The sound of someone bashing their head in someone else woke her up. Her blades' hilts were in the palm of her hands before she could blink, automatically raising them up and zeroing in on the noise.
A very guilty Zeno was peering up at her with watery eyes and Shin-ah gestured with his hands in apology. She just smiled, tucking away the steel and crossing her legs that were extended out in front of her on the branch she was balanced on.
"What are you guys doing?"
"We're playing a game because Seiryuu is cold!!" Zeno exclaimed excitedly, bouncing back to his cheerful self. "Do you want to play, Miss Notch?"
Calista chuckled as Shin-ah wiped his mouth in determination. "That's alright, Zeno. Thank you though."
He bonked into Shin-ah's unsuspecting shoulder, knocking him to the ground. They both tumbled around, successfully warming them up from the chilly, early morning air. She chuckled as they became louder, vigorously shoving each other over repeatedly.
All the racket eventually woke up Kija, who stared at his dragon brothers in confusion.
"You two sure are noisy first thing in the morning." He noted, still half-asleep.
Zeno headbutted him, too, and Calista had to slap her hands over her mouth to prevent laughter from erupting. She caught Shin-ah's eye and grinned widely as Kija's expression morphed into one of shock.
"What are you doing?!"
Calista jumped down from the branch and leaned back on her hands, watching them. "They're playing some sort of game." She informed him, casually munching on an apple she had just picked from the tree.
Zeno nodded fervently. "It's a game to get warm!! If you cry, you lose!!"
Kija's eyes shined with determination at the rules. "I accept!!!"
"Wahhhh!!! Wait, Hakuryuu!!" The golden-haired boy shouted out in alarm, holding his hands out in front of him defensively. "You're not allowed to use your right hand!!"
Calista's robust laughter echoed through the still atmosphere, filling their campsite with jubilance.
As the yellow and blue dragon dodged his swipes, a sleepy voice interjected, "What the..."
Her head swiveled to find her brother staring at the trio, dumbfounded at what had got them so hyper first thing in the morning. She snorted at his expression.
"You look ridiculous."
He shut his mouth at that, shooting her a glare with no real anger behind it and she shot him a cheeky grin, turning her attention back to Shin-ah.
"The young ones sure are energetic in the morning." Jae-ha commented, to the princess beside him, with a small smile.
Yona rubbed her bleary eyes and observed them curiously as they rolled around on the ground. "It looks like fun."
Calista narrowed her eyes the minute she saw the green dragon's signature smirk. True to his nature, he turned Yona around by her shoulders to face him.
"Well then, I'll show you how adults haggle around to become warmer." Jae-ha smirked suggestively.
Before she could get to it, Hak had whacked Jae-ha upside the head.
Rubbing the sore spot forming, he said slyly, "That felt like a real punch just now, Hak."
Meanwhile, Zeno shrieked in fear as he scrambled to get away from the battle-ready white dragon. "Kyaaaa!! Stop it, Hakuryuu—"
"BE QUIET, YOU ANIMALS!!!!" Yoon thundered and Calista swore she felt her soul leave her body. Then, in a more calm and orderly manner, he declared, "We're almost there."
The dragons froze, and she heard Hak muttering to Jae-ha about how the self-proclaimed pretty boy had more right to speak than all of them combined. She bit the inside of her cheek to quell the laughter bubbling up in her chest.
After all, they were in uncharted Wind Tribe territory. They had to be careful. Hak stuck to Yona's side like glue, and as much as she wanted to, she didn't poke fun at him.
Her gaze darted around warily as they passed through the valley where the Fire Tribe had thrown them over the edge.
Well... She glanced at the excited princess and caught Hak gazing at her softly while she wasn't looking. Technically, they didn't really push us over, but still.
She caught Jae-ha's gaze, who wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the princess and her bodyguard pointedly. She had to break eye contact or else she was going to lose whatever thread of self-control she had left.
And she knew her brother wouldn't be fond of her teasing.
Hak tilted his head to the side subtly and she grinned, zipping ahead to scout. As soon as she was clear of all the others, her instincts kicked in.
Her ears honed in on the sounds of the forest around her, looking for any anomalies or breaks in the quiet. She scouted for soldiers and bandits, but thankfully found none. Keen, silver eyes scanned the foliage for any signs of abnormal movement, but once again, she came up empty-handed.
Thank goodness. They didn't need any trouble right now.
Calista crouched down low as Ik-soo's hut finally came into view, the silence deafening. A frown set on the corners of her mouth and she quietly drew her blades. The clumsy priest was never this quiet in the few days that she had been around him, always tripping over his own two feet.
Something was wrong.
As she cautiously entered the hut, she stilled in shock. Everything was turned upside down, knocked over or displaced. But what was in the corner caught her full attention.
Yoon threw open the door to the hut with vigor, having caught up to her easily due to his apprehension of seeing his guardian again for the first time in months.
"Ik-soo, we're back!!"
His joy was short-lived as he cried out in alarm, gaze settling on the crumpled form in the corner, with a raven-haired girl huddled over him.
Calista shifted back, scanning for any signs of a threat, but found nothing. Across the room, Hak adjusted his stance protectively in front of the stunned princess, cobalt gaze sweeping the premises.
Yoon rushed to the priest, lifting various debris off of him.
Calista's eyes widened in shock as she saw blood streaked across his forehead in an aggressive crimson and she dropped down beside the distraught boy, turning Ik-soo over gently on his back. He had lost the slippers Yoon had woven for him before they left, and the priest's bare feet were caked in grime.
His eyes fluttered open, and she was struck with how unfocused they were.
"Y-Yoon?" He murmured weakly, as if he couldn't believe he was right there in front of him.
"Don't move!" Yoon's hands were a blur as he worked to find out where the injury was. "What happened?! Was it thieves?!"
"Ah..." Ik-soo looked incredibly sheepish and Calista immediately shot him a wary look. "I got so hungry that I knocked over everything.
Yoon's jaw dropped open and the fighter got him a half-hearted glare. He would experience the full extent later, after they took care of him.
The sun was raised high in the sky by the time the pretty boy genius was done patching his guardian up. The others had stuck around, still not completely sure that this wasn't a direct attack, but it became clear that Ik-soo really was just as clumsy as he appeared.
Yona had become preoccupied with helping Yoon, and Calista had left them to check out the rest of the area.
She persuaded her brother to stay behind, knowing that the best place for him to be was by the princess' side.
"Relax, I'll be back before you know it." Then, she left.
"Ah, I narrowly escaped death!!" Ik-soo announced cheerfully, unaware of the wrath he was incurring from the boy sitting across from him.
Yoon's forehead creased in annoyance. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT, YOU STUPID PRIEST!!! HOW WILL YOU CARRY ON WITH NORMAL LIFE IF YOU'RE ON THE VERGE OF STARVING AND YOU SERIOUSLY HURT YOURSELF FROM FALLING DOWN?! YOU REALLY CAN'T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT ME HERE!! YOU'RE TOO MUCH OF A PAIN, JUST GO BACK TO THE HEAVENS!!!!"
Everyone, except Ik-soo, winced at his biting tone. The priest simply clasped his hands together in exuberance.
"Wahhh, it's Yoon's angry voice!!" The genuine gratitude warmed Yona's heart. He must have really missed him.
The others were just finishing cleaning up the place, putting everything back where it belonged as Yoon angrily tended to the injured Ik-soo.
"You were crying and seemed so frantic, Yoon." Came the blatant observation.
"I'm not crying and I wasn't frantic either!!" The boy hotly denied with every fiber of his being.
A chuckle drifted to their ears and they all turned to see Hak's shoulders deflating in relief. Before any of them could say anything, a form dropped down in front of them.
Calista smirked up at an astonished Jae-ha. "Impressed yet?"
He recovered quickly, pretending he hadn't seen anything and waved her off. "I could do much better." He boasted.
"Really?" Her eyebrow raised teasingly. "Like the time when we left Awa and you fell—"
He slapped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from finishing her sentence and Calista's expression contorted into one of disgust.
"Ew, gross!!"
She tried to wipe the lingering taste of the earth off her tongue, gagging dramatically, enticing a giggle from the princess and a small smile from the youngest boy. Even Shin-ah cracked a smile, and it made her heart flutter.
While she was busy inwardly cursing the feelings she knew she was catching, Kija bowed deeply in respect. "Lord Priest, please forgive us for the sudden visit. It is an honor to finally meet you."
"No, no, the honor is all mine." Ik-soo hurriedly said with a smile on his face.
Calista shuffled her feet absentmindedly, still worried about him. Even though Yoon had thoroughly tended to all of his wounds, she was slightly concerned something could happen right under their noses if she didn't catch it in time.
"Oh my!" The priest had his hands clasped together. "It's become so lively..."
The wistfulness of his tone made her stand behind him as he smiled fondly at their large group.
"It looks like the princess has been through a lot." He directed towards Yona and the corner of Calista's mouth twinged in a slight frown as she saw the shadow that passed over her delicate features.
"You too, Calista." She jumped in surprise, pointing to herself in confusion. Ik-soo nodded slightly and her brow furrowed.
After asking, the priest foretold that the sword and shield that would protect the king need a little bit more time to appear. Yoon contemplated this new information, because now they were directionless for the time being.
Hak threw his sister a glance, but her gaze was trained forward.
"Say," An unusually solemn voice broke through the teasing, intent on making himself known. "Why is everyone avoiding the main question?"
Calista remained silent as Zeno spoke powerfully and purposefully. By the looks on everyone's faces, they were stunned by this new side of the previously thought of, careless boy.
Gone was the light-hearted atmosphere and it was overtaken by something edging on darkness. "Miss, what did you want to do with the four dragons?"
Yona's expression was puzzled, caught off-guard by this new side of the carefree dragon.
Zeno elaborated as she hesitated, not missing a beat. "You, and that guy over there were kicked out of the castle, so it's understandable if you needed that power to fight." He nodded to Hak, who was now studying him intently. "It was to survive."
Bingo, he hit the nail on the head. Calista made her mind void of all thoughts and feelings as he continued to talk, knowing it wasn't her place to say anything. He would reveal what they needed to know, when they needed to know it.
"But... then what? Are you going to run away forever?"
"No." Yona declared decisively, her choice ringing through the air as a proclamation of strong will.
"No?" Zeno shot back, and the princess took a step back, startled by him continuing to push the issue. "Then... are you thinking of overthrowing Soo-won, who stole the title of 'king', to take back Hiryuu Castle and the throne?"
Yona's expression blanked at the mention of her father's murder's name and what he was implying.
Yoon had a similar idea. "Th-That's impossible!!" He protested immediately. "No matter how many dragons we have, we can't attack the castle with this many people!!"
Zeno looked down, fixating on the ground in front of him. "It's not whether we can or can't. I'm asking if it's what she wants to do."
Jae-ha was surprised to see him so serious, but was better at hiding it than Kija. The white dragon looked like he could barely keep up with what was happening. Shin-ah, on the other hand, was impossible to read.
"Besides, if we four dragons use our powers seriously, it won't be impossible for us to take down one castle."
He said it so simply that Calista's brain fried. She shook her head in a feeble attempt to reboot it as the mood drastically shifted.
Zeno tangled a hand in his hair, beaming sheepishly up at the group. "But Zeno doesn't have that kind of power anyways!"
"You..." Kija nearly growled at his nonchalance after his speech.
"I know I'm new, sorry, sorry!" Ouryuu held up his hand in apology. "Zeno wasn't suggesting we do that. It was just a simple question as to what we are going to do."
Calista and Hak shared a look before glancing at Yona. She had gone quiet, face scrunched up and the older girl had a feeling she was really taking what Zeno had proposed to heart.
"It was Zeno's own decision to come along, the Miss is free to think whatever she wants, too." He added on. "More importantly, Zeno is hungry!!"
"I guess I should make some food for now." Yoon grumbled from the corner as Ik-soo quietly, but fondly, mumbled about how restless they all were.
"Yay!! Food~" Zeno cheered happily, strolling leisurely after the pretty boy as he reluctantly gathered what he needed.
After dinner time was over, the dragons circled up, with the exception of Zeno. Calista hadn't eaten with them, opting to do one more patrol before she sat down with them and although her brother tried to convince her to let him go instead, she wasn't having it.
Now she was back without a scratch, and listening to their discussion without their knowledge that she was there.
"Still, he took me by surprise."
She heard Jae-ha muse from below her perch. Being able to climb trees sure came in handy.
"I thought he was just a boy with his head in the clouds. I never thought he would rip into Yona like that."
She grimaced, but not disagreeing with anything that he said. Hak was not far away from them, positioned directly at the base of the tree she was hiding in as the dragons mulled over Zeno's serious side.
His sharp, cobalt eyes were covered by his hair.
"Yes..." Kija's brow drew together. "He is an incomprehensible one, indeed."
He paused, then continued, "It is not that I've never thought about it. However, the day her father was killed was not too long ago. She is barely managing to protect herself as it is. That was such an overbearing question."
Calista agreed with him, but didn't voice it. They didn't need her input right now, and there wasn't anything she could say that would make this better.
Yona needed to go through this and confront it head on before it festered in her head and stayed there.
Admiration glowed in the depths of her silver eyes as she recalled the young princess growing up all the way until the present, enduring a growth that was both extremely impressive and incredibly heartbreaking.
"It is not simply a matter of taking her father's enemy down." Jae-ha cut in, crossing his arms over his chest and turning to look the other way, where Yona, Yoon and Ik-soo were all conversing. Zeno jumped around them, providing some type of entertainment. "Even if he's a traitor to Yona, that's not necessarily the case for the rest of the country."
He wasn't wrong either, and Calista was struck with how much they all thought alike. Even coming from different backgrounds and ways of life, when it came down to the princess, they had the ability to see things that most people missed.
It makes sense though, she's the reason why we're all here.
She almost missed his next words. "She would need to silence the five generals that follow Soo-won to retake the throne. Placing responsibility for the entire country upon the shoulders of a girl who is just sixteen-years old would be too reckless."
Shin-ah was silent, not contributing to the conversation. The only clue Calista had that he was listening to everything that was being said, was that the slight tilt of his head would change whenever someone new was speaking.
"Hak, you were acquainted with the king, right? What kind of person is he?"
Calista stiffened, glancing down at her brother as Kija fired the seemingly innocent question. He got up to his feet, turning his back on them so that they couldn't see what he was feeling.
"... Beats me." He threw over his shoulder before walking away.
Calista's expression saddened and she played with her hands in her lap, debating about whether or not to follow him. Usually, she would leave him alone and give him space unless he sought her out, but she had a gut feeling not to do that this time.
And she remembered what happened the times when she didn't listen to her intuition.
"As usual, he would not say anything when it comes to Soo-won." Kija noted forlornly as she made the choice and clambered down silently, zipping after him so fast that she didn't hear the last bits of their conversation.
Jae-ha's jaw locked. "Haven't you noticed? When that name is brought up, his expression grows a little dim and Calista does a good job of hiding it, but it bothers her, too."
"So, he was someone they didn't like very much?"
Jae-ha shook his head, refuting his assumption and Shin-ah stopped petting Ao. "No, he was someone they really cared for."
The blue dragon whipped his head towards the sound of branches cracking and his eyes widened behind his mask as he caught a glimpse of black cloth fluttering in the wind.
She heard them.