-6-
It was beginning to drizzle at Běifēng, the wind was non existent and the sound of raindrops colliding with the ground was enough to keep anyone in a deep slumber. Milla continue to sleep while Kai puts his jacket on and begin to wake the sleeping hound, "Milla your up?" Kai said trying his best not to slap the girl in the face to get back at her, but he restrains himself "Hello? Milla get up." he repeats in his usual monotonic voice. "Milla!" he finally yells, the hound abruptly wakes, while under her short panic, Milla grabs the katana on top of the night table and points it directly at Kai's face which was only a few centimeters away from the tip of the blade. The husky attempts to keep a neutral face but a sweat begins to roll down "Perhaps it's best for you not to sleep next to your sword, and don't use protection as an excuse, that's what your psychic powers are for" he says in a semi-frightened voice.
Milla notices the person she's pointing the katana at, "I'm sorry, you took me by surprise." Milla apologizes to Kai, she looks outside the window and notices the drizzle of rain "Is it raining?"
"Yeah, you think Jin is going to still train you today?"
Milla thinks for a moment and gets out of the bed "I'm going over there anyways!" Milla says with determination. She realizes she's still wearing her bathrobe and while scratching the back of her head she asks "Uh, can you leave the room, please. I need to change my clothes."
Kai leaves the room, after waiting a few minutes Milla exits the room with her usual attire and holding her sword. Both canines begin to follow the mountain pass to Jin's house and notices Fang walking towards opposite direction.
Milla greets the wolf "Hi there Fang!"
"Oh, hello Milla, Kai." Fang greets both canines back, "So you're heading over to Jin's house, he's waiting for you guys."
"So he's still going to train me in this weather?"
"Well, he is a very disciplined man, also he seems very… reserved." Fang explains "Not that's a bad thing, he's actually very sweet and kind, in fact if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have a roof over my head and neither would my younger siblings."
"He offered you and your siblings a home?"
"Yeah, well he offered me a place to stay, but he knew someone who would take them in, Jie, the master of the Dōng mén Dojo; Jie was willing to take my younger brother and sister."
"I might have met them then, what are their names?"
"Ginger and Zhao Shi."
Milla ponders for a moment, trying to recognize the names, she finally remember the two siblings "They're doing alright, Ginger is a sweet girl while Zhao is very heroic."
Fang makes a faint laugh "That sounds like them, good to hear they're OK, I'll see you later."
"You go on ahead, I'm going to ask Fang something." Kai says to Milla, she makes a nod in response.
Milla decides to make up for lost time and begin running in all fours towards Jin's house, as the hound enters the house she notices that no ones home, she searches the house for the missing general, she then sees a back door and sees Jin with both of his swords drawn with several logs with slices. Milla meets Jin at what she assumed was a training area, "Hi there!"
Jin makes a grin "Took you long enough, what happened?"
"I overslept and we bumped into Fang, she seems really grateful for your hospitality."
"Really? That's the first time I heard her be grateful for anything, but I know why she doesn't admit to it."
"But that's not nice, she should be telling you that she is grateful, not me!"
Jin pats Milla's head, "I'll tell you about it later, let's get started." the draconic general continues "Show me what you got.", he sits on top of a stump and began drinking tea as Milla starts swinging her sword and occasionally striking the training log.
Meanwhile Kai is at the shooting range, he grabs his sniper rifle, takes aims and with outstanding precision he shoot down targets one by one. The soldiers and hunters at the range are left shocked at the husky boy's amazing accuracy, he never misses and always aim at the right points, as Kai continue to blast the targets and audience away, he begins to think about his discussion with Fang, I'll give that woman credit, she's determined.
"What's the big idea?"
"What do you mean?"
"If your younger brother and sister is at Dōng mén, why aren't you with them?"
"Because it's my fault that we're in this mess, Zhao and Ginger was always so close to me so when I ran away after an argument with my father, Zhao and Ginger followed. We had no food, water or even shelter, but then Jin found us. He gave us shelter, but he couldn't provide for us all, so I decided to have Jin send them to the Dōng mén Dojo where I know they will be treated well, and maybe even become stronger, while I get my life together. That's why I'm working at the mines so I can raise money to someday be able to support my siblings."
"Well then I wish you luck, though don't do anything stupid or over do it."
Kai snaps back at reality, and realizes that all of the targets have been completely eradicated, the audience who gathered around Kai was in awe at his amazing performance, the husky looks around him "Hey, never seen anyone practice his aim before?" he said in a rude and monotonic manner.
Kai enters the Běifēng park and notices a few children playing at the playground with their older siblings, he snaps his tough who needs them. The husky finds a tree that seems big enough to shelter him from the drizzling rain, he lays down and takes a nap, who needs siblings, who needs family.
Milla stances at the training area behind Jin's house, exhausted from hours of training, she begins to hyperventilate from lack of oxygen, "I think… I'm going to… pass out… "
Jin responds "You did great, I think you should relax now, you worked long and hard, you've shown that you have great determination."
"Thank you" Milla says trying not to pass out.
"Let's go inside."
Milla and Jin goes into the house, the dragon prepares some chow mein for both himself and Milla, he places two bowls on the dining table, "What kind of drink would you like?" Jin asks the hound.
"I'll take some seltzer." the hound responds in a happy voice, "I know I complained about being tired earlier, but I really had a good time training." she continue changing into a serious face.
"I'm pleased to hear that, I know that the training might be harsh, especially in this weather." Jin said while drinking some ginger tea.
"I'm fine with the harsh conditions, I lived in the wilds most of my childhood, not to mention what I've been through two years ago, but about Fang."
"Fang, she's a very independent woman, all she wants to do is protect her younger siblings, however when we first met she didn't have the means to care for them."
"How long has she lived with you now then?" Milla asks.
"four years now, she was fifteen, Zhao was ten, and Ginger was only four at that time." Jin explains "We agreed that Dōng mén Dojo was the best place for Zhao and Ginger."
"I see" Milla says in a soft voice, the two continued to eat, however they hear Kai enter the house.
"I told her not to do something stupid!" Kai says to himself.
"What happened?" Milla asked in response.
"It's Fang."
"What about Fang, what happened to her?" Jin demanded.
"She got herself lost in the mine, some miners said that they couldn't find her."
"We need to find her then, but I fear that given the weather outside, the mines may not be the safest place to enter." the general ponders for a moment "Will you two find her, I'll try to convince the soldiers to let you into the mine, you guys are lighter and younger, so you should be able to fit through the small crevices while safely going through the mineshafts."
Milla joins in the conversation "But you're a dragon couldn't you you find her faster?"
"Speed may not be the best thing for this situation, those mines could be unstable, we don't want to cause a cave in."
Milla and Kai nods in agreement, Jin leads them to the main entrance to the Běifēng Mines below the city east of the lift. Several soldiers was guarding the main entrance to the mineshaft, Jin told them to let Milla and Kai enter; the soldiers, although skeptical, obeyed the generals orders, and permitted both canines entrance into the mineshaft.