Their New Home (Yona Of The Dawn X Oc)

Chapter 17

'Talk about a sudden turn in events,' Aiko thought bitterly, her two swords unsheathed.

At an unprecedented speed, the group of travellers were surrounded by many bandits and, to make things worse, one of them was keeping a woman hostage, holding a dagger against her neck.

"Eh, would ya look at that? They've got some pretty girls too," one of the bandits sneered, causing Yona and Aiko to stiffen.

"Sensei, permission to use my bow," Yona requested, only to be turned down by Hak immediately. Yoon then led her to a safe spot behind some bushes.

Hak straightened and donned a casual smile, "C'mon, gentlemen, let's deal with this in a civilised way. There's no need to get violent."

Meanwhile, Aiko kept her eye on the hostage, estimating how quickly she would be able to reach her.

"Exactly, so hand us everything you own and we'll let you leave." the bandit smirked, contorting his ugly face even further.

Another bandit took that second to march up to Kija, yanking on his clawed hand. "Oi, what's up with that bandage. Are ya injured?"

Instantaneously, Kija's claw began heating up, burning the bandit's hand. It then tripled in size, and many of the bandits scamperred away in fear.

The one holding the woman hostage loosened his grip for a split second and, before Aiko to grasp at that opportunity, the woman bit down on the man's hand, causing him to release her in shock.

This allowed the remaining trio to finally fight freely.

Aiko sprinted past the woman, instructing her to join Yona and Yoon in the bushes, before attacking the nearest bandit.

At nearly unnatural speeds, Hak and Kija joined the fight, killing bandits from all sides with terrifying precision. Aiko was also faring quite well, having practised dual-wielding for a while.

Her strikes may not be as powerful as they used to be but she was now able to attack and defend at the same time, a skill that was especially useful in a fight against multiple opponents.

It seems like the hours spent on training have truly paid off, a fact that motivated Aiko to push herself even further, moving quicker than she ever had before.

Within a few minutes, the fight was over and the once lush forest floor was now covered in blood and the bodies of bandits.

Aiko wiped her swords clean with some cloth she found in the carnage before sheathing the blades, donning a satisfied smile - despite barely knowing each other, the group's teamwork seemed decent and even Yona pitched in for a last-second attack.

Kija and Hak were stood face-to-face and the dragon didn't waste a second to ask, "How many did you defeat?"

"Don't remember," the Thunder Beast drawled.

"I got 28," Kija bragged, smiling triumphantly.

"Then I got 40."

"YOU LIAR! You just said you can't remember!"

Aiko chuckled at their bickering before checking in on the woman who was with Yona and Yoon, "Hey, are you ok? This must be a bit of a shock but I swear we're not suspicious... As hard as that may be to believe."

"It's not me you should be worrying about," the woman replied ominously, "That black-haired guy looks kinda pale. I think he's injured so you might wanna check up on him before he-"

Just as she said that Hak collapsed onto the ground, his bandages soaked with blood. A clear indication that he reopened his wounds.

The rest of the group rushed over to him in alarm, crouching on either side of him.

"Did he die?" Kija asked bluntly.

"He's not dead!" Yona yelled, smacking the dragon on the head.

Meanwhile, Yoon had loosened Hak's clothes to take a proper look at the bandages, tutting when he saw how much blood there was.

"That idiot! Should've known he'd try to show off even while injured," Aiko grumbled, already planning a lengthy lecture for when her brother wakes up.

Meanwhile, the woman they saved crouched next to Yoon, "Do you need help changing his bandages? I've read a lot about medicine so I know a thing or two."

The pretty boy genius shook his head, "I can manage this much on my own. Though if you don't mind, can you check up on my friends? They're a bunch of idiots so I wouldn't be surprised if they also have ridiculous injuries."

The woman nodded and turned to Yona, checking her for wounds, "Thank you for saving me, by the way."

"It's nothing, really! I didn't even do much," the redhead bashfully replied, fiddling with her hair.

The woman smiled fondly, "Well I thought you guys were cool."

When she was done checking on the princess, the woman turned her attention to Kija, taking extra care to avoid touching his dragon arm.

On the other hand, Kija, who was lost in thought, stared at Hak and mumbled, "He fought like that while injured? Is he a monster?"

"I don't wanna hear that from you," Aiko deadpanned, keeping her attention on Hak's unconscious form.

She had never seen him in such a state before and it made the gravity of their situation that much more real. If someone as strong as Hak can be driven to near-death, who knows what could happen to any of them?

Thankfully, her spiralling thoughts were interrupted by the woman, "Hey, can I give you a quick checkup? You were working your ass off out there."

Aiko silently complied and allowed the woman to check for any injuries. Unlike Hak, Aiko's wound didn't reopen, courtesy of her not using heavy weapons.

"The sun's gonna set soon. You guys should probably set up camp somewhere safer," the woman advised, once Hak was all patched up.

"C-camp? As in... Sleeping outside?" Kija asked nervously.

The woman raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, believe it or not, that's what you do when you're travelling."

Rather than retort, the dragon merely stared at the strange scene in front of him: Yona had silently begun pulling on Hak's hair, in a futile attempt to move him.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, PRINCESS?" Yoon demanded, his voice breaking.

"Hak can't move so... I need to carry him," Yona explained, puffing her cheeks in frustration.

Saving the girl from her annoyance, Kija stepped in and lifted Hak's body over his shoulder with ease.

"You're so cool, Kija!" Aiko cheered, eyes filling with admiration.

The dragon smiled sheepishly and boasted, "The White Dragon's arm is ten times stronger than the average man."

This intrigued Yona and so she decided to load Kija's free arm with a bunch of her things, almost causing him to topple over.

"Just my right arm, though," he wheezed. 

Yoon focused his attention towards the now free hostage, "We might as well set up camp together. It's dangerous alone when there are so many bandits lurking around."

The woman nodded, taking a rucksack that Aiko was about to pick up, "Thank you. I promise I'll make it up to you guys somehow."

"No need. Oh, by the way, I'm the pretty boy genius, Yoon," he introduced himself, humble as always.

"I'm Sumi. Nice to meet you."

A/N
Another fight scene that was a pain to write but hey, at least Sumi's joined the group now. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a nice day. <3