Chapter 12: Safe

Zeno watched Yona eat the the broth and rice soup. As she cried softly recalling her fathers version of it, Hak was at the door with his younger brother Tae-yeon who reminded Zeno of King Hiryuu's youngest son Shi-Yeon Tao who had been named after the Queen's father. The child had been born with a weak body and had only lived for ten years before he succumbed to his weak body. Abi had stated that he had fallen into a sleep and slowly his lung had stopped working. He would have died from suffocation, though that part had never been revealed to the king out of mercy. The more Zeno watched the boy the more he was convinced he was the reincarnation of Shi-Yeon Tao. Smiling, he returned his attention towards Yona.

"Zeno, you've always been there for me, haven't you?" Her inquiry threw Zeno off a bit. "I remember you being there when mother died. You brought me a toy dragon. It was red with a yellow belly." He looked up from her food towards him. "You've never changed. You look the same as you did then."

It wasn't really an accusation but rather her making an observation. "Zeno never ages." he stated softly. "Zeno was there with Hiryuu." Yona's eyes widened. "I think Zeno said this before, though Miss was too busy trying to escape death."

"How could you live so long though?" she asked. "Wasn't it lonely? Didn't the others take care of you?"

Zeno cocked his head at the last question. Shaking his head Zeno sighed deeply. "It was, very lonely." Zeno then touched his chest. "When Zeno's brothers died, Zeno thought he would forever be alone but then one day Zeno felt his brother Hakuryuu. Zeno got confused." Zeno tried recalling that feeling of confusion. "Upon investigating, Zeno found that a child within the Hakuryuu village had been born with the dragon hand. This led Zeno to figure out that Hiryuu would be reborn one day and Zeno had to be ready for that day." Zeno smiled happily. "Zeno is so glad Missy was born."

Yona's cheeks flushed. She wasn't sure why but Zeno made he feel different than the stares she had gotten in the palace from other men. They had made her feel like she needed to cover herself, Zeno made her feel…different. She didn't have a word for this feeling but really wanted to explore it a bit more.

Hak on the other hand frowned when he saw Yona's cheeks turn pink. Trying not to feel anything, Hak turned his head away from the duo. He had listened to Zeno's story. It still blew his mind that this guy was truly the Ouryuu. He remembered what Zeno had said the day after King Il's murder.

Zeno serves only King Hiryuu and his reincarnation.

That was the part Hak couldn't get passed. Yona being Hiryuu's reincarnation. That did not make sense! Why would the red dragon kami come back? Wasn't one lifetime as a human good enough? Why would he come back, and as a weak girl no less! Yona couldn't fight to save a nation. She could barely stand on two feet without tripping over skirts or loving the wrong person! His grip on the pole of his weapon tightened. She just cannot be who Zeno claimed! He leaned his head back against the doorframe. If she is, who he said she is… Hak glance over at her on the bed and took a deep breath before releasing it. If she is Hiryuu's reincarnation I'm going to have to teach her how to either blend in with the people or teach her to fight. He frowned. I'm sorry your majesty. I'm going to have to teach her to protect herself with a weapon because one day I might fail to protect her.

It was a day later when Yona was outside. Mundok had returned the night before. She had listened to what he and Hak had spoken about. How the Fire tribe general had made threats. Over the years Yona had learned that if she pretended to be stupid people would talk in front of her and say things they thought she couldn't or wouldn't understand. Truthfully she understood palace politics better than most. She also could tell you which generals you could trust and those you couldn't. General Kan Soo-Jin was one man you could never trust. He only looked out for his own interests, same as his youngest son, Kan Tae-Jun.

She hadn't slept very well. Looking around the grounds she saw children playing with a ball, villagers going about their peaceful day and women taking clothes to the river to be washed. If I stay here these people will be in danger. To her right she saw Zeno walking up to her with a bowl of fruit in hand. Hak and Zeno can't protect me by themselves and I can't leave without them! Pulling her legs up to her chest, Yona felt overwhelmed by the decision she knew she had to make.

"Miss?" Zeno inquired after her, as if sensing something was making her feel overwhelmed.

"We can't stay Zeno." she told him as she lifted her head up to look at him. "General Kan will not allow me to live in peace, even if I am in exile and not a threat right now, later he will come for me." She looked passed him towards the happy villagers. "I can't be the reason they are all put into danger."

"What does Mister think?" Zeno asked, he believed she was right.

Yona went to say she hadn't spoken to Hak yet when his voice came behind her. "She's right." Hak stated as he sat down next to her. "Where would we go though?"

"We?" Yona inquired having not believed he would agree to this.

"I made a promise to keep you safe."

"Mister cannot do it by himself though." Zeno stated. "Miss needs to speak to a priest first to get the Kami's blessing for this new journey of her life. Afterwards Zeno will take you to one of his brothers." Ryokuryuu will run though. Seiryuu won't be ready. Hakuryuu will cry if he's not the first one found. Zeno thought as he tried to decide which he would take her to first.

"You know where they are?" Yona asked disbelievingly.

Zeno looked a bit surprised at her doubt. "Zeno told Miss that he can sense his brothers earlier, didn't I?" He cocked his head to the side trying to recall if he had or not. Having lived for so long some days ran into each other, as did some memories.

Leaving Fuuga the next morning, the group decided to do so before most were even awake. Of course Yona wasn't much or a morning person to begin with. Yawning as they walked the boarder between the wind tribe and fire tribe, Yona could already feel the heat of the day coming down upon them. She really disliked the heavy dresses she always had to wear. She could already feel sweat dripping down her back and legs. As she walked between Hak and Zeno, she wondered why the heat didn't seem to bother them. Zeno especially was wearing double clothes, so he had to be hot; right? Hak on the other hand wore dark clothes and dark clothes always attracted heat, so why was she the only one feeling so unbearably hot!?

As if the Kami had heard her whining, Yona suddenly heard thunder. Looking up at the sky she saw that it was cloudless. Confused she turned towards her companions. Both looked pale. Hak suddenly grasped her wrist and pulled her behind him. Zeno coming up beside him. Both wanting to protect her as suddenly before them an entire platoon of soldiers were stand on either side of the cliffs. Yona paled as she realized just who these soldiers belonged to as she spotted the flag of the fire tribe on the men's armor.

M-Angel: Well my plan was to post this on the first on the month. The plan fell through, obviously. LoL! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Now comes the jerk who will turn into our little fanboy one day. I really hope we get to see more of Tae-jun in the magna soon.