Shadow (book 3)

Dumpling theft

         Why must we go so slowly, it's taking forever and we should be there already.
         "How much longer till we get there? It's taking forever." I  whine along with Kira who seems to feel the same way I do.
         "We will get there by the end of the day, now stop whining." She growls. I frown.
          "Hey, I know! Since it's going to take quite a bit more time to get there, we can ask each other questions. I'll even let you pick the topic." I suggest jumping up and down, please this silence is killing me. The birds aren't even making sounds!
           Aka than appears in front of me, making me almost jump out of my skin, I wasn't expecting her to do that.
             "What the heck!" I shout out in response.
             "Hello my dear Shadow, this is my human form." She hugs me, hugs are nice, especially from family.
              "So about what you suggested earlier, Shadow, are we going to start?" Chi asks.
              "Yeah, we can start whenever." I respon still being hugged.
              "Oh I know what I want to ask!" Aka yells out jumping away from me.
              "It better not be anything dirty or too private." Chi says giving her a look.
               "You have no faith in me, why would I ever ask something like that." Aka covers her heart.
                Kira barks, "Hey! Watch it!" Aka growls in response.
                "Hey, why don't you just ask what you wanted to ask." I cut in, I don't want them to start arguing.
              "Oh right, my question is for you Shadow. What do you think of this group of ours?"
                 "It's a nice group, many different personalities. It's kind of like a family I suppose, Aka being the mom, Chi the little sister, Kira being Chi's companion or something, and me being the big brother." I grin, my family.
               Kira barks and growls at me, I turn to Aka who explains what she said to me.
               "Geez, all I meant was that... Ugh never mind." I sigh and run my hand through my hair.
                  Kira growls again before proceeding to drool and stumble with the next step she took. Aka translates again
                  "Why are you two always so mean to me?" I start to fake cry, slumping my shoulders.
                  "I'm not the one who tries to pounce on people." Chi throws back at me, "I have a question for you Shadow, if it's not too private. Where did you come from?" Flashes of my past appear in my mind.
                  "Oh, you know, just from a small village. Nothing too important or special." I smile brightly, a fake smile, and begin walking forward, "What are you guys doing? We don't have all day." I hadn't even noticed I had stopped moving. My past isn't something I like talking about.
                  We all continue walking mostly in silence, besides the times Kira starts barking and growling, which Aka told me she's just complaining. Aka continues to ask me random questions, I notice she's staying away from certain questions at the expense of her getting bored. She sighs, and disappears from sight, probably back to Chi.
                 "Hey Chi, hey Chi, Hey Chi." I start to poke Chi repeatedly.
                  "What!" She snaps, I forcing away the smirk wanting to appear on my face.
                 "I'm hungry, can we stop at this shop for a little bit?" I plead, my stomach signalling my hunger with a growl. The way Kira looks at me makes me back away, she looks really hungry.
                  "Fine," Chi says causing both me and Kira to start running circles around her, "but only for a little bit, than we have to get going again to make it a there tomorrow morning." We agree and I quickly run to order from the outdoor stand for travelers.
                 I lick my lips, mmmm those look delicious. Steaming dumplings and spicy noodles. I finish my bowl and take the last dumpling from the plate.
                "Hey!" She yells, "that was mine!" I look at the empty plate, my mouth filled with the deliciousness.
                  "Oops." And then I was attacked. Got to finish the dumpling though.
                 "Ahhh, that was delicious." I say rubbing my belly as we walk.
                  "Yeah it was, until you ate one of my dishes and we were kicked out." She glares at me.
                  "Hey, I said I was sorry. It looked like one of mine." I raise my hands.
                  "Yeah, and just so happened to be on my side of the table," she stops walking, "and you know how we were talking about family? Well you're going to meet mine, or what's left of them." I look down, at rubble.