E p i s o d e 14
An Uninvited Detour

Yona waved goodbye to the grimacing Blue Dragon villagers as the large group of 6 departed from the secluded mountain areas.

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Shining rays of moonlight cascaded from the large, glowing sphere in the sky and created a small glimmer in the eyes of a certain goddess who was staring intently at it's beauty.

"How pretty.." she muttered, eyes drooping with weariness. Everyone was asleep already, all tuckered out over the 'Yona' business.

With great reluctance, Saya wandered through the thick forest of trees for one last scout of the area. Sensing nothing her legs collapsed with fatigue, the multiple, sleepless nights finally taking a toll on her body.

The goddess shut her eyes, inhaling the richness of the forest as the moonlight that leaked through the tree leaves shimmered over her body.

A sudden rustle awakened her fox hearing. Too tired to mind it, Saya fell asleep, shrugging her worries away.

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Hak woke up earlier than everyone else, the pink blush of dawn blinding him for a moment before his sight became accustomed to it.

Looking around, the ex-general checked off the names of everyone in the group that he saw until he froze as he could not see a certain silver-haired immortal.

"Fox Girl?" He called, hoping his rude nickname would lure the girl back to the camp, but no luck.

The spear-wielding 19-year-old got up, dusting off his blue, Wind Tribe robes and looking around the area for any clues on wear Saya had gone.

Following a set of small footprints, Hak was led to a large tree. The side of the trunk seemed to be recently flattened, most likely by a body laying down, and concluded the goddess had slept here.

"But where could she have gone?"

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"Eh?" An anonymous male voice said, confused.

"Yep! This is the girl that was kidnapped by Son Hak of the Wind Tribe and Princess Yona." Replied another low voice, responding to the first man.

Groggily, Saya opened her eyes, instantly raising her hand to shield her face from the blinding sunlight. She gazed confusedly at the soldiers who surrounded her, her mind too foggy to contemplate anything mentally.

"Miss Sae-Rin? Royal Guard of King Su-Won?" The man who had first talked said, leaning his face a bit closer.

Su-Won...? King Su-Won.... she thought, trying to recall the familiar name. Like a swift strike of lightning, memories from the back of her mind repositioned themselves in the front, allowing her to remember.

"King Su-Won?" She asked quietly, narrowing her eyes at the soldier. "Y-yes ma'm!" The mid-twenty's man replied, straightening up, "we are going to take you to him, immediately. It's a miracle that you escaped safely from the clutches of Son Hak and managed to survive this whole time!" He commented, eyes shining with pure admiration.

Saya blinked a few times before having a seizure in her mind.

'Oh gods! I've been taken to who-knows-where without notifying anyone in the group at all... I could kill these guards right now and track them down, but.... Su-Won... what has he been up to? How about Kye-Sook? Ah..! Such an uninvited detour!'

"Alright, take me to him, immediately." She commanded, her jumbled up thoughts still rustling through her head.

Too impulsive at the moment to argue with her really badly thought out plan, she climbed onto the back of an unoccupied horse and went after the soldiers ahead of her.

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Hak scratched the back of his head, stumped and troubled.

"What's wrong, Lightning Beast? You've been grumbling and groaning all morning." Yoon snapped, turning on his side in attempts to fall asleep once more.

"Fox Girl is missing." The young ex-general informed, causing the strawberry-blonde to jolt out of his comfortable sleeping position.

"What do you mean Sae-Rin is missing?" Yoon asked, whisper-shouting as the others continued sleeping.

Hak was silent for a long moment. The boy-genius figured that this was obviously the reason for his companion groaning and grumbling all morning long.

Placing a significantly smaller hand on Hak's broad soldier, Yoon said, "She's probably fine. Even if she got lost, Sae-Rin will be able to track us wherever we go, don't worry."

With a terse nod, the raven-haired 19-year-old got up to get some breakfast.

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Loud shouts and hollers caught the attention of the people in the Earth Tribe's castle.

They stared wide-eyed at the Sky Tribe horses speeding over to the large castle, halting in front of the doors.

"Call for King Su-Won!" A soldier commanded a servant, gently dragging Saya along the wooden floors of the stronghold.

The female servant escorted the crimson-eyed immortal and Sky Tribe soldier over to the tea garden where two generals were bickering, forehead-to-forehead.

"King Su-Won!" The two soldiers accompanying Saya said, grabbing the attention of the tea absorbed King. The light blonde-ish brunette turned his head curiously and almost shattered his teacup as his eyes met with familiar scarlet ones.

"Say.....ya...?" He asked, disbelievingly, reaching out a hand to touch her cheek to truly check if it was just an apparition or the real thing.

"King Su-Won?" She asked slowly, not meeting his intent gaze.

"I thought you died with Yona and Hak when they dragged you off the cliff with them.." Su-Won said, eyes wide with shock.

"I-I escaped.." Saya told him, rubbing her arms awkwardly.

The woman in front of Su-Won suddenly began to light up.

"Wow! What pretty skin you have! And your hair is so glossy! Such a beautiful face!" She complimented, stealing away the goddess's attention.

"Eh?" Saya said, confused. She turned her head towards the young-looking woman sitting across from her former master. She had honey-blonde hair and a cute, slightly chubby face that made her look youthful.

"Ah!" Su-Won said, shocking up from his seat. "This is Yun-Ho, the wife of the Earth Tribe's general." He introduced, gesturing to the smiling lady.

Yun-Ho gave a courteous nod, acknowledging Saya, before continuing to sip her strongly scented tea.

Suddenly, two loud, bickering voices approached from across a hallway, frantic vocals calling and chasing after them.

"Geun-Tae-sama! Geun-Tae-sama!" Cheol-Ran shouted, chasing after the two squabbling generals. With an Oomph! The young advisor fell on his butt as he bumped into a body.

Looking up, he saw pure-white hair accompanied by pretty scarlet eyes and a beautiful face.

A dark pink blush began to spread across his cheeks as he bashfully said, "I-I'm s-sorry, M-m-m-miss!"!

Reaching out a hand, Saya grasped onto the young man's palm and pulled him up gently. "It's alright.." she uttered, dusting off her black, torn dress.

Looking around, the Fox Goddess turned to an ultimately familiar but scarred face.

"Ju-Doh-san!" Saya squealed, referring to her old sparring partner. Ju-Doh looked surprised, relieved, and angry all at the same time.

"What the heck happened to you? Your dress is completely different, it's torn, you look like a mess, you've been kidnapped, rumors began spreading that you, that Wind Tribe guy, and Princess Yona have died, and now you're here? Leisurely sipping tea with the king?!" He screeched, letting his emotions vent out.

"Ju-Doh, I'm fine! Gosh!" The goddess retorted, crossing her arms and looking away. She looked down and her dress was torn in some places as well as her hair not being as great as it used to be, but other than that nothing was really wrong.

"Yun-Ho-sama, will you kindly escort me to a place where I may find fresh clothing? Apparently this is not enough for the high and mighty Sky Tribe General, Juh-Doh!" Saya asked, hot-headed-ly.

An eccentric squeal erupted from the young wife's mouth as she roughly dragged the goddess by the hand towards her room to play dress-up.