Shoe Rivers

“Barbarian? Yes, that seems to fit well. Shoe’s always been a wild child but it’s been my job to take care of her. We’re childhood friends after all. But when she told me she was going on a journey to find Princess Yona and the four dragons I almost thought she was joking.” Tori let out a small chuckle at the memory, taking a drink of her tea as I did the same; trying to ignore the conversation partially.

“Hak and I grew up together too - though he’s older then me by about two years.” Yona said in thought.

“How old are you Yona?” Tori asked as I placed the tea down on the floor, my eyes were closed at the moment. I was just listening, that way I didn’t have to meet the other dragon’s gazes either.

“Sixteen.” Yona answered as I opened my eyes in realization of where this conversation was headed. Tori was not thinking about telling them our ages, was she? Of course we looked to be around Jae-ha’s age, but there was more to it than that.

“How old are you this year, Shoe?” Tori spoke with her fingertip pressed to her lips in thought, “Your daughter just turned Sixteen now that I think about it.” Tori smirked as Jae-ha spit out his drink, coughing roughly to the point he had to sit down instead of stand. Well, I had said I was married so he really shouldn’t have been that startled.

“You have a daughter?!” Yoon was the one to exclaim this fact first. “I would have thought that you were Jae-ha’s age.” Jae-Ha looked at Yoon incredulously, as if he was asking him how old they thought he was. Yoon raised an eyebrow in anticipation to my answer, ignoring the green dragon, as I leaned back.

“I’ll be thirty five this year and yes, I have a daughter whose the same age as Yona. She’s probably the complete opposite in personality though.” I flopped onto my back, letting my legs spread underneath the table. I let out a large yawn, all eyes on me as I did so, some mouths still agape by the shock of the news. “It’s getting late. Maybe we should sleep!” I rolled over, trying to get out of the conversation. Even if I was about to knock out I could hear Tori speaking. She knew I’d be listening - but it didn’t matter.

“Has Shoe been alright since she’s been with you?” Tori asked, bringing their attention to her. Her features showed she was a little worried. I sighed mildly. She doesn’t need to worry about me so much, but I can’t help that, so let the words continue. “She doesn’t have the healthiest of bodies so I was worried, you see, but she means well even if she gets in all sorts of trouble.” I grumbled for a moment, but knowing she cared always made me feel better. The soft chattering of their voices, the recanting of stories, and gentle laughter lulled me to sleep quicker than I thought.

“Shoe-sama. Shoe-sama, how long are you going to sleep?” I opened my eyes to Kija shaking my side. I sat up, rubbing my eyes before I let out a long yawn, stretching as I did so. I scrunched my features as I bit my lip, rolling half-asleep thoughts through my hazed mind; I had just realized I was having a weird dream. I ran my fingers through my hair, everyone seemed to be gone besides for Kija. “It’s nearly noon, Tori-sama said to just let you sleep though.” I groaned slightly. 

“Where is everyone?” I asked as I tried to recollect myself.

“Tori went to show Hak and Yona around. Shin-Ah and Jae-Ha are helping Yoon collect some supplies for the sick.” Oh, so that was it. I grabbed my sword and attached it to my hip as I stood up. I felt infinitely better, Tori must have noticed because of my tense energy last night that I had needed my rest.

“Then what are we doing?” I asked for a moment before Yona entered the room, she smiled as she hopped delightedly towards me.

“Shoe!” She chirped as I stepped back, a little confused. What had caused the princess to become so happy and giddy all of a sudden? I looked at Tori, who entered through the door behind the princess; she held her smile as she usually did. It was starting to unsettle me though, just what had my advisor done? “Tori told me we should go look for some firewood.” Yona placed her hands together before shooting for my own hand, not letting me argue nor pull away as she grasped my fingers. Tori walked to my side as she cupped a hand around her mouth, leaning towards me.

“Sorry - I told her how much you admired her while we were out and she just got like this. It just kinda came out.” Tori whispered as I glared at her for a moment. Yona wouldn’t just get like this over something like that, surely not, right? I let out a sigh, feeling Hak watch me from his spot at the door. I looked to Yona’s smiling features for a moment before nodding. I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll go too.

The four of us headed out into the forest, Kija staying behind to watch over the house, much to his displeasure. Tori and Hak had a comfortable silence around them as they moved ahead on the dense forest path, leaving Yona and I still holding hands a few feet behind them. I felt the growing calluses on Yona’s palm, making me very conscious of my own as I tugged away from her tight grasp. I rubbed my wrist and palm, not looking to be the least fazed, Yona started to talk again.

“You don’t need to be afraid to talk to me, you know? Tori said you had trouble with that sort of thing.” So Tori was sharing my insecurities out with the world. That was a bit displeasing, but I had said I trusted Yona with my life. I wasn’t about to go betraying the princess’ trust. If she trusted me then I could only return it ten times as quickly. I tried to conceal my smile though as my hand went and covered my face.

“Let’s collect some firewood Princess.” I said, changing the subject as I forced my features back to normal. I started to look around for sticks suitable to start a fire, but my mind went elsewhere. Something that really caught my eye, something I can’t stop thinking about, was how Yona acted most of the time. Being able to tell she was someone who, no matter how uncomfortable she might be with a situation, continues on her way. I sighed for a moment as I looked at the cluster of sticks in my hand that I didn’t even realize I picked up till now. I let the thought sink for a moment.

“Hey, Shoe - what is it really that made me stand out to you?” I jumped, dropping my small pile of sticks on the ground as I looked up to see Yona right next to me. Putting a hand to my chest I took a moment to catch my breath as Yona looked from the sticks on the ground to me and then continuing on. “Tori said something about you looking up to me, but what is there really? We haven’t known each other for that long after all.” She placed a hand on her cheek, trying to figure it out as she let her head tilt to the side.

“I’m really good at watching people.” I answered as I started to pick up the sticks I had dropped before heading down the small forest path we were following. The princess hung close, still hoping for an answer from me. “There’s not one thing I can pin point, really. I’ve heard rumors about you before because I’m a dragon - and that’s not the reason why I like you. My king is different….” though there was never a hope of our king returning, I thought almost bitterly. “You look so small and so frail - but I know you hate that. Even if you’re shivering and terrified you have the self discipline to move through that fear. You might not see yourself as amazing, but not many people can force themselves to do things their bodies are refusing to do.” I smiled as Yona stopped.

“No matter what you think about Soo-Won being on the throne, no matter if you think he’s supporting this country. I really do think….” I paused as I looked directly into her fiery eyes, “You could do well on the throne.” I didn’t know anything about what happened to Yona and Soo-Won. I knew that he had done something devilish to get on the throne but how deep the connection between him and Yona was unbeknownst to me. Rumors and information could only come so far after all. I was not a god - as much as I wished. Yona’s expression had changed to something more saddening, and it wasn’t hard to tell why. The face of heartbreak. I knew it all too well not to see it on her face. “You have Hak, so don’t look so down.” I said and instantly she looked at me with her face red.

“W-whatever do you mean?!” She said flustered, her eyes looking anywhere but at me as she placed a hand on her cheek. I couldn’t help but to laugh rather loudly. My mouth wide open to show the sharp fangs I had in the front of my mouth.

“It’s very obvious how you feel, Yona. At least to me it is but I don’t think Hak has caught on yet. You should tell him that you like him though, take your time, but if you aren’t careful someone might try to steal him from you.” I brushed past the princess  and caught up to Tori and Hak a few feet away. They were chatting quietly, a large amount of wood in their hands. I linked arms with Tori, making her drop her bundle in surprise as she looked to me questioningly.

I couldn’t help but to just snicker in response. I could smell Yona moving about, trying to catch up. I had given her the impression we no longer needed to speak about it but I could tell it was prominent in her mind as she stopped dead in her tracks when she came up to Hak. Her eyes averted his gaze and she shuffled uncomfortably, “A-Ah, I think we have enough wood. Why don’t we head back, yeah?” Hak looked to her with pinched brows at her sudden change of demeanor, but he nodded in agreement none the less. Tori saw the tension surrounding Yona and looked to me with a grin, realizing I had to have been the cause of it. She gave an almost proud look as we softly chuckled to each other on the way back to the house.

Author's Note

Another chapter another day.

Reviews

[Crow Splat]

Pretty well written and easy to follow. Some of your other stories in this series were a little difficult for me to follow just because of the sheer quantity of characters.

This one felt just right and it was good to see the characters have more time to develop and shine.

Tiny nitpick: In paragraph 7, the word whose should be who's or who is.

[JBoone]

This a remarkable story and so well done. I enjoy reading every word.

[AliciaB]

I like Shoe's complaint about Tori sharing her insecurities with the world - they almost sound like sisters in the way they interact. The dragons' reactions to the fact that Shoe has a daughter is funny. All around, they are very entertaining characters. I also like the look into Yona's character in terms of her inner strength and painful past. Nicely written, and I look forward to reading more!