A Peaceful Silence (Akatsuki no Yona Shinah X OC)

The Battle

As they emerged, they heard the sounds of battle.

"It's started," Yun mumbled to himself. Ezra and Yona nodded in agreement.

They crept through the ship, following Yuri's lead. Suddenly, they heard voices up ahead.

Ezra's eyes widened as she listened to their conversation. "They hired mercenaries to crush the pirates tonight?" she whispered.

Yona's eyes were grim. "We need to draw them away."

Yun was already on it. He planted himself next to a pillar, where he was in plain sight. He gave a cheeky wave when the guards spotted him.

"A woman escaped!" one of them shouted. They thundered forward.

Ezra handed her knife to Yona before taking one of the shuriken from her sash. As the guards neared their position, she and Yona cut the cords attaching some barrels to the wall at the exact moment the guards neared Yun. Yun jumped out of the way as the guards were slammed by the barrels. One was knocked unconscious immediately while the other groaned in pain. Ezra and Yona grinned in triumph as Yona handed Ezra's knife back to her.

"Time to go to sleep," Yun said, readying his blowdart. Suddenly the ship tilted, and he lost his balance.

The guard took this opportunity to leap to his feet. He darted past Yun and grabbed Yuri, holding a sword to her neck. "Don't move!" he shouted.

"Yuri!" Yona cried.

Crap! Ezra hissed to herself. With Yuri held hostage, even her combat abilities wouldn't be helpful.

"Aren't we your precious goods?" Yun tried. "You wouldn't kill us."

"You're defective products trying to escape!" the guard yelled. His grip on his sword tightened. "I'll kill this one as an example, so the citizens of Awa will never rise against us again!" The fear was palpable in Yuri's hazel eyes.

We need to get her out of here, Ezra thought desperately. Her fingers twitched towards the shuriken she'd hidden in her sash, but with the way the ship was swaying, it was very possible she might hit Yuri rather than the guard.

"Stop this!" Yona screamed. "Yuri had nothing to do with this!"

Ezra clenched her fists tightly, rage screaming in every inch of her body. If she made a move, Yuri's throat would be cut.

Suddenly, Yun did something unexpected. With a smirk, he reached into the top of his kimono and pulled out the fabric he'd used to stuff his chest with. The guard's eyes went wide.

"I'm actually a pirate," Yun told him, his voice dropping several octaves to its normal boyish pitch. "I threatened them into helping me. They have nothing to do with this, so let them go."

"A man?" The guard who'd been previously knocked unconscious had come to.

Shit, Ezra thought. Now there are two of them to deal with. If only he would release Yuri...

"Damn you!" the second guard yelled, heaving himself to his feet and punching Yun squarely in the jaw. Ezra's legs locked. She couldn't go to him, or Yuri would be killed.

The guard kneed Yun in the stomach before slamming a vicious elbow into his face. While Yun was doubled over in pain, the man brought both hands up and slammed them down on the back of his neck. With a cry of pain, Yun fell.

The guard stalked forward, ready to finish him off.

Now!

Ezra had been noting the patterns in the swaying of the ship. In a moment when the boat was still, she ripped two shuriken out of her sash. She hurled the first one at Yun's attacker before whirling and snapping the second in the direction of the guard holding Yuri. It hit his hand, causing him to drop his sword with a cry of pain. In the blink of an eye, they both staggered back.

"Yun!" she cried. Yun glanced up, but he was too dazed to grab for his blowdarts.

"Tch." Ezra reached under her kimono to grab her knife. She slammed the hilt into the first guard's temple, and then the second. They fell to the ground, unconscious. "Not killing them is such a pain." She stood up straight, blowing a stray strand of hair that had managed to escape its braid out of her eyes. "You know, fighting is actually a lot easier when my hair isn't constantly in my face. Remind me to let you do my hair more often, Rina."

Yona grinned with relief. "Glad you like it."

Ezra strode to Yun's side and offered him a hand up. "Are you alright?"

He coughed. "I'll be fine. Thanks."

Ezra grinned. "Don't worry about it. Let's go get that firework set off."

Yuri's eyes were wide as she stared at them. "Who are you guys?" she asked, her mouth agape.

Ezra rolled her eyes, gathering the shuriken she'd thrown. Hak would be angry at her if she made him buy more. "Doesn't matter. We need to get above deck."

"Right. This way!" Yuri called, heading up a ladder. Yun, Yona, and Ezra followed behind.

The minute they set foot above deck, they were spotted. Ezra grit her teeth, gripping her knife in one hand. "Go!" she shouted. "Set it off! I'll hold them!"

Several men were heading their way, shouting battle cries. Yona's eyes were tortured as Yun led her off to find fire to light the firework. "Ez!" Yona shouted. "Be careful!"

Ezra grinned ferally. "Just take care of the firework. I've got this." In all honesty, she was panicking internally.

How am I gonna hold all these off with only a knife? Ezra thought desperately. With no time to think, she yelled wordlessly, charging to meet them.

She ducked and whirled through a storm of blades, her own knife glinting in the moonlight. She kicked a man who tried to sneak past her only to get punched in the face by another. She snarled and whipped her knife around, slashing a shallow cut in her attacker's chest.

She grinned in satisfaction when she heard the sound of the firework going off.

"They launched some kind of signal!" one of the guards shouted.

The men who remained standing in front of Ezra growled and converged on her. She whirled and ducked, swinging her knife and kicking out at her attackers, but she was slowing considerably. Not to mention that they had swords, whereas she was only armed with a small knife.

One of the men swung his sword in a large arc. Ezra parried it away with her knife before he got in a lucky kick to her gut, and she felt the breath leave her lungs as she grunted in pain. She fell backwards to the floor, hitting her head against the ship's wooden deck. Stars flashed before her eyes.

She didn't know how the others were faring; she was sure some of the men had managed to get past her. But at least they'd set off the firework.

Her vision cleared just in time to see a blade swinging down towards her face. She hurriedly rolled away, and the sword buried itself in the deck where her head had been just seconds ago. As she got to her hands and knees, she saw something that made her blood run cold.