Dawn of a New World - Akatsuki no Yona

Chapter 38

"A life-threatening job?" Yona asked, slightly confused but also rather curious as to what the captain wanted her to do. "Right now, you're useless baggage." My eye twitched, fists clenching momentarily before I quickly calmed myself. "But if you insist on fighting Kumji with us, you must demonstrate your resolve." I let out a quiet sigh, before placing my hand on my hip, jutting it out as I did so. I guess it did make sense, I mean, Yona doesn't look like she's strong at all. If anything, she looks like the most innocent out of our entire group. Apart from Ao, of course.

Yona tilted her head downwards, gazing towards the ground with her hers narrowed. "My resolve..." She then glanced back up, her eyes wide with determination. "I understand, what do I have to do?" The captain tilted her head to the right, her scrutinizing gaze adamantly stuck on Yona's courageous form. "Pick me some senjuso." All of the pirates that surrounded us gasped in shock. I have no clue as to why though. What could be so bad about picking a simple plant?

The well filled out man that stood next to the captain, stepped forward timidly. "Captain, isn't that-" The captain glanced over her shoulder at the man, "Don't interrupt me." the man flinched, obviously quite afraid of the woman. "You could never do it." she stated bluntly, causing the man to sigh deeply as he turned his gaze to the ground in front of him.

Yoon spoke up after that, asking the question that we had all been thinking, "What's senjuso?" The captain turned back to face us, "It's a valuable medicinal herb that grows only on the Mist-Shrouded Cape... A cure-all that greatly accelerates the healing of illnesses and wounds." Yoon brought his fists in front of him, his eyes sparkling in excitement, "A medicinal herb?"

The captain's eyes narrowed. "With the senjuso, my inured men will recover quickly. In our upcoming battle, we will have great need for it. The man I usually send to pick it is currently injured." She cast a quick glance over her shoulder to the timid man behind her. "IF you'll do it in his place, I'll accept you." Yona immediately nodded in confirmation, "Fine." I allowed myself to smile, she really did want to help in this fight.

The captain spoke once more, "Oh, I forgot to mention..." She then stepped forward towards Yona, before bending forward to be eye level with her. "The senjuso grows in the middle of a sheer cliff. You'll go alone, without anyone's help." Yoon, Ki-Ja and I all let out a shocked gasp. Just as I was about to snap at the woman, Yona answered her. "That was already my intention." Yoon lent over to her, his eyes apparent with worry. "Yona, this is crazy." I stepped forward, crossing my arms over my chest. "I strongly dislike the idea of you going alone, Yona." Yona turned to us, her expression neutral. "Yoon, Amaya, please. This is my job." Yoon and I glanced to one another, our brows furrowed an eyes crinkled with concern.

The captain smiled softly at Yona, obviously pleased with the way that she was responding to this. "Good attitude." She then turned to look over her shoulder towards Jae-Ha, the Green Dragon. "Jae-Ha, show her the way." she commanded. Jae-Ha let out an irritated sigh as he pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning on. "Alright, alright."

Yona began to follow him, "Well, I'm off." just as she was about to turn away from us, I launched myself into her back. I hastily wrapped my arms around her midsection and buried my face into her neck. She stopped, surprised for a moment by my actions before she smiled gently at me, raising her hand to ruffle my hair. I released her after a moment, before placing my hands on both of her shoulders "Please, Yona. Be careful." Yona nodded, ruffling my hair one more time before turning back around. "I'll be back soon."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was currently leaning against the edge of the ship, my fingers tapping along the wood as I attempted to calm myself. Suddenly, the captain let out a hum before standing next to me. "What is it captain?" the timid man from earlier asked. The woman narrowed her eyes towards the ocean. "The water's getting choppy." The man turned to look at the open water, confused since he couldn't see what she had. "Huh? it is?"