The truth hidden within the lies

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The thought of a bath made William really energetic. He hadn't taken a single bath for the last couple of weeks, and he smelled disgusting, even with new clothes on.

"A river? What are we waiting for, hurry old man. I swear, the dirt is starting to become one with my skin. If its not gone soon I will probably become a new species." He said lively first starting to walk one way but then realizing that he didn't even know which way they were supposed to walk.

"Its probably best if you show the way." He said only half embarrassed when realizing the mistake of going ahead.
 
Shane blinked at William's comic tableau for a moment. Then his face muscles screwed up and he threw his head back in raucous laughter.

He patted William's head, wearing a smile that made it seem like they were just friends trying to find a teashop, instead of fugitives trying to escape their popularly demanded death. "Right! Don't worry, we'll go as fast as we can without tiring you out." He looked at the sky to re-orient himself. "This way." He began to lead the boy to the river he heard earlier. To safety. Like he promised to him in the first place...
 
William couldn't hide the small blush that appeared on his cheek's when Shane patter his head. His father used to do the same when he were a kid. Was that how that man saw him? As a kid? It was a bit embarrassing that someone his age would be treated like that.

"I'm not a kid, and I can keep up just fine." He muttered, not even knowing if Shane could hear it. But even if he tried to tell himself that he could keep up, the reality would prove differently. He had been running from thieves which made him pass out even though it hadn't been very far. He wouldn't be able to take a too fast paced journey even though he wanted to prove differently.
 
Shane saw William blush and mutter something about a kid. He just thought it was reminiscent of taking care of the orphans during his service training years in the army. They all thought they were pretty grown up. They weren't nine, they were nine and a half!

He winced when he realized that even then they were turning him into a robot for the state. To interact only with certain orphans and only at certain times, without question.

"Hear that...? That's where we're headed."
They traveled for a while and the river began to call attention with a distant splashing. "You ok?" The river was still pretty far and they had been walking a while.
 
William felt his heart almost beating out of his chest, and he sweated more than ever when Shane asked him how he was doing.

"Yeah yeah, just keep going." He said a bit irritated, it wasn't that he was irritated at anything specific. He simply was too tired. But if he stopped then he wouldn't be able to start again for ages, and if they slowed down then he wouldn't be able to speed up again. So he refused to do either of them and forced his body to move on. They would soon be there. Soon.
 
Shane nearly groaned seeing William straining himself.

"Here, this might help." He stopped for a moment to pull out a small log lying on the ground. He tied a rope around a conveniently prominent branch stump and tried it out, tugging it along so it slid on the ground.

"Your chariot awaits, good sir." He gestured ceremoniously at the log. "You shall arrive in style!"
 
William got a bit surprised when Shane suddenly stopped and started to put together some things. The sudden stop made him feel his heart beat race way faster than he was used to. That's what he gets for being such a lazy brat.

As he tried to catch his breath Shane finished what he was doing. William first stared as if he was waiting for the older man to start laughing at his own joke, but it didn't happen. "No way!" William then said with an even voice. "I'm not that weak and I can make it on my own two legs." He said as if his pride just had gotten hurt when in reality he simply didn't want to let Shane do all the hard work.
 
Shane just looked at him for a moment. "I'm sure you're only saying that. You can get on the 'sled' or we'll take double the time to get to the river. Or I could carry you the rest of the way..." He tilted his head with only a hint of a smile at the half-joke. He was surprised that he actually could imagine carrying the young man. He seemed lighter than most of the things things he usually carried. He wasn't so sure if he cold carry him struggling though, as he really wasn't that wild in his old days.
 
William couldn't help but feel embarrassed when the man mentioned that he might just carry him the rest of the way. He wasn't certain anymore if he was treated as a kid or as a girl. "Suit yourself." He told Shane as he sat down on the fast built sled.
 
Shane decided to start having some fun. "Hold on then!" He immediately struck jogging speed, which was really the fastest he could go lugging a large piece of wood and a grown man behind him after walking for so long.

The river got louder and louder, and Shane knew it was close.
 
William got a bit surprised when Shane started to jog instead of walking, even though he knew that the older man was in better shape than him it still felt a bit ridiculous how much difference there was between them. But Shane was trained for harder environments and longer walks while William was brought up with a silver spoon and never lifted a finger. There was nothing to do about it.

Soon he forgot about how irritated he was and just relaxed, there was no energy left to be angry for nothing with. He went into a state where he only were half awake, but he still could keep himself sitting up pretty steadily. Soon he could hear the river getting louder and louder. Soon they would be there.
 
"We're here!"

Shane shook the young man's shoulder to call his attention. He was excited to finally get a bath after a week of keeping his guard up in case the murderer was sneaking around the area. He found it ironic that he was now bringing the same person to the river for a bath.

The water was clear and sparkled in the midday sun. The ground was hot and Shane couldn't wait to get into the water. He ran to the riverbank and quickly hung his clothes in a nearby tree. Without waiting for any input from William, he eagerly dove into the cool water.
 
William was almost asleep when Shane shook his shoulder and he woke up completely. At first he was a bit confused, but he fast came back to reality. He rose and stretched his arms up in the air and let out a yawn. Then he walked towards the river.

The water was much cleaner than he thought it would be. He had always thought that river water was dirty with mud, but it even looked like they would be able to drink from that river if they felt like it.

He took off his clothes for the second time that day, at least this time no one ordered him to do so. In difference from Shane, William first folded his clothes and then put them on a thick branch. Then he calmly went down into the river. The cool water felt great, and he could feel how the dirt from the past weeks started to get off his body.
 
When Shane finally emerged from the water and shook the wet hair out of his eyes, he was on the other end of the river, and William was in the water with him. He swam over, the cool water washing away his previous worries and hurt.

"It feels glorious to finally feel clean water against your skin, is it not?" He held his nose and did a backflip underwater.
 
William raised an eyebrow at Shane's behavior. Even though Shane was older than him he still played around like a kid when he got into the water. William used to play in the bath when he was younger, but now a days he used the bath as a place to relax and find peace.

"Yeah, its nice." He said after a moment. Some parts of his skin had itched because of all the dirt, but finally it started to ease up thanks to the cool water. "You never told me where we are going, just that we're going somewhere safe. Where exactly is that?" He then asked curiously as he sank a bit further down into the water, letting bits of his hair and chin touch the water.
 
Shane waded over, twisting into a leisurely backstroke with the front of his body glaringly exposed.

"At first I just wanted to get far away from there, but now I'm coming up with an idea. There was a trail some three miles south of here. From the tracks of carriage wheels, I assume it leads to a small village that has supplies carried in from surrounding villages."

He turned his head in the water so one of his eyes was concealed by the sparkling water and his other could see William. "But news would definitely travel, and they already had couriers take the news of your guilt to the other realms before I departed. The guards at the entrance will search any males entering the area. I suppose we need to sneak in and make like locals."
 
William wasn't certain if he wanted to get into a village where people might recognize him as a criminal, but what else could he do? Live in the forest for the rest of his life? Because that went so well during the few weeks he had stayed out there already. Getting robbed and almost starving to death.

"Something tells me that it will be harder than you make it sound." He mentioned with a small smile. "Too bad I can't disguise myself as a girl and pose as your wife or something." He then joked. "Why check the females when they're searching for a male, right?"
 
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