Rewritten Fate (Akatsuki no Yona Fanfiction-New)

Assassination Arc (XII)

Inside the inner garden, Yona was practicing with the weapon that the King gave her. This part of the garden was well protected since the king knew that Yona liked to spend her time here. There were guards in every corner, and they don't even bother to mask the interest in their expression as they watched her practice.

Thankfully, they didn't say anything as they watched her. That was why she could practice openly here, even when there was still a nagging feeling inside her, telling her that the protection wouldn't enough, that everything could go wrong in a matter of seconds. Maybe she was being such paranoia, not that it could help when she had lived through endless war.

As Yona trained, the guards could see the scowl painted on her face. More often than not, they saw her twitched her eyebrow as she thrust her weapon. Quite a few times, they could hear her growled in distaste. 

They tried to stay upright, holding back laughs or smiles, though some of them failed to do so. It was hard to contain, especially when it was really a funny scene. But if they did laugh, Yona would glare at them sullenly, sometimes pouted too.

It was surprising to see Yona suddenly came here one day to practice using a weapon. Of course, the guards didn't know that it was a sword as Yona didn't sheath it. Nevertheless, the guards were shocked when the small girl arrived in the garden and started to practice handling that baton-like weapon.

Discreetly, they keep watching her, as she struggling with controlling the weapon with her small hand. It was hardly an hour later when she somehow able to control that weapon. Her movement became smoother and fluid, like that of an expert user. 

Truthfully, they slack-jawed as they watched her. She would definitely earn nothing praises from the audience. And yet, the scowl was still painted on her face.

The guards didn't know that Yona was actually really frustrated inside. The lack of power, as well as flexibility, made her growl. She could felt that each thrust was weak, and her reflex, as well as swing, was slow. 

She didn't have half her previous speed or strength, her stamina was also so low in contrast with how she had before. Although it had been better after practicing for a few days, still it was still far below her standard. She knew that this was a child's body, and she couldn't actually expect things to change just after a few days of training. There was, after all, nothing instant in this world.

She kept musing and failed to realize that Hak and Soo-Won came to approach her. Her intuition flared up, and instinctively, she swung her baton with as much force and speed as she could toward the intruder. She could barely register the shocked look on Hak or the shout coming from Soo-Won. 

"Hak!"

It was a good thing that Hak had good reflex, he could dodge the coming attack and came out unscratched. The guards paled as they witnessed it. They had never thought that Yona would attack Hak and Soo-Won, and it happened way too fast for them to comprehend the situation. Yona that time looks like a tiger claiming its territory.

A deafening silence overcame them. Yona blinked a few times before she is aware of her surroundings. Her heart dropped a little as she looked at Hak and Soo-Won face. She grew pale as she remembered what she had done. 

She wanted desperately to tell them that it wasn't intentional, that it was merely a reflex from her survival instinct. But one look on Hak's face stopped her from actually say anything. 

The look on his eyes... it was a mixture of shock, confused and... proudness? Or is it astonishment? She shook her head to clear her mind. It seemed like there was a problem in her brain, otherwise, she would not be hallucinating.

She looked at Hak again. She noticed that Hak was looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Hey, if you hate me that much, there is a better way to tell me, isn't there?" he said softly with a blank gaze. She bit her lower lips as she tightens her grip on the sword. She didn't like that expression. Scratch that, she downright hate it.

"Sorry." She said, barely audible and yet, it was so clear to the audience, Hak and Soo-Won included. This was why they ended up stunned. Yona had never talked to them directly or even had any indication in doing so. Everyone was left speechless.

Their silence made Yona awkward. "What?" she asked, didn't know what she did wrong now.

Hak shook his head and poker-faced. 

"I thought you are mute." He said apathetically. As soon as that, the other people snapped their heads to him, surprised by his answer.

But not so for Yona.

A vein popped on her head. She swung her baton down right on Hak's head with lightning speed, earning a yelp from the said victim. 

"Itte!"

Soo-Won, who stood behind Hak, was surprised. 

"Hak!" he shouted, as he looked at his friend crouching down. "Are you alright?" he asked, worriedly.

Hak holds his head for a while before he glared at Yona. But Yona just imitates his previous poker-faced, looking at him innocently. "Sorry, my hand slipped." She said, unapologetically.

"Slipped?! That's what you call Slipped?!" Hak snapped as he looked at her accusingly. Though Yona just turned her gaze on anything but him. A tiny bit smirk formed on her face, which wasn't went unnoticed by Hak. He shot her glare after glare, knowing too well that this was some kind of revenge from his previous remark.

Soo-Won sweatdropped as he watched the scene unfold. Right after that, Yona turns around and continues her training. She was happier now since she had delivered her revenge. After being bullied by Hak in the previous life, paying Hak back was one of her goals this time around. Revenge was a sweet little thing, isn't it?

Suddenly, her baton clashed with another staff, and when looked up, there stood Hak with a spear. She realized that it was not the Hsu Quandao; instead, it was just a normal spear. 'Probably borrowed from the guard.' She thought.

She raised her eyebrow at him as he gave her a smirk. "You need two people to do sparring." He said. He didn't wait for her reply and started attacking her with the spear. Not one to back down from a challenge, she too participates in this impromptu spar.

Hak thrust the spear. "I heard something happened to you a few days ago."

Yona dodged it and then jumped behind. She swung her baton, which was again clashed with Hak's spear. 

"Mind telling me what happened?" he pushed her back, and for a moment Yona's stance got unstable. She righted her stance right away, rushing to Hak once again.

"It's nothing; just some stalker got kind of aggressive." She swung the baton rapidly, which was blocked by Hak. 

"Stalker?" almost all of it was blocked, some of that got passed through him. He dodged another thrust.

"Did you tell your parents?" he flexed his body and dodged her attack. Then he swung his spear, aiming at Yona's foot.

Yona jumped and threw her baton toward Hak. "If I did, it'll end up as a disaster." It was blocked by Hak, though barely as he was caught surprised.

They stopped for a while, panting. They were both sweating. Hak let a proud smile out while Yona wiped her sweats with her sleeve. 

"I can imagine." he threw back her baton and resumed on taking his stance which was mimicked by Yona. Another moment later, they began exchanging blows again.

To Be Continued