Chapter 37: Adventure

Yona's tearful goodbyes to Gi-gan and her pirates left a raw hole in the young woman's heart. Not only did she say goodbye to them but because her hadn't shown up she didn't get to say goodbye to Jae-ha. It hurt to leave him behind. Wiping her tears away Yona steeled herself. Jae-ha doesn't want to come with us. We're something he doesn't want or need right now. Sniffles came next to her. Turning her head towards the sounds she realized that both Kija and Yun were crying too. "Yona please stop crying." Yun stated even as he had tears running down his cheeks.

"Yun you're crying too!" Kija's tearful voice chastised.

"You're crying worse than they are," Hak jibed. "White Snake." He added the last bit as a tease and for once Kija didn't take the bait.

"We didn't say goodbye to Jae-ha!" Yun yelled, his face red with embarrassment from crying.

"Huh?" Kija sounded confused. "But Jae-ha is with us, isn't he?" He looked at Shinah who walked over to a small tree and sliced it with his sword. The tree came crashing down with a scream.

Scream?

Everyone looked down at the bush where the green haired warrior had landed unceremoniously on his ass. "Jae'ha!" Yona cried out in surprise.

Zeno began laughing. "Brother Ryokuyuu has been following us since we left."

Yona looked from Zeno to Jae-ha. "But I thought-"

"He's been with us the whole time." Shinah stated.

Jae-ha quickly stood up and dusted himself off. "I am currently free of other obligations." He looked away a bit embarrassed he had been caught. "So I thought I would join you, for now." He looked at Yona. "At first it was just an impulse but then I saw you crying as you looked for me. It was exciting to be hiding." He laughed a bit. "There just wasn't a good enough time to say hi."

"Once a perv, always a perv; eh?" Hak stated with a tease.

Ignoring Hak's tease, for now. Jae-ha continued. "I don't care what the others are doing. I'm going to continue on with forging my own path. It's just that this lines up pretty well with my own ideals, at the moment." He wanted to be there. He just didn't like admitting this. "For now I can't let you go without me. Please take me with you Yona?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Hak growled annoyed at Jae-ha.

"He's right." Yun mumbled annoyed they were being ignored. "You're not just traveling with her. You've got to introduce yourself to all of us properly."

Jae-ha sighed. Pushing the stray strands of hair out of his eyes he smiled. "Let me start over then." He looked at the whole group. "My name is Jae-ha. I'm the beautiful creature with a dragon dwelling in my right leg. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"See!" Zeno said with a huge grin. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?" As he said this the group began once again walking the path they were on.

"Now what?" He asked them not sure what was next or where they were going.

"Now?" Zeno asked. "Now we make a decision. Are we just protectors of a young woman who was chased from her home or do we do something about the darkness that's covering this nation."

"Darkness has fallen upon the land. The blood of the dragons will revive once again, and the ancient pact will be kept. When the four dragons are gathered, the sword and shield which will protect the king shall awaken, and the Red Dragon shall restore the dawn at last."

Yona remembered the prophecy that the priest, Ik-Soo had told them before they had left on this journey well over a month ago. "Well," she began. "If we're going to restore this nation we need the Sword and Shield as well. Who are they?"

Zeno blinked. Didn't she realize who those two were? Should he say?

"You mean they're not actually objects but people?" Yun asked having not thought of that.

"I think they're people." She stated sounding unsure now.

Ao jumped into Zenos hands. The blond began to scratch her belly with his fingers. The tiny creature relaxed in his hands and enjoyed the attention. "I'm the shield." He admitted causing everyone to look at him.

"WHAT!?" They all yelled at once causing the other man to jump in surprise. Ao jumped from his hands to his head in surprise as well.

Zeno laughed nervously. "Zeno is Yona's shield." He stated. "The sword is all of you."

"You've got to be kidding me." Hak stated sounding like he wasn't convinced.

Zeno held his hand out at Jae-ha. "May I borrow a knife?"

Jae-ha looked at him a bit confused. "S-Sure." He said with uncertainty before reaching inside his tunic.

Zeno took the dagger. "Yona already knows about my ability. Hak has seen it, but I don't think any of the rest of you have." Taking the dagger Zeno stabbed his hand.

Screams erupted.

"Zeno are you crazy!" Kija cried out. Just as Zeno pulled the dagger out before he then cut his own face.

"STOP!" Yun cried out. Quickly trying to find his clean bandages.

Jae-ha grinned before grasping Zeno chin. His smile broadening. "So that's it."

The whole group calmed down upon hearing Jae-ha's calm voice. Leaning in closer everyone gasped. The wounds had healed completely and were now covered by a small patch of golden scales. Zeno handed Jae-ha the dagger. "Zeno's scales are harder than a shield once activated."

Jae-ha released his face. "I was curious how you survived that fight."

"But you stated we're the sword." Yun said with confusion as he put the salves and bandages back in his bag. "How?"

"The weapon is both figuratively and physical." Zeno explained. "We're the sword that drives away the darkness from this nation. We will have to travel to each tribe. Chase out the criminals who are trying to destroy and take over. Eventually our blades will drive out the darkness."

"Our blades being our words and actions in each tribe." Yun stated as caught on to what Zeno was saying.

"Fighting may ensue." Kija said catch on. "So we'll have to sharpen out techniques in order to drive out those who are hurting the tribes."

"Then, eventually we will have to destroy the heart of the cause." Hak said believing he knew where that was.

"Then once all is said and done peace can return." Yona said with understanding.

Zeno smiled. "Sounds fun."

Hak grinned. "Sounds exciting."

Kija looked worried. "Sounds dangerous."

"Somebody has to do it." Yun stated with annoyance in his voice.

"Well the adventure has to start somewhere." Yona said with a smile and a giggle.

Jae-ha just shook his head at them. Adventure, huh? He looked up at the sky. "It could takes years to complete." He stopped walking and placed a hand on his hip. "We'll need allies. Train our non-combatants. We'll also need supplies."

Hak suddenly hit him over the head. "Don't be a downer Droopy Eyes."

Yona giggled. "We'll get to that later. For now let's just see where this path takes us."

"Agreed!" Zeno yelled happily as they continued down the road towards their next grand adventure. The path may be harsh or easy, either way, they'd tackle it as it would come at them.

M-Angel: What can I say? I got busy with life. Trying out a new dating service. Met someone but things got complicated. Then went on a vacation and had fun. So now I'm back to finishing my story, hopefully. There's not much more, as I'm not doing the entire manga, so just a few more chapters.