Yoon roamed off on his own, looking around at the village that surrounded him.
He knew that this place was part of Kouka's land and part of the Fire Tribe in the past. The housing kind of reminded him of it. The climate here was even harsher than back home, but the villagers had provisions saved up and livestock roaming around.
Things were the best, but they certainly were a lot better than the villages in the Fire Tribe.
Kneeling down, he felt the soil, wondering if it was different but it didn't feel like it. He found a small pond shortly after, and was impressed that they were able to store it in a place as barren as this.
His eyes widened as he spotted a large basket in the corner of a nearby hut, sprinting over to it eagerly.
Calista jumped as she heard someone yell, "Thief!!", in the distance and without a second thought, she zipped over to the source of the sound. She rounded the corner just in time to see Yoon getting confronted by an elderly man.
"Did you come to steal our iza seeds?!?!" He shouted angrily at him, and in a flash, she was in between them, tugging Yoon behind her.
His eyes flew open as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and his jaw dropped in shock.
The old man's eyes narrowed at her. "Who are you?! Are you with this thief?!"
She suppressed the instinctive urge to reach for her knives, but didn't answer him. Her silver eyes remained guarded and she cocked her head to the side, studying him closely.
Yoon shot out from behind her, despite her growl of protest not to move and he waved his hands desperately. "No!! You're mistaken!! We're not thieves!!"
He hastily explained how they were traveling entertainers, brought into the village by Aro for the festival. The elder's eyes lit up, and his suspicions cleared the tiniest bit.
"Are you a dancer?"
Calista and Yoon exchanged a puzzled glance and he repeated his question, with a little more of an edge that caused the boy to stutter out a yes.
"I see..." The old man mused idly. "It can't be helped if you're a dancer."
Her brow furrowed as her confusion grew and she subtly shrugged her shoulders, catching Yoon's look of helplessness.
"Hey, you said those were iza seeds, right?" He questioned the old man. "They look like millet, but what kind of crop is it?"
The elder's head whipped towards him with a ferocity that had Calista flinching, her eyes guarded. "What? You don't know what iza is? Where are you from?"
She drew closer to Yoon's side as he flung the questions one after another, without giving them a chance to answer him. Jabbing his ribs secretly, her eyes urged him to follow her lead.
Yoon played along without missing a beat. "Well, all I do is dance, so I don't know."
"... I see. It can't be helped if you're a dancer."
She raised an eyebrow at his words. He had the same three phrases he used over and over again. But then after a pause, the old man launched into a detailed explanation that had her catching the pretty boy's gaze in shock.
"When this land went from Kouka's land to the Kai Empire's land, we received this crop from the North. You crush the seeds to turn them into powder. If you mix water and milk with it, you can make dumplings, grill them and then eat them."
Yoon's eyes held awe as he helped the old man move the large basket holding the precious seeds outside. "Are the things you receive from the North strong against cold and parched conditions, too?"
"Yes." The elder confirmed. "It doesn't need as much water as rice crops. It has good preservation as well."
The boy's mouth parted slightly in surprise. "Preservation?"
Pointing at the seeds, the old man explained, "We put those iza crops in that hamper ten years ago, and there's still plenty to eat."
Calista's eyes practically bulged out of her head at that new information. Ten years was a long time, but to pair that with the shelf life of a crop was incredibly rare and extraordinary. If it still retained all of its nutrients in that span of time, then they were looking at the very thing that could push the Fire Tribe out of the poverty they were in.
The elder chuckled, spotting the sparkle in her eyes as they flashed into view from underneath her hood, but then, his smile dropped.
"You can't have it."
Yoon let out a noise of confusion. "Eh?"
"You can't have the iza."
Calista stepped forward, sensing the growing tension. "We didn't ask for any."
The old man looked surprised to hear her speak, but didn't verbally acknowledge it.
Yoon was getting nervous. "W-Why not? I haven't even said anything yet!!"
Shooting him a sharp look, the elder ranted, "You've been fascinated by it this whole time!! Your face says it all, you strangers!! We go to great hardships to grow the iza seeds, and we will continue protecting this land!!"
Calista sheltered Yoon with her body as the old man screamed at them unforgivingly. Her ears were ringing by the time he finally finished, and she looked down to make sure the youngest was okay. He nodded up at her, eyes wide, and she gave him an encouraging smile.
Crossing his arms over his chest, the old man bargained with them. "If you have 100,000 Gin, then you can have a bag."
Yoon winced at the outrageous number, not to mention that they didn't have any of this country's currency. Calista's mind hummed at the prospect.
If I can get down there, maybe I can earn enough to persuade him to give us a little...
"I can't give you a bag, but I can let you have a taste of it though."
Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Calista eyed him warily. He told them that at the festival tonight, he would treat them to some dumpling soup made from iza seeds.
The elder sneered. "I have one condition in exchange for that."
Yoon's gaze found the fighter's and she shook her head, but it wasn't enough to deter him off. Ten minutes and a lot of fancy clothing later, the two were running back to the others.
"Yona!!"
The princess' head turned sharply at Yoon's call, still in the same position that Calista had left her in. A flicker of amusement passed over Jae-ha's expression.
Yona leaped up to her feet when she saw his clothes. He was wearing some sort of dancing costume, had on slippers and decorative ornaments in his hair. "Yoon, you look cute!! What's the deal with that outfit?"
"It's awful!! Please help me!!" Resting his hands on his knees, Yoon panted heavily. "I found a good crop in this village called the iza seed..."
Yona's feminine features contorted in approval, deeply impressed. "As expected from you, Yoon. You work fast."
"There's an old man who has the iza seeds and he won't give us any, but he told me that he would let us eat the iza cooking if I wore this and danced at tonight's festival."
Eyes lighting up in excitement, Yona exclaimed, "A dancer? That sounds great!! I want to see you too!!"
Calista helped Yoon up and he braced himself against her, stressed out. "I don't know how to dance!! But I want to try the iza cooking!!"
If the crop really was as useful as the old man had made it seem, then it would be incredibly valuable to the Fire Tribe if they could bring even a little back.
Yoon's hands gripped Yona's shoulders. "Yona!! If I recall, dancing and harp are your forte, right?!"
Her eyes crinkled as she flashed him a guilty smile. "I never said they were my strong point, just that I can do them a little..."
"You can do it though, right?!" Yoon cried out.
"But that old man wants to see you dance, right?" The princess replied. "There's no point if it's not your cute appear—"
"YOU'RE THE CUTE ONE, YONA!!!"
Her expression blanked at his words and Calista held back her laughter as Yoon tripped over his sentence trying to repair the damage he let slip out. Jae-ha chuckled under his breath as he saw the younger two interact. They were adorable.
"Hm? You're going to dance, Princess?"
The fighter glanced up as a shadow loomed over her and her grin widened.
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stop?" Hak's teasing smirk grew and Yona twitched irritably. "That waddling chick dance—"
"I'll do it!!" She declared firmly, clenching her hand into a fist determinedly.
Yoon's eyes lit up in relief. "Thank you, Yona!!"
With that settled, the sun finally began to set, casting its fiery glow over the village. Aro and a couple of her friends spun around the fire in the town square as people gathered around and began clapping in time with the music.
Zeno joined in with the dance seamlessly, leaving the rest of them to wonder how he managed to make it look so easy.
Yoon relayed to them the lore behind the Fire Festival, and his bright, blue eyes saddened as he recalled the battle that split the land between the Fire Tribe and the Kai Empire. It cost a lot of lives, and the villagers here were afraid of another one happening again.
The dances were offered up to appease the spirits so that they may grant them peace during a time of unrest.
Yona played with her fingers anxiously. "Right... Then I have to do a proper dance even more now."
"It's okay. It looks like the villagers just want a lively, noisy festival to invite good fortune." Hak reassured her before sending her a sidelong glance that looked all too smug to be comforting. "It's a safe bet that your chick dance will make them swell with laughter.
Calista smacked him upside the head for that comment just as Yona puffed out her cheeks indignantly. "Hak!! You may not know but I practiced!! I did it to show Soo-won—"
The siblings froze as they heard her speak his name and the princess gasped as she realized her mistake. They were silent for a beat as she fumbled over her words before a hand reached out and patted her shoulder.
Calista walked away from them, leaving Hak and Yona alone.
The Thunder Beast straightened up as the red-haired princess' gaze lowered guiltily. Her eyes flew open as Yoon's voice broke them out of their trance.
"You had something like this? It's really pretty." Her heart dropped as she saw what he was holding in his hand. "You should wear it when you dance."
Swiping it from him, Yona clutched the hairpin tightly to her chest. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, and tears pricked at the corner of her eyes.
"... It's alright. You don't have to panic." Hak's low baritone was uncharacteristically soft. "What you do with that is up to you."
She didn't know, but he knew. He knew how she practiced every day to show her cousin, only to back out at the last minute, overcome with a shyness she couldn't get past. He knew the depth of her affection for him, and the fact that she couldn't get rid of that trinket meant that she still hadn't let go.
It doesn't matter if she never sees me that way. I will always love her.
Across the quiet street, a little ways away from the festivities going on around the bonfire, Calista watched them with troubled, silver eyes. Shin-ah was sitting on the ground next to where she stood, petting Ao on her head to soothe himself.
He was feeling nervous ever since those girls had cornered him, and somehow being near his girl was the only thing that calmed him down.
Meanwhile, all Calista could think about was how annoyed and aggravated she felt when they tried to take off his mask. It was clear that he was uncomfortable with it, and she didn't appreciate someone she deeply cared about under that much stress.
She looked away from him as an unfamiliar emotion wedged itself in her heart, and she was taken aback at how rigorously coursed through her veins.
Noticing the shift in her mood, Shin-ah tilted his head up curiously.
"Calista...?" He called out softly and despite everything that had happened in the last couple of days, his quiet voice brought out a smile on her face.
"I'm alright, Shin-ah."
But behind his mask, his eyes remained unconvinced. He thought perhaps he had let it go on for too long. His hand outstretched to her, and she let him guide her to sit in between his legs. As her back met his chest, her face grew hot at the warmth that spread throughout her body as he wrapped his arms around her.
Here, they were hidden from most of the villagers, giving them their own little bubble of privacy for the time being.
She sighed as his head thumped against hers and her eyes closed, his steady heartbeat slowing her own down. Brushing her hair back behind her ear, her body shivered as she felt his breaths fan out across her ear.
"... I'm scared..." Shin-ah confessed in his usual, reserved way, voice trembling as he navigated uncharted waters. "Something happened... that you're not telling me."
Calista inwardly grimaced. She thought she could get it past him if she was careful, but it seemed like all she did was worry him in the process.
"Please..." He pleaded. He couldn't help her if he didn't know what was going on and he was beginning to think her safety was in jeopardy. "What's going on?"
She hesitated for too long.