Once changed, Yu Yan slowly ambled over towards Xiao Yu before stumbling forwards. "Are you okay?" Xiao Yu asked, staring at her as she stood straight.
"I'm fine," she snapped, pushing past him but limping.
Noticing this, Xiao Yu looked down at her feet, noticing that she had hurt her left ankle. "You're hurt," he said, turning to watch her.
"So?" she stopped walking, "It's nothing that I can't handle."

Xiao Yu followed her quietly, watching her limp before she stumbled forwards again. He sighed before jogging over to her to get in front of her, "Stop. Let me check your foot." he said, quickly crouching down.

Before she could protest, he lifted up the leg of her trousers to see that she had not only sprained her ankle when she had tripped but she had also cut herself which created a small gash above her ankle bone.
"You're so annoying!" Yu Yan exclaimed, before wobbling when he lifted up her foot. "Do you mind?!" she hissed before falling forwards. She quickly put her hands onto Xiao Yu's shoulders to prevent herself from falling. She kissed her teeth with a "tch" before rolling her eyes back with a sour expression.
"You're bleeding," Xiao Yu stated before tearing off a part of his shirt to tie around Yu Yan's ankle.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she barked in response.
"We should stop the bleeding," he told her, "You should rest, I'll fire the smoke gun."
"Are you stupid?!" she shrieked, "This isn't going to stop me from winning! I want to win so I don't care what happens to me. I need to wipe dirt in that Stupid Sha's face!"
"Isn't hiding their ribbons bad enough?" he asked her seriously.
"Do you really think that I, Jiang Yu Yan, will be satisfied with something like that?" she questioned, rhetorically, "I said we'd win so of course we have to win!"

Xiao Yu couldn't help but smile at her desire to win and also her immaturity, he thought it was kind of cute. "Is it really worth it? You're hurt."
"What did I just say, Little Fish?!" The girl exclaimed, standing up straight when Xiao Yu finished tying the piece of clothing around her ankle. "I'm not backing out of this game. And I don't need you to tend to my injury."
"It would have gotten infected." Xiao Yu replied, "And you shouldn't walk on your sprained foot, it could get worse."
"I don't give two damns," Yu Yan answered, "And am I supposed to fly instead then?"
"I'll give you a piggy back." Xiao Yu told her.
Upon hearing that, Yu Yan burst out laughing, "Do I look that helpless and weak to you?" she then spat, "I don't need your pity."

Xiao Yu looked at her for a few moments before rephrasing his sentence, "I'll be a strong and stable horse that will carry you to victory."
Yu Yan scoffed, "A horse? Really? You're as soaked and drenched as I am, what energy do you even have left?"
Xiao Yu then turned around, crouched, "I'm not the King of Endurance for nothing," he announced, earning a smirk from his partner.
"All right then, let's see if you can live up to your title, Little Fish," she challenged, before climbing onto his back and wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. As she felt Xiao Yu stand up, she could feel a rapid heartbeat, thumping against her chest and its feeling was so deep that she didn't know whether it was her own heart beat or Xiao Yu's. She wasn't feeling anything different so believed that it belonged to Xiao Yu.

"Stupid fish," she muttered.

As the two continued on their journey, they went deeper and deeper into the forest which made it harder for Xiao Yu to see where he was going whilst carrying Yu Yan on his back. Using her echolocation, Yu Yan directed him which showed their good teamwork. Xiao Yu was surprised that they were actually working together, he was happy that they managed to. Yu Yan wanted to win so was willing to work with him to achieve that; although she did not want or intend to develop a friendship with him, Xiao Yu took advantage of this to improve their relationship. He didn't care whether Yu Yan simply just wanted to win, as long as he found an opportunity to deepen their shallow relationship, he would take it and be satisfied.

About half an hour later, they had found all their ribbons with the help of Yu Yan's echolocation. "Giddy up horse," Yu Yan instructed, hitting Xiao Yu's shoulder lightly, "You're slowing down."
Xiao Yu followed her instructions, "Which way now?" he asked.
Yu Yan remained silent, concentrating on feeling her surroundings using the reflected sound waves in the air, "If you turn left and continue that way, we'll find a clearing which is most likely where Duan Chang Ren is but I can't find any direct route that we can actually pass through. So we're going to have to go around it." she explained.
"How long do you reckon it'll take us?" he asked as be began trekking through the soil and leaves.
"If you keep at this pace, we'll be at the checkpoint in 5 minutes," Yu Yan informed before a yawn escaped her lips.

We're actually communicating Xiao Yu thought before turning his head to the side, "Are you tired? Let's take a rest at the checkpoint."
"No, we'll lose valuable time." Yu Yan replied quickly.
"But the ribbons we've hid are almost impossible to find, it'll take all the pairs a while to find and a few of them have already fired their smoke guns and given up," Xiao Yu responded.
"When does a rider ever care about their horse's opinion?" Yu Yan questioned before hearing Xiao Yu's stomach rumbled. He's probably hungry and is lacking energy, she sighed feeling annoyed before reluctantly backing down, "Okay fine. You eat something quickly and then we're off again."
Xiao Yu grinned, "Thanks."

~*~*~

Da Dong and Sha Jie arrived at the checkpoint, arriving at a clearing with a large tent set up with tables of refreshments. Wu Xiong was sitting happily munching on a banana whilst Jin Bao San lay on the ground, exhausted and covered in twigs and mud. Tao Zi and Zhu Pi sat separately doing their own things. Duan Chang Ren also had his stall set up to one side whereas he sat on the other, snoozing away in his chair.

"Duan Chang Ren!" Da Dong called, jogging over to him and dumping his bag on the floor as Sha Jie walked over to get a glass of water.
Duan Chang Ren jumped up, "Oh Wang Da Dong, little friend!" he exclaimed surprised, "What can I get for you?" he asked, looking at him, yawning.
"We can't find our ribbon at all!" he replied, "So we just came here instead."
"That's no good! I can't give you the campsite map I'm afraid," Duan Chang Ren informed, "Why don't you and Little Friend Sha take a rest and freshen up? There are refreshments over there or I can whizz something up for you."
Da Dong looked around, "It's okay, I'm not hungry. How did you even get all this stuff here anyway?" he asked.
Duan Chang Ren smiled, "I have my ways."

"Of course, you're Duan Chang Ren." Da Dong said, not knowing why he even asked such a thing, "How many other pairs have come by?"
"Hmm, lots of pairs have come by but only Little Friends Wu Xiong and Ya Se have managed to find all their ribbons. I'm surprised it's taking you all so long." Duan Chang Ren put his hands on his hips as he surveyed his surroundings, "Those who have given up have been escorted to the campsite already so theres only a few of you left."
"Ah, as expected of Narcissist," Da Dong muttered, "Well we just can't find ours. We've only found two," he said holding up his two ribbons.

"We've got our three," Yu Yan's voice came in and the two turned around to Xiao Yu giving her a ride on his back. The three ribbons were tied loosely around her neck. Almost everyone's mouth gaped open when seeing Yu Yan and Xiao Yu so close.
"X-Xiao Yu..." Da Dong stuttered, pointing at him, speechless.
Xiao Yu titled his head in confusion as he helped Yu Yan sit down. After Duan Chang Ren helped the two unfasten their Stay Close Under My Nose bands, Da Dong quickly rushed over to him and yanked him by the arm to a small corner.


"What are you doing?" Xiao Yu asked, looking over at the refreshments table with a longing gaze.
"What's with you and Yu Yan? When did you two get so close?!" Da Dong whispered shouted as Xiao Yu locked his gaze on the food.
"It's nothing," he responded, ready to get some food.
"You were giving her a piggy back!" KO 3 exclaimed quietly, grabbing onto his friend who was trying to escape.
Xiao Yu rolled his eyes, exhaling, "She was hurt okay? Don't misunderstand."
Wang Da Dong stared at him, almost scrutinising his face for any small movements of unease or discomfort. "Really?" he asked, leaning into him.
"Yes, Da Dong! You're just over thinking things." Xiao Yu replied before quickly leaving to eat some food.

Da Dong sat down next to Jiang Yu Yan, wanting to start up a conversation. "So you found all your ribbons?" he asked.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Yu Yan replied as she sniffled.
"Just asking," he answered her, "I haven't actually had a proper conversation with you before."
"So?" Yu Yan faced him, "I don't want to talk to you anyway. Leave me alone."
"Hey, aren't we bros?" Da Dong questioned, hitting his chest lightly with his fist twice.
"Bros? What do you take me for?" she laughed, mockingly, "When did I ever agree to that?"
"You fought for us so that makes me see you as a bro," he told her.
"Are you being serious, Wang Da Dong?" Yu Yan asked in a bored tone, "Who wants to be bros with you? And can't you see that I'm a girl? I thought I was the blind one here."
"Girls can be bros too!" Da Dong defended, "We're cool aren't we?"
"Whatever, I'm not in the mood to talk to you," she replied dryly before sneezing.

"You should wear more layers before you catch a cold," Xiao Yu came in as he put his jacket around Yu Yan's shoulders.
"I could say the same to you but it's not like I care about your health anyway," she responded, sliding it off, "I don't need your garbage, if I was cold I would've worn my own clothes."

But Xiao Yu persisted and wrapped his jacket around her, "You've been sniffling for a while now. Didn't you dry yourself properly?"
"What happened?" Da Dong asked, eyeing his brother and his suspicious actions.
"Nothing that concerns you," Yu Yan snapped, quickly standing up and losing her footing due to her ankle. She winced as she stumbled a step or two.
"Hey Jiang Yu Yan, are you okay?" he asked, also standing up.
"Mind your own business!" she exclaimed, feeling a bit embarassed.

Other than feeling embarrassed from stumbling, she felt weird and odd. She didn't see Xiao Yu giving her his jacket as anything special but it made her a feel a bit weird, a little awkward perhaps. Maybe she was coming down with a fever? But she didn't feel as sick before Xiao Yu gave her his jacket so was it Xiao Yu? Why did he take good care of her? She wondered as she limped away. She was so unused to this care and attention that it made her feel weird. She didn't know what was happening. Maybe she was coming down with some sort of illness after catching some sort of bug from the air. After all, she didn't know much about illnesses or bad health; she had always been in sterile conditions and was rarely ever allowed to go out into the outside world so coming to Zhong Ji Yi Ban was her first time going out into the world alone after many years and also her first time going to school. She would have to tell her father about all these new feelings she was experiencing and get a diagnosis. They didn't mean much to her nor did they really affect her at that moment but she wanted to know what it was.