Their New Home (Yona Of The Dawn X Oc)

Chapter 16

A few hours earlier.

"White Dragon, what's your name?" Yona stopped in her tracks to ask the dragon.

"My name?" His enchantingly bright eyes widened in surprise as if it were taboo for him to say.

"You have a name, don't you? I'd rather not call you White Dragon all of the time," the redhead replied sheepishly.

"In that case... Please call me Kija," he bowed politely.

Yona and Aiko exchanged dopey grins, fawning over the man's beauty. Both were still in disbelief over the fact that he would accompany them for the rest of the journey.

"Anyway, any idea on where we're heading to next?" Hak asked Yoon, desperate to change the topic to anything else.

Yoon, who was still teary-eyed from the special moment between Kija and his grandmother, sniffled, "I dunno. Ik-Soo didn't tell us anything after this point."

"Your eyes are pretty red, you know. Were you crying?" Hak teased, donning a wide smirk. This set off Yoon, causing him to chase the Thunder Beast around whilst spewing insults.

Aiko watched the scene with a fond smile, thinking, 'He was still crying? So cute.'

She then shook the sudden thoughts out of her head in a desperate attempt to suppress her blushing - it felt almost shameful to think about her friend like that.

Thankfully, Kija distracted the girl from her predicament by saying, "You're looking for the other dragons, right? I can detect their presence. The four of us warriors are like siblings so even when we've been separated for so long, our blood calls out to one another. "

'I wouldn't say that's normal for siblings.' Aiko thought, giving Hak a side-eye.

"You can do that? Such a convenient power," Yona pointed out, unintentionally sounding blunt.

"Convenient?" Kija blinked comically. Feeling bad for him, Aiko patted the dragon on the shoulder - Yona had a terrible habit of accidentally saying insensitive comments and it entertained the black-haired girl to no end.

Yona then skipped ahead of everyone enthusiastically, "Let's head down the mountain first, then we'll start searching!"

"Yeah, White Snake, show us the way," the Thunder Beast drawled, smirking when he saw Kija bristle.

"I'M NOT A WHITE SNAKE!"

Aiko couldn't help but note how entertaining the dragon's reactions were and had already labelled him as her next prank victim.

Hak clearly agreed with her sentiment and began teasing Kija once more after a few minutes of walking in silence, "You're handling this well for a sheltered little white snake."

"If you call me that one more time, I'll slit your throat," Kija threatened, "Do you think I'm so weak, walking tires me?"

Yoon glared at the duo, missing his time with Ik-Soo which although troublesome, was much more peaceful than it was with the growing group of beasts.

"Well, you'll obviously miss your village soon so why don't you turn back? The journey's gonna get harder from now on," the Thunder Beast sneered.

Kija folded his arms, "What are you saying? The princess asked me for help so who are you to send me back? Besides, there may come a time where I'll have to protect you too."

"A pampered young lord like you probably can't even fight."

Yona, fed up with her companions' argument, punched the duo's chins, leaving light red bruises, "Stop it."

Aiko snorted loudly whilst Yoon hid his smile behind a random map he pulled out - it was a relief to have the bickering come to an end.

What followed was a lecture from the princess which indirectly insulted both men, mentioning Kija's total lack of experience in the real world along with Hak's hobby as a bully.

"Yeah, Kija, you shouldn't take anything the idiot says seriously. He's got a terrible personality but he's reliable... Sometimes," Aiko added, relishing in the opportunity to insult her brother, "I'm Aiko, by the way. I'm the idiot's sister so I apologise for him. Unfortunately, your first impression of him is accurate-"

Before she could continue, Hak put her in a headlock, ruffling her hair aggressively, "Oi, that's enough outta you."

Yoon, accustomed to the madness, approached Kija and briefly introduced himself before asking, "You said you can sense the other dragons right? Which one's the closest?"

"I feel the closest one is... The Blue Dragon," he announced.

Yoon lowered his map to look at Kija, "Whereabouts is he?"

The White Dragon pointed towards an area between the shrubbery and trees that looked awfully dangerous, "I'd say... Somewhere in that direction."

"Yikes, that looks scary," Aiko commented after finally escaping from her brother's grasp, "If we go off-path we'll probably run into a lot of bandits."

"I am not scared. Everyone follow me." Kija marched ahead of the group, through the clearing.

Meanwhile, Yoon exclaimed, "I'M SCARED! I'M SCARED TO FOLLOW A GUY WHO'S NEVER SET A FOOT OUTSIDE HIS VILLAGE UNTIL NOW!"

"I have been outside my village once," Kija protested, "Plus I know enough about the world to navigate it-"

Just as he said that, the dragon suddenly disappeared from sight, falling off a small cliff. The rest of the group rushed to the cliff in panic.

All they could hear was Kija's panicked cries, "W-W-WHAT WAS THAT? SOMETHING JUST CRAWLED DOWN MY BACK! WHO PERMITTED IT TO SETTLE HERE?"

It was near-impossible to not laugh, yet Aiko miraculously kept it together so she could silently pick up a nearby caterpillar and drop it onto Kija's face.

"H-HELP! A FEROCIOUS BEAST! G-GET IT OUT OF MY FACE! HELP!" The legendary dragon warrior screamed, floundering around like a fish out of water.

"Okay, White Dragon, go to the back of the line and follow us," Yoon deadpanned, taking a second to punch Aiko's head, "And you should tone it down with the pranks."

It was a weak punch yet the black-haired girl made a show of doubling over in pain, with streams of fake tears flowing down her face, "Yoon you meanie!"

"Well, you should've thought before traumatising our newest member!" 

While they playfully faught, Kija rejoined the group silently, now covered in dirt from the fall. Hak smirked at the sight and couldn't stop the snarky comment from escaping his lips.

"So the great white snake is weaker than a bug, huh?"

Kija didn't miss a beat and began protesting instantly, boasting about his great power whilst threatening to fight Hak, who looked as unbothered as always.

Said fight would've ensued if they weren't interrupted by an ear-splitting scream, "LET GO OF ME YOU FILTHY ANIMALS!"

Hak and Aiko pulled out their weapons instantly, whilst Kija's eyes darted around their surroundings in an attempt to pin down where the scream originated from.

Within those few moments, the group was surrounded from all sides by an alarming amount of bandits, one of whom was holding a woman hostage.

"You people look well-off, give us your stuff or the woman dies."

A/N:
Another kinda cliff-hanger ending and a new character? Who could it possibly be? Totally nothing to do with the previous chapter. Not at all. Jokes aside, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day. <3