The group was less than a day away from crossing the border into Kai, a three day trek from where they were in the Fire Tribe, and already everyone was buzzing with excitement. Yona and Yoon were positively giddy over the chance to see a new empire. Kija wondered what their traditions would be like, and if the myths of his brothers had reached an international market. Shin-Ah had a quiet, calm smile that showed his eagerness to those who knew him best. Hak was worried about safety, but was also more than a little interested to see Kai himself.

The information he'd received as general was so all over the place, he wanted to know how much of it was true.

Jae-Ha had only pleasant memories from his time in Kai, so he was happy to be going back. The only two not excited was the happy mascot, whose usual enthusiasm was undercut by minor apprehension. That no one seemed to notice.

And then of course Ke Xin constantly looked and acted as though she just swallowed cement.

So all-in-all it was a much less snarky trip than the group was used to.

And while some (Kija) were grateful (Kija) for Ke Xin's sudden lack of insults (Kija). There wasn't a soul in the group whose enthusiasm wasn't a little undercut by her obvious discomfort. Her hard edges seemed so much sharper. The smoothness of her skin was too metallic. Her hair, pulled taught into its bun was stained leather on her head. None of it was natural. None of it belonged to the woman they had grown to know, respect, and reasonably tolerate.

But when it had been brought up to the group while she was gathering wood one evening, it was ultimately Hak who gave the deciding comment.

"If she really doesn't want to go, she doesn't have to. If she wanted us to consider her feelings, she's voice them. If she wanted to make us worried, she would say so. But she doesn't. So we should just wait and be ready to hear her when or if she ever wants to talk."

So silent tolerance has become their go-to defense mechanism.

"I wonder what Kai is like," Yona pondered while slowly eating her supper. It was the last of the provisions they dared to take with them from the Fire Tribe, no matter how much Tae-Jun insisted they take another bag of rice. The rice wine, however… Hak, Jae-Ha and Ke Xin made sure to each take a cask.

"It's more or less similar, dear. Especially on the border where the governing country has changed," Jae-Ha answered.

"It's really similar?" Yona asked.

"Yes. Let's see, the last time I was in Kai was… 7 years ago? Yes, 7 years. And there were a fair number of people who spoke Koukan, and the culture felt more like a hybrid."

"So we might not need our special translator!"

"You shouldn't count on that just yet," Ke Xin said taking a sip of warm sake while her empty bowl lay forgotten next to her, appreciated the warmth that burned down the inside of her throat. "Migrant workers are common, especially for farming. And I wouldn't count on slaves to speak any other language than their mother tongue." Her tone was ever so slightly sarcastic and entirely condescending.

"Oh," Yona said quietly. Jae-Ha looked over at Ke Xin and shot her a warning look, half concern, half trying to remind Ke Xin that her tolerance was way lower than she pretended it was.

"So the slaves do most of the hard labor?" Yoon asked. Ke Xin shot him an incredulous look, holding his gaze for as long as possible so as to let the stupidity of question marinate. When, everyone was just about ready to call the night, to end this awkward conversation to try and run away to the various nightly activities, she spoke.

"I'm going to bed." Ke Xin reported as she moved to the big tent she shared with the boys and passed out. The camp watched her go. She wasn't going to be asleep, she just didn't want to answer questions.

"Great. Just leave your dishes out," Yoon muttered awkwardly.

"I'll clean them, Yoon," Kija offered. He had been surprisingly tactful about Ke Xin and her mood as of late. It was clear to him that she was forcing herself. She didn't want to go home, a blind man could see that, but she wasn't complaining and was marching forward nonetheless. She was marching forward for Yona, for Hiryuu. It evoked a certain amount of respect from him. At least enough to do the dishes.

Also this moody Ke Xin didn't find her kicks making fun of him, and that was nice for a change.

"Princess, training," Hak reminded. Yona nodded and went over to the rinse water to clean out her bowl. Dishes clean, the duo went to the edge of camp and began warmups. Jae-Ha tagged behind to watch and give advice as he saw fit.

Kija and Zeno helped Yoon, hoping to be of some use. Mostly they just handed him equipment while he sewed or did some other small task. The packed up the kitchen for him and made sure there was firewood enough for the morning. Shin-Ah was helping Yona train with Hak. He would do small sparring with Yona while Hak watched, so he could observe her form objectively. The boys would also spar with each other to allow Yona the chance to watch and learn. It had taken some convincing, to get Shin-Ah to join in, but between Kija, Zeno, Hak, and Yona, they were able to convince him that Yona only got hurt before because his sword lacked a proper hilt. Assurance that she needed a third party and that they would also only do slow work eventually broke him down, and he seemed happier helping.

After the incident in the Fire Tribe, Yona had found every excuse to show Shin-Ah that he wasn't dangerous. And it seemed to work. He would smile now (kind of) and he seemed more comfortable, which just made Yona more content. If only she could solve Ke Xin's issue as easily.

Ke Xin had decided, once again, to go to bed way earlier than necessary. It was her defense mechanism. Be asleep, no one asks questions, you don't have to confront your apprehensions. Not like anyone was going to pry too much, just prod around the edges some. But Ke Xin doesn't face her problems, she fucks them. Barring that, she sleeps.

"She really hasn't talked to you Jae-Ha? You all seem so close." Yona asked while sparring with both him and Shina-Ah. The idea of admitting to Yona how close he was to Ke Xin made Jae-Ha pause for a moment. But before Yona could even register that Jae-Ha had an opening, Hak thrust the butt of his glaive into her right kidney.

"OW! Hak! I thought you were watching!"

"And I thought you were training. Or do you want to stop for gossip?"

Yona huffed, and turned toward her teacher with the short sword in hand. She made a charge at him. Hak once again used only the butt of his glaive to retaliate, catching her sword and careening the weapon out of her hands. As she started to move back to her weapon, Shin-Ah got her from behind, poking her neck with the ring on the end of his sword.

"You're disarmed and dead princess, what do you do now?" Hak asked, keeping his weapon raised.

"Haunt you all for the next 100 years," she responded.

"How about you just keep your weapon in your hand for now," Hak answered. He nodded and Shin-Ah who then went back to where Jae-Ha was standing and watching. They watched as Hak slowly worked with the princess on how to parry without damaging her blade.

Left without much to do, the pair just loitered nearby, watching without speaking. It wasn't that Jae-Ha didn't want to talk. It was that Shin-Ah wasn't good at responding. So they just stood there until the night was older and rest was needed for all.

While everyone was still in a deep slumber, Ke Xin got up. She made sure she still heard the calm, steady breaths of her compatriots as well as the louder, more bellowing snores of the princess and Zeno. Steadily she moved out and away from the others, to the dying fire where enough light and warmth permeated the air. She needed to work fast, before Yoon rose to start the morning water.

First, she removed the stick holding her braid up. The mass of hair made a small thunk as it struck her back. In the small bag she retained from Awa, she removed eye liner, rouge, foundation, and lip stick. She didn't have as skilled a hand as those who taught her, be she knew enough to make sure that she looked like the performer and prostitute she spent the last ten years being. She could make her face look more feminine, her visage more appealing, and her demeanor gentle.

With her face softened, she went to work undoing the carefully tight and functional braid. Long black hair, wavy from its near-constant style, hung loose around her body. She took small portions from the side of her head. She braided it down and let it hang. It unraveled slightly but that didn't matter. She repeated the process on the right side of her head. She then pulled the two braids to the back of her head and braided them together. She twirled this strand around a center point just below the crown of her head. From her bag she pulled a small, decorative pin. Short and sharp, it had bronze and pearl baubles dripping from its end. Careful to not scratch her own scalp, she pushed the pin into the small bun. She shook her head slightly, making sure that the pin would stay in place. With her hair securely out of her face, she still had enough hair framing her appearance to look different from the normal, battle-ready Ke Xin the group had grown to know. Moreover, she looked completely different from her younger, shaven, and personless appearance.

Yoon had spent much of the down time on the trip repairing and cleaning the groups clothing, so Ke Xin's coat, for the first time in a long time, was devoid of tears and mysterious stains. The hem was dirty and worn, but all it indicated was the travels of the group, not the adventures. And leaving it open, but on, showed her dress to be tight and flattering, while keeping her arms- and their defined muscles- covered.

All said and done, she achieved the look she wanted. And she took comfort in her disguise. With a bit of time left until Yoon stirred, she decided to be helpful- since recently she had been less so.

She brought the coals back to flames and started boiling water for the day. Yoon came out of his tent as she started heating the rice. He stopped and looked her up and down.

"New look?" he asked.

"Thought a change in appearance suited a new country," she answered.

"Right," he answered.

Yona was perhaps the most excited over Ke Xin's make-over, complimenting her hair and how she transformed her face. Hak was more concerned with the practicality of it all.

"It's not very conducive for battle," he commented.

"You'll find it's a more useful look for Kai," she answered.

Her response spoke volumes to those who caught the meaning. Yona looked up at her friend.

"Are you worried about being recognized as a runaway slave?"

"That's not a question, highness. I'm a Northerner, they will suspect me to be a runaway or freed slave, at best. But it's better for us all for them to suspect me a house or sex slave," Ke Xin answered.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because Yongshi are rare, highness. And the Lady I ran away from is powerful, and we aren't here to start a war."

They left it at that and made their way across the border. As they headed into the fields of a border village, Kai soldiers passed – into Kouka.

The soldiers were too far away to take note of the group or notice them as anything other than villagers out to tend to their crops. But our heroes were able to discern that the force headed into Kouka was neither larger nor heavily armed. They weren't going into battle, nor was the path they were heading hidden. The Happy Hungry Bunch crossed away from the main roads of the Kouka-Kai border, but had returned to smaller, established paths as soon as they were over. They wanted to run into citizens of Kai.

Watching those soldiers cross over so blatantly begged the question – Where was the Koukan soldiers? Why were they not patrolling the border?

"Could it be a diplomatic party?" Jae-Ha asked.

"Kouka hasn't had a proper diplomatic with Kai since the war ended," Hak responded.

"What about that time Il gave a shit ton of land to Kai?" Ke Xin asked.

"Ah, I see your personality is back," Yoon added.

"Magic of makeup, bitch. Point still stands."

"There were some foreigners in the palace when I was younger," Yona pointed out. "Don't know if they were from Kai though…"

"Well, even if Il did talk to them back in the day, I highly doubt Soo-Won is. He never seemed too pleased with Il's decisions with regard to Kai. Or at least his supporters didn't," Ke Xin mentioned.

"There were only soldiers," Shin-Ah concluded.

"They aren't escorting anyone? Do they have messages on them?" Hak asked.

"They have weapons," Shin-Ah answered.

"So not exactly a diplomatic group," Jae-Ha said.

"We don't know that for sure. All we know is that they aren't an initial contact or even a special envoy," Hak assessed.

"Do we follow them?" Kija asked.

"No. Whatever the political intrigue might be, feeding the Fire Tribe is far more important at the moment," Yona decided.

So onward they pressed, worry in some their minds on what those soldiers could be up to. As they got closer to the village, Ke Xin started drifting to the middle of the group, just behind Yona's left shoulder. She wanted to hide away in the back, but unfortunately they needed her to act a translator.

The village they came to was small, possible 80 people lived there total. Enough to farm the land, but not enough to have true tradesmen. A larger town was only a few miles away, were they could sell and trade their wares. Coming here was a strategic decision. They didn't want to make a large impression, and they didn't want to deal with any bureaucracy. So anywhere where a guardsman could find them and question their purposes was out of the question.

They ran into a family out in the fields, each carrying large woven baskets filled with grain. They approached the family carefully, noting as they approached that the group was largely women. One glanced behind her shoulder when she noticed that a group was coming towards her. However, the large weight on her back caused her to lose her balance and fall back on her heels.

Hak ran out to catch her, managing to keep her from making impact with the ground. She turned beet-red in his arms.

While the woman flushed about the handsome young travelers who happened upon the village, Yoon took the opportunity to inspect the contents of her basket. It was filled with the same grain that grew in the fields.

He motioned over to Ke Xin, who was trying hard to translate her ecstatic blubbering into Koukan, and in return explain to the young miss that they were traveling performers. This being an easy enough explanation for their appearance. Realizing that he wasn't going to get a chance to talk to Ke Xin at the moment, Yoon stashed a small amount of the grain in his pocket.

This action was noted by an older member of the group, who held his tongue, unwilling to create a seen.

Upon learning that the foreigners were dancers, the villagers welcomed them to come and celebrate the Fire Festival with them.

Ke Xin accepted the offer on behalf of her compatriots, and they followed the family into the village.

"What kind of celebration is the Fire Festival?" Yona asked.

"I don't know, highness. It might just be a local celebration," Ke Xin answered.

"It's odd, isn't it? This land used to be part of the Fire Tribe, not even 10 years ago, and yet it seems as though no one speaks Koukan," Jae-Ha observed.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, mister dancer," the older gentleman stated in Koukan. "And the Fire Festival isn't a local celebration, though I doubt that it would be celebrated so openly in other regions."

"Why? What is it?" Yona asked.

But before the old man could answer, they entered the village and the woman who was saved by Hak called out.

"YOUKE!" (t/n visitors) and they were beset by villagers interested in seeing the new people. Ke Xin had her hands full translating for everyone, mostly inquiries into appearances. As for herself, she seemed to blend in. Only noted for being able to translate, but she herself blended in quite nicely to the village.

The townspeople were an odd mix of Koukan, Southern, and Northern Kai. A few looked like they might have family from Xing or Sai. Migrant slaves.

But while their clothing was worn and torn from working, not of it was of particularly poor quality. They all seemed well-fed and in good spirits. No one was telling them to get back to work. No, they didn't seem like slaves at all, these people were just peasants.

Yoon stole away from the crowd to look around the village. It struck him how much the architecture looked like the Fire Tribe. Their well, their soil, the climate, it all matched the Fire Tribe. But this village seemed to blossom. He noticed a grain basket, similar to the one the farmers were carrying.

He looked inside, and sure enough, it had the same grain as before. From his pocket he withdrew the handful of grain he had taken.

"Young man, you might want to take this opportunity to return our Iza seeds," the old man from earlier said. He had kept an eye on Yoon and followed him.

"Iza seeds?" Yoon asked, turning back to face him.

"The grain you seemed so interested in."

"So that's what it's called," he commented. He looked down at the grain in his hand.

"Yes, Iza crops were given to our village from the North when Kai reclaimed this land. Along with new and able bodies to cultivate it. We've all worked hard to grow those crops and would much appreciate it if you put it back." The old man stated, trying hard to not seem too threatening, but harsh tone still got the message across. The village might be welcoming but was not going to tolerate thieves.

Yoon's couldn't bring himself to let go of the seeds just yet.

"I'm sorry, the village where I grew up, I've never seen a grain like this before. Heck, I'd never seen a proper store of crops until I started travelling."

"As a dancer, eh?" Yoon nodded. "That's one way to get out of the Fire Tribe," the old man said. "My way was to have my land given to Kai, after having it belong to Kouka, previously owned by Kai, previously owned by Kouka. At least when we transferred again it was without war and came with food and good workers." He laughed ruefully.

"What are these?" Yoon asked again.

"As I said before, they're Iza seeds. A type of grain, hardier than rice, require less water and stores easily. That barrel behind you is 6 years old. From our first plentiful harvest. It lets us store through the bad years."

"You got them from Northern Kai?"

"Mhmm, Empress Mei-Na ordered seeds be sent down when she got this land from Il. Unfortunately, we didn't know how to treat it properly until she sent us workers a year later."

"May I keep this?" Yoon asked, holding up the seeds in his. If he could just keep a sample. He could bring it to the Fire Tribe. He could learn how to cultivate it.

"Of course not, that grain was harvested carefully by Liqiu. If you want it, you have to ask her," he responded, holding his hand out to have those seeds back.

Yoon hung his head, but handed over the seeds.

"Thank you, now, I can offer you some Iza if you like. Though it will be in the form of food," he led.

"Really?" Yoon asked.

"Though we will require a couple dancers for the Fire Festival," he said, smiling at Yoon.

After the initial excitement died down, the villagers got back to work, both daily and preparation for the festival. Travelers didn't want to get in the way, so they found a nice little corner to rest in, waiting for Yoon to come back.

Which he didn't do. Instead the young women, Liqiu, came to get Yona and Ke Xin. She came over and informed them that their coworker, Yoon, promised that the three of them would dance in the festival. Since he was still getting ready, she came to get them.

And while Yona bickered with others about whether or not she should come and help, Ke Xin spoke with Liqiu. (In Kai)

"We don't mind but, we're not from around here, so we're not familiar with the Fire Festival," Ke Xin said.

"You're not?" she asked, confused.

"No…?"

"Well I thought you at least would know," she mused.

"ALRIGHT I'LL DO IT!" Yona declared, mostly in response to Hak's teasing. And it interrupted the conversation between the two.

They went over to where Yoon was to get ready. But when they got to him, they noted his surprise that Yona was there.

"I asked for Ke Xin, only!" he said.

"I wanted to dance, too!" Yona said.

"Like you're actually a professional, Yoon. Yona will be fine."

"No, it's not that. I just, I didn't think Yona would want to, you know, participate."

"Why?" Yona asked.

"Because this festival celebrates a slave rebellion that resulted in the assassination of the last emperor," Yoon said, reluctantly. He didn't want to hurt her emotionally, but he wasn't going to hide anything from her. Ke Xin, however, had the stronger reaction – and was speechless.

"They're celebrating that?" Yona asked.

"Apparently he was cruel man, especially to Kai's slaves. And the rebellion led to fires being lit in the capital that wiped out a vast majority of parliament," Yoon explained, "all of whom promoted the practice of slavery." Yoon then looked at Ke Xin, fully aware that she was part of the rebellion and escaped to Kouka right after. And that she hadn't been to Kai since. "It was the catalyst that led to the end of slavery in Kai."

At those words, Ke Xin fell to her knees.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

1) I guess an apology is order. How long has it been since I updated? Sorry guys, writer's block is a bitch.

2) told ya plot changes in Kai

3) Slavery ended? wha? What about Awa? (you'll see)

4) Ha ha! this is gonna be fun.

5) ALSO HAVE YOU READ THE NEW CHAPTER BECAUSE HOT DAMN DID THAT SAVE MY ASS.

6)Side note, i have a conversation planned for the next chapter that can actually happen now thanks to the new cannon chapter.

As always, please leave reviews, I do read them and and take the advice to heart.