Adopted: Book 1 Refracted Sand [REWRITING]

Adopted Ch. 42 The Desert Plays

Suzume speculated the sun's first rays peeking out of the horizon. The cool morning air hung around them and a stray tumbleweed was sagged to a stop nearby. Soon, the sleepiness would abate and the place would be vibrating unbearably with energy.

"This doesn't make sense." Akira was turning the map every which way and Suzume could see the tenseness in his shoulders. "We should've been there by now."

"Let me see," Ritsu held out a hand for the map and compass and Suzume returned her attention to the lightening horizon.

Seconds later, Ritsu was just as confused as Akira had been. "According to this, we should've been on the border of Fire, never mind the Demon Desert checkpoint."

"There's something else." They turned to look at Suzume and went to join her in her examination of the dawn. "Is the sun supposed to be rising from the north?"

Expressions of shock shadowed the boys' faces and they quickly looked to their right then back to the sun in front of them. Ritsu hurriedly pulled out a screwdriver and tinkered with the compass. The base popped up and he lifted it off to see the mechanism rusted.

"We were given a defective." He tossed the compass to Akira for him to gawk at. "We're lost."

"Should we head back?" Akira inquired.

Ritsu blew a thoughtful raspberry then lifted the side of his mouth in a less than charismatic way. "Nah, we can still make it. Probably not by sunup but..." he made a nonchalant gesture toward the rest of the desert.

"Ri-chan..." Akira sighed. "There's nothing," he mimicked the gesture his friend did, "about this situation. We're lost with no clue of what to do."

"C'mon, Akira. Why should we worry?" Ritsu shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled sweetly toward Suzume's direction. "After all, we got this year's rookie on our team, she should be able to figure something out for us."

Suzume stared at him from the corner of her eyes and Ritsu's smile darkened.

"Ri-chan—" Akira was brushed off as Ritsu pushed forward. He leaned down so his face was intruding on Suzume's space and he tilted his head questioningly. "Naa? You have a plan right?"

Suzume's eyes slid to the side to stare at him. "Shouldn't the Genin top dog have one?"

Ritsu exaggerated his remorse. "You see, according to the rumors, I could be easily beaten down by you. So I've just accepted my fate." He heaved a heavy sigh. "So, I'm trembling in excitement for your orders, Miss Freak of..."

Ritsu finally noticed how Suzume lost interest in the conversation and floated off to chase after a jackrabbit. Once it stopped and she stood by a pace away, she squated down and held out a palm. It approached cautiously and closed the distance between them. Sparkles danced around Suzume's face as she petted the curious rabbit.

Ritsu turned to Akira. "Is she serious?"

His friend shrugged, amused. "It is her first time out so far from the village."

The rabbit suddenly bolted away from under Suzume's hand (much to her disappointment) and was soon swallowed into the blurriness of the heat waves. Ritsu caught sight of something slithering under the sand approaching Suzume's feet.

"Watch out!" He launched a kunai at the snake.

His kunai was abruptly stopped in midair by Suzume and the boys watched as she placed a gentle hand in front of the rattlesnake to have it happily slide up her arm to rest around her neck.

After a second of shock, the guys heard her say in a soft but excited voice, "Ryu..."

The snake was very satisfied with its new name.