Crawling into the tent and curling together, exhaustion finally took over; it had been a long day for them all, and now that the push of excitement, fear, and the constant readiness for battle were gone, Tang Yin felt how the wave took her under. A pair of warm arms hugged her, and sleepy as she was, she muttered, "Nighty, Bro." before giving in. Next to her, Ning Feng and Yu Hua experienced similar things and fell asleep as soon as their head hit the pillow.
"Good Night Becca.", he muttered, and she grinned, so he did remember her original name. It had been an eternity since anyone had called her .
The sleep was direly needed as outside the others went to sleep to only leaving one of them as a guard, so they would not be surprised by an unwelcome guest. A strange silence set over the forests, leaving only the leaves rustling in the wind and the chirps of night-active insects. Invisible Hunters took over and walked through the night, some of those spirit beasts so secret no human had ever seen them, only heard in stories or read about in books.
The night was peaceful; once it hit midnight, the guards changed places. The Grandmaster, who had been the first guard, lifted the entrance to the children's tent, looking after them with caring eyes seeing how they were fast asleep and how despite their usual mature behavior, they had all but Tang San snuggled together.
Tang San lay there looking at him with eyes wide open and laid a finger on his lips to tell the Grandmaster he should be silent while holding onto Tang Yin's gloved hand that lay there motionlessly and at an awkward angle. Of course, any average person, even fast asleep, would feel uncomfortable and automatically put their limb into a more comfortable stance, but not Tang Yin; even if she appeared unbothered by it and the Grandmaster had not expressed it, the chances of her being able to move it like she did before were slim.
He needed to find a way to save this child, she burned too bright to lose her life this early, and she would take a big part of his disciple with her.
Leaving the children, he laid himself down and continued thinking; there had to be a way.
The night was over as quick as it came, and by a long-trained reflex, Tang Yin awakened at dawn and felt like she had been drinking a glass or two too much of devil's water.
"Mai più, mi servo dell'acqua.", she muttered.
As soon as she was out, the humid jungle air hit her, and she smiled; she had camped in a strange forest not far from her. A giggle erupted if her cousin and she automatically growled in the direction and stabbed Yule with her gaze. But not her cousin, her brain was a slow starter this early.
Behind her, Tang San left, and she could not even react as he pushed a comb into her hands.
"You require a glass of water quite desperately.", he said, and she stared at the comb, still half asleep.
"You do it.", she called after him, wanting him to comb her hair. "I am too lazy."
"Nope, all yours; leave the combing to your future husband.", he said as he climbed up a tree and sat down in his meditation pose, stupid brother.
"Never gonna marry. I seem to have bad taste when it comes to man.", The only one she ever really liked and even thought about a possible future was co-responsible for her death. No matter how crazy someone was, nobody would try to shoot another without reason, not even, no, by god she couldn't remember, that woman. A blurry image of a woman appeared before her eyes; nope, no idea; this forgetting stuff was becoming bothersome.
"Loulou.", San Pao called out and had everyone awake, standing battle ready within seconds.
"What is going on?" Tang Yin muttered; she did not like to have any kind of action before getting rid of her terrible bed hair.
"We are getting a guest." The Grandmaster answered, ushering the still-sleepy Ning Feng and Yu Hua to Ari. A hissing sound erupted and dressed in PJs and with bed hair Tang Yin hissed back as some of her clothing dissolved after getting hit by the drops of greenish liquid.
"Why me!" she cursed and stood eye to eye with a far too giant snake. "I am not even the Protagonist!"