Birthright [[Akatsuki no Yona - Jae-Ha]]

Chapter 3

Two days of hiking had gone by before Hak managed to catch Jae-Ha and force him to explain what was really going on. Hak accomplished this by stalking Jae-Ha when he was alone, tackling him, and then sitting on him until the green dragon gave in.

Knowing how stubborn the Thunder Beast could be, Jae-Ha didn't bother trying to actually fight him off. He had been planning on telling him soon, anyways. He just needed to be sure that he wouldn't tell Yona or Yoon just yet since he didn't want either of them fussing over him or worrying about him. Or they might cry, and he absolutely didn't want that right now. He got enough of that from Kija, who kept looking at him with teary eyes.

When Jae-Ha finished explaining, a stormy expression crossed Hak's face. The Thunder Beast stood up from where the two of them had been sitting on the forest floor and paced around the clearing. For a moment, he stopped and stared at Jae-Ha then he spun and landed the blade of his glaive in a tree. His shoulders were tense with anger, and he didn't turn back toward Jae-Ha. "How long?"

"You'll have to put up with me for at least a few more years," Jae-Ha said, trying to sound like it wasn't a big deal. Like he wasn't afraid. "Maybe more. Zeno says that green dragons often live longer than the others after their successors are born. We're stubborn like that."

"Don't joke about it."

"I'd rather tease than the alternative, if you don't mind."

For a few minutes, both of them were silent. Jae-ha fiddled with the ribbon on one of his knives and then got to his feet. The weird sensation was still there, but it was easier to ignore it now. He had a feeling that eventually he would even be able to forget about it sometimes.

Walking over to Hak, he set his hand down on the younger man's shoulder, trying to let him know that it would be all right, sort of. It was easy to think of Hak as being his own age, but the Thunder Beast was only eighteen. It was a lot to take in.

"You can't tell Yona or Yoon," Jae-Ha said, "None of us want them to know yet."

Hak turned around, his eyes wide. "But they need to know. Yona..."

"Might be a little upset by the news," Jae-Ha said, "And I don't want her to resent the new green dragon. He's just a baby."

"I might resent him," Hak snapped. He shrugged off Jae-Ha's hand and viciously tugged his glaive out of the tree trunk. "There's already an annoying green dragon, I don't see why there had to be another one born just yet."

Jae-Ha smirked a little. "It's just the way things are." He appreciated that Hak didn't try to console him or coddle him or anything. Life was hard enough with Kija and Shin-Ah's worry pressing against him, as well as Zeno's deeper sorrow. Jae-Ha wanted everything to go on as it normally did.

Hak rolled his eyes and shouldered his glaive. "We should get back to the others."

"We shouldn't go back empty-handed," Jae-Ha cautioned, "I was hunting before you attacked me, and Yoon's going to expect some kind of game to cook."

"Aren't there dried venison strips?"

"We had those for the last three days," Jae-Ha said, "Everyone would appreciate a warm meal."

Hak made a face and then glanced around the forest, probably looking for animal tracks. "There's a rabbit warren around here somewhere."

Together, they managed to track down and kill a brace of hares before going back to camp. The others were gathered around the campfire, doing various chores or in Shin-Ah and Yona's case, sharpening weapons.

Zeno glanced up at Jae-Ha. "Baby Ryoku is on the move again."

Huh, Jae-Ha hadn't even noticed. Closing his eyes for a moment, he focused on the warm, now-familiar presence of the younger green dragon, noticing that he was indeed traveling again. He actually wasn't very far away now, perhaps one more day's hike to the northeast. "That kid needs to stay still."