The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 89: Iza Seeds

Yoon roamed off on his own, looking around at the village that surrounded him.

He knew that this place was part of Kouka's land and part of the Fire Tribe in the past. The housing kind of reminded him of it. The climate here was even harsher than back home, but the villagers had provisions saved up and livestock roaming around.

Things were the best, but they certainly were a lot better than the villages in the Fire Tribe.

Kneeling down, he felt the soil, wondering if it was different but it didn't feel like it. He found a small pond shortly after, and was impressed that they were able to store it in a place as barren as this.

His eyes widened as he spotted a large basket in the corner of a nearby hut, sprinting over to it eagerly.

Calista jumped as she heard someone yell, "Thief!!", in the distance and without a second thought, she zipped over to the source of the sound. She rounded the corner just in time to see Yoon getting confronted by an elderly man.

"Did you come to steal our iza seeds?!?!" He shouted angrily at him, and in a flash, she was in between them, tugging Yoon behind her.

His eyes flew open as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and his jaw dropped in shock.

The old man's eyes narrowed at her. "Who are you?! Are you with this thief?!"

She suppressed the instinctive urge to reach for her knives, but didn't answer him. Her silver eyes remained guarded and she cocked her head to the side, studying him closely. 

Yoon shot out from behind her, despite her growl of protest not to move and he waved his hands desperately. "No!! You're mistaken!! We're not thieves!!"

He hastily explained how they were traveling entertainers, brought into the village by Aro for the festival. The elder's eyes lit up, and his suspicions cleared the tiniest bit.

"Are you a dancer?"

Calista and Yoon exchanged a puzzled glance and he repeated his question, with a little more of an edge that caused the boy to stutter out a yes.

"I see..." The old man mused idly. "It can't be helped if you're a dancer."

Her brow furrowed as her confusion grew and she subtly shrugged her shoulders, catching Yoon's look of helplessness.

"Hey, you said those were iza seeds, right?" He questioned the old man. "They look like millet, but what kind of crop is it?"

The elder's head whipped towards him with a ferocity that had Calista flinching, her eyes guarded. "What? You don't know what iza is? Where are you from?"

She drew closer to Yoon's side as he flung the questions one after another, without giving them a chance to answer him. Jabbing his ribs secretly, her eyes urged him to follow her lead.

Yoon played along without missing a beat. "Well, all I do is dance, so I don't know."

"... I see. It can't be helped if you're a dancer."

She raised an eyebrow at his words. He had the same three phrases he used over and over again. But then after a pause, the old man launched into a detailed explanation that had her catching the pretty boy's gaze in shock.

"When this land went from Kouka's land to the Kai Empire's land, we received this crop from the North. You crush the seeds to turn them into powder. If you mix water and milk with it, you can make dumplings, grill them and then eat them."

Yoon's eyes held awe as he helped the old man move the large basket holding the precious seeds outside. "Are the things you receive from the North strong against cold and parched conditions, too?"