Chapter 13: Unbelieving

There were to scenario's that could be happening as Jae-ha listened to the excitement of Kija's voice as they neared Fuuga. One, he was dead. Garou had finally beaten him to death or the one he wasn't really believing, that this was all real. Two days had passed since he woke up in that tent with Kija and Hak. Both younger children had taken to calling him brother Jae-ha, though Hak had begun to call him droopy eyes on top of being called brother. It was unbelievable at how quickly the two had adapted to calling him that. Jae-ha was mostly silent on their trip to the wind capital, but Kija made up for his silence; as he talked the entire time. Jae-had learned that Kija had been kidnapped several months back by a slaver. His village had actually lived and cared for the Hakuryuu generations and saw them as what they were, protectors of Hiryuu. Jae-ha also learned more about Princess Yona and her cousin Su-won. He even learned that the Ouryuu had made contact with Kija but had left soon after realizing he was safe with Mundok.

Green/Violet eyes suddenly widened from the top of the horse he rode. Fugga shone brightly in the early afternoon light. The high stone walls that protected the city glittered as the afternoon sun beamed down. "Pretty, isn't it?" Kija asked behind him.

"Yeah." Jae-ha answered. But are we really free to roam around or is it an illusion that will disappear as time goes on? He wondered as he looked up at the sky where the birds flew wherever they wanted without anyone telling them what to do. His heart was longing for such freedom.

Mundok, he rode behind the boys, watched Jae-ha look up into the sky. He was curious as to what the youngster was thinking. He was under no illusion that the boy would stay. It was his choice. Mundok just hoped the boy would make the right one.

Zeno glanced down upon the smiling child below him. As of this moment, he had decided to keep an eye on the little Miss as Kija grew up in Fuuga. He had no idea of the fact that Ryokuryuu was with Kija until last night. He was glad that the two had found each other, but was worried that the older of the two would soon leave.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he spotted the son of Yu-hon run towards the Miss with a bright smile. The boy reminded him of Hiryuu, but he couldn't reason why this was. Leaning back he tried to recall what happened to Yak-shi's descendants. He knew the daughter married into the wind, where he line remained; Mundok being the last of that line. The eldest son's descendants ruled the throne until the uprising one thousand years ago. That line died out there, as the entire family was killed through either beheadings or murders. The youngest son's descendants had been grabbed up by the priests of the time of the uprising and hidden away in the priesthood and sky tribe.

Looking down at the boy, he wondered, could he be the descendant of that youngest son? He had the presence of Hiryuu, but there was something different about him. He was going to have to watch this boy and ensure that his innocence wasn't destroyed by another force.

He suddenly found his breath stolen from him as violet eyes caught his. "Ouryuu!" she cried out. Zeno smiled, happy that she seemed to know exactly who he was somehow. Placing a finger to his lips, he watched as she giggled before covering her mouth and running off to distract her beloved cousin as the boy had been about to look towards him.

Zeno found himself suddenly filled with trepidation as he saw the look Prince Yu-hon was giving Yona and was reminded of the same look being given to Hiryuu by the leader of the rebels who had almost killed the young red haired king. His brothers had saved him only to give a piece of themselves to others in order to keep protecting Hiryuu. Touching his chest, Zeno realized that Yu-hon's look of hate was not something that could be ignored. He was going to have to protect Yona someday, and soon.

Jae-ha plopped a grape into his mouth as he ate lunch on the back porch that overlooked the town down the hill. From his vantage point he could see the river and the ladies who were washing their clothes. He was curious as to what they talked about while doing so. Finishing the bowl of fruit Jae-ha decided to test out his newfound freedom. Pushing his foot down against the ground and jumping into the air, Jae-ha smiled as he flew into the air. He found out quickly that nobody really seemed to care that he was flying crossing the city or that he had left the mansion. Descending from the high altitude, he gasped as he overshot his targeted tree branch. Taking off had never been a problem for him, it was always the landing that messed him up and got him caught.

A giant splash in the river caught the attention of the women he was coming to spy upon. Jae-ha grabbed onto a boulder to stop himself from being carried away by the current. He was sorely embarrassed as his cheeks lit up as some of the younger women giggled. An older woman chastised the girls before lifting her skirts, wrapped some wraps around them to hold them up and waded into the deep water before grasping his arm. "Come on child, let's get you dried off."

His eyes widened as he pulled to shore by the older woman and found a new admiration towards the older woman. He was placed on the boards of the nearby dock before he had several girls trying to dry him off. He laughed as someone tickled him. He ended up with his clothes being taken from him by the women and having a blanket wrapped around him. "Oh what pretty green hair you have." One pretty girl stated as she petted his head.

Jae-ha flushed deeply, unable to think of a reply to this. "He's got a green leg." Another slightly older woman stated before smiling. "You're the Ryokuryuu, aren't you young man?"

"Y-Yes." he stuttered suddenly wanting to hide himself.

Upon seeing this, the woman who had grabbed him out of the water shooed the others away. "They're harmless." she told him as she turned around to look at him. "Now," she began as she lifted his chin up to look at him in his eyes. "let's get you cleaned up."

A deep blue shirt with wind tribe symbols stitched into it was put on him with a pair of black slacks. The older woman eyed him as his toes stuck out of the slightly larger slacks. The sharp toe talons of his dragon foot were obvious. Snapping her fingers she seemed to get an idea about some footwear and grasped his hand. "Come." she told him, having him follow behind her.

Why did she give me these clothes? he wondered. She could have left me in my wet ones. He followed behind her as the walked through the town. People were out working the streets, merchants waving merchandise or yelling in hopes of gaining somebody's attention. They walked passed these people. Leaving the market place they came to a small shake building that had tools and other miscellaneous items outside. An older man was leaning against the wall as he sat on a box. Jae-ha's eyes widened as the older woman walked up to the man an kicked the crate out from under him. "Wake up you lazy old man!" she yelled at him.

"Damn you old woman!" he yelled at her from the floor. "You could've killed me!"

"Ha!" the woman laughed. "If that poisoned arrow in the war couldn't kill you then falling from a crate won't either!"

"Damn it Martha!" he cursed at her.

"Watch your language old man." she warned him as she looked behind herself at Jae-ha.

"Oh?" the old man inquired as he looked at Jae-ha before looking back back at her. Lifting his hat from his head he sighed. "What do you want?" he asked, no hint of anger left in his voice.

Martha smiled at him. "I think he's the boy Lord Mundok just brought to Fuuga this morning." she said. "He needs shoes." She pointed at his dragon foot. "One that won't damage that foot of his."

Bending down, the older man picked Jae-ha's foot up, causing him to almost loose his balance. "Hmm?" the older man said as he inspected the green dragon foot.

"Up for the challenge Shinji?" she asked him, knowing he loved such challenges.

He smiled up at the boy. "Quite the foot there." he said with a wink before releasing the young boys foot. "I have some boots that will do. They're from Xing." He walked into the back of the shack building and began to shuffle around in some crates before coming back and handing the boots out to the boy. "Try 'em on boy."

Jae-ha slipped the white leather boot on over his green foot. He wiggled his foot inside the boot before putting the other on and frowned. "The right one fits, but the left is too big." he told Shinji who was running his hand through the white hair of his heard.

"Hmm..." Shinji hummed as he went back to the crate and pulled out another white leather boot and threw it at him.

Jae-ha kicked off the first boot and put the second on. Wiggling his toes of his normal foot, he gave a nod. "They fit." He looked up at the man. "But I have nothing to pay you with for them."

"Mundok will get my bill." he answered before moving the crate he'd been napping on back against the wall before sitting back on it. "You owe me a pie Martha." he told the older woman who laughed.

"After you fix my roof." she countered gaining a grin from the older man before she and Jae-ha left.

After awhile of walking next to Martha, Jae-ha spoke."Are you two married?" he asked with curiosity in his voice.

Martha smiled at the question. "No." she answered. "I did love him once, but my father refused to let us marry. I married his cousin who owns the inn in Fuuga."

"But you two are still friends." he stated gaining a nod from her.

"Yes." she answered as they came to a stop. In front of them were the training grounds for the young men of Fuuga. Both Hak and Kija were there watching the older men sweat and pant as the fought each other. Mundok was yelling at some younger men who weren't doing the exercises correctly. "I'll leave you with these men." she said as she patted his shoulder. "Try not to fall when flying again."

Jae-ha nodded as he watched her leave and grinned. Maybe I'll stay a little longer. he thought as he turned to watch two men use their feet in kicking at another, who was using some sort of spear with a curved blade. These people seemed to know what they were doing in fighting with mixed martial arts. Turning he saw another man using daggers and another throwing stars at a tree. It looked like fun. He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked up at Mundok.

"Have you made your decision?" he asked the young man.

"Yeah." he answered as he watched the two throwing their weapons. "Can you teach me how to do that?"

Mundok grinned. "I can teach you many things, but you must be ready to learn and to work hard for it." he answered the young boy who smiled at him. Mundok hoped the path he was about to the lead this boy on would be the right one. After all, this boy had just come out of one disastrous life, he didn't want to put him on the path to another one.

M-Angel: I decided to update this story this week. I hope the chapter was satisfying. I'll try to update later this week. No promises though.