"Sora-taichou? What are you doing here?" Tae-Jun asked as he recognized her. The villages near the borders belonged to the Fire tribe, after all.
"Have your men stand down, Lord Tae-Jun; I do not wish to hurt anyone"
"They are fugitives wanted by the King. If you insist on standing in my way, I will have my men cut you down as punishment for disobeying royal orders and betraying your country to assist traitors"
"Just walk away and we'll pretend this never happened. Let it go" she countered, her eyes resolute.
Instead, his men continued to advance towards them.
"As you wish" she whispered.
She was a blur of black as she moved, taking down the soldiers with graceful ease, effectively putting distance between them and the princess. Yona couldn't help but to notice the way Sora wielded her staff was similar to Hak's own style of using his hsu quandao. Sora skillfully took out most of the soldiers, without mortally wounding them. As she dealt with them, Yona took the chance to rush towards Hak and tried to pull him up but alas she was not strong enough.
Then the princess felt a hand on her shoulder as she looked up to meet her sister's eyes.
"Here, take this and keep it pointed at them" Sora said, thrusting a smaller blade at Yona.
"Shout if they take even a step…" Although I doubt Tae-Jun would allow them to harm his dear princess, she thought to herself as she turned her back towards them and tried to help Hak up.
As expected, Tae-Jun ordered the rest of his men not to harm Yona.
"Well look what we have here, someone needs my help after all" Sora said teasingly as she reached down to grab onto Hak's arm.
"Urgh, you weigh a ton! What have you been eating these past 3 years!?" she exclaimed as she strained and managed to pull him up halfway. In spite of her teasing, she was secretly worried; she noted his complexion was pale from the blood loss and his lack of response as he was barely conscious. It amazed her that he was still able to hold onto the ledge, given his condition.
Just then, she heard a low rumble and before they could react, the ground gave way under them, plunging the 3 of them into the abyss below.
Instinctively, both Sora and Hak reached for the princess, shielding her between their bodies as they fell. In the last moments, Hak turned so that his back faced the ground, using his body as a shield to break their fall; his last effort to protect both princesses. As he fell unconscious, Sora tried to grab onto the tree branches in an attempt to slow their momentum but their combined weight proved too much as the branches would not hold and they continued to spiral down. Seeing that Hak was already severely injured, she used her weight to shift him back, effectively using her own body to protect them from the impact.
...
Yona awoke in an unfamiliar hut. She turned to see a boy tending to her. He introduced himself as Yoon, the 'passing handsome boy genius' and explained how he had found them by the river.
"To survive a fall like that you must be pretty tough; and with such minor injuries at that. Although I think it is most likely because they shielded you as you fell, which would also explain the bad state they are in"
Yona turned to see Hak lying on the other side of the room unmoving, his breathing was shallow and his body covered in bandages. Right next to him was her sister who had bandages around her head and torso, breathing laboriously.
"I've removed the poison from his body but he's still got some really nasty wounds there and he's lost quite a lot of blood. On the other hand, her physical wounds weren't quite as severe, just some cuts, bruises and a head wound but there was some internal bleeding and broken ribs. I'd say she bore the brunt of the fall"
I didn't know how long I had been asleep, what day it was, or even where I was. I sat up, ignoring the sharp pain in my ribcage as I surveyed my surroundings. Hak was lying next to me looking battle-worn. A little distance away, I could make out 3 figures laying in the dark, fast asleep – Yona, a boy with short hair and a man dressed in white with long hair covering his face. Thankfully, Yona seemed relatively unharmed. Spying my cloak folded neatly in a corner, I put it on and went outside.
I had been searching the forest for my staff when I spotted Hak's hsu quandao nearby. Picking it up I inspected it; it was similar to my staff except it had a blade at the end. I was proficient with long weapons like my staff or the hsu quandao, although not quite as good as Hak was - my specialty had always been dual swords which explained the double sword sheath I always carried. Which is also why I never used them unless necessary; to wield them would mean certain death to whoever I faced.
"You shouldn't be out here you know; you had a pretty nasty fall from the looks of it"
I turned to see Hak leaning against a tree nearby, watching me, his arms folded nonchalantly like he wasn't covered in injuries.
"I could say the same for you" I replied after giving him a good once-over. He was no longer the boy I knew, but a man… A very attractive man, I thought despite myself.
"Tch. I don't die easily – I made a promise to someone long ago remember?"
There was a pregnant silence as I stared at the ground, a blush creeping on my face. He remembered that? I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn't bring myself to make eye contact. There were many nights that I had dreamt of what it would be like to see him face to face again and what I would say to him; but now that he was right before me, I was at a loss for words.
"So… how's it going?" I blurted awkwardly. Stupid question… What did I expect him to say? 'Oh everything is just great – the King was murdered by Soo-Won who is now emperor, Yona is on the run and we're stuck out here in this God-forsaken place with severe injuries and no idea where to go'
His shadow came within my line of sight as he came closer till he was right in front of me.
"You didn't even say goodbye"
"You can't still be mad about that, right? You know I hate goodbyes, it's too hard" I laughed nervously, trying to ignore the intensity of his blue stare.
"Then you shouldn't have left in the first place"
"Look, I'm sorry… I just couldn't. You're not seriously still angry with me, are you? I mean, things have been pretty great for you up till now right? Can't we just put it behind us?"
He just stood there in silence, his glare searing, leaving me feeling naked under his penetrative blue gaze.
"… I guess not" I said, turning to leave.
As I walked past him back to the hut, suddenly I felt something warm encompass my hand. I looked down to see his large hand grasping mine.
"I MIGHT reconsider if you give me something in return"
"Wh… what do you want then?" I stammered as he pulled me by the hand till I was flush against his muscular chest, his face inches from mine, his eyes seemed to peer into the depths of my soul. He stared silently, seemingly searching my face. My treacherous mind fabricated various explicit scenarios in my head as my heart pounded in anticipation. He visibly shook his head slightly, breaking eye contact before pulling away.
"A match worth waiting 3 years for"
I stared at him dumbfounded (and mildly disappointed) for a moment before a grin broke out on my face.
"You're on!"
I watched as her face lit up with excitement at the thought of a rematch between us 3 years later.
What's gotten into me?, I thought as I ran my fingers through my hair.
The sudden rush of desire a moment ago at the feel of her pliant body against mine had taken me by surprise. She was my best friend, or at least, she used to be before she left. I waved the matter off, must have been the after-effects of the poison or something. Or maybe I was just surprised given that she had definitely grown up from the girl I remembered her to be 3 years ago. And besides, my feelings were devoted to Yona-hime. Always has been… right?
"What are you daydreaming about? Let's get this thing started!" she said, her voice breaking the flow of my internal monologue. I grinned back, letting her excitement get to me. I never could stay angry at her for long, especially when I saw her face looking at me like that.
This is gonna be fun.
Unbeknownst to them, Yona had been watching from behind a line of trees. She had woken up to realize Hak and Sora were missing. Images of them lying somewhere in the forest, bleeding and alone had flooded her mind, sending her into a panic. As she had wandered around in search of them, a loud crash had caught her attention and she had followed the source of the sound to find Hak and Sora sparring, their weapons colliding being the source of the sounds from before.
They were gonna end up reopening their wounds at this rate and she was about to stop them when it dawned on her that they were actually enjoying themselves. She noted the grin on Hak's face and the fire in Sora's golden eyes.
I haven't seen an expression like that on Hak's face in a long time…
