The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 20: The Gang's Antics

Never mind, it made her head hurt, trying to decode all of it now. 

"Where?" The genius pretty boy asked a little louder. 

"Let's see... There's something dark and shady in that direction." Kija pointed up ahead.

"This location sounds rather sketchy." Yoon said bluntly and Calista giggled.

Kija confidently took the lead. "I'm not scared. Everyone, follow me." 

"I'M SCARED! I'M AFRAID TO FOLLOW A GUY WHO'S NEVER SET FOOT OUTSIDE HIS VILLAGE UNTIL NOW!!" Yoon irritably shouted after him.

Kija huffed. "I have been outside of the village and I know enough about the outside world. My clan has jumped from place to place and has gathered information about the country."

Then, he let out a panicked shout as he fell down. The ditch he fell into was filled with bugs and the only reason why Calista knew was because of his fearful shrieks that followed. Still, she could help but empathize with him a little. After all, she had her own terrors and they could be very much seen as just as ridiculous. 

Kija accepted her helping hand and clambered out, albeit ungracefully, all the while spewing denial at Hak who was watching this unfold, highly amused.

"The great dragon deity is weaker than a bug." He declared with a blank face.

Kija furiously defended himself, but it went in one ear and out the other.

Hak stared forward, making him even more furious. "Well, I don't care. It's a dusty power that's become unreliable." 

They started to get in each other's faces again, when Calista stiffened in alarm, immediately sprinting past them and climbing up a tree.

The Thunder Beast and Hakuryuu noticed it a beat later.

"Hak...?" Yona piped up, noticing the icy shift in the atmosphere as they moved defensively in front of her and Yoon.

"Hide, Princess." Hak commanded. "You too, Bat-Ears." Knowing full well that she could hear him.

He wasn't going to take a chance on her life this time. Not when he could prevent it where he failed yesterday.

Calista turned slitted eyes on him, but he didn't budge. Neither does she, as she stubbornly holds his eye contact through the treetops.

"Hak, can I use your arrows?" Yona asks casually.

"No, your instructor forbids it. Go hide." Hak tossed over his shoulder, breaking his gaze with Calista halfheartedly. The people rapidly speeding towards them were coming closer, and he would give away her position if he continued to try to persuade her.

Not that he could successfully most of the time. She's always been impossibly stubborn. 

Yona rushes to Yoon who takes her hand and leads them behind some bushes. 

Calista wanted to laugh as she saw Yona take the Hak's arrows anyway, but she couldn't afford to at the moment. She unwrapped her makeshift mask from her wrist, securing it over her face and runs out towards the enemy swiftly. 

Kija's head spun at the turn of events and the influx of new information that he just was exposed to, but he hid it well. He didn't expect the princess to be able to fight, he thought that she lived a luxurious lifestyle, one where she didn't need to protect herself.

Anyways, wasn't that why she had that rude man as a bodyguard?

And Calista, she exuded an indifferent air, but something about her seemed dangerous. Almost lethal.