Summer Snow
curiouzkatt: The more I'm trying to end this story, the more I'm realizing how heave the requiem is being. If anyone has been reading, here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy! There's a cameo with my niece's typing skills, hard to miss.
Disclaimer: I don't own Saiyuki.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Chapter Twelve: With Your Heart
Dark blood oozed out of the ninja's neck, remnants of Kusanagi's minions. Mayumi was near tears as they tried to get past the blockade of mindless ninjas and make their way home.
"I can't take all of this gross stuff" she whimpered.
"But you treat our wounds all the time!" Mili commented.
"That's different, as it's healing someone. This feels like a zombie apocalypse!"
"Kyuuu" Hakuryu whined, most likely from being tired as well.
KSSSHHHT! "Can you hear me?" Mayumi could hear Blue through her communicator. She waved off another two ninjas, cringing as they crashed down a culvert.
"BLUE!? Is that you?" Mili exclaimed, beside herself with relief, tearing up at the sound of his voice.
KSSSHHT! "Oh thank God this is working! I've been worried sick for you! I've been hearing the battles – It sounds like Linlin and the others have just finished off Kusanagi!"
"That's great!" Mayumi exclaimed, Zeia seemed a little worried. Something was not adding up.
Mili was confused as well. "If they've managed to kill her, why are we still fending off these minions?" Something didn't seem right.
KSSSHT! "That is strange. I'm concerned for your safety. You have to get back here at the Kazuya house soon. Hakkai can come get you."
"No Blue, you shouldn't be left alone." Mayumi reasoned. "We're not completely helpless out here. We'll get back there soon."
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"Okay, but please be careful" Blue answered through the communicator. "I'll be here hearing everything, so just keep moving forward and I'll know where you are." He sighed, turning off his mic. He glanced at Hakkai, who had been busy reading his book, ever so calmly just sitting there, as if life as they knew it was not taking them asunder that very moment.
"Everyone's going to be okay." He said, not looking up from his book. He smiled gently. "Believe in them."
Blue was taken aback by this straightforwardness and sighed. "Thank you, Hakkai. I appreciate you seeing through my worries." He confided. "It's just being in this situation always makes me feel so helpless, and yet, at the same time, I know this is where I'm needed right now."
A few soft knocks came from the door, and it opened slightly, revealing Shun, coming in with some tea. "Since you guys are the only ones awake, I assume my sister has run off with the others?" When he got a nod, the boy set down the tea on the table and sighed. "She has me worried a lot. Since our father is never around, and with Alex gone, we don't really know what's going to happen."
He glanced over at Hakkai. "Thank you for looking out for us" he said, smiling. "Here, take some of the tea before it gets cold."
"Ah, thank you, Shun, it's much appreciated." Hakkai reached for the cup, and took a sip. Not long after gulping, he felt that something was wrong and was unable to move.
"HAKKAAAAIII DON'T. DRINK. THAAAAAT!"
WHAM! CRASH!
A series of flying objects and a crashing tea set greeted his entrance, splashing hot water and tea on Shun who barely dodged, but had to flick off hot water from his person. "GOKU!"
Hakkai fell on his side, coughing the tea he had consumed, but he felt slightly paralyzed from the strong effect of the tea that was given to him.
Goku recovered from his roll and pointed his staff at Shun. He glared at him, not breaking eye contact. Blue, catching on to what was happening, ran to Hakkai to help him sit up. They eyed the new enemy warily.
Shun composed himself, watching the boy carefully, as if trying to assess how to proceed. He straightened his stance. "You were the last person I thought who would figure it out, honestly." He glanced at Goku. "What gave me away?"
Goku still kept up his guard. "None of the food you ever made were sincere."
Shun laughed. "That's a very interesting way to put it!" he laughed harder. "Maybe that's the reason why Linlin and Alex never really liked my cooking." Slowly, he took off a solid armband from his left arm, letting it drop to the floor. Goku could sense the change in the older boy. The menacing overwhelming power coming from him was palpable, even for Blue who was not sensitive to such energies. Almost instantaneously, Shun's ears started to grow longer, and his aura darker. He smirked. "I think it's still best we take this…OUTSIDE!" he vanished for a split second and in an instant was in front of Goku, kicking him out the second floor window, and onto the backyard.
"Goku!" Hakkai exclaimed, but stumbled to stand up. He was in no condition to fight. "Blue! Tell the girls not to come back here!"
Blue ran for the intercoms, reaching out to the girls immediately. He had to keep it short and make sure they're in safety.000000000005559lp,o,,oo,gkkihjihu8123445567890wertyuihgfhjklmnbvvcxzakkkgmggmmhmhmgmggfkfkkkkjjjnnbmmnbnvjhd5tdtdgdghcbnjbhnhujygy'hnlkkkhobkikjhjhjhjhikgjvjhvngvhjghjtghnvnbhvhrfyhyrftyffgsxfzczxae32q231213222222222224err5rtttttt6yhn321546987*/
(interlude by my 3yo niece)
"Can everyone hear me?" Blue called through the transmitters. He didn't know how else to issue the distress call and what was happening at the residence. The girls needed to recover. They'll be easy targets if they come back. Think fast, Blue! "Mayumi, please take Zeia and Mili to your place for now. Keep a low profile until I tell you it's safe. "Mili, instruct Hakuryu to go back to the park, get Sanzo and the rest. Hakkai's compromised and can't fight! We'll need their help here at the house."
"But what about you?" Mili asked as they slowly made their way through the ninjas trying to attack them.
"I'll be fine. I promise."
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There was no point further arguing with the given situation. But getting to Mayumi's house from where they were wasn't as much as the distance, but the obstacles along the way.
"I can hear fighting nearby." Zeia stated, looking to the street to their right, but it was faint. It seemed to be headed towards them. "Look out!"
A ninja jumped from the shadows striking for the jeep. Mayumi barely managed to deflect with a barrier, but a staff suddenly clipped the ninja and was thrown back a few meters away.
"Are you okay?" Haku yelled, taking back his staff and moving to push back more ninjas out of the way.
"Haku!" Mili exclaimed. "But why are you here?" How do they even know what's happening?
"We were at the Research Institute earlier, but things turned awry, and the institute guards tried to take us out. We knew we had to leave somehow." Haku explained, then dodged again into a few more ninjas, making quick work with his staff.
Jei followed up the rear with a discarded pipe. "That should take care of them from this end." He glanced at the passengers of the jeep, realizing no one was actually driving, and Zeia had part of an arrow through her shoulder. "I don't think I have enough in me right now for more questions. Where are you headed?"
"We're headed through River Street and a left to my house." Mayumi said simply. "My mother's a doctor so she can help treating them." Jei nodded and went on ahead with Haku to relay the information and slowly proceeded to the location Mayumi directed.
Reaching the house, they were immediately greeted by Mayumi's parents and were brought in. Having settled in, Mayumi's mother immediately took Zeia to their treatment room to handle her injuries. Mayumi conjured other items for treating Mili while they helped the senior students catch up with what was happening.
"Blue didn't elaborate on what was happening at Linlin's house, but there must have been an attack of sorts, and we aren't in the best condition to help."
"Haku, please stay with them, I'll go and make sure the three at Neri Park make it to help at the Kazuya residence." He moved to the door and prepared to put on his shoes. "Before you say anything, I promise I'll be careful."
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The moment Linlin's strike landed on Kusanagi's head, the monster let out a piercing screech, gushing blood out before collapsing to ground. Unable to regenerate, she was slowly and surely dying. The monster looked at her with its remaining eyes. "You now have my blood in your hands.
Panting, Linlin shook the blood from her dagger and straightened herself. "No, I got rid of a monster."
Kusanagi chuckled, turning herself back to her human form, bloodied and missing an arm and an eye, looking straight at Linlin. "No, you killed an innocent lady. Hahahahahahahah *cough* heh" she smirked, eye still gleaming before the life faded completely.
Linlin stared blankly at the lifeless enemy, still as if she was petrified. Gojyo slowly approached her, looking at the dead body. They were used to the scent of demon's blood, death, and everything in a fight. But Linlin was barely a child. He put a hand on her shoulder. "…are you oka-" Before he could finish his question, the girl lurched forward and hurked, followed by the remnants of what she had eaten that day. He felt sorry for her, gently rubbing her back.
Click!
Gojyo didn't have to turn to know that Sanzo had taken out one of his Hi-Lights, taking a long drag while waiting for the girl to finish. Despite his tendency to yammer, he also decided to keep quiet, though he wished he could bum a smoke from the monk. The girl finally stopped, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. He gave a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, Gojyo.. I think I'm okay now." Linlin muttered, ambling towards the giant tree nearby. "I think I just need to sit down for -" she stumbled, catching herself, but eventually knelt and fell on her hands.
Gojyo caught up with her and caught her before she lost consciousness. Slowly, he propped her to lean on the tree while they figure out what to do. He caught a box of cigarettes from Sanzo and decided to walk a few feet away to light one.
"Hm." Sanzo muttered. "Sometimes I really don't understand that old woman (Kanzeon). There's nothing we could have done to change their fate."
"That may be true," Gojyo puffed out smoke. "But it could have gone way differently without us."
"Ah. But something doesn't feel right."
"You sensed it too, huh?" Gojyo flicked off his spent cigarette and moved for a new one. "We can't do much at the moment though."
"S-" Linlin muttered.
"Hey, don't force yourself." Gojyo stated, moving to get Linlin back to leaning back on the tree.
"Blue.." muttered. "Blue came on the communicator, something is happening at home."
"Eh!? What do you mean? Did the enemies manage to get there?"
Linlin shook her head. She didn't know. "Blue didn't say much, but he said that Hakkai wasn't able to fight, so that means Goku is on his own."
"But who's the enemy?" Sanzo inquired, putting out his cigarette. "Was this a decoy all along?"
"I doubt, but it's possible that there was another enemy all along." Sanzo pointed his gun just off the clearing. "Eavesdropping has never been respectable. I suggest you come out."
The figure came out from the shadows, sporting his sniper, and Polly the Parrot. As he walked closer, it became evident that the man had blonde hair and sapphire blue eyes. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter all this time."
"Dad?" Linlin coughed. "Why do you even have that parrot? This shouldn't even be the question I'm asking- " she had no words.
"Yeah old man, what the fuck?" Gojyo chose to fill the words for her.
Sanzo kept his gun. "In the least, we thank you as well for your assistance earlier."
The man nodded. "You can call me Noah." He walked over to his daughter and mildly patted her head. "I'm sorry for having gotten you and Alex into this mess."
The leaves in the trees rustled in the sudden breeze. Linlin felt it difficult to swallow. "W-what do you mean, me and Alex?" she tried to search her father's eyes. "W-what about Shun?" Her father's eyes seemed to pity her as he decided to sit in front of her.
"You see, the prophecy was never about you kids. The twins in the prophecy, was me and Seth."
"Click!" Sanzo's cigarette smoke wafted with the wind.
Linlin felt some anger raise from her limbs, feeling the need to hit something, someone, anyone, just to make sense of the world. "What are you trying to say, dad? You're starting to make less and less sense! You were away most of our lives, you were an archaeologist. You found the prophecy. You even had Uncle Seth train us, all three of us! Why would you need to do that if it was for you?"
Noah scratched his head, looking apologetic. Sanzo decided to help with the matter. "I'm not too keen on useless babble, Noah. You better start spilling the truth, or I'll make sure there'll be more blood tonight." The old man raised his arms in mock defeat, signaling Sanzo to stand down.
"It's true I'm an archaeologist, Linlin, but I also served in the army, just like your Uncle. But, I was more bookish, and when deployed on missions, I was trained more in discovering other things along the way. You could say that I was a separate group on my own. Nothing as fancy as Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, or any of those media things." He shrugged helplessly. He heard Sanzo bringing out his gun again.
"The point is, on one of such sorties, we stumbled upon a path to Togenkyo, and to put it simply, we were cursed, somehow or some way. And, when we came home, your mom gave birth to Alex. …and Shun." He paused. "But.. Shun was born a demon, and he could shapeshift."
"What?" Linlin was racking her brain for anything that may have pointed to her brother being a demon. None of it made sense.
Noah nodded. "His most subconscious skill then was to take the form of Alex, and that's why they seemed like twins. We knew what this meant, and we couldn't let him be casted aside, nor discriminated because he was different. I quit the army to find a cure, or any form of limitation so he could lead a normal life. I went all over the world in the guise of research, made a life's career out of it. We did find a limiter for him, and we believed in our hearts of hearts that he would be able to lead a normal life."
"But why would you hide this from me?" Linlin asked, still confused.
"Then you wouldn't have been to be able to see him as who he is, a caring and sincere person, understanding him as he is. You would see him as someone who was somehow different, and might even fear him." Noah explained. "I'm sorry for having kept this from you. Please know that we did this for you and the boys."
"Ch!" Sanzo flicked another spent cigarette. "Many have been killed by good intentions."
Linlin didn't know what to say or do, not to mention every information was raw. But, she did know she hated her father in that instant and mustered all her strength to punch him in the face. Taken by surprise, the man fell down on his back while Polly flew away and landed on a branch. Before he could react, his daughter was right on top of him.
"That, was for lying." She stated, raising her fist for another hit. "This, is for Alex!" She hit him again and again, screaming all her anger until she felt tears blur her vision, resting on his chest, lightly beating it with her fists, until she gave up. Her father just held her quietly.
The wind blew past again, and the sound of tires could be heard pealing trough the grounds until Hakuryu came into view and Jei onboard. "I'm here to pick you up!" he declared, and was taken aback by the awkward sight in front of him, seeing Linlin crying and an unknown person, but he surmised it was her father. "My apologies, if I'm disrupting something, but I'm just here to get you back to your residence." He mentally kicked himself in his head for being too formal at the sight of someone's parent.
Sanzo and Gojyo naturally just headed for Hakuryu as Linlin picked herself up and off her father. She was still sniffling a bit. She briefly made eye contact with Jei, but said nothing.
"You must be the Murakawa kid I've heard so much about!" Noah said, as normal as if meeting an old friend. "How has your father been?" They all got into Hakuryu, but Noah took the wheel.
"My dad's fine. I didn't know you were acquainted, sir." Jei mumbled.
"Ah, he was in the same boot camp with me and Seth back in the day" Noah said simply. "But then he fell in love with your mother who was in the police academy. HAHAHAHA Still cracks me up to this day." He shook his head. "But, I'm glad he's doing well, seems like he's raised quite the young sleuth as well! Hey, are you seeing anyone?"
Linlin cut to the chase and hit her dad on the head. "Now is not the time to be the father you weren't!"
"Harsh, but on point." Gojyo quipped, holding on as the jeep made a turn and up into the path to the Kazuya residence.
x-x-x-x-x
Goku was hitting Shun with all that he had, but he was actually strong too. He felt more eager to battle because of this it felt like he had a new playmate and he was all for it.
"I've trained for years! I doubt that you can beat me." Shun smirked. He sped up and disappeared, finding an opening and hitting Goku's left arm, sending the boy off a few feet away. He followed through with a knife throw which the other boy dodged by rolling away.
"You're pretty strong, I like that!" Goku exclaimed, getting back up, turning his staff into three segments and clipping a hit on the chin. "But it's still wrong to fight like this. Why would you betray your family?"
Shun wiped a bit of blood from his mouth and laughed. "If you ask me, they betrayed me!" He whistled, summoning what seemed like the remaining ninjas under him. They chased after Goku with him. He lunged at Goku with his claws again and again with the other parrying while backing away and dodging with a quick slight to the side. "I grew up knowing I was different! And they hid it from everyone else. They said it was easier that way! They said it was better I was normal." He swiped again and kicked Goku hard on the chest. "Do you know how much it hurts not to be able to be who you are!? Having to hide yourself?"
Goku took down a few ninjas then hit back by extending his staff, knocking the wind out of Shun. "I'm sorry, I don't. I've always been who I am. Adults can be confusing sometimes, and they don't always mean what they say, but, who they are always shines through. Like a good meal!" Goku stopped, thinking about food. "Yours was delicious, but I never felt quite full. Like, it was empty, even if they were perfect."
"It feels insulting that all you ever think about is food." Shun muttered, sneaking a kick to get Goku out of balance, but the boy managed to jump away. "I was smarter and stronger than them, I could have been more at a young age, but they tempered me down. And somehow, Linlin shone brightest. And I was never enough." He clenched his fists. "If only they weren't born. I tried to drown Linlin once on a fishing trip. But Uncle Seth caught me. And he threatened to kill me for it. What kind of loving family would do that? It dawned on me that they feared me and what I could do."
"Uhhhhhh, I don't think trying to drown siblings is the way to get anyone to like you." Goku pointed out. "Or poisoning Hakkai." He was quick to dodge a few knives Shun threw at him. "Where the heck did those come from?" The ninjas were starting to whittle down with no new ones coming.
"You were merely collateral, an external factor I never expected." Shun said. "Had you not come back, I would have finished off everyone in this house and blamed it as an attack by Kusanagi. Then I would have gone after all of you. Unfortunately, things haven't gone according to plan. But once I'm done here, I'll finish off Hakkai and that meddlesome nerd."
A sound of swishing chain and metal whistled in the air and Gojyo's scythe wrapped around Shun while he was distracted. "Pretty cocky for a conniving demon." He muttered, pulling the boy to his knees. Linlin ran from the jeep right towards Shun.
"Shun!" Yelled Linlin, kneeling in front of her brother. She looked over to Gojyo, asking him to release him, but he hesitated. "Please Gojyo, he's my brother!" Reluctantly, the hybrid obliged. "Shun!" Linlin hugged him tightly. "I don't care that you're a demon! You'll always be my brother!" She cried, pulling away from him and looking him in the eyes
Shun's shoulders slackened, and he offered a gentle smile. He held her by her cheek. "Linlin.. thank you.." he mumbled. "You've always been too kind." Seeing her smile, he reached for one of his knives, sinking it into her abdomen with one swift motion. "And that, is how you get killed."
Goku and Gojyo were quick to subdue him, their weapons to his neck, the bloodied knife falling to the ground. "You bastard!"
"Linlin!" Noah yelled, running to his daughter, trying not to move her, and applying direct pressure on the wound. Hakkai made it outside, still usteady but managed to help with the wound. "She's still losing a lot of blood." He could tell she was fighting to stay awake.
"It will be okay." Hakkai assured him. "I've managed to heal most of the internal injuries. I'm sorry but she will still need a doctor for her wound we have to hurry." They rushed her onto the jeep with Noah at the back with Linlin and Hakkai taking the wheel from Jei.
Shun laughed. "You can't stop me, no one can stop me." The rest of the ninjas aimed for them but Goku took charge of getting rid of them, his rage getting the better of him.
Gojyo deepened the scythe to his neck. "Your attitude is pissing me off."
"You're only a half breed, what do you know." Shun clutched his weapon and crushed it with his claws. "You think this is over!?" As he yelled this, a clamp flew from a distance and pinned down his hand to the ground. It had a glint of blue in it. Before Shun could react, another claw of the same make pinned down his other arm to the ground, effectively immobilizing him. He tried to budge, but whatever was on the claws would not budge. "What is this!?"
Soon enough, a person who looked like Noah appeared, who they could only surmise was the twin.
Gojyo grimaced. "I hate to say this but, what is it with this family and appearing out of nowhere?"
"I hope you haven't forgotten what I told you before, Shun."
Shun tsked. "How could I, Uncle Seth? It's what made me who I am now. A healthy fear of death does wonders, wouldn't you say?" He smirked.
"And yet you're still like this." Seth muttered, pointing his gun straight at his nephew. "I told you, if I find you causing my family pain, I'll be the one to end you."
Shun shifted back his appearance to the nephew he knew. "Uncle, we both know you don't have it in you, I'm your only living nephew now.."
Seth took no heed and pulled the trigger, right between Shun's eyes. The boy's body went limp in an instant, blood pooling around him. "No. You were a mistake I should have dealt with years ago."
x-x-x
FLASHBACK
It was a perfect summer day with the Kazuya family out on a day trip just outside of town. Seth and Noah were setting up the tents for the kids while Juniper prepared the ingredients for roasting on the fire. Fishing and bug catching was the agenda for the day and Linlin was in charge of setting up the outdoor stove.
"Linlin, here." Shun, around 9 years of age, handed their little sister his noise cancelling headphones."You can borrow this while you're setting up!"
Linlin's eyes sparkled. "Really!? But you really love these!" she didn't decline them.
"Well, Uncle Seth is training us today with fishing, so I want to be sure all my senses are alert." He explained. "You know how sneaky he can be.."
Linlin nodded. "Okay! I'll take good care of them!" The little girl chirped, continuing with securing the rocks for the stove and the necessary fire starters. Shun proceeded to prepare their bait and head a few meters off to start fishing with Alex.
Juniper was taking out the meat they brought for the barbecue and realized that she had forgotten to bring the skewers. She called out to Linlin who didn't seem to hear her. She went up to her and pulled back the headphone on one side. "Linlin, could you and your brothers get some bamboo segments nearby? I forgot to bring some, so we'll have to chop our own later."
"Sure mom!" Linlin put back the headphones and continued with the fire to keep it going while they were away. "I'LL JUST FINISH UP HERE MOM!"
"LINLIN YOU'RE TOO LOUD!" Juniper teased, shaking her head and went about setting the table and other dishes.
Shun and Alex have both cast out their baits and were waiting for a bite. They've been here before and they knew this was a good spot, so it wouldn't take long. "You wanna bet? Whoever gets the first fish has to make Uncle Seth eat it!"
Alex gave his twin a reproachful look. "It doesn't matter, Uncle Seth will eat anything we catch. What about let's bet who gets the bigger fish first gets to ride shotgun home?"
"Deal!"
It wasn't long before they both got a bite and it seemed that Alex had the bigger fish. Shun saw this and was teasing his twin. "I'm not gonna let you win that seat!" He jokingly pushed Alex so he couldn't focus on reeling in the catch.
"Hey, mind your own fish!" Alex warned, shoving back.
"That hurt!"
"Well you started it!"
Linlin was running up behind them to call them for the errand their mom asked. But she still had the headphones on, unaware of the argument they were having. After one push back, Shun stumbled backwards, unknowingly tripping his sister into the water.
"Linlin!" Shun let go of his line and immediately jumped into the lake after his sister. Alex had just managed to reel in his catch and ran for their dad. A few moments later, Shun resurfaced, yelling he couldn't find her.
Alex was about to jump in but was stopped by their mother. Noah dove in and soon came up with Linlin who was already unconscious. Noah immediately breathed into her mouth a few times and soon enough Linlin was coughing out lake water. He continued to rub her back while Juniper came running with a towel and some spare clothes. She wasn't down for long, but they had to make sure to keep her on her side to throw up whatever water she ingested.
"I'm sorry dear, we'll still have to get you checked at the hospital." Juniper sighed in relief, but it felt like the sigh of not yet being out of the woods.
Seth appeared from underwater across the lake, and seemed to notice that something was wrong. Noah signaled to his brother in their own signs from their scout days. His hands moved here and there, and a few "nods" with his hand, indicating the message was understood. "I've instructed Seth to look over the boys. It would take too much time to completely pack up now." Juniper was going to protest. "Besides, he's been itching to train them with some forest and fishing things. They can still squeeze out some fun before summer's over."
Soon enough, Noah, Juniper and Linlin were off to the nearby hospital, leaving the boys to their own devices with their uncle. Seth took a while to get back to their side of the lake, but by the time he got to them, the boys had mainly been tending to the fire, and one of them started a soup going. Their uncle studied the table and surmised they needed to cut a bit of bamboo for their skewers.
"Shun, come with me. Let's get the barbecue set up by getting bamboo." Shun nodded, and stood up. "You gonna be okay here, Alex?" The other boy nodded and mentioned tending to the soup for Linlin. He could tell that the boys were quite shaken by what happened, and that was normal.
Quietly, the nephew and uncle went to the nearby space with some wild bamboo. It wasn't as tough as other species and they made quick work of it. It was already a little past lunch, so they have to get the cooking going before anyone starved. "How are you holding up, Shun?" He asked, sitting on a tree stump while he watched Shun tie up the bamboo together.
"I'm okay.." he said scratching his head.
Seth studied his nephew's sheepish appearance. He figured it wasn't the best time to bring something up
"That's good. Now let's head back to your brother." He bolted up and began a short jog. "LAST ONE THERE IS A ROTTEN EGG!"
"What!? Uncle, that's lame!" Shun exclaimed, running after his uncle.
x-x-x
After a thorough physical checkup and some screening, the doctor at the hospital cleared Linlin. They just had to put her on oxygen for an hour to make sure her oxygen levels were normal. Afterwards they dropped by a pharmacy for some supplements in case she develops any adverse effects in the following days.
Driving on the way back to the camp site, Juniper was blaming herself for not asking Noah for help with the bamboo instead. Linlin was just happy to get some snacks out of the ordeal, happily chewing on a chocolate bar.
"For the last time Juniper, it's fine. Everything ended up okay. No one could have predicted that would happen." Noah sighed. "We can stay overnight at the camp, just call the house to let them know."
They arrived at the camp site, just in time as the boys were replenishing the barbecue by the fire. Linlin immediately ran for the fresh batch on the table. "FRESH MEAT!" she exclaimed, immediately diving in. Seth was already with his beer, laughing at the sight of Linlin's eagerness to eat.
"You don't even look like you just came from the hospital, little one." Linlin's spirit always livened up their gatherings. Seeing her alright made him relax and release a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"It was boring there, uncle!" Linlin managed to say between bites. "All I could think of was you guys having fun without us."
Seth chortled. "HAHAHA well that is true, we did manage to catch some good fish. We'll roast them next."
After a time of eating merrily and joking around, Seth declared he needed to walk off all the food he ate and took a can of beer with him down to the lake. The incident with Linlin that lunch still nagged at him. He knew what he saw, but he didn't want to cast doubt on the boy. Something was floating near the shore where he stood, and it didn't look like driftwood. Walking towards it, he realized it was Shun's noise cancelling headphones. It didn't take long for him to further realize what really happened. Rage boiled within him, but he had to be able to confront the boy on his own.
x-x-x
Shun and Seth were back in the woods, this time for firewood to kindle the bonfire for the night. The sun was getting low in the horizon, casting a reddish glow on the trees around them.
Seth glanced at his nephew while he happily recounted their afternoon with the fishing and how he was too devious with his training strategies. "I'm glad Linlin made it out okay, I was super scared!" Shun added, recounting how he couldn't find her in the darkness in the water.
"That was a very stupid and brave thing you did to your sister."
"Don't you mean for my sister?"
"No."
"Click."
Shun felt his blood run cold, staring back at his uncle with his pistol aimed at his head.
"To, your sister." Seth repeated. The reddish tint of the sun reflecting on his eyes, and the barrel of his gun. "I was right there when you dove in and pulled her deeper into the water, before swimming back up. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it myself."
"Uncle Seth, you're scaring me." Shun raised his arms to signal surrender. "I'm only 9."
"Exactly." Seth muttered threateningly. "I know what I saw, Shun. I know you planned this, lending your headphones to your sister while doing a task. The next time you pull another stunt like this, if someone else gets hurt in this family, I won't hesitate to end your life."
Shun gulped, frozen on the spot.
"Are we clear, boy?"
He managed a shaky nod.
"Good." He pulled the gun away and stood up. "Now let's get back."
The camping went on without further incident, and the kids were even able to enjoy catching some fireflies, then letting them go afterwards. Juniper helped tuck the kids in for the night, and proceeded to have a few beers by the campfire with the brothers. When she got closer, she noticed the men stopped talking, and Seth tried to hide Shun's ruined headphones. "Is there something I should know about?" Juniper took her seat near the fire with them, cracking open her own can of beer. The brothers did this telepathic look with each other and they knew they couldn't escape Juniper.
Noah sighed, giving his wife a desperate look. "Seth caught Shun earlier."
"Doing what?"
"It seems he planned the whole thing." he pressed on. "He's not the type to lend his gadgets, especially not on an outing and definitely not with Linlin. Seth was underwater earlier in his gear, as he was testing his gear while checking on the fish in the area."
Juniper was quiet.
"He saw Shun pull Linlin further into the water."
Juniper sighed and looked at the two men. "It's the whole prophecy business, isn't it."
"It could be."
"Do you remember that time that Shun locked himself in the room with Linlin when he and Alex were barely two years old?" The men nodded. "We had to get someone on the second floor balcony to coax him into opening the door. He locked everything instead. By the time we got to him, Linlin was almost off the bed. She was only a few months old." She sighed. "Maybe it was wrong for us to insist in him having a normal life. Maybe it's not what's best for him." Juniper held the can tightly, putting it up to her face. She could hear Seth open another one. She looked back at them.
"I strongly believe he will be fine."
x-x-x
