Disclaimer: I don't own Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn!

Chapter 31

"I don't like him."

"Doesn't matter. Yona thinks he's okay, so he's got a free pass."

"I still don't have to like him," Lien said petulantly, her eyes narrowed at the skinny lordling who was following Yona through the village like some kind of droopy lovesick puppy. Tae-Jun had been showing up in the village every other day with food and gear which he kept trying to give to Yona but she would in turn give it to the villagers, not keeping any for herself.

To Lien, it looked like he was any other young noble who thought he could win over a girl with trinkets and baubles. She had seen her fair share of them in the city, and she also knew what they were like when those gifts didn't buy the affection that they sought. So she watched the lordling with suspicion as he hovered around Yona, a pompous pretty moth drawn to Yona's bright inner fire.

Next to her, Yoon looked half-amused and half-grumpy. He was rolling bandages so he could take them to another village with Jae-Ha once the green dragon returned from his current errand. Jae-Ha was often gone these days, roaming around the countryside, checking on the villages they had claimed as Happy Hungry territory.

It made Lien a little nervous whenever Jae-Ha went out alone. What if he got caught by a patrol? Wouldn't they tear him apart if he was severely outnumbered? But the last time she had made the mistake of looking worried when he left, he had teased her, which meant she now always made a point to look stoic when he headed out. Dumb green dragon. She was fond of him, much like she was fond of her older brother. While they were worlds apart personality away, they both had that protective streak and would do anything for the people they cared about. And that determination and fearless loyalty made her worry about him and what he would do to protect them.

"I don't like him either, if that helps," Yoon said, sticking another roll of cloth into his bag, "But we don't have much of a choice."

"He simpers. I can't stand it when people simper," Lien said. She snagged a piece of cloth and started cutting it with a knife, slicing it into wide strips. "And he's only helping because he wants Yona to pay attention to him."

"At least he's helping," Yoon said, rolling his eyes, "And not getting his army to pounce on us."

"I don't like that, either," Lien said, still frowning. Yoon took the end of a strip she had cut and she started rolling it tight, the two of them working together in sync. "He could tell his men to come get us any time."

"I think he likes Yona too much to do that, but I agree, it puts us in a weird position," Yoon said. He glanced over at where Tae-Jun was helping Yona pass out some he had brought from the barracks. "I want to be able to trust him, but I don't see that happening any time soon."

"Ditto," Lien said, "He's like a snake just waiting for the right minute to strike."

"Kirin's being so harsh to the young lord," Zeno's voice broke in. He rounded the corner, carrying one of the village kids on his back. He grinned at Lien as he set the kid on the ground. "So suspicious."

"He almost got the village attacked last week, and now he's acting like he's our friend, or if not that, at least an alley," Lien said, "He acts suspicious, so he's earning my suspicion."

"I think the young lord's trying the best he can," Zeno said. He sat down beside Yoon and snagged a few rolls of cloth from the bag and began to juggle them. "He doesn't know how to be a very good person yet, so he's trying to be a decent person. He's figuring it out."

Lien looked down at the cloth she was rolling, feeling like she was being very gently scolded or corrected. Still, she couldn't bring herself to like Tae-Jun. "You're not worried about him at all, Zeno?"

"Not enough to worry over it," Zeno said. He juggled the bundles of cloth for another minute, at least until Yoon leveled him with a long, meaningful look. Then he just smiled and popped the cloth rolls back into the bag. "He won't do anything to hurt the young miss."

"But the rest of us are free game," Yoon said.

Zeno shook his head. "No, because he knows if he hurt us, he would hurt the young miss." Zeno spread his hands open and shook his head. "He doesn't know how to care, but he's learning."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Lien said. She had seen nobles pretend to be good in order to get into someone's good graces and then turn their leaf right back over when a deal was done or a marriage was sealed. Time spent in noble households with the caravan had taught her a few things, though in some ways, she knew she was still naïve about the world. However, nobles were something she knew about, to a degree.

Zeno reached over and ruffled her hair, an affectionate gesture. "So Kirin will see."

Lien made a face and kept rolling, keeping her hands occupied as her mind wandered. If the lordling did turn on them, they would need to protect the villagers. She was practicing every day with her fire, but she still wasn't confident about using it as a true weapon after spending so long keeping it from strangers. In a pinch, she could make it work, but she knew she needed more time to hone her skills and abilities. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that any time soon.

With the three of them working together, they were able to roll up all of the bandages and get them packed away inside of Yoon's bag. Once everything was put away, Lien stood up and stretched, leaning back and raising her arms into the air. The atmosphere of the village was slowly shifting away from one of despair to one of tentative hope. She didn't want to see that crushed by the Fire Tribe soldiers if this little lord decided he didn't like how Yona treated him. Which, actually, Yona treated him kindly.

It was Hak, Kija, and Jae-Ha that stalked him through the village whenever they were around. Shin-Ah didn't participate in the stalking. He hung back and let Yona make her own decisions, though he had told Lien the other night that he did not really like Tae-Jun's presence either. He just wasn't going to tell Yona who she could or could not be around. It wasn't in his nature, which meant he wasn't going to hunt Tae-Jun down or keep an extra close on him, though he had been more cautious the first few days that the young lord had been around. Now he seemed more used to him hanging about the village.

With the task completed, Lien left Yoon and Zeno and headed out into the village, looking for a new chore. Somewhere in the distance, she could hear hammering. She guessed it was Hak, who was sought-after for his ability to hammer without bending the nails. Kija had almost broken the last house he had attempted to do carpenter work for, Jae-Ha was away, and Shin-Ah still unnerved the older people in the village. They seemed to have problem with his mask, though the kids had really taken to him even though they preferred Zeno over all of the Happy Hungry Bunch members.

Lien checked a few of the community water pots and saw that they were low. The only river was a two-hour walk there and back from the village, and she wasn't supposed to go alone. It was too dangerous. Besides, if she was the only one who went, she wouldn't be able to gather that much water.

Luckily she knew someone who would go with her.

An hour later, she and Shin-Ah reached the edge of the slow-moving river. With the whole area in a drought, it was hardly a river, more of an over-sized creek. Still, it was water, and the village needed it. Ao took hold of Lien's hair as she stepped down to the river bank, her eyes on the water. The walk had been long and cold, the wind ripping over the plains. Kneeling down, she dipped her hand into the water and offered a sip to the squirrel. The tiny fluffy creature patted her paws in the water and then dunked her face into it.

"Greedy cheeks," she teased, poking Ao in the side. The squirrel lifted her head and splashed the water, enjoying herself. Lien laughed and turned her face away as droplets of water hit her cheek.

Shin-Ah bent down beside Lien and started filling the containers they had brought. She noticed he only filled the two pots that she would carry only halfway. Part of her wanted to tell him to fill them all the way, but they both knew she wasn't strong enough to carry them. Once the pots were full, he put them in a line on the river bank and looked around, ever watchful.

"See anything?" she asked, wiping off Ao so the squirrel wouldn't get cold. While it wasn't snowy here in the Fire Tribe county, it was still chilly.

Shin-Ah shook his head and walked over to her. "No patrols."

"Maybe they're scared of the Happy Hungry Bunch," Lien said as he sat down beside her. She thought of how menacing the dragons and Hak could appear. It was strange to see them in battle mode when she was so used to seeing them around the fire, with Kija fussing about bugs and Jae-Ha teasing Hak and Hak being sardonic. And Shin-Ah, a quiet, gentle presence in the background. But when there was a fight? The enemy was right to be afraid. "Our name is sooo intimidating."

Shin-Ah glanced at her and then nodded. "Very."

Lien narrowed her eyes at him and then realized he was joking too. She bit her lips and then grinned at him. So Shin-Ah was growing a sense of humor. A tiny one, but there it was.

Ao trotted up Lien's arm and curled up against her neck, stealing some of her heat. Lien reached up and scratched the squirrel's ears as she and Shin-Ah rested, taking a moment before going back to the village. It was quiet and the wind whistled across the plains, brushing through the dead grass. It was desolate but almost relaxing in its silence.

Lien leaned back on her palms, looking up at the grey sky. Something inside her told her that her future would not have many quiet moments like this, that there was peril and worry ahead, but for right now? She was going to enjoy the moment and the company.