Chapter 17: Bad Omen

Yu-hon threw the dead man off of his sword, blood dripping and staining the ground beneath his feet. Looking over the damage done by his men, he found himself proud of the thousands of Kai men that had been killed by his warriors. Grasping a day from his hip, Yu-hon wiped the blood from his blade. The sound of multiple footsteps had him looking up from his now clean blade. "Well?" he asked the approaching me.

"We have seven hundred men willing to swear feality to you Lord Yu-hon." The two younger men looked nurvous.

"We need more men." he told them with a crown in place on his face. "We cannot have my father learning of this. Three hundred more should do." He looked at them. "Once we are a thousand hundred strong, we will go against my father and squash those impudent fools."

"Yes sir!" They both yelled out before turning away rushing off back to see if they could gather more men for their Lord's campaign against his father. This also meant that if there were any men who were loyal to King Joo-nam then they would implicitly end up being killed in an accident or battle.

Yu-hon looked over his shoulder as the morning sun crested the horizon, creating a red haze in the sky. If he was one to take old beliefs seriously he would've known the saying, red sky in the morning, a sailor's warning and would not have proceeded with the battles that were to come. However, Yu-hon did not believe in superstitions and like the old gods, threw the warning to the wind.

Princess Yona gave a cry as lightning struck nearby. Her heart racing in her chest as her nerves had her twitching in place. She wanted comfort! Only said that princess' needed to be brave, but she was a child for goodness sake! Pushing the blankets back she stood up from her cushion where she'd been playing and ran to the door to her room. Pushing the door open she ran right into somebody's chest as she had been about to make a mad dash towards Jae-ha or Kija's rooms. The white and blue kasode told her who she had run into.

"Kija!" she cried out, mostly in surprise; though joy was there as well. Just then lightning cracked across the sky. Yona launched herself into his arms, fear driving her to grab onto him as she tried to hold back her tears.

Kija looked down at Yona in surprise. He'd been about to knock on her door to see if she wanted company for the afternoon only to be ploughed into by the red haired princess who seemed to be quite fearful of the storm that had come out of the north. "P-Princess." he stuttered from shock of her grabbing into him like this. Sure, he was used to it when they played, but not when they were in private.

"Make Ouryuu stop yelling!" she begged him.

Kija frowned as he looked up towards the sky. "Actually, I think it's the Raiju making all that noise." He stated as he corrected her.

Gina looked up at Kija with fear filled eyes. "Can't you make him stop Kija?" she asked pleadingly. "You're Hakuryuu's vessel."

Even three years after becoming Yona's friend and one of the four dragon guardians to her, Kija still found it hard to argue with her when she looked at him with those eyes of hers. He'd noticed that even Jae -had had a hard time saying no to her. The five year old little girl was no longer a cry baby as she once had been, though you wouldn't know it by the way she was acting at the moment.

Sighing, Kija gently guided her back into her room and closed the doors. It was probably a good thing he had brought one of the old books from the King's library with him when he'd decided to visit her. Sitting down in front of the hearth, he wrapped a blanket around Yona's shoulders and opened the old book. "How about a story to keep your mind off of the storm?" he asked her.

Yona gave a tentative nod. "Okay." she agreed.

Outside the young teenage Jae-ha stood by the door with a wide grin as he opened the door to peer inside. Upon seeing Yona curled up in a blanket listening to Kija read the story of a king from five hundred years ago and his quest to save the woman he loved from an evil fallen kami and the blessing he received from the Ouryuu kami once his quest had been fulfilled. Standing outside with the door cracked open, Jae -ha listened intently to the story. In his mind he could see the handsome dark haired king storming a fortress, slaying the monstrously strong men in there and battle the evil fallen kami who had taken the beautiful lady who would become the young king's wife and bare him children.

Jae -ha was brought back to reality as he heard footsteps approaching. Looking up he saw his youngest brother, Hak walking towards him with his closest friend, Yona's cousin, Su-won. The boy was a year older than Hak, though a year younger than Kija. The two boy's were inseparable whenever they were around each other and once Yona joined up with them, it was as if the three had never been apart. It was endearing to watch.

"Do you think Yona will go with us?" Sh-won asked as they got closer to Jae -ha though he seemed unaware of the older teen's presence.

"Where are you two going and why do you want Yona to go with you?" Jae-ha asked as he stood in the duo's path with his arms over his chest.

"Droopy eyes." Hak frowned as he looked away from his adopted brother.

Su-won smiled happily at the older boy. "The festival down in the village." he said. "I want to take Yona to it when the rain has stopped. "

"No." Jae-ha said stubbornly. "It's too dangerous for her."

"Not if you and White Snake come." Hak pointed out to the older boy.

Truth was Jae -ha wanted to go to the festival, but the point of this was to keep Yona safe. He had a bad feeling lately and that feeling had yet to leave him. Looking down Jae -ha gave out a deep sigh. Perhaps there was a way to keep her safe and get enjoy themselves at the festival. "I'll talk to gramps about this." Hak's shoulders slumped at this.

"Tch." Hak scoffed. "The old man will say no." He walked away with Su-won following him.

Once the two were out of sight, Jae-ha ran a hand through his long green hair on top of his head. What to do? he thought as he watched the rain continue to come down, but it seemed to do so even harder. If this rain doesn't stop soon we won't have to worry about the festival. Flooding will be the main worry. He looked up at the sky, his dragon leg began to tingle. Frowning, Jae -ha swore he saw the underbelly of a dragon within the clouds before it had vanished. I'm sleepy. He told himself before shaking his head to clear his mind before looking skyward. Still, his leg tingled.

In the mountains between the earth and fire tribes a dirty blond haired man looked up at the sky. The voices in his head gaining strength and were becoming louder lately. The Kami above were arguing amongst themselves about Hiryuu. He frowned at this as he knew that Hiryuu had been reborn. He had been one of the six priests that had been there in the palace on the day the red star had appeared in the sky. He was the one to give the prophecy about the newly born red haired Princess. He also knew that two of the four warriors had already found her and had become her protectors and close friends. So why were the Kami arguing? One word; Yu -hon. Lord Yu-hon was becoming a problem. First he had rid the palace of the priests before he had begun to fatten the ranks of the Sky tribe. Now, it would seem, he had set his sights upon the young Princess Yona, Hiryuu's reincarnation. Closing his eyes he prayed for knowledge of what he should do. He wasn't a warrior himself, but should he need to, he would come to the defense of the young Princess. First, he needed to pray, then he would take action.

M-Angel: Phew, another story update this week. I'm on fire! ^_^ Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.