The Varied Path (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction)

Chapter 33: Former Pawn

Whoosh.

A blur passed in front of Yoon's eye, blinding him as he was grabbed by Calista, who fell from the sky. Hak followed, not far behind, pushing Yona and Kija in front of him. Shoving them all into a back alley, the former general pressed the princess and the white dragon up against the wall, shielding everyone with his body. 

Yoon and Calista were ushered further inside, struggling ceasing from the pretty boy as her silver eyes flashed in warning. His eyes widened, mouth opening, but before he could make a sound, she slapped a hand over his mouth as a few officials passed by.

They waited until all of the officers were out of sight.

Hak breathed a sigh of relief. Carefully, he poked his head out to see the officials' uniforms disappear around the next corner.

"What is it?" Yoon stood on his tip-toes, not having been able to see anything. 

Calista leaned against the wall, a hand pressed to her chest as her heart beat out of her ribcage. She shut her eyes.

That was way too close.

"Officers," Hak informed the group. "If we don't want to run into any trouble, we should quickly take our leave. We don't want to stand out." 

Calista snorted. It was a little late for that. One by one, they filed out of the dark passage. Squinting against the bright rays of sunlight, she saw a figure standing still at the entrance of a nearby shop. 

"Anyways, is the Ryokuryuu in town?" Hak asked, turning to Kija who was rubbing his temple in concentration. 

"I do not feel him anymore." He sighed, defeated. He was beginning to get discouraged. They hadn't had any luck tracking him down, even though they managed to follow him all the way here. The green dragon was just so.... unbelievably speedy.

Just when he thought he'd managed to get a read on where his dragon brother was, the signal vanished.

An unknown voice entered the fray. "Excuse me..." 

The girl had light, chestnut hair, and her wide eyes were brimming with gratitude. It was the same girl that was being harassed the other day when Calista, her brother and that stranger intervened. 

Realization hit Hak like a horse. "Oh! You're from yesterday!" 

Calista grinned when she saw a hint of jealousy in Yona's eyes. It disappeared in a split second, so fast that she doubted the princess knew it was there.

"Yes...! Thank you very much for yesterday!" The new girl bowed to both the dark-haired individuals in thanks.

Calista's arms crossed over her chest in a salute, then bowed in return. "Of course. Are you doing better now?"

She was genuinely concerned for her well-being. It seemed that the occurrence yesterday wasn't just a one off thing. There was no way it could be, not if so many onlookers were fine with letting her be bullied.

"It's dangerous to be in places where the officers hang around." Hak told her. Calista studied the girl's reaction closely.

"I can't help it, this is where I work." She replied faintly, not denying what he said. 

Calista leaned back, slightly satisfied. Her reply indicated to her that she was a victim to whatever was going on here, and that she wasn't the one instigating it. However, that didn't erase all her doubts. She was still a stranger after all. They knew nothing about her.

Hak stiffened as he realized that Yona, Yoon and Kija were all staring at their interaction, bewildered. "... Let's take this somewhere else."

Calista snickered. It occurred to her that they probably thought that Hak and this mysterious girl had an affair. She supposed that was fair of them to assume since they did find him in the red-light district. She herself had a couple of questions to ask him about that, but it had more to do along the lines of why rather than what, knowing that he wasn't even remotely interested in anyone else other than Yona.