Disclaimer: I don't own Yona of the Dawn!

Chapter 36

Lien swept off her cloak and folded it up before she laid it down on top of the rest of their packs and gear. While she was fresh and new to the art of battle and protecting herself, she knew a thing or two about dancing and entertaining. That had been her entire life until she had been swept up into Yona's group, and she was happy to be able to contribute more than just a spark of flame to start their cooking fire.

Sometimes she didn't understand what she was doing with them, so far away from her family and former life. It felt right, like sinking into a song that needed her part to be whole, but the melody was strange and she wasn't sure if she was harmonizing yet. At least she got along well with them. Maybe her place would be clearer later on.

Reaching up, she began to undo the braid that she often used for capturing her pale green hair. It drifted down into loose waves and random messy curls as Jae-Ha started to play a folk tune popular in the Earth Tribe's lands. It wasn't as well-known in this area, but it was a playful song, the tune like tiny pebbles tumbling down a hillside. Lien's toes started to circle the dusty ground as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know this one," Yona said quietly, her violet eyes peeking at Lien.

"Zeno does," the yellow dragon said, "You'll learn, miss." He took Yona by the hand and twirled her around with a big grin. "Follow Zeno!"

"Is that a good idea?" Yoon asked, frowning, "Won't we get more money if—"

"Just let it happen," Hak said. He rolled his eyes. "It's going to anyways. Try not to crush Zeno's feet too much."

Yona's eyes sparked with an inner rageful fire. "Why you—"

Yoon and Hak disappeared to go look for new supplies while Lien began to dance in the middle of the space their group had claimed. Zeno busied himself with teaching Yona the partner steps for the dance, leaving Lien to remember the old solo steps she had seen someone use years ago. Usually this dance was done in large groups, but sometimes it was used as a single performance piece. The people around them started to smile, perhaps recognizing the song.

Kija and Shin-Ah stayed nearby, both attracting people by their sheer presence. Kija's white hair and striking looks caught the eyes of many villagers while others were intrigued by Shin-Ah's mask and wild fluff as well as Ao. A little boy reached out a hand to Ao, and the squirrel chittered at him before grabbing his hand and patting at the palm in search of food. A bottomless pit of a squirrel, one might say.

Kija's pale cheeks turned red as more girls began to approach him, seemingly enamored by his shyness. Lien couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but whatever it was made Kija duck away and attempt to escape to Shin-Ah's other side.

A few coins plinked down into the basket Yoon had set out before he left, enough for maybe one steamed bun at a stall. Eh, if they got any money at all, that would be nice. One bun split eight ways…oh, nine, Ao would want some, too.

Lien spun through the small space, letting the present drift away. She knew if she thought too much about how they needed money she wouldn't be able to dance as freely. Anxiety about eating sometimes did that. Instead, she focused on the music that Jae-Ha was weaving through the air and slipped away from the now.

Once the song ended, people applauded and a few more coins found their way into the little basket as Lien, Zeno, and Yona all bowed or curtsied.

"Well, that wasn't terrible," Yona said, pushing her hair back from her face.

"It was fun," Zeno said. He stretched his arms over his head and broadly grinned.

Lien wandered over to Jae-Ha and sat down on the ground beside him as the crowd shifted, waiting for whatever was next. He looked at her and then nodded back to the center.

"Can you breathe fire or something?" he said, a meaningful look in his eyes. She narrowed her own gaze at him and then considered it. No, as she knew, she couldn't, but that wasn't what he was really asking, was it? Fake it til you make it, right?

"Are you sure that's all right?" she asked. Nervousness crept up her spine. She had never intentionally used her fire in a performance even though she had thought about it often.

"As long as it's done right, they'll never know," Jae-Ha said. He smirked at her. "And you're certainly clever enough to do it right."

"Oh, yes, now that I'm properly flattered, there's no way I'll screw up."

"That's the spirit," he teased.

"Fine," she said, standing back up. Glancing over, she saw Shin-Ah back away from the kids who were trying to pet Ao. They had brought far more food than the squirrel needed, and she was looking chubbier than normal.

"Shin-Ah, want to help me?" she said, giving him an escape route. His head lifted quickly, and he nodded rapidly before stepping back toward her, taking Ao off of the shoulder of one of the kids. The squirrel squirmed out of his grip and scampered over to Jae-Ha, who scooped her up and settled her on his shoulder.

"We hope you're ready for some sleight of hand," Jae-Ha said loudly to the crowd, "From our little fire-dancer. She's known throughout four kingdoms and across the sea, and it's honestly a miracle that she came to your town today." He began to play again, a song from the Fire Tribe.

Shin-Ah stood nearby as Lien made a big deal of waving her hands through the air, letting flickers of flame drift through her fingers for seconds at a time. The important part, she decided, was to make it look like she was using firestarters or something to create the illusion of starting fires. It was essential to make people think it was just a normal trick and not true magic.

"Can you draw your sword, please," she whispered to Shin-Ah as she circled him, one foot crossing over the other, her motions slow and steady. Shin-Ah's head turned, perhaps to allow his eyes to follow her. He reached behind his back and unsheathed the thin, dangerous blade, holding it in front of him, the mask still in her direction.

Lien smiled and began to move faster, her steps speeding like a campfire building into a bonfire. She allowed fire to curl up her hands and die away in flashes of flame. Shin-Ah lifted the sword higher in a quickly, fluid motion as she crossed in front of him, careful to keep the razor edge away from her.

He took a step back, and Lien followed, not chasing but matching his movements. Shin-Ah's head tilted to the side, and he lowered the sword to his side. She moved around his side and touched the sword, letting her fire dance across the edge. With nothing to light, it simply raced up the edge and died away, but the crowd seemed to like it.

Stepping in front of him as the music swelled, Lien lifted a hand to her mouth and blew, shooting a blast of flame into the air as if she had breathed it into being. She was actually getting rather decent at controlling the fire she created.

Shin-Ah stepped to the side and sheathed the sword, and Lien shot another blast of fake fire-breath in the other direction. Apparently fire-breathing was more impressive around here than dancing since far more coins were flying into their basket than before.

"Here, Seiryuu!" Zeno yelled, and a candle suddenly came flying at Shin-Ah's head. He caught it with ease and held it into of him awkwardly in both hands. "Light it, Kirin!"

Lien came closer and let fire play along her fingertips, keeping only the back of her hand toward the crowd to let them think some kind of device or glove was helping her. Reach out, she cupped Shin-Ah's hand with her non-fiery hand and then reached toward the candle's wick. It caught fire instantly, and she took the candle from him, lifting her chin as an idea tugged at her. "Do you think you could cut the flame without touching the wick?"

Shin-Ah was still be a long moment and then his head dipped forward. Yes.

He reached out, taking her hands and positioning them out in front of her. "You can't move."

"I won't," she said, and smiled, "I trust you."

He took in a quick breath and unsheathed the sword again. He swung it to the side and then up, warming up his arm. Lien froze, the candle held out in front of her, as Shin-Ah whipped the sword around faster than she could see. The air from it made the candle flame dance.

Taking a step back, he lifted the sword and then lunged forward, the sword hissing through the air. She could feel the wind from the blade as it caught through the wick of the candle, snuffing the flame and causing the tiny bit of wick to drop to the dirt. Shin-Ah sheathed his sword as people cheered and more coin fell into the basket.

Lien grinned and let her flames die away, rather certain that now everyone would really think it was just a magic show, like something you could see in any big city. Zeno darted forward and picked up the basket as Yona sat down to talk to Jae-Ha.

Shin-Ah stepped to her side, and he seemed to be looking at her hands, though as always, it was hard to tell with the mask. She lifted her hands, a half-smile on her face. "All my fingers are still there. And that was excellent, you're amazing with that sword."

Shin-Ah immediately looked down and rubbed the toe of his boot into the dirt. "Thank you…you are, too. Amazing."

It was Lien's turn to not know what to say. Luckily, that was when Yoon appeared, storming into their small area.

"Are you all crazy?!" he demanded, reaching out, grabbing Shin-Ah's sleeve, and giving it a good shake. "While we're at it with the swords and the fire, let's have Jae-Ha do some jumping and have Kija toss some villagers, and oh, I don't know, maybe Hak could just yell to everyone that he's the Thunderbeast?! Showing off your freaky magical abilities and insane fighting skills isn't what I meant by performing!"

"I don't think anyone would guess," Lien said, wide-eyed in the face of Yoon's reproach.

"Calm down, I asked her to do it," Jae-Ha said languidly, "And now we're not as dirt poor as we were a couple hours ago."

Yoon made a series of disgruntled sounds before he began to quietly fuss at Jae-Ha, trying to not attract attention from the people who were still around. Lien started to rebraid her hair, feeling properly chastised by the group mom.