Disclaimer: I don't own Yona of the Dawn!
Chapter 8
By the time Lien woke up and actually managed to stay awake, Shin-Ah was gone and it was dark outside, judging by the increase of noise from the main room. Whenever it got dark out, people tended to gather in Sandara and Rom's winter home, drawn there to spend time with friends and catch up on clan gossip.
Lien rolled her shoulders and then climbed up from her bed roll, stretching. Had Shin-Ah really been in her room, playing with her hair? Or had she imagined that? Sometimes when she was tired from using her powers, she could swear that she hallucinated things. Maybe this was just one of those times…
Shaking her head, she changed into a pair of extremely loose brown trousers and a light green tunic and went out into the main area.
Almost immediately, she was set upon by Pax. The brunette snagged her arm and pushed her up against a wall, her eyes alight with intrigue. "Sooo, what did you two do for so long? Did you have your way with him?"
"That was real?!" Lien clapped a hand to her mouth, her cheeks going pink. Okay, so she wasn't a blushing little naive creature, she had played at romance with boys in villages they had visited, but… It seemed different with Shin-Ah. He didn't flirt. He didn't seem to know how. So when she had told him that he could play with her hair… She drooped against the wall, wondering what he thought of her being so forward.
"Oh-ho-ho, so what, you kissed? Did you kiss a lot? How much?" Pax gripped Lien's shoulders, a massive grin on her face. "Tell me everything."
"We didn't do anything," Lien said, wriggling her shoulders in a half-hearted attempt to get away, "He played with my hair, but that's about it—"
"Aw, well, there's always next time," Pax said, "That's super cute and innocent, though. I didn't know you could be so adorable."
"Pax…" Lien put her face in her hands, hiding her embarrassment.
"Lien!" Mama Ro's voice thundered across the room, giving Lien a reason to properly escape from Pax's interrogation. She slipped away from her friend and darted through the room, bare feet nimbly finding a path through her scattered clan members. Mama Ro was standing in front of the room where Yoon, Hak, and Shin-Ah had been staying, and beyond her, Lien could see the whole outsider group gathered. Yona gave her a small encouraging wave, and Lien waved back. "They want to talk to you. Just you. Seems that Yoon kid has a few questions."
"He did seem curious," Lien said. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, anxious at the idea of telling someone, let alone a group of people, what she was capable of. Still, she had agreed to let Yoon see her gift, so she had known this might happen. Also, a small, strange part of her wanted them to know. Especially Yona. It was as if there was a string attached between her and the other girl, and that string grew tauter every day.
"You don't have to explain anything to them," Mama Ro said, but it was like she already knew what Lien was going to say.
"I think I want to," Lien said slowly, "Or I need to. I don't know, it's a weird feeling."
Mama Ro sighed. "Your mother and father are against telling them the whole story, but I think you're going to anyways. Remember how I told you that people like you don't stay?"
"I'm not going anywhere, Mama Ro," she said, but it lacked the certainty that she usually had.
Mama Ro reached over to brush her thumb roughly over Lien's cheek. "You say that now." She nodded to the doorway. "Go on, they're waiting."
Lien slipped past the caravan's leader and into the room. She was used to having people look at her since she was a professional dancer, so she didn't flinch when all seven of them turned to look at her.
"Hey, Lien!" Zeno said cheerfully, "Feeling better?"
"Yes, thanks," she said, giving the yellow-haired young man a smile. Turning to the others, she looked at Jae-Ha, Yoon, and Shin-Ah and bowed. "And thank you for saving the two idiot boys." Straightening back up, she tucked her hair behind her ears. "We're all very grateful."
"You're most welcome," Jae-Ha said while Shin-Ah just nodded.
"You helped too," Yoon said, "And, well, I'd like to talk about how you helped. If you don't mind?"
She could still walk out. Lien didn't really owe them an explanation… But she couldn't bring herself to leave or ignore them, and there was still that feeling that Yona needed to know. She quickly sat down beside Yona and rested her hands in her lap. "It's all right. But please, I…" She twisted her hands together, her fingers wrapping around each other. "No one outside the clan is supposed to know about it. About what I can do."
A gentle hand rested on her arm, and Lien looked up into Yona's understanding violet eyes. "Don't worry. We have secrets, too, which I bet you've already guessed. Right?"
Lien smiled a tiny bit. "Well, I was wondering how Jae-Ha could jump around the way he does. And Kija's very strong on just one side."
"I'm not that weak on the other side," Kija protested, but Hak laughed.
"She's got you figured out," he said, earning him a glare form Kija.
"Settle down, beasts!" Yoon turned toward Lien, sitting forward, seemingly eager for knowledge. "We won't tell anyone else, we promise."
Lien closed her eyes for a moment, teetering on the edge, and then gave in. "Then…stay calm." She lifted her right hand, raised her pointer finger, and drew on the fire in her veins. Her hand began to tingle and a second later, she felt a lick of flame appeared, dancing on her fingertip before spreading down her hand and collecting in her palm. It was warm and familiar against her skin, not at all painful, but she heard Yona let out a little shriek.
Lien's eyes flew open to see Yona and Yoon lean over and blow on her hand as if they were putting out a candle. She instantly put out the flame when she saw the panic on their faces.
A moment after that, a larger, calloused hand covered hers and patted at her hand urgently. She looked up to see Shin-Ah kneeling in front of her, his mouth a tense straight line.
Behind him, the other guys looked utterly shocked, and Kija was even holding a bucket of water, apparently ready to douse her.
Lien curled her fingers over Shin-Ah's and laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." She bit her lips to smother her laughter and looked over at Yona and Yoon. "I did tell you to stay calm."
"Your finger was on fire!" Yoon snapped, "Are you crazy?!" He snatched her hand out of Shin-Ah's grip and inspected it, turning it over and peering at her fingers and palm. "There's no burn marks." Yoon narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Was that a trick? Are you the clan's magician, too?"
"That'd be easier," Lien said, shaking her head. "That was me, it's…it's this thing I can do. Look, I'll tell you the whole story, but it's a little unbelievable."
"Trust me, we'll believe it," Yoon said, glancing at the others.
"We're a little unbelievable ourselves," Yona said softly.
Lien looked at them and then clenched her fists. "Okay…"
A/N: Next time, Lien actually tells her story!
