Chapter Twenty Five - I argue with Jin Li

On the journey back to the mountain on which the alchemy section of the school resided, Jin Li refused to acknowledge Leon. In fact he had not spoken a word since finding Leon curled up in the bed beside him. Not that this particularly bothered the boy, he rather hoped that Jin Li would simply go on his way back to wherever he came from now that he was unhappy with him. But Jin Li was not such a straightforward person.

With a sigh, Leon returned his attention to the diary in hand. He had tucked the books away in his small interspatial bag, seeing as there was sufficient space to carry them about, rather than leave them unattended in the hut. They would give him something to read when he had nothing else to do on the journey or in the evening, he'd thought. He was scanning through the pages searching for other potions or pills that the apothecary might be interested in, in the future. He was interested in creating the Soft Ice pill, which could reduce fevers, thus be good for commoner children, but he wasn't sure if he had the ingredients.

He turned the page carefully and looked at the herb drawn in careful detail upon it. The herb had leaves with edges shaped like a gentle wave and ended with pointed tips. The flower was large, only a single blue blossom for each plant. It's petals were thin, but plentiful and the flower resembled a spiked cone. Even the roots had some character for the thick main root sprouted fine like hairs to seek nutrients and water. But the most interesting part was the herb was dancing in the wind all about them.

Leon tugged on Mino's shirt. "S-stop for a m-minute?" Mino looked confused but complied and watched as the short youth jumped off of the wagon and examined the herb, in particular, a bulbous part of the stem just below the flower head. Not all of the plants had this feature, those that did usually had dying flowers, their petals withered and more black than blue. Leon selected three plants in total, not planning on disturbing the existing herb, but taking these rounded stems. They would contain seeds.

"You are not going to dig up the plant?" Jin Li asked, his curiosity overcoming his temper.

Leon looked slightly startled, but shook his head. "I c-can't m-make the p-pills needing this herb y-yet," he mentioned. "The s-seeds will b-be enough." Leon climbed back on the wagon and Mino continued onward.

He left them at the road junction, where he assumed Jin Li would return to the outer warrior school from. He did offer Leon, though, a ride back to the school, but the boy gently refused saying his hut was a little way from the Food Hall and would be easier if he walked direct from here. This was not completely untrue and Mino was good enough not to question him.

The pair waited until Mino's wagon was out of sight amongst the trees before Leon guessed roughly which direction his hut should lie in and began the long walk towards it. Jin Li followed from behind. They walked quietly along the uphill slope for sometime in silence, listening only to the wind rustling the leaves and the sounds of snapping twigs beneath foot. Leon made note of a few sights, such as wild herbs he did not already have and a tree with early signs of bearing some type of fruit.

Eventually, Jin Li broke his pact once more. "So just when will you apologise to this Lord?"

Leon stumbled over his own feet at these words. After righting himself he replied; "Wh-what for?"

"You clearly defied this Lord and dared to share my sleeping space!" Jin Li accused with narrowed eyes.

"Th-the fl-fl-floor was cold," Leon tried to explain.

"And what has that to do with this Lord?" Jin Li sneered.

"It was cold! I-I c-could have f-fallen sick!" Leon replied. "I c-could n-not sleep. Th-there was space on the b-bed!"

"So you deemed yourself worthy to sleep beside me?" Jin Li asked. "This Lord has given you enough honour by allowing you to stand near this one. You are pressing upon my patience demanding more. You should learn your place."

Leon's face reddened, Jin Li was making him so mad! He tried express his anger, but he simply ended up gaping like a stunning goldfish. Jin Li looked down at him with a slight smirk. "S-s-screw you!" Leon forced out finally, before stomping off quickly, releasing his ire into each heavy step.

Jin Li frowned. He did not know what Leon had said to him, but he believed that it must be something unpleasant, insulting even. He raced after the angered boy and grabbed his wrist, forcing him to turn and face him. He was about to chastise him, when something else caught his attention, causing his eyebrows to furrow deeper.

Leon had braced himself for whatever Jin Li had to say only for him to say nothing, not even look at him. Instinctively, his eyes followed Jin Li's gaze. "Oh." The dangling wind chimes no longer sang in the breeze, instead sadly hung, broken, only one charm and a single pipe remained. The remainder of his ornament was upon the ground, scattered and broken as if heavily stepped upon. The two youths looked in the direction of the small hut, hurrying quickly towards it. "Oh," was all Leon could repeat.