Episode 05
'Kouka's Priest'
edited on 7.9.19

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Saya didn't know how it had come to this. Suddenly being cornered by a cliff by the Fire Tribe General's son, shifting in front of Hak and the princess, the fall...

She tried to recall from the beginning.

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"Congrats Yona, you really pulled the strings there with Mr.Ex-General," Saya teased, mostly referring to the raven-black haired man behind her. He was emitting a dark aura as he glared at the back of her head.

Yona tilted her head to the side innocently. "Are you talking about Hak?" The girl was obviously too clueless－ poor Hak.

"Haha, yeah that's who. But, y'know, you were pretty cool yourself, Thunder Beast." Saya smirked at him to which he returned by offering a distinct face of disgust.

"I don't want a compliment from you. I'd rather have someone beautiful say that to me."

The goddess scoffed. "How dare you. I'd say I'm the prettiest, most useful girl you've ever had the chance to lay your eyes on, stupid Hak!"

"As if! And what about you being useful? If I recall this right you just stood there watching the whole scene holding a handful of dumplings, piggy!" Hak retaliated, poking his finger at the white-haired female's forehead.

"Well I'm not trying to get in between your sappy childhood love affair, thank you very much."

"W-what?! That's not what that is and you know it. Stop joking around like that," the boy stuttered, a deep red blush embellishing his cheeks.

"How cute," was all Saya could think as she giggled at his embarrassment.

Yona laughed along with their jokes as well before commenting, "Y'know, I think Mundok and Hak are pretty alike."

"Mundok?" The goddess questioned. The name rang familiarly in her head but she wasn't quite able to pin down the reason why.

Hak sighed roughly. "My old man. And just the thought of being similar to him makes me want to barf."

"That's right," Saya thought as she began recalling old memories. The girl could remember years ago about a famous general named Mundok. He was a fierce warrior and dependable leader. She had caught a glimpse of him before when he was young and lively. But now...

She let out a tired breath as her thoughts reminded her she would never grow old and one day she'd outlive everyone she ever encounters. Everyone－ perhaps even Hak, even Yona. She'd outlive them and they'd be gone and she'd never see them again and－

"Sae-Rin?" Yona asked, shattering the immortal's concentration.

"O-oh, I apologize for spacing out, I just tend to dig up old dirt a bit too much," Saya replied sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck as they walked through the mountains.

The red-haired princess nodded her head, recapturing the silence once more.

Saya tried hard to bring the atmosphere around the group back to normal but failed midway when she sensed footsteps in the distance.

"Hak."

The blue-eyed man nodded his head in understanding. "Take Yona and hide," he commanded, unwrapping the cloth around his spear head. "Now!"

"What's happening?" Yona asked worriedly. "Why is Hak standing alone?"

Saya hushed her before gently nudging her into a bracken of leaves. She covered the entrance of the hidey-hole with twigs and rocks before dusting herself off and drawing a small dagger from one of her boots.

"Sae-Rin?" The Hiryuu's incarnate asked again, anxiousness dancing in her pretty violet eyes.

The princess was only hushed once more by the tense goddess. Yona could tell she was completely on edge and didn't want to stress her out any further.

Saya continued to guard the hiding spot until she began to hear quips of victorious cheering in the distance, and it wasn't Hak's voice she was hearing.

Praying for the best, Saya demanded that Yona didn't leave her hiding spot until told otherwise and got up, rushing towards the cliffs. Desperately she ran and ran to the source of the noise before launching herself out towards the clearing.

There she saw Hak standing exhaustedly with sweat running down his forehead and blood－ his blood spilling onto the floor from minor wounds he had acquired while fighting. He was preoccupied by a soldier trying to shove him off the cliff towards his death so he wasn't able to see as Saya shed her human skin before donning claws and fangs.

The albino fox growled viciously as she barred her fangs in agitation. The soldiers, who belonged to the Fire Tribe, quivered with fear at the sight of her, some peeing their pants with fright.

The ex-general stared at her with utter shock but she narrowed her eyes, telling him to just shut up before lunging into the crowd of soldiers and becoming a tornado of shredded flesh and gore

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The quantity of soldiers never seemed to stop coming as the Fox Goddess panted through her muzzle, exhaustion finally seeping into her lithe body. After all the fighting her stamina was beginning to waver from all the movement.

Hak helped relieve some of the stress by slashing at soldiers with his spear, but he, too, was tired from the fighting plus his injuries.

Soon, Saya was at the point of collapsing and succumbing into weariness until a female voice spoke up. A very familiar female voice at that.

"Hak!" Yona shouted desperately, unable to see her other companion.

The very sight of the fragile princess sent both Saya and Hak over the edge, filling them with newfound energy deriving from their anger and worry for the girl.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He demanded, driving his spear into a line of soldiers.

A loud growl interrupted him followed by the yelps and screams of enemies. Saya barked angrily at the red-head and it was obvious that she was scolding her for leaving her hiding spot even if she didn't have the vocal chords to do it literally.

"I'm here to help!" The princess announced as courageously she could. It was a valiant effort but her shaking legs were a dead giveaway on how terrified she actually was.

"Stupid why would you－YONA LOOK OUT!"

The man who had previously been creeping up behind Yona suddenly lunged, wrapping one of his arms around her body to cage her in while his other hand held a threatening broadsword.

Out of fear for the girl's safety, Saya began to hastily transform from fox-beast to human, stretching out her hand as if she could reach the girl atop the cliff. "Hiryuu!" She called. "Don't go!"

The goddess limped and trudged, glaring heavily at anyone who tried to approach her, and caught up with Hak as they tried to find a way to the princess.

But no.

As more soldiers started surrounded them not even their newfound energy could support their movement as the two warriors were pushed to the edge.

Hak had lost balance while treading backwards and stumbled off the cliff, barely hanging onto the rock with his arms. Saya attempted to protect him but was injured by the swords of soldiers as she used her body as a shield.

"No!" Yona cried, attempting to run to him and the blood drenched girl's side, but a strong grip yanked her back in place.

"Stop, Yona!" Kan Tae-Jun told her harshly, his grip on her hair becoming tighter by the second. "I don't understand how Hak got a beast like that, but you will be coming to the castle with me!"

Anger flourished within the princess as she was held back from reuniting with her friends. Her eyes burned like embers as she fixed her gaze on the Fire Tribe general's son, burning flames into his core. Out of fear the man immediately released her, startled by Yona's extreme glare.

When she tried running away, Kan Tae-Jun once again grabbed her by the hair but Yona quickly drew his sword and swung it, scaring him off and cutting off most of her fiery-red locks.

Then she slid down the mountain's side with the sword she had obtained and began swinging mindlessly at the two soldiers in her way.

"Hak!" The princess cried, dropping the sword to help tug him back up from the cliff's fatal drop.

However, even with Yona's aid in pulling Hak up, he was just too heavy for them to carry in their current state. Saya's body was fatigued and slashed in numerous places and Yona was just too weak in general to lift the ex-general.

As the two continued their struggle to pull Hak back up, Kan Tae-Jun hastily approached them. Distracted by the sound, Yona made the fatal mistake of turning her head towards him. With her focus split between the fire tribe general's son and her current task, her body wasn't able to keep up and her foot began slipping.

Because of this, the fragile balance that Saya had worked so hard to keep collapsed and before she knew it, the three of them were free falling to what seemed to be their certain doom.

Using the last of her strength, Saya blocked both Yona's and Hak's bodies with her own, groaning with pain as she endured the fall and took the brunt of the damage. Crying out as branches tore at her body and having the wind knocked out of her as they fell to the ground with a loud THUD!

All she could remember in that moment was her vision becoming spotty and her eyes closing.