I ran to Brother Cao as he fell to the muddy ground, which was now flowing with the blood that gushed from the Djarnn's neck.
/Brother Cao! Brother Cao!/
I felt as if my connection to the world has been broken. Waving and gesturing to the others, I made them lift brother Cao and take him somewhere warm. Then I sat down and placed his head on my lap, determined that the next wild creature would have to first tear me to bits before it could get to brother Cao. And, good, it would never get to brother Cao, because my skin was poisonous.
The entire twelve years of my life, I depended on Brother Cao to help me communicate. We were both illiterate, or I would have learnt to express myself by writing. Now that he was unconscious, there was no way the others could understand me.
"Zin, how is he?" Iris asked worriedly. I put my hand against Brother Cao's forehead. He had simply exhausted his raw magic when he'd condensed it to form the sword, and didn't have any serious injuries. The person who had serious injuries was Oki, and I shook my head and pointed him out to Iris.
She didn't understand, and made to ask again, but Ruha was smarter. Pulling Iris to her feet, she said:
"Let's take care of Brother Oki first. His injuries from that creature are going to get infected if we don't clean it,"
I nodded at her and gave her a thumbs up sign. Iris looked unwilling to leave, but Ruha eventually brought her away to look for water.
I liked Ruha. She called everyone of us 'brother' and 'sister', and it made me feel close to her. It was only Brother Cao and I who used that term asides her. Coming from Ruha, it made us seem like family. I wished the rest would do that too.
I glanced at where Oki was lying, clutching his shoulder, where the Djarnn had attacked him. He caught me starring with a worried expression and raised his thumb towards me.
"All good, Zin. Don't worry,"
But he didn't know I could see past the wounds. I so longed to tell him to cheer up, that the attack would profit him later! He had inherited the Djarnn's essence, something which could make mages of the martial world become greedy at an instant! Mages hunted wild creatures like the Djarnn for their essence and cores. I wondered if the Djarnn had a core. We had left in such a hurry as we were worried for Brother Cao's safety. Even if we didn't have a use for it, we could sell it and use the money to buy our registration forms at Furhad.
Thinking this, I slipped Brother Cao's head off my lap and headed out of the cave. Oki saw me leaving and yelled out:
"Zin, where are you going!"
I mimed as well as I could and patted my chest, telling him not to worry. Then I left. He was paralyzed and couldn't come after me, anyway.
I found my way to where the Djarnn was. The neck was still oozing blood. Condensing my raw magic into a short dagger, I started to hack at the skull which lay to one side.
After about twenty minutes, a bright blue stone stuck out and rolled into my hand. The monster core of the Djarnn! I was not knowledged enough to know what rank this creature was, but I was sure selling, no, auctioning it off would fetch in some money.
I skipped back towards the cave, the core stowed away in my conscious. Such precious items were not meant to be flaunted! I was sure that Brother Cao would praise me when he came round, for my foresight.
I returned to the cave. Iris and Ruha were anxiously pacing, and they both rushed to me when I appeared at the entrance of the cave.
"Where have you been!" Iris held me, "Oki told us that you didn't say,"
Could I say?? Was this girl really as stupid as she looked?
I took out the core. The three of them gasped.
"The monster core of the Djarnn!" Oki was the first to speak, "good thinking, Zin!"
I smiled at him, but it was Brother Cao's praise I wanted the most!
I returned to his side, then looked at Ruha.
She came forward and felt his pulse.
"He's really weak. I don't think he'll be coming round in a few days. He has to circulate his raw energy to replenish the one he's exhausted,"
I didn't know Ruha could actually say a lot. Iris knelt down beside Brother Cao and mopped his head with a piece of cloth she'd torn from her dress. I snatched it.
I'll do that! I said with my expression. She gazed helplessly at me.
"If he's not going to come round," thought aloud Oki, the practical one, now feeling better after having his wounds bandaged, "how will we continue our journey? Will we stay here? What if another monster creature comes? We won't be able to face it alone; the only reason we were able to kill that Djarnn was because of Cao being of the fire affinity,"
"Our conscious aren't big enough to store him there," Ruha pointed out, and I was shocked. Could living things be stored within a conscious?! But, of course, I couldn't ask.
"I know what," said Oki, "we'll make a wagon while we're here. We'll need it anyway, even if it's not to transport Cao. If he still doesn't come round by the time we're done, we put him in the wagon and drive it to Axihome,"
"Where's the horse that'll pull it?" Iris asked.
"Don't worry. I'm sure there are some wild horses in this jungle,"
"And you'll be able to tame it with your injured arm?" Iris went on, not convinced.
"Oh, no! I'll have everyone's support!" Oki said with a smile.
I wanted to tell them that I was a Controller. Any creature from ants to humans would obey me if I wanted them to. But then, I didn't know how to mime that. So I just nodded. But, I really liked Oki's temperament!