The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 36: Shin-ah, Calista and Hani

Calista woke up to the sound of a very interesting conversation.

"My name's Hani."

Silence.

"What's yours?"

A faint rustling of the wind.

"....Shin-ah..."

"What do you like?"

No answer.

"Me, I like food a lot. But I haven't had anything to eat in a long time. Mainly scraps and things out of the garbage but one time I got sick so I try not to, but then I get real hungry and— " 

Calista noticed that Hani cut off her rambling when they both saw Shin-ah stand up. The little girl's eyes filled with tears, and she let out an ear-piercing shriek as she started bawling. Shin-ah took a step back, alarmed.

"You don't like me!!" Hani sobbed, water blurring her vision.

Shin-ah placed a gentle hand on her head, crouching low on the ground beside her, waiting until her sobs calmed down into sniffles. His trusty squirrel companion scurried over to the blonde girl, pushing her paws against her cheeks in an effort to cheer her up.

"I do." He said simply and Hani beamed up at him, sadness completely forgotten. Her laughter echoed in the air as Ao continued her adorable assault, switching to mash the top of her head against Hani's cheek.

Calista chuckled, and the sound caught the attention of the little girl and blue dragon. She didn't move away from her spot as Hani ran over to her.

"Careful, little one." Calista said softly, wincing as she accidentally jolted her arms. Rest had done her good, but it only had been a day. They had just started healing. "Shin-ah, where are the others?"

He pointed in the direction of the town, and she let out an 'ahhh'. Yoon must've wanted to get what he wasn't able to last time. The satchel by her feet was significantly more deflated than yesterday, but if Yoon had it, then it was no cause for concern. She told him he could use the money to buy whatever the group needed, and she didn't pick up any anomalies last night into the morning that could have indicated a third party trying to steal them.

Hani looked so guilty that Calista didn't have the heart to even consider being upset with her. Shin-ah stepped up behind the young girl, squatting down next to her. His fingers brushed over her hands in a silent question, and she smiled softly at him in assurance.

A beat later they were interrupted, as Hani eagerly tried to pull Shin-ah towards the direction of the rushing river, wanting to play in the water. 

"Be careful, the both of you." She said in parting after convincing Shin-ah that she would be fine by herself. "And come back before you get too cold, I don't want you two to get sick."

While they were gone, she decided she didn't want to sit around and wait for them to come back. 

Hmm... some training might be good...

Standing up proved to be quite a difficult feat to accomplish, but once she did it, she had never felt prouder of herself. Today, she wanted to test her new limits.

Yesterday had proven the extent of how far she had fallen behind on her training. It normally wouldn't be a problem to pick up where she left off, but she had never been in a position where she injured her hands this bad.

So, she chose to exercise her legs extensively. She alternated between running a few laps and doing squats, and by the end of it, her thighs were burning. But she felt much better than she did before when she was just lying around.