Yona was off with Jae-Ha. They were scouting for information in the city. Kija was helping make preparations while Hak and Shin-Ah taught some basic martial arts. Ke Xin was aiding Yoon in tending to the injured.
"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT MOVING?!" Yoon was shouting at his patient, a middle aged geezer who needed stitches across his stomach. He thought that he'd be able to take the pain. "KE XIN! Hold him!"
"Yes sir doctor Yoon!" She ran over and sat behind the patient, wrapping her legs around his- her feet planted firmly between his knees. Her arms around his shoulders and neck, performing a full nelson. He wasn't going anywhere. With the new stability, Yoon was able to swiftly stich up the sword wound in his abdomen. As soon as he was done, Ke Xin untangled herself from the patient. Yoon finished up by rubbing some poultice on the wound. The stuff was putrid smelling, and Ke Xin struggled to hold back bile. Yoon's eyes were watering, and there was a grimace on his face. The smell was getting to him, too, but he kept going. Finally, he finished.
"That's the last one. All that's left is to monitor them," he sighed. There was slight smile on his face, and then something caught his eye. "DO YOU WANT HIM TO OPEN HIS STICHES? BE MORE CAREFUL MOVING HIM!" One of the pirates was joking around with an injured man, and tried to move him off the palette.
After hearing Yoon's booming voice, both men froze and the one lifting him apologized in a small voice.
"Then don't do it again!" Yoon scolded. Ke Xin was watching, trying real hard not to laugh. The pirate's resident "doctor" was next to her with a similar look of mild amusement on his face.
"He's just like a mother that one," he laughed, unfortunately for him, Yoon could hear.
"How dare you make jokes when I just spent the past three hours fixing your mistakes!"
"He's got a point,"
"I suppose you're right. Now, can you review the process for cleaning once again Doctor Yoon?" The pirate with mild medical skill played the role of doctor, poorly. He was, according to Yoon, over reliant on the Senjusou, and his own skill rendered the plants magnificent powers almost useless. Yoon spent most of his time removing sour wounds and redoing surgeries. The medical pirate was supposed to be playing nurse, but his shoddy workmanship just made Yoon angrier. Ke Xin, who was there to help hold down patients, took over the role. The doctor was told to sit and watch and learn.
Ke Xin made rounds with the patients, making sure that they were all comfortable, while Yoon explained the proper procedure for cleaning and dressing a wound. By the time he was done, the blood soaked through their aprons into their own clothing had dried.
"Don't we look intimidating?" Ke Xin said, gesturing to their blood stained fronts.
"How do you have more blood on you than I do?"
"I was pinning them down. But don't worry, we both smell equally like manure."
"Baths. We need baths. And to wash these and the old bandages. And then there is dinner. Oh god- I have to start dinner. I don't have time for laundry," his worried tone made the fifteen year old seem even more like a 30 year old mother of 4.
"Calm down Yoon, it's not all on you. The pirates can do laundry after we bathe. They ate before you showed up, so I'm sure they can help you cook," Ke Xin was good at talking him down.
"Right," he sighed, then looked over at his patients. "At least they will make it." His voice was quiet, soft.
He's not over that child.
"C'mon, let's go bathe," she rubbed the sides of his shoulders and led him out of the medical cave. To the doctor, she said, "We leave the patients to you for now. Don't fuck it up." He sheepishly nodded.
They grabbed a change of clothes and headed over to a natural spring that the pirates used for their fresh water supply. Gi-Gan had her own private section for bathing that Yona and Ke Xin were using. They separated and cleaned themselves.
Yoon cleaned the blood off his hands, chest, arms and hair. He watched the blood flow away. A child passed in his mind. He shook the thought away. "I can't think about that right now." He decided instead to consider the other thing that had been weighing on his mind. Ke Xin. He had been considering it for weeks, from the first moment he saw her, and that… burn mark on her back. And then there was the odd way she interacted with Gi-Gan. And today, when they were making the poultice, Yoon wanted her to follow a recipe in his medical book, but she told him that she couldn't read Koukan language. He then offered to teach her in exchange for learning Kai. There were several texts from Kai that he wanted to read one day. But then she told him that she couldn't read that either. He thought of how she acted when they met Shin-Ah. Realization came to him.
As Yoon was worrying over Ke Xin's past, she was worrying over his present. He was so mature in so many ways. In his care for the group, he was an adult. But every now and then, his age showed. She could feel it. Ever since they met, he was breaking. And… he was changing. She could see the enormous responsibility he placed on his own shoulders, how it was causing his old self to crack. She felt it. Everyone in the group was so young. They all had so much to learn. Hak and Yona were broken from what Soo-Won did. Shin-Ah was practically a newborn. Even Kija had growing up to do. It was more subtle than the others, but it was there. She was the only real adult, though she didn't always act like it. She had at least 6 years on everyone else, and was strapped with the duty of helping them grow.
It's part of why she was so happy that Jae-Ha was the Ryokuryuu. She didn't know if she could handle another child, she barely knew what to do with the ones she had. She could feel that they would get along, and having another adult to discuss things with seemed like a dream. That, and he also seemed like he'd be a lot of fun. She smiled at the thought while washing the blood from her hair.
They emerged from the springs, dressed in plain clothes "borrowed" from the pirates. Ke Xin's hair was all around her, damp and tangled and freely flowing past her hips. She held a wide tooth comb in her hand and a ribbon in the other. Yoon started ordering preparations for dinner, while Ke Xin barked at the pirates that there was laundry to be done. They had been waiting for the spring to be clear and didn't even need her order. She sat on a boulder and began the tedious task of combing out her hair.
Shin-Ah kneeled next to her. He grabbed a lock of her hair and inspected it.
"Yeah, there's a lot. It'd probably be easier if it was short like Yona's," she shrugged.
He continued to look at the lock in his hand and then looked at her, slightly worried.
"Yeah, I like it too. Don't worry, I won't cut it." He smiled wide at that. She smiled back at him. And then the dragon whipped his head around and stood up.
"Yona."
The rest of the group gathered as Jae-Ha landed in front of Gi-Gan, Yona in his arms. He set her down on her feet.
"Well, what's the report?" Gi-Gan asked, smoking from that pipe of hers.
"The moment of action will most likely be the evening of the day after tomorrow."
"How do you know?" Gi-Gan asked.
"We found the shop where they are gathering the girls. They pretend to be hiring, and take them. I had someone ask for us, they are only hiring until noon in two days' time."
"This is good, but we still need to know which boat it will be," Gi-Gan stated. Yona turned to Ke Xin, who was standing to the side by Shin-Ah.
"Ke Xin, you said that the boat with the girls would be the least heavily guarded, yes?"
"… I did," Ke Xin was nervous. She didn't like where this was going. Yona turned back to Gi-Gan.
"If someone lit a firework from the ship, we'd know which one right? We'd be able to rescue the women more quickly and safely, yes?"
"It might work, but who will fire it?" Gi-Gan glanced at Ke Xin and then brought her gaze back to Yona's eyes.
"I will." Yona stated. Hak, Kija, and Ke Xin immediately baulked at her words. "I'll sneak into the human trafficking camp and launch the firework."
"Yona!" Jae-ha opposed the plan as well.
"Bringing down Kum-Ji is one thing, but saving the girls is paramount. We need to quickly locate them and take them to safety. I will let myself be captured and notify you which boat I am on," the resolve was in her eyes.
"Wait, I'm against this idea," Hak stated.
"Right! It's too dangerous!" Kija joined.
"I'm against it too," Yoon joined, only he added concrete facts that could make her plan impossible to pull off. Including the fact that any firework small enough to be smuggled on board would be too small to see.
"But if Shin-Ah is there, he'd be able to see it, right?" She asked. Shin-Ah nodded.
Yoon kept arguing that the plan was too dangerous. But Yona responded that it was the only way. Finally, Hak interrupted.
"I get that it is the only way, princess. But why does it have to be you? Wouldn't Ke Xin work just as well, if not better? She'd probably be able to free the women on her own!" Hak looked spooked at the thought of Yona going to battle. They all turned to Ke Xin, who was quiet through the exchange. She had been foreseeing this outcome since Yona came back. She must have looked a little shocked, she couldn't find her words. The silence was palpable.
"Ke Xin can't be the one to go," Yona broke the silence.
"Why not?" Kija asked.
"Two reasons," She looked at her masked dragon, "Shin-Ah, how many boats do you see now?"
"…11"
"And they are all full of mercenaries. Who knows how many more are coming. We need men for the battle, and can't afford to lose a powerful warrior."
"But your safety Yona," Hak started.
"And the other reason. She's from Kai. Kum-Ji needs this deal, he wouldn't risk offending his partners and blowing the deal by selling Kai their own citizen. She'd never even make it to the boat. It has to be me."
"She's disguised her heritage before!" Kija exclaimed.
"But this is different," Ke Xin spoke up. Her teeth were clenched and fists were balled.
"What are you saying?" Kija was in a fit. Hak almost couldn't believe his ears.
"They are taking beautiful young women, right? They aren't being sold to work fields or scour dishes. They are being sold to be used for pleasure, or for decoration. Presenting me to anyone looking to buy a girl for those purposes is the greatest insult. Hell, selling me to a Kai slave trader would be an insult. They don't pay for nomads, they take them."
"Stop being so dramatic," Gi-Gan jumped in. Ke Xin sat down on her rock and combed out her hair while Gi-Gan explained. "Ke Xin is tall, muscular but lean, with clear angular and defined features. To us, she is a striking beauty. But to anyone from Kai, her appearance is typical of the northern nomads. There is long, deep seeded racism against them. Belief that they are insipid savages fit only for hard labor, though some may be trained for combat, even lying with them is considered the same as lying with dogs. This racism leads to several conflicts between the nomadic tribes and the settled Kai villages. The result of which led to a rule that permits any slaver to simply take a nomad that isn't already owned. No, boys, they won't take her, because attempting to sell her to a slave trader that wants beautiful women would be the same as slapping him in the face."
The ship was quiet. Yona's hard expression had softened during Gi-Gan's speech. She was looking at Ke Xin with compassion. Ke Xin just silently combing her hair. No one else was moving. Jae-Ha broke the silence.
"My, captain, I've always been curious about your origins. Don't tell me you are also?"
"I was born in Awa. My mother was born in Awa. But my father… he was a runaway turned sailor. And yes- he was born to the nomadic tribes."
"Then it's settled," Yona's gentle look had dissolved back into one of quiet fire, somehow she was more resolved to go than before. "This is a job only I can do."
"Not alone," Ke Xin set down her comb and looked up at Yona.
"Going alone is too reckless. And we need you to succeed. One other person will sneak in with you," Gi-Gan was smiling slightly at Yona.
"I'll go." Both Hak and Kija piped up. Ke Xin whipped her head at them, her hair followed, spraying around her.
"If I won't make in, what in Heaven or Hell makes you think you'll get approved?" she shot them looks of ice.
"She's right, we need someone beautiful or be denied at the gate."
"I'll go." Jae-Ha joined them this time.
"The stupidity and the brawn has increased. Don't you people listen? Well… there is one delicate man here…" Gi-Gan looked at Yoon, who looked nervous. "You're a sharp brat who can handle gun powder, right?"
"Oi, oi. I'm not saying I don't look better than most girls if I cross-dress. But I'm still against Yona going? There is no guarantee that we'll succeed even if I go." Yoon started to argue when he caught Yona's gaze. Her expression was sympathetic, she was telling him that he didn't have to go. Yoon stopped and sighed. "I guess I'm the only one who can." He turned to Yona, resolved in his own way. "Don't worry Yona, I make it my policy not to fight losing battles."
NOTES:
HOLY MOLY JESUS ON CROSSED STICKS THAT TOOK FOREVER TO WRITE
I"M SO SORRY
Though part of it was that I rewrote this chapter like 5 times. I just couldn't get a feel for it. Also getting a reason for Ke Xin to not be on the ship... then today it hit me! I had already planned out some of this (ie nomads are main source of hard slave labor) and some of the deep racism. But this chapter gave me a natural ish) way to flesh it out.
We gonna have fun with the Kai chapters. Believe me.
Anyway! Enjoy the Yoon focus! I love his character, and I love his growth. He's fun to write and I want more of him.
Yeah, so Ke Xin looks vaguely like a young Gi-Gan.
PERSONAL SHIT AND FUTURE UPDATES:
Yeah, sorry for the delayed update. Between exams, holidays, 40 hour work weeks, rent terror, and car accidents, this took way longer to write than I thought it would (last two weeks were Hell week, and then everyone at my job quit, giving me hella hours, and then dead week this week, my life is fun!)
I got finals next week, so I need to study hard. But after taking so long on this chapter... I didn't want to leave you empty handed. I'll probs update after finals (last one is on Friday)
A quick rundown of the author's situation: I'm saving up to study abroad in China this summer, so I'm pulling extra shifts at work, selling my blood twice a week, and debating taking commissions for costumes/sewn things. I'm not even doing theater next semester so I can afford my plans with out having to take out too many loans before I graduate college. I also need to be studying and working on assignments so that I don't lose my scholarship before the planned time. My life is infinitely busy.
BUT I DON'T WANT TO STOP WRITING THIS! EVER! (THIS IS MY MAIN SOURCE OF FUN TIME STRESS RELIEF AND IT'S FREE!)
But my life being busy means that I'm going to have to step back and write less often. Which is already happening. I'm going to try and make a weekly update, and stock up as many chapters as possible over break for when things get REALLY hectic. but weekly might become bi-weekly, we'll see. The trade-off is, I'm going to try making longer chapters. The story is just really picking up, so we'll have more substance per chapter.
TL/DR:
Author life is hell, expect weekly/biweekly updates from here on.
THANKS FOR READING! PLEASE CRITIQUE, MESSAGE ME, WHATEVER! I LOVE IT (ESPECIALLY IF IT'S CRITIQUES)! I WILL LITERALLY STOP EVERYTHING I'M DOING TO TALK TO YOU!