*Ayawamat*

I sighed as I had my floating web come back down. The others had already gone ahead to camp except for Aban, Sowk, and me.

"Seems that you're going to have to carry him," Sowk said, giggling as she stared at the slumbering Lei. Kun and Yen were apparently too tired to be able to retrieve their little brother.

I picked up the honey-brown haired brat from the web. "Come on you wimp, let's take you back to camp," I said.

Sowk blinked. "You're actually carrying him? I thought that you would ask Aban here to carry him."

I nodded. "Yeah, but the kid's our problem."

"Not that I would mind helping out, we are allies," Aban said, grinning.

"Thanks, but I'll just carry him and charge him a fee later."

Aban blinked. "A... fee?"

I chuckled. "Yup!" I slipped my right hand into the pocket of my jeans. "Oh right, I almost forgot, I found this while searching Hal and Dan. It's a red jewel. You need one, right?"

Aban smiled and took it. "Thanks, guys! To be honest, I wasn't sure whether we should trust you or not, but thus far you've come through!"

"Well, I do repay my debts," I said, glancing down at the sleeping Lei. He looked rather peaceful. Nothing like the bouncy, annoying, pesky kid he was when awake.

"Hey, are you going to kiss him?" Sowk asked, giggling.

I rolled my eyes. "No."

"Then why do you keep staring at his face like that? Hmm?" she asked, leaning in.

I grumbled. "I was admiring his restive face. That's all. I don't see it often."

Sowk's smile grew wider. "So there's something you admire about the guy you call a 'nuisance'. Interesting..."

I chuckled. "Well, there's stuff about you I admire too."

Her smile faded as her face reddened. "T-there is?"

"Yeah, though just like Lei I find you to be a nuisance too."

She narrowed her indigo-purple eyes at me. "So, what do you admire about this 'nuisance'?"

I smiled. "Not telling," I said, walking on ahead.

"Hey! You can't tell me there's something and not tell me what that something is! Hey, Aya! Come back here or I'm going to beat you up!"

I laughed. "I'll love to see you try!"

She formed spheres of darkness and launched them at me. I ducked with ease.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Nice try, but work on your aim!"

She smiled back and sent more spheres of darkness at me.

Aban just laughed as he followed behind her.

"W-what's so funny?" Sowk asked, turning her eyes toward him.

"It's just... you remind me of me and my friends," he said. "Though I guess it is to be expected. You two are friends, right?"

"No!" the two of us exclaimed at the same time.

Aban smiled. "I... rreeeaaalllyyy doubt that you aren't."

"Want to be my next target?" Sowk asked, glaring at him.

"Hey, I was just giving my two cents, no need to get angry," Aban said, backing away.

I chuckled, which was a bad idea as Sowk quickly redirected her eyes toward me.

"Hey, I'm carrying the wimp! You're going to hurt him if one of those hits me!"

She smiled back at me. "You think I care?"

I gulped.

***

"Welcome back!" Nyima said, waving at us as we returned to camp.

I smiled. "I see you're up now."

"Yeah," she said, smiling back.

"I'll take Lei," Yuzuki said as she walked over and took him from me. "Don't worry, Lei. You're safe now."

Well, considering that Sowk almost hit us several time, she wasn't wrong...

"You look as if you were in a race," Nyima said, placing a hand on my forehead. "You're heating up."

I moved her hand away. "I'll be fine," I said, averting my eyes.

"I got you now!" Sowk yelled, jumping out of the forest.

"What's going on?" Nyima asked, looking over my shoulder.

Sowk's smile faded for some reason. "Nothing. I was just playing a game of tag with Aya here. Right, buddy?"

"So you are buddies?" Aban asked, trying not to laugh.

She and I grumbled. "I guess you could say we're half-friends."

"Oh, so like Lei and me," Nyima said.

Aban turned around and covered his mouths. "What's up with you people? It's fine to admit that you're friends. Not like I said you're dating or something."

"We would never!" the three of us yelled.

"Okay..." Aban said, backing away. "I'm... going to go talk to my full friends..." He ran off as if he were getting away from a bunch of crazy people.

Sowk sighed. "He must think we're nuts."

Nyima lowered her head. "Probably... I'm going to go check on how Lei and the other two triplets are doing..."

I looked at Orion's tent. "Is Ori awake yet?" I asked without thinking.

"Ori?" Nyima asked. "You mean Orion?"

"Y-yeah. Orion. Is he fine now?"

"Arima managed to suck most of the venom out, but he's still unconscious. He should awake up eventually, though."

"Suck the venom out? Like what one does with a snake bite?" Sowk asked.

"Yeah, but she needed to reopen the puncture wounds as they had closed."

"They closed?" I asked.

"Yeah... they were thin according to her. But... she also said that Orion's healing resembled that of an abysmal."

Sowk's eyes widened. "Abyssmal?"

"You don't know what they are?" I asked.

Nyima sighed. "Most people don't, Aya. My family has tried to keep their existence a secret. Those that find out usually get their memory wiped."

Sowk rubbed her forehead. "I see..."

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" I asked.

She averted her eyes. "I'm going to go lay down."

"O-okay," I said. I watched as the usually energy-filled Sowk walked away slowly, keeping her head low.

"Does that girl have a history with the abyssmals?" Nyima asked.

"I'm not sure. She doesn't really speak about her past. All I know is that the old lady who owns the apartment building where I live in found her walking the streets barefooted. Sowk was seven at the time. She had apparently been abandoned by her family. She kept saying that her big brother, Ro... Row I think was his name, would return, but he never did..."

"That's... so sad... Though, could it be that Row died?"

"Died?"

Nyima nodded her head. "Yeah. I once read a story in which a dog waited for its owner to comeback but he never did. His owner had died of a heart attack on the day he left him. Still, the dog said that its owner would return."

Could it be that Sowk later found out it was an abyssmal took her older brother's life?

"That's a possible..." I said, lowering my head. "I'm.... going to go check up on her."

"For a rude guy, you sure have a heart of gold," Nyima said.

I scoffed. "Are you making fun of me?"

She walked around me and shook her head. I tried to keep my heartbeat low, but it began to speed up as blood rushed to my face and other parts of my body.

"Not at all." She placed a firm hand against my chest. "I mean it. You are nice beyond that rough exterior. Well attitude-wise as your physical exterior is rather good looking."

She backed away. "Okay, that came out as awkward..."

"Y-yeah," I said, looking away. "Uh, I'm going to go check up on Sowk."

"A-and I'll check up on Lei," Nyima said, sprinting away.

I looked down and chuckled.

***

"Hey, Sowk," I said, standing outside the black tent I had made for her out of spider and silk threads. "Can I come in?"

Sowk stepped out of the tent. "Oh, hey," she said, carrying a black towel with her. I too had made that. Actually, Hikaru and I had made most of the materials for our group. Beat sleeping on leaf beds. Plus it gave me some ideas as to how I could make money in the future. Would certainly go a long way when it comes to supporting Reain, Muna, and even my parents.

Wasn't sure if Houta would accept any money from me... He did have his own prideful side to him after all. Though it appeared to have faded since he was my age.

"Going to go take a bath? At this time? The five-nation alliance hasn't been completely defeated," I said, putting a hand on my hips.

"I know, but I'm sure the others are taking care of them."

I looked around. Come to think about it, it was odd that none of them had returned. Were they alright? My messengers should've gotten to them by now.

Sowk placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Relax, bug boy. I'm certain that everything will go well. If not then we'll simply have to take them down ourselves. That's why we should rest while still remaining vigilant."

"I see. Well, mind if I join you?" I asked.

"Not as long as you don't try to peek."

I scoffed. "Why would I?"

She chuckled. "You really are bad with girls. Well, with people in general."

I grumbled. "Don't think I don't know that?"

Sowk took my hands into hers. "That's why you should try to improve." She turned away. "You know that after this you'll be going back to Nine Petal and I'll be going back to school in Wahkan. We won't see each other again until winter vacation in five months."

I scoffed. "You know, I'm used to being alone, right? I prefer being alone."

My somewhat friend stared at me with those large purplish eyes of hers. She let go of my hands. "Is that really the case?" she asked, turning her back to me. "When we were kids you looked as if you wanted a friend."

I wanted to say that I didn't need friends, but I knew better than to step that that landmine.

"Well, I had you and the others. Even though you were the only one who seemed to actually care for me while the others wanted a friend with magic to back them up in a fight."

Sowk turned around and smiled. She tapped me lightly on the chest. "You know it, bug boy."

I found myself smiling back. I did find it annoying when she called me 'bug boy' and 'Aya', but less so than others. Perhaps it was because she didn't mean it as a putdown like my Father, the triplets, and others in my life did.

I wasn't sure if Sowk was a genuine friend, or just an acquaintance whom I relied on from time to time for emotional support. Still, I was glad that I got to meet her.

"Hey, Sowk. If there's anything bothering you, tell me, alright?" I asked as I followed after her.

Sowk's smile faded somewhat. "Okay."

***

Sowk took the right side of the hot spring while I took the left. Both sides were still divided by the wall of earth that Kun had made for us yesterday.

I slipped my baggy shirt off and began to unbutton my jeans.

"Hey, were you always this muscular?" Sowk asked as she looked over the side of the wall.

I jumped, falling into the water. "What are you doing?" I snapped, my face red.

Sowk giggled. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was going to look away before you removed you briefs."

I emerge from the water. "Well, look away now."

She hid her head behind the rock wall.

I stared down at my arms. I hadn't noticed due to always wearing the baggy clothes I had gotten from Houta who had gotten them from father, but my body had become rather toned during the past few months.

I slipped off my ripped jeans and underwear and jumped into the water.

"Feels so good to be resting after all that," Sowk said, making small grunts as if she were stretching.

I leaned my head against the earth wall. "Yeah, though we didn't really do much to help."

"Hey, don't undercut us. We did pivotal stuff. Like if I hadn't brought the Sefans then Kun and your brother wouldn't have been able to raise Lei off the ground very far considering their state. They needed Aban's help. Not to mention Alto helping Lei speed up his spell. The Aiefians would've likely won if not for them."

"True."

"Meanwhile you took down Hal and Dan."

I glanced down at the streaming water. "Ori and Hikaru were the ones who slowed him down. And it was the prince who took care of Dan."

"What? Really? That guy actually got a win for our team? Huh, I guess stranger things have happened before," Sowk said. "Like that one time he screamed at you."

"Right. I still don't know why he reacted that way. He even reacted that way in his match against Boukyaku," I said. Though I assumed both cases were due to stress. Wanikiya might've been weak, but he didn't lack ambition. Losing was painful.

"Hey, Aya. Have you made any friends at your high school?"

"Not really," I responded. The closest to a new friend I had was probably Nyima... My face warmed up as I remembered our exchange before we parted ways.

"I see. You know, granny recently got me a cell. I was thinking, I could call you. I mean, if you want."

I sighed. "I don't have a cell."

"Oh right..."

"Though I'll work during vacation and see if I can afford one for our second year."

"That would be great! I mean, that way you won't be lonely."

I think I'm not the only one who is lonely...

"Who said I was?" I asked, puffing my chest.

"Are you doing that penguin thing?"

"What penguin thing?"

"You know, puffing out your chest."

I grumbled. "N-no!"

Sowk snickered. "You were, weren't you? Your tone gives it away."

I dove deeper into the water, wishing it were earth so that I could bury myself. She really did know me well.

I smiled. At least I succeeded in cheering her up. 

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3. Thoughts? Predictions? What would you say is the answer to the chapter title?**