Author's Notes : Hello Guys ! Well.. It's been a long time right ?! Aha..ah (Currently hiding behind a wall with just my head in view trying not to get killed). And here comes chapter 8 ! I know this is not what you want to read, but it had to be done. I'm really sorry, please don't hate me. Chapter 9 WILL BE what you want to read, I promise. Thanks again for the reviews you leave, it makes me so happy. Thank you for being so patient with me.
Anyway I hope you will enjoy this new chapter. This chapter is much longer and chapter 9 is going to be a bit longer than usual as well (I hope not that long though), consider it an apology for my long absence.
I re-edited all previous chapters and changed quite a lot of things, not that much but still (Yona's attitude, I added more thoughts to specific characters, ...), so you may want to check it out, or you could be a little confused when reading chapters to come.
Chapter 8 : Weird Feeling
It wouldn't take long for the night to come. Shin-ah had been picking what he could find to start a fire back at the camp, leaves, sticks of wood and straw. He had come back a few minutes ago. Kija had been the one to start the fire with the materials Shin-ah had brought back. Meanwhile the other members of the happy hungry bunch were sitting around the fire, waiting in silence for Ayura's and Tetora's return.
"I wonder, if something happened, Ayura and Tetora are late." Yoon said with a slight twinge of worry in his voice.
"You shouldn't be so negative Yoon-kun, their delay might be good news." Jae-ha said.
"I really hope so."
The atmosphere was heavy. Once Ayura and Tetora would return, they would either have the answer they had been looking for, either have nothing at all. Around half an hour later, the sun had gone to sleep only to let a beautiful shiny moon rise high up in the sky surrounded by stars as bright, if not more. A cold breeze made everyone shiver despite the heat the fire provided them. Suddenly, shadows appeared on the ground lit by the fire. The happy hungry bunch lifted their heads towards the shadows masters.
"Good evening, we apologize for being late." Tetora said.
"Hello misses, don't worry, don't worry !" Zeno said being his usual cheerful self.
"Welcome back, miss Tetora, miss Ayura. We were beginning to worry." Kija said.
"We apologize." Ayura replied bowing to them. "We went to a different town, Tetora has a friend over there who helped us."
"Did you manage to gather some intel ?" Hak asked impatiently. The moment they all feared had come. Yona's comrades were trapped between different emotions. They felt anxious yet hopeful and scared as their hearbeats accelerated. They didn't know if it sped up in excitement or in fear.
Lili's bodyguards smiled at them, it was a kind and soothing smile. "Yes, we did." They released a collective sigh of relief. Even though they didn't know what Ayura and Tetora had found, they had found something.
"Please tell us." Yoon said tears in his eyes threatening to roll down his cheeks.
"From what we learned, Lady Lili and Lady Yona were together. However, Lady Lili was the only one to be kidnapped. It appears that Lady Yona followed the tracks of the kidnappers to rescue Lady Lili." Ayura said summarizing what Erin had told them.
"That idiot-" Yoon whispered.
Hak smiled when hearing the news. His Princess rushed to an unknown place to save her friend. Princess you've become so brave and reckless. Hak let out a small and almost inaudible laugh at the thought. Can you see how much stronger your daughter has become King Il ?
"Yona dear is one of a kind" Jae-ha added "But that's not surprising she loves Lili very much." Kija nodded at his dragon brother's statement.
Ayura and Tetora exchanged a grave look, gesture that didn't go by unnoticed by Hak.
"Is there more ?" Hak asked to Ayura.
"There is. We also discovered where the kidnappers come from and Lady Lili's and Lady Yona's possible location." Ayura added.
"REALLY ! YOU FOUND OUT ?!" Yoon said in excitement and surprise.
"Yes, the carriage Lady Lili was in and that Lady Yona followed was going to Sei Kingdom. Then there are two options. They are either at to Kushibi's fort or Hotsuma's." Tetora said.
"Eh ? F-Forts ? ... Wh-What are you talking about ?" Yoon said frowning his excitement gone, and replaced by worry.
Hak and Jae-ha looked at each other and could read their own thoughts through the reflect of their eyes. I have a bad feeling about this.
"That's.. long story short, there's a strife in Sei right now. Hotsuma and Kushibi are Kazagumo's uncles. Since Kazagumo's mother's death, his uncles are trying to claim the throne as theirs, to do so they are competing. They are kidnapping people to build their forts. The people they kidnap become their personal slaves." Tetora continued.
"WHAT ?!" Kija shouted.
"And-" Tetora tried to add without being able to because Kija shouted again."THERE'S MORE ?!"
"Unfortunately yes." Ayura said. "For those fort to be built and to avoid any rebellion coming from the kidnapped people, Sei is .. giving nadai to them." she added as she bit her lower lip in absolute despise.
The eyes of the Happy Hungry Bunch widened in shock. "Fuck !" Hak said putting one of his hand on his face. Princess..
"I pray the five dragon gods Yona dear and Lili didn't drink any of it." Jae-ha said knowing exactly what they would be going through if they had drank this poison.
"Yona.." Shin-ah whispered understanding and sharing Jae-ha's concern. I don't want Yona to be in pain.
"We stopped nadai in the Water Tribe to avoid it from expanding to the entire Kingdom of Kouka, but other Kingdoms know of its existence and even make use of it. In other words Nadai still hasn't stopped making victims." Kija said remembering the events of Shisen and Sensui.
"The miss is probably furious, she won't let them continue hurting people with nadai, and we won't either. We have to find her and fight them together." Zeno said, this time his cheerfulness had disappeared and everyone could see Ouryuu was dead serious.
"We will." Yoon said more determined than ever to find his friend .. no, his family member and fight their opponents side by side.
"So, which fort is the closest from this place ?" Hak asked.
"Can I see your map ?" Ayura said/inquired.
"Sure, here." Yoon said getting the map out of his bag placing it on the ground and opening it. "This is our current position." he said putting his finger on the map.
Ayura carefully looked at the map. "I see. Then Hotsuma's fort is nearer than Kushibi's."
Jae-ha looked at the map and felt determination run through his entire body."Then that's where we'll go."
"So tomorrow-" Kija said.
"Yes." Tetora said clenching her fists.
"We should go to sleep, a long and tiresome day awaits us tomorrow" Yoon finished.
They all agreed and went inside the two tents the happy hungry bunch had put up when the sun was still shining in the light blue sky.
...
Everyone seemed to have fallen asleep, tired by all the questionning they had done earlier in the day. Hak however had trouble falling asleep. He would sleep a few hours before waking up because of nigthmares. Nightmares involving the most important person to him. His brain was making up all kind of different nightmares, where Yona always ended up dying as Hak ran to her side, seeing her blooddied form fall to the ground, he cried, screamed at his helplessness, for not being able to save her.
All night long Hak had been tossing around, being forced to wake up gasping at the end of his nightmares and sleep as tireness was taking hold of both his body and mind. After all how could he possibly sleep soundly when his princess, his Yona, his everything was missing, when she was not by his side ?
Hak had succeeded in having some hours of dreamless sleep, he woke up at the sound of birds chirping even though it was still dark. He was tired, more than usual. His body was stiff, he had dark rings under his eyes, compared to his usual slightly tanned skin his skin was paler which made him look ill. And his body movements were slow due to the lack of sleep.
He was the first one to wake up and decided to polish the blade of his glaive for the upcoming battle. However, the dark dragon's current thoughts weren't about the battle he would face. No, his mind was set on something else, something much more important and precious to him. He closed his eyes. His mind was desperately calling the image of the beautiful woman he loved ever since the first time he had seen her. Even though his eyes were closed, her image was forming just before his eyes.
First he sees her beautiful mid-long red hair that is the color of the dawning sky, then her facial features and her fair skin. Next he sees her round purple eyes that look like clear purple sapphire, then her pink tainted cheeks and her smile that he loves so much, he can feel his heartbeat increase as his eyes lock on her small and soft rosy lips that he has dreamt of kissing so many times. He looks a little lower and sees her slender neck where he wants to leave marks, be it kiss marks or teeth marks as long as it's his. At last, he sees her body curves concealed under her somewhat plain clothes compared to what she used to wear, but he doesn't care the least about that as she will always look more beautiful than anyone to him. All those parts of her, her rosy cheeks and lips, her neck, and her body, he wants to assault them all with kisses some gentle and others passionate. Hak's body, heart and soul crave to see it again, not just seeing the images saved in his mind after all these years. No, he wants to see it all with his eyes open. He wants to touch her, to make sure she's not an illusion but the real person, in flesh, his Princess. He wants her soul, her body and her warmth to be back at his side.
Hak reopens his eyes in time to see the sun appearing in the dawning sky, and he can't look away. Another day has passed and he had yet to get his mistress, friend and crush back. Hime-san, wait a little more, we'll be here soon. And then I promise .. I won't leave your side ever again.
"Hak" said a voice coming from behind him.
He turned around to face Kija. "What is it white snake ?" he answered trying to sound as teasing as usual.
Kija didn't like it when Hak called him like that, but he knew Hak was trying his best to remain calm and decided to let it slide for now. "Hak, you're not alone. We're with you and we will find and protect the Princess together."
"That's right Hak" Jae-ha said, putting his hand on Hak's stiff shoulder.
Hak thanked them in a whisper.
"Mmh ? What was that Haku ?" Jae-ha teased, trying to brighten the atmosphere.
Hak faced the other way around, his back now facing Jae-ha and Kija. "I don't what you're talking about droopy eyes." Jae-ha smiled. If he can still act like that in such rough times, that means he's fine, well as fine as he can be right now. Jae-ha thought, as he remembered seeing Hak's form looking down at his glaive, he had seemed so lonely, so far and Jae-ha didn't like it, it wasn't like him to look so lost, and he was glad he had teased him to make him come back with them. After all they were a team, and it wouldn't have been the same without the normal teasing, lovesick and quite violent thunder beast.
"Attention everyone !" Zeno said clapping his hands. Everyone turned towards the blond.
"What is it Zeno ?" Kija asked.
"Food." he replied pointing his finger at Yoon, who was filling bowls with a vegetables soup and some rice in smaller bowls.
"Mother.." they said looking at the food Yun prepared for them and some stomaches made weird embarassing noises.
"Stop your idiotic behavior yellow ! And stop calling me mom !" he said annoyed as he filled the last two remaining bowls with food. "Food's ready." he said while putting the last bowl on the ground.
"FOOD !" Zeno happily yelled as he rushed to his bowls.
"Hey leave us some old man !" Hak said, taking his own bowls, soon after Kija, Jae-ha and Shin-ah followed.
"Here" Yoon said handing the bowls to Ayura and Tetora.
"Thank you Yoon."
"No problem, now eat before it gets cold."
They all dug in the food Yoon had prepared and even though it was a simple meal, they were not disappointed at the genuis food's taste.
"Zeno finished his bowls, Zeno's still hungry, can Zeno have some more ?"
"You eat way too much for an old man, Zeno." Hak noted. "That's right, you always eat twice as much what we all eat, where does this appetite come from ?" Kija inquired really curious.
Ayura and Tetora laughed "Yoon, this food is delicious." Tetora said. "It really is, it is on pars with the water tribe's chef." Ayura said.
"Eh really ?! Thank you, I'm happy you like it." Yoon replied, blushing at the compliments.
"I'm curious, where did you learn to cook such delicious food ?" Tetora asked.
Yoon smiled, "Before traveling with Yona and the others I lived in a remoted place with a priest, he couldn't do anything correctly apart from praying for happiness and peace for everyone, so I learned how to cook, how to sew, how to tend to injuries and a whole lot of different things."
"I see, this person was lucky to have you." Tetora said smiling back.
"You're right, he damn was !" Yoon said laughing.
Yoon served another bowl to Zeno to stop hearing him whine about his hungry stomach before finishing his own bowl. When everyone had finished their breakfast he spoke again. "We should go, even though we're near the border, it will still take us a whole day of walk to reach Hotsuma's fort." Yoon said. They nodded, stood up and began walking to their next destination.
They had been walking for nearly six hours, and they still didn't see the fort. It was already the afternoon and this day was especially hot.
"Are we near it yet ?" Jae-ha asked a little tired as he stopped walking to drink water from his almost empty flask.
"No, I think there's still a few hours more before we get to it. Maybe two or three hours." Yoon looked at he map then at the group and saw they were all sweaty and tired. "Okay let's take a short break" he commanded.
"No ! the Princess we have to get to her, we can't take a break we have to c-" Kija said
"Continue, yes but not when you're all this thirsty and tired, how do you expect to fight properly in this state? We take a twenty to thirty minutes break. You hear that ? There must be a stream not far, go freshen up sit a little and drink fresh water, eat these fruits and then we continue walking."
"Yes" Kija replied defeated. "I'm going to freshen up a bit" Hak said walking towards the sound the stream was making. "Wait, I'm coming with you" Jae-ha said following Hak. They arrived at the said stream, and Hak cupped his hands and scooped the clear water to have a fresh drink, Jae-ha did the same. "Are you okay ?" he asked as he filled his flask with fresh water. "Yeah, it's just too damn hot." Hak replied before disrobing, taking off the top of his clothes. He scooped some more water and applied it to the nape of his neck as well as his throat, the water dripped down on his chest and to his lower stomach. "This water really feels good, Yoon was right." he said as the water cooled him down.
"Hak" Jae-ha said looking his way.
"Mmh ?"
"You look so sexy with water rolling down your bod-" he tried to say when Hak's fist met with his jaw.
"Eeh.. a pervert as usual uh.. now how should I kill you uh? With my bare fist, with my glaive, or by strangulation?" Hak said with a menacing aura.
"Eh ? bare fists ? I mean, come on you can't hit such a beautiful face !" he said trying to defend his skin.
"Beautiful ? You really should stop overestimating yourself, besides I see nothing but an idiotic perverted ex pirate." he said nonchalently.
"Why is Jae-ha an idiotic perverted ex pirate ?" Kija asked coming out of no where "What did Ryokuryuu do this time ?" Zeno asked.
"Where did you two came from ? I totally didn't see nor hear you coming." Hak said.
"Oh Yoon asked me to give you these apples, Zeno just tagged along." Kija replied as he gave them the apples. Hak didn't waste time and immediatly bit into it, savoring the sweet taste of the delicious fruit, this was energizing.
"So what did he do ?" Zeno asked again. Hak swallowed the piece of apple he had just done chewing. "Being the usual pervert, only this time his case seems to worsen."
Kija tilted his head to the side. Hak sighed "He said and I quote 'you look so sexy with water rolling down your body'. See, this guy is losing his mind."
"Eeh, Ryokuryuu said that ?" he said looking over the green dragon. "Ryokuryuu, do you swing both ways ?" Zeno asked.
"Eh ~ who knows" he replied seductively running his hand through his bangs wearing a crooked smile. Hak slapped the back of his head as he sent a death glare at him. He's really going to strangle me to death if I keep mocking him.
"Zeno-kun, of course not.. Hak's just fun to tease."
"Yeah right.." Hak said squinting at Jae-ha in disbelief.
"However, if I was, I'm sure even you would have trouble resisting my charms. I have such a beautiful face and lovely eyes, and you haven't seen my body-"
Hak sighed, determined to end this stupid conversation, or Jae-ha's own monologue, "A narcissistic idiot, that's what you are."
"HAK, JAE-HA, KIJA, ZENO IT'S TIME TO GO !" Yoon shouted. And so they resumed walking.
They walked across a large plain covered with beautiful green grass, flowers and wild weeds before walking up a high slope. They reached the top and as Yoon predicted, they had walked three hours to finally catch a glimpse of Hotsuma's fort. They were a little less than a mile away from the big structure made of stone. This is the place where Lili and Yona were. Of course they didn't know for sure they were in this fort, but they all deeply wished and prayed they were.
As soon as Jae-ha's eyes landed upon the fort, he felt a momentarily but severe pain in his chest, as if a pointy wooden stick had been planted in his heart. He clutched his chest in surprise. His breath was uneven, as if he had been running for miles. What - was that ? he thought still trying to catch his breath.
"So, this is it." Tetora said looking at the fort from afar.
"Shin-ah, what do you see ?" Jae-ha asked sighing as his breath came back to normal, he then removed his hand from his chest as the pain faded.
"Soldiers.. a few of them outside."
"What about the inside of the fort ?"
Shin-ah concentrated but was surprised when he couldn't go further than the outside walls. "I.. can't see inside."
"Eh ?" Yoon said as the other members of the happy hungry bunch looked at Shin-ah in bewilderment. "How can that be ?" Kija asked.
Yoon was thinking about the reason behind Shin-ah's decrease amount of power, before remembering something crucial. "We're far away from Kouka, from Hiryuu Castle, is that why ? Could it be that when you're outside Kouka your powers, the powers of the dragon warriors are limited ? Zeno has it ever happened to you ?"
"Zeno's case is a little special, Zeno has lived for a long time and can't die, so Zeno doesn't have the same reactions than other dragon warriors when it comes to lack of power or health issues. Zeno only knows that when he's far away from Kouka or the Castle, the power of Ouryuu takes more time to appear, and it takes much more injuries for the power to manifest itself."
"I see, I guess we can say that your power is also limited in a way." Yoon added. "So now we need a plan, any suggestions ?"
"Depends" Hak said "Shin-ah, where are the soldiers you talked about situated, what are they doing ?"
Shin-ah look in the direction of the fort, talking as he carefully looked at every soldiers and their movements. "There's two at the front gate, they are guarding the entrance, they are drinking liquor ... there's two other soldiers coming their way.. they are arguing because of the liquor I think. Ah.. they took their places, the two others are going back inside, they're swaying."
"So two of them then" Hak said, Shin-ah nodded. "We arrived at a good time, since the guards just changed we have enough time before us before other soldiers come to replace them, I would say at least two hours."
"So do you have a plan Hak ?" Jae-ha asked.
"Well, there's no need for a plan at least outside the walls. I say we go up to the soldiers guarding the gate and just get them out of our way. It's your choice whether you want to do it the discreet way or the showy one" Hak said. The group was really considering going the showy way, however, for Yoon, the voice of wisdom in the group thought it would be too rash and dangerous. "Let's be careful, since we don't know how many soldiers are behind these walls" the youngest of the group advised gainning the others' approval.
The group walked down a path with trees and bushes shielding them from their preys. It was in the peripheral vision of the soldiers to make sure they wouldn't be seen and have the best effect from their surprise attack. They walked a little more and arrived at the corner of the fort.
Jae-ha was the first to move and jumped in the air to land on one of the men and deliver a powerful kick, the impact knocked him unconscious before any of them could register what was happening. The other soldier saw his fellow comrade fall to the ground, he unsheathed his sword and moved forward to strike Jae-ha who managed to dodge just in time. Before the soldier could attack once more, he was stopped in his tracks by a really angry Kija walking towards him from his left side.
"Where is my master ?" Kija said in a low growl, using the power of the growing dragon claw to terrrorize the first soldier that was in his sight, causing the man to shriek in absolute fear. Before the man could utter another shriek Kija grabbed his neck with the white claw and lifted him in the air in a way that the man had his feet dangling. "Where is she ?" he asked coldly, glaring at the man. If looks could kill, the man would be bleeding to death on the floor by now.
"You should keep your strenght for when the battle begins white snake." Hak said, but Kija paid no attention to it. "WHERE IS SHE?!" he yelled tightening his hold on the soldier's throat.
"Wh-what, wh-who are you t-talking about ?!" the soldiers stuttered, it only angered Kija more. "A young woman with red hair" he managed to say calmly, all ears to what the man would reply. "I-I don't know, I swear ! P-Please don't kill me !" the man said begging for his life with eyes shut.
Kija glared at the man before punching him in the stomach with his dragon arm, instantly putting the man in a coma. The group knew Kija was very protective of Yona and furious that he hadn't been here to protect her the night she went missing. They knew Kija was angry, they didn't think he would be that agressive though, but no one could blame him, after all they also felt the same way, they only had less trouble keeping their composure.
As there was no longer anything standing in their way, the rest of them walked to Kija and Jae-ha. They stopped a minute, eyeing the gate, no words were pronounced, only silence as thoughts filled worried minds. Will they succeed or will they fail once more ? Hak's breathing became less regular as his heart pounded loudly against his chest. Hime, I'm here.
They walked passed the door and went into the fort, leaving behind the heavy atmosphere that had come with the silence. To their surprise, there wasn't that many soldiers in the fort, it appeared they were less than fifty, maybe thirty five or forty men and that number was nothing to scare dragon warriors and the thunder beast of Kouka. Ayura and Tetora were a bit scared as they never had to face that many opponents before, but that didn't make them less determined to fight, they were here for a reason, and they intended to do their best in this battle even if they were outnumbered.
Again Jae-ha felt a painful squeeze in his chest. Again ? I guess I am anxious after all. Well it should go away pretty quickly, so no need to worry .. as soon as I'll see her I'll be fine.
They made their way to the open area, weapon in hand where every soldiers in the fort would see them.
"Move faster old man !" a soldier shouted at a tired looking man in his fifties carrying a sack over his shoulder.
"Is this how Sei treats the elderly ?" Kija said looking at the soldier with the most despising look, "You should be ashamed of your actions."
The man noticed Kija's presence, his jaw dropping at the comment. How could a prisoner talk this way to him ? Then his eyes landed on Shin-ah and Hak that were at both of his sides and saw their weapons.
"ARMED INTRUDERS, GIVE THE ALERT !" the man shouted drawing every soldiers' attention to them. Every soldier stopped moving, not knowing what to do and wondering how they could have sneak into the fort. "TO EVERY SOLDIER, GET THEM !" barked a man, probably the one in charge here. The soldiers got out of their somewhat frozen state, reached for their weapons and ran their way as war cries reached the group ears.
What happened next only lasted around thirty minutes. Thirty minutes of intense fighting. Adrenaline rushing through every fighters' veins. Hak, Kija, Jae-ha Shin-ah and Zeno attacked and repelled their oponents one by one. Attacks coming one after the other, their stragtegy was teamwork and the happy hungry bunch was definitely good at it. And with the help of Ayura's and Tetora's combined attacks the fight was easier. Yoon knew both Lili's bodyguard would know how to fight, but it was better than he expected, and right now he wouldn't want it any other way.
...
"Well that was quick" Zeno said not quite believing they had already defeated every soldier in the fort. Sure he knew the extent of the dragon warriors' powers and knew if they were in Kouka it would have taken even less time to defeat Sei soldiers, but considering they were away from Kouka and its castle, taking this handful of minutes to beat every man present was an achievement in itself. Those times they all fought side by side made Zeno happy even though he didn't like violence much like Yoon, he was still happy to have them by his side and couldn't help remembering the times he fought with the first generation of dragon warriors, Guen, Abi, Shu-ten and himself fought under Hiryuu's command. Yes, those were happy times. At that thought Zeno's lips curved in a bittersweet smile. As if sensing Zeno's feelings, Shin-ah hugged him very briefly and put Ao on top of the blond's head. "Seiryuu ?" he whispered then smiled at the sweet teenage boy after understanding what he wanted to do.
Yoon walked up on a small wooden plateform. "Listen everyone, I know you must be scared, but we're not here to harm you. For those who are healthy enough to do so, you can go back to your homes and families. For those who aren't, we'll help you. People who are injured come my way, I'll tend to your injuries. Those who are hungry are welcome to stay we'll start a fire soon and prepare a meal."
As soon as Yoon's speech ended Hak walked away from them. With that, Yoon came down of the bench, several people made their way out of the fort, some thanking the happy hungry bunch and the water tribe ladies they considered their saviors, some didn't too exhausted and in hurry to go back to their normal lives.
*BA-DUMP - BA-DUMP - BA-DUMP - BA-DUMP* Dammit what's this feeling of unease ? It's so difficult to breathe ! His heartbeat was so fast that it hurt. I'm too young to die from a heart attack ! And I don't even have heart problems ! Wait..His eyes widened in understanding. Oh no, don't tell me .. YONA ?! he thought horrified. Jae-ha's thoughts were interrupted by Hak's pleading screams.
"Hime ! Hime-san ! Where are you Hime-san ?!" He was yelling, running through the fort, entering every small building, going through every rooms, expecting to find her. Hak's desperate yells were soon joined by Ayura's and Tetora's, calling for Lili. After looking through every room, every place she could be and saw neither of them were here they harshly understood. They made a mistake, possibly the biggest mistake in their lives : they failed their mistresses and friend, and no one knew if Lili and Yona were injury-free or if they were even alive.
"She's not here, she's not-" Hak said sniffing, tears brimming his eyes. "Hime" He sounded so broken. Hime, Hime, HIME !
"I should have known, it's my fault I should have-" Kija said blaming himself.
"Kija stop that, nobody could have known Yona and Lili weren't here. We made the decision of coming here as a group so stop it, Hak calm down" the green haired ex pirate said.
"We need to move, we have to go-" Hak said.
"Thunder beast calm down ! There's no way we're walking to Kushibi's fort tonight. You all walked far enough for today, besides you also fought. Tonight we'll stay here and rest. You eat, help feed the people here, help them with their injuries then you go straight to bed and sleep, then tommorow morning we're walking in the direction of the other fort." Yoon said sternly. The group had no choice but obey, they knew they couldn't continue walking right now, they would be too tired to be fast and too tired to fight correctly if they had to face any ennemies on the road, so what would they do once they arrive at Kushibi's fort and are powerless because of the lack of sleep and food ? They would be useless. Besides Kushibi's fort was at two days of walk from here, so that was the final verdict, no one goes off on his own and everyone rest after helping the freed hostages.
...
It was early in the morning and the gloomy looking group was eating riceballs Yoon had made before going to sleep last night, as they walked in silence when Jae-ha felt the familiar and painful squeeze of his heart, making him gasp loudly.
"Hey, I ..um.. guys I think .. something's wrong w-with Yona" Jae-ha said holding his hand on his chest like previous times this pain had appeared.
Hak's head shot up. "What ?"
"I don't know how, but I think she's hurt. Guys don't you feel anything ?" Jae-ha asked as the group let out horrified gasps.
"What no I don't feel any-" Kija said before feeling the same pain Jae-ha was talking about. He lifted his eyes towards Jae-ha.
"Guess you do now." Jae-ha said grimly.
"Hurt ? What do you mean hurt ?! How ?! How much ?!" Hak snapped as images of the woman he loves being hurt crossed his mind. HIME !
"I don't know I just feel like she's hurt okay !" Jae-ha snapped too.
"I.. sorry" Hak said knowing snapping at them wouldn't make things better.
"Shin-ah, Zeno do you guys feel it too ?" he finally asked. Shin-ah nodded letting a single tear slide down his cheek. Yona's hurt, she's hurt.
"Zeno doesn't feel anything, it's weird, Zeno should feel it too right ?" What he didn't say though was that Zeno knew that feeling very well, he had felt it a few times when King Hiryuu had been injured during their numerous battles trying bring peace to Kouka.
"I don't know" Yoon replied. "Could it be because you're the first generation ?"
Kija, Jae-ha and Shin-ah shared a look before nodding at each other. They had an idea of what to do to make Zeno feel the same way as them and they were going to try it. Not that they wanted him to feel pain, but they wanted him to feel it through the bond they shared, to show him he wasn't an outsider. With this train of thoughts, they walked up to Zeno and each took the others' hand, forming a circle. As soon as every hands were connected Zeno felt the unbearable pain in his chest and his eyes widened, this was what he feared.
"I know this feeling."
"Back in Hiryuu's time ?" Yoon asked.
"Yes."
"This pain, did it occur when Hiryuu was badly hurt or could you feel it too when he only had scratches/bruises" he inquired, trying to find out if Yona could be badly hurt.
"It would occur with both type of injuries bad ones and minor ones."
"I see, then there's only one thing we can do and that's walking faster." Yoon said and everyone agreed. Let's hope Yona only has minor injuries, Yoon thought.
In the meantime, Ayura and Tetora hoped Yona was alright and prayed Lili wasn't injured as well.
I know, the end was a little rushed but phew finally this chapter is done. I can't wait to continue writing chapter 9. So what did you think ?
~ SPECIAL THANKS ~
First of all, thanks to all the people following this fic and people leaving reviews, love you guys !
bookgirl18 : Thank you very much ! Did you like this new chapter ? I hope so. About Hak, the others and Soo-won it will all come in due time ;D
Batool : Really ?! I'm glad you you like it ! Oh and by the way I'm also a fan of Geun-tae shogun, this man is just so attractive and so fun to write !
M-Angel 05 : Thank you very much ^^ You'll discover who Akki really is real soon *cough* no this is not a spoiler *cough*.
xXxMimi-ChanxXx : Thank you :) I love it too, I love that they think Yona needs their protection, but that's also why they're going to see very interesting, I'm not saying more ;D Ehehe, we'll see how Hak reacts, I haven't gone that far yet so it's also a secret for me now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Love your name by the way, it's cute.
Guest : Here's the new chapter, I hope you like it, sorry for making you wait so long.
MidnightCharleyHorse : Thank you very much ! As you can see it didn't take long for an update. Glad you like the story :D
mon coeur : Hope you liked this chapter :D
