- = - = - = -

My eyes snapped open to the sound of worried voices and random accusations. Yona was still in a dead sleep, undisturbed by the commotion, but I was up and alert as I tried to discern what the hell was happening outside our tent.

I strained my ears only to realize it was the others. They were somewhere in front of the entrance, talking amongst each other.

"What happened to the tent?" Yoon asked in a half-frantics. "I don't remember it being pitched around so many plants!"

"I think it looks pretty," Zeno swooned, his voice cheerful. "It's like our little Miss and the Pink Dragon have become flower princesses~"

  "We can't even see them, Zeno. They're stuck in there somewhere." Hak growled. "Kija . . . Were you the one who did this?"

"N-no! I swear this place was clear when I put the tent up," the white-haired man promised. "I'm not that hopeless, you know."

"Sometimes I doubt that," Hak returned before taking a step closer to the tent, crouching down to its level. "But this makes no sense . . . Nothing could grow like this. It's only been a matter of hours since we came to this part of the woods, let alone since we went to sleep."

My heart dropped in worry as memories of what'd happened the night before swamped my mind. I had managed to grow a patch of flowers when I'd been sitting on the ground for a minute or two, but I never thought about what would've happened if I laid down for a few hours.

It can't be that bad, I tried to convince myself as I crawled out from under my blanket and toward the front of the tent. It probably just looks like a strange coincidence to them . . .

       My eyes widened when I opened the flap of the tent. Not only were there flowers bundled up around the tent, but there were others things as well: bushes, random plants, and even a few small trees. I couldn't believe it. If that happened all within the span of a night, then what would grow if I stayed in one place for an entire day?

       My question fell short when I realized that everyone was looking at me. They could hardly see me through all the new growth, but my peculiar hair probably made myself more visible.

       Zeno smiled. "She does look like a flower princess."

       "Agreed," Jae-Ha seemed to smirk when he saw my (probably shocked) disposition. "It appears that our Pink Dragon has a way with nature."

       I fought the urge to retreat back into the tent at the velocity of their comments, but I remained where I was. Being close to all the things that'd grown around the tent almost made me forget where I was. It was so diverting to hear their secret little voices calling out to me, asking me to come and sit with them.

       So interesting . . . I never thought I was capable of something like this. It makes me happy, in an odd sort of way.

       Hak took a step forward, his expression hard with curiosity. "Is the Princess in there?"

       I'd never heard someone seriously refer to Yona as a Princess before, but I brushed the thought aside as I gave Hak a quick nod. He seemed to relax at my response. "Good . . . It'll be a blast trying to get you both out of there, but we'll figure it out."

       "Shin-Ah could cut through all that just fine," Yoon shrugged as he looked deeper into our miniature forest, his icy-blue gaze calculative. "He'd have to be careful about cutting the tent itself, though."

       The thought of someone hacking down the plants seemed repugnant to me. I couldn't convey that to them of course, so I just stared down at a plant that was sitting right in front of the tent opening. It was small and green and had curly, greenish-yellow vines that fell in tendrils to the ground. Looking at it made me want to smile. It was cute, and the feelings that it conveyed to me were nothing short of sweet.

        "Let's wait before doing anything brash," Shin-Ah said all of a sudden, catching me off guard.

        Kija looked at him funny. "Why do you suggest that?"

        I wondered the same thing as I stared at the quiet statue of a man. He couldn't have sensed my apprehension toward the demolishment of the flowers, right? That would've been insane. I was sure that my expression hadn't given anything away . . . But he was pretty observant, being the Blue Dragon and all. Although I knew little to nothing about them, his eyes must've been strong if they'd been passed down from a Dragon of all things.

        Shin-Ah just shrugged at us, his demeanor passive. "I'm sure Yona and the Dragon could get through that just fine . . . "

        "Are you sure?" Jae-Ha asked with the quirk of a green brow, his purple gaze turning to me. "We'd still have to take the tent down."

        "I'll take care of that!" The voice of Yona suddenly declared, slightly spooking me. I turned around to find that she was wide awake, her hair a wild red mess from slumber. She poked her head out and took a quick look around before grinning. "This is all so pretty. Why destroy it when the Dragon and I can easily get ourselves out?"

        I'm impressed, I wanted to gape at how easily Yona prevailed over dilemmas big and small. She's always so resolute in everything she does. I, on the other hand, have to think something ten times over before taking action . . .

        Yona had said that I'd eventually curve around my hesitant ways, and I believed her, but it was hard to believe so early on. My journey had only just begun. Time was in abundance, I just wished it would progress at a quicker pace. One would think that living in a hut and doing practically nothing for years on-end would help a person develop a sturdy supply of patience, but I was an astounding case of the contrary.

        "We'll wait for you two to finish your attempt at escape while Yoon is preparing breakfast," Hak stated dubiously before allowing the corner of his lip to curl up into a smirk. "If you're not out by meal time, I'll send Shin-Ah after you. We have places to be, and we can't be waiting around for just anything."

        "We'll do it!" Yona declared as he walked over to the fire to rest, still at a distance where he could keep his eye on us. "And we'll get it done with time to spare." She looked over at me with a determined look plastered onto her features. "Let's take down this tent and show that idiot who the capable ones are."

        I nodded at her and proceeded the interesting process of dethroning the shelter, avoiding the unnecessary smashing of plants as we worked. After finally folding it up into a packable size, I realized how ridiculous our situation looked. It was like we'd been trapped in a rectangular-shaped prison of nature. The only space we had to move around in was the small bed of grass that'd been covered by the tent.

        "Phew," Yona rested her hands on her hips with a small sigh. "Now that we've got that taken care of, we have to find a reasonable way to get out . . . "

        I looked around, searching for any possible routes. After a speedy evaluation, I pointed to an area that was slightly less dense than the rest. Yona walked over to it and peered through the wall of greenery. "We could probably climb through here . . . I'll grab the tent and go first. If it works you can follow right after me."

        I watched as she stealthily slid her way through the array of life, her arms tucked close to her body. I could sense the plants' joyous reaction to making a new acquaintance. I was so enamored by their little frenzy that I almost didn't realize that Yona had safely gotten through.

        I walked over to the slight opening, peering through.

        Yona was on the other side, smiling victoriously. "I made it. Now it's your turn!"

        I took a deep breath before shimmying through the opening as well. As I carefully avoided bending any of the shrubbery, I had to pay special attention to maintaining my focus. I'd gotten used to the general splendor of being in a forest full of living things, but being close to them was an entirely different story. Brushing against them elicited so many foreign reactions, drowned me in so many different thoughts. It was almost overwhelming.

        I need to get through like Yona said, I thought with diligence as I crept closer to my goal, almost dizzy from the energy that was flooding my body. If I can't handle this weird communication now, then how will I manage it later?

        Finally, I got passed the beautiful wall. No hacking needed; Yona and I had succeeded.

        But one of those precious little plants didn't want me to leave so quickly, for when I began to step away from its bountiful home I felt a vine curl itself around my ankle. It tugged me back in a last-ditch effort to make me return, but in doing so made me stumble forward.

        "Oh my gosh!" Yona gasped. She tried to reach for me, but she was still carrying the tent.

        " . . . ! " I could feel myself falling. The ground was approaching fast, but a sudden blur of movement changed that drastically. I flailed my arms out and squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see my own demise.

        Unexpectedly, my outstretched arms wrapped themselves around something warm and sturdy. I thought that whatever I'd grabbed would go tumbling down along with me, but it steadied me . . . With strong arms that felt too human to be considered inanimate.

        I opened my eyes only to wince at the unfortunate reality I'd found myself in.

        Shin-Ah had received the full brunt of my fall. His body (which was far too close to mine for comfort) remained upright, but me latching onto him made him grunt.

        Despite the unexpected nature of the moment, I couldn't help but bask in the sensations that rushed through me. I vaguely remembered what it felt like for someone to embrace me. In no way were Shin-Ah and I embracing. We were a perfectly jumbled mess, but his arms were nearly encircling me and mine were curled around his center. He was a whole head taller than me, so my face was smushed into the center of his chest that was decorated with long beaded necklaces.

        He was also rather warm . . . I'd forgotten how warm a person could be. Yona's hand had been warm, too, but this felt like I was being enveloped in the arms of a tropical cloud.

        Oh my goodness, I began to freak when I remembered what'd happened the last time someone touched me. This is bad! What if something happens?!

        Hurriedly, I backed away from him, away from his warmth, my eyes widened with worry. Shin-Ah seemed just as concerned as myself as he lifted his hands into the air, surrendering them.

        "Uh," he looked at me through the ambiguous holes of his mask. "Are you alright . . . ?"

        I nodded, and Yona came up to me. "I'm sorry about that. I would've helped, but my arms were full," she then looked over to Shin-Ah with a relieved smile. "It's a good thing Shin-Ah is so quick to react when it comes to things like this!"

        "I'm envious of that," Jae-Ha said off-handedly from his place by the fire. He was eating the meal Yoon had prepared, and his slanted eyes were gleaming with something I didn't understand. "If only I had been the one to catch her. I wouldn't have let go as easily as Shy Guy Shin-Ah over there."

        I looked over at the man in question, my gaze filled with innocent curiosity. He didn't seem to care about what Jae-Ha had said. He was busying himself with assisting Yona, so I assumed that it wasn't anything serious.

        Ayame had taught me many things through our one-sided conversations. I could generally delineate how people regularly interacted with one another, but I still had much to learn about the human heart . . .

        "Don't listen to the playboy. Come get some food while it's hot," Yoon called me over to the fire. "We need to hurry. The trip to Ik-Soo's is a long one, and we can't be dawdling around so much."

        "That's true. I've been really wanting to meet him," Kija said with enthusiasm as he properly downed his meal. I peered up at him as Yoon handed me a bowl my own, curious. Kija caught my gaze while his mouth was still full and he coughed, nearly choking. After swallowing his food and regaining his composure, he looked to me with rosy cheeks. "W-why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?"

        I shook my head at him, and Zeno laughed. "She probably wants to know why we're going to Ik-Soo's."

        "Oh!" A look of revelation crossed Kija's features. "Hak had decided it would be a good idea to go visit him since Yona had gathered all the Dragons. We were going to do it before, but now that we have you with us the matter has become more urgent," he said without thinking before catching himself. "N-not in a bad way! We're really happy to have you here, but we know little to nothing about you . . . Your power isn't as obvious as mine. It seems to be something internal."

        "Ik-Soo is a pretty useless guy," Yoon said bitterly before softening his tone a bit. "But he has a strong connection with the Heavens. He's the one who told Yona about her fate with the Dragons, so we figured he could tell us more about yourself."

        That would be nice, I thought to myself as I started to eat. I don't know who this man is, but he must be kind if he was willing to help Yona previously . . .

        "It'll probably take us about three days to get to the mountains," Yona suddenly chipped in as she plopped down beside me. "I think it will take about four."

        "Why do you say that?" Hak asked as he set down his bowl and thumbed the wooden hilt of his weapon. "We could easily make in three if we don't stop anywhere . . . "

        "Oh," Yona popped without a hint of surprise. "We'll definitely be stopping along the way."

        Yoon gave her a funny look. "We already restocked our supplies at the Pink Dragon's old village. We won't need any more for a while if Shin-Ah and Hak keep up with their hunting."

        "We need to get some clothes," Yona stated incredulously as she gestured to my beaten attire. "The new Dragon can only last so long in the woods while only wearing a dress. She needs something that'll function well."

        I knew it wasn't the most practical piece of clothing. Compared to what the others were wearing, it was sort of nonsensical. Kija wore white, but he kept it clean unlike myself. If I was going to wake up every morning surrounded by flowers, in no way was that dress going to remain white. Yona was right when she said I needed something different.

        "It's true," Zeno agreed. "The dress is cute on her, but it won't do her any good with traveling."

        Jae-Ha muttered something intangible beneath his breath, and Hak instantly kicked him from behind with one of his long powerful legs. "Do you ever quit with the sexual comments?"

        "Not really," Jae-Ha chuckled despite his obvious pain. From what I could tell, Hak had kicked him hard. "But I wouldn't be opposed to helping our well-natured little Dragon find herself some new garb," he admitted before closing one of his eyes at me in a quick blink. "I'd make sure she wore something nice."

        "Walking around naked isn't an option, you pervert!" Yoon scowled, and Kija's face flushed red like it had earlier.

        "When did he ever suggest that?" The White Dragon asked, and Zeno giggled.

        "He didn't say it out loud, but he definitely said it with his eyes!"

        I was lost as they went off on another indescribable tangent. I looked over at Yona, who was peacefully ignoring everything as she ate her meal. When she was done she turned to flash me a pristine smile.

        "Going to the market will be fun, don't you think so?"

        As much as I wanted to agree with her, I couldn't help but silently dread the outcome of my search for new clothing.

        There's still so much for me to learn about these Dragons, I thought as I quietly watched Yoon throw an empty bowl at a smirking Jae-Ha. I'm sure these next few days will be rather enlightening . . .

        - = - = - = -

    | Chapter 6 |

    Another one down, and so many more to go! :D

    Still have a little more filler to implement into the next chapter. After the Dragon grows more accustomed to the rambunctious ways of the group, she'll be faced with an interesting turn of events when meeting Ik-Soo for the first time~

    Shopping trip, here we go! I hope you all will look forward to it in the next update (:

    Thanks for reading!

    ~Bell