Chapter Text
On, in her silver kitten form, was curled up on the massive bed at the Hope and Adventure Loving Inn. Pillows upon pillows and blankets swallowed up her tiny form. The pillows were rather lavish compared to what one might find in an ordinary inn.
If anyone were to glance in the room, they would think her to be beast royalty or the beloved pet of an imperial ruler. Despite the coma-inducing setup, she hadn’t fallen asleep just yet, Cale noted. He watched her out of the corner of his eye from his spot next to the bed.
Whenever she would finally start to drift off, she would twitch fretfully, glance around at Cale and Hong, who slept beside her, before snuggling back into the pillows. Her eyes would droop, and she lay there limply, seemingly asleep, before blinking her eyes open stubbornly. It seemed as if, tired as she was, she was attempting to fight against falling asleep.
The cycle repeated several times before Cale decided enough was enough. She may be a beast person, but she was still a child and a sick one no less. She needed her rest.
“Are you unable to sleep?” He finally asked, not looking up from the book he had been unable to read for the past thirty minutes. He merely flipped through the pages, but Record had already spoiled the story for him, seeing as how he had already read this volume.
Well, to be fair, it was a predictable plot even if he hadn’t read it before. Really, all martial arts novels were the same. The MC had a tragic past, met some new and quite frankly overpowered friends, and faced some hardships before finally overcoming the main boss.
‘Once you’ve read one, you’ve read them all’ was the overarching conclusion Cale came to. Regardless, he turned another page, the sound of it filling the quiet room.
On did not respond, but he could almost hear her unspoken response through the kneading of her paws and swishing of her tail against the headboard.
‘Sigh.’
After another moment of no response, he gently set the book down and turned to look at On who was already looking at him with heavily-lidded yellow eyes.
“Well?”
On looked away from Cale and tucked her tail closer to her body. It was something she did when she was uncertain. Something that Cale had grown to notice during the time she had spent under his care these past two years. ‘What on Earth could she be so hesitant to ask or say? Perhaps the fever is worse than what Beacrox said…’
“Are you feeling-“
“Cale nya…” The silver kitten started, interrupting Cale. “Why are you still here?”
‘Well that’s not what I expected her to say.’
“What do you mean?”
On swished her tail against the headboard again in one long stroke before curling it back up to her paws. She seemed hesitant. “Didn’t you have plans for today?”
Cale brought a hand up to his cheek as he thought about what his original plan for the day had been. “Do you mean going with Raon and Eruhaben to the green dragon’s lair?” Cale asked, opting to lean forward and rest his chin on his hand.
On nodded her head.
“That was not something I necessarily had to attend.” Cale replied nonchalantly.
Because it wasn’t. From the beginning that was something that Eruhaben had planned on doing and not him. Raon was tagging along for the educational aspect, which was important for his growth as a dragon.
If it were up to Cale, he would have had Mary piece the corpse together and use it like the black dragon from the Forest of Darkness.
Morally, it was likely not the best route, but reduce, reuse, recycle. He was not one to waste materials nor opportunity. Although due to Eruhaben’s connection with the dragon, he never would have followed through. Even he’s not that trashy.
“But it seemed very important. Didn’t you also want to look at that lake with Mary?”
Cale frowned and shrugged his shoulders. “The lake isn’t going anywhere and Mary is more likely to find anything of use or importance.”
“You also mentioned going into town with Choi Han to-“
“On.” Cale stopped her now apparent rambling with a raised hand. The silver cat fell silent. “What is it you’re trying to ask?”
On’s tail thrashed out twice more before curling tightly around Hong, and not herself. She seemed to be carefully formulating her words. Cale remained silent and waited, eyes seemingly uninterested yet focused at the same time.
On looked up at Cale’s expectant eyes before finally asking in a quiet voice, “Why did you stay inside with me when you could be doing other things?”
‘Oh. So that’s why she won’t fall asleep. How absurd.’
“On. You are an extremely talented and smart beast person. Yet, it’s times like these when you ask me things like that, where I am reminded that you are still just a child.” Cale mused, humor evident in his eyes.
On lifted her head to retort to the obvious bait, but was stopped by a small bout of coughing. With a slight frown, Cale got up and sat on the edge of the bed to pat her back gently. After the fit had run its course, On laid back down on the plush pillow with a huff.
“What do you mean questions like ‘that’?” She asked sniffily.
Cale smiled gently and rubbed her head gently. “Well, it’s a question with such an obvious answer, no?”
On frowned at him and let silence fill the air once more. Her eyes were downcast, and her tail had started to curl inwards yet again.
‘Sigh. What has my life come to? I have to console children on the daily nowadays.’
He allowed a single sigh to escape him before answering On’s original question. “I am still here because I want to be.” He stroked her head a few more times before petting her sleeping brother gently. He received no reply from the twelve-year-old. “On, how many times have I fainted?”
“Too many.” Came the quick and dry response.
Cale huffed a silent laugh before fixing his gaze on the ceiling. “And what do you do when I am like that?”
On worried her paws into the pillow before answering in a quiet voice, “Stay with you…”
“And why do you stay with me?”
“Well…because….”
Cale turned his gaze away from the ceiling and back towards the usually confident kitten who was now stumbling over her words.
“Because I want to see you get better.” She finally murmured, looking away from Cale.
‘Aigoo this girl sure is making me work hard.’ Cale bemoaned internally when it seemed as if On only partially understood what he was trying to say.
Letting out another sigh Cale reached out to rub On‘s head again. “That is why I stay. I want to see you get better. Do I need more reason than that?”
On’s tail stilled from where it had been twitching and fell flat beside her. Her claws also retracted from where they had subconsciously dug into the soft pillow. The silver kitten of twelve years seemed to be scanning him with her eyes. Trying to discern any hidden meaning or sarcasm from within his voice.
Not that she would find any, or expect to find any. She was always a meticulous and sharp child, always so quick to figure out Cale’s intended meaning behind most of his actions.
However, there weren’t any this time. Just the plain, simple truth. It was to be expected that she would feel hesitant to fully be at ease, given the circumstances she was forced to endure because of the Cat Tribe. Another thing on Cale’s to-do list.
“I guess not.”
“Glad we’re on the same page.“ Cale stood up and dusted the wrinkles out from his pants. He gave On and the sleeping Hong another gentle pat on the head before sitting back down and opening his book.
On continued to watch him with an unidentifiable look.
“Go to sleep. I will still be here when you wake up.” Cale didn’t bother looking up from the page he had turned to.
With a small smile that went unnoticed by Cale, On laid her head down and fell asleep almost instantly.
Silence filled the inn room yet again, only being interrupted by the turning of pages and soft breaths.
Eruhaben and Raon weren’t due to return until nightfall and Choi Han had left only a short while ago to run some errands in town for Cale.
Depending on whatever Mary did or didn’t find would determine when she would arrive back at the inn, although hopefully nothing past dinner time. Beacrox was making his delicious steak tonight and Cale would hate for anyone to miss out. As for that scary butler Ron, he was downstairs doing….inn….stuff… Something Cale didn’t want to burden himself with thinking about. Essentially, it was likely that they would not be disturbed for a while.
Nodding his head, Cale placed the book back down and leaned into the comfortable couch. Might as well take a nap too. Consoling children is a very taxing activity after all. He allowed his eyes to slip close and let sleep take him.
…
A quiet knock at the door slowly brought Cale out from his dreamscape and back to reality. Blearily opening his eyes, he couldn’t help the frown that took form on his face. It wasn’t loud enough to disturb anyone else on the floor, but just enough to be annoying for the inhabitants of the room. Opting to ignore the knock Cale started to close his eyes again.
Knock Knock.
‘Ugh. Seriously? Just pound the door down, why don’t you? Either full send or don’t knock at all.’ Wiping at his eye with the palm of his hand, he half-assedly called out, “Come in.”
The knocking paused, but no one entered the room. After a moment of silence, the other person knocked yet again. Ordinarily, this alone should have sent the alarm bells ringing and raised various red flags in Cale’s mind.
Alas, a potent dream of the crown prince breakdancing in his pajamas was enough to disorient anyone and lower their guard. With a grumble, Cale got to his feet and made his way to the bedroom door.
The shadows from the setting sun were only slightly longer than before, implying that Cale hadn’t slept long. ‘No wonder I feel like shit. There’s nothing worse than an unsuccessful nap.’ Cale grumbled internally, now very grumpy at having his sleep disturbed. Although, it was a small blessing since it did end that frightening dream…nightmare?
He shook his head and reached for the doorknob.
Hong’s voice distracted him right as he opened the door. “Whose at the door?” The knocking must have finally woken up the red kitten who now sat at the foot of the bed.
Cale shrugged and looked back as he pulled the door open further, “Probably just Choi Han back with On’s medicine-“
Before Cale could finish his very wrong assumption, a hand flew from the threshold and grabbed the collar of his shirt. With such little time to react, there was not much Cale could do as a light mist exploded in front of his face. Being hit at point-blank left him no option but to inhale the now contaminated air.
‘Shit-!‘ He coughed and tried to take a step back but the hand on his collar was steadfast and held him in place.
The effect of whatever that cloud had been was instantaneous and the world immediately started to swim and darken in front of him. The hand grasping his collar shifted to grab his shoulder as Cale staggered into the bookshelf by the door. Multiple thuds sounded out as books were presumably knocked out from their place on the shelf.
“Motherfuck-“
“Hey who are you?!” Cale distantly heard the young kitten’s screech. ‘Shit, Hong and On were in here as well. How did these guys get past Ron and Beacrox? Did something happen?’
His worrying was interrupted by another loud yell followed by the sound of breaking glass. Although he figured it was glass, in reality, it sounded very very far away. As if a window had been broken in a neighbor's house, and not a vase that had fallen mere feet away from him.
The lights in the room were rapidly dimming and it felt as if cotton had been shoved in his ears. Belatedly, Cale realized that was not the reality of it and this was a him problem. ‘Shit.’
With his vision rapidly fading, Cale felt his legs give out from under him and he crashed to the ground with a thud. It seemed that the hand grasping him earlier had decided to let him suffer a bit. ‘Damn this weak ass body!’
Blinking his eyes blearily from his spot on the floor, Cale could make out another individual grasping Hong by the scruff. Where was On? Why isn’t Hong just poisoning that bastard?
With heavy-lidded eyes, Cale finally noticed the thick gloves worn by the burly man grabbing Hong. There was a magic circle faintly lit up on the back of the glove. ‘They were prepared. Damn it.’
Before Cale could think any further, the man holding Hong snapped his fingers and a second cloud of dust filled the air in front of the fierce kitten. After not even a moment had passed the tiny beast person slowly stopped moving and fell limp.
‘Now that won’t do.’ Cale thought angrily.
Lifting up his hand from where it had laid was surprisingly difficult, but he managed to open up his palm and let out a small gust of Sound of Wind. It pushed the man holding Hong against the wall with a loud thud but didn’t seem to deter him in the slightest.
A heavy boot slammed down on Cale’s hand, effectively stopping him from trying any more nonsense. Not that he could if he wanted to, the fatigue that had built up almost instantaneously was engulfing him in full now, making it difficult to even think.
His hand which should have been throbbing from the injury felt like static. Against his will, his eyes slipped closed as he was roughly plucked off of the ground and tossed onto someone’s shoulder? Under their arm? He was being held like a sack of potatoes, and that’s about all he could tell. Whatever powder they had used sure did act fast, Vitality of the Heart seemed ineffective against it.
He heard more muted yelling and he managed to open his eyes just in time to see Ron’s terrifying face in the entryway. He had his knife in his hand and looked downright vicious. The world then exploded into blue light before fading away into nothingness.
…
Cale awoke to the feeling of a rough hand patting his cheek. It wasn’t strong enough to be called a slap, but it wasn’t anything exactly gentle per se. Regardless, it’s not a way anyone would like to be woken up.
Wait…The only ones to rudely pat Cale to wake up we’re either the kittens on Raon. All of which had very distinct paws. The very much human hand gave his face a harder slap. ‘Motherfucker!’
Cale opened his eyes or tried to at least. Despite the feeling of alarm coursing through his body, it took a lot of effort just to crack them open. Oh, and what a fantastic sight did he see.
‘For fuck’s sake.’
Cale internally envisioned himself banging his head onto a table repeatedly. It had been foolish of him to think he could escape the cliches that seemed to plague novels. He had been lulled into complacency by having strong individuals surrounding him, as well as the past few weeks of utter peace.
Of course, that’s when things go wrong, it is so predictable and yet Cale didn’t even see it coming. ‘Ugh, my poor slacker life! Why do you keep alluding me!’
He seemed to be in a fairly small room. The walls, ceiling, and floor all consisted of the same stone material with some faded stains here and there- Nope. NopeNopeNope. A dungeon?! ‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Are those blood stains? Beacrox would never leave a room without having wiped it down first, torture expert or not.’
Biting back a disgusted grimace, Cale’s eyes roamed around quickly taking stock of the situation.
He was leaned up against one of the walls with his hands chained up over his head. Ah, so that’s why his shoulders felt sore. Overall, he mostly just felt disoriented and sleepy. He was having a hard time remembering how he came to be in this situation.
After spending a little under five seconds taking in his surroundings and stock of his condition, Cale focused his eyes on the thug that had decided to rouse him from sleep. Yep, another stupid fucking cliche.
The behemoth of a man in front of him was certainly a brute. Although, he was nothing like Toonka or the tigers. Cale couldn’t help but scoff internally at the man’s attempt at being intimidating. The jackass was squatting down to be at eye level with Cale and proceeded to snap his fingers in front of him.
“You awake yet, sleeping beauty?”
‘Is he…stupid?’
Cale just frowned at the jackass and didn’t say anything. What was there to say? He was clearly awake now. Although he had to award credit where it was due, at least he didn’t wake him up by splashing water on him like in most cliches.
The jackass sat back on his legs and gave a loud laugh. Tossing his head back and everything. ‘Is that necessary? Really? God, this world is full of weirdos.’ Cale couldn’t help but internally cringe at the guy.
Despite Cale’s extreme internal judgment against the other, his face remained impassive. Not even batting an eye at the impromptu laughter.
His apparent captor wiped his eye before turning to look back at Cale. “Guess the rumors about you being a stoic asshole were true. How do you do, Commander Cale Henituse?”
Cale decided talking to this moron would only lead to more difficulties so he opted to just keep his mouth shut. This was, apparently, not the right call.
The newly dubbed ‘Jackass’ didn’t seem to like the silent treatment and lunged forward, delivering a swift kick to Cale’s abdomen.
‘Ah, this motherfucker! Was that necessary?!’
Cale coughed and felt his body curl inwards a bit. It seemed that whatever they had drugged him with still a hold on his senses, much to his distaste. Before he could think further on it he felt his hair being yanked harshly, forcing him to look up.
The jackass gave his hair another yank when Cale’s gaze met his own, pulling his face even closer. “You may have been some big shit commander or whatever, but there’s nothing even you can do now. The mighty Cale Henituse reduced to such a pitiful state, ha! As soon as our boss gets here you’re as good as dead and that stupid red cat is gonna be skinned and sold at the next Caro auction!”
He still held on to his grip on Cale’s hair, obviously expecting a reaction of some sort. Damn. He even did the villain monologue without Cale having to say anything. Now that was a new one. At least he didn’t need to beat the information out of this guy now.
He had said the red cat, singular, which meant that they only had him and Hong. He couldn’t remember how or why, but at least it meant less work for Cale.
The jackass continued to grin at Cale, obviously expecting some sort of reaction. Well, Cale wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction despite the boiling anger filling his gut.
In the end, he just fixed his unbothered gaze on the man in front of him. ‘So?’ is what his gaze seemed to be saying before drifting off to the wall behind him. The shadow of the guard outside had disappeared.
Clearly, Cale was rather good at antagonizing others. The jackass pulled on Cale’s hair yet again, he’s gonna have a bald spot at this rate, and used his other hand to force Cale’s face to look at him.
‘Seriously, what does this guy even want? At least ask me a question if we’re doing the whole intimidation-torture route?!’
Cale had had about enough of this guy’s nonsense and decided he could play into the cliches as well. Cale spat at the man’s looming face who jerked away with a shout. The jackass had shoved Cale in the process, further knocking his head against the wall. He could feel the warmth of blood slowly begin to trickle through his hair and down his neck.
The jackass wiped at his face with a flurry of swears spilling from his lips. He got to his feet and turned to grab a knife from one of the nearby crates.
Now that won’t do. Cale had had about enough. He had been watching the shadows from underneath the doorway and had finally seen the guard leave for good this time. They seemed to be patrolling and not necessarily blocking wherever he was specifically.
Twisting his hand above him, which surprisingly hurt quite a bit, he focused a small bit of Sound of Wind into his finger. Just as the man turned around with a malicious look, Cale shot out a small bullet of wind, efficiently knocking the jackass into the wall and out of the waking world.
Now, Cale isn’t necessarily known for his…stamina. But even he should have been able to handle using that small amount of his ancient powers. Yet, his vision immediately tilted and the corners of the room began to creep closer. It had been a while since Cale felt woozy like this.
‘It seems the mist they used is of natural origin. The Vitality of the Heart is not effective against it. You’ll just have to endure it until it runs its course.’ Super Rock commented sorrowfully once Cale’s vision slowly restored itself. His voice was oddly quiet.
“Tch. What a pain.” With a resigned sigh, Cale used the Super Rock’s ability to break the chain from the wall but was unable to destroy the cuffs. Oh well. At least he could move freely now. The hand that had been so rudely stepped on earlier throbbed in time with his heart.
He was slowly gathering his bearings and could remember a few flashes of how he had ended up in this ridiculous situation. Without so much as sparing a glance at his surely fussed-looking hand, Cale stood up and made his way over to the jackass he had knocked down.
The door unlocked with a little assistance from the thief’s power, and the guard was still on the opposite end of the hall with their back turned. Cale quickly ducked across the hall with the unconscious man and dumped him into a different room. It looked like all of the doors locked as soon as they were closed.
The sudden movement definitely jarred his head but he couldn’t afford to lose any more time at this point. His vision slightly wavering.
Internally kicking himself for not interrogating the jackass before knocking him out, Cale decided to just find the kitten on his own. While his ancient powers would have been extremely helpful and would speed up the process, he couldn’t tire himself out too quickly. Whatever that powder was, its effects were extremely potent to still be affecting him this much.
With a silent sigh, Cale quietly ducked through the hallway just as the guard at the end of the hall turned. Strangely enough, the place did not seem to be heavily guarded. Which could either mean one of three things.
One, the majority of the inhabitants of the buildings were in a different location or above ground.
Two, only a small group had been sent out as the vanguard while the rest were arriving later, which seemed likely since the boss was apparently not there yet.
Or three, they didn’t think they needed any more manpower to hinder Cale.
Whatever group this was seemed both methodical but also rather stupid. It showed their intelligence by being able to get to him and Hong in the first place, but everything else reeked of stupidity. Depending on how the situation progressed would reveal which trait this group had.
With a quiet sigh Cale got up from his crouched position and ducked into the adjacent hall as soon as he guards passed.
He decided to activate Record. Cale would need to memorize the layout of the floor in order to properly plan ahead. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Record was also affected to the point that it left him staggering against the wall upon use. With a hand scrubbing at his eyes in annoyance Cale decided it wasn’t worth it.
He was gonna blow this place up, one way or another.
It was surprisingly easy to find Hong. The Sound of Wind subconsciously pulled him in the correct direction, even without manifesting itself. Cale moved to turn down the final hallway and instead had to quickly duck into the shadows of the stairs above him.
Two soldiers, armed to the teeth, were walking up the steps whilst chatting. Holding his breath, Cale flattened himself against the wall, praying on Alberu’s golden plaques that they didn’t glance down. One of the soldier’s well-sharpened spear glistened brightly in the torchlight.
Fortunately, his naturally weak presence played in his favor and the two enemies did not sense him.
With a silent breath of relief, Cale stealthily unlocked the final room with Sound of Wind. Holding the wall for momentary support, Cale entered the room to see Hong lying on the floor pitifully. Stumbling forward, because wow that shit was really hitting all of a sudden, Cale bent down to check on Hong’s condition.
There appeared to be no injuries on the small kitten and his breathing was slow, as if in a deep sleep. It made sense for the powder to have a stronger effect on Hong than on Cale, due to his smaller body thus making it more potent.
Although, Hong’s poison resistance should have been able to subdue whatever they had been sprayed with. Since Hong’s natural disposition did not neutralize it, it must not have been a toxin. It was concerning, but Super Rock had said it wasn’t anything dangerous.
Cale couldn’t help but frown at the kitten below him. He was unsure how much time had passed since he hadn’t seen a single-window as he traversed the halls. The unknown drug was starting to make him nervous, despite the provided reassurances. Who knows what lasting effect it may have on the kitten?
Although, there was little he could do at the present moment. Cale had accomplished his self-determined goal of finding and securing Hong’s safety.
With another sigh, Cale eased himself into a sitting position and pulled the limp cat into his lap. He knew the door had locked behind him, but he felt that if he used any other abilities he really would pass out. Granted, he might just do that on his own.
He felt as if he hadn’t slept in years and it was all finally crashing down on him….but that couldn’t be right, he had been sleeping quite amiably at the Henituse’s residence in the capital these past few days. Or had they been at the inn?
Cale found it quite difficult to remember. He shook his head to clear out the nonsensical run-on thoughts, but only succeeded in aggravating the growing ache that seemed to pulse behind his eyes.
Cale looked down at the kitten in his lap and rubbed his back gently. He was checking for any other injuries he may have missed. Also, he wasn’t quite sure what to do now.
Oh, wait. They had been at the inn. Hong’s fur seemed to bring Cale back to his senses and jog his fuzzy memory.
“Ugh.”
Cale had promised that he would stay beside On. The usually confident and independent girl had shown a moment of vulnerability for once. In all honesty, Cale had intended to keep the thoughtless promise to On that he would be there when she woke up from her nap. After all, he’s not such trash that he would lie to a child, a sick one no less.
Yet here he was. A liar, apparently.
‘What did I do to deserve this?’ was all Cale could think as he stared at the stone wall ahead of him. The chains on his wrists were awfully tight.
Leaning his head back against the wall, ignoring the ache that accompanied the action, Cale decided on his next plan.
‘I’m gonna take a nap.’
There was little he could do in his present state and had no doubt that the others would be looking for Hong and him. He had two dragons, an assassin, a necromancer, a poison expert, and a sword master in his group. Cale trusted in their abilities to put an end to this matter. He had done his part, so all that was left to do was wait.
Besides, he deserved a rest after all the hard work he’d done.
Cale cast Hong one last glance before closing his eyes and letting the darkness finally consume his consciousness.
A resounding boom echoed throughout the building at that exact moment.
….
The next time Cale woke up, it was to a rather gentle hand on his shoulder. He still felt extremely groggy and it felt rather burdensome to wake up. Perhaps it would be best to just fall back asleep.
“Cale-nim? Are you alright?”
Sigh. Only Choi Han called him Cale-nim. The lack of Raon’s voice in his head was a little jarring so it was probably best that he woke up. The wall behind his back was rather uncomfortable anyway.
Wait. Wall?
With a tremendous amount of effort, Cale pried open his heavy lids. Choi Han was squatting down in front of him, an indiscernible look on his face. Behind him stood a rather cranky-looking Eruhaben in the entryway. Where did the door go? Wasn’t there a door to this room? Strange. Mary was kneeling next to him as well, Hong resting in her lap.
He slowly blinked his eyes and belatedly realized that Choi Han was still speaking to him.
“Cale-nim?”
Aigoo this punk. Are they not capable of taking care of things on their own? Just let him sleep. It’s the least they could do, honestly. However, when he opened his mouth to respond to the sword master his tongue felt rather heavy and thick.
So his intended response of, “Choi Han I am fine, just let me sleep,” came out as a slurred mess of, “Choi h’n m’fine. lemme sleep.”
Oh well. It got the message across. At the blank look on the sword master's face, Cale brought a hand up and batted the prodding hand away. He was opting to ignore the sniffling that was slowly soaking up one of his sleeves.
With a soft exhale, Cale felt sleep overtake him once more. He was feeling oddly relaxed after seeing the familiar faces of his family.
Why was there no door though?
….
The final time Cale woke up it was in his own bed.
Once again, Cale did not wake up on his own accord. Rather, the sniffling voice of a six-year-old dragon filled his mind with his usual threats. ‘H-Human if you don’t wake up in the next,’ sniffle, ‘ten seconds I am going to destroy everything!’
Not much he could do against that pitiful argument. With little effort, Cale opened his eyes to see two glassy blue ones staring down at him. Raon had perched himself on Cale’s chest, visible for once.
“O-Our human woke up!” The young dragon all but screeched causing Cale to wince. His head hurt.
Cale sighed and moved to sit up, hands grabbing at the chubby little kid. “Not so loud Raon.” With a content smile, he gave the little dragon a few pats on the head. The sniffling dragon continued to burrow himself into Cale’s arms.
“Raon what’s the matter with you? I was just sleeping.” This was a little weird. He knew Raon to be sensitive, but it wasn’t like he had fainted or anything. Well, not that he could remember. The headache behind his eyes was only a dull throb but other than that he had no clue as to why Raon would be acting like this.
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t really remember going to sleep. Last he recalled he had been reading on the couch? Maybe that was when. But still, this kind of exaggerated reaction seemed a little unnecessary. Maybe the burial for the green dragon had been too taxing for the child?
With a frown, Cale looked up to see if anyone else could provide an answer. He felt his body stiffen up immediately. There were quite a few people there. With some rather…unsavory expressions.
‘Shit. Did something happen? I don’t remember.’
On the couch directly to his right sat Eruhaben who was looking at him with very stern eyes. It almost looked like he was scanning Cale. For what, he didn’t have the slightest clue.
Mary also sat on the couch, her long cloak covering everything the same as usual. Cale could still make out the fists clenched tightly in her lap. Her scarred hands were turning white from the force of it. Across from them stood Choi Han who was staring at Cale with a rather blank expression.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The sword was partially drawn before going back into its scabbard. A scary trait that Choi Han had picked up. Seriously, what was going on?
Ron and Beacrox were nowhere to be seen, thankfully. Whatever had everyone so worked up was thoroughly stressing Cale out, and the last thing he wanted to see was that scary butler’s face on top of everything else.
Although the lack of On and Hong did worry him. But surely the two kittens were fine if everyone was still here.
Cale slowly made eye contact with the three inhabitants of the room, ignoring Raon’s continuous cries. He raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter with you all?”
Choi Han closed his eyes in what could only be described as a manner of suppressed suffering while Eruhaben scoffed.
“You unlucky bastard, we should be asking you that.” The ancient dragon stood up from the couch and placed a hand on Cale’s forehead. “How are you feeling?”
Cale leaned away from the golden dragon’s touch with a quizzical look on his face. “I’m…fine? Why wouldn’t I be?”
Eruhaben just stared at him. Choi Han, who had finally freed himself from his spot by the door, walked over. “Cale-nim…” His voice held a touch of reprimand to it.
‘What? Why are they so fussed?’
Cale made a face at the sword master. “What? Did something happen?”
The other three in the room seemed to sweat drop while Raon clutched onto Cale’s shirt firmer.
“Humaaann.” He sobbed.
This was not something Cale liked waking up to.
Eruhaben and Choi Han seemed to be at a little loss for words. Luckily the seated necromancer finally spoke up, her voice like that of a GPS. “You and Hong were taken and went missing yesterday. Do you not remember?”
“Oh.” Cale closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his mouth as he thought. He tried to recall if anything like that had happened, but he honestly didn’t remember anything. Maybe he bumped his head. Oh well. “Yeah, I don’t seem to remember anything. Is Hong alright?”
Eruhaben sighed, a worried look palpable on his face. “Hong is fine. He and On are downstairs with Beacrox.”
Cale hummed at the confirmation before looking down at Raon. “Raon, if you keep crying, you might use up all the water you have.”
“Human, stop it!!” Cale just shrugged at the six-year-old's indignant shout before gently patting his head. He felt as if he had slept for quite a while, but he couldn’t help the yawn that escaped him at that moment. Napping really was the best.
“I presume everything was handled then?”
“Yes, Cale-nim. We took care of the immediate threat, and Ron is currently out finishing the job.”
‘Finishing the job? What job? Don’t say such scary things with a smile on your face!’ Cale couldn’t help but mentally reprimand the pleased Choi Han in front of him.
“Is there anything…I need to know-?”
Eruhaben chose that moment to interrupt him and push him back down in the bed. “Nope. You just need to lie back down and let us take care of the rest.”
Cale found it strangely difficult to resist the ancient dragon.
“But-“
“Weak human! Just be quiet! Beacrox will be back with some yummy food soon.” Raon shouted, jumping up from Cale’s chest to flutter in the air by his face.
Cale’s wince at the loud volume did not go unnoticed by the others. “Sorry…I’ll be quiet,” Raon shushed, his voice mimicking that of a stage whisper. It was a little comical. The black dragon then went about tucking himself into the crook of Cale’s neck.
Cale just shrugged underneath the covers and let his eyes slip closed. What point was there in stressing over something he couldn’t even remember? And it had already been solved, so why bother? He was still tired so going back to sleep was just the best option.
His eyes abruptly snapped open as he remember something. “Ah.”
“What is it human? Are you okay?”
Cale brought a hand up to judge at Raon’s cheeks before looking at the others with slight concern. “Is On feeling better?”
Eruhaben sighed. “Yes, On is doing fine.”
Cale nodded in an appeased manner as he closed his eyes again. With his worries lifted and fatigue heavy on his shoulders what else was there to do other than sleep? He felt himself drift off despite the voices that filtered past his ears.
“Do you…health…?”
“Probably…best…killed…”
He let the voices wash over him. He had no desire to listen to such apparently violent speculations. Napping really was the best.