Echo(On Hold)

Sandstorms

(A/N) sorry if there's any spacing or deleted letter problems, it's copy pasted fom Word. Hope you guys like the new chapter!! :)

Mari woke to find echo in the same cross-legged position he had been in right before she fell asleep. She propped herself up on an elbow, hoping he might actually have fallen asleep, though she knew it was unlikely. Her optimism was crushed when Ecko stood, walking over to help Yamori with a breakfast of leftover ham from breakfast and the rice from last night’s dinner. She stood up, stretching and trying to rub sleep from her eyes.

“Good morning, Mari,” Yamori said, turning his head over his shoulder and smiling.

“’Morning,” Ecko said. She smiled at them.

“Good morning,” she said sleepily, poking Kuro in the ribs and forcing him to wake up.

“Guh, what time is it?” he mumbled, propping himself up.

“Um-“

“Three-thirty or four,” Ecko said, walking over to them with plates.

“We’re gonna end up walking later into the night but that’s fine, it’ll be cooler anyway,” Nikko said, rubbing his eyes. Ikiru was still out but no one woke her until her breakfast was ready.

So far, Ecko’s experiment of ignoring Teichira was working. He hadn’t responded to anything the demon had said for the rest of the night and into the day, simply allowing him to shout or try to tick him or get some response. He’d eventually gotten bored of it, shutting up until “further notice,” as he put it. Ecko figured if he could ignore him at night when he was strongest, it would be easier to ignore him during the day, though at night the demon had been going on in huge strings of one-sided conversation.

It isn’t one sided if you know you have an opinion about it.

“We should get moving,” Yamori said, standing up. “We don’t want to be walking all through the night since it’ll be too hard to sleep during the day with the heat.” Everyone agreed or nodded, packing up their plates and sleeping mats. Ecko stood up and started walking over to Konah only to be barraged by pain striking through his forehead. He grabbed onto the Sand Hound’s harness, trying to keep upright. There was a downside to letting Teichira talk however much he wanted.

Konah nuzzled up against his head and he smiled a little, patting the dog’s head and loading it up with the bags.

“I’m fine, Konah,” he mumbled, “It’s just a little headache.” He could hear Teichira chuckling in his headThe day was windy and hot. Nikko was talking to Mari and Kuro about a storm coming, but they were nowhere near a city they could stop at. Konah ended up whimpering and pulling ahead of the group, dragging Ecko behind him.

“I don’t like this,” Kuro said, the wind picking up. The sun had already set a few hours ago and the moon was high, bugs buzzing through the desert.

“What?” Nikko asked, turning around.

“The wind. It feels like a thunderstorm but without the rain,” he responded, pulling the blanket farther over his head. Ecko took of the sash around his shoulder, wrapping it around his head and neck.

“A storm’s coming for sure. It’s about a day’s journey to the nearest village, but we need to stop for the night, it’s getting late.”

They didn’t bother with a fire. The first time they tried, it was blown out almost instantly. Nikko and Kuro were keeping watch, though they both knew Ecko would be staying awake anyway.

 Teichira had given up on annoying Ecko, considering how exhausted both of them were. The whole group was fast asleep within the hour. After he was sure Mari was asleep, Ecko got up and walked over to Kuro. Nikko gave him a strange look.