The ground shook, two large booms echoed from the left to right. Surprisingly nothing else happened after the rumbling, as the shaking ground subsided. Slowly in confusion, the man inspects the situation, which admittedly what he sees confuses him even further.

The two ferocious beasts were not trying to eat them but instead… inspected them? With what kind of expressions were those? He was, for the first time in centuries, speechless beyond repair. He honestly could not understand the emotions on those beasts’ faces but they most certainly were not the bloodthirsty ones he was expecting to see.

The leopard nudged Hong Luo’s cheek whilst the gorilla tugs on her robe. Both looked quite out of place with those aggrieved eyes of brown and green. 

Shhh! A ripping sound startles the leopard mid lick. She looks up at the panic stricken ape. Teeming with an angry warning, her raspy growl is followed up by a harsh snap at the unintelligent primate for daring to destroy the cloth.

The gorilla roared back, its large hand reached out to smack the stinky feline spitting in his face, but unexpectedly he was the one struck. A whine reverberated from his throat whilst looking downcast at the perpetrator, wondering why she hit him. He felt terribly wronged, but the one he cried to did not seem fazed.

“Enough is enough. Sit straight and no fighting.” Both stop and amazingly follow the girl’s words, a snack not big enough to fill the gaps in their teeth, listening so well like domesticated pets, the sight so terrifyingly intriguing.

Hong Luo continues to lecture. “What has happened to your manners? Your roaring has my ears ringing, your petty squabbles have needlessly destroyed beautiful scenery, the existing harmony of the forest's two apex predators gone like smoke in the wind. Mo Yin, so simple and abiding I understand, but Mo Meifeng? What did he do this time that fluffs up your fur to such a degree, huh? And please, prove me wrong, I’d rather not know if it was truly a petty reason resolved without such nonsense.”

Hong Luo was flabbergasted and huffing air, completely not expecting such a reunion with these two. Trained and supervised by her monstrous parents, her mother and father did not spoil them rotten, in fact the amount of pain these two suffered through could rival the salt content of the ocean. So why, why had their learnings’ degraded by such a large margin? Surely they haven’t forgotten what awaited them, if for whatever reason they disobey their masters’ clear cut instructions? Or perhaps with them gone, becoming lax and over confident, they naively assumed no consequence could be meted? 

Watching them avoid her line of sight, she was not at all surprised that the both of them remained quiet. As expected, Hong Luo inwardly sighed. It was just as she deduced, they truly thought, like children left alone for too long, that the throne had become theirs and were on top of the world, like newly crowned kings and queens. Nothing could stop them, they probably assumed. And they would be right, only if ‘she’d’ never returned like it would have ought to be. Now? Oh, she’d cross her arms if she could, but instead settled for a ‘harmless’ smile and ‘sweet’ head tilt.

“No answer, huh? That’s fine, there’s no need for a ‘verbal’ one. So have my words treated as rhetoric.” Innocently rolling her eyes across the scene of the crime, she inadvertently watches the naive beasts relax. With a slight chuckle, “what’s left can be said and done once returning home. ——–Now then, quickly dismiss those others and hurry back. The sun will be setting soon, and I wish not to walk through the woods in the dark, especially during such weather. Off with you.”

Tail wagging and feet hopping up and down, those two ‘gullible’ giants rushed off to roar away those noisy bunch, glee obviously exciting them over ‘escaping’ trouble and the punishment for said wrong doings. Hong Luo just shook her head at the sight, no longer paying them any mind, especially since the patient on her back was writing for her attention.

Friends of yours, the words formed on her shoulder blade asked. Hong Luo softened, indulgence relaxing her shoulders. “More than that, siblings, or childhood companions is a more accurate comparison. —–From my earliest memory they’ve been there, for the good and the bad, right at the side of my parents, trained and raised into what they are now, or what they should have been, protectors for this daughter, their only child. —–Although not perfect, being more silly minded then a panda, they are still such adorable goofballs one will always forgive, perhaps reprimand a little, but still nonetheless have leniency, and with their intimidating size, that alone would scare away trouble, far far to the other side of the world if need be.” 

They’ve never hurt you, he further asked, which resulted in loud laughter, catching the attention of the disgruntled goofballs directing traffic. “Them? Hurt me? Never. As dangerous as they appear to others, the level of threat towards myself is at most pilfered food, or crushed for cuddles. Though they are quite clingy if left unchecked, loving to go a mile once accepting an inch. Yes, they truly are such harmless goofballs down to the core. So you need not worry, for me or yourself. I’ll deal with them if ever they get out of hand.——–Good, looks like they're done. With them, we’ll reach my home much faster. Soon you’ll be fine with no need to write out your thoughts, talking up a storm at every given minute, I promise you that. Everything will be okay.” 

Turning her head to look at the man, expecting to see some small bit of hope, but unfortunately she was met with deathly cold eyes, and a cloud that had risen from the base. This jolted her heart, terrifying her into a statue. No! That was not there before. His eyes were perfectly fine not too long ago. Not good, not good at all! She had been too lax, letting distractions separate her from the situation of her patient. Hong Luo, how ludicrously foolish of you! If any further damage were to be sustained, she didn’t deserve to live anymore.

Calming herself down, not showing a bit of her true feelings, Hong Luo smiled brighter and repeated, trying to imbue reassurance in her tone, “everything will be okay. With me here, nothing will happen to you. This I swear.”

The man simply laid his chin atop her head once more, no longer communicating with her, and going silent. It was as if the exhaustion was too much, causing him to swiftly fall faint. This was further confirmed by the weight on her back turning heavier.

When her head turned back around that gentle smile was no more and a fierce determination had etched itself into her brows and pursed lips. Hong Luo silently marched herself over to Mo Meifeng, the confused Leopard. She orders for her to lower herself. Both her and the man were then lifted up by Mo Yin the primate, and secured in place by a green vine light aura. As if sensing her wrong mood, the beasts didn’t make a fuss, and when told to hurry home, left just like that, with the remaining beasts looking on in confusion. 

Still the rain fell, harsh and unloving towards this world submerged in dark clouds, ones that seemed adamant in swirling in place, refusing to move on. The winds cut through the mountains, sliced their way through forest, and into populated areas, stirring up sounds of dread and gloom. It passed by indigenous figures in the trees, ones swiftly rushing out of the forest after spotting an alarming disturbance. Following right behind the racing beasts, it swished Hong Luo’s hair past her line of sight. It rustled the hood hiding an ailing face, the bloodless countenance of the dying man on her back. Lightning strikes and thunder booms. The storms outside and inside the heart raging to outdo one another.