[Edited 26/08/2020]
~Tsukiko's POV~
We had been walking through the forest for a little while, the castle now far behind us. The wound on my arm had miraculously stopped bleeding, and was no longer throbbing. We hadn't been able to treat it though, as we have left only with the clothes we wore that day and the cloaks Min-soo had given us.
Everything was going pretty smoothly, we were making good distance between us and the castle in quite little time, but Yona-nee did not seem to be handling everything so well. Her legs gave out on her, and she fell to the floor.
"....Princess....Princess Yona. Do you need to take a short break?" Hak asked kneeling next to her. She didn't answer, the only thing we could hear from her was her heavy breathing, so we decided to stop anyway. I sighed in relief, glad to sit down and have the pressure off of my poor feet.
"Did Min-soo..die?" Yona-nee whispered, slumping against the tree she had been set against by Hak. Her words hurt, I know she did not mean it, she doesn't know what's happening really, but it still hurt nonetheless.
"I wonder..will I die too? Will Soo-won..kill you too?" She continued. I shouldn't be sad she did not include me there, she's upset, still in her daze. She doesn't know any better right now.
"I'll never hand my life over to that asshole." Hak replied, a sad look in his eyes.
"Don't die Hak, because if you die, I won't forgive you." Yona-nee ordered while falling asleep.
"I won't forgive you either Hak. Although I know you won't die." I said looking over at him and smiling. But he was too focused on Yona-nee to hear me. His eyes held such a soft look in them, he must really love her, whether he knows it himself or not.
"It's still hard to believe, you left the Princess all alone, you good for nothing King." He spoke to my deceased Father. My eyes widened, and I froze in place.
"But she's not alone Hak...I'm still here. Her little sister. You always know I'm here, please don't forget me too." I pleaded, looking over to the black haired male, my eyes starting to fill with tears.
"Hey, your Majesty, what should I do..?" Hak spoke to himself. He seemed to go into a daze as he sat there staring at Yona-nee, not acknowledging me at all.
"I'm hurting too. My Father was killed too. I know you were both betrayed by Soo-Won, and you're upset beyond belief. But I've lost things too tonight. I'm here. Am I not deserving enough for your comfort? Would you even notice if I was gone?" I whispered to myself as I slowly slipped into sleep.
~Tsukiko's dream~
I was in a dark room all by myself, looking around there didn't seem to be anything here. Just me and a dark space. I couldn't help it when my body began to tremble, I hate being alone in the dark.
'Yona-nee, Hak, someone please help.' I pleaded loudly, when suddenly I was blinded by a bright light. I covered my eyes, waiting for it to go away, and when it finally had my Father was stood there.
"Father!" I cried happily, glad that someone was finally with me, but he didn't hear me.
"Father! I'm here! Father!" I cried out, hoping that maybe if I shouted louder it would catch his attention, however it did not.
"Don't leave me please..." I finally trailed off and sank down to my knees and sobbed. The room was filled with light again and then there stood Yona-nee and Hak. They were smiling at each other and laughing.
"Yona-nee!" Nothing. No response at all.
"Hak!" Again no reply.
"Please! I'm here!" I pleaded again. But just like Father they got further and further away from me and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't get there attention. I'm invisible. No one will see me. I cried louder and louder. Sobbing harder. I screamed loudly.
"Why?! Why won't people see me?! Why is it always Yona-nee?!" I shouted loudly, asking anyone to answer me.
"She's the favourite." My eyes widened and my head snapped towards the voice. It was Father.
"She's the oldest, she'll get the throne, therefore she over shines you. You're just her shadow." Father spoke calmly, holding his hands behind his back, as he always did.
"That's not true! It can't be true! Father please!" I pleaded again. But he disappeared and was replaced by Min-soo.
"Min-soo!!" I shouted smiling softly, happy to see him. Although he didn't smile back at me like he usually does.
"Princess Tsukiko, you can never be like Princess Yona. She's far prettier." He said, his voice was soft as he spoke fondly of Yona-nee.
"I don't want to be like Yona-nee! What's going on Min-Soo?!"
"I did everything to get close to Princess Yona." He smiled almost dreamily. I just shook my head in disbelief, the smile now fully gone from my face. Next it was Hak that appeared.
"You're too quiet. That's not appealing to anyone." He smirked, adding more insult to injury.
"Not you too Hak." I pleaded.
"I always preferred Princess Yona." He stated bluntly. He disappeared and the room became black again.
"She's the favourite."
"She's prettier."
"She's more confident."
"You're just her shadow."
"You can't be like her." They chanted over and over again.
"Stop it please..." I pleaded quietly, having lost any will to fight back. Everything they said is true.
~Back to the real world~
I woke up and looked over to Yona-nee and Hak, he was wiping away her tears while she slept. Even in her sleep she's pretty. I'll never be like her. Slowly, I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. As tears rolled down my cheeks I buried my head in my arms and sobbed quietly.
'I wonder if anyone will ever think of me more than my sister.' I thought, feeling my chest start to hurt as it became difficult to breathe. I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when there was suddenly a weight on my head. I looked up to see Hak staring down at me in concern.
'Don't pretend you care Hak, you forgot about me this whole time.' I thought. My tears had stopped falling down my pale face, but I still looked away from him and buried my head in my knees again.
"Tsukiko, what's wrong?" Hak asked, taking is hand away from my head and kneeling in front of me. I just kept quiet.
"Is it your Father?" He pried further, but I only shook my head in reply.
"You forgot about me...didn't you Hak?" I whispered, finally decided to speak, my sudden speaking, and answer caught him off guard.
"Of course not. How could you think that?" He replied, his voice laced with disbelief. I just scoffed.
"Earlier you said that Father left Yona-nee by herself..." My small voice spoke, and I looked up, meeting his concerned gaze. My sad purple eyes met his as they widened in realization.
"And when I said I was still here, you did not reply.." I added pulling myself into a tighter ball.
"Is it because Yona-nee is better?" I carried on, seeing as he was not replying.
"She's prettier, thinner, more confident. Am I not good enough?" I listed off quietly. My head was lifted and I was made to look into Hak's dark blue eyes.
"None of that is true, Tsukiko." He said softly, I could hear the guilt that he held, whether it for our loss or what I had been made to think.
"Then why do people forget me as soon as Yona-nee is involved?!"" I shouted, angry tears falling down my face again. He froze, not having heard me shout before, he was too much in shock to know how to answer.
"It's true. I'm just Yona-nee's shadow. No one would even notice if I disappeared, would they?!" I sobbed out, my breaths becoming ragged. Hak quickly pulled me into a tight hug.
"Don't say things like that, Tsukiko. I would definitely notice. You know I would." He answered softly stroking my hair. I did not reply, just let myself relish in the feeling of comfort.
"I have to go and get some water, stay here okay?" He ordered. I nodded and curled back up into my ball, but made sure to keep my eyes on Yona-nee, in case she woke up. Which did not take long, as she did so a couple minutes after Hak had left.
"Hak went to grab some water, Yona-nee." I spoke quietly, noticing that she had started to look around frantically, searching for him I had assumed. She didn't listen however, just kept gazing around the open field, until Hak came back with the water and she started crying again.
"Yona-nee..." I called her name softly as we all stood to our feet. This time, my voice was loud enough that she was able to pick up on it, and her head snapped in my direction.
"Tsukiko." She had quickly shuffled over to me and brought me into a tight hug, which I could not help but to return.
"It's okay Yona-nee. I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be here." I comforted her quietly. She smiled slightly and we began to walk through the forest again, this time I held Yona-nee's hand.
~Time skip to wherever they are at the beginning of chapter 5~
After walking for what felt like forever, we had stopped to rest. We sat around a fire, Hak was sitting on a log, Yona-nee was sitting on a rock and I was sitting on the floor next to her, leaning against her side.
"Aren't you going to eat, Princess?" Hak asked her as he tried to pass her a cooked fish. I had finished my serving and was relaxing a bit. She didn't answer though, as usual, just continued to stare ahead of her, in a daze.
"If you don't want fish, would you prefer bird instead?" Again nothing but silence.
"Yona-nee, you need to eat something." I spoke quietly looking up at her, pleading for her to keep healthy.
"Tsukiko is right. You need to eat something, even if it's just a little. The next mountain pass will be more dangerous. I don't know if I'll be able to find food. You really should have some fish now." Hak explained, but she just stared of into space, like there is something there, keeping her in a trance.
"Hak, I'll take her to the pond to clean up a bit." I said standing up and grabbing Yona-nee's hand gently. He only nodded in reply and I led us towards the pond. Once we were both undressed and in the pond I began to wash the dry blood from my wound. As it got cleaner I began to see that the cut went from my shoulder to just above my elbow, but somehow it was already scabbed over. I stood staring at it, wondering how it could've healed so quickly, when I was snapped out of my daze by Yona-nee screaming loudly. I looked over to see that she was sat on the side, staring at the leeches on her legs. Hak came rushing over to her, and began to reove the leeches from her legs. When he was done he swiftly made his exit. Stepping out of the pond myself, I did my best to dry my body and threw my clothes back on. I helped Yona-nee do the same, and began dragging her back over to Hak.
"Princess Yona, Tsukiko, Let's move quickly. We need to cover a lot of ground before the sun sets." He explained. I nodded my head and grabbed Yona-nee's hand, pulling her along as I followed Hak.
~Time skip again~
"We'll rest here for tonight." Hak said, I smiled and sat on the floor huffing slightly. Yona-nee sat down also, but seemed to only stare at the bugs crawling around.
"Don't worry. The insects are harmless. The leeches before were thrown back into the pond." Hak explained, I nodded my head in agreement, but Yona-nee was too busy trying to find something that she didn't notice us say anything.
"What's wrong? Did you lose something?" Hak asked, his face is blank. She shook her head in reply and jumped to her feet, about to walk off, only for Hak to grab her arm, stopping her from going anywhere. After staring at her for a few moments, he sighed and let her go, watching as she walked away.
"Hak, I'll follow her." I offered smiling. He nodded and I got up, quickly chasing after her. I found her not too far in the forest, staring at a snake. I quickly rushed over and stepped in front of her, getting bitten instead of her. I felt my leg wanting to give underneath me, and then I realised that we were in a nest of poisonous snakes.
This was a very dangerous situation that we were both in, I'm not sure what may happen if I ma to be bit again, and not wanting to find out, I quickly grabbed Yona-nee's arm and sprinted the best I could away from the nest.
"HAK!!" I called out as we came into the field that we had decided to rest in. He stood to his feet quickly, seeing our rushing forms and came to stand in front of us, placing one of his hands on each of our shoulders.
"Was this what you were looking for?" He asked, pulling out a delicate looking box from his robe. Yona-nee sad nothing to reply, only took the ornament into her trembling hands.
"I won't forgive Soo-won. But aside from that, I want you to live." Hak explained. I nodded my head and went to walk away, but the action only made me dizzy and my legs suddenly gave out on me.
"Tsukiko!!" I heard and Yona-nee shout, my vision was blurred, and I was laying in Hak's arms, him having managed to catch me before I hit the ground, I assume.
"Tsukiko! What's wrong?!" Hak shouted in concern. His voice sounded very concerned, but it also sounded kind of far away.
"S-Snake...bi-bite.." I stuttered out, I coughed loudly, sweat dripping down my face.
"You idiot! Why didn't you tell me?! They were poisonous!" He shouted at me.
"I kn-know, but I-I didn't want to wo-worry you." I whispered. He sighed and put my head in Yona-nee's lap, I smiled at her weakly, but she just went back into a daze. I sighed and turned to look at Hak, who was trying to treat the bite with the little we had, when I felt a weight on my head. Yona-nee was still in her daze, but she started playing with my hair, it soothed me and I slowly fell asleep.
~Morning~
I awoke the next morning to Yona-nee and Hak talking. I rubbed my eyes as I slowly sat up. My leg no longer burned, and it wasn't in pain. Which is weird, it's like my arm wound all over again. It healed over night. Too quickly for it to be normal.
"Well, now that we're all awake shall we get going?" Hak's voice asked.
"Uh..um..Hak?" - Yona
"Yes?" - Hak
"Why..did we go to the mountains? Any village below would have food and medicine." -Yona
"If we went to a village someone might find us." I answered having fully woken up now.
"Yes it's like what Tsukiko said, Some people are dangerous. Even if the villagers didn't know us, or the castle soldiers didn't know where we were, Soo-won could have sent out portraits of us." Hak explained in more detail.
"Then where are we going?" Yona-nee asked.
"I'm afraid now that the only place we can seek refuge, is the Wind Tribe's Capital, Fuuga." Hak answered, however Yona-nee looked confused. I smiled and cheered.
"Hak's hometown!!/My hometown." Me and Hak answered at the same time.
Disclaimer: I do not own Akatsuki no Yona, Mizuho Kusunagi does.
[Word count: 2705]