The dust danced in the rich yellow light of sunset as is shone through the bar. The stage was clear, with exception to the instruments that the musicians left there. The bar itself wouldn't become lively until the sun was completely hidden, then music and drunken laughter would flow freely through and out of the joint. The rooms upstairs would smell sweet and salty, and women and men would moan together as they expelled urges from their system. For now though, the place was quiet and empty.

There were a few soldiers there though, they would appear every now and then, at night when they could, but rarely had the chance. The life of a palace night guard is rough. Ke Xin usually slept upstairs all day, but happened to be up in time to serve the soldiers before their shift. They talked to each other as she went about her business, making some teas for herself and for her lovely coworkers. She went mostly unnoticed by the guards.

"-during the party?"
"No, after. All those people, there is no better time."

"But so soon."

"We've waited long enough. Il is ruininng Kouka."

"But on the Princess's birthday."

"Hey! Are you guys alright over there? Need a refill?" Ke-xin called out.

"We're good."

Ke Xin leaned against the bar, her back to the patrons. After her party huh?

It was the day before her birthday. The princess was sitting around the castle, just idling fanaticizing. Ke Xin wanted to let her stay there peacefully, but knew that she couldn't. She let herself get heard, just slightly, just enough that the princess knew she wasn't alone. Then Ke Xin made a grab for her. She wasn't trying to hurt her, she just wanted to scare her, and her bodyguard, and the king. Just enough that they would tighten security.

But Yona didn't run to her body guard, she didn't run to her father, she didn't even run to a guard. She ran into Soo-won. And a small confession was made between them.

And no one knew that the Princess was "attacked" except Soo-won and Yona.

And no one knew to watch out for the party.

What a bustling party it was. So many people, so many guards. A few were more on edge than others though. Ke Xin stayed out of sight, hidden above the guests, on roofs. She spotted the princess, fussing about her hair, blushing when a blonde man touched it ever so gently. A gorgeous hairpin was in her hand.

She watched Yona and Soo-won flirt. It was sweet. And it was sickening. But the princess didn't know. Couldn't know. Not yet. It still might not even happen.

The party ended, and Ke Xin watched the princess go back to her room. Good, stay there. She desperately hoped that the princess was too tire to move, and would just sleep the night away. When it was past midnight, Ke Xin let herself relax. Maybe, just maybe-

And then the princess came dashing out of her room, an innocent and determined look on her face.

"Shit."

Ke Xin followed on the roof tops. Waiting. She heard a gasp, but no scream. She heard the princess talk to Soo-won.

"The king is dead."

"Kill the princess."

Yona ran out of her father's chambers. Her expression had lost innocence. Fear, confusion, despair, all contorted the young woman's face. Poor thing.

The guards that weren't present earlier now pointed their weapons at a weaping child. Ke Xin was about to pounce when the Lightening Beast came out of nowhere.

He confronted Soo-won. His own expression became black as he realized why Yona was crying. His anger blinded him. He relentless attacked instead of guarding his princess. She had a knife to her throat and he couldn't get there fast enough.

But Ke Xin could.

She jumped down from her rooftop perch and landed a kick on the soldiers head. She gracefully knocked out the guards that surrounded Yona.

Everyone stared at the new arrival, a stranger to every party present.

"Who-?"

More soldiers came. Too many. They became surrounded. A shaking princess was still on the ground behind her. Hak backed himself up to the ladies.

"Who are you?" he demanded as he brandished his weapon to deter the oncoming soldiers. He didn't break eye contact with Soo-won though.

"An ally," was all she said in response. To be fair, that was all they had time for.

Hak and Ke Xin were both struggling to figure out how to get Yona out without killing everyone and risking her life as well. That was when an arrow struck the ground, distracting the soldiers long enough for Hak to grab Yona. Ke Xin ran near them, trying to clear an opening, a stream of arrows came down, helping her create a path.

They met up with the archer in a nice hiding spot. Yona confirmed the king's death to Min Soo.

"Yona's safety is first. We need to get her out," Min Soo stated, Hak nodded.

"How? Fighting and carrying her is going to be hard." Hak looked pensive.

Min Soo and Ke Xin nodded at each other. Without a word, they took the Princess's outermost layers. Min Soo left words of hope for Yona's survival. Ke Xin merely said Fuuga, and ran in a direction opposite Min Soo and where she knew Hak would take Yona to make it to Fuuga.

Arrows were flying over her head, she used the gown to catch them and deflect them before they could harm her. She ran around for five minutes before she was sure that she caused enough commotion to hide and sneak out. In side she went, from room to room. She knew the castle better than most. She spent so much time watching the Princess here. She was able to lie low until the next day.

The castle settled by sunrise, understanding that the target got away. Ke Xin found an opportunity to sneak out herself, through a hole in the castle wall she found years ago. She wished that it was closer the night before, but unfortunately, they were never on that side the night before.

Ke Xin got out and immediately headed to Fuuga.

NOTES: Wow, ch. 1 of a what I hope to be a long fic. Imma keep writing whether or not you read, but I hope you enjoy!

Anyway, some things for future reference:

1) I will be using Titania Scans for my translation and source material

2) I am, however, aware of the non-scantalated plot developments thanks to And anything that has been published is fair game in this story, though I will try to keep spoilers to within anime until I get past that point

3) I will (for the most part) be sticking to the plot of Yona, as written by Kusanagi-Sensei. This is a re-imagining, with an extra character for reasons

4) The M rating is for violence, language, and sexual themes. This isn't smut , but I won't shy away from the sexual, either

4) I don't publish to a schedule, but I publish often. And I will continue to publish as long as I can. Meaning that I won't end until the cannon does, at least, and even then I will probs go later. That means A LOT of chapters.

5) I LOVE AND WANT CRITIQUES!