The next morning Rensa was awakened by the familiar banging on her door followed by the laughter from the children.

"Rise and shine, Cripple!" They shouted. "Time for you to do nothing!"

She sat up and Yona groaned.

"What's going on?"

"My rude awakening has arrived." Rensa sighed and scooted over to the chest in the corner. She pulled on a clean dress, and then used her crutch to get to her foot. Yona sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Why isn't she answering the door?" One of the kids asked rudely.

"Because she's too slow!" Another answered.

Rensa ignored the comments and carefully picked her way through the messy room. The laughter stopped suddenly and she heard a different voice shouting.

"Leave! Don't you kids have better things to do?"

She knew who was speaking and she was not pleased that he was the one defending her. She opened the door and there he stood with his back to her, watching the children run off. His arms were folded and his back was tense. She could tell he was worked up.

"Good Morning Jae-ha." Yona greeted when she came to the door.

He whipped around and smiled at them. "Morning!"

She liked the sparkle in his eyes when they weren't filled with judgements. She pushed that thought aside and dropped her gaze to its usual place, the ground.

"What was all that commotion?"

"Some kids messing around." Jae-ha explained.

"You'll get used to it. If you ignore it they leave eventually." Rensa commented moving past the conversing friends. Yun was working by a new fire and a sweet smell was wafting over to her. She sat beside him like the night before.

There two tents set up closer to the forest edge, and there were blankets strewn around the ground, she guessed it was how the men slept.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Yun handed her a bowl of rice. She let herself smell the scent for a few seconds before taking the first bite. It was sweet and reminded her of a dessert. She was not used to eating such delicious food. For the past few months she had been living off the fruit and the herbs she collected around the forest's edge. She allowed herself to selfishly think they could stay for a while longer, so she could eat better, and hear more of their strange stories. Maybe even find out if the others truly did have extraordinary abilities.

She knew they could not stay. They were travelers and obviously had a destination.

The attractive voice she did not want to hear asked a question beside her. "Why do you let them treat you like that?"

"I did not ask for your help." She said coldly then took another spoonful of rice, while staring at the grass in front of her.

"That doesn't answer my question." He replied calmly. He seemed so carefree and didn't take any offense to her rudeness towards him. That bothered her more. She did not want him prying into her personal matters, yet she got the feeling if she didn't give him an answer, he wouldn't leave her alone.

"Because if I were to… fight back… They would treat me worse." She mumbled and set her half full bowl in the grass that held her staring gaze. "It's better if I stay in the background and go unnoticed. I cannot care about trivial matters." She kept her eyes on her food, not daring to see the expression on his face.

"Like the village children antagonizing you?" Jae-ha asked, seeking deeper clarification. She nodded once.

"I think that's kind of weak." Yun piped up.

Rensa watched him serve the rice into bowls for the others with wide eyes.

"You become strong when you fight back. I think it's a way to find self-worth. Obviously you don't want to be cruel and fight without a reason, but if you are defending yourself then people know where you stand and learn not to hurt you because of your strength and courage."

His words both stung and filled her with a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt cared about. Like she had people looking out for her. But then she thought it was silly. They were strangers and did not know the whole story. Still, she relished the feeling in her heart.

"Zeno would like to add that thinking you deserve a fate does not mean that is true. Humankind tends to think they deserve the worst when really they should have all the best. Everyone deserves to be treated with love and care." Her eyes whipped over to him to find a bright smile on his face.

"I think you should join the Harvest with us today." Yona announced after she had finished swallowing the food she had had in her mouth.

"I told you, I can't." Rensa immediately declined.

"It wasn't an offer. Doing something that's hard is also a good way to become stronger." She held up a fist and a fiery determination entered into her eyes. "Prove that you can."

"But-"

She was cut off by a hand being held in her face. Jae-ha was standing and offering to help her up as well. "You heard her, come on." He urged.

Rensa almost slapped his hand away. She did not need help. She could move around on her own.

Jae-ha must have read her expression, saw the annoyance, and he also decided to say something on the matter. "Accepting help doesn't mean you are weak, it means you have people that care about you."

She still felt frustrated but placed her hand in his. He helped her stand and stay balanced until she could arrange her crutch.

"I don't understand how you could care about a stranger, unless it was merely out of pity." She spat out as she stared at the ground.

"It's not pity. If someone needs help, if anything, that makes us love them more. It gives us a reason to fight as well." Yona's tone was bright and happy.

Yun put out the fire and they all walked across to the other side of town and into the orchards. There were people already in and around the trees gathering the fruits, they either glared or purposely ignored them as they passed.

They walked slower to keep pace with Rensa, which added to her frustration, yet she was also thankful so she wasn't walking alone. It was strange, just yesterday she was alright with being alone…

They found some trees far enough away from the villagers, yet close enough to use the large baskets scattered throughout the orchard.

They were quick to get to work. Zeno scurried up a tree and began plucking apples from among the green leaves. When his arms got too full, Kija tossed a basket up to him.

Hak helped Yona climb into a nearby orange tree, watching her carefully so she would not fall.

Shin-ah sat at the base of a trunk and was wiggling a finger at Ao who was gazing longingly at the fruit high in the trees. It seemed like he was silently scolding the animal.

Rensa had the chance to watch Jae-ha fly once again, though this time in the daylight. The sight was magnificent. He held a basket in one hand as he braced himself against the ground and then he was suddenly soaring. The wind whipped his long green locks around and he spread his arms to balance his descent into the top branches of the large trees, where he disappeared.

A thought popped into her head that startled her. She was envious of his gift. She knew no normal human could do that, and she had decided to believe that it could be a gift from the legendary dragons Yona had told her about. It was not fair. She had her leg taken from her. She could not walk. She was not free. And he… He was given the power to touch the sky, to fly anywhere he wished. It saddened her.

Rensa shook those thoughts from her mind and her gaze came into focus just in time to watch Kija look around to see if anyone was watching, and then he unraveled the bandage that had been around his hand since the moment she had met them. It revealed a white, claw-like hand. And it grew larger as he reached up. He was able to pick many apples at a time.

The White Dragon…

The second show of power made her believe completely that the men truly were the Dragon Warriors of the story. There was no doubt in her mind. Another realization filled her with sudden sadness once again. They had been gifted abilities, and a reason to live. Whereas she was not saved by the gods, or the dragons. She no longer had a purpose and her fate was sealed the moment she had gotten hurt.

Not wanting to think such thoughts any longer, she surveyed the group once again.

They were all working hard and she had been standing in the same spot doing nothing for a few minutes. She did not know how to help, however, and figured she would just be in the way. Until Jae-ha landed in front of her with a full basket.

She huffed and pursed her lips.

"Want to try something?" He asked teasingly.

"Try what?" She did not smile, and her words were kind of harsh.

"Come with me." Walked over to a pear tree and waited for her to catch up, then he scooped her into his arms.

"Wha- What are you doing?!" She demanded as she dropped her crutch in surprise.

He chuckled and lifted her onto the lowest branch. After making sure she wouldn't fall, he released her. Though she was still afraid and grasped tightly onto the wood she sat upon.

"Think you can reach some from there?" He asked and she couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. She glanced up to see another low hanging branch above her, with clusters of pears close together within her reach.

"Yes…" She replied.

"Then you'll need this." And he held an empty basket up to her.

"Don't think I'll accept your help all the time. I can do things on my own." She snapped but took it and began picking as well, huffing at his sudden interest in convincing her that she could indeed help with the Harvest. Rensa knew he could see through her charade, and observed how she was treated, he was taking it upon himself to fix the situation. Their conversation about being free came back to her mind along with the frustration she had felt as he spoke the day before. He annoyed her.

When she had picked all the pears she could reach, she tried to think of a way she could get down on her own. When all of her ideas resulted in her falling out, she decided it would be better to ask for help. The others had quickly picked a few fruit trees completely clean and had moved on to trees close to hers. Some villagers were slowly making their way unknowingly closer as well. She searched to see which one she could ask for help but all seemed too absorbed in their work. Zeno was happily climbing around the trees, Hak was still assisting Yona as she sat among some branches too, sometimes she would watch him climb into a tree with the red-haired girl. Shin-ah was walking around searching for fallen apples that were still ripe and fresh. And Yun was emptying and bringing back the fruit baskets for the people among the trees.

For some reason it felt weird to ask for help from the people she hadn't had help from before, so she decided to ask the one person she least expected, and least wanted to trust help from.

Rensa waited until Jae-ha had come back from empting another one of his full baskets, then she called out to him. He immediately went over to her.

"You put me up here, get me down." Her tone was kind of accusatory and demanding, though he still smiled.

"Sure." He placed his hands around her waist and stepped back, using the momentum to pull her from the branch. He eased her back down to the ground. When her foot was placed firmly she set the basket down and asked him to retrieve her crutch. He left her balancing there for a few seconds as he grabbed it and gave it back to her.

"Now, will you empty my basket for me?" She wanted her words to be an order, but her polite habits leaked through and it sounded more like a question..

He raised an eyebrow at her. "What's with the sudden want for help? I thought you preferred not to have any."

She sighed. "I don't want the help, but if I work on my own I'll slow everyone down. Since you seem so inclined, you can run around for me." She said begrudgingly. "It's better for the village if we can complete the Harvest quickly."

"But it won't be for you." It was soft and almost like a question. She kept her eyes down, knowing she would find pity in his, so she did not reply.

He picked up her basket and went to empty it.

After their conversation, Jae-ha stayed in her general vicinity, helping her into and out of the trees and emptying her basket for her. At some point, Yun had brought them all lunch and they paused long enough to eat before getting back to work with newfound energy.

Rensa noticed the sky was darkening as Jae-ha pulled her from the last tree of the evening and ran to pour the contents of her basket in with the newly filled produce baskets. Then they all slowly made their way back to the village.

"How did it go?" Yona asked kindly, though Rensa was sure she was wanting a report on her feelings about working.

"It went… alright." Rensa allowed herself to judge the experience with a tilt of her head. She was glad she was able to help pick fruit, though she wished she could have figured out a way to do it on her own.

"I saw Jae-ha helping you in and out of the trees. It was nice of him to help, don't you think?"

Rensa shook her head and sighed. "I don't like feeling helpless, and I especially don't like people looking at me with pity. Jae-ha does both."

Yona was silent for a few steps, watching the four dragons talk and tease each other. Jae-ha occasionally glanced back at them, and Hak walked behind Yona.

"I think he sees a little bit of himself in you." She said softly, like she didn't want any of them to hear her. "He was imprisoned too. I don't know the whole story, but that's where his sense of freedom comes from, and why he wants to help when he sees someone bound by.. Anything really."

Rensa watched Jae-ha closely. He walked freely, confidently. His long green hair swung back and forth across his back and he was laughing as Kija squealed about something that had dropped on him from a tree. She remembered how he spoke like he knew what it felt like to be imprisoned, and she had wondered if he had been. "That may be true. But it doesn't give him the right to pry where I don't want him to."

Yona smiled at her. "I think you need to learn not to be so harsh. Not everyone wants to hurt you."

Rensa thought about Yona's words for the rest of the walk back. She supposed the girl was right, she was harsh, and being just as judgmental. She realized just how mean she was being towards Jae-ha. He was trying to help, she could see that, but he was also trying to know her reasoning for living as she did, and taking matters into his own hands to fix it. That was what annoyed her, but he didn't know that. Aside from snapping at or ignoring his questions, she hadn't had any positive interactions with the Green Dragon. A small thought in the back of her mind told her she was acting that way because of how she lived, in negativity, always looking down.

After a year of living that way, it would be hard to change. She supposed she could take baby steps. So she began to consider what she could do to be better.

She had to go slower than normal because it was dark and she had to be careful where she put her crutch.

Yun already had dinner made when they returned and she sat around the fire with them once again. She enjoyed the vegetable soup he had prepared, and then they all went to bed.

As she was drifting off to sleep, she decided to try being nicer to Jae-ha the next day, just to see what would happen.