Kyouko had been pestering Toumi for hours, and for just a moment he felt like he wanted to use his power on Kyouko. Once the high of the moment had worn off he was horrified. He didn’t want to just kill someone for a minor inconvenience.

“It’s only for emergencies… It’s only for emergencies…” Toumi whispered, not realizing he had spoken aloud until Kyouko noticed.

“Toumi, are you ok?” He asked, looking back to Toumi from the front of the group.

“Yeah. Sorry.” Toumi replied timidly, shying away from Kyouko, who had slowed his pace to match Toumi’s.

Tamatsu slowed down a bit, until Kyouko nodded at her. She continued walking, leaving Toumi and Kyouko at the back of the line.

“It’s gonna be ok, Toumi. I promise, there are adventures out there that people in the cave can only dream of! I know a village that has everything we need. It’s about a week’s journey from here to there, so if you aren’t interested-” Kyouko cut off, looking expectantly at Toumi.

Toumi stared for a second, confused. More like lost in thought. A week with Kyouko’s jokes and near-obsessive behaviour would be the end of him. Then again, he needed to figure out a way to go home, as fast as he possibly could.

“I guess…” He replied. “As long as it has the answers to all my questions.” Toumi smiled weakly.

Kyouko glanced at him.

“It does. Trust me, you won’t have any questions once we get there.” Toumi couldn’t help but notice a small drop of water roll down Kyouko’s face. Yet Kyouko’s outward appearance changed not one bit.

Must’ve been imagining it, thought Toumi, walking at normal speeds again.

Further time had passed until the trio finally stepped out of the cave. The sun peeked behind the horizon, slipping into nighttime. Toumi yawned, and leaned on Kyouko. The latter blushed slightly, standing still. After a few seconds, he grabbed Toumi and carried him bridal-style to where Tamatsu had set up a campsite.

Setting Toumi down gently onto a sleeping bag, he sat across from Tamatsu.

“What is our plan from now? We’re heading to the village to uncover ancient mysteries. Do you have anywhere to go?” Kyouko whispered, trying to not wake Toumi.

“Yes. My family’s home is located along the way to the village. I’ll stay with you,” She whispered back. “If you’ll have me, of course,” she added.

With that, the two settled into bed and slept soundly. Toumi, on the other hand, did not.

His nightmares were full of the horrific, dismembered corpses of people he knew. He saw his family, Tamatsu, Kyouko, and even the monster he had killed when he first arrived in this world. The most horrific thing was the lack of blood. The bodies all twisted in unnatural ways, yet no blood was spilled, as if some form of magic had killed them. All around him were the whispers of the deceased.

“This is what happens to the family of a pet who does not behave. Be good for your master, honey.” Spoke a woman’s voice, and Toumi woke up, drenched in sweat.

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His heart was racing, but the memories of his dream were fading fast. Kyouko and Tamatsu were waiting outside the tent for him. They were safe, and that was all that mattered, right?

Right. Why worry about anything else currently?

He stood up, walking out of the tent. The forest surroundings around the cave felt like a healthy change after his first few days surrounded by damp stone. Only the disperse sounds of nocturnal creatures, and Tamatsu and Kyouko’s conversation, broke the stunning silence of the outside world.

“Finally awake?” Jabbed Kyouko.

“Sorry if I kept you guys from travelling more.” Toumi apologized. Kyouko grumbled but said nothing further.

“It’s fine. We’re in no rush,” Tamatsu broke the silence between the boys. “I’ll go prepare breakfast. You guys talk for a bit.”

She walked out of sight, leaving Toumi and Kyouko to themselves. Toumi sat, staring down at the grass, until he broke the silence.

“What do you think will happen when we get there?” He asked. Kyouko could sense the hurt in his voice, and knew what he was thinking.

“How would I know?” he asked. “When we get there, we can rethink this. For now, our destination is the temple, and nothing else.”

He noticed Toumi seemed to become more upset, and quickly adjusted his words.

“But cheer up. We have a week to figure stuff out.”

Toumi started to say something, but stopped when he heard Tamatsu’s footsteps approaching.

“I found some eggs and mushrooms. Eat up, we have a very long day of travel ahead of us.”

The trio ate their food and settled in for the night. Toumi yet again felt something was off as he slowly fell asleep. This time his sleep was fast and dreamless, and he awoke still tired. Thirsty, he gently got out of his sleeping bag and kneeled down to sip from a freshwater pond.

A young girl peered out from the bushes adjacent to the pond. He estimated her at 8-9 years old. “C-can you please help me. A dragon killed my family and now I’m all alone,” she sobbed. Toumi initially felt he should stay away from something so dangerous, but his friends woke up and ran out to the pond.

“Toumi, who’s that girl?” asked Tamatsu as she ran up to him, panting.

“She says her family was killed by a dragon,” he responded. “Should we help her?”

Kyouko spoke up. “I think we should.” Tamatsu agreed. Toumi had no choice, the majority had voted.

“Ok little girl,” he began as he turned around to her again. “We’ll help.”

The trio hiked into the forest the girl was in, and followed her as she led them deeper in. Minutes had passed, and no such village had come into sight. Just as Toumi was getting suspicious, the girl ducked into an opening in the vines, and he followed. A town of maybe 50-60 now-charred buildings stood, surrounded by the expanse of forest.

The girl continued walking, and stopped in the middle of the town. The trio stood further back, as they sensed something eerie about it. Where were all the people? If nobody was there, and everything was already destroyed, why were they lured there? Unless-

The girl started giggling. Her flesh peeled back into scales. She was the dragon all along. Standing at two stories high, she bared her teeth at the group. Kyouko realized he didn’t bring any weapons with him, and Tamatsu hadn’t either. Toumi had hated that this was his one choice, but if he didn’t kill the dragon, he and his friends would surely perish here, and Toumi wasn’t going down without a fight.

He stepped forward, and the dragon growled, threatening to shoot a fireball from its glowing maw. The air around it shimmered with heat, and Toumi had just enough time to pull his friends to the ground before a ball of flame engulfed the very spot they had been standing in only a few seconds before.

While the dragon recharged its flame, Toumi stood up and readied himself to run at the dragon. It seemed to be rapidly attaining heat, so, without wasting any of his valuable time, he sprinted to the dragon’s leg, and touched his palm to it. Without warning, its huge body went limp, and crashed down upon the remains of the very village it had destroyed. Toumi’s friends walked to him, and hugged him. This was the first time he’d been shown affection since being sent here. He was reminded of his family. Would he ever see them again? It took massive amounts of self-control to not start sobbing there.

Thankfully he didn’t. He was the strongest in the group, and had to maintain composure to help protect the others. As he thought that, a brief flash of darkness, interrupted only by the image of an elegant woman, overtook him, and was gone just as fast. It was his sign to stay on task. He somehow knew this was the goddess whom the temple belonged to. The one Kyouko had talked about.

“Back to camp. We should pack our stuff up, the conditions are perfect for more traveling,” he commanded, refusing to explain his reasoning. Yet, as they all marched back to the site they had stayed overnight at, he felt guilty for lying briefly to his friends. Might as well add that to his list of weaknesses.