Their New Home (Yona Of The Dawn X Oc)

Chapter 11

Aiko immediately dashed towards where Yoon and Yona were, not bothering to tell Hak where she was going.

Weaving through the streets and alleyways, the black-haired girl felt a growing sense of dread; the soldiers would undoubtedly be able to recognise the princess even with her hood on.

Amidst her frantic thoughts, Aiko rounded the corner and was greeted by the sight of her two companions leaving the restaurant, having already seen the soldiers.

Rushing towards them, she yanked Yoon's hand and dragged him to a nearby alleyway, with Yona following them closely.

They were crouching behind a stack of crates with Aiko still clutching Yoon's hand tightly, prepared to run away the second a Fire Tribe soldier spotted them.

Unfortunately for them, a soldier neared their hiding spot, mere seconds away from finding them. All he had to do was look behind the crates and Yona's freedom would be stolen forever.

Aiko squished herself as close as possible against the wall, praying that the three of them would miraculously blend into the shadows. She felt Yoon stiffen next to her, the fear making his palms sweaty.

The soldier suddenly paused and Aiko trailed a hand to the hilt of her sword. If they were found, she'd have to fight the soldier and allow her companions to escape. It wasn't an ideal situation for an injured person to fight against an experienced soldier, however, it was the best chance they had.

Just before she instructed the other two to run away, the soldier became distracted by a merchant who happened to pass by. The two thankfully walked away, conversing animatedly.

Yona and Yoon slumped in relief simultaneously whereas Aiko remained alert. So alert, in fact, that she was yet to clock onto the fact that she was still gripping onto Yoon's hand.

Yoon was about to comment on that fact, only to feel Yona stiffen behind him. He immediately turned his head and came face to face with Hak, who covered Yona's mouth with his hand.

The Thunder Beast gestured for the group to leave the alleyway whilst glaring at Aiko, annoyed at the fact that she just left him at the weapon's shop without an explanation.

She smiled sheepishly at her brother, feeling only mildly guilty. After all, she was too panicked at the time and wanted to get to her friends as quickly as possible.

Once they had reached a safe distance away from the town, Yona flopped against a tree in relief. It was almost surreal how a single slip-up would've put everyone in danger.

"I'm sorry, I was careless. I shouldn't have left you two alone like that," Hak mumbled, a heavy layer of guilt coating his words.

"No... I... I'm sorry," Yona whispered, head held down, "You're all in danger because of me."

Sighing at the melancholy sight, Aiko chimed in, "What's with this atmosphere? We're alive and fine, right? There's no point in worrying about that mess now!"

"Though we probably shouldn't split up from now on," Hak instructed, clutching his weapon tightly.

"On the topic of splitting up," Yoon finally spoke up, his cheeks flushed slightly, "Can you please let go of my hand?"

Aiko immediately dropped his hand, fumbling for an explanation for her embarrassing behaviour - she genuinely didn't realise she was still holding onto him.

"Geez, and you call me the dirty old man. What about you harassing poor Yoon like that," Hak shook his head whilst sighing in feigned disappointment.

"I swear if grandpa knew about how roughly you treat the princess, he'd beat you to the ground!" Aiko retorted.

Yoon glared in irritation, already feeling a headache form. He could already tell the duo were going to drive him insane.

"Come on, guys, we can't argue all day. Let's head off," Yona suggested, donning a light-hearted smile as she interrupted the argument.

"To the White Dragon!" Aiko cheered, pumping her fist to the air.

Thus, they set off to where the White Dragon was rumoured to be.

Naturally, the process of finding mythical beings was incredibly hard and the trip to the White Dragon's village alone took many days.

Within that length of time, the group grew surprisingly close; Yoon, despite his stubbornness, was easy to get along with and even Hak grew fond of the boy.

Of course, getting along didn't necessarily mean Aiko would spare her companions.

Having finally gotten bored of their mundane routine of walking, hunting and resting, Aiko decided to resume her hobby as a prankster, her main targets being Hak and Yoon.

Ranging from jump scaring to stealing food, the black-haired girl utilised whatever she could to mess with the two males. Something about their reactions was ridiculously entertaining and Yona's delighted giggles made the effort more than worth it.

When she wasn't messing around, Aiko ensured to practice her sportsmanship regularly, training her non-dominant hand so it was as strong as her other.

Typically, Hak would watch her train and offer infuriatingly smug criticisms along with advice which the girl begrudgingly followed.

When Hak wasn't there, Yona would watch Aiko train, occasionally giving her friend supportive cheers. At the start of their journey, the redhead attempted to learn swordsmanship from Aiko only to realise that her lessons were nearly impossible to follow.

Aiko's style of training was chaotic to say the least with the girl constantly switching between complicated techniques for hours. It certainly didn't help that the girl essentially grew up around skilled fighters, meaning she couldn't understand what a beginner like Yona would be capable of.

Thus, Yona gave up on learning from her and resorted to simply watching training sessions.

Every now and then, Yoon would watch too, mostly to ensure Aiko's injuries didn't reopen. Naturally with such a rough training style, that happened multiple times and so the pretty boy genius enforced a time limit on her training sessions, fed up with how often he had to change her bandages.

After over a week of walking, the group reached an area far away from the fire tribe's villages, allowing them to take a break from hiding in the bushes at the mere sound of footsteps.

"It's such a relief to be so far away from the soldiers," Yoon sighed in satisfaction, taking in the surroundings with his bright blue eyes, "Plus, this place is gorgeous."

"Tell me about it, I feel like my soul's becoming cleaner by the second," Aiko commented, walking with her hands behind her back.

"What soul?" Yoon retorted drily.

Aiko gasped dramatically, clutching her chest, "Oh how you wound me! I have a perfectly beautiful soul. So pure you can't even see it!"

"That's exactly what a soulless person would say," Hak chimed in with his typical monotonous voice.

"C'mon guys, I'm sure Aiko has a soul in there somewhere," Yona teased, smiling widely when her friend began protesting angrily.

"Oi, lower your voice. Fire tribe soldiers could still patrol the area," Hak scolded, silencing Aiko's rant.

Yona then turned her attention to Hak all of a sudden, "Hak, I need to learn swordsmanship. You said you'd teach me."

Everyone froze at the declaration and Hak replied, "No I didn't."

"Yes, you did. I need to learn how to fight so I can protect myself and the rest of you," Yona replied, her stance unmoving. Aiko could see the familiar fire in her eyes which made going against Yona almost impossible.

However, for once, Hak seemed equally as stubborn and wasn't shaken by the ex-princess' demands.

'Looks like a fight's breaking out.'

A/N:
Yona's amazing training arc will begin soon meaning I'll have to write more fight scenes... Yay... As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day. <3