The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 29: Friendship

Shin-ah rose to his feet, blocking Hak from reaching the vacant girl behind him.

"I'm not going to hurt her." He promised quietly, being sensitive to Seiryuu's agitation. It was stirring in him, too.

The blue dragon didn't budge.

"Shin-ah," Yona grabbed his arm to tug him away from the barely recognizable Calista. "He would never harm her."

The former general approached his sister cautiously, keeping the weapon at his side within her sight. He kept his grip loose, and his body language relaxed, the blade part of his glaive hovering just above the ground in stasis. 

If there was any other way to do this, he would, but this way was the most effective way to snap her out of it. And the fastest. 

"Calista."

There was no acknowledgement that she heard him and his jaw hardened. 

That was a mistake. He thought to himself as he watched her eyes hone in on the tiny movement for a split second.

"Calista, come back." Hak pleaded, internally begging her not to do this to him. He didn't want to fight her, but he would in order to keep her from hurting herself.

She raised her head to look in his direction, but her glassy eyes were unfocused.

It was more severe than last time.

He couldn't get through to her. 

Hak readied his spear in spite of Yoon's alarmed demeanor. Shin-ah clenched his fists at his sides and forced himself to not break out of Yona's hold on him. Kija had blinked his eyes open and was watching with rapt attention from the sidelines. He attempted to rise up and walk over to stop Hak, but it backfired when he crashed straight into a tree. 

Calista jumped to her feet at the sound, her breathing heavy and eyes filled with panic. Yoon ran over to shush Kija, but the latter pushed the younger boy behind him as Calista's head swiveled towards them, eyes narrowed. Her attention shot back on Hak as he relayed what he knew to the others in a low voice.

"Right now, her mind only knows how to do one thing: analyze and take me down. She doesn't recognize me, or any of you, except for possibly Yona." He moved his feet apart slightly as Calista began to circle him. Hak's arm zipped out across Yona to stop her from advancing towards the fragment of her friend. 

He stopped her with a harsh look. "We're not going to test that right now."

Yona moved back, but only slightly. "Our best bet is to try and talk her out of it. None of you know her combat style well enough to step in, and restraining her is not an option."

His tone left no room for argument. Yona's eyes widened, remembering what she had witnessed back at Hakuryuu's village when they had found her and Yoon. She raised her gaze and it locked on the said pretty boy's. 

They had to do something.

Everyone backed off uneasily, Shin-ah being the last to give in.

Hak called out to her again. "Calista."

Her normally clear and bright silver eyes were foggy with confusion and trepidation. She snarled at him openly, but he didn't react, keeping his facial features calm.

He watched as her eyes darted over his form, scanning him. She shook her head slightly, trying to break through the cloud surrounding her mind as it faintly registered the lack of aggression coming from the dark haired man in front of her.

"No matter what happens, stay back until I say so." Hak instructed firmly to the others.

They watched in horror as Calista bolted at him. Hak intercepted her flurry of attacks at once, but never retaliated.