The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 173: Guarding the Moment

Two full days later, Yona was the first to regain consciousness where she didn't fall back asleep right after. At first, she had trouble getting a grip on her bearings, but Yoon was able to remedy that with a bit of tea and a hot meal.

To the pretty boy's surprise, the stubborn fighter wasn't far behind the princess. Approximately an hour later, silver eyes finally opened.

At first, she was disoriented and delirious. Yoon didn't touch or approach her, not wanting to unintentionally make things worse, so he kept his distance, only asking her questions in the least intrusive way possible as she slowly came back to herself.

As the seconds ticked by, she pieced herself back, bit by bit until a faint light returned to her eyes.

By the time the dragons returned from their unsuccessful hunt, they were given no time to ponder their frustration or spiraling despair as their combined gazes landed on the two tired, but smiling and relieved expressions of both the girls.

Sunlight streamed in through the open curtains, blanketing the room filled with heavy spirits in a comforting warmth, lifting the atmosphere for the first time in a long while. The first rays of light broke through, bringing with it, the dawn of a new day.

The injured patients were sitting up, the princess draped in nothing but a familiar dark blue coat, and the fighter dressed in simple nightclothes the inn's guards had supplied them with as soon as they caught wind of their injuries. They were going to send a doctor as well to check on them, but Yoon had politely refused, reassuring them that he had it under control.

He did, however, accept some ointment for Yona's back.

"Miss Notch!!" Zeno cried out, tripping over his feet in his haste to get to her and he dove into her, practically snuggling her to death. She caught him clumsily, reaction time much slower than usual, but the hints of a smile crept up on her face as the bundle of joy known as the yellow dragon launched himself at her. "You and the Miss are awake!!"

Hak absentmindedly cleaned off his glaive, choosing to watch quietly from the sidelines as the yellow dragon tackled his sister in a hug. He returned an hour earlier than they did, trading places with Droopy-Eyes seamlessly so that he could pick up where the other left off.

As per their arrangement.

The past two nights, Jae-ha broke off from Kija, Shin-ah, and Zeno, flying back to the inn where they were at and reported their latest findings. Sad to say, it wasn't much, but Hak gladly took the green dragon up on the offer he made at the last minute when the eldest witnessed how bloodthirsty he looked last night.

Being cooped up did nothing to quell the fury festering in his core.

Jae-ha put the suggestion out there quietly, as to not wake the sleeping Yoon positioned between the girls' bedroll, to switch places with him by the princess' side so that he could aid in the search for that bastard.

Hak sighed, banging the blunt end of his weapon against the ground. They weren't that lucky. All of the drug puppets that he, White Snake, Zeno, and Shin-ah ran into weren't willing to talk.

So he took some, rather unsightly, approaches to interrogating them.

Unfortunately, that ended sooner than he would've liked, with not much result in the end. But at least, he was able to work some of his pent up anger out.

Currently, Kija was busy peppering the princess with questions, fervently asking about her wellbeing and if she needed anything at the moment. Meanwhile, Jae-ha hung back alongside the blue dragon fidgeting in place.

Yoon rolled his eyes at the explosion in volume within the last minute. It was too early for them to be this loud. They were giving him a headache.

As soon as Zeno detached himself from the visibly exhausted Calista, who slouched upon his departure, he bounded over to Yona to check on her too and Jae-ha took his place.