I?" I screamed as I blindly swung my arms around. I felt my fists connect with several things, most likely people, so I opened my eyes to see who it was. To my surprise, I found myself in a tolerable restaurant with a young boy in green on the ground, an old man with a beaten face, a blonde girl unscathed but watching me, and more than a dozen eyes staring at me.

I think I may have screwed up juuuuuust a little bit.