Once Zhang Han had his fill of food, he settled back down on the makeshift bed of grass and torn furs that Vaien had managed to salvage. He decided not to bring up their argument from yesterday. Yes, both of them were just going to move past it and pretend it didn't happen.
That is what 'real' men do.
They don't talk about feelings or past conflicts, they simply ignore them.
"So you managed to salvage all this?" Zhang Han asked.
"Oh, yeah," shrugged Vaien. "Those rocks don't weigh much to me, you know. So I just rolled them over and searched."
Zhang Han noted some dirt and scratches along Vaien's nails.
"But a lotta stuff is broken beyond repair," Vaien grumbled, perhaps with a hint of guilt and hesitance. It was as though he was afraid of Zhang Han getting angry at him again.
But Zhang Han didn't feel that angry anymore.
He was the type that only felt brief spikes of anger when something really dumb and bad happened. Right now he didn't feel like it was worth it to be angry. Things are the way they are, he just had to deal with it and move on. Wasn't it actually a wonder in its own that Vaien, the prideful leopard, actually came back and nursed him to health? He even went as far as to admit he'd been in the wrong. It left nothing to be desired.
He just sighed. "Nothing for it. But what do we do now?"
Vaien hesitated before replying, "Do you see that ridge of rock bordering the horizon?"
Zhang Han nodded.
"That's a border. This whole place, including the grassland, the forest, the river and streams, are part of a basin. Where we lived was just a little nook on the mountain side."
"...huh." Zhang Han actually hadn't thought of that before. "And?"
"The thing is…" Vaien shifted his gaze with another guilty smile. "Kalla already came here to harass me into coming back home. That's already a big sign that something is going wrong back in my old tribe. Not just her, but more people might come into this basin looking for me. Although they should just learn to fuck off..."
"So you're saying that even if we did find another place around here, we shouldn't stay?"
"Pretty much."
Zhang Han did not particularly know much about outside of the basin, if it would present even more greater difficulties than now or not. He preferred to plan carefully for these kinds of expeditions, but now they were homeless...it was thrust upon him, and there was little hope of stability in the future days to come.
As such, Zhang Han could not help but asked, "You won't consider returning to your tribe at all?"
Vaien had an unreadable expression as he took a seat on the ground with his legs splayed out, a very sloppy and careless air, as always.
"Nah. You heard what I told Kalla."
Zhang Han thought that what Kalla said had some merit. If Vaien didn't care at all, then why did he leave his fellow tribe members a way to contact him?
Seeing Zhang Han's doubt, Vaien scratched his head angrily.
"Look. It's not absolutely certain I would never stop back for a visit, just that I don't want to right now. More importantly, how am I supposed to do that with you in tow?"
Zhang Han frowned. "Me? Right...earlier, you lied to Kalla about my identity. Why?"
Vaien expression sunk. "It's one thing that you're another worlder. It wouldn't really matter long as you were powerful enough to hold your own, but you can't. If I brought you back to the village, the weaklings are picked on no matter what, you can't even match up to a child there. Now, that's one thing, they still might not take too much notice of you, but it gets worse once they know you can build stuff."
Zhang Han tepidly repeated, "Build stuff…"
"I mean your medical knowledge, knowing how to take random parts and put new things together! That's a priceless skill. All those guys would be watering at the mouth if they saw your laser bow."
Now Zhang Han understood entirely.
He was an easy target to begin with, then add to that he had a valuable skill, somebody would come to try and take advantage of him, whether it be threatening him into doing something or beating him into doing it. Sure, Vaien could scare anyone off, but Zhang Han already had to depend on him enough, he didn't want to be tied at the hip with him!
So...yeah, he supposed they couldn't go there.
Vaien just snorted. "Whatever. I wasn't gonna go back anyway."
There was no point dwelling about it now, Zhang Han agreed. Besides, if the situation changed later it was possible to go back for a short period of time. Zhang Han could just pretend that he was Vaien's useless lackey or something...he was used to being humble to superiors so that was entirely possible. Then no one would really pay him much attention.
For now he didn't want to talk about those long-term problems. He just wanted to think about what he and Vaien were going to do from now on.
"So," Zhang Han said, purposely shifting the topic, "did you find my scanner?"
Vaien averted his eyes again. "Erm...I did, but it was smashed to pieces."
Zhang Han sighed. Now how would he identify other edible fruits and plants from now on? Alas, one problem after another. He felt burdened by stress and the throbbing pains in his ribs.
"Don't make that face!" Vaien exclaimed. He promptly reached over and scooped Zhang Han up into his arms. He had every intention to carry him all the way across the grassland again. "We can just go look, I hadn't finished searching the rubble yet."
"Hey." Zhang Han knit his brow, his hatred at being carried like this immeasurable and deep as the unknown reaches of outer space. "Is this really necessary…"
Vaien looked down at him and winked. "Why bother being embarrassed? I already carried you like this the other times I went back there. Haha, I even wrapped you in fur like a silkworm. Not like I could leave you here to get eaten by something."
...that's true. Damn.
"I can walk," said Zhang Han.
Now Vaien just blinked at him. "Really?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"..."
If Zhang Han was not set down within the next 5 seconds, he would punch Vaien in the face again.
But fortunately Zhang Han was obliged, his feet hit the ground. He staggered slightly as Vaien brought an arm over to prop him up. Aches assaulted him as he took a few steps, but he wasn't going to let his leg muscles become useless from disuse.
Vaien kicked apart the loose ferns and they stepped out.
Zhang Han stared as the sea of green grass, then the distant pile of grayish-brown stone rubble that was their destroyed home. He still felt glum inside.
Slowly, he and Vaien started heading towards it, and it had not been five minutes before Vaien whined, "Zhang Han...come on, just let me carry you. It's no big deal. I know you're tough, but this is way too slow-"
"Be quiet..." Zhang Han awas not near as tolerating of Vaien as before. Mostly because of the pain. It made him grumpy. He pointedly asked, "Kalla's not around, right?"
"Nah. She left once she saw we'd disappeared."
So Zhang Han hobbled with Vaien over to the wreckage after a substantial amount of time.
Vaien climbed up on the big rock pile without difficultly. He was digging through the rocks, a loud clattering noise echoing across the plains constantly. He found some rope. He found a scrap of metal. He found a couple cooking utensils.
Altogether, they couldn't take everything with them when they traveled, anyway, so choosing some of the most important items for survival was best. They already had weapons, a fire starter, rope, a blanket...things like that were sufficient.
Although Zhang Han was not happy that the water heater he used a core on had melted down from the landslide's friction and was found as a useless pile of warped metal. He had no other water purification methods other than boiling water in a pot every time, now. Maybe he'd really have to take Vaien's word when he said it was safe to drink.
A bit later, Zhang Han craned his eyes and saw a glint of metallic-blue under a large rock.
"Hey, there seems to be something there."
Vaien leaped from one pile of rock to another nimbly, then flipped over the rock. Underneath were the wrist guards Zhang Han had made, undamaged.
And so Zhang Han had not lost everything he'd worked on, just a lot of it.
Heh.