The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 134: Healing Slowly

Her body was incredibly weak from the strain she had put it through and since the damage was extensive, she wouldn't be able to bounce back as quickly as she was used to.

Needless to say, she was not a fan of slowing down.

They all agreed to put on hold their travels until she got better, so which she vehemently protested, insisting that she was fine only to shrink back under the weight of their collective glares. Voicing that she was worried she would slow them down, Yona said that she would personally rather wait until she was all better, phrasing it like a statement that wasn't up for debate rather than an opinion.

Calista shut up after that. She had noticed how disheartened the princess was at her state and didn't want to do anything else to upset her.

After giving her some hot broth and changing her bandages, Yona's spirits were lifted.

The next couple weeks of healing that followed was brutal. Calista's body had gotten used to the dangerous conditions it was exposed to and Yoon insisted she needed to be nursed back to health properly if she wanted to continue traveling with them.

She hastily agreed when he threatened to take away her prized daggers and forbid her from fighting, going pale at the unusually serious tone he took with her. Under his directions, she managed to correct her sleep schedule with the aid of Shin-ah in order to let her body get back into the swing of things. And when she had worked up enough energy to sustain a conversation for longer than a few minutes, a healthy appetite followed.

Currently, it was only her, Yoon, Hak and Kija in the cave.

"Oh heavens above, that was you?!" Calista exclaimed incredulously as Yoon filled her in on their little rescue operation complete with his handcrafted smoke bombs. "Holy—"

"Language." Hak interrupted, not looking up from where he was skinning the rabbit that had gotten caught in one of Jae-ha's traps, which he had collected this morning.

She glared at her brother, who was slyly wagging a finger at her.

"You're one to talk." Calista muttered under her breath.

He smirked, not denying it, and she stuck out her tongue at him.

Out of instinct, she went to lunge at him like she used to whenever he would tease her but she forgot about her injuries only to be shocked back into reality when her ribs protested.

Yoon's head snapped towards her and after giving her an earful and scolding her harsher than he normally did, she apologized.

"I forgot." She smiled sheepishly and she winced as he glared at her.

"How could you forget, you stupid fighter?!" He burst out, jabbing an accusing finger at her forehead since she was no longer concussed. "You can't go around fighting people after every single remark!! It was bad enough when you were just stubborn but now you're stubborn and injured, so NO MOVING!!!"

Hak taunted her from afar, making faces and she had enough. But it turned out that she didn't even need to tattle on him since Yoon apparently had eyes in the back of his head.

"And you!!" The youngest snapped, whipping around to dig a finger into his chest. "No instigating her or else."

The temperature dropped ten degrees as the threat sunk in and Jae-ha got in between them, smoothing over the situation.

"Now, now, perhaps there's a better way to resolve this." He mediated.

"I have a solution." Calista said offhandedly, pretending to snap her fingers since she couldn't actually do it at the moment.