Dawn of a New World - Akatsuki no Yona

Chapter 40

Yona and I were leaning against the edge of the ship, overlooking the clear blue water that shimmered along with the moonlight. After the all of the commotion that had occurred after Yona's test, we had both wanted some peace and quiet.

Hearing someone walk up behind us, we both turned to glance over our shoulders, seeing that it was the captain. As always, she was holding her pipe, taking the occasional whiff of it every few minutes. She came over to us and stood in between Yona and I.

"My men are recovering because of the senjuso you brought." She began, glancing to her right towards Yona, who was gazing at her with slight shock in her eyes. "Everyone is grateful to you." She then brought the pipe to her lips as she finished talking. Yona smiled, happy that she could help them on her own accord. "I'm glad."

As the captain releases the smoke out of her lips, she leans forward, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "I don't want to lose anyone else." My brows furrowed, lips pursing as I heard her speak those words. I felt the same way, I could tell that Yona felt like that as well considering the expression on her face.

"Have you lost people?" Yona asked innocently. My eyes narrowed and I immediately began to scold her for her oblivious nature. "Yona!" The captain placed a hand on my shoulder, calming me down with just the look on her face, before she turned back to face Yona. "Of course, we are pirates. Injuries are part of our life. Once this is over, I want to disband my pirate crew, so they can return to living normal lives."

Yona returned her gaze to the vast ocean as she thought over the captain's words. "Really?" she mumbled. Crossing my arms, I lent against the railing next to the captain. "Are you sure you want to do that?" I asked, uncertainty lacing my voice. The captain nodded, a small smile twitching at her lips.

"There's just one problem." she began, Yona and I both turned our gaze to her at the same time, "Problem?" we asked simultaneously. "Jae-Ha." My eyes narrowed in confusion, along with Yona's. "This ship is his home. Because he's different. he feels most comfortable here." In a way, I could understand his feelings. Although I may not be alone, the only time that I feel most comfortable is when Yona is by my side.

"Once the pirates disband, will Jae-Ha be alone?" Yona asks, a hint of concern in her tone. The captain pushed herself upwards, standing upright once more. "Would you take him with you?" She asked, glancing at Yona out of the corner of her eye.

Yona turned her gaze to the railing, where her hands were. "I'd like to, but he doesn't want to go with me." The captain chuckled, "Maybe he's not ready to leave the nest." she teased, although he wasn't anywhere near us.

"That's not true, Captain." Jae-Ha's voice surprised the three of us, me most of all because I had just thought that he was far away from us at the moment. We all glanced up to see him perched a top of the railing on the second level. "I like being alone. Once the pirates are gone, I'll simply do as I please. What good will joining those other dragons do?" I took an abrupt step forward, my hand flying up and my pointer finger was pointed towards him accusingly. "Hey! I take offense to that, mister!"

Jae-Ha chuckled, sending a wink my way, before he turned to look at Yona. "But I'd consider traveling with only Yona." He then pushed himself up, before jumping forward, landing in front of us on the first level of the deck. "Oh, but I'm not interested in looking after a child." He lent forward, his face inches away from Yona's. "I'll join you once you're older."

Yona flinched, taking immediate offense at his words. I raised my hand up into the air silently, before bringing it down swiftly and smacking Jae-Ha upside the head. He winced, bringing his hand up to the back of his head to rub at the sore spot. "Don't you dare mock Yona, ever again!" Yona brought her hands up, clenched into fists as she pouted. "You're so mean, Jae-Ha! You're just like Hak!" She exclaimed before running off.

Jae-Ha seemed to find amusement out of our anger, and raised his hand to his chin, eyeing the spot where Yona had disappeared too. "Oh? interesting." The captain looked up towards him, "How unusual. Usually, you only sweet talk women." Jae-Ha's confident posture faltered for a mere moment. I let out a brief chuckle at the captain's words, before heading off in the direction that Yona gone in.

Once I found her, I saw that she was watching Shin-Ah with rather curious eyes. He was gazing out at the sea, although it was obvious to me that the ocean wasn't what had caught his attention. "Shin-Ah, what's wrong?" Yona asked, curious as to what he had seen.

"Boats are gathering in the harbor." he briefly explained. As I narrowed my eyes, I could feel them shift, the pupils turning into slits. My eyes widened as I could now see what Shin-Ah was seeing. There was a very large amount of boats, many of them carrying men that adorned weapons.

Overhearing what Shin-Ah said as she turned the corner, the captain looked at him with her eyes narrowed. "How many?" Shin-Ah and I glanced at one another, our brows furrowing as we knew that whatever was happening over there, couldn't be anything good. "Seven." Shin-Ah mumbled in response. "Seven ships?" Jae-Ha muttered.

"There is a great deal of men on board the ships, each of them carrying weapons..." I mumbled as I stared at them. The captain let out a dry chuckle. "Is Kumji trying to intimidate us? Interesting." She remarked, apparently amused by this whole situation somehow.

"He's finally making his move." Jae-ha stated, gazing towards the small lights that even he could see across the water. "What's going on? Yona asked, not understanding what was happening."

"The battle is finally starting." She turned towards Jae-Ha, "Gather the men." she ordered, and Jae-Ha immediately did so.

It seems to me that tomorrow is going to be rather interesting.

1068 words

Hey everyone!

I apologize for such a short update after such a long time!

I promise the next chapter will be much longer!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Until next time.

-Tessa