Leo and the others are seen under the hot desert-like sun, hot sweat dropping down their chin in heat and dryness of the throat.
Salient is asleep and Liam carried him and settled his head on his shoulder.
"We have been walking for hours, Leo. We aren't robots that do work every now and then you know" Chloe said and Leo didn't seem to even notice her existence.
Chloe's mouth dropped annoyed. They have been walking for six hours non stop and Leo didn't mind. He had his mind set on finding LiLi and carrying out their next move.
He didn't have his mind fixed on the complaints of Chloe.
Ryan, just to comfort her and make her to keep going, tapped her shoulder and when she raised her head to look at him, he smiled.
Chloe found him as a nice person to relate with.
"Thank you" she whispered and he nodded and together, they walked with the rest.
"Does anyone know the direction of where they dragged LiLi and and that other lady?" Liam asked.
Leo knelt on one knee and slided his hand against the sand, trying to pick any notice of their footprint or something that can track them down.
"Even if we know the direction they were dragged to we can still track them down" Leo said and stood upright.
"What do you mean?" Salient asked, staring up at Leo and holding firmly to his hand. He had woken up from the heated sleep he faced on the shoulder of Liam.
Leo stared down at him with a stern look on his face.
"The tracking path maybe mistaken by us. Either that or they can be many junctions on the way"
"But we can pass through those paths, right?" Salient asked still staring up at him.
Leo's face calmed down a little when he saw the cute and adorable face of little Salient and instead of getting annoyed by all his questions that he asked childishly, he actually got interested in becoming a friend of little Salient.
You know, when you look at a little child and his or her behavior you start to remember how you were when you were little. The silly mistakes and things you did, how you related with your parents, the stories you hear from the mouths of elders and what you learn from it, all of those. And the adulthood and childhood memories that Leo had, started to collide in his head as he thought fervently of how he was Salient's age.
He stared at Salient with the heart of a boy that he once was, smiled with admiration for the little boy beside him and nodded.
"Of course we will pass those paths. We will go in, and come out with victory" he said and Salient smiled, having in his heart the assurance of what Leo just said will come into existence.
The little conversation of both Leo and Salient brought smiles of memories upon the faces of the rest apart from Joe, of course as they also remembered their childhood memories.
Joe's behavior was becoming a headache in their midst because non of them knew whether he was happy with the process of how they were going or not. He had been acting weird lately, even his siblings knew that.
Just as they were about to keep going, dust, rising from the farther west caught their attention.
"What's that?" Salient little voice asked.
Leo quickly carried him as his conscience started judging him.
The dust that erupted started fading the more they watched closely.
"Is it Eartheneous?" Liam asked and all eyes settled down on Leo.
It can't be Eartheneous. It's either horses or... Wait...
Cave men? Nah, it can't be!
Leo didn't say anything but watched closely until he caught a sight of four figures. On their heads are tied bandannas. They look like pirates but Leo refused to believe such lie...
And even if it is reality, he still won't consider it.
The four men stared roughly down at the six travellers and like they were making an analysis, they couldn't just get their eyes off them.
"Who are those people?". Chloe asked and silent was her reply.
To Leo, he wished it was only LiLi that is a female that was on his trip. Or at least if they are going to be two ladies that will be going with them, the second one should be as smart as LiLi.
They had a situation in their hands and Chloe is busy asking of who the people are?
To Leo, that was either ignorance, fear, or she just wanted to be a bit funny at the moment.
But Ryan understood her better, so he placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear softly.
"Stay behind me"
And without hesitation or asking why she should do that, she quickly obeyed without furtherado.
At that moment, a voice was heard.
"What are you doing in our territory?!"
The person that asked that question was guessed to be part of the four people standing at the western side of the large and fertile ground.
Leo gently handed Salient over to Liam who stood nearer to him and with three steps taken forward, Leo replied with squinted eyes and ready for whatever was coming their way.
"We are looking for a friend!" he yelled back his reply, with all his might and power and waited to hear what the others had to say.
The four figures that stood on the hill made a way in the middle of them and another person came in between them.
A Lady. Also with a bandanna tied round her head that hid the content of her head.
"This place is not safe for you! Go back!" her voice was heard.
Leo did not have a clue of what that meant but...
"This place is not safe" he repeated to the rest behind him.
"I said we are looking for a friend!" Leo yelled again, this time praying to God that the anger in him towards them making him to repeat what he just said, should subside and come back when he needed it the most.
His long and cute hair covering one of his eye made him look both cute and stern.
The six up on the hill by the west said nothing but remained standing and then something strange and beyond words happened.