Awaiting The Dawn

23: The Two Weakest

.

.

...?

It felt as though Hisa was being carried on someone's back. Unsure of who it was, she cracked her eyes open and saw white...fur?

Whatever it was, it tickled.

Not exactly clear in the head, she took a sniff. 

'...Musty. Probably needs a cleaning.'

Her limbs felt really heavy...and this white fluff was itching her face.

She heard familiar voices while her body rocked under another's pace.

"Kija, do you know where the next dragon is?" Yoon's voice, Hisa managed to recognize.

"Let's see...the next dragon...is..." What followed next was a soft thud.

"Kija?!"

The person carrying her had stopped walking.

"Kija!"

She managed to lift her heavy head to see three people crowd around someone on the ground, but Hisa was too tired to retain consciousness.

Her eyes couldn't stay open, even with all the yelling. Falling asleep again on someone's back, Hisa wasn't haunted by any visions or nightmares.

.

.

The crackle of fire and the smell of food forced her back up. Yoon was serving bowls of hot pot to everyone.

Hisa and Kija were covered in a blanket and set close by the fire, with the princess' back to them.

It seemed that Hisa wasn't the only one who passed out from exhaustion.

She was also in arms' reach of all her belongings. From the corner of her eye, she saw the blue dragon.

"Oh no, Yoon!" The princess yelled. "Bugs got into the kettle!"

"Just scoop them out." He responded to her, handing Hisa a portion of food.

Hisa drank the broth in gulps, eating the piece of fish and vegetables last. Delicious.

"Bugs..?" The white dragon muttered next to her.

Turning to him, she saw that Kija's face was worryingly pale at the mention of bugs.

'This poor dragon,' Hisa thought with a chuckle.

"The blue dragon's clothes are taking a long time to dry."

"Yeah, but still..."

They all looked back at the blue dragon, who was who was rolled up in a ball of white fluff and holding a bowl of hot pot.

Hisa thought she was hallucinating when she took a good look at him. "Why...does he look like that?"

Yoon took her empty bowl and filled it with half an extra portion. "He jumped into the river to catch a fish."

What? What did she miss when she was unconscious?

Thunder and Yoon said something about how strange their group was becoming, with Kija standing up to defend the blue dragon.

Their group was certainly getting livelier. She could only imagine how it'd be when the green and yellow dragons appeared.

If Hisa remembered right, the next person to join would be the green dragon.

He was in a town somewhere west of Kuuto, the capital. Near the sea. And some kind of pirate? Hisa didn't quite know how he'd end up traveling with the princess.