Those of Us Alone

Chapter 25: Our 'Weird' Group

Young Midori in Media.

Midori's POV

I was humming a cheery tune as we proceeded to get farther and farther away from my home village. Well, 'our'.

You see, Nii decided to join us! Isn't that great?

So, being away from my second most hated village plus Nii traveling with us equals a very very happy Midori, "Um. . . Is Midori okay?" AND a very very confused Yoon.

"She's fine," Hak stated indignantly. I personally think his anger was driven by jealousy.

I wasn't neglecting him either, so why he was jealous is beyond me. You see, after Hak embraced Yona and I, we separated–well, Hak and Yona separated–I practically collapsed into his arms. The fatigue had hit me hard.

Now, miles out of the village of the Seiryuu, Kija had his run-in with fatigue.

Only I was caught, whereas Kija met with the cold, stony earth. "Kija?!" Yona and Yoon chorused.

That was my cue to stop humming and rejoin the group, "Is he okay?" I stood next to Hak–who was crouched beside Yona, who then was crouched by Yoon.

"It's probably just fatigue," Yoon stated looking over Kija. "He was digging with all his strength earlier."

I nodded, "He was using any ounce of power he had to free us."

"Kija. . ." Yona said solemnly.

Then Hak decides to completely ruin the serious atmosphere, "Rest in peace."

"I'M ALIVE!" Kija exclaimed and jumped up before Yoon and I were able to force him back down again. Afterwards—much more calmly—he stated, "I apologize. My body feels heavy. . . The location of the next dragon is hazier than usual."

Yona was quick to dispel the guilt Kija felt at that moment, "Don't push yourself."

"Yeah, ya brute," I said playfully slapping at his shoulder nearest to me, "We can't do anything with you out."

There is a really good chance that the words that just left my mouth were a lie, but I decided to keep my second-guessing to myself.

BUT if I was right in who I THOUGHT was Ryokuryuu. . . Let's just say that I'm not really mentally prepared to face my fears. . . Again. . .

Maybe I'd get lucky and Oryuu was closer than my–uh–guess.

Probably not, though, because life hates me.

I went over to Nii after my 'words of encouragement' and we spoke quietly, "Kija's okay. He just needs some rest."

Nii answered in a nod, but he spoke up to me, "There's a river up a mile into that brush."

"Oh," I said looking in the direction he pointed in and I nodded in agreement, "I see it. That would be a good place to make camp."

"Well," Yoon stated—as if he wanted to prove me wrong, "we do have one–two people who can sense the location of the four dragons. . ."

All eyes looked at the two of us. I had heard the words come from Yoon, so my hands were in an 'X' formation across my face, "Nope. Can't do it."

Nii—in the same dilemma as I was a few seconds ago tilted his head in confusion. And like always, Kija had to make a big deal out of it.

"Oh," exclaimed Kija, "how wretched!" Kija came over to the two of us, and I moved closer to Hak. Kija took Nii's (who I left to get away from the over exaggerating Kija) hand and proceeded, "It's not your fault that you do not know. Nobody has told you about it until now."

Hak leaned towards me and whispered, "Is it okay to leave him to fend for himself?"

"Do you want to deal with whiny Kija?" I retaliated. His hands were up in the air in surrender.

Though the two of us missed a tiny bit of the conversation, we heard Kija announce, "You may call me Big Brother!"

Nii abruptly jumped away towards the river we had previously seen, not that anyone knew, of course.

"Ehh?!" Kija said looking after Nii, "He ran away?!"

Hak never missed an opportunity to annoy Kija, "Was it because 'Big Brother' was making him uncomfortable?"

Yona went to run off in search of him, but I grabbed her wrist, "He went this way." As I pulled her in the direction opposite of which she tried to go, I said, "Just through this brush."

As we exited the brush, we seen Nii, and Yona yelled, "Seiryuu!"

We stood at a distance (Nii's back was to us, but he was begining to take off his mask), and Kija softly said, "Seiryuu. . ."

Splash!

Nii jumped into the river.

I blinked, and Hak turned to Kija, "What are you going to do now, White Snake? He's gone and killed himself."

I slapped Hak's arm playfully.

Kija had a minor freak out until Nii emerged from the water once more. There was a fish in his hands.

Kija, though confused, took the fish from Nii with gratitude, and felt great about himself until Hak opened his big mouth once more.

"What are you going to do, Mr. White Snake?" He asked emotionlessly, referring to my shivering brother. "He's freezing."

"It's my fault?!" Kija exclaimed.

I sighed before crossing my arms, "It would appear so, Kija."

"Seiryuu," Yoon stated looking towards my freezing brother, "you knew quite well that the river was here."

Nii touched his mask by the holes meant for his eyes.

"Oh?" Yoon was fascinated, "It's because those eyes have the ability of far sight—and depth perception, apparently." Yoon then turned to me, slightly seething, "And I'm guessing that you have this power too, don't you, Midori?"

My hands were up in surrender, "Yes, but since I've always had it, I thought it was normal. Besides, Nii basically told me he was going over here when he pointed out the river to me earlier."

Yoon sighed, and then turned back to Nii, "Is it true that if we look into your eyes we will turn to stone?"

Nii shook his head, but I spoke, "You've looked me in the eyes multiple times, and most definitely have not turned to stone."

While Yoon turned towards me to retaliate, he paused, blinked, and muttered, "I guess. . . . That is true. . . "

~~~~}}~

Dinner was made by Yoon who cooked The fish that Nii caught.

Though we had been here for a while with the fire burning, Nii's clothing wasn't anywhere near dry yet. Yona had just asked.

Yoon responded with, "Yeah, even so. . ."

Everyone looked to see Nii, covered in his fur–making him look like a little, round, furry monster, of sorts.

"What kind of demon is that?" Hak said.

Yoon tried to salvage the situation, "This group is becoming more and more diverse."

"It's okay, Yoon," I said softly patting his back. "You can say 'weird'."
________________________________

Guess who's back from the dead?

. . . This Girl!

I'm sure you all have been waiting for this.

Since, you know, I'm SO good at updating my stories.

Anyway, it's February, & my birthday just passed, so I figured I'd try to get this chapter out.

Hope you guys liked it!

~Ashley