Awaiting The Dawn

15: Hesitation

While they walked, the princess practiced her archery and tried to hit a young boar.

She'd missed, and the poor animal ran away with the arrow grazing its hide. Her reluctance caused the boar unnecessary pain. It was a mistake punishable by a long lecture in Hisa's mother's hunting group.

"Yoon, Hisa. Go on ahead." Hak stopped walking. As did the princess. They were probably going to have a private talk.

"Don't dawdle, got it? We're almost at the place Ik-Su mentioned."

The two moved on ahead.

Hisa kept her pace slow enough for Yoon to keep up.

A light mist started to cloud their sight. At some point, it became nearly impossible to see through the mist.

"Hey." Yoon moved closer as he kept checking around in case something was about to ambush them. "It's not just me, you're getting a bad feeling too, right?"

She nodded, only to remember she could use words again. Hisa opened her mouth, ready to try. Only nothing came out.

Hisa sighed at her own hesitation. She was more nervous than she should have been. But also, in the back of her mind, she knew there was another reason.

The last person she talked to had been Suzu. Hisa didn't know how to feel about that, but it weighed her down.

And then she almost yelled a curse, remembering where they were. What the people of the village prided themselves on protecting. This wasn't the time to get distracted!

Hisa knew they wouldn't be killed unless they showed hostility first. It wasn't too late to keep her companion safe. She put an arm in front of Yoon, signaling him to stop, and dropped her dagger and bag to the side.

"What are you—" Yoon wasn't able to finish his sentence as she threw his belongings as well.

Only a few seconds later, they were pinned to the ground and roughly tied up by people in white robes.

During the process, her hat fell off as well.

She kept her eyes stuck on where it was left upside down as she and Yoon were dragged away, afraid that her hat would fly away.

((Stop the track here if you're listening!))

Yoon and Hisa were locked in a cage together. The village didn't have a specified prison, so they were left outdoors with a single unarmed guard.

Their bodies weren't searched, so Hisa still had knives on her person, but their hands and feet were bound by rope.

The situation wouldn't be dangerous as long as the princess came to the village, but it didn't mean she didn't feel anxious.

The people of the white dragon village were not welcoming of outsiders.

And what about Yoon? He was yelling and putting up a fuss because he was more scared than she was. "Hey! Let us out! I may be handsome, but putting me in a cage is in bad taste! Just so you know, the heavens fear these good looks!"

Their 'guard' looked at them in a hilariously serious manner. "Our dragon decides who will be punished."

Yoon was getting more and more restless with every minute that passed. His mind seemed to already be coming up with ways to escape.

Hisa really wanted to calm him down. Unfortunately, they were tied up with rope, so Hisa couldn't even touch his cute forehead, much less offer a hug in comfort. And she couldn't speak eith—

'Dragon's toenails...!!' She cursed the dragon gods in her head.

Hisa really needed to stop overlooking that fact. "Yoon."

His neck twisted in Hisa's direction. Her voice came out hoarse, as expected. It was going to take a while to get used to hearing her own voice.

She cleared her throat. "Don't worry."

Yoon's face became even more troubled, so Hisa balanced her weight, lightly leaning her head to rub his shoulder.

Contrary to her hopes, when she moved closer, his expression complicated further, and she could see his face flush. "W...What do you think you're doing! And did you just talk?!"

'He probably won't relax until he sees Thunder and the princess.'

Hisa tried again with a different tactic, nudging toward the people outside the cage. "Don't worry."

Yoon's eyes followed her direction. When he looked and saw the princess and Hak with what seemed to be a tour guide, he yelled at them, enraged with the obvious difference in treatment. "Hey! Why are you taking a casual tour of the village?!"

No one said anything for a moment. The princess stared blankly at them, then waved a hand with a friendly smile. "Hey you two. Are you okay?"

At that, Hisa couldn't help but laugh.

Yoon didn't see the humor in their situation, which made it even funnier to Hisa. "We're fine, except we're tied up in a cage!!"

Then the man who escorted the princess bowed to her. "I apologize for the treatment of your companions." He turned to the guard. "Let them out. We have a red-haired guest."

With that, there was no objection and they were freed.

Hisa spotted Hak holding all their things and went to take them back. Just when she was about to grab hers, he pulled her bag and hat above his head and smirked down at her. "You want this, short priest? Come and get it."

An annoying method of teasing that she hadn't been subjected to since she was a child.

Hisa wasn't going to bite. It was obvious what'd happen if she did.

She waited until he gave in first instead of wasting effort into jumping for her stuff. She didn't have to wait long, as Hak put down his arms when Yoon went to them.

It felt good to wear her veiled hat again. She was worried it got lost when they were captured.

"What's going on?" Yoon asked Hak.

"Don't know." He answered, eyes on the crimson haired girl. "The second they saw the princess, their attitude changed. Or more like they didn't recognize her as a princess, but rather..."

Villagers quickly surrounded them, many of them swooning ladies. Not for Yoon or Hak's looks, but for the princess. They kept fawning over her red hair and she seemed to enjoy the compliments.

Their ancestor, the white dragon warrior, served the crimson dragon, who had hair befitting of his name. As a clansman explained that red hair held special meaning for them, the princess admitted that she always hated her hair.

"You mustn't say such a thing!" He cried. "you were sent here by the priest. You may be the one we've been waiting for."

The group held their breath.

The clansman finished. "...though you may not be."

Hisa giggled at the possibility.

Of course Princess Yona was the one! There was no room to doubt.

"If she isn't, what will you do to us now that we know your secret?" Yoon presented a very good question.

He hadn't considered that, it seemed. "...In any case, you must meet with the white dragon."

"Hey! You paused too long!!" Then Yoon moved closer to Hak. "Hey thunder beast. Protect me."

Hak made no attempt to reassure him, so Hisa patted his shoulder.

"You'll protect me?" Yoon turned to her.

With a smile on her face, she nodded without any hesitation.