10 Wanderers

After the slaughtering of the disgusting monster, the strange magic that kept them in that place faded. They found an exit, then left together.

Along the way, Rai made some more bombs, but the number of plants that he could use was small.

As they continued walking, they saw the scenery change right before their eyes. They were now, somehow, in a massive field of all sorts of flowers.

The first thing that Rai did was try to walk back where they came from, but the scenery did not revert. It stayed as it was, puzzling him.

"I guess we just left Sky's Eden." Niu stated as he picked a flower.

Rie nodded.

"I agree. It was a magical place, so it might have been cut off from the outside world. That way normal people can't enter unless they're chosen like we were." Rie smiled after he said that. He seemed proud of himself for some reason.

"That was pretty suspicious if you ask me. What exactly did 'the sky' even bring us there for? I don't get it, man. It just wanted us to watch it die?" Rai continued walking forward.

Niu stopped admiring the flowers to speak to Rai.

"Maybe, but it also felt like it wanted us to bear witness." Rie gave Niu a strange look.

"I did feel as though I was given something. I'm not sure." Rie shook his head and sighed, then kept quiet.

Rai just watched them like they were crazy, then realization dawned upon him.

"I should have gathered more of that material! Ahhh!!! How am I supposed to make more bombs!?" Rie secretly sneered.

"Don't worry about it. You'll just have to use the real materials instead of plant substitutes." Rie put on a face and kept walking.

Niu also laughed, but softly.

Rai sighed, thinking they were on his side.

The area was hilly, though the hills weren't steep. For as far as they could see there were fields of flowers and trees, but there seemed to be a strange cloud in the distance.

"Wait, is that smoke?" Rie suddenly got loud.

"It.. it is!" Niu laughed.

Rai was excited at first, but he quickly remembered something.

"Wait, we should be careful. We might still be wanted." His words woke them from their dream of being rescued and going home, then strange looks adorned their faces.

"Right. We should approach without being seen." Rie wore a serious expression, but was suddenly spooked by the buzz of an insect and it's large wings.

"Ah!" A girlish shriek rang out from his mouth. It was a larger-than-normal dragonfly.

"Whoa, take it easy there." Rai chuckled.

Niu smiled, then looked at where the smoke was coming from. He could barely see what was beyond the trees, but from what he could see there was nothing there.

To put it bluntly, what he was looking for wasn't there. No village, no thatched huts or simply-built wooden houses.

Not even a bamboo shack.

This was as far as their architectural knowledge went.Construction, to them, was simple, so anything other than that was foreign to them.

He didn't see anything out of the ordinary though, so he guessed it might just be a group of people.

The air was warm and smelled like roasted meat. Niu got excited again, but kept it to himself.

His father had treated his brothers to roasted meat, and he had to suffer outside where he could only smell it.

Meat was eaten by the warriors that killed it-- or so his father said.

Niu was all smiles as they walked, attracting Rai's attention.

"This is a sad moment for us, Niu. I can't make anymore bombs. What are you so happy about?" Niu shook his head and said nothing.

"Tch!" Rai frowned and folded his arms. He was at the back, while Rie was in the middle and Niu in front.

If you saw them from afar, given the state of their clothes and skin, you would think they were farmhands or even wild children.

The afternoon sun hit them directly on the sides of their faces, but Niu and Rie seemed to be the only ones truly bothered.

They removes their dirty robes and folded them, then kept them under their arms.

Their under garments were grey, slightly less dirty, and thin. Niu looked a lot better without the clothes that were slightly too big, and Rie looked even more like a farm boy.

If not for their charming appearances and distinguished faces, they could be called average country dwellers.

They continued on, preparing themselves for what lay ahead.

When they finally ascended the hill and came upon the thicket, that slowed. They got down low and carefully advanced.

Just beyond, Niu could hear laughter and various exclamations. Some he could understand, others not so much.

They continued forward. They would soon be close enough for Niu to look down and see just who or what was just ahead.

Rai already had a bomb in hand.

Niu took a deep but silent breath, then took the last crawl.

He could see them. Scaled people with bright blue eyes and sharp teeth. They dressed in rags but were barefooted, so their scaly toes and hideous toenails were there for all to see.

"They're so ugly." Rai prepared to throw his bomb.

"Wait, wait. Look." Rie all but slapped his trigger happy brother to draw his attention to something else.

At the center of their camp there was a fire. Roasting over the fire was a carcass very much like that of a cow or some other large four legged animal.

Rai scoffed, "So what if they don't eat people."

Niu shook his head with a sigh.

"You're saying you'd kill them just because they're ugly?" Niu gave him a glare.

"Exactly." Rai responded with a smile.

"Then kill yourself." As Niu said this, he turned his head and returned his attention to the lizard people.

Rie's stifled laughter only annoyed Rai more.

"They're like reptiles." Niu's observation sparked something in Rie's mind.

"Reptiles. Remember Li and his men? They were talking about reptilians. Could they he reptilians?" Rie watched one of them tear off a leg from the roasting beast and start eating it.

"Well, only one way to find out." Niu got up and started walking, but Rie was so focused on the lizard men, and Rai was so unfocused, that they only noticed him after he had left.

"Wait, no-"

"Ah, let him go. He's a "big boy" now, isn't he?" Rai carefully tucked the bomb back into his clothes. Then he just got comfortable and looked on as Niu approached them.

"You shut up." Rie stayed where he was, eyes trained on Niu.

Niu hummed a happy tune as he descended. The lizard men hadn't noticed him as they went about laughing and drinking, eating and chatting.

Niu had a bright smile as he imagined eating some of that meat, but he had an even brighter smile after seeing a small iron pot.

"All I need is water. Then I can make tea," he thought. As he did this, his smile grew into a teethy one.

He was now only a few feet away from the camp. That was when he was noticed.

"Ah? Ello there! Kah! Look! A smooth skin!" As he chewed the meat, the lizard man waved and pointed at Niu.

Four others quickly converged on his location. They saw Niu and shared a few words, then waved at and greeted him.

"Welcome smooth one. Feel free to partake of the meat." One of them, who had bright yellow streaks going up from his nostrils to his eyes, extended a hand for Niu to shake.

Niu did just that, and returned the pleasantries.

"Pleased to meet you. You must forgive me, though, I wasn't entirely sure you were friendly." The lizard man swallowed a chunk of meat and nodded.

"Yes. The travelers that see us do no normally trust us. They keep their distance, and we do not bother them."

The lizard man smiled, his scaly skin pulling back to reveal his terrifying teeth, each razor sharp and dripping with venom.

"I don't blame them." Niu marvelled at the sight of those teeth, reeling back a bit.

"Gyaakaakaa! This one has humor!" The lizard man and his buddies all joined in the laughter.

By now, most of them had gathered around the fire. The only ones not there were either close enough to hear and see what was going on, or had just gotten comfortable in their tents and didn't feel like moving.

"You must forgive my brothers, they weren't willing to take the risk. I was." Rie and Rai came out from the trees and walked down to meet him.

Rie was constantly glancing around while Rai nonchalantly made his way down.

Niu went back to chatting with the lizards. By the time his brothers arrived he was taking his first bite of the meat.

"Good to meet you, brothers of Niu." They greeted Rie and Rai with similar enthusiasm and stared chatting with them as well.

Rai kept himself out of the conversation as long as he could, but he was soon engrossed in their chat. This was especially so after he heard them mention something rather intriguing.

They were now sitting on the floor away from the fire. Niu had drawn some water from a barrel and was already preparing his tea.

"So, Gosho, where did you say the dust is?" Rai forgot all about the meat in his hand. His attention was fully focused on the Lizard man before him.

"Well, thing is, you have to grind down the tiny rocks until you get the dust from them." Gosho, who was the Lizard man with the yellow streaks, reached and took Rai's meat from him.

"I see. I'd like to have some of those rocks so I can experiment with the powder. Can you get me a sack or a pouch or something?" Gosho nodded.

"Just come with me. I'll show you which ones are the best for grinding." Gosho's long tongue cleaned his mouth then he got up. He and Rai soon left.

Rie was also chatting it up with a few lizard men. They were currently playing a game with some pebbles.

The lizard man had drawn a few lines in the sand, some crossed each other and some were parallel.

They were each given a certain number of stones and had to place them in certain positions.

Rie barely understood, but he was catching on. Eventually, he was able to actually play instead of making random guesses as to what his next move should be.

Before long, he had grasped the concept of the game.

Niu had already made his tea. Despite the pot and tea still being hot, he held the handle and drank it straight from the pot.

He sat down and looked around. For the moment, he was enjoying his tea and the scenery. He and his brothers were safe and occupied.

All seemed well.

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