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Hak had woken up first, as he always did. He exited the tent he shared with the rest of the dragons. He poked his head into the tent Yoon and Yona shared, glad that they were still asleep, safe and sound. He’d grabbed the buckets he used to collect water each morning and headed down to the stream as he usually did.
He didn’t expect to see Kija out by the river before him, though.
The white dragon was sitting at the riverside, rubbing at his nose with his arm. From the distance Hak stood at, he could hear Kija’s coughing and sniffling.
And then he had an idea.
“Morning white snake,” Hak said casually, setting the buckets down near the river bank. He plopped down on the ground next to Kija who in turn coughed into his elbow.
“Ugh, morning Hak…” he replied.
“You uh, feelin’ okay?” Hak asked, one brow raised. “You sound a little sick.” He began washing his face, waiting for
Kija sniffled and wiped his nose with his regular, waving his dragon one at Hak. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just a little cold,” Kija said, his voice a tad more nasally than it normally was.
“Oh yeah? What are your symptoms?” Hak asked, retrieving the buckets from behind him. He rolled up his pant legs and grabbed one of the two buckets, wading into the river to fill it up.
Kija watched him curiously. He answered Hak’s question hesitantly, unsure of his intentions. “I have a bit of a headache and a runny nose…why?” He asked, scooting a little away from Hak when he turned around to face Kija, a look of shock and pity on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh…this is bad…are you coughing a lot too?” Hak asked, setting the full bucket of water on the bank of the river. He grabbed for the empty one, keeping an eye on Kija.
“Yes, why? Hak you’re beginning to freak me out…” Kija said, scooting further away from him.
“Oh, this is very bad…” Hak muttered under his breath, filling the bucket with water. He climbed up onto the river bank and stared at Kija, looking him up and down. “You need to get back to the camp right now,” Hak said, grabbing the other bucket of water and speed walking back to the camp. Water splashed out of the buckets at his side. Kija almost had to jog to keep up with Hak’s quick-paced walk.
“Why? What’s wrong?” He asked.
Hak whirled around to face him. His face was in a dead set serious expression. “You’ve caught the dragon illness.”
Kija’s face got paler than it already was, if even possible. He raised his hands to cover his mouth and looked around. “Th-the dragon illness?” He whispered. Hak nodded, his expression grave. He continued his brisk walk back to the camp, Kija was now more willing to keep up with him.
When the two returned, Jae Ha and Shin Ah were awake, just waking up it seemed.
“Ah, there you are Hak! Ah, Kija…why do you look as if you’ve seen a ghost?” Jae Ha asked, turning to face the white dragon. Jae Ha made to step closer to Kija, but Kija backed away several steps, using his top to cover his face as he coughed and sniffled away.
“He’s caught the dragon illness. If he doesn’t cure it soon, he’ll die…” Hak says. Mischief gleamed in his eyes as he and Jae Ha made eye contact. Jae Ha caught on immediately. Shin Ah tilted his head at the two but shrugged and knelt down to sip some of the water from the buckets Hak had brought in.
“Oh…oh no. Kija there’s no way you could’ve…unless…” Jae Ha said, although a bit dramatically he still got his point across. This was a grave illness. One that could kill Kija if not cured.
“Kill me?” Kija asked, coughing into his top again.
“I was able to catch it in its early stages, but it may still be too late,” Hak said, covering the lower half of his face with his hand.
Shin Ah shook his head at the three and made his way back to the tent, likely to get more sleep like any rational person would instead of joining in on the insane prank they were playing on their fellow comrade.
As Shin Ah went back into the tent, Zeno was the one to exit and join them all. “Good morning!” He exclaimed. He smiled and looked at the group who all stared at him with grave expressions. “Did something happen..?”
“I caught the dragon illness!” Kija exclaimed. He kept his face covered as he coughed and sniffled once more.
Hak and Jae Ha pleaded silently for Zeno to join in on the prank, not wanting to end it yet. And much to their pleasure, Zeno obliged.
“The dragon illness…it’s a good thing you told your old pal Zeno. I know just how to cure it,” Zeno said, crossing his arms and nodding.
“How?! I’ll do anything!” Kija pleaded.
“Perfect! Then we won’t waste any time!” Zeno said. “Follow Zeno!” Zeno began down towards the river. Hak and Jae Ha followed closely behind while Kija trailed far behind, not wanting to risk getting his friends sick with this disease that just may kill him.
They all watched as Zeno found a particularly muddy spot near the river bank. He turned and pointed to Kija. “First you need to take a bath in the mud to help you get closer to the Earth and to nature. It will speed the healing process!”
Kija looked at the mud, disgust displayed clearly against his face, but sighed and began stripping his clothes off. He made his way to the mud, but stopped a few feet short of it, covering his nose with his hand. It didn’t smell the best, but Kija was definitely being dramatic.
“Are you sure this will speed the healing process up…?” He asked. Immediately after doing so, it was as if the gods had answered Hak's every call and prayer just then because Kija sneezed. Once. Twice. Three times.
“It’s getting worse! Hurry up!” Jae Ha said, shoving Kija into the mud. The white dragon yelped a bit as he fell face-first into the mud. Hak had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Jae ha turned away entirely, slapping his hands over his mouth. Zeno kept his face stone cold, showing no sign of amusement. The three of them watched as Kija scrubbed at his skin with the mud.
“I took your mud bath! Am I healed now?” Kija asked. But the answer to his question came in the form of more coughing. His face fell. Zeno told him to wash off quickly in the river and to get right back into his clothes.
“This seems to be an extreme case. It’s good you came to me when you did,” Zeno nodded.
“What do I have to do now…?” Kija asked, slightly afraid. Jae Ha stepped away from Kija a bit as he now reeked of the mud.
“We’re going to have to go to extremes…” Jae Ha confirmed, nodding solemnly. Kija looked downright terrified.
“You’re going to have to eat the only thing that holds the cure to this disease,” Zeno said, nodding.
Kija looked a little relieved at this. “Oh…that seems easy,” he said, sniffling. He wiped his nose.
Hak, Zeno, and Jae Ha looked at each other. Hak nodded. “You’ll have to eat the dragon beetle. Lucky for you, they live right here in these woods.”
Kija coughed more, but this time it may have been caused by shock. “B-beetle? As in…as in a bug ? No, there’s got to be another way…”
Jae Ha shook his head. “There is no other way. It’s either this or you die.”
Kija gulped, looking wildly at Zeno, but he merely shook his head. “I’ll start the fire,” he said, heading back to the camp. Kija followed behind him, sniffling and coughing and stammering objections to this plan.
Jae Ha and Hak looked at each other and burst into laughter. “I can’t believe he fell for it!” Jae Ha exclaimed, slapping his thigh.
“I can’t believe he took the mud bath!” Hak laughed, covering his mouth. He looked off into the woods, Jae Ha following his gaze. “Let’s go find that ‘dragon beetle’ then,” Hak snorted.
“I can’t believe we’re gonna get him to eat a bug,” Jae Ha said, running a hand through his hair. The two of them ventured off into the woods, looking for a large beetle to bring back to camp. It didn’t take them long to find one under a rock and Hak held it as it squirmed and tried to fly away.
“We’ve found it,” Hak announced upon their return. Kija almost looked sick at the sight of the bug. Hak almost couldn’t contain his laughter.
“You’re so lucky they were so close. You might be dead already if we’d taken any longer. You already look worse…” Jae Ha said, frowning at the man.
Zeno beckoned Hak over and he handed Zeno the beetle. It was half the size of Hak’s palm. Not as big as Hak would’ve hoped, but big enough. Zeno stabbed a stick through it and Kija flinched, then coughed into his elbow.
Zeno stared at the bug for a while before handing the stick to Kija.
“You’re not going to cook it?!” Kija asked, backing away from the bug.
“That would dull the healing properties,” Zeno replied.
Kija gulped and looked at the bug on the stick. Jae Ha and Hak watched in anticipation as he grabbed the stick. He took a deep breath and slowly brought the bug closer to his lips. He opened his mouth to take a bite and-
“What are you guys doing…?” The four of them turned towards Yoon who was just crawling out of the tent. He looked at Kija and rubbed his eyes, squinting at him. “Are you going to…eat that? I know I slept a little late but it’s not the end of the world…”
“Don’t come any closer Yoon! I have the dragon illness! I don’t want you to catch it too!” Kija said, holding his hands out towards the boy.
Yoon blinked at him slowly. “You…what? Come here.” Yoon stood up and walked towards Kija. The white dragon tried to get away but Yoon was faster. He grabbed the dragon by the front of his top and pulled him down, using his free hand to check his temperature. “You’re not even running a fever!” He said, letting go of him. “Dragon illness…where did you get that nonsense?”
“But…what about the coughing and sneezing and sniffling…?” Kija asked, wiping at his nose.
“Minor cold symptoms at best. And you reek! Take a bath or something…”
“So that means…” Kija began, looking towards Hak, Jae Ha, and Zeno. The three of them burst into laughter at the dumbfounded look on his face. He looked back at the bug and threw it away from him, then looked at the three, angry. “So I rolled around in that mud for nothing?!” He shouted, throwing his arms up in the air.
“It was for our entertainment, not for nothing,” Jae Ha chuckled. “No need to be so grumpy, Kija dear. You ended up being fine in the end. And what’re a few practical jokes between friends?”
Kija’s anger didn’t lessen any through the coughing and sniffles. He crouched down to pick up the largest rock he could find with his dragon hand. Jae Ha took that as his cue to jump out of the situation. Hak had left running, Zeno following behind him.
“I’M GOING TO KILL THEM!” Kija yelled, running after the two.
Yoon looked after the dragons and shook his head, starting on breakfast.