The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 65: Hindsight

They walked back to the others side by side. Now that he wasn't chasing after her, they were able to get back at a pace that didn't send the injured blue dragon reeling with pain. Yoon was the first one on his feet the instant he spotted them.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" He thundered, absolutely livid.

Calista ran to hide behind Shin-ah, poking her head out and cringing once she saw the fury on his face. Laughing sheepishly, she held a hand up in apology, but that did absolutely nothing to settle him.

Shin-ah smiled down at the girl at his side, finding it oddly comforting to have her there. He could get used to that.

The last they had seen of her was when she was sprinting out of the memorial being held for that boy, and that was hours ago. 

He and Yona had come back with Hak only to find that Kija and Jae-ha were trying to restrain a very weak, mortally wounded, blue dragon. 

He was stunned to find him up and moving, sure that he was going to be out of commission for at least the rest of the day. Once they finally got Shin-ah to calm down enough, all it took was for him to briefly describe the distress he had seen and that Calista was injuring herself for them to let him go after her.

Hak wanted to go get her himself, and so did Yona, but Yoon was worried that they would do more harm than help.

Thankfully, they had both returned without much of a scratch in addition to their other ones, but that didn't mean they were off the hook. 

She grinned as he was taken away by an infuriated pretty boy to get dressed and change his wound dressing when she was approached by the others.

Yona gave her a hug which she returned. "I'm so sorry."

Calista's throat closed up. "Thank you..."

"Come eat, Calista." Hak instructed from his seat by the fire, next to Jae-ha. "There's plenty for everyone."

She sat down beside him, noting how awkwardly quiet it was. Jae-ha and Kija were unusually somber and Zeno was casually munching on his food without much fanfare. The only hint that she knew he was concerned was the slight darkening of his eyes as they landed on her, freshly-cleaned-still-stained-with-scarlet, hands.

Clearing her throat, she picked up a kabob with bird meat on it, wincing as it made contact with the open cuts. "I guess I should probably explain what happened."

"You don't have to." Yona reassured softly, sensitive to what she went through. She didn't want to make her talk about it.

Calista paused, thinking about it deeply. Her time with Shin-ah had made a lot of things appear more clearly, and while she generally waited a day to process things like this, she knew she could skip it this time because of her conversation with him.

He helped her see it from different sides and he didn't blame her for what happened, so maybe they wouldn't either.

She felt brave enough to take that risk thanks to him.

Taking a shaky breath, she launched into a detailed account of what occurred after they left and explained everything. How she left to pick some fruit for the kids, only to find out that actual bandits were threatening the village. Trying to leave out most of the gruesome details, she sped through the encounter quickly and finished with the disheartened reality that even though she tried, she didn't make it in time.

A weighted silence fell over the group as they all grieved for the fallen child.

Calista still felt it more than anyone else, having experienced the loss first-hand.