NOVPUBShe flipped through more and more images lined up, some familiar some not, each with a name noted beneath, to remember. Reading the names she flipped the pages until she ended up with a sketch of Xiao Wu and Tang San working in their vegetable garden, knee-deep in the dirt. Smiles drawn on their faces, Xiao Wu's cheeks rosy, Tang San explaining something with a serious expression and wearing a playfull grin.
I can't remember that; I must have put a lot of work into it, though.
While the rest of the drawings inside were sketchy, this one was fully illustrated with fine lines and shading. Her hand wandered over the paper.
It must have been a good day.
She mused and then opened a new page. It had been a few days since her last entry, and she started sketching. The other members of the devils of Shrek started to take form in front of her. Some lines were a lot more awkward than a while ago. Frequently, she had to stop because her hand was not cooperating.
Still, she continued the piece, drawing bamboo baskets as unclear schemes and the faces' expressions, with everyone walking while helping each other shoulder to shoulder. Beneath the figures, she, as usual noted everyone's names and a single fact she could remember about them, something she associated with them. Associations made remembering something a lot easier.
Ning Rong Rong, a real princess.
Dai Mubai aka. Boss Dai, a grumpy kind tiger.
She was eventually finished, her hand numb and unable to draw a straight line in front of her. She put the book away. Looking outside at the sky through the window, she curled together, the scent of herbs tingling in her nose, and eventually managed to fall asleep.
--
The morning came eventually, and Tang Yin was woken up by something rustling around her. Cracking open her eyes, she saw Tang San busying around. He was packing her bag and strode through her room with a clipboard.
"Bro?" she asked tiredly as he looked at her and nodded. Then it dawned upon her that he was preparing, preparing for the day she would depart. Aronud him her clothes were being sorted and lain out, a small list in his hands.
"Ning Rong Rong said she got a confirmation from Seven Treasures." He explained to her while holding up her raincoat. She slipped off the bed and yawned, taking the coat from him.
"I can pack on my own, though, " she said. He seemingly discarded the thought of a coat and went to continue organize her clothes. She walked after him, coat in hand. "Really."
"I don't care, " he told her, and Tang Yin understood. He did this to feel better to calm himself by keeping busy, because he was worried. She hugged him and hung limply on him as he walked through the room.
"I'll be fine." She muttered and mumbled as Tang San pushed a shirt in her direction.
"Get properly dressed, " he told her, and she took it before sighing and heading into the bathroom to get dressed, leaving her brother too busy with things. Dressed, she walked outside and saw Ning Feng glaring at Tang San. Rings deeply beneath her eyes, she was growling. Clarifying with her hands, she wanted to catch some sleep.
"We won't get that far. Academy is starting in about twenty minutes," Tang San informed her, and Ning Feng fell onto the bed with a very unladylike grunt, showing off her frustration.
Despite being tired, Tang Yin took her hand and dragged her after her before grabbing her brother's wrist and dragging him along as well. Possibly before he would empty and start organizing her underwear drawer, she would not put it past him. Most of the others were already inside the breakfast room. This time, food was normal, which was very relieving since it meant they would not run until they were puking out their guts...or rather, it was unlikely they would.
Instead, they were gathered together at the village plaza. Their eyes wandered to the basket standing there, still lying next to the other ones. Tang Yin remembered. Tang San still had two laps left to run from his punishment.
Her brother remembered that fact and then wandered to the basket, turning to the Grandmaster. "I will complete my leftover punishment." he stated, Xiao Wu, walked up to him and smiled.
"I will accompany you, " she told him, soon the others joined. They all nodded at the Grandmaster, showing their intention to accompany Tang San by shouldering their baskets, before running off alongside him. The Grandmaster, surprised by their actions, looked after them a mild smile forming on his lips.
