Yixing blinked. And looked down. And blinked again.

And yet, the fact that the young girl was still crying on his chest, holding his shirt so tightly he thought it would tear off, hasn’t changed. He looked around to his brothers hoping for some…..well, he’s not sure exactly what he was expecting, but some help for him in this situation would be appreciated.

Of course, his brothers did nothing of the sort.

Luhan got over his initial surprise and was now just staring at him with a wide grin, while Minseok’s eyes were almost bulged out of its sockets. Jongdae had a small, slightly confused smile on his face while Tao just looked baffled. Sighing internally, Yixing turned to his last resort, but knew it was futile as he saw that Wufan still have that stern, almost scowling expression he always have on, though Yixing could swore he detected a hint of amusement in the older man’s eyes.

Rolling his eyes at his brothers’ inaction, he focused his attention on the girl currently making his shirt her personal handkerchief.

“Um….excuse me…miss?” he asked softly.

The girl didn’t say anything and Yixing realized his mistake, remembering that she didn’t understand his language. Slowly, carefully, he raised a hand and touched her shoulder.

“Miss…?”

The girl didn’t answer nor shown any reaction to show that she heard him. Yixing almost sighed in irritation, before he noticed that the shoulder under his hand was trembling violently.

He was going to ask her further when a small yelp was heard; Tao apparently had trip over a small ravine and was now picking himself up, face flushed with embarrassment. The others were snickering softly, but Yixing had noticed that the grip on his tunic was tightened just slightly more at the sudden noise and the girl had buried her head deeper into his chest.

It was then he realized belatedly that this girl was scared. He recalled how the confusion on her face seemed to escalate rapidly into an almost desperation when she didn’t seems to know her surroundings, how she didn’t understand a word they said when they try to talk to her earlier, how terrified she had looked when the monsters first attack. Yixing could only guess what an emotional shock it must’ve been for her and the fright of the recent attack must have been the final blow on her nerves.

Carefully, he enveloped her shoulder in his arm as he raised his other hand to pat her hair awkwardly. Sensing the questions on his brothers’ gazes he shook his head a bit, indicating that he’ll explain to them later.

The girl was still crying heavily; huge, noisy, desperate sobs that wracked her entire small frame. Yixing didn’t really know what to do; he’d never had to comfort a crying woman before. It was only by instinct that he began to slowly, carefully caress her hair, and ran his hand up and down her back in what he hope was a comforting manner. He lowered his head down to whisper in the girl’s ear, crooning and cooing softly like the way the Matrons had done for him when he was still a little boy back in the Haven Sanctuary, crying over the hard training.

“Sshhh….it’s alright now….you are safe, nothing’s going to hurt you…it’s alright,” he whispered again and again, hoping that the girl will get his meaning even though she may not understand his words.

His brothers were looking at him strangely, he knew, but Yixing continued his comforting actions. After some time he noticed that the girl had leaned most of her weight on him, as if it exhausts her just to stand up. Slowly he bent his knees, still cradling her body around his arms and lowered them both to the ground until they had sat down completely, with his legs raised up to make a cage around the still crying girl.

The forest’s silence was broken only by the sound of her sobbing and the soft sound of Yixing’s crooning. He didn’t know how long time has passed before her crying lessened, until what was left were just soft sniffles and still he continued to rock her slowly back and forth. After some more time has passed Yixing realized that the girl wasn’t making any more noise and the grip on his shirt had loosened considerably. Taking a chance, he lowered his head to peek at her.

“Miss….are you alright now?” he asked softly so not to startle her.

There was no answer, but he had half expected it. Brushing the bangs that had fallen and covered her face, he tried again.

“Miss…are you-“

The question died on his lips when he took a really good look on her. Her eyes were closed and he would’ve been alarmed, if he hadn’t noticed her deep breaths and normal heartbeats.

Yixing didn’t know whether to laugh or shake his head. In the end, he just settled on a sigh.

“Is she alright?”

Yixing looked up to see his leader peering down at them in concern. “Yes, she is now.”

“Then….what’s wrong with her? Has she fainted?”

“No, she hasn’t fainted.” Yixing shook his head slowly, before giving Wufan a wry smile. “She’s just….asleep.”

A few seconds of silence welcomed his sentence, before there were several voices in disbelief. “WHAT??”

“Sshh!” Yixing glared at his brothers, slightly nodding to the girl still in his arms. “You’ll wake her up.”

“B-but…how can she just….fall asleep after all that?” Tao spluttered.

Luhan chuckled softly. “She must’ve been exhausted after that outburst.”

Minseok nodded, still eyeing the girl with interest. “True. I guess all of this kind of overwhelms her.”

“So….what should we do now?” Jongdae’s soft voice asked.

All heads turned to their leader, and Wufan sighed. “Personally, I’d prefer if we just leave this place as soon as possible. Who knows what other monsters still lurking in the area? But,” he raised his hand when Yixing was about to protest. “I understand that she might need some rest, so I suggest we break camp here.”

Now