The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: The Cell

Trigger Warnings: physical abuse, blood, mental manipulation 

(I don't own Yona of the Dawn, its plot or any of its characters, only my OC)

"Where did she go?!" He screamed at her for what seemed the hundredth time. Her ears were ringing and her head was spinning from being thrown around the dark cell for so long.

This was supposed to be a low-profile recon mission, but of course, she had to mess it up.

His fist made contact with her jaw, sending her sprawling hard to the ground once more. Calista spat out blood, it had been over an hour since he started, and she could tell he was nowhere near finished with her. Her black hair was matted to her head, the scent of sweat and blood heavy in the air. The clothes she had been wearing were caked with dirt and ripped apart at the seams from his beating. Her back screamed in protest as she moved to face him, exhausted eyes locking on dark ones blazing with cold fury.

His heavy footfalls shook the ground as he marched towards her, and it took everything in her not to scream out as he grabbed her by her hair, yanking up until her feet dangled inches from the ground.

"Open your eyes."

She trembled as she met his darkened gaze. The man snarled, "It was you that freed her, wasn't it?"

Calista's silence answered for her.

Hani was a tender-aged child, with blonde hair and wide, bright green eyes, oblivious to the dark, cruel world she was about to be sold to. Calista had seen Hani come in with the other girls who had gotten tricked by the same false promise of a job that was used to capture many before her. The only difference was Hani was a kid, all of the other girls were either teens or approaching adulthood. The little girl was so small. Her innocent eyes turned fearful as the girls were sent underground, and before Calista knew what she was doing, she had run to the little girl, slipped her out of her chains with the sweat that had collected around her hands and gave Hani hurried instructions to get far away and never look back.

The young girl took one look at Calista's disheveled appearance, and the many bruises that discolored her arms and ran. That was only a day ago, but Yang Kum-ji had noticed Hani was missing. He ruled out his other "merchandise", all of them too scared to revolt against him, especially when he had noticed the fury burning in her eyes.

He smirked, leaning in so close to her face that she could smell the alcohol and tobacco on his breath. "I'm going to make you pay for that, kitten." He growled, "I had a buyer willing to pay a lot for that one!"

She fought violently against him as he brought her arms behind her back, restraining her as he shoved her face into the stone wall already stained with her blood. He yanked her arms up, the sound of iron chains snapping around her wrists filled Calista with dread. The man chained her to the wall so that her arms were outstretched, back bare as he ripped away the shredded shirt, and she fell to her knees as he delivered a harsh blow to the back of her legs, drawing them up weakly to her chest.

Calista forced back the tears forming at the corner of her eyes, tensing as she silently readied herself.

Leather cut flesh over and over again, leaving a harsh trail of blood in its wake. She could hear him laughing maniacally as he whipped her repeatedly, chains clanking as she shot forward under the force of each blow, head inches from hitting the stone wall. Her worn body shook with the effort to keep herself upright.

She lost track of how long she stayed in that position. The hits began to blur together. Calista felt as though her back had been stripped of all its flesh and become numb.

Faintly, Calista heard metal screech as the door to her cell opened and closed, then she was encased in darkness as he finally left. The only light had been coming from a torch that burned outside her cell, which he took with him after locking the steel bars together.

Her arms were still bound to the wall, and she stayed in that position for what seemed like hours on end. She tried moving her legs, only to stop when excruciating pain shot throughout her body. Calista bit her lip, drawing more blood as she held in the cries of agony that threatened to escape.

Who knew what else he would do if he heard her?

Calista leaned forward, resting her head on the cold rock wall, panting heavily as blood slowly dripped from her back to the dirt floor until it finally stopped.

Dried, crusted blood scored her back in jarring criss-crosses, each a reminder for all of eternity, of what she did, and what she was supposed to be. A slave, meant to live and die for her master. She was anything he needed her to be: a bartender in a tavern, an assassin, a friend, or in this case, a girl who was sold to the most powerful man in all of Awa, a port city in Earth Tribe territory. Calista was meant to extract information about the lord's illegal human trafficking operation and report it back to her master. But instead, she chose to save Hani, ignoring the consequences that would inevitably follow her.

He was never supposed to know. Yang Kum-ji was never supposed to find out. But he had, and now she was paying the price.

Not that I regret it. I'll never regret it.

The girl barely moved her head, as metal creaked open, grating harshly against her ears.

"You can have her back." Yang Kum-ji spat, gesturing to the motionless beaten and bloody girl still kneeling on the floor, as he turned to the well-dressed noble behind him. "But I expect compensation for my trouble."

"Of course," A smooth voice cut through, and Calista's blood ran cold, "I do apologize for the inconvenience."

She hoped her ears betrayed her, that it wasn't him, but as she shifted to glance over her shoulder, she was met with emerald eyes of her master, filled with disappointment.

Yang Kum-ji grinned sadistically, the sight of it sending a chill down her spine. "I taught her a lesson, she should behave better for you now, Lord Soo-won."