When Fates Intertwine And Create The Dawn - Shin-ah x (OC)

Chapter 12 - Towards That Burning Dawn

A/N - BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THE FINALE COMING DID YAH?!  I will explain more in a final A/N after this chapter.  Until that...

ENJOY~!!!!

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Evening came quickly for the group and by the time the sun had began to set behind the mountains, Alice's strength had vanished. Her earlier adrenaline gone, and her body fatigued. Transforming always took a giant tole on her human body, so she kept it to a minimum, but she had no choice that day, she had to protect her friends. She was walking slowly behind the group as they all gathered in a spot to stop for the night. Shin-ah took notice of this and stopped until she slowly caught up with him. She stopped beside him and looked at him as he stared at her through his mask. She smiled at her reassuringly, silently saying she'd be fine, as she didn't even have the strength or willpower to speak.

He quickly hoisted the redhead up on his back as she quickly clung to his shoulders as he held her legs on either side of him. She still had nothing but Yona's cloak as a means for clothing, so her legs that Shin-ah held to support her weight were bare and much to Jae-ha's delight as he just stared at her. Shin-ah sent a silent glare to him as he shrugged.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again, Little Miss here has some sexy legs." Alice chuckled at the green dragon as she began to yawn. The steady walking of Shin-ah, combined with the soft noises of the forest and the warmth of his back began to pull her into a tempting slumber. She slowly let her hands that rested on his shoulders slide forward as her arms not dangled on his chest and her head rested on one of his shoulders as her breath escaped in even breaths.

Shin-ah smiled slightly at the girl who just fell asleep on his back as the group took notice of her sleeping figure they decided to stop and rest for the night. Yun had began to prep for something to eat and Kija and Zeno went to find some usable wood for a fire. Hak sat around, doing nothing as did Jae-ha and Yona tried her best to help Yun, he teaching her the basics of cooking.

Shin-ah had slowly lowered himself to the ground to where Alice's bare toes began to scrape the dirt on the ground and he slowly lowered her to lay on the ground. She stayed asleep the entire time, her fatigue must've been worse than she lead on to be, she was normally a very light sleeper, as she acquired the skill to wake to the slightest noise, thanks to the constant abuse from her village. Shin-ah removed his fur from his mask as he draped it over the cloaked young woman. He then took a seat beside her and took one of her small pale hands into his, holding on tightly, not leaving her side as she slept until he had to.

During the night, Jae-ha had taken Shin-ah to a camp where the man had fled to and taken back her kimono, so that she wouldn't have to go through another phase of not having anything decent to wear, and while they were visiting, they decided to take care of a few.. Errands. They returned fairly quickly thanks to Jae-ha's power and even had enough time to get a few hours of rest themselves.

They were going to just come and go quietly, taking the clothes they needed, but something in the both of them began to run wild as it pulsed through their hearts. That feeling was the feeling of pure rage and fury. Every dragon warrior felt so close to her, and now they felt even more so knowing that she was so much like them. The thought of her past as well as the stunt they pulled earlier on trying to take Alice didn't set well with the two that were there, so they let their instincts kick in and they decided to make a little bit of noise. They had made their way to the center of the campus, taking out anyone on the way who tried to stop them and soon they came face to face with an old man with a scar covered by an eyepatch. His face was stone and he sat on a chair, unwavering as the two dragons glared at him.

"I see that we have a rodent problem this evening." Jae-ha took a small step forward as she crossed his arms.

"I'm assuming you're the geezer who sent those men after the Little Miss then?" The man closed his only visible eye as he let out a gruff huff of breath. He acted like he had no idea what Jae-ha was talking about, which pissed him off even more than he already was. "Don't you act like you don't know what I'm talk about! The young girl with the red hair and golden eyes! The dragon you ordered your men to capture!" The man had a small, sly grin on his face as the mention of this.

"You know boy," His voice was rough with age, "that does sound familiar. Perhaps my mind would be refreshed if she was brought here and I could take a look at her." Jae-ha's eyes hardened as he was fully ready to fight and from the silence and vibe he was picking up from Shin-ah, he wasn't alone in his feelings. However, Jae-ha did have the sense to process his wants and then decided to deny them. Say they were to cause a huge scene, start a fuss with these criminals, what would it really benefit for them? Yes, Alice wouldn't have to deal with them anymore, but who's to say that they are the only ones who know about her. They must know more people, people like them.

Instead, they just caused the rest of the camp extreme chaos. They left that night, a heavy sign of warning hanging in the air, a threat, that if they came near Alice again, they wouldn't be so lucky. Besides, Alice wouldn't find comfort in their deaths anyways, it would more than likely make her even more sick with herself. The walk back, or rather the journey, everything was silent. Shin-ah spent such a long time gazing up at the moon in his strides, the moon and the stars that surrounded it reminding him that back with Yona, and his friends, was the girl he cherished most.

When they both walked back into the sight of their camp, Jae-ha grinned over at Hak who cracked his eye open at the two of them.

"You too were gone for quite a while." Jae-ha shrugged his shoulders as he closed his eyes and still held his grin on his face.

"That's quite true, but also not your business Mr. Beasty-Boy." Hak squinted his eyes at the green dragon then looked over to Shin-ah who had already started making his way towards Alice's sleeping form. The fur he placed on her back was still there, unmoved as was she. Her breathing was easy and Shin-ah took a seat next to her head, crossing his legs. He took her clothes out from the inside of his shirt's folds and placed them neatly folded beside him as he now used his free hand to brush around her bangs.

Soon the blue dragon had felt his eyes grow heavy and soon they slid closed, him leaning his back against a tree as he slept. The sun had began to rise over the horizon hours laters and with the sun, the golden, reptilian irises of Alice's began to crack open. Alice's eyes hadn't reverted to normal, remaining in the state that caused her to change. They always lingered around for a few days before her eyes reverted to their semi normal standard. She sat up as her hair fell in front of her face as her eyes were narrow and blank as she stared out into the forest.

Her instincts to be free were still on overdrive as she restrained the gut feeling to run and become lost into the wildlife. Her eyes shone as she slowly averted her gaze to her hand that she had finally felt pressure on. Her hand was balled, palm down on the ground, a gloved hand covering her, keeping her down. This brought a sense of recognition into her and she was able to gather herself and think.

She couldn't run, not any more. She needed to stay with the people she trusted. The people she saw as her family now. She needed to stay with Shin-ah the man she fell in love with. She let her lips pull back into a smile. She decided there, as she raised Shin-ah's hand and placed a kiss on his knuckles, that she wouldn't be going anywhere. Not unless they were with her. If they ever wanted to leave her someone, fine so be it, but if she had any say in it' right here is where she was staying.

Her future looked bright as she continued forward. She followed her own fate, and along the way her's got entangled in so many. She walked brightly on wards towards the horizon with everyone by her side. Onwards towards the bright horizon that brought a bruning, new dawn.