7.EH Heat

Another hot day. The dust on the hot desert ground was red from the intense heat. In front of me I could see the picture twist and turn into white and red whirls, the horizon disappearing in the mirage of the sea. My companions seemed quite tired, I urged them to drink enough. But Donghae´s state began worrying me. In the afternoon, I convinced him to let me carry him.

“Hyuk, this must be so tiring for you,” Donghae whined.

“Do you have a cover on your head?” I asked instead, ignoring his question completely.

“Is nobody going to ask me how I feel?” Kyuhyun barked.

Nobody asked and we continued forward. A desert was like a nightmare for a guide. There were just too many factors to keep note of and even then the possibilities of unexpected happenings were endless. From bandits to rattle snakes, from sandstorms to freezing, I had to watch out all the time. I let down my guard once and almost let coyotes inside the tent. But the worst was the heat. It was out the water and energy, I felt helpless when I felt Donghae dozing off on my back.

“Maybe we should take another break?” I asked.

“If you can still walk with him on your back, let´s get it over with,” Kyuhyun was serious for once, sparkly water droplets on his forehead, “I feel alright.”

I nodded my head, we would walk then. I decided to make a camp a little earlier and get up around two in the morning. We let Donghae get himself together and built a tent above him. Soon after, I started the fire on the last briquet and together we ate dinner. Both Donghae and Kyuhyun looked exhausted, the desert took its toll on them. I won´t lie, I also felt very tired but I was used to the heavy load and dry weather, doing quite alright on the long run.

“It´s the last spurt,” I commented when I saw those two long faces.

Both humans travelling with me had that empty look on their faces, if they didn´t have a minor sunburn on their noses and cheeks, I would have guessed they were even pale from tiredness. The desert was tough, both, physically and mentally. Nothing but scorching sun, emptiness calling for disdain. To think that the desert would own such a great power to make someone dark like me the cheerleader.

“Tomorrow at this hour, we will have been after a cold bath in a hotel room, aren´t you excited?” I tried for the second time. If this doesn´t work then I honestly don´t care anymore, I´m not playing the clown.

“I would love an apple,” Donghae unexpectedly reacted.

“Sure!” A huge toothy smile grew on my lips. “Let´s buy you apples in the port, Donghae.” My heart skipped when I saw those thin lips charm a small smile for me. Oh, how thankful I felt. It´s going to be alright.

Or so I thought but the circumstances were all against me. It began in the morning when I found out that one of the last two containers of water exploded due to the constant freezing and boiling of the liquid inside. The material of the bottle was faulty and I would give a piece of my mind to Shindong on the matter right after I come back! Still, it was the last day and we had one more reserve container. The worse problem arrived a little later. We had to take the lunch break earlier because of Kyuhyun.

“We are going to die here,” he whined. Sitting in the white make-shift tent, he was holding his thawed shoes.

It was my fault. I checked Donghae´s equipment and clothes thoroughly, even buying all the necessary stuff he lacked. The check of the hunter´s gear happened only verbally, though. I asked him what he was carrying, I didn´t even think of inspecting the material. Kyuhyun´s shoes didn´t withstand the heat and on the fourth day broke apart. I came up with the best solution possible. Turning into my human form, I took off my shoes and gave them to him. I had hooves to use, after all. Only that my shoes didn´t fit the hunter and after a few kilometres, walking became quite painful for him.

Taking Kyuhyun on my back wasn´t possible. As a deer maybe but as a llama, I couldn´t carry two people. Putting Donghae down wasn´t an option either. We just had to walk slowly and carefully. The day was shortening and although we could see the lights of the port, we were nowhere near there. All I can do now is to build the tent and during the night leave by myself to the city to ask for help there. I was gathering courage to speak up my idea when I noticed a stranger riding a horse.

“Hello, foreigners,” the man naturally stopped when he was passing us. “Are you on your way to the port?” I waited for my companions to wake up and register that I can´t simply speak up in my current form. I could scare the hell out of the young man that came perhaps to help.

“Yes, but it doesn´t seem like we can manage today,” I almost teared up when Kyuhyun caught on.

“Camping here isn´t a good idea,” the stranger thought, “I´m on my way from the port to the nearby oasis but I can move the trip and go tomorrow. Let me help you.”

“Thank you,” Donghae spoke up and I took it as an agreement. I didn´t want to trust the stranger but there was nothing I wished for more than getting some quick help.

The man introduced himself as Kibum, he was a citizen of the port. He took Kyuhyun up on the horse, going by the name of Han, and gave me a long stare. ´Can that animal keep up?´ It hurt my pride, when Kibum grabbed the reigns of his horse, I discreetly asked Donghae to hold tightly on the harness. I wasn´t going to let a horse beat me up. Anything but a horse! No Siwon or this black desert bastard could ever compare to my quick hooves. I flew after Kibum fearlessly.

I thought I would die, me and my pride. When Kibum saw that I was easily keeping up, he sped up and I almost vomited my insides. The light thick fur of mine was dusty, my hooves scratched and my eyes teary. And I don´t even want to imagine how funny it must have looked when a llama was running that fast. Damn horse. But I felt also relieved that Donghae was getting some real attention now in Kibum´s house. When I was being led to the stable, I heard Kibum ask if they wanted dinner. I hope Donghae gets to eat the apple. Anyway, should I transform and join them? Rather not.

“Hyukkie?” Donghae came shuffling into the stable. “You are still here?” His hair was wet and his cheeks were painted with some white ointment, he was tended to. That was all I needed to know. Being so ing attached to that man was driving me insane.

“Yeah,” I mumbled, “I was going through the stuff and cleaning it from the dust. I´m not sure if it´s a good idea for me to appear in the house bare feet like that. I came here as a llama, after all. Safety is my priority now.”

“If you are thinking of sleeping here, then you should know that I´m staying too,” he said stubbornly.

“Don´t be silly,” I shook my head amused, “you should rest well, so we can continue our journey.”

“You see,” Donghae cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest, “we have been through a lot together and I know some things about you. And that is you overthinking stuff, taking too many burdens and responsibilities.”

“That´s not true,” I chuckled, sitting on the floor and dusting my bare feet. I loved his presence.

“What happened with Kyuhyun´s shoes and with coyotes, it wasn´t your fault. For me you were amazing there, as always,” Donghae told me effortlessly. It was really easy for him to spit cheesy lines and I could never get used to it. I was pretending my blush was only a sunburn.

“Please, go to bed now,” I muttered, “I don´t want to sleep in the same room with you when you are being this sleazy,” I made a face. Donghae laughed.

“Alright, alright,” he sighed, “good night, Hyukkie.” Ugh, my heart.

Hey. :) I forgot if I was supposed to update today or tomorrow but then again, I´m confused with the time shift anyway. I realised that this follow up story is much less fluffier than the treasure island. I will try harder for you, guys, it seems like it´s needed. Thank you for reading and have a nice day! - PandaHero