The Second Bodyguard || Re-written (Any x oc)

Chapter 30

"You got a falcon!?" Yoon screeched, his body jolting from his place on the floor and his face paling in horror. Azumi watched with a blank expression as all eyes turned to her, raising an eyebrow or cocking their head in confusion.

"This is the 'all great' plan you thought of?" Hak asked incredulously, watching Yoon grab at his hair and pull at it furiously. The boy already had to deal with a bunch of childish dragons who attracted attention with every breath they took. He had heard that birds were demanding and he wouldn't be able to deal with it.

"Yeah, yeah. Say whatever you want. I need a messenger bird and this is the best one I could find" Azumi harrumphed, placing a hand on her hip sassily and pouting slightly at her friend's distrust in her plans. The bird, seeing so many people around it, curled into Azumi's side and bowed its head nervously, which was something that many in the tent noticed instantly.

"It looks just like..." Hak breathed out for a second, his eyes widening as he got a second to truly study the beautiful bird. His gaze flickered to Azumi to find her smiling sadly at him, before brushing it off and turning back to the strawberry-blonde who had calmed down slightly after learning why she bought a bird.

"A messenger bird? Who do you need to send a message to? I thought we were preventing war, not gathering troops" Yoon spoke incredulously, his eyebrow rising as he sent Azumi a disapproving look. Azumi sighed loudly, rolling her eyes and pouting at her friends with a half-hearted glare while Jae-ha shrugged away the questioning looks he got.

"Trust me on this one, yeah? What's important right now is that I've found the information I needed and now I need to fix this bird's injury" Azumi sulked, stalking across the room to Yoon's discarded bag to grab herbs. Yoon opened his mouth to question her words, before silencing himself at the grim expression on Jae-ha's face. Deciding that he didn't want to know, Yoon sat back in his spot on the floor and the conversation continued on without a hitch, Jae-ha now joining.

Azumi kneeled down in the corner of the tent, ignoring Algira and his cats' inquisitive expression about a bird being in the room along with the boisterous conversation over her shoulder. Azumi set the bird on her lap and began to observe the injuries littered across the bird's body with a grimace on her face and her shoulders tensed in disgust. Azumi flinched slightly when a finger lightly poked her shoulder and she turned to find Shin-ha, whose bandaged face was pulled into a slightly distraught expression. He gestured to the bird and Azumi held out the bird hesitantly, before watching him gently shift the bird to point out all the injuries. Azumi's expression softened into a smile as she sat across from Shin-ha and used his incredible eyesight to quickly heal the bird to the best of her ability. As she worked, the bird seemed to realise that she wasn't a threat, and she was actually helping, along with the blue dragon. The bird slowly settled into Azumi's warm hands and fell asleep for the first time in god knows how long.

Azumi chewed on her lip as she worked, finishing up and looking up to send Shin-ha a bright grin. He probably avoided the conversation because he wasn't social enough to include himself in it, but Azumi was grateful nonetheless. Azumi then lifted the bird up carefully and placed it into Shin-ha's lap, making the blue-haired male flinch slightly in surprise. Azumi watched as Shin-ha's expression softened and the smallest of a smile curled across his lips as he began to lightly brush the bird's back, avoiding its injuries. Azumi settled down beside Shin-ha in case the bird woke up and freaked out, though she highly doubted it, and pulled out equipment to start writing. She settled against Shin-ha's shoulder, getting comfortable, and she began to scribble down on the page with Ao nestled into the crown of her ponytail and Shin-ha slowly settling down as he got used to the unexpected contact.

Eventually, while she was writing the letter Shin-ha was called to go get food with the other dragons so the bird was moved to her lap and Azumi shifted her weight onto the tent. As the letter drew to a close, Azumi let out a sigh and glanced down at the bird. She really needed this letter to get to the castle, so she would have to force the bird to fly. Although it was injured, the bird was injured in a way that would make it able to fly which was a horrifying thought Azumi quickly dismissed. Gently shaking the bird awake, Azumi attached the letter to its ankle and walked outside with the bird on her shoulder. Pointing towards the capital of Kouka, Azumi spoke to the bird and within a minute it was off into the air and spiralling through the currents of the winds towards the King of Kouka. Azumi stood there for a moment, watching the bird disappear into the distance before there was a small tug on the cuff of her shirt. Azumi glanced over to find Yoon with his shawl over his shoulders, his bag of wonders slid over his shoulder and a bored expression on his face.