Before (Akatsuki No Yona)

|03| The Distant Sky

3 days have passed since Hak, I and Yona escaped from Kouka.

_____Your POV_____

Currently, we wander around the mountains in seek of a temporary shelter.

As we walked, Yona suddenly fell down on her knees.

"Hak, let's take a break," I said as I supported Yona towards a nearby tree where she silently sat.

"Go get some water Hak" I told him. He replied with a nod and walked away to search for water.

"Princess Yona, please close your eyes and rest. We won't be in a rush" I told her gently with a pat on her shoulder.

"...Alright..."

-time skip-

Your POV

I have been playing with the grass for a while now when I noticed that Yona is still in slumber.

She's still asleep?

I took a glance at her sleeping form when her body suddenly shivered and jolted up awake.

At once, I jumped from my position to take a look. Looking at her sweaty and shaky figure, I figured that she must have suffered a horrid nightmare.

"(Y-y/n)" was all she breathed out with her cracked voice before I quickly hugged her in instinct.

"Shh, shh, It's okay..."

I gently stroke her back to ease her mental state when I suddenly heard footsteps.

Looking into the direction from where it came from, I saw that it was Hak who came with a bucket filled with water.

At first, Hak's expression was very normal before it morphed into one of concern when his eyes reached the girl in my arms.

"Why is Yona crying?"

"I have no idea," I answered, laying her against the tree again as she sat there and once more closed her eyes.

Hak turned to Yona and opened his mouth to speak. "Why ar--" I pressed my index finger on his lips to quickly shut him up.

"Quiet Hak, let the princess rest"

"Ok then if you insist"

- time skip (Again?) -

Your POV

Hak finished setting up a camp before daybreak. Right now, he is about to 'cook' the fresh fishes he caught a couple of hours ago.

"Do you want some?"

Hak presents a grilled fish to Yona like presenting a gift.

"No but thank you" she responded, waving it off.

"Princess, you must eat to replenish your-" Looking at her in concern, I wasn't able to finish my sentence when Yona suddenly stood up and said, "I...I have to go pee"

After sharing a glance with Hak, a sigh left my lips as Hak reminded Yona "Remember to shout if something comes up"

Yona only nodded before she left to do her business.

(Y/n) : Will she be ok?"

Hak : "Trust her (y/n), she's gonna be fine"

- time skip (Oh god here's another one) -

Your POV

"Isn't she taking a bit too long?"

Just right after I finished my sentence, a scream resounded from behind us.

At once, my body jolted up in a panic.

"Princess!"

After immediately sprinting to the source of the scream, Hak and I found Yona... in the middle of a snake nest.

When we were running to find Yona, everything felt like a blur, there was this faint smell of bergamot from somewhere, the scent wasn't that strong but for a moment, it did made my vision swirl and head ache.

For some reason, I was sure that i've smelled it before from somewhere.

Snapping out of the trance I was in, before I even knew it, there was this small but incredibly fast snake that was about to bite Yona. Thankfully, Hak had leapt forward and shielded her from the bite.

Gasping in surprise, I assisted Hak as he walked "Sit down for a moment Hak, let me handle this"

After taking him to a nearby tree where he silently sat with Yona, I am now surrounded by a dozen of snakes, hissing as they slithered towards my direction. Of course, they did not get to reach me with their long ass tongues as they soon flew up to the sky after a single swing of the still sheathed Spear of Wind.

Hak : "This must be the reason why the townspeople of Kouka calls you a hero!"

(Y/n) "Huh? What are you talking about?"

At once, my eyebrows rose 3 inches up, my head slightly tilted to the side in confusion.

What on earth is Hak talking about?

After dealing with the snake infestation, I helped Hak with his bitten ankle, asking him if the snake is venomous.

In response, he answered that it was only a garter snake. Back then, because of the headache I was having, I wasn't able to see the snake for myself but I did know about garter snakes and they are totally harmless. Like most snakes, they may defend themselves if threatened, but one garter snake will rarely result in any injury- unless there was a dozen of them...

Was it only an accident? Did Yona just had a bad luck to have encountered a dozen of garter snakes, got scared, threatened them, then resulted for the bunch to attack her?

And was it only a coincidence that a faint smell made my vision swirl and head ache, perfectly timed when Yona was about to be bitten?

For me, this all sounds premeditated.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I carefully cleaned Hak's wounds, and wrapped bandages around his ankle.

Meanwhile, Hak scolds Yona for going alone in such a dangerous place.

"I was wrong for trusting you that you'd be fine alone"

Hak flicks Yona's forehead as the other flinched and shouted, "That hurts! Don't flick my forehead!"

Hak and Yona bickered for a while as I silently watched them with a smile.

These two nutheads sure has a weird kind of bonding.

In the end, Hak was the one to gave up and hand over Yona's hair ornament.

Yona's hair ornament?

Looking closely, the ornament do look quite familiar..

Wait.

Isn't that Soo Won's gift to Yona?

Why is it in Hak's possession?
_________________________________

Word Count: 1007 words! (｡>﹏<｡)

Next Chapter: |04| The Wind Tribe