It was strange, how lately all Leon could do was find more and more reasons to dislike perfectly normal – normal for Nowhere, at least – things like it was his job. First the baby dragon that had knocked him over and made his back sore [i]again[/i], then the banter between Hakuren and Inadi. It was more amusing than surprisingly, really, as Leon expected no less from their portable psychologist. However, it was slightly cruel on Hakuren’s part, rather unnecessarily so. Nevertheless, it didn’t seem to be entirely seriously so Leon shrugged it off. 

Being dragged behind another boulder wasn’t his cup of tea, particularly when his back ached so much. He almost felt like an old man, sitting hunched over and trying to get comfortable. He momentarily forgot the ‘be quiet’ rule and mumbled to himself, “Stupid dragon.” Only a few seconds later did he realize the witches on the other side had started talking about them. Luckily, Lesley’s knee had popped before Leon’s words, providing Leon a good excuse to point fingers lest they were caught. But, if the witches decided to kill them all with a wave of a hand, pointing fingers wouldn’t really matter as you can’t do that if you’re dead. 

Thankfully, they managed to escape back to Sol, and Leon heaved a sigh of relief the moment they were back in the safety of civilization. Even as Prince Tobias concluded that the baby dragon probably wasn’t under the witches’ control, Leon was wishing for the pain in his back to go away. It seemed luck didn’t really want to be on his side, as another trek up the mountain yet [/i]again[/i] was announced, much to his chagrin. “When am I ever going to get a break?” He muttered to himself, transferring most of his weight onto his staff. 

Watching Lesley get dragged up the mountain by a guard gave Leon a similar idea, and he hobbled up to a muscular-looking guard. “Hey, mind giving me a lift?” The guy was surprisingly nice and knelt down, allowing Leon to latch onto him and be carried off piggy-back style. For most of the trip, he snoozed, not too worried about the events surrounding him. As long as they got the amulet on the baby dragon – curse that thing – he would be fine. Then hopefully they would toss the witches off a steep ledge or something, in return for causing all that trouble. 

Being a very light sleeper, he awoke several times to the sound of the other humans’ voices, discussing this and that. This time, they had woken him with a discussion on Hakuren, and Leon exhaled a puff of air. Being so close to the guard, the man felt the gust of air run over his neck and he freaked, dropping Leon onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. The man knelt down again, still mildly creeped out by the hair-raising feeling. “Sorry mate, you scared me there,” He said as soon as Leon got back on. However, being dropped ignited the pain in his back, just as it was going away. It didn’t allow him to sleep, so he just listened to the other humans speak. Eventually, he chipped in, for reasons unknown. 

“He may state the facts harshly at times, but he means well. I think. It’s pretty amusing to watch if it’s not you he’s aiming at.” Sleep came back to him at this point and he yawned widely, careful to keep away from the guard lest he be dropped again.