The Price We Pay For Freedom

The Rebirth of the Red Dragon

A/N: I'm skipping episode 4 but I might go back and type it up once the story actually begins. For now, I'm moving to episode 5.

[Honoka POV]

Man...this whole journey to the Wind Tribe I was asleep since my body was recovering from the poison. I had missed trying to help Tae-jun receive his medicine from the merchants that the Fire Clan wounded. I even missed my chance to say anything to Mun-dok or Tae-jun...

I haven't been poisoned in so long that I forgot what it does to me, usually my shadows restore everything for me right away, but I guess poison is an exception. I was carried throughout the whole trip to the Northern Mountain that is on the edge of Fire Clan territory, how we haven't gotten spotted is beyond me. This is to find a oracle who can foresee all of the dragon's whereabouts.

So that's how we ended up here, luckily all of the poison is gone from my body so I can walk all on my own...

"How does that old man expect us to find a guy without knowing where he is?" Hak says and I cock my head to the side in confusion. I haven't even known that there was an oracle, this must of happened after I fell asleep...

"'A secluded area'... Well this place sure seems uninhabitable..." Yona says as she pulls her cowl over her face tighter.

"Well if you live here, you'll probably fall off the cliff in an instant. But I think it's barely livable if you put your mind to it." Hak gives his input to which I nodded in agreement.

"By the way Yona. If we are to search these areas, we'll have to camp out, it is okay?" I ask her politely to which she smiles at me.

"Camping out? I've gotten used to it a little." Yona says happily to which I nod at her answer, little by little she's growing...

"Unlike the mountains behind the castle, it'll get chilly here. Honoka, I know you don't like the cold." Hak decides to be stupid and give us his input to which I haughtily respond.

"If that's the case then Yona'll snuggle with me while I cling to you for warmth, it should be fine that way." I say and while he was swinging his weapon, he accidentally sent it soaring.

"Jeez..." Hak says and I suddenly hear multiple footsteps. I close my eyes to concentrate on the amount of people heading this way and keep my hand on my sword just to be safe. My shadows made me feel the tremors in the ground that the foot soldiers caused, and I made sure to keep my eyes on Yona.

I decide to walk a bit more with Yona trailing behind me until Hak wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him to where our noses almost touched. My eyes narrowed at this sudden contact to which he just grinned smugly at me about it.

"That's fine, but...I'll misbehave." He says, about to pin me to the wall with his arms on each side, but I side step out of his way. Only to let Yona get pressed against the rock. My muscles were twitching in anticipation at the large amount of soldiers who have come to find us most likely.
"Fifty soldiers coming in all directions to block an escape. Get ready." I whisper in a low tone, Yona's eyes filling with worry.
"I thought they were through pursuing us, but... with this number, they mean business." He says and I nod at his words.
And Hak decides to playfully flirt with Yona to help ease her worries which only helps a little, but I pat her covered head to reassure her.
"All right, now that I've got my warm up... Should we get to work?"  Hak questions, and I look up to observe all of the men on higher levels of the mountain with their weapons ready.
"Ah, who said that I was needed for this fight. I'm sure you will do just fine on your own, Hak." I say teasingly, about to walk back the way we came, but he gripped onto my sleeve.
"Don't think you can get out of this one, Honoka." Hak says, making me let out a sigh, and remove my sword from it's hilt. It was gleaming in the sun's light.
"Stick close to us, Princess." Hak says with a smirk as men descended from their vantage points.
Armies of men charged at us and feeling my blood lust swell out of excitement of seeing so many people, a grin graces my features.
While Hak gave a mighty swing, I stepped back a couple of paces, and ran as fast as I could since Yona's life was still dangling on the line.
With ease, I jumped into the air, stepped onto Hak's shoulder to get closer to the back fleet of soldiers, and kicking each one in the head that I saw. I secretly infused my shadow power into my legs, making the force of my kicks knock them out cold.
"They really are the Lightning Beast and the Phantom Shadow...." They say in amazement as I returned to Hak's side, making my powers disappear.
"Attack!!" The troops shout and they all let out a battle cry before leaping at the two of us. With ease, Hak's powerful swings and my rapid succession of close range fighting, the men we easily killed. I almost felt bad for them because they really didn't stand a chance against us. They are destined to die here, and never return to their loved ones ever again...
"What's wrong? Is this all you got?" Hak shouted to the General who turned out to be Gang Tae-jun.
"If it is, I'm really getting bored." I said in a bored tone, staring lazily at out attackers.
"Your doing well, Lightning Beast, Phantom Shadow." His annoying voice rang out and I turn my head to fully asses the situation.
"I have been waiting for this moment, General Son Hak and Honoka, Princess Yona. I, Gang Tea-jun, of the Fire Clan..." But by the time he began talking, I began to daze off, staring at the clear skies.
I really have lost interest in what this idiotic man trying to tell us.
"What?! Why are you enjoying the nature when I'm still talking to you?!" He whines like a little kid and one of the soldiers tries to console him. God he's just such an annoying human being, can't we just get rid of him already?
"Oh, were you talking to me? Honoka, did you notice?" Hak says, not really paying attention.
"I wasn't paying attention really, sorry." I say, scratching the back of my neck.
"Right now, we're no longer Generals. We're just wandering travelers." I turn to the annoying prince of the Fire Clan, not even giving him enough respect of bow to him.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hak agrees, bowing for the both of us.
"Oh, not at all. As long as you understand, it's fine....Wait... What?! The two of you are no longer generals?" He shouts in confusion and I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. With this playful banter going on, Yona could've escaped by now...
"Right, I'm just Hak and she's just Honoka. We're just wandering travelers. So... Anything we do from here on out has nothing to do with the Wind Clan." Hak finally gets his point across with a serious glare.
"We no longer have to worry about the consequences." I say as well, giving his troops deadly glares, and unsheathed my sword once again.
"So, that's what it's about. But I don't care about the Wind Clan. I will eliminate anyone who gets in my way, I'm only interested in capturing Princess Yona!" He says and there's a rapid barrage of arrows that come flying towards us. I push Yona into Hak's arms and swiftly cut down each arrow that tried to hit us along with Hak.
"Don't give them a chance to rest!" He orders, making all of his soldiers surge forward. I make huge arches with my blade, piercing each group of men who come towards us.
"Stop him! Stop them now! Release the arrows!" He orders and a group of archers fire their arrows at us, and Hak pierces his Hsu Quandao into the ground, and vaulting over to the next level.
I take a step back to avoid the arrows and swiftly jump to the next level to stand beside Yona. Hak tightens his grip on Yona's waist, and leaps from rock to rock to avoid the rain of arrows.
"You two go on ahead, I'll create a minor diversion to get them off of you so that you can get her to safety." I shout over the cries of the men who try to attack my from my standing position.
"Right!" Hak agrees, and I continue to help him the best way I can while fighting the men by using my shadows.
After slowing them down for a bit, I manage to catch up to Hak and the Princess, being their back shield. While I was focusing on keeping the arrows from hitting Yona, she accidentally trips over an arrow fragment, and trips over herself.
"Aim for the Princess!" They shouted and when I heard these words, my shadow energy began to seep out of myself lightly as I heard her desperate plea for help.
Using one last burst of energy, I press Yona closer to the ground to prevent the arrow from piercing her. 
"Gah!!" I let out a gasp of pain when I felt the arrow pierce itself clean through my stomach area, I could only watch in slow motion as Yona's eyes widened in shock.
"Honoka?!" Yona shouts in shock, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. Since I was no longer paying attention to my surroundings, I failed to notice the other incoming arrow, and it pierced itself into Hak's back, making me let out a surprised gasp.
"This is gonna hurt like a bitch...." I mutter to myself, preparing myself to rip the arrow out of my wounded stomach, and Hak did the same.
The arrows clattered to the ground and Yona's eyes trailed to amount of blood that were on the arrows.
"Stop worrying. You're creeping me out." Hak said, out of breath, and my vision began to fade in and out. 
Hak pierces his spear into the ground and vaults himself over the next level of the mountain, leaving the troops surprised. Grinning to myself in a daze, I forced myself to focus, and vault myself over the ledge too, running after them.
As they began to do their sweep, Hak kneeled down to ensure that Yona didn't move from her spot no matter what happens.
"You two...your bleeding..." She said in a weak voice and I laugh tiredly, ruffling her bright red hair.
"Oh these, it's nothing. We'll be back before you know it Yona." I encourage her, taking off after Hak, my sword drawn in case we had any surprises. 
When we get back to where the troops were, Hak had to strain himself to be able to push the enemy off of him so that I could stab him in the chest. I kept glancing back at the cliff's ledge that kept getting closer as more men approached.
Because of our languid movements, I had a feeling that we were both poisoned from the arrow tips. Man, and I just got rid of the poison in me from last time.
Sweat began to pool on the nape of my neck as two men's swords clashed with my own. My weakening body began to lose strength, and I was slowly being pushed back towards the ledge, damn it all...
Seeing Yona talking to Gang Tea-jun caused my to grit my teeth from frustration, and I somehow managed to weaken their grips on their swords, giving my an opening to stab them in the heart.
More soldiers began to appear and attack the both of us with brute force. We manage to kill some while we were dodging the other men trying to stab at us, but suddenly, a piercing pain erupted from my chest causing my to let out a surprised cough of blood. 
From my last minute falter, a group of swordsmen ran up to me, and attempted to stab at me, but I somersault myself in the air, cutting down all of them despite my growing exhaustion.
As we tried to run to go retrieve the princess, Hak fell to the ground and when I tried to help him up, two more men advanced from the front with more coming from behind to flank us.
'Damn it... If I don't do anything now then Hak will...' I think to myself, slowing losing my consciousness, but I kept myself awake by biting the inside of my mouth.
But when they all advanced on us at once, we both had wide openings for a troop on the side to attack us, and before we know it, the swordsmen slash at us in a crescent arch, and I could only stare in awe as our blood spewed into the air. The ribbon that I had used to keep my hair in its high ponytail fluttered to the ground as well, making my eyes widen in shock when I had a minor flashback memory of Su-woon placing this ribbon in my hair. At the thought of him touching it, I felt bile rise in my through all the while.
From the pain registering in my brain at full force, I stumble backwards.
"!!" I don't even have time to say anything when my feet are no longer on solid ground, and I fall backwards. But my moving world seemed to stop once I felt a tight grip on my ankle.
I look up to see that Hak was barely hanging on himself, his chest was ripped open from the sword wound, and he was barely able to hang on to the ledge. Looking up at him feeling waves of pain roll over me, I let out a long sigh.
"Hak... you need to let go of me." I say to him in a calm voice, if I can at least get him to understand, maybe I can use the last bit of power I have in me to help us out.
"What?! There's no way in hell I'm doing that!" He argues and I press my bloodied hand to my forehead.
"I mean first of all, your making me lightheaded because you grabbed me by the ankle which you are bruising by the way. Second, the princess is still up there fighting for her life, to me, her life is more important than my own. We need to make sure she's safe too." I try to reason and I can tell I was slowly reasoning with him, but his eyes reflected his stubborn self.
I'm going to take a guess that something important happened because when I looked up at Yona, her hair was shorter than what it once was. But my eyes widened and my body stiffened when I saw that familiar flame appear in her eyes. My body practically went limp at the sight of is, and I could only let a small gasp escape my lips.
"Hiryuu...." His name slipped past my lips out of impulse and I'm glad that neither of them heard me.
"Hak! I'm gonna help the two of you up!" Yona says happily, taking a hold of his hand to help pull him up.
"Idiot! Run away!! You won't be able to! Hurry, run far away..." Hak shouts at her as she tries to pull the both of us up by herself.
"No! I will not!!" She shouts, her voice filled with anguish and desperation as she continues trying.
"Hak! Honoka! I won't forgive you if you die! I won't forgive you!" She says, her tear landing themselves onto Hak's surprised face. I could only smirk at the thought of his expression.
But suddenly, his grip weakened, and this caused all three of us to fall off of the cliff. 
I immediately move my body into action, pushing Hak towards Yona, and I face his back to protect the both of their falls. Hak loss conscious from the poison and Yona's fearful screams filled my ears as I used the last bit of my power to make a protection to make their fall hurt less, but because of my body being weak, my powers dissipate. 
Swearing under my breath, I wrap myself around the two of them, and brace myself for the fall that'll hurt like a bitch.
The last thing I think about as I closed my eyes were the sight of her fiery orbs filled with hope, desperation, and the need for survival all swirling in one hurricane of emotions. The thought of her maturing brought a smile to my face...
'I'm glad to see Yona slowly shaping herself into the true ruler of Kohka.' Was the last thing I remember thinking to myself before my body collided head first into the ground, making me lose consciousness.

[3rd POV]
"Lord Su-woon." Keishuk stood at the door to announce Gang Tea-jun's arrival, only to reveal his disturbed and disheveled form.
I apologize for disturbing you the day before the important coronation ceremony... Especially at this hour of the night. I came here today because there is something I need to give you." Gang Tea-jun spoke, Su-woon could clearly see that something was deeply disturbing the man and this caused a wave of fear to wash over him at what this gift may be.
He accepts the extended hand and his eyes widened in shock at the lock of red hair tied by a silk black ribbon with red at the tips of it that was torn.
"Princess Yona is dead. We cornered General Hak and Honoka, along with the princess in the Northern forest, between the Wind and Fire lands. We got very close, but then the three fell to the bottom of the valley...Please, punish me..." He demands, lowering his head more to accept punishment from the soon to be King.
"Please rest at the castle today. And be sure to attend tomorrow's coronation ceremony." Su-woon said in a dark tone, still trying to wrap around his head that his beloved Honoka was dead.
That silk ribbon that they used to tie Yona's hair with was no one's but her's, he would know after all, he bought it for her.
With dark thoughts of his friends deaths weighting heavily on his mind, he begins walking back to his room with Gang Tea-jun begging for some form of punishment.

[3rd POV]
"Once upon a time...
When the big red sun was eaten,
and the world was swallowed in darkness..."  A young boy began singing softly, taking a big bite out of his apple.
"What a pain. Dead people." He lets out an annoyed sigh, looking down at the three rugged appearances, and noticed how tightly they were clinging to each other.