A group of travelers walked on the mountain, searching for a perfect place to rest from their long journey. After being turned black and blue by a small Sei army, the Happy Hungry Bunch continued their journey to return peace to the country.
However, returning the peace wouldn't be achieved if they're tired, no?
The chestnut-colored-hair boy scanned the area of the lushing forest, from which the sounds of calm and peace came. "This would be a perfect place to set up a camp," he said as he looked around.
The rest of the bunch put down their luggage. The chestnut boy, known as Yun, looked west and saw a small town crowded with different people. Foreigners, dancers, circus' players, merchants, and many more assorted people. Considering something, Yun glanced at his friends who were busy organizing their things.
"Okay, you guys. There's a town nearby," Yun announced, making the others perked their heads up. "I want to go there and gather supplies so we can keep going."
A large and white hand raised. "Can I go? It's been a while since I saw a nice town." The white-haired boy, Kija, asked politely to the boy.
Yun held up his chin with his fingers—a habit of his when thinking—while thinking of the possibilities of making a ruckus. "Well, we can think of that later on. First thing is setting up the tents."
The only girl volunteered to set up the tent, "I'll set it up with Hak!" Said man just glanced the red-haired girl with a look that demanded answers. But Yona only said, "Because Hak is stronger than me so he can help me setting up the tent."
Jeha, the green dragon smirked, "Well, Yona-chan, I know why you want to set up with Hak." He played with his long green hair, "So don't deny that you actually want to be alone with Hak."
"I-I don't," Yona started to stammer.
As soon as Jeha let out a playful smile, a punch met his beautiful face. "Say that again and I'll punch you until you lose consciousness." The black-haired guy, Hak, clenched his fist after punching Jeha right on his face.
"Ah, Hak, your fist is refreshing," Jeha said while rubbing his red face.
Yun face-palmed at their behavior. His teammates never had a day where everything was peaceful.
Yun started to give out orders, "Okay, here's the thing."
"I'm going to go to town with Jeha." Jeha let out a faint cheer after hearing his name being called.
"Kija, search up some firewood." Kija gave an ok sign with his clawed hand.
"Shina, there's a river nearby—which connects to a waterfall, so be careful—bring up some water in the bowls I put in Raijuu's bag." Yun pointed at the bag in Hak's hand. Shina nodded and started to search Hak's bag for said bowls.
Zeno, who was sitting idly, smiled innocently. "Well, since Zeno doesn't have any work to do, Zeno'll just play around…" Zeno's intention was stopped after his scarf was pulled.
Yun stared straightly at Zeno's eyes. "You'll accompany me and Jeha for searching for the things we need." Zeno just chuckled lightly and agreed to go with the 15-years-old boy.
Yun sighed at the immortal yellow dragon. Zeno might be wise at some time, but he's totally childish at a usual behavior. People would think he's an ordinary 15-years-old kid. Well, some do say "If you act young, your looks will be young too."
"Okay," Yun finally wrapped it up. "If you guys already know what you're going to do, then disperse!" The others dispersed and did what they were told. Shina went to the nearest river which coincidentally was the same way as Kija. Yun, Jeha, and Zeno went to the town. Lastly, Yona and Hak set up the tent.
The town was surprisingly festive, despite it being noon. Usually, the brightness of the sun made people want to celebrate less.
However, what Yun saw here was an exception.
The town was decorated beautifully, with stands of foods, beverage, charms, and other things that made many people come out to buy. People were here and there, buying stuffs, play around, or maybe just simply hung out with each other.
Looking around, Yun was trying to search a place where he could buy a new pot that he could use to feed five hungry dragons, a beast, and a squirrel. Also, some new utensils because Hak broke some accidentally, stepping on them without realizing it. Sometimes, Hak's strength is something great to have.
As he stopped at one of the stands—which was less crowded than the others. "Excuse me, I'm searching for a pot this big." Yun gestured the size he wanted. "And a few wood utensils. A whole set if you can." The clerk nodded as he gave Yun a smile.
The clerk wrote down the price on a piece of paper and showed it to Yun. Yun nodded at the price and dug through his pocket for some money.
Trying to loosen up the tense, the clerk asked, "Are you a visitor here, boy? A tourist, maybe?"
Yun shook his head slowly, denying the fact, "I'm just a traveler, sir."
The clerk nodded as he continued to search for the pot Yun wanted. "If you're new here, I think you should know about the recent rumors here."
"Rumors?" Yun asked. He expected a rumor like the previous ones he had heard: Human trafficking, poisonous alcohol, a cursed child, or something like that. Maybe the rumors are something like that, Yun thought.
"Yes, rumors." The clerk took a pot and put it on the counter. "Some people said that there's a hidden statue in the forest that will insert a bomb countdown on your body." Yun hummed while making a mental note to alert his comrades. "No one actually knows what happens when the countdown reaches zero. Some said they got a curse or something, some said nothing happens, some said it will make you sick and you'll eventually die."
Yun shivered at the last word. It wasn't a word that should be taken easily. "Then, what should we do if we encounter the statue?"
"I don't know." The clerk got the utensils Yun wanted and put them on the counter while looking at his eyes. "People do say that you can't escape from it. I myself haven't encounter the statue so I couldn't give you any details about it."
Yun took the things he needed and put some money on the counter.
Yun gave out a smile to the clerk. "That will be helpful, thank you, Sir!"
"Take care, boy," The clerk bid farewell.
It had been 15 minutes.
Fifteen minutes since Jeha had waited for Zeno and Yun at the place where they had dispersed—and also the place where Yun had told them to meet—for at least 15 minutes while examining the things—Yun had asked him to buy.
Some fresh fish and salt.
Jeha definitely knew why Yun had asked him to buy these things.
Since he had lived in a place that was surrounded with sea, he naturally knew how to pick the best fish and how to point out the freshest salt. He was kind of glad he had learnt that under Captain Gigan's harsh lessons.
Sensing the yellow dragon nearby, he looked up. Zeno was bringing bags of vegetables. Jeha smirked at that and waited until Zeno came closer to him. "You seem have a hard time carrying that, Zeno-kun."
Zeno laughed, "I'm used to bring these kind of goods in the past." Zeno smiled happily as he showed his bicep and patted it slowly.
Jeha sighed at the sight. "You barely have any muscles, Zeno-kun. You're like Yona-chan, no muscles but smooth skin." Jeha thought at his words and grabbed his chin to think more carefully. "Well, Yona-chan starting to grow some muscles so that doesn't count."
Both of them heard some running steps coming towards them. They turned their heads to the source of the sound.
Yun was running towards them with pots and utensils clanking in his bag. "Sorry I'm late." He panted, out of breath after running so hard. "There's a whole parade that was blocking my way towards here so I had to walk around the city to got here."
"Well, Yun-kun, you could always slow down." Jeha assured him. "There's nothing to worry about.
Yun stood up straight. "I was a bit worried you guys would get frantic and rant about me disappearing while buying utensils and wreck the whole town. It would be a chaos and I'm the one who's going to deal with everything."
Zeno laughed playfully at Yun and patted the boy's head. "Don't worry much, lad. We will wait you even if you're late. We'll probably do that when we don't get contact from you for one whole day or something." Zeno pointed to the forest and walked playfully. "Well, let's go back to the camp right now. Zeno is hungry!"
"Sure!" The other two said in unison.
A/N: I decided to break this into chapters.