Disclaimer: I don't own Akatsuki no Yona!
A/N: I'm so happy people are enjoying this story! It's a really slow romance since it's Shin-Ah… ^_^ I'm having fun with it though!
Chapter 17
It took the group three days to hike out of the mountains and into the hill country part of the Fire Tribe's lands. Snow covered the ground, but it wasn't nearly as deep as it had been in the mountains. There was more ice than snow. It clung to the ground, coating it with a glassy sheen and making slippery patches on the deer path they were following.
Now that they were in the Fire Tribe's territory, they were being more careful about staying off the main roads. The countryside was well-known for being overrun by gangs, bandits, and ambushing groups, so they weren't taking any chances. Zeno turned out to excel at finding random paths that animals followed, which was how they found the deer path out of the mountains.
Lien was walking along beside Yona, the two of them staying toward the middle of the group. She had figured out early on that the pattern the group traveled in was often Shin-Ah and Kija, then Yona and Yoon and Zeno, with Hak and Jae-Ha coming last. The pattern occasionally changed, but often that was where they fell out. Lien shifted around the group, sometimes walking by Yona and Yoon and sometimes walking beside Shin-Ah.
"We should reach the outskirts of the village by tomorrow," Yoon said. He was walking along, holding the map in front of him, tracing the path with his quick eyes. "We'll have to do some reconnaissance when we get there and figure out what we're really dealing with."
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was actually the Fire Tribe army and not bandits bothering the village," Hak said.
"The Fire Tribe wouldn't harass their own people, would they?" Kija asked.
"You'd be surprised..."
Over the past few days, Lien had picked up on the fact that Hak wasn't very fond of the Fire Tribe's leadership. Actually, he seemed to hate them. Which made sense after Yona had explained what they had done to the Wind Tribe's water supply.
The politics of countries had never weighed heavily on Lien's mind. The only thing she had ever really cared about was whether or not a place allowed theater and what they did or did not allow culturally. Maybe it was a bit of resistance to her prescribed role as a kirin, but she just had never paid much attention to the intricacies of governments.
Now she needed to be more invested in understanding where everyone in Kouka Kingdom stood, which was why she had been quizzing Hak, Yoon, and Jae-Ha for the past few days. They seemed to know the most about the interactions between the tribes of Kouka Kingdom, especially Hak.
"We're going to need to set up camp soon," Yoon said.
"Preferably somewhere out of the way," Hak said with a frown, probably thinking about protecting the camp.
"Good luck with that, this is literally the way everything is going to look for leagues around us," Yoon said, gesturing toward the landscape. "We might find a copse of trees, but that's about it." The land around them only had a few sparse trees, and there wasn't much natural shelter. There didn't seem to be any game either, not even rabbits, so hunting was out of the question unless someone was going to shoot down a bird or two.
Actually, Yona could probably do that. And Hak also was skilled with a bow. As far as Lien knew, everyone except for Yoon and Zeno was talented with some kind of weapon and Zeno seemed very adept with a shield. Lien didn't necessarily want to learn how to shoot a bow or wield a sword, but she also didn't want to be useless on the battlefield. She had a feeling that the attack with the raiders wouldn't be the last fight she would see with this group. Her ability to create fire was handy but relying on it in a battle was probably not the best idea.
"I think I need a weapon if we're going to be fighting often," she said, looking over at Yona, "Preferably something that can't catch on fire."
"Hmm, so not a bow, then," Yona replied with a grin.
Lien laughed. "Exactly." While Lien liked the idea of a bow as a weapon since it was long-range and could be used for hunting, it wouldn't be very useful if she accidentally caught it on fire during a fight.
"I would say a staff, since I think you could pick that up quickly, but again, they're wood," Hak said. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Unless it was a iron staff."
"Yeah, no, Lien's a beast but she's not a physically strong beast," Yoon pointed out, "No offense, Lien."
"None taken."
As if summoned by the conversation, Shin-Ah appeared beside her, his hand brushing against her arm. It was hard to tell with the mask, but his body language said he wasn't entirely pleased with what they were talking about.
She glanced up at him, guessing at what was stressing him. "I just think it would be good to have something to defend myself with. I don't plan on becoming some kind of amazing warrior or anything." Lien wanted to be able to stand up for herself and have a way to protect herself in a fight without using her fire-starting abilities. She also didn't want Shin-Ah to have to worry about her or come rescue her like he had the other day.
"Using your power makes you tired, doesn't it?" Yona said.
"If I use it for too long, yes," she replied, nodding, "So I could use a weapon to help balance that out." A smile tugged at her lips. "Besides, sometimes I don't want to set everything ablaze, you know?"
"Probably not a sword then, seeing how the hilt would have to be leather," Hak said before he made a face at her. "Are you sure you really want a weapon?"
"Definitely."
"I could teach you how to use knives," Jae-Ha said, "You might be good at it."
Mmm, the knives Jae-Ha used didn't have anything flammable on them except for the ribbons, but those would be easy to remove. That was certainly an option.
"Does Kirin know how to dance with fans?" Zeno asked, "Because there's a weapon you might like…"
"The tessen fan," Hak finished for him, looking down at her and nodding. "It requires some skill and coordination, but since you're already trained in using a fan for dancing, it might work, especially if you combine it with knives."
"A fan?" she asked uncertainly.
Beside her, Shin-Ah's mouth was a straight line of displeasure.
"They're made of metal and have a razor-sharp edge," Jae-Ha said, "Beautiful and deadly. I can teach you how to use one."
"Really?" Hak asked, raising an eyebrow at the green dragon, "I've never seen you use one before."
"I prefer knives, but the captain taught me a variety of fighting styles," Jae-Ha said. He gave Lien a wicked grin. "Add in a couple senbon needles, and we'll turn you into a deadly fire vixen."
"No, thank you, I'd rather just defend myself," Lien said, holding up her hands.
Hak and Jae-Ha started talking about where they could secure more weapons, while Lien slowed own her pace, dropping back. As she expected, Shin-Ah slowed down too. They walked behind the others, and she looked up at him questioningly.
"What's wrong? I think it's a good idea to learn self-defense," she said.
He kept looking forward, but his hand twitched into a fist. "I don't want you to get hurt. Weapons…invite danger."
Lien was quiet for a moment, giving herself time to think. He had a point, but so did she. "We're already sort of inviting danger," she said, "I mean, we're going to go try to liberate a village from bandits. So, we're heading into danger."
He stopped and turned toward her. "I can protect you."
Something warm blossomed in her and she wrapped her hand around his arm. "I know. But I want to help protect myself." She gave him a bright, teasing smile. "Then you won't have to feel like you need to keep an eye on me all the time."
"I like to." He said it so softly, she almost didn't hear him.
"What?" Her eyes widened, and she looked up at him.
"I like keeping an eye on you." A red blush grew on his cheeks and he turned forward rapidly, hurrying to catch up to the front of their group as if his look-out skills were suddenly very much in need. Her own cheeks grew hot but she smiled to herself. She wasn't going to say it out loud, but she was fairly certain that she liked Shin-Ah as more than just a traveling companion.
And maybe he felt the same way about her?
