Chapter 13: The Cliffs

"Stay close to me, your highness." Hak spoke as he took the cloth covering his weapon off and prepared for a fight. From behind them, men came at Hak with their swords. Swinging his weapon, he slashed at them, taking two, then four men out of any potential future fight. As he fought to protect her, Yona recalled what her cousin once said.

Hak fights lightning. In front of her, she saw the blade come down upon another. Su-wons voice still in her ear. If we ever fought seriously, he'd beat me to a pulp. Now that she had a chance to truly see him fight; she had to agree.

"I see the Thunder Beast is feeling lively, General Son Hak." Yona cringed at that voice. She remembered the man it belonged to and how he made her feel like she was an object he needed to obtain. "I Kang Tae-Jun have been waiting for this moment…" he was about to continue when Hak and Yona turned away from him. Zeno blinked in confusion.

"Look your highness! There's a lot of wildlife in these parts." Hak stated as he pointed to over the cliffside.

Zeno slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing at the noble's dumbfounded reaction. "HEY!" Tea-Jun screamed at them. "Don't be bird watching while I'm speaking to you, you ingrate!"

Hak stiffened. "Oh?" He turned his head slightly and looked over his shoulder at the fire tribe brat. "Were you taking?" Hak stood up. "Thing is I'm no longer a general or Son anything anymore."

The young man looked confused once again. Zeno was actually getting more entertainment from this kid than he had that time Guen and Shuten had tricked Abi that one time. Good times. Zeno thought offhandedly. "Wait, what?" Tae-Jun inquired.

"It's as I said. I'm just Hak. A man of the road. Nothing I do," Hak gave him a sinister grin. "has anything to do with the Wind Tribe."

Tae-Jun touched his chin before giving off his own grin. "I see." he stated before grasping his sword. "I couldn't care less about the Wind Tribe! I'm going to kill you today because I have business with the Princess!"

Hak suddenly grabbed Yona and spun his weapon as a barrage of arrows came their way. At the same time men came at all sides with swords drawn to take Hak by surprise.

Zeno knew what he was planning was stupid, suicidal for some, but he was Ouryuu; nothing could kill him. Quickly grasping an arrow, Zeno stabbed himself and dragged it down his arm, cutting himself deeply. Dropping it, he pushed himself away from the cliffside where he had all but been forgotten. Rushing forward, Zeno slid himself into place by Hak's side. Lifting his arm up, the soldiers blades came into contact with his newly formed golden yellow scales on his arm. The blade broke instantly, shattering the metal into tiny pieces.

"Mister!" Zeno yelled. "Now!"

Weaponless, the soldiers were now no longer a threat to Hak or Yona. Using his weapon, Hak grasped Yona around the waist, rushed at the soldiers, but instead of thrusting his blade through them, he stabbed it into the ground, lifting himself and Yona onto the cliffs above the group. Zeno on the other hand had Tae-Jun rushing at him to kill him but Zeno decided to take a quick exit from this fight and jumped over the cliff. The soldiers stared dumbfounded as to why anyone would just kill themselves like that.

Shaking away what he'd just witnessed, Tae-Jun screamed. "KILL THAT BASTARD!" Then a thought passed through his mind, not caring of the consequences. "AIM FOR THE PRINCESS!"

Yona heard these words. A spark in her lit from it, along with fear. They're going to use me to get to him! In her mind she saw an arrow glowing green with poison aimed for her. Hak taking the arrow to save her but it costing him his life. NO! Her mind screamed. That spark suddenly roared to life. With unknown strength, Yona pulled Hak's arm, which unbalanced the young man causing the him to almost fall backwards. Catching himself he was about to yell at her when, with the same strength Yona rammed herself into him. Both fell into cavern crevice in the side of the cliff face. A barrage of poison arrows suddenly appearing where they had once stood.

Sitting up, Hak saw that the crevice was surrounded by walls on all sides. There was no escape. He had only one choice. To go back out there and fight. Looking at Yona, he found his breath stollen for a moment. The center of her eyes looked like balls of fire. He felt the hairs of the back of his neck suddenly stand on end. He felt as if the greatest predator was starring at him and then the feeling was gone and her eyes were back to there purple hues.

"What?" she asked confused as to why he was starting at her.

Hak felt heat rise to his cheeks before he was forced to look away. "It's nothing." Standing, Hak was about to tell her to stay and be quiet when he heard footsteps grow closer to their position.

"THERE'S NOTHING HERE!" An unknown soldier yelled out.

Upon hearing more of the same Hak realized that the crevice they were hiding in must have been hidden by something. A bush? he wondered as he squatted down and peering out through the man sized hole. Sure enough, a large bush seemed to right in front of the hole, which meant it was a safe place for them to hide. Closing his eyes Hak decided to get some rest. They were safe and there was no reason for them to leave until Tae-Jun and his men left the area.

Down below in the ravine, Zeno gave a gasp as he suddenly sat up in the small stream. Coughing, he climbed upon shore and sat for a moment. He was covered from head to toe in blood. His blood, but this meant Missy would know something bad had happened to him. Falling several hundred feet, Zeno hadn't been surprised that he had broken every bone in his body, nor had he been surprised when those bones decided to come through skin. What had been surprising was the fact he had fallen unconscious and seen a bright light for a brief moment before it had completely vanished. Zeno felt for the amulet that was attached to his clothing but found it gone. Standing suddenly, he began looking for it. He found it on the shoreline, but now he had another problem. Having stood so quickly in his seat his shirt had fallen off too damaged to be fixed. His chest glistened with golden scales in the daylight. A gasp caught his attention.

Turning Zeno saw a young boy starring with an agape expression. Behind the young boy stood an adult who looked a bit shocked as well. When suddenly the adult male bowed to him. "Lord Ouryuu."

It had been centuries since he was called that name. It made him realize just who this man might be. The monk he had been taking Missy to.

Zeno smiled gently before speaking. "Ik-su."

M-Angel: Sorry it's taken SO long to get this chapter out. It has been hectic these last few weeks at work. A co-worker got hurt and now everyone had to pick up extra shifts. So it's more money but less time I have, to do what I love.