Headed by a Snake

Pale was desperately trying to stay awake. Taree was in a panic. Taree was in a daze. He was afraid she'd run off and fight Yoshio by herself if he didn't keep talking to her to keep her calm. She had finally managed to drag both him and her brother to the entrance of a cave, but her orange sleeves had wiped her blurry eyes raw in the process.

He wanted to sleep so badly.

"You'd better not close your eyes, stupid! I'll hate you forever if you do!" The girl screamed.

But his stupid new friend wouldn't let him.

It was fine, though.

"Taree..."

"No! No, no, no no no no. You can't talk. Just stay quiet. Help is coming soon."

"...In my bag... There's... a glass."

Through sniffles and snot, the miserable little girl began digging into Pale's supply bag. She stopped for a moment upon finding the empty jerky cloth that Pale had offered her earlier. She began to wail loudly, dumping out the bag's contents. She picked up a thin, stoppered glass vial full of a suspicious red liquid.

"Pale. Pale." Taree grabbed both of Pale's hands, placing the vial in it. "I got the glass. I got it. What do I do?"

"It's... healing...." He struggled to find the words in his daze, "I need... to drink..."

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...

Taree struggled to understand what the boy was trying to say, with the blood loss, he had lost all of his strength. She quickly unstoppered the bottle and put it up to Pale's mouth... but even as weak as Pale was, he reached out a hand to hold hers, stopping her.

Taree had grown up on stories of fantastical alchemy pills able to heal any wound. She was sure that whatever was in the red vial was a priceless treasure to the Outsiders. The boy was from a prestigious family, the Invictus Sect! Of course, they'd have miraculous treasures capable of this and more.

"Pale, what is it? I just-- I just have to pour this into your mouth, right? It's like a healing pill, right? You'll be okay, right?"

Pale weakly shook his head, "Half... your brother."

Taree felt her pupils shrink and her stomach churn with shame.

"HOW CAN YOU THINK OF OTHERS WHEN YOU'RE LIKE THIS?!" Taree shouted.

"I'm... fine." Pale smiled weakly.

"Idiot!!" Taree yelled, streams of grossness running down her cute face. "Y-y-y-you don't know if the pill will work all the way if you don't take the whole thing. Besides, my brother's wound isn't critical! Yours is!"

"H...him first," Pale insisted.

Taree clenched her fist. But she couldn't hit him to make him understand. Putting on a resolute face, she narrowed her eyes, willing the tears to stop.

She poured the open vial's contents into her own mouth. Grabbing the younger boy's face with both hands, she pressed her lips to his, closing her eyes reflexively. She held him, even going as far as swirling her tongue to ensure he had swallowed everything. Withdrawing her lips, a thin strand of saliva remained briefly visible, linking their tongues.

"Um... Taree," Pale grinned.

Taree's face was as bright and as deeply colored as her robe, and it felt like she had rubbed pepper oil all around her face and neck and even near her shoulders, "Wh-whahaha-haaaaat?"

"I need you to take out the things in my back... Or else it won't heal right..."

Taree blinked, trying to process what he said. She was thinking of way too many unnecessary things with her heart beating so fast.

"O... oh." Taree muttered. She couldn't manage any higher forms of speech. Kneeling down again by Pale's side, she began pulling the bloody metal darts out of Pale's armor.

...

The red healing potion staunched the bleeding. After washing out his wounds with a waterskin, Pale put his armor back on and immediately suggested they continue to flee, only to be met by more of Taree's crying, the flailing of her fists, and the gnashing of teeth.

Taree wanted to rest for a short while, waiting for Tamaki to wake up. Pale thought it too dangerous-- his gut feeling told him that the cave was dangerous, and even though less than a half-bell had passed, he was worried about Lone.

Taree wanted to explore the cave. Pale wanted to run. So they compromised...

The silver-haired girl led the way, while he followed close behind. The cave was pitch black and began to spiral downwards, but Taree had a magical stone that illuminated their way with a pure white light.

"It's called an Ivory Stone. It's a badge that proves you're one of the Inner Sect members of my Ivory Judge sect..."

Pale held it in his hands. It was a sturdy triangle that fit comfortably into his palm and radiated off a comforting warmth.

"Um. Are you sure it's okay to give this to me?"

"I'm just... I'm just letting you hold it. I'm not giving this to you! It's-not-like-we're-gonna-get-married-or-anything!!" Taree explained herself quickly, mashing up her words.

She turned away and continued to walk. Even though Pale held the light-stone, the dim light was enough for Taree to watch her step. Pale followed obediently.

"It's like a scale from a snake? A really big snake," He asked.

"Hmph!" Taree crossed her arms. "That shows what you know! The Guardian Beast of my Ivory Judge sect is a DRAGON!"

"Huh? A dragon? I thought dragons didn't exist."

"Well, now you do! I've even seen one!" Taree turned away, pouting.

"What? Really?" Pale smiled back the best he could. She was so proud of her dragon that he didn't have the heart to tell her she was wrong.

Dragons don't exist. Not anymore. Boss Tycon was very adamant about that.

He didn't think that Boss Tycon and Taree would get along if they met. The Boss was always (mostly) polite when talking and when people were respectful. Pale was slightly worried because though Taree wasn't rude, she didn't seem very respectful at all.

"EEEE!!"

Pale winced at the strangest girl-scream he'd ever heard. Taree had stopped, but she was clenching her fists and shivering-- dangerous.

"Taree? What in the seven... hecks are you yelling about?" He asked the girl in front of him.

"PALE!! Quit playing around! Let go of my leg!"

A chill ran down Pale's spine. In his left hand, he held the Ivory Stone above them, to light Taree's way. In his right was his spear, which he was taught to never let go of as long as he was in the field.

"Pale! Pale, answer me!" Taree's angry demands had changed into pleading. She must have realized that there was no way that Pale was grabbing her.

He slowly lowered the thin radiant scale, illuminating the rocky floor.

"...Taree, listen to me. I need you to calm down."

"Pale! Pale..." Taree didn't dare turn around. "Please... please tell me you're the one grabbing my leg."