When the first morning sun came to rise, the Cheng brothers were already wide awake. New changes, the power of lightning was coursing through their bodies. Both were enable to contain themselves, just as soon as they had woken up, they went back to wrestling each other.
The enthusiasm they displayed was entertaining for the young Elven girl to watch. Occasionally, her body would move to mimic theirs, though the movements appeared more like a nervous tick. She didn't laugh and she didn't scowl.
After a few loose rocks landed near Wu Hai's body, he finally got out of his bedroll. It was still covered in water droplets and dew.
Wu Hai had to piss.
Taking over his spot, the Brothers wrestled with each other and then started exercising in a way that didn't look like they were actually exercising. In fact, if Wu Hai had seem them he would have probably laughed uncontrollably. Grabbing his ankles like a wheel burrow and jumping with his hands, Mu pushed Yu and ran in a circle while Yu jumped with his hands and clapped. Their coordination was strangely well performed, the exercises on the other hand, were completely bizarre.
For Wu Hai, the morning began after returning to the group, he pulled breakfast out of his ring and started to cook. There wasn't a whole lot of variety but he had a few items his master prepared, including a bunch of bread that would never go bad. Smearing it with an egg, the brothers patted their bellies in contentment and then packed their things like they ready to go.
Looking at the girl, Wu Hai wanted to know her name. It had been annoying him more than anything. "Excuse me, could you tell me your name finally? I feel weird calling you 'Elf,' It sounds disrespectful."
Unable to disagree with him about the matter, she spoke. "Khan Ni." She hid her face slightly in embarrassment.
"Khan Ni, are you coming with us or not?" Wu Hai looked like he was also ready to go and made sure to push the topic. Khan Ni had been following them for two days and now a decision needed to be made.
After nodding to him, Wu Hai had all the information he needed from her. They took to the skies.
Khan Ni had never been in the air before. She had been high in trees but never soaring through the Air. Holding onto someone else was also a new experience. The fear of falling had her tightly grasping Wu Hai's waist and Doofus was hating the additional weight.
Wu Hai really wanted to land. It was only a few dozen kilometers in the air and already he was feeling the difference. His back hurt and his bird was tired, carrying an extra passenger was hard on the whole group. For a moment, he was a bit upset that he hadn't bought a third Tolo but regret was not an emotion to revel in.
Doofus was originally been fat, but now the bubble looking bird had filled out some. Looking more like a real duck than long necked frog with wings and beak, Doofus looked happier too, even when he was tired.
Wu Hai hadn't bothered putting the cube in the scabbard anymore, he even put the crusher away and it cleared some space behind him for Khan Ni to sit. Doofus was somewhat thrilled at the change and decided it was time that they land. Looking below he saw a clearing but in the middle of a clearing sat a large spotted beast.
It looked like a bird, it had feathers and was closer to the appearance River Dragon. Its long tail thrashed about as it fought with some tiny things that no one in the group could see, they swarmed around it like locusts or bees. Jiao could take the form of mist in the darkness of the night to help it vanish but it was the middle of the afternoon it could only try crushing whatever was menacing it, with its body.
Wu Hai had a fascination with Dragons and while it wasn't officially a Dragon, he couldn't just watch the Jiao suffer.
As the group drew closer, they noticed that it was big.
The brothers were told to stay back a bit, they watched over Khan Ni.
Pointing at the Leopard Jiao, Wu Hai outlined a rough dome shape and dragged large mounds of Earth to cover the Jiao. The weaving soils that came crashing around also had the bonus of killing large portions of the insect plague.
The frustrated Jiao shuttered and seemed to regain it's mindset.
Using the Darkness element as a catalyst, the two magics intertwined into a rain of tiny meteors that pulverized the pests. Wu Hai noticed the shells of tiny bugs, Thousands of them littering the area around the Jiao.
Sensing that the danger had passed, the Jiao crashed into the barrier with all its strength and broke the wall that was protecting it.
Wu Hai made direct eye contact while the Jiao was turning to leave, it roared at Wu Hai's face and disappeared into the trees.
The Jiao scrambled to a nearby cave and curled itself up to recover.
Wu Hai and the others needed a rest, they followed Wu Hai to the the cave's mouth and hovered in the air while he did some thinking.
'Leopard Jiao only hunt for food, they spent most of their lives sleeping.' Convinced of his safety, Wu Hai landed near the cave entrance so that the group could set up camp.
Already sick of having to carry the young girl, Doofus shook violently when he came inside. His feathers fluffed when they dried, Wu Hai saw his status and laughed.
There were still a million thoughts in Wu Hai's head, Doofus had become a lean and Mighty Duck, but he couldn't support two riders. He figured that he should at least try convince the Leopard Jiao to be the Elf's mount.
Scraps of the creatures that were attacking the Jiao seemed to be made of cloth. Khan Ni played with one in her hands and then tossed it aside.
'Ittan-Momen are a type of cloth spirit ghost... they seek the dying but the Jiao isn't dying..' Wu Hai remembered reading about them. A type of spiritualist ability, usually done to seal things. There was little doubt that the tiny, people shaped cloth cutouts belonged to someone but the why and who remained a mystery.
Whomever they were, they had not shown themselves and seem to remain well hidden. Ittan-Momen never group together unless controlled, naturally occurring sentient cloth warriors were a thing that did not exist. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to stick their nose into his business.
Wu Hai looked through his weapon, he found some Dragons Blood and an Ancient Healing Potion. He mixed the two together and they both complimented each other well. The blood didn't clot, it fused with the potion in the bowl and let out a sweet odor.
Bringing the mixture up to the mouth of the cave, Wu Hai could hear the disinterested growling coming from the Leopard Jiao. The Jiao was injured, annoyed, rattled and battered. The best way to make initial contact or friendship with the beast would be patience. The problem was that the Jiao had no reason to trust any of them.
Pouring the contents to a smaller, longer bowl, Wu Hai fanned the fragrance into the cave.
The Jiao could tell it was helpful but that was it, the Jiao was very reluctant to take anything from beings it didn't know. From time to time it would Creep closer to the concoction, the Aroma of Dragon's blood was alluring.
Being a creature of caution it was well aware of the girl who had snuck up to it. Wu Hai wanted to signal her to stop but it was already too late.
Elves were born of nature, it was very difficult for them to be malevolent. Creatures of the forest generally left them alone and the kindness of the Elves to was known throughout most of the world. To some species, it was even seen a serious sign of weakness.
Allowing Khan Ni into the Cave to inspect the Jiao took some convincing but beast showed no malice toward her as she approached. The hair on its back would pick up in a distinct defensive posture when anyone else would come close.
The medicinal effects of the mixture took a while to have a visible reaction. The Jiao's body was very large for the small amount it had consumed. Soon it's classic and deep colored coat was brimming with vitality. The scales of its backside had finally pulled themselves back to normal and it's tail swayed gently as it looked toward Wu Hai and the Khan Ni.
Growling once again, the Jiao nudged the bowl. The gesture seemed to be asking for more, Wu Hai had plenty of potions but it was a big animal. He pulled two more healing potions out of storage and poured their contents to the bowl. Wu Hai didn't bother mixing them with the Dragon's Blood.
Very quickly the Jiao noticed the effects and yawning heavily, it wrapped itself around Khan Ni and fell to sleep.
Khan Ni didn't make any noise, she allowed herself to be wrapped up and leaned into it.
The Brothers brought all the mounts into the mouth of the cave and took a rest. The rain came quickly and it would have been a problem if the rain had started while they were still looking for a place to land.
The Twins spent some time talking to Khan Ni from across the cave, eventually calling her Sister Ni. She didn't seem to have a problem with it and just let them do as they pleased.
A fire was made.
Wu Hai wanted to pass the time wisely and decided it was time to try out more of the combinations. He walled off the entrance from the Rain with a wall and opened a small air tunnel out of the corner.
The changes to the cave kept them nice and warm throughout the storm. The body heat from the Jiao was warming the caves interior already.
Standing with his back against the wall, Wu Hai held the handle of the Weapon and browsed through its contents. Although he had a list as a reference, it was better to look at things. He had thrown a lot of additional things into the weapon. The books he had found were just the few of the things he had a recurring interest in.
Deeper inside the Crusher's interior space, he found toys and furs. Pulling out a silk pad and harness, Wu Hai passed them to Khan Ni. He was a little sad to see the pad go but there was no way Khan Ni would stay mounted without a saddle on the rounded backside of a Jiao.
Jiao had a tendency to sway and swim in the currents. As a species, they were able to swim through any sort of current, they were the ideal air and water mounts. Terrifying on land, Jiao would often thrash about and create panic in their wakes. The rushing forces of Jiao were quite fierce, no matter the age and in their wakes were the tides.
Wu Hai passed the saddle over and told her how to attach it when she was free from the Jiao's grasp.
In the moment, he told her to bond with it. Khan Ni was happy to try. The Leopard Jiao would, if anything, make it easier for her to remain alive in the wilderness as a companion. The last days traveling with Wu Hai, the twins, their clumsy Tolos and the Duck made Khan Ni excited, more excited than she'd been in a while.
She was enjoying every moment as she thought to herself, 'These humans are entertaining.'
The sound of the heavy rain and thunder echoed. The group discussed what they wanted to do next, it had become the topic after Wu Hai pulled the compass out to check his bearing.
Khan Ni noticed the Compass while sitting by the others, she listened to stories of their past and then shared her own, she spoke about how her family were herbalists that mostly lived in the trees.
The evening, despite the rain keeping them in, they still experienced a lot and shared their stories.
A brilliant light filled their eyes when Wu Hai took down the wall protecting the cave. The plants outside were wet and the air was humid. Wu Hai felt like his quest was finally beginning when the Suns finally peeked through the cloud line.
The Jiao followed Khan Ni out of the cave like a stray Kitten asking for food. She placed the saddle on its back and got onto its back, the Jiao rose into the air with no work at all and the group headed North.
'I wonder if this will really be okay, Jiao can be troublesome.' Wu Hai passed Khan Ni while Doofus did a barrel roll.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍