"Who are you?"
Yona's hood covered her hair and most of her face as she placed a hand on her hip, glaring at the villagers with contempt in her violet eyes. Ezra stood on her right, nimbly twirling a shuriken in one hand and grasping a dagger in the other. Next to Ezra were Kija and Jaeha. Kija showed off his enlarged dragon claw with a terrifying expression on his handsome face while Jaeha smirked in triumph. On Yona's left, Hak wore a straw hat that covered most of his face (but left his haughty grin visible). Beside him stood Shinah, stiffly gripping the handle of his sheathed sword, and Zeno, who sat waving at the villagers with a large, goofy smile on his face. Behind the group, Yun glared at his companions with all his might, wondering how, exactly, they'd become a bunch of bandits.
"We are the fierce Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch!" Yona announced loudly. Ezra struggled not to roll her eyes at the name. "From now on, all the villages in this area are a part of our territory! If you don't want to die, you'll do as we say!"
Confused murmurs swept through the gathered villagers as Ezra suppressed an amused grin, wondering if Yona was enjoying her role a little too much.
"Bring out every child in this village!" Yona shouted.
"What do you want with our children?" one of the women gasped, hugging her son to her chest.
Yona strode up to her, her violet eyes dark. "Here's some candy! We'll get rid of anyone who refuses it!"
With wide eyes filled with confusion, the woman slowly took the offered candy and backed away from the short, red-haired girl.
Yona tossed a bag of money onto the ground in front of an elderly man.
He stared at the object. "A-are these the taxes the officers took...?"
Yona glared at him. "If you don't want to get hurt," she threatened, "you'll put it away in a chest!"
Ezra had trouble containing her chuckles at the bewilderment on the villagers' faces. After they were done "pillaging" the village, Ezra and Yona gathered the others on the outskirts of town.
"Which village will we go to next?" Yona asked Yun.
"The officers are supposed to go to Shuu Village, too," the strawberry blonde answered.
"Is that far?" Hak asked.
Ezra put a hand to her chin in thought. "A little."
"What should we do?" Yun wondered. "Officers might return to Katan Village, too." Katan Village was the one they'd defended yesterday and the place they'd started their lives as bandits.
Ezra grinned to herself. It had been the beginning of something wonderful. Ezra was enjoying being a bandit much more than she probably should.
"I can go guard Katan Village," Jaeha offered.
"That'd be a big help," Yun sighed with relief. He turned to Yona. "Yona, you should wait here."
Yona glanced up from playing with Ao. "Huh?"
"The next village is far," Yun told her. "And we don't know if officers will come. The Thunder Beast and Kija will be enough of a fighting force to send there."
"Zeno will stay with the miss!" Zeno announced.
Kija grabbed the Ouryuu's shoulder in a vice grip. "You think you can run around in the middle of a battle? You are coming with me. I will show you how to fight like one of the dragons."
"I'll stay with Yona," Ezra offered.
Yun glanced at Shinah. "You, too, Seiryu." Shinah nodded in response.
The others dispersed to their respective locations as Yona, Shinah, and Ezra sat down heavily with their backs up against a building. Hak left reluctantly, though he knew that Ezra and Shinah were more than capable of protecting his princess. Ezra noticed his hesitation and sent him an insufferable smirk. He stuck his tongue out at her as he finally turned and strode off.
"It can't be helped, I guess," Yona sighed. She slid Shinah a sideways glance with a calculating gleam in her eyes.
Ezra frowned, wondering why the princess was getting so close to the Seiryu, though what was even more curious was how it slightly bothered her. Ezra shook her head to clear it. Yona feigned a nonchalant yawn, stretching her arm around Shinah's back.
Suddenly, Shinah leaped up and away, jumping cleanly over Ezra's legs to get away from Yona. Ezra stared at him, mystified, as Yona pouted.
"Please, Shinah!" Yona begged. "Lend me your sword!"
Shinah began shaking his head vigorously.
Ezra chuckled, finally understanding. Hak had forbidden her from teaching the princess what swordsmanship she knew, so Yona was resorting to trickery to get what she wanted. Thankfully for the entire group, Yona was no good at trickery.
"Fine," Yona mumbled, dejected. "At least let me watch you two practice."
Ezra glanced at Shinah, and he nodded at her. She stood, unsheathing her sword. She kept her dual blades together, using them as a two-handed broadsword as she and Shinah crossed blades.
They began exchanging blows slowly, testing each other, before their sparring built up speed. As they moved faster, Ezra could feel the difference in skill between them; Shinah's movements were cleaner, more precise, and much quicker than her own. She grinned with the thrill of facing off against a superior opponent.
Before long, Ezra's sword clattered out of her hand and Shinah's blade hovered an inch from her throat. She smiled widely at him; no matter how many times he trained her, she never tired of sparring with him. "You're incredible, Shinah!" she told him, eyes bright with admiration.
A slight blush dusted along his cheeks as he stepped back, lowering his dark blade.
As Ezra retrieved her sword, Yona spoke up. "Shinah, why did you start learning swordsmanship? You already have the power of the dragon's eyes."
Immediately Shinah's body stiffened.
Ezra shot Yona a look as she re-sheathed her blade. "You don't have to talk about it, Shinah," she assured him as Yona ducked her head in shame.
Shinah let out a small breath. "The one who taught me swordsmanship told me... I must never use the power of the eyes."
Ezra's eyes widened, curiosity getting the better of her. "Why?"
"They're... a double-edged sword."
Yona frowned. "Does that mean that your powers hurt you, too?"
Shinah was silent.
"What on earth kind of powers do you have, Shinah?" Yona pressed.
Shinah's hands clenched and unclenched for a few minutes as he stood in absolute silence. Ezra watched him with concern in her eyes. His hands came up, covering his mask as if he were trying to cover his face.
Suddenly his knees hit the dirt. Ezra sprang forward, catching his head against her shoulder before he slumped fully to the ground. She rested her cheek against his temple, holding him against her. "Shinah," she whispered, ignoring Yona's stare. His head slowly tilted up, and she rested her forehead against his masked one, closing her eyes. "You don't need to talk about it. And you don't need to use your powers." She leaned back and he stared at her, his expression unreadable. Ezra's eyes softened. "Will you smile for me, Shinah?"
Slowly, the smallest of smiles lit his handsome face.
Ezra grinned. "Thank you." She gave Yona a hard look over Shinah's head. "We don't need to be discussing such difficult topics, right, Yona?"
Yona looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, Shinah."
He nodded, accepting her apology.
"The Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch's boss lady!"
The sudden shout turned their heads, and the three glanced at a young boy who was staring at them. "What is it?" Yona asked, confused. Ezra suppressed a smirk as Yona forgot to stay in character.
"I want candy," he told her matter-of-factly.
Yona frowned. "I don't have any more candies." Her stomach growled; the entire group was going hungry in order to give all of their food to the villagers. "I gave it all away. But wait here, I'll shoot down a bird for ya." She strode off, slinging her bow off of her back.
Two other kids raced around a corner, running straight for Shinah. Ezra stared in shock as they began pulling at his mask playfully. "Bandits have come for our town!" one of the kids yelled.
"I got his sword!" yelled the other, pulling Shinah's sword from its sheath. Then the kids turned and sprinted off. Shinah sprang up in alarm, following after them.
Ezra raised an eyebrow, amazed that a child had managed to steal Shinah's sword from him. Then she stood, brushing off her clothes, before striding off in the direction Yona had gone. She was sure Shinah would be able to retrieve his sword from a child without too much trouble.
"Any luck?" Ezra called once the red-haired princess came into view.
"Nope," Yona pouted. "No birds in sight."
"I'm hungry!" complained the boy.
Ezra covered her stomach with her hand to muffle the sound of its growling. Suddenly, her keen ears picked up disturbed chatter coming from the village. Her eyes widened. "A child has...?" she gasped.
Yona's eyes widened as she listened to the murmurs, as well. "Crap!" she hissed. She sprinted off before Ezra could blink.
Damn it, Ezra thought to herself before she followed after her friend. Yona scrambled somewhat clumsily up to the roof of a building, Ezra on her heels. They got to the roof and looked down to see some actual bandits standing over a crowd of villagers. A child lay bleeding at their feet, and Ezra noticed Shinah's sword in the grasp of the bandit who stood triumphantly over him.
Oh, no.