The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 109: The Coming Storm

Twenty minutes later, the two of them were back at the campsite, their friends wide awake and discussing what the heck they could possibly do to remedy this bizarre turn of events.

Yoon was stirring a pot of porridge for lunch over the fire with Kija sitting beside him so the bugs didn't crawl all over his body.

Zeno was sitting cross legged opposite from him, the youngest not trusting him to get within a foot of the food without snagging small bits from underneath his nose. Jae-ha, strangely enough, managed to snag a seat beside Yona without Hak scaring him off. The Thunder Beast's body was slouched against a tree, but his cobalt eyes remained alert despite the exhaustion lines etched across his face.

As expected of the Princess' bodyguard who was used to staying up all night to keep watch.

Calista ran over to Yoon, bonking him on the head to let him know that they were back. He swatted her off, chastising her harshly for messing up his hair.

As soon as Shin-ah took a seat outside of the tent next to Kija, Zeno came crawling over, balancing an empty bowl on his head. Beaming with pride as he accomplished the difficult feat, his baby blue eyes crinkled up with happiness at the fond smile on the blue dragon's face as he gazed at the raven-haired girl still pestering the pretty boy.

Ditching Yoon so that he could turn his attention back to tending the food, Calista skipped over to her brother, pausing once she saw how tired he looked.

"Hey," She poked his cheek, quickly moving back before he could retaliate. "Everything okay?"

He opened his mouth to reply but got cut off by a huge yawn. Blinking his eyes wearily at her, he managed a nod before his head fell back against the trunk, lacking the strength to keep it upright.

Calista shot him a concerned glance that went unseen. Unhooking her cloak from around her shoulders, she carefully placed it over him. "Aish, you need to take care of yourself, you idiot..."

Scoffing lightly at her, he cracked open an eye but didn't say anything.

Her eyes narrowed at him, growing more worried that he wasn't teasing her. She was so caught up with assessing her brother's fatigued state that she hadn't realized the others and Kija had started talking about their current predicament.

He shook his head in disappointment, sinking back on his knees as Yoon began to distribute the porridge.

Cupping his bowl, he exclaimed incredulously, "Kan Soo-jin is doing something absolutely shameless. He's one of Kouka's pivotal five generals at that!!"

Jae-ha side-eyed him as he continued his rant.

"Inviting an enemy nation's army of ten thousand into our country and seeking help to overtake Hiryuu Castle on top of that..." Kija muttered in disbelief. "That is playing most foul, isn't it?"

Jae-ha sighed heavily, folding his arms over his chest in a closed off fashion. "The ones I feel sorry for are the soldiers who offered up their lives to defend Saika. They have no idea that their leader has joined forces with an enemy nation."

Yoon's mind was racing as he passed on portions of steaming hot food to the rest of them, coming to a stop in front of Calista.

The Fire Tribe's rebellion. The Sen Province's army invasion. At this rate, Kouka will give way... But what should we do? What can we even do?

A small frown set on the corner of Calista's mouth as she noticed the inner turmoil raging inside of him and she threw Yona a side glance, surprised to find the princess staring straight back at her.