The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 10: Intentions Revealed

It quickly garnered the attention of the villagers of the Wind Tribe. Distressed and disgruntled protests rose in volume as Hak started scribbling in the dirt, with Yona watching him intently.

The assassin studied him closely as he calculated the man-power needed to obtain the water through additional sources, and the other aspects that would factor into it. Tae-yeon had leaped to his small feet, asking Yona if it was true that Hak agreed to become the princess' bodyguard because of the money, unaware that she was, in fact, said princess.

Calista caught Hak's flat response of, "Why else would I do it?" And chuckled at Yona's incredulous outcry. Her eyes softened at the sight of the princess' pout.

You'll make him fall for you even more if you aren't careful, Yona.

As Han-dae burst through the crowd, Hak rose to his feet. "Go upstream and investigate. There may be some kind of blockade." He ordered before promptly turning to Calista. "Go with him, make sure he stays out of trouble."

The swiftest rider in the Wind Tribe whined at his Chief's command, but Calista nodded tersely. Unwinding the black cloth from her arm, Calista secured it around her face, obscuring everything but her eyes from sight. She flashed Han-dae a thumbs up and he nodded, uncharacteristically serious. Black floated in the wind as she sped off after the energetic boy.

Hak followed them with his eyes until they disappeared out of his sight. He pushed the lingering unease in the back of his mind. He had a bad feeling about this, the river never dried up like this. 

Hak shook it off.

They'll be fine. He reassured himself, looking down fondly as Tae-yeon attached himself to his leg, the little boy squealing in joy as he lifted it off the floor.

Calista raced along the dense forest floor. She would follow behind Han-dae and stay just out of sight in case there was any trouble, giving them an unforeseen advantage if things turned messy.

She scurried up a tree, starting to jump from each branch to the next. The trees were thick enough to do that here, having been here for hundreds of years. Her shoulder was healing nicely and she had no intentions of disrupting its process by swinging from each branch.

I have enough injuries as it is, no need to add more unnecessarily...

Her eyes widened in astonishment as they landed on the distinct vermilion of the Fire Tribe soldier uniforms. They were creating a blockade to stop the river from reaching Wind Tribe territory!

Han-dae.

He was further in front of her, having always been particularly fast. He was picking a fight with some of the soldiers who were unarmed and she clenched her hands into fist. 

Idiot! You're outnumbered! Calista panicked as she closed in on them.

This wasn't going to end well. 

The assassin sprang down from her spot as she saw them go in to beat him up, intercepting the hits intended for him. She wasn't entirely successful, not getting there fast enough to block all of them with her body. If she drew her blades, it would cause a commotion and be seen as a threat. The last thing the Wind Tribe needed was the Fire Tribe knocking on their front door. 

Han-dae suffered from a few before she got to him, but they looked bad. Calista winced as the soldiers struck her back and she bit her lip to stop any cries of pain from spilling as she felt the barely healed lashes carved into her back reopen.

She shoved Han-dae in front of her, running after him all the way back downstream. Calista positioned herself between Han-dae and the soldiers so she could take out anyone who came after them, but there was no one pursuing them. Their footfalls pounded against the grass as they made their way back to the others.