Chapter Text
Jae-ha jumped, leaving the others behind him as he followed the feeling of the blue dragon’s presence. It still felt strange to be seeking out the other dragons rather than running away. Seiryuu hadn’t gone far; he was only on the other side of a little ridge of trees. With his eyes, Jae-ha didn’t doubt he could still see the rest of the group, but he himself was out of view. Privacy. Jae-ha could appreciate the need for that. As Jae-ha landed, Seiryuu sheathed his sword—he’d been practicing—but made no other sign of acknowledgement.
“Seiryuu—” No, Jae-ha reminded himself, that wasn’t right. Seiryuu had a name now. “I mean, Shin-ah. You said the yellow dragon came to visit you once, didn’t you?”
Shin-ah nodded, but didn’t elaborate. He’d been quiet the last time they met, too.
“We’re trying to find him again,” Jae-ha explained. “But Kija and I can’t sense his presence. Can you?” Shin-ah paused, then shook his head. “Oh well, worth a try,” said Jae-ha with a light shrug. Shin-ah had already turned away from him, reaching for his sword again. But while Jae-ha had sought him out to ask about Ouryuu, something else weighed on his mind too. “The first time I met you—if I'd asked you then to come with me, to leave your village, would you have?”
Shin-ah was silent for a long time. “No,” he finally said, and relief flooded over Jae-ha—relief which he instantly regretted. Maybe it wasn't his fault that Shin-ah had been left in those caves so long, but it wasn't cause for relief.
“Because I'm not Yona?” he asked.
Shin-ah nodded. “And...you were there for something else.”
Wait, but isn’t that the same as saying it’s because I didn’t ask you? Jae-ha didn’t understand the blue dragon, and he wasn’t sure he ever would. But Shin-ah didn’t seem to resent him for it, and maybe that was enough.
Not being able to track Ouryuu was a problem, though. “I hid my presence for years,” Jae-ha said after they’d returned to join the others. “It’s possible Ouryuu just doesn’t want to be found.”
“If he left his village, that would make sense,” said Yoon.
“But…” Jae-ha continued. “Shin-ah, how long ago did Ouryuu come to see you?”
“He came twice,” Shin-ah said. “Once...I was very small. Then, it was...nine years ago.”
“And Ouryuu, he was an adult then?”
Shin-ah nodded. “I was small, so…” Hard to judge his age, but not a child, Jae-ha took that to mean. He shot a glance at Kija, who nodded. Yona and Soo-won didn’t know the full truth about the nature of the dragons’ cycle, and that wasn’t the sort of thing Jae-ha wanted to explain casually.
“It’s possible Ouryuu passed on his power,” said Jae-ha.
“I see…” pondered Yona. “I hope not. I’m sure Shin-ah would like to see him again.” She paused. “I’d like to see Ouryuu too, but if he’s chosen to stay away, I can’t force him. In the meantime, I don’t want to just wait around.”
“But what can we do with—?” Yoon shot a glance at Tae-jun and Heuk-chi, their two hostages.
And that was the problem. Since his rescue from Shin-ah’s cave, Tae-jun had repeatedly swore that he wouldn’t do anything to harm Yona or to jeopardize her plan. He seemed sincere—and furthermore, the change that had come over him since first learning that Yona was alive was impossible to ignore—but Jae-ha wondered if he really understood the full extent of what Yona and Soo-won meant to do. If the stakes were lower, Jae-ha thought, Tae-jun really might go against his father, but...taking back the throne meant that, sooner or later, Kan Su-jin would have to die.
“I wonder if we should go back to Ik-soo,” Yoon continued. “He might be able to tell us more about Ouryuu.”
That was the priest who had told Yona to find the dragons, wasn’t it? Jae-ha still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Now that Kija and Shin-ah had joined their party, it was getting harder and harder to say that his decision to help Yona—to leave the life of freedom he’d known for more than a decade and start playing at spying and politics, two decidedly ugly careers—had nothing to do with the dragon’s blood. But feeling that connection was one thing—hearing some priest tell him what it was supposed to mean? Jae-ha still wanted nothing to do with something like that.
Fortunately, it seemed that Yona agreed with him. “Sorry, Yoon,” she said. “I know you miss him, but Ik-soo already told us to find the dragons. I think, if there was anything to say about Ouryuu before we found him, he’d have mentioned it already.”
“It’s not that I miss him…” Yoon protested, his face flushing pink. “But you’re probably right.”
“It seems that Ouryuu will have to wait,” said Soo-won, and Yona nodded. "We should update our friends—” He was being vague in front of Tae-jun and Heuk-chi— “about the current situation.” Tell Hak and Ju-doh that they should be prepared to lead an uprising at any time. “But if we bring those two back with us, we'll lose our advantage.” He paused, thinking to himself. “I'll go alone, then. Jae-ha, Yona, best to wait with the others outside the city until everything is ready.”
“I'm coming too,” said Yona. “This is my fight. I won't wait on the sidelines while you arrange everything for me.” Soo-won paused, then nodded in agreement. “Shin-ah, do you mind waiting with your brothers for a while? I know I just found you.” Shin-ah nodded. Jae-ha guessed he’d go along with whatever Yona asked.
Though babysitting their hostage prince was hardly appealing, Jae-ha had to admit, selfishly, that he was happy not to be returning to the palace. Feigning loyalty to Su-jin was a chain he was glad to be rid of, even if their position was weaker now.
“Then, while we wait for you to come back,” said Yoon, “we're not far from a village I know.”
“Your village?” asked Jae-ha.
“No,” said Yoon. “But I used to travel there to treat the sick. If we're waiting for a few days, I'd like to go back there.”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Yoon,” said Yona. “We'll go there together, so Soo-won and I know where to find you when we come back.”
They reached Katan Village in the early afternoon. It was one of dozens of starving, destitute villages that Jae-ha had seen on his travels, but the first one Yona had seen up close. “I knew why we didn’t stop in any of the villages we passed on our way to Shin-ah’s village,” said Yona. “But this—”
“That would have been taking more hospitality than they could afford and giving nothing in return,” said Yoon. “It’s different this time. We’re staying to help.”
“That’s not...I didn’t know,” said Yona. “I didn’t know it was this bad.”
“Do you want to stay here after all?” Soo-won asked.
Yona considered, then, sadly, shook her head. “No,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do here that Yoon and the rest of you can’t do better.”
“Then, Yona, let’s go.” Soo-won mounted the horse they had confiscated from Tae-jun, then lifted Yona up behind him, and they sped off towards the capital.
All three dragons watched until Yona and Soo-won vanished from sight. “One of us should have gone to protect her,” Kija finally spoke.
“She’ll be all right,” said Jae-ha. “Soo-won knows what he’s doing. And once she reaches the city, she’ll have Hak as well. It’s best if we’re all here to keep an eye on our prisoners.”
“Right,” said Yoon, turning away from the dust settling on the road. “Let’s get to work.”
Tae-jun was sure they had to be joking. Three of the dragon warriors of legend planned to wait around doing farm work until Yona returned? But after humoring them for almost an hour, Tae-jun finally had to admit that they were serious about this. And that Ryokuryuu, for some reason, seemed happier doing menial farm labor than serving at the king’s side. Even Heuk-chi had taken it upon himself to join in helping the villagers make repairs to their broken-down dwellings, which was completely unnecessary.
“You—you know this is all an act, right?” he finally asked the boy. A crowd of unwashed peasants was gathered around him as he handed out medicines for free. As if a village in the land of fire, the strongest of Kouka’s five tribes, could possibly be this poor. Why, no one could be expected to live here if things were really this bad! “The villages always say there’s no harvest when the tax collectors come through.”
“Great,” said Yoon. “If these people aren't really sick, you won't mind getting closer to help me out.” Tae-jun took a step back. There was some trick in the boy's words, but he hadn't figured it out yet. “Or if you're not going to work, go figure out where these villagers are hiding their supposed secret wealth.”
He’d do that. Letting him search the village on his own—they didn’t even know how to keep him hostage properly! If he didn't owe it to Yona to cooperate, it would be so easy to escape. Then Tae-jun remembered that the scary blue dragon could probably see him no matter where he went, and even if he’d still had his horse, Ryokuryuu could easily catch up to him. And people with powers like that thought Yona was Hiryuu. Yona was—well, Yona was everything, but Hiryuu? Hiryuu should be a great warrior king, not a helpless girl who led her dragons on a misguided quest to upset the proper order of things. Perhaps if he could show her the truth of this place, then she’d understand. Then she and her dragons could all come home with him and everything would be as it should be.
He slammed open the door to a run-down hut. It clattered off its hinges. Inside the hut, two little girls stared up at him with wide eyes. The inside was just as decrepit as the outside. Really? Why couldn’t these people take better care of themselves?
“It does that sometimes,” said one of the girls. “I’ll show you how to prop it back up.”
“Ah, sorry…” What was he apologizing for? They should be the ones apologizing, for knowing their door did that and keeping it in such disrepair. But he found himself nodding, lifting the shoddy wood back onto its hinges as the little girl pointed out what to do.
“Thank you, my lord!” said the other little girl.
At least they were polite enough to recognize him as a noble! The other villagers had given him nothing but dirty looks. He waved her thanks aside. “I’m the one who broke—” No, what was he saying? They were the ones with a stupid, broken house. They should be thanking him!
“I mean for the dragons!”
“...what?”
“Everyone was saying that nothing would change, but I thought if the general became King Hiryuu, then the four dragons would take care of everything and it would all get better! And I was right! Do you know King Hiryuu, mister? Tell him thank you!”
For a moment, Tae-jun was speechless. Couldn’t she see that dragon warriors didn’t belong in a place like this? Ah, but now he had proof that the villagers spoke against his father. “Where are your parents?” he asked.
“Father's in the army,” said the girl. “Mother went to work in Saika so she could send money back. Sir, is Saika going to be the capital of the whole kingdom now? Do you think she'll be able to find a job soon?”
“Uh…” What did the one have to do with the other? “No, the whole point was to take back Hiryuu Castle.” He had to stop letting these kids direct the conversation. If their parents weren't here, then… “Who said that King Su-jin wouldn't make things better?”
“Uh...everyone?”
“Well, you tell them—” Tell them what? It wasn’t as if they were wrong—it was the duty of the people to support their general, their king, not the other way around. So why did it seem like dissent when they said it?
“Don't need to tell them, silly! Everyone can see the dragon warriors are helping now!”
And, of course, the dragons had not been sent here by his father. But— “They're not even doing anything ordinary soldiers couldn't do! Why, I bet even I could—do you have any tools?” The younger girl nodded and scrambled off, returning with a toolbox almost too heavy for her to carry. It took him almost an hour, but eventually, Tae-jun was able to repair the door so it wouldn't fall off its hinges again. “I'm famished,” he said when he was finished, wiping his brow. “Give me something to eat.”
“Um…” The girls looked at each other. “We have a potato. We were saving it for later, but we can share it with you now.”
“Share...a potato.”
The older girl looked down. “The hens didn't lay any eggs today, so…”
“Ah, no, just...keep your potato.” Tae-jun beat a hasty retreat. The door swung shut behind him and for a moment he wondered what good a sturdy door was to people who had so little. Anyone else, he'd suspect of holding out on him, but those girls had been smiling and happy and really, truly grateful. “Yoon!” Where was that boy?
Still treating the sick, like he had been hours ago. “Decide to help out after all?”
“Where’s the village chief?” Tae-jun demanded. “I need to reprimand him.”
“For forgetting to pay taxes?” Yoon asked, rolling his eyes. “It’ll have to wait.”
“No,” said Tae-jun. “For not even taking care of his own people! Two little girls back there have no parents and only a potato to eat!”
For a moment Yoon just gaped at him. “You think the rest of this village is doing any better?” he finally asked. “I grew up in a village like this,” he said. “There were times when a single potato was my most prized possession.”
“Don’t be overdramatic,” said Tae-jun. He glanced around the village again. They couldn’t all be that bad off. Sure, it looked that way, but…
...he had to admit, going to so much trouble to make the village look worse off than it really was...wasn’t the simplest answer. “...there’s really no food?” he finally asked.
“Crops don’t do well here,” said Yoon. “It’s your land too. You should know that.”
“Then there’s nothing to be done,” Tae-jun concluded. Yoon didn’t have to act all high-and-mighty like it was Tae-jun’s fault.
That evening they camped outside the village, and he was reminded once again that he was meant to be their prisoner. How many days would there be of this until Yona returned? “You’re not eating,” Heuk-chi commented.
He poked at his stew. “Neither is anyone else.” Yesterday Tae-jun had complained plenty about this fare—it was, objectively, disgusting. But...a single potato. If Yona were here, she’d probably carry her bowl back to the village and give it to those girls. Which would be stupid. It wasn’t like they had enough to feed everyone. He took a bite and frowned. Yona had been so sad when she saw the village. She was naive, and didn't understand the realities at play, but…was it really wrong, to wish for everyone here to have a better life?
Midmorning the next day, hoofbeats approached the village. Was Yona back already? No, that was the sound of many horses, and armored men riding them. “Crap!” Yoon said. “Tax collectors. You three rare beasts, keep Tae-jun and Heuk-chi out of sight. If they see them here—”
“Got it,” said Jae-ha, grabbing Tae-jun and jumping behind a nearby house. He could still hear what was going on. One of the village elders was protesting that the tax was too high, that the village would starve. Tae-jun knew that everyone in the tribe was taxed this much, so it was hardly unfair, but...it was hard to imagine this village having anything to spare.
“Hey!” a new voice spoke up. A child—one of the girls from yesterday. “The king is supposed to be helping us now! He sent his dragons! You can’t take everything away!”
“As if the king would send his dragons to a blight on the map like this place,” the tax collector scoffed. Then he paused. “But if that's so, you'll be taxed extra for their service.”
“That's not fair!”
Then he heard the sound of an armored hand hitting a soft target, a shriek, and a thump. Before Tae-jun fully processed what had happened, Jae-ha let him go and leapt back over the hut. What was the green dragon thinking? If Yona came back and found all her protectors arrested, or worse—
Tae-jun stepped out into the street before Jae-ha could do anything that would put the princess in danger. “Highness!” exclaimed the official. Tae-jun recognized him, vaguely.
“As you can see, the girl was right,” he said, “We’re taking care of this village. You're not needed, so, um, go back to your outpost.”
“With respect, Highness, this is only the first village on our circuit—”
“Then you can leave your supplies here, too. Haven't you heard? I've been sent in an important mission with the dragon warriors. You're not needed.” The official frowned. “Think of it as a vacation,” Tae-jun added.
“Ah...right, your Highness.” And with that, the tax collector and his guards unloaded their supply cart just as Tae-jun had asked, then turned and departed the village.
Yoon was already by the fallen girl’s side. “What was that?” Jae-ha asked, looking down at Tae-jun with a strange expression on his face.
“I—” Yes, what was that?
“You could have escaped, just then,” said Jae-ha. “Or at least told them the truth.”
Oh. That—that was a good point. As he was fumbling for an explanation that still eluded him, Yoon stepped back from the girl, who looked up at Tae-jun with a smile on her face. She’d be all right. Yoon glanced over at the crates of travel rations left behind by the soldiers. “You know,” he said, “you’ve made yourself her hero.”
A hero. Tae-jun liked the sound of that. But he knew it wasn’t him, or his father, who had brought this village the help they needed. Yona had led them here. It wasn’t like Tae-jun wanted to help her—she was trying to start a rebellion. He wanted to show her she was wrong to do so...but more than that, he wanted to see her smile. Oh, how he longed to see her smile at him. If Yona saw what he’d done here...could he be her hero, too?
Yona clung tight to Soo-won’s back as they rode away from Katan Village. “I didn’t know,” Yona said. “I didn’t know just how bad things were.”
“Yoon will take good care of them, I’m sure of it,” said Soo-won. Yona knew he was right, but riding away from them still felt wrong.
They didn't reach Kuuto that night, instead camping in that same hidden site where Yona and Hak had found Ju-doh barely a week ago. It felt like so much longer than that. She’d just come from Chi’shin, from meeting with General Geun-tae to incite rebellion. Yona had dragons on her side and people who would follow her, but...she thought back to the village they’d just left behind. She’d set out to take back the throne of her kingdom, and she still didn’t know what her people went through every day. Didn’t know how to help them.
Yona couldn’t sleep. She reached for her bow and walked a little distance from the camp, losing herself in her practice under the moonlight. Every arrow hit its mark, until a hand on her shoulder startled her and made her shot fly wild. “S-soo-won!”
“You’ve gotten much better!” he said. Yona remembered how he would sometimes join her in practice back at the palace. That seemed like a game, now.
“I have to become stronger.” Another arrow hit the tree. “Soo-won,” Yona began. “You knew things were this bad. Why didn’t you let me see?” She shot again. If she looked him in the eye, she wasn’t sure she could keep talking. “I remember—I would ask you about the state of the kingdom. You gave me history books.”
“Yona, there was nothing you could have done back then.”
“You didn’t know that!” It was true her father had never let her leave the castle, never let her have a say in policy. When even the king hadn’t interfered with the government of the other tribes, what could Yona have done? “Tae-jun used to court me,” she said. “I could have used that!”
“That?” He started at the suggestion. “You’d have given away far more than you gained. Yona…” Behind her, Soo-won took a deep breath, and Yona finally turned to face him. “You're stronger than I knew. It was a mistake, I think, not to confide in you. Together we might have been strong enough to change things before it was too late.”
She lowered her bow. “Thank you, Soo-won,” she said. “You wanted to protect me, didn’t you?” From facing what she wasn’t prepared to face, from tearing herself apart out of hopelessness. “For a while I thought—seeing everything you did without me—I feared you thought I was useless.”
“Never.” He reached out a hand, gently resting it on her shoulder. “Both of us should rest,” he said. “We’ll be in Kuuto tomorrow.” Yona nodded, and together they retrieved her arrows and returned to their camp. “Yona,” Soo-won said. “Shall I hold your hand while we sleep, for old times’ sake?” Yona smiled, and nodded. Once this would have made her too nervous to fall asleep, but now, having Soo-won by her side was exactly what she needed.
Just as she was about to drift away into sleep, a question surfaced in Yona’s mind. “Soo-won,” she whispered. “Before it was too late to what?” Stop Su-jin's army? But he'd tried that, tried to ask for Geun-tae's support. Yona wouldn't have been able to help him with that back then, she knew that. So what…?
But Soo-won was already sound asleep, and gave her no answer.
They entered Kuuto early the next morning, sneaking in through hidden routes past guarded gates. They left the horse at a stable near the edge of the city, a hushed whisper the only payment given. Yona was reminded once again that Soo-won had far more connections than she knew. She hadn’t explored the city all that much before leaving in search of Shin-ah, but it seemed different now. Were the guards at the gates new? Or had they just been easier to ignore on the way out?
“What happens next?” Yona whispered to Soo-won. “The city is full of Fire Tribe soldiers. What kind of an army—?” Even before its defeat, the Sky Tribe’s army had been all but nonexistent. Even if every one of those soldiers could be persuaded to join their rebellion, there was no way they could defeat the full army of the Fire Tribe, even if they were no longer allied with Li Hazara. A civil war like that would tear the country apart.
“Look closely,” said Soo-won. “Their presence here is a show. Most of the soldiers have already left the city.”
That...that might be true. Yona couldn’t tell. The big deal the guards were making at the gates, it certainly caught one’s attention, primed one to be on alert for a military presence everywhere. But now that Soo-won pointed it out...if Yona were to walk through the city with her red hair in full view, with only Hak by her side, she wouldn’t be afraid. Only a few soldiers actually walked the city streets, though they wore full armor and made sure everyone knew who they were. “But I hope to meet the army elsewhere,” Soo-won continued.
“Hak and Ju-doh, they can't be training soldiers inside the city, right?”
Soo-won shook his head. “We'll go to them soon. First, I'm hoping to meet with an informant from the palace.”
“...oh?” So even with Jae-ha's cover blown, Soo-won hadn't lost access to all that information. Good.
“He’ll probably be happy to see you, too!”
But when pressed, Soo-won wouldn’t say who this mysterious informant could be. He kept her guessing all the way to a tavern that Yona had faint memories of from her childhood excursions into town. Sitting inside, in a dark corner, his face obscured even further by a hood, was… “Min-soo?” Yona exclaimed, pulling back her hood running through the nearly-vacant common room to embrace her father's page.
He smiled up at her, then handed a small purse to the woman seated beside him, who rose and made to leave. “Princess! Lord Ryokuryuu told me you were alive, but I'm so glad to see you myself!”
“So you're helping, too. I'm so glad!” The door shut behind the young woman and they were alone.
“Who was that?” Soo-won asked.
“A refugee from Awa, in the Earth Tribe,” said Min-soo. “She gave me some good info on the state of the tribe. Lord Soo-won, it's bad. I don't know if you'll be able to count on help from General Geun-tae at this point.”
“Did you say Awa?” At Min-soo’s nod, Yona raced outside and cast her eyes about for the woman. “You there! You're from Awa?” The woman turned back, nodding. “What's happening in Awa? Why did you have to leave?”
“I told him everything already,” the woman replied.
“Just—Captain Gi-gan. Isn’t she helping the town?”
The woman looked down. “Lord Kum-ji arrested her. He charged her pirates with the kidnappings, even though everyone knows he’s the one—”
Yona gasped. “No! She’s—”
“That’s when I fled,” said the woman. “You knew her? I’m sorry,” she said. “But she’s scheduled for public execution.”
Public execution. Her father’s face flashed before her eyes. No! She ran back inside the tavern, forgetting to even thank the woman. “We have to go back, I have to tell Jae-ha!” Soo-won shot her a questioning look; Min-soo must not have told him everything yet. “They're going to kill Captain Gi-gan!” Yona only had faint memories of the pirate captain who had kept her safe for one brief night long ago, but she knew that Gi-gan had done as much to save her life back then as Jae-ha had.
“Yona,” said Soo-won. “Awa is days away.”
She’s probably already dead. That was what his words meant. “Jae-ha can get there faster.” She wouldn’t let herself believe that it was too late.
“Think of the bigger picture.”
“No!” The fierceness in her voice surprised even herself. “I mean—I am. I’ll go back alone. You don’t really need me here. I came because I wanted to be useful, but if I don’t do everything I can to protect the people I care about, then what good is anything else?” She still hadn’t talked to Soo-won about the night she fled Kuuto the first time. “Soo-won, I was there when Father—when he—”
Soo-won's eyes widened, and he reached out a hand to take hers—but he didn't look like he was going to change his mind, so she pulled away. “My lord,” Min-soo murmured, “you need the Earth Tribe. This could help.”
Finally, Soo-won nodded. “Take the horse, and be as quick as you can. Be careful.”
“I will.”
Yona pulled her hood back up over hair and stepped outside alone.