Here To Stay | Hak

Chapter 4

It had been a couple of days since Hak had seen Anya last. He was almost halfway through his holiday from the palace and he wanted to see her again. So, since there was nothing to do in Fuuga, he decided to make a visit to Mipung.

Upon arriving to the village, he realised that he didn't know where she lived. Nor did he know where she would be. All he did know was that her family owned the tea shop and so he made his way there. Unfortunately for him, it was closed.

He turned away and wondered where he could find her. Just as a local man walked past, he quickly stopped him.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find Anya? The girl who works at this tea shop."
"Oh, she's down at the forest at the southern border."
Hak's brows furrowed slightly. "The forest?" he wondered aloud.
"Yeah," the man sighed. "Target practice. The men here have given up trying to compete with her. She's like a one-man army. Be careful not to sneak up on her."
"Thank you," Hak nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

The man went on his way and Hak made his way to the forest in the south. It didn't take too much time to get there since the village was so small.

The forest, however, spanned quite a large distance across the border to the next province. Thousands of tall trees grew high towards the sky with sticks and dead leaves scattered across the ground.

He silently made his way between the trees, not making any sudden noises as he carefully stepped through the forest. It wasn't long before he found dents in the trunks of the trees. They were quite deep, going straight into the bark. His tracking skills were impeccable and with a slight touch of the dent, he could tell it was a recent wound. One that was inflicted by an arrow.

He bent down and picked up a stick from the ground before continuing along his way. He was naturally weary of his surroundings and kept all his senses on full alert. The birds were tweeting above him and crickets chirruped on the ground but his ears listened out for anything. He couldn't see anything else anywhere around him.

However, just as he passed by another tree, he came to a sudden halt as he came face-to-face with an arrow aimed directly between his eyes. On the other end of the arrow was the very woman he had been searching for. Her fierce brown eyes met his cobalt blue ones as she frowned at him.

"I thought I smelt a rat," she spoke.
He smirked in amusement. "A rat? That's a little harsh. If you ask me, I'd say I'm more of a dragon."
"I didn't ask you." She pulled back the bow string a little more. "Why are you following me?"
His eyes darted to the point of the arrow before looking back at her again. "You know, you can't do much damage this close to your target."
She shrugged. "It'll still hurt."
With a stick he had acquired earlier, he quickly hit the arrow to move it away from his face. "I wasn't following you."
She aimed it at him again. "Then why are you here?'
He hit it again and kept it pushed down. "To get to know you."

She froze for a short moment and kept her arrow down. His answer confused her and he could see the confusion on her face as she raised a brow slightly.

"What?" he asked.
"You want to get to know me?" she repeated. "Why?"
"Why not?"
"I don't know... Well, I don't want to get to know you," she huffed. She loosened the arrow from the bow and placed the bow across her chest.
As she was about to put her arrow into its quiver, he blocked it with the stick. "Why not?"
She looked up at him and frowned. "Um, let's see. Because you embarrassed me. Twice!" She knocked the stick away but he blocked her again. Her brows furrowed in frustration. "Will you stop doing that?!"
"That second time was your own fault."
"You distracted me," she argued.

She then hit the stick down and instantly pointed the arrow at his face. And before he could block her, she had grabbed the stick with her other hand and twisted it out of his grip, causing him to let go. He had to admit that she was quick. He didn't even have time to react.