The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 163: The One Who Knows

Swearing up and down that the two of them were idiots who couldn't see what was so clearly in front of them, Calista shook her head and headed in the direction that Yona had left in when a hand suddenly fell on her shoulder unexpectedly.

In a split second, she twisted the wrist back, stepping back to anchor herself as she threw the person behind her over her shoulder.

A flurry of satin and a curtain of black hair had her freezing in place.

Calista immediately knelt down to the ground, lowering her head as the figure nimbly landed on her feet despite the abrupt attack.

"My apologies, I didn't know it was you." Calista muttered, keeping her eyes downcast.

The woman clothed only in a simple bathrobe spun on her heel to face her, keeping one hand on her waist where her dual swords were strapped.

"What a fast reaction time." Ayura commented nonchalantly, as though she hadn't just been flung through the air like it was nothing and her eyes pierced the assassin's.

Something shimmered in her gaze but it was gone in the blink of an eye and she shifted her weight ever so slightly, tilting her chin down to peer at the other.

"I didn't expect you of all people to be associated with a group like this." She commented quietly, her dark eyes inquisitive, studying her closely. "That doesn't seem like your style."

Calista grimaced at her words and gritted her teeth, refusing to answer her. Because she was right. For a long time, it wasn't.

But she was no longer the same person that she was when she started this journey.

Raising an eyebrow at her silence, Ayura's feet tapped lightly against the pebbled stone walkway as she approached her.

"You are from the underground." She deduced evenly, her eyes calculating her every movement as she slowly stood up.

"I am." Calista confirmed only somewhat reluctantly. It didn't matter if she told her or not, it would endanger them more to spread it around than it did to keep their mouths shut and she had a feeling this one in particular was wise enough to know that. "Do you want me to leave?"

Ayura cocked an eyebrow at her, gazing with only subtle interest that wasn't visible to the naked eye.

"Leave?" She echoed, only a subtle touch of puzzlement underlying her steady tone and Calista laughed dryly.

"Isn't it dangerous to be strolling around so idly when you are taking care of precious cargo?" Calista clarified, a sharp and knowing glint in her eye.

Ayura stiffened. No one was supposed to know about that. Bending her knees ever so slightly, she shifted her stance from one of nonchalance to cautioned defense. Her eyes hardened.

"I know." Calista declared brazenly, starting to circle the bodyguard like a predator cornering its prey. "I know everything."

The temperature turned frigid due to the hostility between them as the two stared each other down, sizing up the other in order to determine what the outcome of this fight would be. The sounds of the serene stream floating nearby and the birds that chirped faded into background noise as the women analyzed and mirrored the other's movements.

"Well, that didn't take you long to figure out." Ayura discerned, outwardly unbothered by this change of events despite her body language hinting otherwise as her fingers tightened around the hilt of her swords. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to keep that secret to yourself?"

Humming to herself, Calista smirked. "Well, there's a price to be paid for something like that. I mean, this information really is priceless. Imagine how much people would pay to get ahold of it."