Yona knew that Hak could easily overpower her. Her only advantage was being more agile. It was time to escape. As fast as she could, she slipped over the edge of the roof and then caught the underside of the roof and pulled herself into the little cubby hole the beams provided. She heard Hak yell in irritation, mostly at himself, and try to find Yona. But by then she had scrambled to her bed chambers. It was not a good situation. If he decided to look for the trespasser on the roof she was sure to be found out quickly. So she had to find a way to cover it up.
She discarded the items of clothing and hid them behind a loose tile near her bed. She changed into a silky pale pink nightgown and lay in bed. This was going to be very tricky. She had been much too careless. Even so she wished she could have indulged in the comfort of unknown people stumbling around her and a warm plate of food. She could have that here easily but it lacked the feeling she sought.
She sat up in her bed and leaned over to catch a glimpse at the bag under her bed. It was still there. In it was clothes, food, money, medicine, weapons and various other items she had collected over the year. If things went bad she could pick it up and leave. At least that what she told herself. It would be much harder in reality.
The bag was both a reassurance and a worry. It seemed to say: you have another option and you don't have to do everything perfectly. But it also said: if someone finds this your dead. She checked it over every evening, for clues of anyone noticing it. Yona stretched her arm under the mattress and brought it onto her lap. She pulled the buttons apart and emptied the sack. All the items were there. But she still filtered through each one to check if they had been touched. She scanned for missing pages in a book of recipes and useful addresses. On her knives and swords she sought knew scratches, rips on her clothes, broken stems in her herbs and an incorrect amount of coins. Nothing was astray. It was just as it should be. She placed it back under the mattress in the far corner.
A white base with a peach orange over layer. I'd worn much worst. I tied a baby pink ribbon around the middle. A glance in the mirror confirmed everything. I was a mess. I hated everything I saw. From the dead animal look alike which was my hair to the bags under my eyes. I was short too. That meant I was light. It also meant I was often mistaken for a seven year old. I was eleven.
I finally ripped my eyes from the mirror and ran to my mother's room. I don't know what drove me to do that. My motive was forgotten when I reached my destination. I slid the door open and went to greet my assumingly resting mother. She wasn't in her bed. This was unnatural as she recently only got up in the afternoon. That when I saw it. I didn't scream. I guess I was either too shocked or too desensitized to that sort of thing. Her body lay cold and bloody. Her dead eyes blank as fresh snow. She had a smile resting on her face. She must have been happy to leave me. Her wrists were slit.
I sat and contemplated my options. I decided to tell our one and only staff. Looking back this may not have been the best choice. I hurried to her and when she saw the leaked and cold corpse she wailed in horror and threw up in the corner. I held her hair. I was later told I looked as dead as my mother. But with no smile. No emotions in general. I was a walking doll.
Everyone thought it was because I was silently grieving at the loss of my mother. That wasn't the case. I was thinking of the inheritance and how to live without her guidance. I don't think I cared very much for her. The maid eventually called the town guards and they took out her body. One of them touched my shoulder and said 'it's going to be alright ginger.' he was trying to reassure me. I didn't need reassurance but I was also told that I looked troubled after that comment. I think it's because he called me ginger. I don't really remember much about then.
Human emotions had always been a mystery to me. I started feeling them then. I was finally involved in something. I was finally alone in the world. That was scary. I had felt fear before, namely in crowds but after that fright I started feeling other things.
The maid left soon after. All the money was given to me and I was alone. Nobody came too look after me. I could do it myself. In time they forgot about the orange haired girl named Ennis who lived alone in the big house. Also now that I had begun to do things for myself the food was beyond bad. I could cook but it was bad tasting.
And so began my many years of loneliness and failed attempts at good food. Sora came and left. And then she arrived. I didn't want to hand a kid a weapon. Eventually my will crumbled. I gave her a little reasoning but in truth I just couldn't say no. it hurt my entire being. she grew up and I began to like her as not just a master but a friend. I couldn't understand her sometimes. I had only trained with my mother and in comparison she seemed impossibly weak. She was also difficult to understand in the emotion department. I had experienced my fair share of emotions: fear of crowds, love for Sora, pain of loss, loneliness and happiness at finding someone else. But the other things were beyond me. I made up for that by telling jokes and listening.
I think I finally became a full human on a dark evening. Yona was still young but she was good, for a human at least. She wasn't the strongest but damn was she fast. Almost as much as me. She was sweating and out of breath after a fight I had won. She looked at me and she muttered 'I'll come back tomorrow master.' I don't know why I found it so funny but I burst out laughing. She had gotten it wrong. She was my master. I had never told her about the dragons and my family but I assumed she knew where I stood: beside her and under her. She looked confused and I slapped her across the back "see you tomorrow then loyal disciple!" I practically radiated joy. She smiled along with me and left. Her being seven couldn't understand these things. I didn't want to tell her. She was much too little.