Calls You Home [Akatsuki no Yona ~ Shin-Ah]

Chapter 25

"What are you doing?"

Lien heard Jae-Ha but she didn't look at him or answer, mainly because she would lose control over the pair of old cracked tea cups that were precariously balanced on her nose, one on top of the other. Beside her, a group of village children were watching the cups, probably waiting for them to tumble.

Their group had been slowly traveling through the Fire Tribe lands and attempting to bring some relief to the small towns and villages in the impoverished area. Hak, Kija, and Zeno had split off to go to Shuu Village while Shin-Ah and Yona had stayed back at the last town. Jae-Ha had offered to take Lien along with him to Katan so she could help, and since she was feeling slightly stir-crazy, she had jumped at the chance. Jae-Ha's presence was more precautionary than anything, but the villagers seem to like having both of them around.

Lien and Jae-Ha were watching over Katan, or rather, Jae-Ha was guarding the village while Lien did what she could for the townspeople. She had spent the morning helping Jae-Ha and some of the kids haul water then she had started brewing a thin soup that Yoon had sent while Jae-Ha repaired a roof.

She taught the kids a few rhymes while the soup cooked, and once they got bored with that, she balanced things the children brought her. Honestly, her little brother Han-jae was much better when it came to balancing acts, but she had a lot of practice.

Lien plucked the cups off her nose after a few more moments and looked over at the green dragon. "We're waiting for the soup to finish," she said, glancing toward the pot. Neither she nor Jae-Ha would be eating since it was for the villagers, but it did smell really good. Yoon had packed all of the ingredients and given her very specific instructions that she had followed the best she could. The two of them would eat later that night once they made it back to the others. It was just part of the job when you were one of the Happy, Hungry Bunch.

"So you decided to start balancing cups to pass the time?" Jae-Ha asked, amused.

"Maybe," Lien said with a grin.

"I can do it, too," one of the kids exclaimed. He took one of the tea cups from Lien's hands and put it on top of his head. He took a step forward, and it nearly toppled off onto the ground. Jae-Ha reached out and grabbed it before it could fall, and he passed it back to Lien.

"I think you might need some more practice," the green dragon said to the boy.

Lien stepped over to the cooking pot and bent down to stir the soup. Despite the good smell wafting from the pot, it was thin and wouldn't provide much nutrition, but it was better than nothing. At least their bellies would feel full for a little while.

She ladled a tiny bit out into one of the chipped cups and blew on the liquid, cooling it down. She knew if she just handed it to the little girl next to her, the kid would gulp it down and scorch her mouth. When it was cool enough, Lien held it out to the girl. "Can you tell me how this tastes?"

The girl snatched it out of her hands and downed it in a second. She smacked her cracked lips and shoved the cup back into Lien's hand. "More, more!"

"I guess it tastes all right," Jae-Ha said with a smirk.

Even with a whole pot on the fire, there wasn't enough soup for everyone in the village to have a full portion. But they were all able to have a little bit. Lien saw some of the adults give their portions to the children, and her heart wrenched. She had gone hungry a few times when things were tight with their caravan, but she had never starved.

Even now, when food was scarce and their group was trying to give most of their supplies away, she wasn't really starving. Just really hungry. She had a feeling that the guys were making sure that she and Yona received larger portions, which was silly seeing how they probably used more energy than her and Yona.