A/N: Oh my goodness, I am extremely sorry for taking FOREVER. College has been taking over my life, and when it comes to writing – more specifically, writing good stuff – I'm not exactly the best or quick about it. Also, where is inspiration when you need it? Enough with my excuses though! I'm surprised at the amount of people who followed and favorited this story, but thank you! I know this chapter is nearly not long enough for those who have been waiting for a while; regardless, I hope you enjoy reading! Any comments/review/favs are appreciated :)
-x-
Yona couldn't help but giggle at Yoon's shouting, trying to stifle the sound coming from her mouth with her fingertips. In her mind, she could imagine Yoon's face – rolling his eyes around while being concerned for their safety. "He's adorable, worrying about us like that."
Zeno nodded in agreement, letting out a chuckle as well.
The two left the makeshift camp, passing several trees and encountering even more of them – Yona felt slightly uncomfortable at turning in whatever direction, as it only encircled her line of vision and made her wonder where she should go. She tightened the grip on her bow, feeling its familiar roughness giving her the strength to walk on ahead. Although she had gone out hunting for the group and had practically became a veteran at it, she still felt an underlying feeling of hesitation and guilt whenever she pulled back the string – knowing that it would cause harm to another being.
"Miss?"
Yona's thoughts were put on hold, and her focus dragged back into the present when she felt the warmth of Zeno's hands enveloping her own. She didn't realize how long she stopped in the middle of the area.
"Oh! Sorry Zeno, my mind wandered a bit…" She chuckled nervously, hoping that he didn't notice how distracted she was. After all, she needed to hurry up and get something for everyone to eat.
"No no! It's okay. Zeno wanted to tell you that he left sticks for us to backtrack to when we finish hunting." With a quick wave of his hand, he pointed towards the bookmarks on the ground – grinning when Yona's eyes brightened with surprise.
The princess totally had forgotten how much of a puzzle this forest was, giving herself a mental slap in the head. "You're smart, Zeno! This forest looks really confusing – I can't believe I didn't even think about th—"
A quick yank of her hand silenced her words, immediately looking at the hand placed on her mouth and shifting her head to face Zeno – who had narrowed his eyes and pointed with his other hand at whatever alarmed him.
Yona widened her eyes at the animal strolling casually across the forest in front of her, taking note of how clear the image was. It was a brown bear – the princess was mesmerized by its massive size and how calmly it walked with its paws. Ever since she left the kingdom, seeing all these different animals excited her and caused her curiosity to skyrocket through the roof – just like right now. She held her breath as the bear darted its head back and forth, almost as if it had sensed the two hiding behind one of the trees. However, it did not seem to care as it continued its own business.
"Sorry, miss," Zeno whispered, finally letting go of his palm enclosed around her mouth. "That bear appeared out of nowhere and Zeno panicked."
"That's alright, Zeno – I'm glad you did that," Yona smiled at him and took in a gulp of fresh air – gripping her bow as she felt adrenaline pumping through her veins, and lifted it to where she could aim the bear. Taking an arrow from her quiver, she drew back the string – lacing it with the killing edge that would pierce the bear in a single shot. Narrowing her eyes to focus and trying to ignore the guilt pounding in her mind, she saw the bear pause in its steps and just like that – whoosh! Her arrow flew across the air gracefully before landing in between the bear's eyes. The animal fell down and groaned in agony, erratically moving its paws before stopping its motion altogether.
Zeno let out an impressed whistle and nodded in approval. "That was a smooth shot, miss!"
"Thanks, Zeno!" Yona sighed in relief, glad that her shot proved to be a good one. She wiped the sweat forming on her forehead with the sleeve of her cloak, and turned towards Zeno – "do you think you'll be able to carry it back with you or…?"
The blonde dragon furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the lifeless creature with his bright, blue eyes – he stepped closer to inspect it and let out a gasp.
"Look at this!"
Rushing towards him, the princess scanned the bear and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Wha…?"
As expected, blood was dripping down the bear's face – slowly covering the ground within a small pool of dark red. However…
That wasn't the only one.
In the bear's left flank, Yona saw exactly what Zeno was surprised about - another arrow had been lodged within in the bear. Her eyes tightened at the sight of the blood pool it was creating, feeling the chills down her spine.
"We're not alone…" Her voice trailed off.
"Come, miss. We shouldn't stay here for long." Zeno's voice dropped down in several tones, and kept dashing his head back and forth to scout for anyone nearby.
The princess could feel her forehead sweating now, and immediately started walking back in the direction her and her companion came from. Although she felt Zeno's calming presence behind her, her heartbeat was accelerating as she squinted her eyes to find the branches Zeno had set up and quickened her pace. It didn't help that the fog from before was starting to appear and cloud her line of sight again.
"Z-Zeno…?"
"Zeno is here, miss. Keep on going!" Yona felt relieved as Zeno's hand slipped into hers and reassured her with a squeeze.
Okay, Yona. You're going to be fine. You have Zeno right here, you're going to see Hak and everyone else again, and apologize for not getting the bear back because there was someone else with a bow around and…
"…Ow!" Yona rebounded back in surprise as a sudden, sharp pain enveloped her forehead. Rubbing her forehead in confusion, she wondered if she ran into a tree and faced to see what had caused the impact.
"Eh…?"
All she could see was fog covering an ominous silhouette with bright eyes glaring right at her, coming closer and closer to where she was.
On instinct, Yona attempted to squeeze Zeno's hand, but she couldn't feel it.
"W-wait, Zeno? Zeno!" Feeling panicked now, she turned around and felt her heart dropped. He wasn't there.
The princess felt completely helpless and utterly confused at the predicament she was in. Fog had now suffocated the entirety of her vision except the sight of the approaching shadow. She had considered running away, but the blood within her boiled with anticipation and strange desire to face the creature despite the overwhelming fear screaming at her to flee. Yet… for some reason, once her eyes turned to face towards the unknown entity – her feet stood her ground, time slowed, and everything felt…
Calm.
The shadow was right in front of her face now, yet Yona had no fear. She did not move, nor panic. The only thing she did was ask a question.
"Who are you? And where did you take Zeno?"
All she received in response was bright flashes of light blinding her eyes.
-x-
A/N: Wow – I forgot how fun writing can be. I had a ton of fun writing this, and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. But what will happen to Yona and what in the world happened to Zeno? Ooh. I'm kind of a jerk for ending it on such a cliffhanger… and who knows when the next chapter will be released? Oops… Thank you for reading though! Please don't kill me D: