Chapter 20: Caught!
Tired violet eyes winced as a small hand pressed a wet cloth against a bruised cheek. Blue eyes refused to meet the owner of the violet ones, so silence passed between the two. The strawberry blonde boy was angry, but also worried for the older man who had become both his friend and guardian. The dirty haired priest finally couldn't take the silence and spoke softly. "Yun."
"Don't." The boy stated sternly as he wrung the cloth and placed it back over Ik-su's bruised cheek.
Ik-su knew Yun would be worried about him since he'd been a week late in returning, but this silent anger wasn't good for the boy. Grabbing the boy's wrist he forced Yun to look up at him. "I am fine." He said. "You don't have to worry."
Yun wretched his hand away from the priests grip. "Stupid priest." He mumbled as he looked away and felt a shudder run through him. He'd been so worried about Ik-su, to the point he'd been having nightmares on things that could've happened to him. Then he returns with torn clothes, his money stolen and the items he'd gone for gone because of bandits. He'd been badly beaten, bruises all over his face, chest and back. It made Yun angry, not at Ik-su, but at the bandits. He pulled his arms around himself. Those bandit could've killed Ik-su and that would've left him alone and without the stupid priest.
Yun shook his head and went back to tending to his patient. Placing the basin bowl down he spotted a single book on the table and growled inwardly. "I bought a few of those." Ik-su's voice brought him back to the current situation. "That one was the only one they didn't take." Ik-su smiled at the boy. "They were suppose to be a surprise for you."
"Heh." Yun laughed as his cheeks turned pink. "Like I need those silly things." Truthfully he was honored that the priest would buy him something as simple as a book. He loved books. He had a few, though they were missing several pages to them or the pages were ripped and he was unable to read what happened next in the stories. Sighing he looked at the bandaged priest. "Next time just leave the items and runaway. Okay?"
Il-su smiled at the boy who acted older than he was and nodded. "Yes, I understand." He gave a bow of his head.
"Good." Yun took a step back and looked at Ik-su's bandaged form when he heard a growl coming from the priests stomach. "I'll go make dinner." He turned and walked away with the tiny book in his hand as he did so.
Yona panted as she held her sword in front of her. She and Hak were practicing while her father was busy with his generals. Today the generals and her father were discussing taxes and other boring items that were way over Yona's head. The fourteen years old girl refocused her attention on Hak as he came at her with his two edged sword. While she would've rather have fought with him when he used the quandao she knew she needed to learn fighting an enemy with other weapons too. She was good at dodging arrows and daggers, but swords and spears seemed to throw her off a bit; she was still unsure why.
The clang of her sword coming into contact with his brought he attention back to the situation at hand. She pushed her sword against his, sparks occurred between the two blades. Hak pushed away and jumped backwards as Yona came at him with a downward slash that he easily avoided. He brought his blade up to cut at her face only for her to move just in the nick of time. Moving quickly he brought his blade down to cut her from behind, only for her to move her arm and brought up her wrist brace to stop the attack. The metal spikes on the brace caught the blade and flicking her wrist she caused him to lose his grip on the sword. As it fell from his hands she caught it a brought it up to his throat causing Hak to raise his hands in surrender. He was about to say something when somebody cleared their throat. Both teens looked up in the viewing balcony area and spotted General Lee Geun-tae standing there with his foot against the railing, arms across his chest and catshire's smile spreading across his face like he'd just won the grandest of all prizes.
Yona felt herself flush with embarrassment at the thought of a grand general witnessing her floundering fighting moves and techniques, but then fear and trepidation filled her. What if he tells father or mentions seeing them to the other generals? Stealing herself by standing tall she turned fully towards the general. "Are you finished watching us General?" She asked in her sweetest tone.
Geun-tae continued to smile. "Yes, I certainly am." He then jumped the railing and landed down into the training put with them. Touching his chin he looked at the dull blade that the Princess was carrying. "I was just headed this way to see if there was anybody to fight with when low and behold I find our gentle Princess fighting against one of her bodyguards." He looked between her and Hak. "Now I was a little curious, I'll admit to that; it's the only reason I stayed." He looked back at the red haired Princess. "You have some talent and with practice I could see you rivaling the strength of the one man I truly respected, your uncle Yu-hon." He sighed before smoothing out his hair on the top of his head. Looking at Hak he spoke. "You shouldn't be training her at this time of day, the King could've been the one coming to this building, not myself."
"We usually train in the early mornings before anybody is awake with Zeno," Hak explained. "However the King has busy as of late, so I saw no harm in pulling in a few training sessions during the day." He sighed. "Zeno was suppose to be on lookout."
"Oh?" The general inquired. "I saw a young man snoring lightly by the doors, wasn't sure why he was there; until now."
Hak felt a knot form on the top of his forehead. I'm gonna kick Zeno's ass for this.
"Don't be too hard on him." He waved his hand at Hak to dismiss Zeno's falling asleep bit. He smirked at the Princess. "If you're serious about learning how to fight, I can teach you a few things as well."
Yona felt her heart beat quickly with joy at being able to continue learning how to fight with her sword. She nodded and smiled at the earth general. "I'd be honored to be taught by such strong and valiant general such as yourself General Geun-tae." She saw Hak cover his mouth and turn away as he began silently laughing at what she'd just said.
Geun-tae could help but puff his chest out a bit at the the words of praise by the young Princess. "The honor is mine Princess Yona." He smiled. "I believe I'll be extending my stay here for a few weeks, just to ensure you get the techniques down before I leave you in the very capable hands of the Thunder Beast."
"Of course General." Yona nodded. Before looking at Hak who was smirking at her. "How about we begin tomorrow before sunrise." She thought for a moment before looking at Hak. "How about we send Zeno to go get him in the morning."
"No problem." Hak replied with a shrug as he turned to walk away. "Doubt he'll sleep tonight any way."
Yona cocked her head at this. "Really?" She asked as she began to follow him as Geun-tae smirked as the two left.
Zeno found the quiet warm breeze soothing as it washed over his bare skin. He loved the feeling of warmth it gave off. It was quiet today, even with the Miss and Mister off practicing their swordsmanship. He found himself drifting off to sleep, something he had found himself doing a lot of these days. In his mind he found himself floating in a small row boat in the middle of a grand lake. His head was against something soft, but his eyes felt so heavy, so he continued to keep them closed. Gentle fingers played with his golden locks but no words came from the second person with him. Seconds turned to minutes as the two sat in silence when suddenly his companion broke that said silence with a single word.
"Zeno." The voice was not feminine like Kaya's but it was gentle and it took only a moment for Zeno to remember whose voice it belonged to for it was that person that he was meant to protect.
"Hiryuu." His voice was tight and he felt tears stream down his cheeks. As he opened his eyes he found himself alone in front of the training arena. His cheeks were wet from his tears and as the doors to his right opened they revealed Hak and Yona walking out. Hak looking slightly annoyed as he walked up to him.
Yona noticed Zeno's wet face and pushed passed Hak and rushed over to his side. She lifted her hands and began wiping away his tears. "It's okay Zeno, it was just a dream." She smiled at him sweetly.
A dream? He wondered. Or was it a memory? I often get those confused. He sighed as he looked up at Hak. "Sorry, I fell asleep."
Hak snorted. "Figured that out already." He pointed behind him as the earth general walked out of the arena and away from their group heading towards his own apartments.
"Are you in trouble?" He asked gaining a smile from both teens.
"Nope!" Yona exclaimed. "I sweet talked Geberal Guen-tae into giving me lessons."
"He offered." Hak corrected her.
"I still sweet talked him." She mumbled quietly.
"Huh." Hak questioned as he picked something out of his ear. "If that's sweet talk from you, I wouldn't want to know what you thought talking sexily means."
"Hak you're so mean!" Yona cried out at him as he ruffled her hair a bit as he teased her.
Zeno's eyes softened as he watched the two act more like siblings rather than a bodyguard and a Princess. He supposed that had been the same for him and the original dragons and their relationship with Hiryuu. He watched Yona pout at Hak and watched how the other reacted to her. They really did act like siblings and it was reminiscent to how he had acted around the original dragon warriors. It made his heart ache with both joy and grief. Shaking himself out of his memories he launched himself at the two wrapping an arm around Hak's neck and around Yona's waist. "Na, na, let's not have you two starting a fight!" He laughed. "Let's go eat. Zeno thinks it's dinner time!" He smiled happily. His sudden attack and change of attitude had both forgetting their little squabble and following the golden haired young man wherever it was that he was leading them.
Later that night as Princess Yona laid asleep she once more found herself in a strange place. She recognized the courtyard to the palace, but where she stood she found three different mansion palaces, each with a dragon embroidered rug on the steps. On the left was a blue dragon with golden eyes, one the right was a white dragon with sharp claws and silvery scales and in front of her was a green dragon with shiny green scales that shimmered in the sunlight. Turning to look behind her she saw a fourth mansion with a yellow dragon embroidered rug on it's steps, but unlike the others there was someone sitting on those steps. Walking up to them she found Zeno with his hands behind head, eyes closed and sleeping soundly. She giggled at finding him this way.
"He always was a little lazy." She heard a deep voice speak. Turning she saw a man with green hair and a spear in his hands, next to him was the blue haired man; Abi. The green haired man bent forward. "Damn, if you'd have had looked this cute before there wouldn't have been the need for us dragons warriors." Yona felt her cheeks flush.
"Shuten!" came a yell from behind the two who moved aside to look at their third companion. "Show a little more respect towards Lord Hiryuu!"
"Even in the afterlife you can be a fucking prude Guen." Shuten stated his face turning into a snarl as he glared at the silver haired man.
Yona couldn't help the smile that spread across her face nor could she stop the bubbling laughing as it made it's way through her lips. These people, whoever they were, made her feel giddy and happy inside unlike anything else she'd experienced. That's not true. She thought as she looked at the sleeping Zeno. Zeno and Jae-ha make me happy too.
Turning her attention back to the three men in front of her she realized that she kinda knew who they were. Abi, she'd met in a previous dream, he was the Seiryuu. Shuten, if she were to guess, was Ryokuryuu. Her eyes turned to the silvery haired male. "You're Hakuryuu, right?"
The male's eyes looked like they were filling with tears. "Yes." He bowed his head and touched his scaled hand to his chest.
Her eyes turned to the other two. Pointing to Abi she spoke. "You're Abi, we met before in another dream awhile back. You're Seiryuu."
He too gave a bow of his head. "Yes." He said quietly as he tried to stop his emotions from showing, but was unsuccessful as tears ran down his cheeks too causing his golden eyes to close.
Yona walked up to his him and wiped his tears away with a cloth she had hidden away in the sleeve of her kimono dress. "Please don't cry." This only caused more tears to run down the former blue dragon's cheeks. "If you continue to cry I'll start crying."
He gave her a nod and wiped his tears away. "You've grown." He said with a sadness in his voice. "You've begun to get stronger."
"Mmm..uh-huh." Yona said with a genuine smile that reached her eyes. "It's because of Zeno and my best friend Hak. They're teaching me how to use the sword and the bow; though I'm better with the bow than I am the sword." There were three chuckles at that. "Hak says it's because I'm so short." She pouted.
"You need to get that lazy sonofabitch of a green dragon to train you with something that'll help in long and short distances." Shuten grumbled.
"Jae-ha?" Yona's cheeks turn bright pink causing all three to look at her with interested looks.
"Eh?" Guen asked. "What's this?" He pointed to her flaming cheeks.
"N-Nothing!" She exclaimed as she tried to cover her bright red face with her hands.
"Hahahahaha!" Shuten began laughing heartily causing the other two to glare at him. "You like my descendant!" He smiled happily at her as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You're embarrassing her!" Guen yelled at him.
"You're both so loud." Abi sighed before returning his attention to her, his emotions were finally under control. "Miss Yona, as you already know, the dragons of your time firstly consist of Zeno and Jae-ha, but within the next couple of years you'll have to find the other two. As for Hakuryuu, his village adores him and has lived a very sheltered life, much like your own. Seiryuu, my descendant has been ostracized for being what he is. The villagers believe him to be cursed. That looking into his eyes they could be turned to stone." Yona was thankful for the change of topic as she listened to what the first Seiryuu was saying about the current one.
"Idiots." Shuten spat out. "That's not one of Seiryuu's powers. To see great distances and to kill their enemies in an instant are what the Seiryuu can do."
Abi smirked. "Yes, that's true." He looked back at her. "When you make contact with him, he will not know of the red dragon. He will not understand why he has an absolute desire to protect you. You must be patient with him. I believe you will be able to mend his heart and alleviate the loneliness that he feels."
"I'll try." She said with a nod.
"Oi!" Shuten yelled out at her. "That wasn't the only reason we've appeared." Snapping her attention back to him. "Over the next few years we will be giving you our own training sessions. You'll be trained while awake and asleep from now on. Shit is about to get real for you. So be prepared."
"Mmm..."
Everybody turned their attention towards Zeno. The three looked at him with nostalgia entering their eyes. Yona went over to the Ouryuu stairs and sat down next to the golden haired teen. "He's special, isn't he?" She asked them.
Shuten sighed and looked up towards the sky. "Yes. More so than we ever imagined." He looked at her. "You've probably already figured out why, you've just not voice it yet."
Yona smiled softly. "Yeah." She figured it out a few months ago. She'd known Zeno since she was eight and in the six years she'd known him, he hadn't appeared to have aged or changed in appearance. It didn't take a genius to know why. "But I'll wait until he tells me or somebody else asks him about it. I want to hear his story from his own lips."
"It's better that way." Guen stated as he touched Shuten's shoulder. The green haired man gave a nod and followed his companion.
"Rest Yona because starting tomorrow things will begin to get interesting." Abi stated as he turned on his heel and walked away.
Yona was left sitting next to a sleeping Zeno. The young man mumbled in his sleep. "Hiryuu...Yona..."
Yona giggled quietly before leaning down and kissing his forehead. "Pleasant dreams Ouryuu Zeno." She stated as she felt a warmth spread across her body and within seconds she too was surrounded by darkness and fell into a deep comforting sleep.
M-Angel: Yay! I finally got this posted. I was going to do it Monday, but after traveling four hours to get back home from visiting my friends home I couldn't muster the strength to do so. I do hope the week and a half long wait was worth it! Next chapter will be interesting! Reviews are welcomed!