Chapter 9: Hide and Seek

Kija found himself lost a few hours later after Su-won announced that they should play hide and seek while his cousin napped. He was currently the one that was to hide, but he had gotten himself lost in the process. Going from building to building to find a place to hide, he soon found himself in a very large garden area with huge trees everywhere. A large koi pond with a bridge going across it. There were beautiful large heart shaped flowers, bell shaped purple flowers and yellow flowers all over the garden. It was also very quiet here, that was until he heard yelling off towards the buildings ahead of him.

Kija then heard a woman's voice yelling at the servants. Peering over the porch he spotted a very well dressed woman standing over two girls. "Stop making such noise!" she yelled at two servants. "You'll wake the Princess!"

"Excuse me..." Kija's voice caused the woman to spin around looking to yell at whomever had spoken only to not see the person. Looking down she spotted Kija. "Ma'am, not to be rude; but I think it's you who is being loud. I could hear you across the yard and I was all the way over by the pond."

The woman's face became red as behind her the two servants giggled. Upon opening her mouth, the woman was about to speak when someone beat her to it. "He is right, Naomi." A gentle voice spoke softly. Looking up, Kija saw a woman with dark hair and beautiful violet eyes. It took him a moment to recognise her as Yona's mother, Lady Kashi. "You're the one being loud." On her hip was a very tired looking Yona. "Please go away." she shooed the woman off who bowed before leaving angrily. Kija grinning as she seemed to stomp as she walked away. The two servants bowed before leaving in the opposite direction, giggling as they did so.

Kashi gave a deep sigh as the woman left. Turning her eyes upon Kija, she bent down onto the porch and sat Yona down. "You're Kija, correct?" she inquired. The white haired boy looked at her before becoming entranced by Yona. A slow nod was her answer as Yona leaned over the porch and placed her hands on his cheeks, which turned a bright red color.

"Brother Hakuryuu Kija!" Yona yelled out when suddenly she lost her balance and fell forward, right on top of Kija.

"Ooff!" Kija gasped as the air in his lungs suddenly left him. The weight on his chest caused him to open his closed eyes. His clawed hand was wrapped around something soft.

"Kija!" Yona cried out as she brought his head to her chest. Kija had a deer in the headlights kind of look to him as shock of what was happening came to him. He was being held by Princess Yona. Princess Yona who was his master. A master his clan had been waiting for, for the last two thousand years! He kind of felt faint, but excited and happy at the same time.

Why am I acting like this? he thought. This isn't even the first time we've seen each other and yet my heart feels like it's going to burst from my chest!

Lady Kashi ran down the steps to the garden where the Yona had fallen on top of Kija. When she reached the two, Yona was giggling as Kija held the tiny girl to his form, a shocked look coming over the boy's face. It was kind of cute and it made her want to giggle, but she held her composure. "Yona, honey..." she began causing both to look towards her. "are you alright?"

"Yes Mama!" Yona yelled as a big smile crossed her face.

Sighing in relief, she looked at Kija. "Thank-you for catching her." she said.

"She fell into my arms." he claimed. "I didn't catch her on purpose, but I'm glad she's not hurt." he said with honesty in his voice.

Looking around, Kashi noticed that neither Su-won or Mundok were anywhere around. "Kija, sweetie?" Kija turned his attention back to her as Yona once again had captured it by playing with his long stray silver strands of hair. "Why are you back here?" she asked, tipping her head to the side. "These are private gardens. Only the royal family comes back here." she explained. In seconds she saw his cheeks turn red with embarrassment as he looked down at his hands, suddenly finding them more interesting. Kashi placed a hand to her lips as she suppressed another light laugh. "Are you lost sweetie?" Kija nodded. "I see." Standing she walked over to him and picked Yona up, before holding out her hand to him. "Why don't you escort me and Yona to the front gardens, where I'm sure we'll find everyone."

Kija raised his head and looked from Lady Kashi's face to her hand. "Yes Ma'am." he said as he slipped his dragon claw into her hand. Smiling happily at being able to help her and Yona, Kija didn't catch that it was actually her helping him.

Hak tapped his foot on the ground as the minutes ticked by. They had been looking for Kija for awhile now. Su-won scratched the top of his head. "Kija found a really good hiding place." he announced.

Or white snake is lost. Hak thought before shivering at the thought of what Mundok would do if they didn't find him and soon. "I'll look over by the stables..." Hak began when Su-won spoke.

"There he is!" Su-won yelled causing Hak to spin around and run after the older boy.

"Wait up!" Hak grumbled. As they got closer to where they were running, Hak recognised the woman with Kija as the young wife to Prince Il, Lady Kashi, who also had Princess Yona in her arms.

"Kija, where were you hiding?" Su-won asked determined to know his new friend's hiding spot.

"Well..." Kija began nervously.

"That would be cheating, Su-won." Lady Kashi pointed out. "If you knew that, then every time you play the game you'd find him."

"Oooh!" Su-won said with surprise. Turning quickly towards his new friend he got right up into Kija's space. "I'll find you next time!"

Kija felt sweat drip down his next as he nervously backed away. "N-No thank-you." he said. "I'm not very good at this game."

Kashi turned away to hide her laughter as Su-won disagreed vehemently. Hak caught this gesture though causing a devil's grin to cross his features as he realized he'd been right; Kija had gotten himself lost.

Night had fallen across Kuuto, the palace above being illuminated as the moon above shone brightly above. The sky was clear of clouds, ensuring that all could see the light that kept the darkness from swallowing up the heavens. Below, troops marched into the city below, led by Prince Yu-hon. They had been at war with Sei, and were still at war with the neighboring country, but for now the other country had pulled back. Supplies were low, which was the only reason the older Prince was back in his home city. As the injured were taken away to the barracks, Yu-hon went to check up on his young son and heir.

His steps echoed through the halls as he made his way through them to his family's apartments. Once there, he found that his wife was no there. Sighing, he realized that her sickness must have kept her home. Going to his sons room, he found the lanterns still on as the boy looked up from the book her was reading. Walking up to him, he looked to see that it was one of those myth books, not of Hirryu, but of a young warrior becoming a Kami.

"You know that story is just a tale, do you not?" he asked his son.

"I do." Su-won answered. "Are you back for good father?"

Yu-hon sighed. "No." he answered. Upon seeing sadness enter his sons eyes, he placed his hand upon the boy's head. "However, I am here for a little while."

Su-won grinned. "Really?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?" Yu-hon asked expecting the same answer as always, but this time it was different.

"I'm not sure." Su-won answered. "Perhaps not."

"You doubt my words, son?" he asked, a frown coming over his face.

"You once said that the dragon warriors did not exist." Su-won pointed out. "But I have come to realize that this is not so." Yu-hon raised a brow at this. "I know for certain, that they did exist and their descendants are alive today."

"What makes you say these things?" Yu-hon growled. Was his father trying to brainwash his son now that he wasn't around to control what that old man said around Su-won.

"I have met the warrior who had Hakuryuu within his hand." Su-won answer. "He is kind and he is only slightly older than myself."

"Slightly?" Yu-hon inquired before brushing this off as child's talk.

"He is here father!" Su-won yelled as his father stood to leave. "He is Hak's new brother. His right hand has white scales on them. He let me touch them. They are real and so is he."

Yu-hon's eyes widened. "Really?" he asked. So, Mundok is using some orphan to spread lies. "Tomorrow, you will bring this boy to me, so I too may see if his scales are real or not." He bent down to his son's level. "And when they turn out to be fake, you will apologize to me for not believing."

"Likewise?" Su-won inquired from his father. Holding out his hand, his father shook it.

"It's a promise son." Yu-hon agreed before leaving his son to sleep, all the while a dark look coming over his face as a foreboding feeling filled him.

M-Angel: Yay! I got this updated this week. I think I may be able to do twice a month updates only right now, but I swear I'll try to get more out. So, what did everyone think of this chapter?