Chapter 4: Princess Yona

Waking up for the first time in life, the newly born red haired child cried and let her voice be known to everybody around her. Her newly formed soul wasn't as new as everybody thought, in fact her soul was as old as the beginning of the world; but not as old as the first soul, Ouryuu. It would seem that the only ones who knew this were her own parents and it always left them worried.

Her first day of life, she opened her violet; not blue, eyes to the world around her. The first person she saw was not the one she would call mother; but the one she would someday call father. Chocolate eyes met violet and in that moment her father had his suspicions of who she would one day turn out to be. When she was finally set into her mother's arms, she felt a sudden calm come over her that she fell into a deep sleep only hearing "Welcome to our family, Yona my dear." before nothing else registered to her brain.

At six months Yona had figured out who was family. Her mother was the dark haired lady who would lay her at her chest to let her suckle. Her father was the dark haired, short man who was small compared to her mother. Next was her uncle, but his eyes scared her and when he'd hold her, she'd scream until set down or handed off to somebody else. Then there was the blond boy who looked at her with a happy face that made her coo happily. The dark haired boy made her laugh when he'd run from the one eyed man who always smelled like sweet stuff. Then at night she would receive her special visitor. She didn't always see him, but the warm feeling he'd leave behind let her know he'd been in her room, watching her.

At a year old, Yona had figured out that if she wanted something all she had to do was point at it. Hungry? She'd point at a sweet cake and would be given it by whoever saw her wanting it. Wanting to be held? She'd find a servant or her mother and hold up her arms and they'd hold her instantly. Scream? People would come running to see what was amiss. It was the perfect system and Yona was smart enough to have figured it out early on in her life.

However, when she had seen the black haired pretty woman in the servant clothes that looked nothing like a servant, she had been curious about her. She first took her to the King's garden, where she saw her grandfather who totally ignored her cry to be held; he always did. Next she got to eat sweet treats with the servants, who giggled at how cute she was; which was a plus. As the day wore on she got the strange sense that she was being watched and it wasn't the nice feeling she usually got, but one that made her feel icky. She wasn't sure what it was, but she didn't really care either; she had no reason to.

Then she was put to bed, where she fell asleep. Loud noises woke her in the dark of night. She'd once woken in the night like this before, but this time was different. A scary person snatched her roughly from bed. People began yelling. Then she'd seen something small, something shiny and suddenly she wanted it. Standing she grabbed it before sitting back down and looking at it. The item glowed when she touched it. There were buttons on it and in her mind that meant she needed to touch them. When she did the scary man yelled, the blond man looked scared and then she was sucked away from them and into a hole.

When she opened her eyes she was somewhere that was not home. She saw tall dark things swaying in the sky. Trees. That's what her mother had once called them. The shorter stuff that came up to her armpits swayed with the wind also. Grass. Her mind supplied the word she'd also heard before. One bare foot stepped in front of the other and soon Yona was giggling in the night air as she ran through the high grass. She never noticed that her silk nightdress was being caught by twigs and low branches, ripping and shredding the delicate fabric from her body. It wasn't until she was naked and felt the cold night air against her bare skin that she realized that something had happened.

Suddenly cold, she began looking for somebody to assist her; but there was nobody nearby. Screaming loudly the only thing she heard were the cries of scary things in the night. This was the first time something creeped into her chest that felt slick and oily, like the black ink her father wrote with. Fear. She didn't know the name of this feeling, but one thing she did know; she didn't like the feeling.

Tiny legs began to run through the high grass, this time laughter didn't follow. Yona began moving faster. She needed to find mother or perhaps father! Hot tears fell down her cheeks as that oily feeling spread throughout her chest. Her tears filled her visage and soon she was crying loudly, screaming almost. She couldn't talk, she hadn't learned that yet. Snot fell from her nose as her tearful emotions wracked her tiny body.

Her head turned one was, then spun towards the other. Scary noises filling the night air. Mama! Papa! she cried in her mind. Vocally all that came out were more tear filled wails. Suddenly the ground beneath her feet vanished as she fell. She landed in icky muck that smelt bad, was really wet and slimy.

Not sure what to do or where to turn to, she did the one thing she seemed good at lately. Princess Yona cried, loudly.

Blue eyes looked up at the night sky, the moon was full and once again the blond haired yellow dragon warrior was left at the palace as his two brother's went to save Abi from curtain death. He'd been left behind to protect Kuuto; the last line of defense. Hiryuu knew nothing of barbarians appearing on their boarders. He had been feeling ill for awhile now. It worried them all very much.

It was at the midnight hour that Zeno felt like his soul was being set afire. Rushing down from the palace wall he ran to the stables. Placing a blanket on the grey speckled horses back, he jumped onto the beast and kicked its sides to get it to run at a high speed quickly. As the horse reared back, it began to do just that and ran off with Zeno hanging on for dear life. He sped through the palace grounds and out of the gate. The two guards watched with questioning looks as Lord Ouryuu rushed off into the night and with no word on where he was going, they were left to stare off at his quickly disappearing form.

Zeno sped through the city, the buildings becoming a blur as the young man, who really wasn't very young, rushed headlong into the night. That pulse from before was becoming desperate. Something wasn't right. His soul, no, the soul of the Ouryuu through his bloodbond was screaming for him to get to a certain place, a place he wasn't sure of.

Across the land the silver haired older dragon warrior hefted his blue haired brother over his shoulder. He and Shuten had killed all of the barbarians who had attacked Abi's lands. Their poor brother was in tears because of the deaths of his men and as he held his brother over shoulder Guen could feel Abi's body shaking with his emotion from their battle without Hiryuu at their side. He turned his head at the sound of something squishing nearby and saw Shuten had stepped or perhaps had kicked a head clean off from another soldier.

"You've got something on your foot." he stated tiredly, not even really wanting to stay any longer to make sure they had killed the very last of their king's enemies.

"Ick." the green haired man said as he kicked the brain matter off his foot. "That got old a decade ago." he gave a sudden sigh. "Is he okay?" he asked looking at the weakened blue haired warrior.

"I don't kno-" he suddenly froze as the blood in his veins began to heat up.

"Wha-" Shuten began as he gave a gasp at the sudden feeling.

"Hiryuu?" They heard Abi say tearfully. "Is it him?" he said, his voice quivering.

"Stupid king has died?" Shuten ask surprised neither Abi nor Guen said anything at his words.

"Zeno is on the move." Guen stated as he felt his youngest brother's light move quickly through and away from Kuuto.

"Why?" Abi wondered. "I need to see!" he began struggling in Guen's arm only slightly.

"Good grief." was the white haired warrior's words as his brother practically fell onto the floor. Both he and Shuten grabbed him and took him over to the nearest window.

Abi lifted his eyes, his bloodshot golden eyes looked out at the world in front of him. He didn't see the blood, the corpses nor the mess his brothers had made in order to get to him. His eyes looked passed the fields, the houses, the cities until he saw Zeno's back riding towards the boarder of the sky and wind. He pushed his sight passed his brother and went even further ahead of him until he saw it. A red haired, missing toddler child, crying in a puddle naked as the day it had been born.

Abi's eyes were wide as a small gasp made its way through parted quivering lips. "Hiryuu?" he whispered. He turned his gaze towards his brothers as his eyes filled with tears. "How?" As he felt the dragon bond with the child. His eyes turning back to the palace. Wide eyes looked a very much alive king sleeping in his chambers. How is this possible? He wondered as he looked at his brothers. "Let's get back to the castle, something strange is happening."

It was the first light of dawn when Zeno arrived at his destination. The warm pulse had turned from frantic to gentle waves the closer he had gotten to where he was going. He had played hot cold for a little while when he suddenly heard the soft crying sound. Pushing the brush back and away he found his eyes widening. The soft crying sounds were coming from the red haired toddler in front of him. Quickly taking his silken haori off his shoulders he wrapped the child in the yellow jacket. Tiny hands grasped at him as cries turned to small shaking sniffles, hiccups and soft whimpers.

"King...Hiryuu?" he asked as he looked down at the swollen eyes of the child in his arms and felt the bond tighten between them. "But how?" He was confused. The child felt like him, but Hiryuu was back at the castle.

Yona looked up at the blue eyes of the man holding her. She was safe...finally somebody had heard her. Her tired eyes slowly closed. She heard the name he had called her. "Y...o...Yooo... na." she said tiredly. "Mmm...Yon..a." she fell quiet as she laid her head against his chest, his heartbeat putting her to sleep.

Yona? Zeno questioned before smiling as his shoulder shook. The bond! It's with her like it's with... he thought in confusion as he nuzzled the top of her head. You're safe. He thought as the exhausted child fell asleep. He sat on the ground for a moment to let his horse rest from the harsh run he had made the creature take in order to arrive here in time. Zeno held her tightly to his chest and felt tears begin to fall down his cheeks. I don't understand, but I'm certain King Hiryuu will. He thought as he placed a kiss on the top of her forehead and stood up to find a stream in order to clean the first child off.

Zeno didn't return to Kuuto until mid-afternoon. When he arrived through the large palace gates he found all three of his brothers were looking expectant at him. It was Shuten who stole the tiny child out of his arms before Zeno had even attempted to get off of his horse. "Brother, be careful!" Zeno yelled at the rambunctious Ryokuryuu.

"Shut up! I know how to hold a kid!" he yelled at the blond. "So anybody know how this is possible, because this I'd feels like the idiot king."

"That's not-" Zeno began only to be cut off by Abi who stole the child away from the loudest member of their group.

"You obviously don't you understand a thing about children, you barbarian." He teased, his mood having drastically changed once they had returned. His face was covered with bruises and his arms had some weakness from having used his ability while under duress. He was still weak, as his body suddenly shivered as a tremor went through him. Guen's stronger arms lifted the now awake child out of Abi's before the blue haired warrior lost his battle to stay upright.

"But-" Zeno was once again ignored as Guen cooed at the child.

"He's a kinda cute little toddler." he mumbled, a soft flush appearing on Zeno's face from his frustration.

"BROTHER'S!" Zeno yelled gaining everybody's attention. Jumping off of the horses back he walked over to them and pulled his haori open from around the toddlers body. "He is a she." He simply stated. "And her name is Yona."

All three looked at the naked toddler in Guen's hands before they heard giggles coming from the child. Yona gave a happy yell of her own when Zeno had yelled before giggling at the strange men in front her. I like these people. she thought with a giggle ripping through her lips. They're cute! Her bright eyes watched them stare agape at her as her giggles filled the courtyard.

M-Angel: Had a different chapter written but am happier with this version. ^_^

UPDATE: So I had some problems with the original upload. I'm not sure why but my auto-correct was placing words in spots that it shouldn't have. So just to let everybody know, Hiryuu is alive. He's at the end of his life, but is still alive right now.