Drip drop. Drip drop. The sound of liquid filled the air along with the smell and sound of someone cooking, 'I can hear voices.' The princess thought to herself, slowly regaining the ability to create thoughts however not having the strength to open her eyes. 'The voices of a crowd.' For a couple moments she drifted into consciousness. And then backed out again. 'Who's there?' The world around her was a blur of movement, and random images seemed to float aimlessly around in the innermost parts of her thoughts, as though they were being blown about viciously by rabid winds that showed no intent on stopping.
'Su-won?' Yona could feel a sweet liquid flow from the edges of her lips as the world around her finally came into focus, her violet eyes snapped open as she gasped at her unfamiliar surroundings. Her soft amethyst orbs met harsh blood red ones, Yona shivered at both the intensity of the stare and the inability to decipher what was hidden in the red orbs, they were blank, not unlike an empty book. Long soft black locks flowed from the figures head, creating a dark halo of sorts around them, giving them a demonically beautiful aura.
Violet eyes scanned the unknown persons figure, noting how their right arm seemed to be strangely bandaged and was suspended in place by a cloth that went around her torso. Yona found herself getting slightly jealous at the unknown females chest, while Yona had a modest chest though rather small in her opinion, the female before her had a noticeably larger chest when compared to hers, though not to an outrageous degree. The unknown female gently stuffed what seemed to be an orange slice into her mouth, then she stood up and walked over to another unknown person.
The other unknown was a boy with a feminine face and a short stature that makes him easily mistaken for a teen girl walked towards the runaway princess, though something in the redhead told her this unknown person was male. He had a very fair skin, a pair of bright blue eyes and short apricot-colored hair with long bangs parted in half that hung down to his cheeks. He adorned his hair by putting two small white feathers on its left side. The bright blue eyed male walked over to her and kneeled down next to her as he spoke. "You're awake? Eat this."
-Karasu's POV-
Yoon's voice was rather blunt though soothing to me, I could tell that the redhead saw me as I relaxed my body slightly. I could tell she saw me still keeping a keen eye on her, probably getting the idea that I did not fully trusting her. There was no malice in my red eyes only suspicion as I spectated the interaction, but I did see a slight hint of fear in her violet orbs as she moved her attention from me onto Yoon. "Who are you?" The redhead asked, her brow furrowed slightly. "My name is Yoon. I'm just a passing, handsome boy, so you don't have to remember me. Nothing to write home about."
Yona's gaze turned to me and Yoon answered the hesitant question lingering in the air. "That's Karasu." He said bluntly, not giving away any information about me besides my name. I mentally thanked him for remembering for this long that I disliked strangers knowing stuff about me. Call it paranoia or whatever, it's just how my mind worked, 'Strangers were a danger until proven otherwise.' My mind reminded me as Yona flinched from our gazes meeting, a voice in my head refuted my previous mental statement.
'Except children, children are innocent beings and deserve all the love that can be given and more.' With that thought I think back to the family I had made, they were mostly young children, specifically her two new children that she had adopted. Ren Hakuyuu, a young boy with soft dark blue hair and blue eyes. He had thin, split-ended eyebrows and a mole on his chin, he could often if not always be seen with his hair in a bun atop his head. He was 11 years old and already had a very severe and serious personality, though once you knew how to make him smile it was quite easy to do so from there.
However, it wasn't hard to see that he loved his family, both his new one and his biological younger brother, greatly and was not afraid to put himself in harm's way for their sake. Ren Hakuren, a young child of average height and build, with coarse dark blue hair and slanted blue eyes. He had thin, split-ended eyebrows and a mole on his chin, like his older brother. He too, could also be seen with a bun, though his was usually more towards the back of his head. He was 8 years old and had a cheerful, bright, easygoing and honest personality.
He would take any opportunity to get better but he would always take a second to think about it he was also quite openly a big-hearted person. The two Ren brothers had already wormed their way into everyone else's hearts. Karasu had rescued the two from a fire that they had accidentally wandered into, thankfully she had gotten to them in time so that there were not many, if any, major or permanent injuries on the two. Karasu snapped back into reality at Yoon turning the question onto the runaway princess, "Who are you two?"
Yona slowly sat up on the futon Yoon had allowed her to use clutching her head, the slice of orange fell out of her mouth as she did so, "To survive a fall from that cliff, you must be pretty tough." I could tell Yoon wanted to test the female, he didn't tell her what I did. Honestly, I was just glad he didn't lecture me again. Yoon may not have gotten too good a hang of the defense lessons Mother gave him, but Mother influenced Yoon enough that he was now an expert at lecturing people on stupid decisions that could have resulted in someone getting hurt, be it them self or someone else.
The runaway princess lifted a hand to clutch the side of her head as she remembered the previous event, "The cliff ... That's right. I-" She stopped short as she realized something, most likely how her fake husband protected her from the fall, I wouldn't expect her to remember me. Both because of the mask and the fact that she was much more focused on her loved one to worry about anyone else, but I didn't mind it. Yoon was remixing the medicine from the night before as Yona worriedly turned to him, desperation drowning the violet color in her orbs.
"Hak! Where's Hak?" Yoon straightens up at the question and looks over to me in question, "Hak?" He asked me, I say nothing but I motion towards my black hair and pat my ribs. I don't feel comfortable speaking in her presence, so I don't. Maybe one day I will, but that day is not today. I refuse to be some doe eyed Dragon Warrior who blinds Hiryuu's reincarnation with a trust that they have not earned, I refuse to put my trust in someone who knows nothing of the world around them. "Oh, the black-haired man you were with is over there."
Yoon points to his right using the pestle towards the futon where The Lightning Beast lays unconscious, and quite honestly almost on death's door. The male was covered in bandages and his shirt is off, blood seeps through the white cloth staining it a deep red color. His left arm could also be seen heavily bandaged, bruises litter his entire figure. Bandages could also be seen around his neck and around his eyes.
"Hak!" The redhead cries out, his right hand has a block of wood bandaged onto the back of his palm to help it heal correctly, though his right arm is no less bandaged than the left. The princess gazes at her childhood friend horrified, I assume she knew that he was injured though obviously it was unknown to her how much he was injured. "Hak ..." Yona's voice is breathy and almost inaudible as she gazes on just how much pain Hak went through to keep her safe. "He's alive, just barely."
Yoon walks over to me and hands me the mortar as he explains what he had done to the black haired male. I could see the sweat dripping down his face as the violet eyed female hovers over him. "I removed the poison, but he had a cut on his chest, and he's bruised all over. A bunch of his ribs are broken, too." Violet eyes shimmer with worry as she hears just how badly he was damaged in their fight, "He'd lost so much blood. If he'd received treatment any later, he would've died." Yoon continues to speak as he searches a nearby basket for a certain herb needed to complete the medicine for them.
"He probably protected you during your fall." Yoon voices his theory, giving me a questioning look, I nod at the unspoken question and he nods in return. "What?" Yona looks to Yoon as he pulls out a plant but puts it back, continuing his search for the correct plant. "He was holding you when you fell." He informs her, as he pulls out the correct plant from the woven basket. The princess clasps her hands and interlaces her fingers as she breathes out his name. "Hak..." Yoon looks at her slightly in disdain, "She hurt herself trying to help you two, ya know."
Yona looks up at Yoon, slightly confused at his words, she most likely didn't remember anyone else taking part in the battle besides Kan Tae-Jun, the soldier, herself and Hak. Not that I doubt that would happen, it's very likely that it did with such emotional stress and strain on such an unprepared mind. "Who?" Yoon nods his head over to where I sit, still clutching the mortar and pestle that he had handed to me. I awkwardly wave at her with my uninjured hand after placing the bowl into my lap. "From where you two probably fell, if she hadn't been there, it's almost certain that at the very least that Hak person would have died upon impact."
Yona's wide eyes gaze upon my form as I fiddle with the edge of the bowl, not knowing what to do in such a situation. Yoon continues despite me mental pleas for him to stop, yes I gave him permission to tell her what I had done but I didn't realize he would be so adamant about it. "She managed to move the two of you to a thicker grove of trees, which must have cushioned your fall." Yoon motions to my cast irritably, "She broke her arm in two spots saving the two of you. She carried you here while I prepared the medicine to keep you and your friend alive."
Yoon slightly glared at the red haired female as he continued to speak, getting more and more frustrated with every word, "Then she brought your friend in here like he was some sort of sack of potatoes over her shoulder and-" My hand covered his mouth before he could go any further, I looked him in the eye and leaned down to place my forehead on his, speaking very softly to him. Taking care that while he could hear me, Yona could not. Only people I trusted I spoke to, she had yet to earn that trust.
"Yoon," I saw his eyes grow wide as my voice calling his name, especially after so long. I could see a bit of red peek out from underneath my hand as it prevented him from speaking. "I don't mind." My voice was quite hoarse after being out of use for so long and I was slightly self-conscious about how it would sound, but even so, a small smirk graced my lips as I took pleasure in eliciting such a reaction. It was new, and in that moment I decided, I quite liked how he reacted to my voice.
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Word Count: 2045
(A/N) Thanks for reading my story, I apologize for updating the story so late at night, for me right now its almost 11:00 PM. Anyways I just wanted to get this chapter up, it was a bit rushed but I hope it was good enough for now, I'll try to update another chapter tomorrow but I can't promise anything. If you have any question or concerns with my story please post a comment and let me know, if it's directed towards me I'll do my best to respond to it. Thank you for reading my story! It means a lot to me. Vote Comment and Share!!!
-Liz D. is out!!!