Links to all other chapters: link

Chapter 11

The campfire crackled and popped quietly, sending tiny cinders into the air. Runa had already fallen asleep, her helmet resting on the ground beside her. Kana was seated upon her blanket as she stared blankly at the fire, as she calmly thought to herself. She wasn’t much of a sleeping person, anyway, as she always kept herself in a state of constant readiness. Adel looked over at her, wondering what she was thinking about. He wondered if she was thinking about their mission, or perhaps Taki, or maybe it was something more. Kana smiled as she glanced over at him, catching the whites of his eyes. He tried to play it off by quickly shutting his eyes, but she wasn’t fooled.

“You can’t sleep either?” She asked. He just sighed, and opened his eyes again.
“It’s the first time I’ve been away from home like this.” He replied. “Even my Magician exams didn’t require me to leave my home for more than a day.” She turned and looked to the starry, night sky.
“I understand.” She said. “But I’ve been traveling for as long as I can remember. I never really had a place I could call home for long.”
“Oh…” He uttered, almost depressingly. She laughed softly.

“Don’t worry about it.” She turned to him with a grin on her face. “It doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I kind of like always getting to explore new places.”
“What about your friend we met?”
“She’s just a friend. I don’t stay with her besides the times I visit.”
“I see…” Then, a rather long yawn escaped his lips. “Sorry…”
“It’s all right.” She quickly replied. “You’re tired. And I don’t want to keep you up.”
“What about you?”
“You don’t have to worry about me.” She replied with another smile. “I’m fine.”
“Well, if you say so…” Then, he sunk down further into his pillow. “Goodnight, Kana.”
“Goodnight, Adel.” He soon closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep as she merely smiled and sighed, almost happily, turning her attention back to the endless orange-red roll of the dancing fire before her.

***
Several hours passed, Runa and Adel were sleeping peacefully under Kana’s watchful eye. But, her eyes were also becoming heavy with exhaustion. She’d never met such an infuriating person to her than Taki, and she blamed him for her being so tired. He was capable of pushing her to the limits of her sanity, and she believed he knew that. She rested her head on her knee and sighed. Without Taki, though, she was the only experienced one of the three, and would have to look after them constantly. She wasn’t sure she was up to that task, she thought, as she glanced over at the two sleeping young travelers.

Then, she caught the faint sound of a twig snapping. She immediately leapt to her feet, grabbing one of her Dragon’s Tails which were always at her side.
“Relax.” Came a quiet, familiar voice. Out of shadows, Taki stepped toward her, and she sighed, letting her guard drop.
“Why did you even bother coming back?” She asked, keeping her voice low. He looked away for a moment, and pondered the question in his mind before turning back to her.
“I don’t really know.” He answered with a nonchalant shrug. “I just… felt like it, I guess.”
“Isn’t that what you said last time?” She asked, sitting back down on her blanket. He sat down on his own blanket, which he was surprised to see laid out.
“No, last time I said we needed to stick together.” He replied with a smirk of irony.
“And do you still feel that way?” Taki looked over at his two sleeping comrades, and chuckled softly.
“You know you’re the one with all the responsibilities when I’m not around.” Kana almost blushed, feeling as though he read her thoughts, yet she figured it had to be obvious to him as well.

Taki looked directly at her, watching her eyes hang low as she tried to fight off slumber.
“If you’re tired, why don’t you sleep?” He asked. She shook her head.
“I can’t.” She replied, calmly.
“Why not?” She then turned at him with a look of complete seriousness.
“How do I even know I can trust you?” She asked. He shrugged, uncaringly.
“If you don’t want to trust me, you can fall behind when we continue on our path in the morning.” He replied, and she just sighed, realizing just how right her was.

“All right.” She quietly answered, taking the bandana off her head, and placing it beside her as she sank into her pillow, which, at that point, was heavenly for her. She was still wary of Taki, as she found him to be a loose cannon. She opened an eye at looked at him. He quietly placed his bow at his side, and stretched out at bit before laying down on the soft blanket. “You’re not going to sleep, are you?” She asked, exhaustion had become apparent in her voice.
“Of course not.” He quickly replied. “I don’t sleep much as it is.” Kana looked away. She hated to admit it, but she and Taki had many things in common. “And anyway, I don’t have a pillow.”
“I gave it to Runa for her leg.” She answered.
“It’s cool. Like I said, I’m not sleeping anyway.” It seemed, as much as she didn’t like it, she would have to depend on him to watch over her and the others. She just hoped he wouldn’t fall asleep on the job.