Notes: The following story begins after Yona has found all four dragons. They begin travelling to villages to investigate the extent to which the country has been failed. Yona and her group are currently in the region of the Kouka kingdom in the regions near the western mountains and have stumbled upon a few Earth tribe villages. The story follows her encounter with a secret female warrior mountain tribe and the women who lead them.
It's day ten of her rite of passage. Hania looks across the tent at her female companions just starting to stir from their well-needed sleep. The last ten days had been hell, the grueling mental and physical challenges had taken a toll on most girls in her group. Luckily or perhaps, unfortunately, she had always been trained twice as brutally by her mother to be a suitable candidate for taking over her role as clan leader.
Her hand reached up to gently twirl her long purple hair. She's nervous but excited. Today's the day they carry out the plan. She is confident in her abilities as a fighter and a planner, but doubt eats away at her, responsibility feeling heavy on her shoulders.
Feeling nauseous she gets up and goes outside, stepping out into the early morning rays of sunshine. She unsheathes her meteor hammer and inhales deeply. The rhythm of the metal in the air, keeps her focussed and relaxes her. Swinging the chain expertly, she reflects on the task of the next few days.
Hania thought about her village. Chikara was an anything but the quiet mountain village it purported to be. Secretive and protective, female warriors were born and raised learning to fight from the moment they could walk. Hania had watched her mother and her sisters, fight and protect the surrounding villagers from the tyranny of bandits, nature and even against the forces of neglectful rulers. The rite of passages was a tradition long upheld, that aimed to select which girls could remain training as warriors and fight in the defense committee. Hania's older sisters had all led their groups to success and passed the rites of passage with flying colors when they turned 18. Now it was Hania's turn. The youngest in the family, the final test of the strength of her families blood this generation.
Tomorrow she would lead her group in an infiltration operation involving sex trafficking bandits who had been wreaking havoc on a group of small villages that were under the protection of the Chikara. As women, they would pretend to be captured and then when brought to the bandit's base, rescue and put a stop to the villain's reign of terror. Her sisters had all succeeded, with no causalities and the expectation of success weighed heavily on her mind.
She stopped swinging and allowed the metal balls to fall to the ground, a few stray tears seeping out the corners of her mahogany brown eyes. Slapping her cheeks with her hands, she snapped out of her daze. "I can do this." She recited.
"No, we can do this." Voices replied.
Hania turned and saw the nine smiling faces of her team. Young, capable, beautiful girls.
"We are a team Hania, we win together, and we lose together." A black-haired Amber stated with passion burning in her eyes.
Hania felt her cheeks burning, pride filling her heart as she picked up her weapon fastening it back to her side. "Well then girls, let's do this."
"Tell me again, so I know you've understood."
"I've explained hundreds of times Hak; I'm not going to go anywhere dangerous, not going to talk to strangers, so for goodness sake Hak I'm not a child!" Yona huffs indignantly.
Jae-ha bursts out laughing the irony of Yona's actions sending him over the edge.
Hak shoots him a sharp glare, which turns into a menacing grin. "Pervert, wouldn't you be sad if something happened to your dear Yona, I mean what's a servant without its master?" Hak baited.
Jae-ha shoots daggers at Hak and takes a step towards him. "Say that again; I dare you."
Kija jumps in confused "Why are you upset Jae-ha? She is your master. Not that an extra like Hak could understand." He gloats.
Hak and Jae-ha furiously turn towards Kija, anger rolling off their fists. Kija flies back into Shin-ah whose frown deepens as his masks begin to slide off his face.
Zeno attempts to calm the situation down, but Hak and Jae-ha ignore him and start to square up.
"ENOUGH!" Yona screams.
All eyes turn and stare at the burning eyes of the fiery red head. Yoon stands by Yona's side angrily glaring at the scene in front of him.
Calming herself down, so her voice and body aren't shaking in a fury, Yona grips onto the sides of her dress.
"I want all of you to go into town and spend the day getting to know each other, and if you can't do that then don't come back." She exclaims.
Shock and shame cover the men's faces, in recognition of their behavior. They had been bickering and fighting ever since they all joined up. Whether it was for dominance or for just differing opinions, the fighting continued. Yona had had enough, at the time all she could rely on was Yoon. Everyone in the group was important, and she had told them that, but how could they work together if they couldn't stop trying to fight for superiority. But that was not all. She was most annoyed at how everyone kept treating her like a little girl. She understood her weakness, physically. But knowing the guys were regularly fighting over the protection of her was driving her insane.
Yona looked at the hurt in all their eyes, but she defiantly turned her back and started walking back to where they had set up camp.
Yoon broke the guys out of their stunned state, adding a reassuring smile while looking at the distressed Shin-ah. " Listen, she's not serious about anyone leaving; she just hates feeling like you guys don't get on because of her."
Yoon looks from Hak to Jae-ha, " we all know, ahem, how certain feelings for her can lead to a conflict of interest, but what's the point in fighting if it's just going to push her away. She won't be able to comprehend anyone's feelings to her if she's just ignoring you guys." He says knowingly.
There is silence for a good 5 minutes, tension in the air.
"Six hours."
"What?" Yoon replies to Hak.
"You better keep her safe for six hours while we are gone," Hak states with an anguished tone in his voice, as he looks over to the place where Yona had left.
Hak doesn't wait for an answer he turns around and starts walking towards the village.
"You coming?" He shouts over his shoulder.
Jae-ha rolls his eyes judgingly but starts walking with Kija, Zeno, and Shin-ah down the hill.
Yoon watches them leave and heads back to the campsite finding Yona red-eyed shooting arrows at a tree. Wisely choosing not to bring anything up, "I need to get some medicinal herbs from the neighboring fields, help me." He asks.
Yona shoots a final arrow smiling as it hits the mark. She drops her bow and pulls Yoon in for a tight hug. Yoon blushes but wraps his arms around her breathing her in. "Yes, let's go!" Yona chirps.
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