Of course, Ling's decision on how to move Yabang was followed. The cave where Maga stayed was a little far from the river for even two boys to walk to while supporting an injured one.
Together with one dragon, the five children traversed the path leading to its cave. The others were quiet so as not to disturb the boy resting on the dragon's back but Ling was humming happily while grazing a stick on the tree trunks. He wasn't afraid that the noise will make other animals take notice of them since Maga was with them.
Once they reached the cave, Lino prepared a bedding using the animal hides left inside the cave. When Maga saw this, it snorted but still let the boys touch its things with another loo from Ling.
Afterwards, Lino and Tang'ga moved Yabang from the dragon's back to the bedding on the ground. It made the sleeping boy grimace but it was still better than having him lay on bare ground.
This was a different cave from where Ling let Maga stay in first. The earthquake from five years ago blocked the path outside so they had to find another exit. Fortunately, it did not take long to find one however, after a few years, it became too small for Maga to go through. His fast growth also became a problem. Therefore, once the children managed to find some time, they wander around the forest to find a new home for their friend.
Inside the cave, there were a few dead animals, enough for the children to eat without going out in the night. Maga could now get its own food through hunting and it was one of the fiercest predators around so it had not much difficulties.
Its only problem was detection from the people from the Mal'it Clan that was why Ling had taught him how the clan hunts. It learned how to cover its tracks, not disturb the 'mist' balance in his forest area as well as sense if humans other than its friends were near its cave.
A fire was built inside and Rin started cooking while Lino took care of Yabang's wound. It was a deep one with a sharp edge of a rock gouging out a sliver of skin.
The cave was quiet with only the crackling of fire and a humming sound penetrating the silence. Each creature inside was busy with their own thoughts.
After a while of bandaging, Lino managed to stop the bleeding. However, he knew he still needed a healer or at least some herbs to completely heal it but was undecided if he should try to find some now or wait until morning to ensure a safer path.
"Hey, Ling." The voice from the cot made Ling stop his humming.
"Hmm?"
"Do you know where we can find herbs to use for Yabang's wounds? Bandaging this is not enough." He paused, then sighed. "We really won't be able to hunt far for the test now that Yabang was out."
Upon hearing the distressed thought of the other, Ling frowned. "Let me try."
"What 'try'?"
"I'll try to heal him," he replied as he stood up and walked to the cot. Ling's footsteps was a change to the quiet area.
"Uh.. You're a healer?!" Lino looked at Ling from his feet to the top of his head to make sure. "Aren't you a guy?!"
As the others were also listening now in the two's conversation, it wasn't a surprise when a giggle suddenly came from where the fire was burning. However, Rin got back to her cooking after he received a glare from Ling.
"I am! Master said it was also because I survived the 'haze' from my mother giving birth to me."
It was still a surprise to those who knew that Ling could heal too. As was the usual, the women in the clan serves as the healer since they have more affinity in pacifying the internal 'mist' of a person.
Meanwhile, the shout and ongoing conversation caused the child on the bed to groan, " You're all noisy! Someone's trying to sleep here. Urgh! What are you doing?!"
After defending his gender, Ling crouched down to touch the wound of Yabang. "I'm trying to heal you. Don't move your leg."
"Uh.. You're a healer?" The look he gave Ling caused Rin to giggle again. Fed up with explaining that he is a boy, he ignored the question and continued to use his 'touch' on the bandaged wound.
Later, Yabang felt the pain dissipating. Not only on his leg but also on his head. Feeling better then, he used his elbows to prop himself up to look at the one healing him.
He then noticed that Ling was frowning. "What is it? You're doing good."
"Well, I was only able to numb the pain and permanently stop the bleeding. The wound still needs to heal but I can't bypass your natural shield." Knowing his limits, he sighed and removed his hands on the other boy's leg. "I'm still weak."
"That's already amazing. In a few days, I'll be able to hunt again."
"No. You won't be able to continue with the test with this." As if he thought of a great idea, he looked behind him and called his friend, "Maga, come here. You can heal his wound."
"WHAT?!" The shout this time came from three bewildered faces. They were not thinking of the dragon in their midst since a while ago but now were forced to acknowledge it again.
When it saw the three's reactions, Maga snorted and remained lying on its stomach beside the fire. As if to scare the children more, it opened its mouth and blew fire on the still burning pit.
"Hey, guys. Didn't we already saw that Maga was not scary? I'm telling you, he could really make your wound heal better than any healer in the village." To support that argument, another column of fire added to the pit.
Seeing that his friend was still angry, Ling changed his tactic again to placate it. "Come on, Maga, please." Ling then signaled for the others to follow him.
"Uh.. I would really appreciate your help, Maga." Even though he thought he was already fine, Yabang still spoke since he knew Ling would not stop his persistence. The others then followed after him with a mumble of 'please'.
After hearing that, Maga turned to look at the boys. The long stare was endured by the three, controlling themselves to not show that they were still slightly scared, at least for the other two. Yabang was actually already over his fear. He thought that the dragon would have attacked them already if it wanted to. His only concern right now was the stories and superstition he had heard about dragons.
Satisfied, Maga stood up and walked off to another pathway going further inside the cave. When the dragon was out of sight, Yabang looked at Ling, bewildered at the creature's attitude.
"Oh, Maga will just go to the lava pool. He had to absorb his power there. Kind of like how we do it with the 'mist' in the forest. Later, I'll tell you more about Maga and we could also go to the pool," Ling said with an excited look on his face. Though slower than what he wanted, Maga was still willing to help the others. They had to show people that Maga was not a bad dragon.
Afterwards, Yabang really saw that his wound closed up because of the dragon's power. Even the scratches in his hands from pulling the rope were gone. In a while, he was able to stand without any help and walk around, though he still did not get back his usual strength.
Once they finished eating, the night was still young and the children were unable to sleep, not yet tired even with the scare they had earlier. Ling then insisted that they should see the lava pool. Compared to the cave's location before, this one was closer to the volcano as well as the lava pool, therefore, the walk was shorter.
As they were walking, Ling stayed at the back with Yabang while Rin and Maga led the way. After ensuring that nobody could hear him, Yabang wgispered to Ling. "Aren't you afraid we'll tell the clan about your dragon?"
When he looked at Ling's reaction, he was surprised that his question did not make the other angry. "It's why I'm showing you that Maga is good. I know others might still not believe in us but I'm ready to join Maga if he was exiled."
Ling then smiled at Yabang. "And I know you're a good person. You even helped us with the cows."
Surprised, Yabang refuted, "If that's you're basis, then not really. Tang'ga here was the reason those cows were mad. You just got dragged into it."
Yabang didn't lower his voice this time so Lino heard him and turned to the person being talked about, confused. "Hey, why aren't you speaking since earlier?"
"Uh.. Didn't Yabang say I should keep quiet?"
Since nobody was asking him to keep quiet again, Tang'ga maked up for his silence by speaking loudly that even the two in front heard him. The atmosphere lightened when they all laughed.
Once everybody continued walking, it was Ling this time who whispered to Yabang, "You know, I can sense it. Despite your shields. Same as Maga. He would have attacked you if he thinks you're a danger. Even though he looked mad now, it will be different if you're really a bad person." The smile he gave was innocent but the spark in his eyes did not hide his emotions. It made Yabang sure that what the other said was the truth.