(Y/N)'s POV
Ten minutes already passed by after we noticed the river dried up. In those few minutes, Hak called Han Dae to investigate about the situation. I also voulunteered to go with Han Dae, which took more time than needed to convince Hak before he hesistantly let me leave with Han Dae. We were both talking about our years in our work while we were walking in the direction of the river, laughing a bit when we made jokes and rants from time to time. I was close with Han Dae more than Tae-woo, especially since he's more tolerable than him; which I'll never admit out loud.
But when we arrived at our destination, we were shocked to see Fire Tribe guards stationed in front of boulders that were blocking the water. What the hell are they doing? I could feel rage flowing in me, seeing what they were doing made my blood boil, but not to the point my rational thinking was blocked. It made me a bit relieved that they still haven't noticed us, so I took the chance and made both of us hid behind some nearby bushes.
"Han Dae, let's go back and inform this to Hak." I whispered to my companion as I pulled him to go back.
I then noticed that he didn't budge and looked like he was as angry as me, if not then more so.
"I am not going back. If they want to pick a fight, then I'll give it to them."
"Han Dae, are you hearing yourself? Going up to them and starting a fight will not solve anything, it will only make matters worse. So just keep quiet and follow me." I tried to reason, but it looked like it wasn't getting to his head.
I started to panic when Han removed his arm from my hold as he started to walk out of our hiding spot, not before giving me a disagreeing look.
"Han Dae! Come bac-"
"Oi bastards! What do you think you are doing in our territory? Don't you know we treat intruders not so kindly like we do to guests." Han Dae stood in front of all the guards, trying his best to intimidate them.
As expected of these guards, they just laughed out loud when Han Dae was finished with his threat. He didn't even received a twinge of fear or doubt from then, only arrogance and confidence.
"Go leave now brat. As we the kind Fire Tribe people are, we will give you mercy from your stupidity in trying to start a fight." The male that seems to be the leader of the group laughed, making the other guards laugh with him.
"I don't need any mercy from people like you, people that think they can do anything they want in their lives. I actually am not angry with you, I pity you on how low you guys could get in life."
What Han Dae said made the leader triggered, which just made me more concerned for my stupid friend.
"Boys! Let us teach this brat a lesson for messing with the Fire Tribe. Let's see now who is the one pitying the other." The leader smirked as he raised his hand towards Han Dae, making the armed guards walk towards him to attack him.
Han Dae was prepared to defend himself with no weapon, but when a guard raised his weapon to him, it was met with a blade that resembled the colors of fire.
"(Y/N)! What are you doing?!"
"I could be asking the same thing for you baka."
"You didn't have to step in, I had it all under control."
"Don't you mean-"
"You should drop the weapon girl. A sword is not something to play with, we wouldn't want that pretty face bruised up after this." The leader said, making me scoff at how cocky he was.
"If you boys don't want a fight, then it's a game you'll get."
I started to fight off all of the guards that were near me and Han Dae. I was either knocking them out or bruising them badly to which they can't fight. I was able to defeat more than half of them, making me smirk when I was almost finished. I was getting so wraped up in defeating all of the guards that I didn't notice when the leader was able to hide from my sight and hold his sword's blade to Han Dae's throat.
"Stop right there or your little boyfriend dies right here."
A glare was on my face as I turned around to Han Dae, the glare being replaced with a shocked expression when I saw the situation I was stupid enough to put Han Dae in. I didn't move an inch or said anything when I turned around, I just stared at them with the blank expression that was very familiar when I was eight years old.
"Don't listen to this bastard, (Y/N)! You could kick their asses now and-" The leader pressed the blade closer to Han Dae, making him stop talking.
"Drop the weapon to your feet and kick it to me, move an inch and he dies."
I slowly placed my sword down at my feet, kicking it towards the leader. He smirked in victory as he kicked my weapon away from his and my reach. As soon as the weapon was away, half of the remaining guards held me against my will with the other half now holding Han Dae in front of me. The leader was watching us from the sides, a proud smirk on his face that made me want to wipe it off with my fist.
"Because of your little intrusion and damage to my guards, I will leave a message for the Wind Tribe with your help."
With just one look of approval from their leader, I started to get worried on what they'll do to Han Dae. I then felt a hard punch on my stomach, knocking out the air in my lungs. I started to have loud coughing fit, trying to remove the hold from the two guards besides me holding my arms to stay still. I saw Han Dae was screaming at the guards that were hurting me, trying his best to get out of his own hold.
I gave him a reassuring smile, but it just made him more worried for me. Another hard punch was thrown at me, but at my face, making me uncontrollably turn my head to the side. A familiar ironic taste was in my mouth, making me spit it on the ground to see blood on it. I started to try to kick them, soon regretting it when they kicked my knees harder than they did with the punches. This made me lost my balance and kneel on the ground as blood was dripping down the side of my lips.
The beating continued with at least seven more hard punches and three kicks, making my sight blurry with a headache forming, the only thing I could taste was blood. I knew that Han Dae started pleading for them to stop, but my hearing turned to ringing when they punched me on both sides of my face.
Worry and fear started to crept in me when I saw them hurt Han Dae, but not as bad as me. After just two hard punches and one hard kick, the leader walked in front of me as I was on my knees and coughing loudly with a few gasps for air. He held my face by my cheeks with his hand, squishing it hard with a look of authority in his eyes as he looked down on me.
"This wasn't the agreement we had with our general, so we will let you two leave with these bruises as a warning to the Wind Tribe and a threat to you both." He then shoved my face away from his hand, making me move my jaw as it started to hurt.
I didn't quite heard anything he said to me, so I just tried my best to listen when he said something to Han Dae making him shake in what looks like anger. With another look of approval from their leader, the guards holding me kicked me hard on my stomach then back after they let go of me, making me hold my stomach in pain while I was groaning on the dirt floor.
I saw Han Dae was shoved to the ground before they all started to leave us and the boulders. Han Dae instantly went to my side as he helped me up on my feet with repetitive sorrys from him, when I looked at his face closer, I saw some tear stains on his cheeks, guessing it was from when I was coughing out a lot of blood. He started to support me to walk with his body to the Wind Tribe.
I was still groaning in pain as we were walking, so he started to distract me with a conversation on our way there. It helped me a lot since the pain was really hurting me, and because it distracted me from the concerned and fearful faces the people gave us when we entered Capital Fuuga.
"Han Dae! What happened to you- What the hell happened to (Y/N)?!" Tae-woo said as he immediately ran towards us, seeing that I was in a condition that was far worse than Han Dae's.
Tae-woo helped us both lean on a tree, making me smile at him as a thank you. What I didn't knew that the moment our names were yelled, certain people were running towards us to see what happened. Gramps that just arrived, was questioning Han Dae what happened while the Princess and General were worried over my health. Hak had an angry expression on his face when he was looking over my punch marks, bleeding nose, and bruised knees. Making him ask Han Dae what had happened, while didn't bother to pay attention because it my attention was on the horrible pain I'm feeling. I then saw Yona-hime was at my side, crying to me when she saw how bruised up I was. I gave a weak smile to the crying princess at my side, seeing her place her left hand on my right one to comfort me. Making Yona retract her hand when she winced in so much pain, she really was empathizing me so much.
"Don't cry Princess. Your face will get ruined when you cry like that for me." I started to laugh, soon turning into coughing as I failed to cheer Yona.
People started to crowd around us, looking like they were angry for some reason. I didn't know what was happening since my hearing worsened because of the punches, so I only heard Hak's voice trying to motivate his people. Seeing Hak act like a true general made me smile, knowing that he wasn't letting my injuries affect his way of thinking. I now leaned my head on Yona's shoulder as I started to see my vision get blurry.
"Hey Princess, tell Hak that I'm sorry for making you both worried. I'm just too tired to say it to you guys, goodnight Yona." I said as I saw darkness envelop me in its warm embrace, fainting on Yona's shoulder without any worry.
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(Y/N)'s POV
I groaned in pain as I woke up from my sleep. I sat up from the bed I was laying at and yawned my tiredness away, the events from before hitting me on the face just like the hard punches I took. My eyes became wide when realization hit, I patted my chest to see if my necklace was in my clothes. I gave out a sigh of relief when I removed my Phoenix shaped pendant out of my clothes, looking at it with a sad smile when I remembered how I got it. I then shook the thoughts out of my head as I didn't want to get emotional when I just woke up, making me tuck in my necklace inside of my light (F/C) kimono as usual.
I examined myself and noticed that I just had bandages on my head with a few pads on my knees. I also saw that instead of my old room, I was in one of the huts that they place injured people in. I looked out of the window that was beside the bed, seeing that it was now morning. I stood up from beside the bed and started taking my belongings with me. The (least F/C) satchel that still had all of the paperwork in, the matching ring I have with Yona, my black flats, some ointment for my bruises, and my sword.
Wait, huh? I took my sword and examined it in confusion, being more confused when I saw it didn't have any dirt or dent marks from the recent fight I had. How did this got here in the first place? I thought Han Dae didn't brought it with us since he cared more about my well being than my sword... Maybe he just got it from downstream since he knew how much I loved my sword. I'll make sure to thank him later, I reminded myself as I went out of the structure to find Hak or Yona.
I started my little trip with a bit of worry in me, making me remember that the last time I did this, we were running away with our lives at stake from Hiryuu Castle. I took a deep breath in as I averted my thoughts on the subject, thinking about something else as I was finding my two companions from this dangerous journey. It made my smile in joy when I saw Tae-yeon on an opened window in our old home, looking down on the ground with a far away look in his eyes. I walked towards the window as I showed him my happy smile.
"Morning, little bud." I greeted the blonde boy, earning a happy smile from him.
"Morning, big sister! Huh? Why is your head wrapped in bandages...?" I frowned when I saw him turned sad like he was going to cry.
I placed my right hand on his cheek with my other hand on his shoulder, giving him another smile that was as bright as his usual smiles.
"Your big sister was just so stupid that she tripped and fell from trying to ride Gramps horse, you know how small your sister is." I joked as I tried to make my brother smile.
"You're not stupid, but big brother says that you are short." I couldn't protest with his innocent face, making me just giggle at his cuteness.
"Do you mind if big sis has a question for little bud?"
"I'm alright with questions from big sis. 'Cause it means their important, and everything big sister and big brother says are important!"
"Okay then little buddy, do you know where I can find Hak and... Lena?"
"Big brother said that he was going to leave and come back for a long time so he said goodbye, Miss Lena went searching for big brother and just left when you went to me."
"Thank you for your helpful answers, little buddy!"
"Umm, big sister?" Tae-yeon gave me a serious yet sad expression, making me nod for him to continue.
"When are you going to come back with big brother Hak and Miss Lena?"
The words I had got stuck on my throat when I heard the question with his puppy eyes. I avoided eye contact with my little brother, trying my hardest not to blow the whole truth to him that there's a chance we'll be seeing each other in three more years... I turned my gaze back to him, giving him a reassuring smile as I held both of his hands.
"Tae-yeon, I don't know when me, Hak, and Lena are going to come back. But I promise you, I will make sure to try to visit you as soon as possible, with a real big and awesome present to give you!" I exclaimed as I gave him a big loving embrace, from his sister that cares deeply for him and his happiness.
I felt him tighten the hug I gave, his hands gripping tightly on my back, showing me that he doesn't want me to leave just yet. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes before we slowly broke the hug, showing each other a meaningful smile with tears on the corner of our eyes.
"Bye my little buddy..."
I gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, turning around and running away from him as I didn't look back. I couldn't turn to look at him, if I did then I'd show him the tears that were pouring down my eyes, wishing that I wouldn't leave him be in Gramps care all alone, not being able to watch him grow up since I'm now a wanted person. I wiped my tears and forced a smile on my face, since that's what Tae-yeon would want, for me to be happy... It took longer than I expected to find Hak, he was going to the direction of the entrance of Capital Fuuga without Yona.
I became confused when I remembered that he didn't even said anything about leaving, especially when he didn't even know that I was already awake. I became a bit mad at my realization, knowing that he's not going to go back to see me or Yona. I took a small pebble from the ground, being successful in aiming him right on the back of his head. He stopped at his tracks, turning around to see his irritated expression when he saw me a few feet away from him.
"You stupid general!" I stomped my way in front of him as I started hitting him on his chest, not showing him the expression on my face.
"What are you doing- Hey! That hurts!" He complained as he held both of my hands, making me stop at hitting him.
"Why are you even hurting me? Do I look like a punching ba-"
I cut him off when I turned my face at him, showing him the tears that were already forming in my eyes again, trying my best not to make a single tear fall. He suddenly stopped his ranting, giving me a startled expression when he saw my face.
"Do you have any idea how it makes me feel knowing that you're leaving me and Yona-hime?! How you didn't even gave me a note that you were going to leave us?! Not even letting me know if I was okay with your decision? If you wanted to leave me with Yona because you decided to not want to harm any of us with your presence here. You didn't even know that I don't want to lose you too..." I said as my voice cracked at my last sentence, the tears starting to constantly pour.
"..." Hak didn't said anything, he only gave me a blank expression.
I was going to give him more reasons as to not leave me and Yona at the Wind Tribe, but I was now the one being cut off from talking.
"I do." I stared at his serious face with my confused one, giving my silence as a sign for him to continue without interruptions.
"I do know how you're saddened by me leaving you and the Princess. I do know that I didn't left you a note while you were unconscious. That I didn't even asked for your opinion in my decision. That you're right on how I should leave you both to not cause any harm to either of you. How I know that it's a crappy decision to leave you here when you just lost three people in one night. That's why everything you said are solid evidences how it's better to leave you here.
"Besides, I'm not a general anymore, so I don't have to serve the Princess. Which also means that you should be left here to guard the Princess. So there is no way on how you can change my mind." I gave a wide eyed stare at Hak, being shocked at everything he said.
"Goodbye (Y/N), take care of the Princess for us." Hak turned his back to me as he was going to leave me standing there, but I took his hand.
"You may be right, but there's another reason for you to stay. The promise we made..." I then pulled him to face me.
"For you to stay by my side, Hak!" I exclaimed as I was determined to make him stay.
Hak showed me an annoyed face, making me remove my hold from him, but my determined expression still didn't falter. He gave a tsk as he placed his hand on his face to cover his reaction.
"Argh... Damn it. You are so annoying." He sat on the floor with his face looking down, holding his stomach as if it were hurting.
"What the hell? You are such a burden." The words he said made my heart crack as if it really hit me, making me agree with what he said with my eyes looking down in guilt.
"But... You win, (Y/N)." I turned my gaze to look at his cheeky smile as a happy smile formed on my face, immediately forgetting about the insults he just gave.
I opened my mouth to give a reply, not saying a word when a certain voice called to both of us.
"(Y/N)! Hak!" Hak was now standing at my side as we both turned to see Yona-hime catching her breath from what I guess is from running.
"I'm leaving this place! Come with me!" We were both shocked at what we heard, soon giving a faint smile at her determined face.
"What did you just say?" Hak asked when Yona walked towards us, standing five feet away.
"I'm leaving this place. If I stay here, Capital Fuuga will just get drawn into conflict."
I turn to my side to look at Hak, silently asking him if he is alright with Yona's statement. He just gave a small nod as an annoyed sigh escaped his lips. I walked in front of Yona, holding my right hand with her left one, the rings in our fingers shining in our hold. I gave her a smile when we saw how much Yona changed from just visiting our home.
"Well Princess, I am happy to inform you that we agree with your decision. We will be standing by your side as we make sure to protect you in our journey." She became surprised at my answer, soon becoming happy.
"Thank you for agreeing with me (Y/N) and Hak." What Yona said made Hak walk beside us with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Just know that I'm not a general anymore, and I'm not your servant either. I'm just doing this since you both won't last a day outside without my help." Hak boasted, making me give out a sigh as Yona just kept her smile.
"Whatever you say Hak, you were never mature enough to be a real general anyway~" I teased as I gave out a small snicker, earning an annoyed reaction from my male companion.
Before anything could get out of hand, Gramps walked to us with a relieved look on his face. But I gave him a hug before he could even say a word to us since I wasn't able to greet him when he arrived, making me happy when I felt him wrap his arms around me.
"I missed you so much, Gramps!" I said as happy tears were forming in my (E/C) irises.
"I missed you too, (Y/N). You made me so worried when I saw you injured with Han Dae."
"Don't worry Gramps, I was just trying to protect him since the Fire Tribe guards threatened to kill him if I didn't stopped my attacks."
"Just try to avoid fighting when you can, it's not the solution to all of our problems." He scolded as he pulled out of the hug, placing his hand on my shoulder with a worried face.
"I will Gramps, you always taught me that from the start." I smiled at him, showing him that I will always keep it in mind.
He then removed his hand from my shoulder, making me walk beside Hak that was behind Yona. Yona walked infront of him when she saw us done with our moment. He placed his hand on Yona's cheek as his expression was soft.
"I feel like I am losing another grandchild." Yona smiled at Gramps statement as she placed her hand on his hand that was on her cheek.
"Everyone told me that I am a part of their family. It made me happy to hear it from them. That's why I'm departing, so I cannot cause them any harm because of my presence here. Mun-deok, please protect the Wind Tribe."
Yona removed her hand, making Gramps remove his hand from her face. He looked at Yona-hime with a serious expression, telling me that he will say something important.
"Please do not forget, Princess. If someday you are plunged into the depths of despair once more and you seek help, we of the Wind Tribe stand against whoever your enemy is and support you." Gramps said, making Yona nod with the same serious face.
After we talked for a few more minutes with Gramps and after I gave my (F/C) satchel to him, we said our farewells to him as we headed out of Capital Fuuga, also saying our farewells to Tae-woo, telling him to say my goodbye and take care to Han Dae. I never knew that mine and Hak's home would be the place for Yona to change, a place where we will start to figure out what we will do from this point on. But on this very day, a new promise was made from me. It was a promise that will forever stay in my heart as long as I am protecting the people I love.
'I will make sure that we will never be torn apart again, that we will always remain together as long as we live.'
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3rd POV
Mun-deok made his way back inside of Capital Fuuga after he told the young group what he wanted them to know before leaving. He was going to go check on Tae-yeon since he just wanted to be around his family when it would take a very long time before his grandchildren were going to be with him again. Mun-deok was still walking towards the path of the home he shares with Tae-yeon, when he saw Han-dae heading towards the opposite direction he was going.
"You're going to start working again Han Dae? Are you sure you're able to work with those injuries of yours?" Mun-deok told the young gatekeeper, making Han Dae stop in front of him.
"I only received minor injuries Elder Mun-deok, (Y/N) is the one that had gotten more hurt than me. If she can still stand from taking those blows from the Fire Tribe, then there's no acceptable excuse for me to take a break with a few scratches." Han Dae answered with a serious look on his face, which was rare for the carefree male.
Mun-deok smiled as he placed his hand on Han Dae's shoulder. He was very proud at what he showed him, that even though they were faced with such a troubling problem, he knew that he should not be affected by it that much and chose to do his job of protecting the people of the Wind Tribe.
"Just know that you shouldn't act so rashly like that. There isn't another person that could help you in such another dangerous situation again."
"Of course Elder Mun-deok."
Mun-deok gave a short sigh as he removed his hand from Han Dae's shoulder, remembering another reason why he wanted to talk to Han Dae.
"(Y/N) wanted me to tell you that she's grateful to you for retrieving her sword. She was worried that she might have to get a new one for their trip, she was thankful that you spared her the trouble."
"Huh? I did try to get her sword for her after I came back with Tae-yeon's medicine. But I never saw her sword where we encountered the soldiers. I just guessed that Hak or someone else took her sword to give it back to her or take for themselves."
"Oh, well then you can head back to be with Tae-woo then. There's no point in trying to wrap our heads around this since they already left and (Y/N) had her sword with her."
"Alright then. Thank you for telling me Elder Mun-deok." Han Dae gave a short bow and he went back to walking to the entrance of Capital Fuuga.
Mun-deok stared back at Han Dae's direction as he was still confused a bit at the information he received. He just shrugged it off and just kept walking down the path towards where Tae-yeon is.
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Published:
7/9/20
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