Discovery

The next morning the others went to see Tori off with the guards, their shining armour still glistened way too brightly to me, my head hurt just looking at them. What did they do all this time, shined their armour instead of keeping watch?
I was closer to the house, looking at the large group a distance away, chatting and speaking their last goodbyes.
The sound of Ak-Sa’s wings beating the air above me made me look up to her for a moment, she landed softly onto the edge of the house, looking at me with her small black eyes. I crossed my arms, as I looked away and back at the group, seeing Tori looking my way. I looked to the side, suddenly finding a patch of dirt very interesting; I was still displeased with the events that had transpired the night before, after all, so we had still yet to talk.
The advisor smiled lightly, looking towards me every now and then when I tried to avoid my gaze hitting hers, we had done this dance of sorts all morning. I even placed myself so far away because I felt it would make it harder for her to get my attention, but it seems all I could do was pay attention to her every movement. It worsened once I caught the sound of my name being spoken, I felt my body tense and a flare of irritation course through me. I tensed even more, to the point of almost falling over, when I looked up behind my lashes to see Tori approaching me with her calm smile.

“Your Highness.” she started as I released my arms to my sides. I still held a bitter expression, but she remained calm, just as she always has.
“I want you to be careful from now on, we found Light Tribe members here, which means there will only be more trouble for you ahead.” I tried to calm down my breathing. She was right, as much as I hated it - I was just lucky I hadn’t been recognized at that time.
Tori gently gave a bow, one that spoke a lot of feelings in her usual graceful movements. Once she rose, my eyes starting to burn, she made a twisted expression of her own before throwing her arms around me in a tight hug, making me blink for a moment.
“I’ll see you soon.” She whispered before pulling away. The strain in her voice and hurt expression shook me more then I let on, but I simply nodded my head to her as her face smoothed over; not showing any of the previous worry and pain that was there. She briskly turned and headed to the guards, speaking a few words to them before they headed out. I gave one last look over the horizon to see her fading form, her arm raised in one last wave before she was gone from our sights forever.
The group of misfits I’ve grown so accustomed to seeing had stayed back, giving me my space, but I saw Yona practically bouncing with worry and need as she looked at me. I gave an internal sigh as I gave her a warm smile, she jumping at it as she bounded towards me.
“Shoe, are you going to be alright?” Yona asked as she walked closer to me, I saw the rest of the group had turned their ears to me in anticipation of my answer too. I calmly looked at her for a moment, shutting my eyes as I let out a shaky breath. When I opened them they were slightly blurry as I peered over the horizon one last time before turning my back and taking in the sight of the village.
“I’ll be fine.” I snorted for a moment as I began to walk, feeling the lie get caught in my throat, though the words came out as cold as ice.  I thought I could even feel the bitter coldness of my words touch me, but I realized it was just Yoon’s hand on my forehead, making me recoil. When did he get there? It was disconcerting how fuzzy my thoughts were, but I said nothing as I looked at his growing frown.
“Go lay down. You shouldn’t be up walking around, no less being outside this early in the morning.” His voice stood stern as I bit my lip. I didn’t even have the coherency to argue at that moment, so I silently went back into the house as I was told, feeling as if I was just merely an onlooker in my own body as I laid down on the futon. I didn’t think sleep would take me as early as it did, but I soon found myself asleep once again.

Sound entered my ears, yet I heard nothing. Light flooded my eyes every so often, shadows changing, faceless forms shifting till everything went dark again. My mind felt sharp but dull at the same time, not receiving anything, but being overstimulated to the point I felt my head might burst. It felt like I was in this state for a century, but when my eyes finally fluttered open fully, things coming into focus for the first time, I realized it had simply been a day. It was dark outside, perhaps just past midnight as I sluggishly moved my head around to see better. Yoon was beside me with a wet cloth, smiling as he changed the warm one adorning my head; the cool feeling of it put me at ease only for a moment as the heat sucked that pleasure away in no time.
I could feel a groan leak out of me as I rolled onto my sides, clutching my arms as the cloth slid off. The dragon blood inside me was getting irritated, as it always did. I often got sick and my blood did this often, but being wounded at the same time just made it that much harder to ignore the pain and discomfort. I saw Yoon exchange a cup of tea for the rag, dipping it in water once again. I sniffed the air as I rose, much to Yoon’s displeasure.
“It helps if you mix lavender with the water.” I muttered as I ran my fingers through my damp, short hair.
“I don’t need any though, thanks. I’ll be fine, so we can leave in the morning.” His eyes pierced me with that look of indignant irritation, but I held strong as I cracked a smile. He looked back at the rag as he squeezed excess water out, pushing me back into a laying position as he sighed with furrowed brows, his tone soft despite his expression,
“ You were asleep all day”, He told me as he placed the newly cooled cloth back onto my head,
“Yona wants to head to the Water Tribe lands next, but we can’t do that if you’re still sick since it’s damp and rains a lot there. So, tell me if you’re positive you feel better. Your fever is still high, but you’ve rested a lot and your medicine should be kicking in, so I feel we’re out of danger. However, it can always get worse if you push yourself, you understand?” His eyes shone with compassion as he looked down at me. I felt my blood roar with irritation, but I cooled my face as I nodded, putting a hand to the cloth so that it didn’t slip away.
“I’m positive… but what’s in the Water Tribe anyways?” I raised an eyebrow at the mention of the tribe. It was a scenic destination with their people typically having calm demeanors, from what I’ve read in my studies of the  five tribes of the Kouka Kingdom at least, and wherever our little group goes we tend to find anything but calm encounters.
“Yona wants to make sure the trafficking hasn’t spread that far. The Thunder Beast and Ja-Ha has been poking around that town across the way while you’ve been held up here and discovered that there’s still plenty of trafficking, but the head of the group definitely isn’t in this town. So we figured maybe it’s happening elsewhere and if we take down the head then the chain links will fall away. Plus we have a friend in those lands by the name of Lady Lili, who can help.”
My mind swirled at his words. They found out more things than I could about that town while I was out of commission and that just made me feel… well, s****y. My heart lightened ever so slightly when I realized I knew something they hadn’t discovered yet, something helpful- the Light Tribe was behind it- but that thought put a bitter taste back into my mouth. It was my fault as the queen of the Crystal Kingdom because I let one of my tribes do such a thing and I should fix my own mistakes, so I stayed silent, fumbling thoughts around my skull.  
Yoon looked at me while I stayed silent this whole time, forgetting he was there for a moment as I let my thoughts take control of my mind, but he simply smiled and patted my hair,
“Get some rest before morning.” His voice was gentle, like a mother's. I was pulled out of my own musings as I looked to his back, a pang in my heart as I remembered Tori’s receding image from this morning. I lifted the covers over my head and curled onto my side, not caring the rag was soaking the side of the pillow as I let myself be enveloped by the dark coverings of the sheets.

Author's Note

Excuse the random titles

Reviews

[AliciaB]

I love Yoon. He is awesome. And I really relate to Shoe in this chapter - I just got my wisdom teeth out yesterday, so I've been in a medication-induced haze for a while. :)