Traffic

As we returned we threw the firewood into a pile near the door. Everyone had returned from their own chores and Yona immediately went to join the dragons at the table, passing Hak in the doorway without a word. Tori let out a shrill whistle; Ak-Sa came from the back room and perched on her ready arm. She gave her a loving nudge as she looked to me, tilting her head at my expression. Now that the others were preoccupied, chatting about their adventures into town, I leaned towards her with my arms crossed.

“You just had to tell her unnecessary things, didn’t you?” Tori looked amused as she extended her arm and Ak-Sa climbed onto my shoulder, snuggling up against my ear; making me recoil.
“Well, your highness, I knew you wanted to talk to her so I simply provided the opportunity to do so. I did say sorry, didn’t I?” She jabbed my shoulder with a finger as she let out a small laugh at my twisted expression before continuing.

“It’s fine, right? I know you, eventually things will get better between the two of you, but teasing her and pushing her will just prolong that time. Perhaps. We’ll see.” I watched as Tori walked away, Ak-Sa going with her. I took a deep breath as I glanced at Yona talking with Yoon. Life was frustrating, but struggling was something we did rather well.

After that little chat with Tori I went to Yona and the group, her face suddenly serious as I approached.

“Hey, what’s up?” I looked to Yona as I sat a little away from the small group. She turned to Yoon and he lowered his expression in turn. The air was stifling with unease as Shin-Ah and Zeno leaned in closer to the table; watching the three of us and Kija, who was closer to Yoon.

“Well, Yoon heard some news through town, but he’s not sharing.” Kija spoke as he looked quizzically at the young genius.

“No, I shouldn’t have even mentioned it! Something was just bugging me, but we definitely don’t want to get mixed up this kind of thing again.” Yona raised an eyebrow at his words,

“Again?” Yoon groaned at the look in her eyes. He quickly peered around, seeing that Hak wasn’t around,

“When I went to some of the stalls there was talk of human trafficking in the next town over. Presumably the whole place is made up of traffickers and they’ve almost consumed this town in the last few months.” He paused as he sat back, putting a hand to his chin,

“I was wondering why there wasn’t really anyone around the edge of the city when we came in and I guess this is why.” Yona stiffened beside me and I could feel a memory from my past lurk behind my eyes, but I push it down. I don’t know what connection Yona had with human trafficking, but by her reaction and the knowing eyes Shin-Ah, Kija, and Zeno had lead me to know they had past experiences with it. Yoon pointed at Yona,

“I know you. You’re gonna want to help them, like you do with everyone, but just this time please don’t. It’s not like in Awa, we won’t have the pirates there to help us and we have no knowledge about it other then it’s happening.” Well, that answered my suspicions. My mind whirled with thoughts, memories, and overall curiosity. I nodded to myself before rising, calling the attention of the others,

“You all shouldn’t be involved. Yoon, it’s getting late, why don’t you make dinner. I’ll start the fire.” Kija nodded approvingly at my words,

“We finally agree on something; no getting involved.” I ignored him quite bluntly as I turned to the wood near the door. My body moved but my mind wandered to other places- I want to know of the happenings going on in that town. It’s not my country so I don’t need to get involved, but I can’t help myself with these types of things. My advisor is going to be very angry at me again.

It was just about midnight when I snuck out of the house. The guards from my country needed better training if I could slip their attention so easily, but Hak on the other hand wasn’t so easy. I had to talk extra precautions and made sure he wasn’t awake whatsoever when I left.

The night air stung my face with its sharp wind, I pulled my cloak tighter around me, Ak-Sa squirming on my shoulder. I brought her just in case I got into trouble and needed to send a message, which has happened before. Always good to be prepared when you know you’re going somewhere dangerous, I found that out the hard way many times.

The streets were desolate, which just reminded me more persistently of the touch of traffickers on the town. Usually there would be at least one or two people out and about in a town like this, even at this late hour. At the thought of that there was a noise from behind me, a presence and scent became prominent in my mind’s eye. The scent familiar in my nostrils and I internally cursed.

“Yona, come out. I know you're there.” I dragged a hand down my face as I turned to see the princess trying to hide in an alleyway a few feet away. I put my fists on my hips,

“It's not too late to turn back, good thing I caught you before I made it out of the town. Come on, let's go.” Yona jumped out and rushed to me, applying her hands forcefully to my cloak, making Ak-Sa fluster.

“No! You're going to investigate the trafficking town, right? I want to go too!” Her eyes shone brilliantly in the light reflected by the high moon. I felt my heart waver for a second but I pushed it down as I looked away,

“It's not a matter of wanting. It's too dangerous, we agreed on this. I'm taking you back and I'll still have enough cover of night to do some poking around.” Yona stiffened her lip and looked me straight in the eyes with that hardened look she gets sometimes.

“People could be in trouble and I can't sleep soundly knowing that. Plus, if I go back now I just might wake up Tori with all my unsound sleeping.” She gave a small look to me as I physically recoiled at the mention of my advisor’s name. She knows just what buttons to push, doesn't she?
“Fine, but promise you'll stay close.” She nodded enthusiastically as I sighed. There's no stopping the stubborn princess, is there? But I like that about her.

“You really have a thing for following people when you’re not supposed to, don’t you?” She simply giggled at that as we walked outside of the town and into the open fields. The darkness creeped around us as night continued to roll on as we walked. It would only be about five more minutes till we hit the town at the pace we were going, but I felt strangely calm.

“I was almost sold as a slave once.” My voice broke the still air of the night and I could feel Yona’s startled eyes on me. I don’t know why I suddenly felt the need to tell her this, but I can’t take the words I confided to her back. Yona dropped her pace slightly,

“I’m sorry. That must have been terrible.” I felt a small smile tug at my lips as I lifted my hands above my head in a stretch, placing them behind my neck as I spoke.

“Luckily Tori found me before anything bad happened, but yeah, it was terrible.” The memory wasn’t all too bad, not anymore. It felt almost like a dream looking back at it now, but I met Tori and that’s something solid in that dream-like scene that would never fade away.

“We’ll catch these b******s though, I promise you that.” I clenched my fist as I brought my hands back to my side, this had seemed to make the princess smile as she picked up her pace once again. I looked from her to the horizon, little lights flickered not too far away. We made it to the human trafficking town.

Author's Note

OKAY WOO, another chapter uploaded, time to go read some peoples stuff.

Reviews

[TheRaven]

The dialogue reads a bit stiff at points, and characters feel like they could be interchangeable when they speak. There's a missing piece in the dialogue, sometimes it feels artificial. A lot of unnecessary description is put on to where the people are standing, and that should only be focused on if it's important otherwise it can be rather bland.

What if Shoe said no? Simply left without Yona. Makes things more interesting if Yona follows along anyway, yeah? Perhaps, that's up to you. I don't want to tell you how to write your own story. You have a cool idea and I'm fond of people and dragons dealing with dark themes such as human trafficking. I just find I'm missing a sense of banter between the characters, like The Witcher for example. Take a moment to read books like those within a fantasy-esque world and see what's said and isn't said.

Again, lot of potential in this.

[AliciaB]

Yay!!!! I was looking forward to this. :) Yona is a really cool character - I like the way she is childish and innocent, yet also determined and courageous. The details from Shoe's past are intriguing. By the way - what is the correct pronunciation of Shoe's name? I've been saying it like the word "show" in my head, but I'm not sure that's correct. Keep up the great work - can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter!

[Centipedle]

Like the shoe you wear on your foot her name is Shoe ^^ Thank you for your support!

[AliciaB]

Oh wait... I get it. *face palming at my own stupidity* An everyday word, and yet for some reason my brain did not make the connection. XD Thanks. And you're welcome!

[David Jae]

I like the suspense of this story. Princesses always get into trouble, it seems. Good job. If there is a suggestion I could make, it is that you need to watch your punctuation.

I enjoyed reading it, however.