The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 107: Revelation

Yona cried out in despair once she saw her friend's state, dropping her bow and rushing over to her as Jae-ha placed her gently on the ground before the others burst through the treeline sheltering the cliffs, out of breath.

Kija had sustained minor wounds and Hak was bleeding from somewhere they couldn't make out. Shin-ah's cheek was scratched and his hands were bloody from where he tried to stop the bleeding. Zeno was the only one who was completely unharmed.

The air up here was fresh, but the tormented atmosphere soured it.

They all rushed towards their wounded comrade but were shooed away by Yoon as he rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

Shin-ah desperately fought against Jae-ha as he restrained him from getting to her. He struggled vigorously, stretching out his hand towards her as he was led away from the scene.

Gritting his teeth, Jae-ha strengthened his resolve and convinced himself that what he was doing was right.

He couldn't be around her right now, she needed immediate medical attention. And while he was sure that the blue dragon meant well, he would only get in the way.

"Come on Shin-ah, Yoon needs water." Jae-ha guided him, sensitive to his unstable state of mind and the younger finally yielded to his direction.

Yoon started to patch Calista up silently once Hak had rearranged her more comfortably, tears rolling down his cheeks and he turned away from the others, not wanting them to see.

And she didn't have the strength to console him.

Instead, her head lolled back against the tree trunk, eyes blinking at him feebly. Her uninjured hand lifted to wipe away the tears falling down his face and he let out a choked sob, reaching out and squeezing it tightly.

"You stupid fighter..."

Swallowing thickly, she cracked a weak smile. "Sorry, Yoon. Didn't mean to."

Rummaging through his medical kit, he pulled out the supplies he needed to make a sling for her arm while it healed. It wasn't broken, but he was sure it would help ease the pain during the process.

She no longer could feel her arm and when she tried to curl her hand into a fist, it did not move. Pushing down her panic, she chuckled faintly.

"It can't be that bad, right?"

He didn't smack her like he normally would've done, having zero desire to add to her pain. Instead, he turned his full attention to dressing her wound, first extracting the arrow and then cleaning the area with the fresh water Shin-ah had brought back from the river. He muttered apologies under his breath as she flinched away from the harsh sting.

She cried out as he stitched together the gaping wound, wildly thrashing in place.

If she moved too much, it would mess it up and then he would have to do it again. So instead, she buckled down and gritted her teeth through the agony, breaths coming out in short pants.

As he rolled the soft gauze generously around her arm to bandage it, she coughed a couple of times, throat dry from swallowing part of her screams.

"When you first said you were going to sneak behind them, I wasn't expecting it to be like that." Yoon's low voice wobbled dangerously, betraying his true feelings.

He was expecting her to be out of harm's way. Out of everyone there, she was supposed to be the last one to get hurt.

She laughed but it turned into a moan of pain and she punched the ground as pain took over.