"Wait, I meant 'didn't'!! I don't feel that way anymore!!" Calista hastily corrected the last part to past tense when Yona burst into tears and Hak smacked her over the head.
"Ow, ow, ow!! Okay, ouch!! What the heck, Marshy, that hurt!!"
Her brother's eyes were dark. "Don't speak so carelessly then, Bat-Ears."
She stopped rubbing the sore spot on her head when she spotted all of their saddened expressions.
"Yah, I meant I used to not care!! I care now because of all of you, but I didn't before— Ack, Hak!! That hurts!!"
Waving her hands frantically to create to some distance, her gaze darted around nervously as they all closed in on her.
"Take it back, Calista." Kija glowered, no trace of his usual optimism anywhere to be seen.
"Wah, Kija!! What are you doing?!?!" She shrieked as his claw grew twice its normal size.
Jae-ha had a dangerous look in his eye. "Who made you feel this way, Calista dear? It's very important you answer this for me."
"... I really rather not."
"Miss Notch doesn't realize how much she means to everybody!!" Zeno cheered, dissipating the tense atmosphere almost instantly.
After reassuring the princess that she genuinely didn't mean what she had accidentally said, Yona was convinced and cheered up. They went off to their assigned posts after Yoon had given her a very thorough lecture, one she had barely listened to until he hit her over the head.
Then, she listened very attentively.
She had been going around, assisting the elderly and fixing their houses, tending to their needs while Zeno kept the children occupied with games.
Hak went with Yona to Shuu Village, and the last she heard was that Jae-ha went to go check on Shin-ah to make sure he was alright. Because he was pretty far away, the green dragon could get to him in a heartbeat with his leg, so he was the best choice out of all of them.
Calista's head snapped towards the sounds of a racket being kicked up, quickly tying her mask over her face. Darting lightly across the crumbling shingles, she clambered down once she saw a group of people heading her way. The violent shouts that followed made her brow crease in fury as she saw the helpless villagers getting pushed around.
Fire Tribe soldiers...
They knew they would be back, and they were only lucky it was today and not yesterday. She focused on the sounds of the skirmish, waiting for a hiccup in their attacks before she made her move.
What she didn't expect was the sound of a pebble hitting one of their helmets, along with a very determined yet small shout of, "Get out of Katan Village!!"
She admired the little girl's bravery, but feared for her safety. Flashes of Tae-sik slipping through her grasp flew through her mind, and she pushed it back, trying to maintain a clear conscience.
"Don't!!" Calista peered around the corner to see Yoon grab the child to stop her from doing anything else to the officers. "You have to go hide!!"
He caught her eye past their ranks and she silently told him to keep still.
Neither of them made a move and she followed Yoon's eyes as he stiffened, trying to determine the source of his agitation. Then, she noticed the gold thread on the robe of the one the little girl threw a rock at.
He's a noble...
She cursed inwardly. If there was a noble among the soldiers and not just an ordinary official, then they were in trouble. News of their appearance as bandits had probably reached them, and she could only guess that they were here to subdue them.
Stepping out of the shadows, she didn't even flinch as fifty spears were instantly pointed at her throat. She held up her hands in surrender, silver gaze flickering to the noble who was staring at the ground, observing him closely.
He had to be a strategist at the very least. He would see that she wasn't a threat, or deem her one and try to finish her off. She was ready for anything.
"I'm sorry I was born!!" He wailed sorrowfully.
Nope, she wasn't ready for that.
Calista nearly tripped over her feet at the unexpected remorse. She caught Yoon's eye and he shrugged helplessly at her, knees still knocking together in fear at the soldier's appearance.
A man with dark hair pulled back in a bun and a chubby face gestured to the noble who had fallen to his knees. "This person is currently sensitive, so please don't say mean things to him."
He's crying?!?!
Now, she was really bewildered.
Just who is this guy...
The little girl stuttered out an apology in response from Yoon's side and the noble's aide, the one with dark hair, strode forward. Calista prepared herself to spring forward to intercept him if he made a move to hurt either of them, but it wasn't necessary.
"Don't worry, I also want to throw rocks at him sometimes." His deadpan expression had her cocking her head to the side at the unusual response.
A shadow she had caught moving out of the corner of her eye had her mouth quirking up in a lopsided grin underneath the fabric obscuring her expression, and she widened her stance ever so slightly.
"You said you're here to capture the bandits, right?" Yoon questioned with a slight smirk, his eyes glinting in the sunlight.
"Yes..." The official responded warily, unsure of what he was getting at.
Calista winked confidently at Yoon and he grinned back at her.
"Then it's about time to get our work started, isn't it?"
She burst through the crowd, ignoring the scrapes from their spears as she shoved him and the little girl into an alley the same time several knives rained down on the unsuspecting soldiers from above.
"Thank you for your hard work, government officials." Jae-ha licked his lips, smirking in satisfaction at their cries of pain.
One soldier tried to run, but his path was immediately blocked by another figure.
"Where are you going?" Kija's serious face was extremely intimidating. The corner of his mouth curled up in a malicious smirk and she almost forgot that this was the same guy that blushed at anything remotely suggestive. "Weren't you looking for us?"
Their screams increased as they finally realized the dragons were the bandits, and Calista twirled her daggers, jumping into the fray. She only did enough damage to impair them from fighting back, not keen on taking any lives.
She had seen enough death on both sides.
But she did cut a little deeper when one of them called Jae-ha and Kija monsters, not fond of the word that made the absent blue dragon hide himself away from the world.
You shouldn't call them monsters... She mused in her head as she fought with only half of her attention, the other part of her making sure to keep an eye on Yoon and the child in the corner in case anyone tried to sneak up on them. They're more virtuous than some of you scum.
With the rest of the soldiers defeated, the trio marched towards the man cowering on the ground.
The noble who was wailing earlier froze at the sight of Kija's claw.
Calista's eyes widened as he hurled him through the air without hesitation, then silently applauded him. Kija spun around, still battle-hungry, but that diminished once he saw how the lethal assassin was getting a kick out of how effortless it was to launch a full-grown man out of the village.
"How mean..." He pouted.
Calista's grin widened as Jae-ha snickered at his soft side. Over the next couple of days, Kija was in charge of continuously flinging the returning Fire Tribe soldiers from Katan Village. Jae-ha was lounging around while Yoon tended to the sick, knowing that there wasn't anything to be afraid of while they were there, but she felt on edge for some reason.
Maybe it was not having the others within sight due to Hak and Yona checking on Shuu Village, but something was off. The nobleman hadn't come back with his soldiers in a day, and Kija thought that maybe he had given up.
However, she wasn't as optimistic.
Jae-ha teased him that maybe he didn't like flying through the air at unreal speeds and Kija nearly swiped the green dragon's beautiful face off.
That didn't seem to deter the older dragon and his younger brother hissed irritably, striking at him again before she interfered, not wanting either of them to accidentally get the other hurt while they were on duty.
Yesterday, Jae-ha had moved the tent to the edge of town so that he didn't have to carry Yoon back and forth every hour to check up on Shin-ah. But one look in the empty tent made her slap a hand to her forehead.
He had gotten out again.
Ugh, Shin-ah. She thought fondly to herself as she left in search of the wandering, blue dragon. You're going to be the death of me.