Their New Home (Yona Of The Dawn X Oc)

Chapter 9

It took Aiko a few hours before she could fully get used to walking once more. Although her legs were still a little shaky from both her injuries and lack of activity for 2 days straight, she felt well enough to go out on a walk with Yona.

"So... Why exactly do we need to find the dragons again?" Aiko asked, "I mean, it'd obviously be incredible to meet living legends but surely this'll be dangerous too."

"I don't really know the details but... Kouka isn't safe anymore for myself and Hak, plus we've dragged you into this, so I need to use anything I can for us to survive," Yona answered, her eyes filled with burning determination.

"You know, I've been thinking this for a while but... You're kinda awesome," Aiko blurted out, causing the princess to aggressively shake her head.

"I'm really not. I mean, I'm supposed to be a princess and yet I barely know anything about my own home. It's pathetic, to be honest," Yona then confessed, smiling politely despite the sadness in her voice.

Aiko merely smacked her companion on the back and replied, "It's not your fault you were raised that way. Besides, just look at you now; you've been sleeping outdoors this whole time, living off of my brother's cooking. If that isn't an achievement I don't know what is."

"You sure know how to flatter someone," Yona mumbled, blushing slightly before adding, "But thank you. For everything, really. You didn't need to get involved in this mess but you still came to help."

Aiko beamed, "No problem. Besides, now we get to go on this fun adventure, right?"

Before Yona could reply, she came to a sudden halt, causing Aiko to look at what made her friend pause like that. In the distance were Yoon and another, taller man, seemingly in the middle of a serious conversation.

The redhead yanked Aiko by the arm and hid in the bushes nearby, slowly creeping closer so she can hear the conversation.

"Who's that?" Aiko whispered, referring to the tall man next to Yoon whose messy blonde hair was covering most of his face.

'How can he even see where he's going?'

"That's Ik-Soo, Yoon's guardian... Or I guess Yoon is Ik-Soo's guardian," Yona mused.

"That's the priest?" The black-haired girl exclaimed in a hushed tone, watching the dopey-looking man trip over his own feet.

Yona merely chuckled at the sight, "I was thinking the same thing but he's strangely reliable."

Aiko merely hummed in interest and focused her attention on the duo, listening in on their conversation.

"Geez, you need to be careful! This is why I didn't wanna leave you, dammit!" Yoon chastised, helping the priest up.

"Don't worry, Yoon. I'll be careful next time!" Ik-Soo replied in determination.

"You say that every time," the boy mumbled, before asking, "Do you really want me to go?"

"Of course. A bright boy like you can't stay here forever - go see the world," the priest advised.

Yoon gave his guardian a sad smile, before saying, "You know, your words are absolute for me. So if you tell me to go, then I'll go. I'm sure that's my fate, right? Besides, you seem fine with me going too-"

Rather than comment on what Yoon said, Ik-Soo frowned and mumbled, "Words... Have power. The more you say something the more likely it is it'll come true... So I keep saying that I'll be fine without you... And yet... Lonely...I'll be so, so lonely."

The man lifted his head slightly, allowing Aiko and Yona to see the streams of tears running down his face.

At the sight, Yoon teared up and grumbled, "How annoying. It's not like we're saying goodbye for good."

The two of them crouched on the ground, with Yoon gently patting the priest's head. Meanwhile, Yona and Aiko exchanged smiles, melting at the sappiness.

The girls were about to leave silently, however, Aiko stepped on a twig which alerted Yoon and Ik-Soo of their presence.

"H-how long were you watching for?" Yoon fumed, his face a bright shade of red.

Yona smiled sheepishly whereas her partner in crime laughed nervously, both of them terrified of what Yoon would do.

"U-uh we just got here... Didn't hear a thing. Nothing about how much Ik-Soo will miss you," the black-haired girl fumbled, freezing at the sight of Yoon's growing anger.

"Ah, you must be the girl Yoon was talking about!" Ik-Soo suddenly exclaimed, saving the girls from being on the receiving end of Yoon's deadly lectures.

"Right, I'm Aiko. Nice to meet you, Sir," she bowed in respect, not quite sure how to address the man.

Ik-Soo fumbled awkwardly at the formalities and stammered, "P-please just call me Ik-Soo!"

Once they got past the awkward introductions, Aiko began showering the priest with random questions about his life. Eventually, both airheads got so invested in their conversation that they completely forgot about Yoon and Yona.

"I'm going back to cook dinner," Yoon announced, about to leave.

Before he could, however, Aiko rushed to him and grabbed him by the arm, "WAIT! Can we talk for two secs?"

The boy raised an eyebrow in surprise, before giving in to her request and taking her to a more secluded area, instructing Yona and Ik-Soo to meet them back at the hut.

"So? What did you wanna say?" Yoon asked, whilst folding his arms.

"Well... I almost forgot to tell you this but I'm sorry about this morning. I barely even know you but I still criticised you like that. It's unfair, I'm stupid and I'm sorry," Aiko bowed.

Taken aback by her earnest apology, Yoon stammered a reply, "Y-you don't need to bow like that! And sure, you were kinda rude but I'm not that angry about it. You weren't exactly wrong."

"I was still a jerk, though. Hope that doesn't make things awkward between us - we'll be spending a long time together after all," Aiko lifted her head and smiled.

Blushing at the implication, Yoon snapped at the girl immediately, "Don't word it like that! Besides, I'm not that petty. This isn't the type of thing I'd hold a grudge over."

"That's a relief," Aiko then held out her hand, "So, friends?"

"Friends," the self-proclaimed pretty boy genius shook her hand, smiling at her for the first time.

In that moment, Aiko felt elated at the prospect of befriending someone outside the Wind Tribe and was excited for the journey to come.

A/N
I feel so bad for Ik-Soo and to be honest, I don't even wanna think about how lonely he is in the series. Anyways, Yoon has officially joined the trio and we're off to find Kija! As always, thanks for reading and have a nice day. <3