Disclaimer: I don't own Yona of the Dawn.
Chapter 5
After all those days of simply laying in bed and recovering, Shin-Ah was finally allowed to get up and move around the house. He was under strict orders from Yoon to stay inside if at all possible, since the days were bitterly cold up in the mountains. No one wanted him to get sick again.
Ao rode on Shin-Ah's shoulder as he stepped out from the little room he had been sharing with Yoon and Hak, cautious in this strange house. It was a large circular structure made entirely from thick wooden beams that held in the warmth, and the rooms were all arranged a central space.
It was also seemingly full of people.
The circular space in middle of the house was overflowing with caravan members sitting around, working, chatting. There was a table where people were sewing and stitching, and in another area, a man and a teenage boy were carving wooden swords. A few others were cooking around a fire place in the middle of the room. The place smelled vaguely of spices from the Kai Empire, wood shavings, and musty winter clothes.
He spotted Yona and Yoon perched on a few cushions, a large map in front of them. On Yona's other side, the girl that had brought them here, Lien, was sitting along with Zeno and both of them occasionally pointed at the map and put in a comment.
Before he could walk over to them, Shin-Ah was nearly run over by a small green-clad boy and a gaggle of other children who were chasing after him, all of them laughing and shrieking.
"Hi Mr. Sleepy Blue Hairy Man!" yelled the first little boy.
"Hi Mr. Hairy Blue Sleepy Man!" the others echoed in chorus before they dashed through the front door and out into the white winter landscape.
"Don't be rude to the lazy boy. He can't help that he's sickly!" a middle-aged woman called from the sewing table but she was too late. They were already gone, letting the door slap shut behind them.
Someone gave an embarrassed chuckle. "Mama Ro, that was rude, too…"
Shin-Ah blinked at the sudden bright blast of sunshine against the snow, but his eyes rapidly adjusted. He had exchanged the silk strip for his mask again yet he hadn't discarded the silk Lien had given him. Instead, he wrapped it around his arm, just in case he needed it again.
"So it looks someone's finally decided to officially join the living," the woman said with a grin. Her face was lined with the wrinkles that came from smiling often and silver streaks marked her otherwise jet black hair. "Come and get something to eat and get stronger so we can put you to work."
Shin-Ah lingered by the door, wishing he could just walk straight to his friends. He still wasn't used to dealing with people outside of his group, and sometimes figuring out when they were joking or being serious was difficult. It was easier with people he knew…
"Give him a moment, Mama Ro," said one of the other women at the table, her voice gentle and soft, "Let him adjust."
"Life with the Swift Song Caravan isn't easy if you're not born to it!" declared a girl who was sitting at the table.
"We're a loud bunch, aren't we, Yoon?" asked a girl near the cooking fire, batting her eyelashes at the young genius.
Yoon blushed and made a face. "It's not that different from traveling with these people..." He waved a hand at Yona and Zeno, who didn't look ashamed at all.
"He's being nice," someone else put in, "He's just as overwhelmed as you are, Blue Hairy Sleepy Man."
"That one's named Shin-Ah."
"Zeno and Yona like us being loud though, don't you?"
"Yeah, of course they do!"
"They have to say they do, otherwise we'll toss them out."
"Don't tease!"
"Yeah, they'd freeze to death out there, and that'd be annoying since we've been feeding them. All that food, wasted!"
"Hush, you lot," said the middle-aged woman, Mama Ro. She didn't raise her voice, but she didn't have to. The others quieted down when she spoke; Shin-Ah assumed that meant she was the one in charge of the caravan. She gestured over at Yona, Yoon, Zeno, and Lien. "Go on. Lien, get him some food, would you?"
From in between Zeno and Yona, Lien stood up and gave Shin-Ah a small smile before picking her way through the crowd to get to the food. Shin-Ah took his chance to go through the maze of people and duck down beside Yona, sitting on the floor beside her cushion. Ao jumped from his shoulder to Yona's and snuggled against her cheek.
"How are you feeling?" Yona asked.
"Better," he said, "Thank you."
"Take it easy and don't do anything stupid or strenuous," Yoon said, glancing over at him, "They were joking about making you work, but don't decide to do something on your own to pay them back. Got it?"
"Yes." Shin-Ah nodded. He would have to find some way to repay these people for their kindness, especially Lien. She had let them into the village and her house when she could have left them out on the mountains.
Yoon turned his attention back to the map. "We're trying to figure out the easiest way to get to Uru," he said to Shin-Ah, mentioning the town they were trying to get to when they got stuck in the blizzard, "Lien and Kyung have told us about a few paths out of the mountains, but we have to wait for the weather to improve."
"It'll probably be another week before we can leave," Zeno said, "Cold snaps usually last for at least a couple weeks here." He smiled and leaned back against more cushions. "It's nice, isn't it? They're funny."
Shin-Ah always assumed that Zeno traveled a lot before he had joined their group, but sometimes he wondered how far he had gone. He always seemed to know at least a little bit about wherever they were, and he was smarter and wiser than he seemed at first.
"And they're kind," Yona added, "They haven't asked for anything besides help with chores, and they feed us so much. And there's the entertainment." Her eyes lit up with an internal flame of determination. "I'm going to learn how to do at least one dance, like that one you do with Lien, Zeno."
Shin-Ah looked at Zeno, only a little surprised that he had been dancing with Lien. They all knew that the Yellow Dragon knew many of the traditional dances of Kouka Kingdom.
Zeno grinned at him. "We'll show you!" He sprang to his feet and clapped his hands. "Mama Ro, can we have rehearsal time? The drum dance, so we can show Shin-Ah?"
"Oooh, please, please!" some of the people cried, and when the dark-haired woman nodded, a few of them jumped up and started moving furniture and work projects out of the way. They created a space beside the fire and pulled out a set of drums while Lien hurried back over to their group, her pretty honey brown eyes wide.
"Zeno…" she started, but he scooped the plate out of her hands and gave it to Shin-Ah.
"Shin-Ah needs to see," he said, "And Zeno wants to fill in for Yung while he can."
As Zeno pulled Lien over to the bare spot, Yoon leaned over toward Shin-Ah. "Yung is one of the carvan members. He usually does this dance with Lien, but he broke his ankle a couple weeks ago so since Zeno knows this dance, he's been helping Lien practice while Yung can't." He rolled his eyes and smirked. "Granted, Zeno honestly likes this dance and would probably be really upset if Yung suddenly got better."
Shin-Ah nodded and chewed on a steamed bun as a few musicians started to play, filling the room with the steady beat of drums. The sound reverberated in his chest, stirring something inside of him. Maybe Blue Dragons liked drums…
"Zeno, we should wait until later," Lien was saying, but the yellow-haired dragon shook his head.
"No, now." He smiled a little. "I really want to show Shin-Ah. Please?"
Lien sighed but her feet were already moving back and forth, light and graceful and agile. She was lithe and weightless, each movement as smooth as river flowing over age-old stones. Shin-Ah couldn't take his eyes off her as she started to spin around Zeno, each step matching with the drumbeats of the softer, higher drums.
Zeno, on the other hand, was moving faster than her, every step bold and certain. The deeper, louder bass beats were his, but neither of them was the leader. They were equals in this dance, each passing by the other, clasping hands, moving on. Sometimes they leaned on each other, but they were quick to part.
"It's a fire and water dance," Yona whispered beside him, "The Fire and Water tribes used to perform it at festivals a long time ago, back after they were on the brink of a civil war and then reconciled. It's about two lovers, one from each tribe."
"Beautiful," Shin-Ah said softly, his eyes on Lien and her serene motions.
Zeno made a misstep, and the two nearly collided, causing them to both erupt into laughter and for the drummers to falter. Zeno spun Lien around once and then raced over to his group. Shin-Ah was on his feet practically before he was aware of Zeno latching onto him and yanking him up.
"Come on, we'll teach you. Zeno's tired, you can take my place."
"Oh…" He didn't know anything about dancing! And he certainly couldn't practice with Lien, she was a professional, and Zeno was making a mistake, and –
"Play the Quartz Step, you lot," Mama Ro called out, "Make it easy on him."
The drumming started again, a song from the Earth Tribe this time. A few of the other teenagers around the room got up and moved to the empty space, all of them stamping out a beat.
"Don't tire yourself out," Lien said as Zeno nearly pushed Shin-Ah into her.
"Teach him, teach him," Zeno said, waving his hands at Lien.
She gestured to Shin-Ah's feet. "For you it's step-step, clap, right-left-spin, clap." She made it seem so easy as she twirled around him, her light blue skirt whipping about her legs. "Since it's an Earth Tribe song, that's all you have to do. Their songs are always easier to dance to."
Shin-Ah nodded to her and tried to follow along, but he was slower and far less sure of himself than she was. He kept looking down at his feet, or he did until she took his hands and pulled him off-step.
"Just dance," she said, grinning as he looked up at her, "Don't bother with the steps. Just move."
He had no idea how to do that, but something about her sweet smile made him want to try.