The following night, Yona found Calista winding gauze around her knuckles. The dragons were clumped together, engaged in some kind of discussion about the odd friendship between a particular Seiryuu and his squirrel.
"You can't be serious..."
"Shin-ah, just give her to me for a second!"
There was a feeble noise of protest and then a very loud shout.
"Yah, Jae-ha! What are you doing?!"
"Relax Kija, you worry too much."
Hak had drifted off at the base of a nearby tree, and Yoon was already asleep as the squirrel was passed back and forth between the dragons. A very distressed Shin-ah tried to get his fluffy companion back, chasing them around as the mischievous Ryokuryuu held her just out of his reach.
Tilting her head in the princess' direction to acknowledge her presence, Calista quietly relayed her plan. "I have to go back tonight."
"To the underground?" Yona's eyes were wide.
Shin-ah had finally managed to get ahold of Ao, staring straight at Jae-ha, who continued to tease him and try to take his mask off.
Calista nodded firmly, detaching the guards from her arms that held her daggers, swiftly pawning them to Zeno.
He squeaked in surprise, just barely catching it before it hit the ground. This caught the attention of everyone else in their circle.
"Miss Notch, you can't go down there tonight!!" Zeno cried out, waking up Hak from his light slumber.
"What's going on?" He stumbled to his feet, attentive gaze sweeping the premises.
She hushed her brother, setting his worries at ease. "I have something to take care of, can you keep watch tonight?"
Grimacing lightly at his sleepy nod of acknowledgement, she regretted asking him. He was utterly exhausted, having been taking watch every night so that the rest of them could sleep. But there was no one else she trusted to do it.
Jae-ha narrowed his eyes at the Thunder Beast. "Hak, you're exhausted." He stated bluntly, halting his playful persona. "Go to sleep, I'll take the first watch."
"Actually," Calista rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "You've got to come with me tonight."
All eyes peered at her curiously.
He stared at her questioningly and she explained further, "You weren't there that night when I extended protection to the rest of them, so you need to be there as it's solidified."
A hand shot up. "Zeno wants to come with!!"
Calista jerked her chin in his direction. "Stay here."
"But—"
"You can't go back." She said softly, meeting his gaze. "Let me handle this, okay?"
The golden-haired boy saw the resolve in her eyes and reluctantly nodded, pouting sadly in the process. Yona frowned. "Does this have something to do with the blood claims you mentioned before?"
Calista hesitated, but her expression remained blank. She couldn't give her an explanation yet, not until it was over. "Not yet, Your Highness. Soon, but not yet."
Yona opened her mouth to object at the lack of information, but Zeno stopped her.
"The Miss will find out in time." He piped up reassuringly.
She backed off, going to stand next to Kija and Jae-ha sauntered up. "Alright, so when do we leave?"
"Right now." Calista took off the cloak Yoon had picked out for her, folding it carefully and placing it with her satchel and assortment of weapons. "And lose your knives, unless you want others to steal them."
He shot her a doubtful look, but did what he was told, hiding them away in the ground. The raven-haired girl persuaded her brother to lend her the black ribbon tied around his forearm, wrapping it several times around her face.
The only thing that could be seen in the moonlight was her glittering silver eyes calling out for blood.
With that, the two of them sped off into the dead of night, with the fighter in the lead and the green dragon not far behind her.
Shin-ah watched them go with his mouth set in a hard line. Zeno patted his shoulder.
"Miss Notch will be alright!! Zeno knows she's strong!!"
His head dropped slightly, then followed him as he turned in for the night.
Further away and gaining distance, Calista smirked as she leaped for the treetops, Jae-ha keeping pace with her easily.
He could have passed her a long time ago, but he didn't. She felt a flash of admiration for the pirate that didn't seem to take well to authority to suddenly yield to hers in the moment.
They finally arrived in a dark, abandoned mountain base and her comrade looked around aimlessly. She held up a finger to her lips, gesturing for him to stay quiet. He raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes at his resistance.
"Don't speak, don't interfere, don't do anything but follow me around like a puppet." She whispered.
Jae-ha bristled at the command, but ducked his head nonetheless. As they came closer, he realized that the base he thought was void of any presence was actually the complete opposite.
The rugged individuals here only wore dark clothing, blending in with the shadows of the night.
Calista exhaled softly, pulling him behind a tree so that he was mainly out of sight. "Don't engage in a fight. If they throw at you first, block but don't retaliate."
He nodded to show that he understood and she moved in. The mountains were different. A lot of the fighters lived here since it was such a remote place, and fortunately for her, the ones who ambushed her could be found in this exact location.
She stepped up to a run-down building, a makeshift arena carved out by the dirt scuffed in patterns on the floor, a tell-tale sign of an underground fighting ring. Jae-ha kept his head down and watched her, keen violet eyes flickering around the area suspiciously.
There were fighters hidden in every nook and cranny in the building, only coming into view when they moved.
Many had already jumped down and gathered in the area, the shot-caller at the front.
"Oh, ho-ho." A lazy chuckle made her raise her head. "Look at what we have here, boys."
Thorne's sleazy voice made the corner of her mouth curl slightly in disgust.
"Notch has some blood claims to cash in," He sneered, Tally not too far away from him. "Who wants in?"
She didn't blink as a number of fighters stepped into the ring. Jae-ha, however, stiffened behind her at the sheer number, but didn't move.
That night, the blood the faded scars on her arms called for were sated. One by one, each fight occurred without pause. Jae-ha watched through gritted teeth as he watched her fight. He counted fifty fights before she stopped, each only a few minutes in length at the most, but extremely dangerous.
Calista wiped the blood off of her chin, a deranged grin on her face.
"He's also with me." She waved vaguely in Jae-ha's direction, snarling when Fo-hia went to search him. "Don't touch him." She warned lowly.
The green dragon was taken aback at her tone, but didn't show it, wondering why she was so protective of him. But if this environment was anything to go by, then he could understand why.
The skilled people here were none to take lightly.
She ran at the rogue fighter without hesitation, taking him down with ease as the spectators either cheered her on or booed her down.
Her attack style was more defensive than anything else, but when she did strike, it was precise and deadly.
She continued to fight them, one by one, and he couldn't contain his admiration. She fought with a careful balance of grace and mercilessness that he had never seen before, targeting their vitals, but never did enough damage to kill them.
He had only ever seen one other person fight like that.
Although she was definitely rougher around the edges, having chosen hand-to-hand combat for her fights, her attention to detail rivaled Shin-ah's.
They headed back on foot, avoiding the treetops to see if anyone was following them. No one did and she breathed out a sigh of relief once they were about halfway back.
Up until this point, Jae-ha had remained silent.
"You okay?" Calista prompted.
He looked sideways at her. "I think I should be asking you that."
She chuckled softly, stretching her aching muscles. "I'll be fine."
"You're doing it to protect them." He concluded. "Right?"
"Yeah." She affirmed quietly.
Jae-ha narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to tell me what happened back there?"
Calista rested her hands on her knees, taking a short respite before they made it back to camp. "When the time comes to tell you, then I will. For now, you don't need to know anything more."
Jae-ha studied her closely as they got a move on. She was limping, favoring her right side. He admired her before, but even more so now. She was a lot stronger than he gave her credit for.
Everyone was asleep except for Hak when they got back to the others. He scanned over the two of them wearily and his sister's eyes softened.
"Got to bed, I've got this." Calista mumbled.
Hak was too tired to argue with her, and succumbed to her request.
As his head lolled back with a thump, she clambered up a tree that would enable her to look over everyone. Despite all that had happened, those fights were invigorating and adrenaline still coursed through her veins.
She panted heavily as her heartbeat started to slow down. Gently, she started to put pressure on where throbbing pain was coming from, figuring out the extent of her injuries.
The pristine white gauze wrapped around her knuckles were spotted with blood, but most of it wasn't hers. She raised the back of her hand to her mouth and it came away bloodier than before.
Calista gazed up at the stars twinkling in the dark expanse, the moon the brightest of them all. Her physical state left the forefront of her mind as another took its place.
A smile unwillingly slipped onto her face.
Shin-ah.
The butterflies never went away every time she recalled his name. The name that she had given him. She looked down at her hands, remembering how his skin felt against hers the night that they spent in the hot springs, how carefully he held onto her.
How much she cared about him, and how it was starting to feel slightly different from how she felt towards Yoon, Kija, even Jae-ha and all the others.
It was more than just wanting to keep him safe and happy, more than just being a family that he was deprived of since childhood.
When he came for her at Awa, rescued her and watched over her, she had never felt safer.
She wanted to stay by his side.
I am so screwed.