13 | Colorful Words

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What's that noise . . . ?

There was something scurrying around the hut. I was only half awake, so the subtle scuffling and scratching sounded oddly distant in my ears, but it was still there, undoubtedly trying to stir me up from a rather sound slumber.

"Mhmm . . . "

Too tired to pay it any mind, I just rolled over onto my stomach and tugged my blanket closer to my body. An involuntary huff left my lips as my expression loosened with attempted sleep.

As if I was going to let a little noise nudge me away from some much needed rest. How was I supposed to keep up with the others if I started my day off drowsy? Sure, my powers had granted me strength, but what good would that do me if I was too busy nodding off into trees and such?

The noise became more disruptive the moment that question ruptured my thoughts.

Okay, I acknowledged as my eyelids fought to stay closed despite my growing frustration. Obviously, whatever is making this ruckus is really trying to boil up my nerves . . . Can't I just get some sleep?

I'd been angry before. It was an emotion I'd grown familiar with from my many years of mental brewing. I'd just never been angry about something so small. I suppose I had the right to get frustrated over the little things . . . Whether or not my anger was justifiable was another situation that could be dealt with later, but there was no denying the distasteful grimace that was working its way onto my face as that noise became more and more dastardly.

The scratching, the scurrying, the scuffling. Had I ever been so thoroughly annoyed before?

Something pounced onto my back. I felt the beginning of a yelp threaten to leave my lips, but the presence of whatever had jumped onto me made my eyes snap open with surprise.

I curled around to see a plump chipmunk perched on my backside. It's eyes were big and brown and just as kind as they'd been when I first saw them.

"Ao . . . ?" I rubbed the grogginess from my eyes, wondering if I was experiencing some kind of weird dream. "I thought that you were with the others . . . "

"Pikyuu~!" Enthralled, his little ears perked up along with his tail.

They're back. Yona, Hak, Yoon and the other Dragons. They must've arrived while I was asleep!

With a start, I sat up from my blanket and took a swift look around the hut. No one except for the chipmunk resting on my lap was there. The area where Shin-Ah had been resting the night before was empty, as were the places where Jae-Ha and Ik-Soo had slept. The room was desolate, but the sun was shining in through the door and two voices could be heard from outside. I strained my ears to listen to them, curious as to which one belonged to who.

"Ik-Soo, why is this old bucket full of water? We have another one that is much lighter than the likes of this monstrosity, so why would you even consider using it?" The voice of Yoon asked, and I felt my left brow arch up with crude suspicion.

"Well . . . I wasn't the one using it, exactly," the priest's response was full of nervous laughter. I could imagine him placing his hand on the back of his neck. "One of the young Dragon's daily tasks was to go down to the stream and fill that bucket with water."

"You made her carry that all the way down to the stream? Are you sure you're a man of the Gods, because that's just downright cruel!" Yoon reprimanded him.

"I wasn't trying to be cruel! All I wanted was for her to have a challenging routine. You can't train a person without making them do at least something!"

"Yeah, but that bucket is the worst," Yoon heatedly drawled. "Only showoffs would use that thing as a means to carry water. It's too heavy for normal people!"

"The Dragon of Life isn't a normal person. She was more than willing to carry that bucket. Even as she pushed herself to the point of exhaustion she held no hesitation in bearing that weight and going down into the valley again . . . Her diligence is something that will help propel Yona's journey in unimaginable ways. You've just yet to see it with your own eyes."

There was a short moment of silence that followed Ik-Soo's unexpected praise. I was as still as a statue, not moving an inch even as Ao crawled up my arm and onto the peak of my right shoulder.

            "You're very passionate about this . . . " Yoon muttered in a cooled voice. "If you say that she will be a big help, then I have no questions in regards to her character. She must've showed some promise after helping Shin-Ah."

            "She's showed promise since the very beginning," Ik-Soo insisted with adamance. "Only the bravest of souls would step so far out of their way to fulfill a role they know little about. She's learned a great deal during your absence. I guarantee you'll be surprised once she wakes up!"

            "Speaking of which, when will she wake up?" Yoon asked with sharpened interest. "The others are out collecting things for our departure. The Dragon has been asleep for quite a while now . . . Are you sure she's okay?"

            I blinked at his questions, realizing that I probably shouldn't have stalled around while they were talking about me. I'd been so engrossed in Ik-Soo's words that I nearly forgot where I was and what I was doing.

            I can' t be sitting around here if there's things I can be doing. I need to properly greet everyone!

            Not giving my mind any time to catch up with my actions, I leaped up from my disheveled blanket and ran over to the opening of the hut.

            Yoon's sky-blue eyes widened with surprise when I popped into view. Judging by the speculative way he looked over my person, I probably looked like a total mess.

            "I'm fine . . . I'm sorry for sleeping in, I was just tired from yesterday. There's no need to dwell on the matter," I hurriedly told the boy, my voice clear despite the fog of sleep that still crept over me.

            "Y-you," Yoon swallowed thickly, his gaze full of inquiries. "You're talking now . . . ?"

            "Uh . . . Yes?" I hesitantly answered him. His response to my voice almost reminded me of Jae-Ha's odd lapses in attentiveness. Yoon just wasn't good at keeping his face void of blatant shock.

            Ik-Soo grinned, triumphant. "I told you that you'd be surprised! Isn't her growth simply amazing?"

            Yoon pushed his dazedness away with the curt shake of his head. "How am I supposed to know? All she did was talk. That's a pretty normal thing to do, if you ask me," there was a stinging edge to his tone that made Ao cower beneath a small curtain of my hair. I didn't have time to say anything back because the boy was already storming off into the forest, his head held high. "I'm going to go find Yona. She'll want to see that you're awake and well!"

            As he disappeared into the greenery, Ik-Soo looked over at me with an apologetic grin. "Don't take what he says too seriously. Yoon is good at speaking his mind, but speaking from his heart is a challenge he has yet to truly face. He's actually happy about hearing your voice for the first time. He'll come around eventually!"

            "I hope so . . . " I subconsciously murmured, my gaze still pinned to the area Yoon had ventured through. I couldn't help but wonder how everyone else was going to feel when they heard me speak. I suspected that they'd already heard about my new development from Jae-Ha, Yoon being the exception since he'd remained at the hut.

            Yoon really wasn't wrong when he said that talking is a normal thing . . . For me it's new, but that doesn't mean I should shy away from doing it.

            "Let's prepare something for when they meet back here. It should take them a while since they're mongering for traveling essentials," Ik-Soo said with a plume of energy, and I moved out of the entryway so he could enter the hut once more. He walked over to the fire pit and stared down at his supplies. "We made stew last night. We could make something like that again, but I want to do something special since this is probably the last time we'll be eating a meal together for a while . . . "

           "What did you have in mind?" I walked over to his side and browsed his cooking supplies as well, trying to ignore the sadness that pricked at my chest as reality took its grim hold.

            I would definitely miss making and eating meals with Ik-Soo.

            "Hmm . . . " The man thought long and hard about his decision before lifting an enthusiastic finger into the air. "I think fish would be wonderful!"

            I have him a skeptical look. "You have fish for us to cook?"

            "No. We'd have to catch some down at the stream, but it won't take us long," he answered cheerfully.

            Some part of me knew that fishing with Ik-Soo would turn out to be a total disaster. It was practically chiseled in stone. How much trouble could a ditzy priest and a clueless Dragon possibly get into?

            I assumed a lot, but my response was charged with anticipation as I began marching to the door. "Let's go fishing then. It's something I've never done before, and I'd enjoy learning how it works."

            "Oh!" Ik-Soo followed after me with a long, pointy stick in tow. "This'll be loads of fun~"

        - = - = - = -

            Getting down to the stream alongside Ik-Soo was a lot different from the first time we'd made such a trip.

            Instead of trembling down the trail like a newborn fawn, I strolled down it with confidence. The conversation we had wasn't one-sided like it had been in the past. We freely talked about how we wanted to prepare the fish that we would catch, tossing in a myriad of different ideas for seasoning the meal. Before we knew it we were standing beside the water with our eyes on the current, searching for our prey.

            "This is the boring part of fishing," Ik-Soo claimed with an indigent huff. "Sitting around and waiting for the fish to show up is what drives most people away from the activity. I know that they're in there, but they don't want to be found!"

        "I wouldn't want to be found either if I was a fish. I can't believe you're going a spear one of them."

"You make it sound as though I'm a murderer. I'm only fishing, it's as simple as that!"

"I was only teasing you."

"Well, it was hard to tell," Ik-Soo said, assuming the role of victim. "While your voice is rather pretty, it's still monotonous. I can't tell when you're joking or being serious~"

"I'll make sure to work on that . . . " I mindlessly appeased him as I took a step closer to the stream and looked down into the shallows.

            It's strange to think I was able to connect with something so seemingly mundane, I observed as that familiar hum of the forest mingled with the flagrant roar that erupted from the waterfall up ahead. I can still feel the string that links me to it . . . It's just not nearly as strong as it'd been yesterday.

            My curious spirit got the better of me as I crouched down and plunged my fingers into the cold water, focusing on the bond that'd grown so fuzzy.

            I didn't expect for much to happen- I wasn't close to the waterfall like I had been before- but I quickly learned that distance had little to do with my unorthodox power.

            Once again, power flowed into my veins, gifting me with an impeccably strong perception of everything that lived in and outside of the water.

            "You're a lot more brave than I presumed you to be," Ik-Soo chuckled as he continued to stare at the stream. "Even though you haven't the faintest idea of the effect you have on this land, you don't hesitate to dive straight into its arms. That takes guts."

            Startled out of my moment of patent bliss, I snapped my eyes in his direction.

            "Th-that's not true. I'm not brave . . . I'm just a brazen, impulsive fool," I told him with an odd quiver to my voice. I'd never thought much of myself, but I was quite certain that the adjective "brave" didn't fall under my description.

            "What makes you say that?" He asked plainly, and I shrugged.

            "Well, since I am pretty ignorant to what my Dragon abilities entail, I lack the awareness that a person should have when facing the unknown," I paused as I twiddled my fingers in the water, cherishing the coolness it brought to the rest of my hand. "It may seem like bravery to the unsuspecting eye, but I'm really just oblivious . . . "

            "Many individuals say that ignorance is bliss . . . I think that any person who's willing to trade their so-called obliviousness for solidified knowledge is brave. It means you're prepared to take things head-on even if the consequences aren't clearly stated," he told me as he spun his fishing spear between his fingers. "You have a willingness to put the entirety of your trust into the smallest of things. That's a rarity in a coward's world . . . "

            "Are you saying that I should give myself more credit?" I asked with a small, half-hearted grin. I felt the water ripple around my fingers even more, pleading for me to enter. "I don't need to give myself anything . . . As long as I'm repaying the people who gave me everything, then it's pointless for me fret over what I think I deserve."

            Ik-Soo gave me a sideward glance before letting his face fall victim to a smirk. "I see that you still have plenty of things to learn. You've made many groundbreaking discoveries over this past week, but you have yet to spend some genuine time alongside the other Dragon descendants. What you've learned with me is only a start. What you learn from them will be quintessential to what you need the most."

            "What is it that I need the most, exactly?"

            "That's another thing you'll have to figure out on your own," he ambiguously answered. "There's limits to how much I can tell you, as you already know, so there will be many occasions where you'll have to make conclusions based off of what you see with your own eyes . . . Right now might be one of those instances, if you looked down at your hand."

                I looked back to the water before to me and realized with a slight gasp that the water I'd had my extremities submerged in was slowly beginning to creep up my arm. The cold fluid curled around my hand in a simple spiral, almost as if it were trying to lead me off onto some special escapade.

            "W-what's happening?" I asked to both myself and the man beside me, not daring to move my hand away from the connection I had unknowingly forged.

            "I'm sure you've heard them," Ik-Soo nearly snickered at me, his demeanor non-serious. "The voices that seem to call out to you whenever you're clearly in contact with a source that seeks your attention. Since you're so popular with the things that ravage this earth, it's only natural that they'd want to chat with you. Some might even want to hold onto you, as you can obviously see."

            His words made sense. I'd heard intangible beings try to speak to me, the pond by the waterfall being one of them. I could hear what they had to say to me, but I hardly knew how to respond to them . . .

            Maybe a verbal response would do the trick, I mulled the possibility over in my head. When I was at the pond yesterday I didn't have the courage to talk . . . Things have changed drastically since then, so what would happen if I tried to return the sentiment?

            "I know what you're referring to . . . But what do you suppose will happen if I tried to speak back to those voices?" I asked without taking my eyes off of the water that was becoming less and less cold with every passing moment.

            "Only the Gods would have the answer to such a question," Ik-Soo teased before sobering up on his fib. "But, if I were to throw in my own undiluted prediction, I'd say that nothing bad would happen. Maybe you'd experience a few surprises here and there, but isn't that what life is all about?"

            Feeling inspired by his words, I lowered my face down to the area of my arm that was being embraced by whatever spirit that possessed the stream. I didn't think about anything else but the lukewarm silkiness of the water as I uttered a few lines that were jammed full of my feelings.

            "I've been wanting to thank you for your kindness this past week . . . Not a day has gone by without me appreciating your beauty," I swallowed slightly before letting my lips curl into a soft grin that made the water still. "I'll use this strength that you've given me to do great things. That's a promise . . . "

            "You're leaving?" A voice that resembled a child's filled my ears. It sounded distant and slightly distorted in my head, but an instinctive part of me knew that it belonged to the stream sitting in front of me.

            I imagined that the water wrapped around my arm was the hand of a little boy's, youthful and clingy, as I slowly nodded my head. "Yes, I am. There's a person I wish to help. She's very warmhearted, and I want nothing more than to assist her."

            "I don't want you to leave," The voice trilled, sounding distraught. "I want you to keep visiting me!"

            Any possible response I could've offered eluded me as I felt myself completely lose my bearings to a tug that had me toppling straight into the water.

            I might've heard Ik-Soo let loose a "My goodness!" or some other cry of surprise at my tumble, but I couldn't focus on much of anything as my conscience went red with stipulations.

A few of the words that Jae-Ha had taught me the night before escaped my lips as my backside collided with a large, underwater rock.

I wasn't sure why the words were sputtered out. I'd only just learned them and the only thing I really knew about them was the fact that they were extremely naughty, but Jae-Ha had mentioned something about them being used for times of frustration and turmoil. If being completely soaked and experiencing a quick jolt of temporary pain wasn't enough to get miffed over, then maybe I would've been more embarrassed by the moments that followed my fall.

"Wow~" A suave voice sang from the area behind me. "You learn quick, don't you!"

I twisted around in my spot only to find four familiar faces staring down at me from across the short bank. With a wince and an undoubtedly embarrassed countenance, I stammered out the first words that came to mind.

            "D-did you guys . . . Hear what I just said?"

            The question was so ridiculous, I couldn't help but mentally slap myself, Of course they heard you, you idiot. The whole damn forest heard you!

            Kija, Shin-Ah, and Yoon gaped at me as Jae-Ha and Ik-Soo stood idly by, both indifferent

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