I peered around Len's shoulder and caught Trey's blue spikey head leaning out from behind a tree. Since situations weren't escalating I decided to pay it no attention.
"Well, since matters are settled and we've made our existences known, there's no further need for me to stay," I commented, trying to hide my anxiety.
Len shifted to stand in front of me, preventing me from moving further past him. "And where do you think you'll go? I would suspect you won't get a warm welcome back if your family knew you were here," he concluded.
"If I cared what they thought, do you think I would be here now?" I had to take a moment to consider his question. "I guess… I don't really know where I'll go. Certainly not back there…" A shudder ran down my spine at the thought of walking through the doors to the place I had the misfortune of calling home. Not wanting to burden my new found companions with darkness, I quickly changed the subject. "Why were those fools looking for you anyway?"
Len had caught on to what I did, but he didn't press the subject further. "They were some of Zeke's loyal followers. Even before we defeated him I had his henchmen on my tail, asking me to join them. Bunch of morons…"
Movement in the trees to my left drew my attention, and a glimpse of Rio's purple collar could be seen among the leaves. "The privacy was much appreciated everyone," I said in a distinctly louder voice. Some moments after, the rest of the group emerged from their cover.
"Sorry dudes, we couldn't help it!" Trey confessed, scratching his head sheepishly.
"You said 'if things got nasty' so… we stood by for support!" Yoh chuckled. "So uh, what's this about leaving already? You just got here!"
Len:
"I don't want any more trouble for you all. Those men aren't the first to hunt me down, and I'm sure they won't be the last," Sung replied, her face turning ashen.
"That sounds like a better reason that you should stay with us! They can help you!" Morty said, waving his arms at the rest of us.
"Morty's right! We'll help you kick those bad guys' butts!" said Trey.
"For once I agree with Trey," I added, raising an eyebrow at her.
That expression had returned to her face, like we were speaking a foreign language to her, like she didn't understand what was happening. Earlier I had felt like our conversation was getting too personal and sad, so I didn't ask any more questions, but she had given me clues that indicated that more was going on that I didn't already know about the Shing Min clan.
From the moment I had laid eyes on Sung, something had connected me to her instantly. The reason or the how to this was uncertain, but I was determined to find out. Maybe it was something as trivial as me simply saving her, but maybe it was more.
The sheer number of our group forced Sung into submission. Her brow furrowed as she cast her eyes down to the ground, but a tiny "alright" sounded from her lips.
"Len could always use a side kick!" Trey winked at her.
I shot him a piercing glance, my face surely going red. "I do not need a side kick. I do just fine on my own, thank you very much," I snapped at him.
"Alright guys! We should go and meet up with the girls again before they start worrying!" Yoh suggested, waving his hands at us.
We trekked back through the canyon, where Anna, Tamara, and Jun were awaiting our return. Our new member remained silent the entire way, her eyes fixed on the ground ahead of her. I myself had been trailing behind the others, with Sung about ten feet behind me. I felt like I should say something to her, but I didn't know what. Bombarding her and putting her on the defense so early in seemed like an unwise decision.
"And who's that?" Anna demanded vigilantly. She was staring past my shoulder at Sung, who wasn't even aware of what was going on.
After she didn't address Anna's question, Yoh did for her. "Anna, this is Sung. Len saved her from a bunch of bad guys and since she was alone, we invited her to travel with us. She's also a Shaman."
"Alright then," Anna replied without any hesitation.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jun glance questioningly from me to Sung. Jun was typically more on the family tradition side than I was, so I decided to ignore her and continue on my way. I was unsure of how she would react to having a Shing Min as an ally, even though Jun herself had undergone quite the attitude makeover since meeting Yoh. No, it was best to keep it to myself until the right time.
"Uh, Len?" that tiny voice said from behind me. I paused and turned to Sung, who still had her head down and gaze to the ground.
It perplexed me that the strong, confident voice that had come from earlier was gone, and that this soft, almost frightened one had taken its place, like a whole other entity.
"Where exactly are we going?" she asked.
"We're more exploring than going anywhere in particular, really," I explained.
She nodded her understanding, and then didn't say another word after that until we arrived at a small tourist town.
"Well guys and gals," Yoh called as he stopped us in front of a hostel of sorts. "It's getting late and we've travelled a long way, so I say we crash here for the night."
A dull murmur of approvals dispersed over the group, and Yoh led them inside the hostel. Before I moved to head in as well, I quickly glanced over at Sung. Her cautious expression had turned to one of awareness and silent defense.
"Sung?" I said, doubling back to meet her.
"Something doesn't feel right." It shocked me slightly that her strong voice had returned.
Failing to come up with a reply, I swallowed and motioned to the door. "Come on."
She remained there for a moment longer as she studied me, her left hand wrapping around the hilt of one of her swords. With a sigh she consented and followed me inside.
Yoh and the others were at the service desk arranging for the room when we caught up to them. Turned out the town we had arrived in was a shaman town, and the hostel catered specifically to shamans. The clerk said that since there was a large group of us that we could have the rec lounge to ourselves. The offer was gladly accepted and we headed straight there.
Inside was a sizable dining table with an abundance of chairs, a long, L-shaped sofa encroaching an empty fireplace, a dusty bar with stools, and a corner of rocking chairs and a bookcase. It was large enough for everyone to have their own corner, so I decided it might not be so bad. Out of the sliding glass doors at the far wall of the lounge I could see a pool surrounded by thick trees.
The rest of the group took no time at all to rush in and make themselves at home. Sung hung back at the doorway, her arms folded over her chest. She took one look at the glass doors before moving towards them and going outside. I didn't realize I was staring after her absently until Yoh called my name.
"Hey Len? What's with Sung?" he asked with a slight note of concern.
"I don't know," I replied. "I think she's just on edge still from the fight."
"Have you two met before or something?"
"No, never. Our families, however, are well known to each other." I let it go as vaguely as possible. The history between the Taos and the Shing Mins was long and complicated. "I'm going to go check on her."
Yoh nodded before I made my way to the doors. Sliding them open carefully so as not to startle her, I slipped out just as silently. She was standing at the edge of the pool, staring down at her reflection in the gently rippling water.
"What is it?" she inquired, turning to me slowly.
It was hard to believe the girl standing before me was a Shing Min. Everything about her contradicted everything I had been told about them. Then again, I was never one to judge a book by its cover. She stood a noticeable three or four inches shorter than I, yet her mysterious violet eyes managed to capture mine perfectly whenever they connected. Anyone who had never seen her before could easily mistake her small, thin frame as a child and nothing more, but certainly not a shaman of fine skill. The only thing that could depict her as a Shing Min was her glimmering silver blue hair, which was drawn up on one side into a short ponytail held by an ornate Oriental decoration of bells, bows and flowers.
The hard look in her eyes softened slightly as she came to realize it was only me.
"I just wanted to talk to you, that's all," I said genuinely.
She raised an eyebrow doubtfully. "You? Want to talk to me?"
"I meant what I said when I told you I don't care which family you come from. You've already proven that you can be an ally, so the fact that you come from an enemy family means absolutely nothing to me.
She took a step closer to me, and looked deep into my eyes, holding them for a long moment to decide if I was trustworthy or not. She must have come to the conclusion that I was, for a smile flashed across her exhausted face and she released my gaze.
"What is that you know about me?" she asked curiously.
"Probably not enough to make a decent conversation, given that you're one person. The better question would be, 'how much do I know about the Shing Mins?'"
"Alright then. How much do you know about the Shing Mins?"
"More than I would like to."
I thought I saw a spark of hope briefly light up in her face, but I wasn't sure if it was from my response in general, or the note of distaste in my voice, or if it even happened at all.
