"Crap!" Hak hissed.

"Come with us, dear," the stranger purred to the woman, grabbing her hand. He and Hak took off running.

Ezra whirled, letting fly several shuriken she'd had hidden up her sleeves before she turned to follow them. Suddenly Hak darted into an alley, while the green-haired man kept running with the girl in tow. Ezra followed Hak into the space between buildings as they waited breathlessly.

When the officials thundered by, they leapt out of the alleyway.

"Outta the way!" Hak yelled, plowing his elbow into the unsuspecting official's jaw.

Ezra executed a flawless flying kick, smashing another official in the chest. He flew backwards into a stall selling fruit. "Sorry!" she called to the merchant as she and Hak dashed off once more.

They caught up to the green-haired stranger with ease. He whistled in appreciation. "Are you two mercenaries?" he asked curiously, sprinting full-speed. "You're pretty strong!"

"Nope," Hak responded. "We're just travelers."

"Travelers, huh?" The man seemed to be thinking about this.

"You handle yourself pretty well, too," Hak told him, by way of a compliment.

"You've got an extraordinary kick," Ezra agreed, nodding.

"What? You think I'm extraordinarily beautiful?" he asked, his eyes sparkling.

Hak frowned. "We definitely didn't say that."

A few minutes later, they dashed behind a building. They heard the soldiers scrambling around, trying to find them, but they were way off.

"Looks like we lost them," Ezra said quietly, listening intently.

"I apologize for the suddenness, but I must go," the stranger said, giving the woman's hand, which he still held, a kiss. "Have these two walk you home."

"What?" Hak asked, turning.

But the man was already gone.

"Where the hell did he go?" Ezra asked, frowning in confusion.

Hak was looking every which way, but there was no trace of the green-haired stranger. "How did he get out of sight so quickly?"

Ezra glanced at the woman, who was shaking with fright. She sighed, grabbing the woman's hand. "We'll worry about him later. For now, let's get her home."

"Right."

~~~

By the time they returned to where Yun had set up camp, the sun had set and the moon cast its blue light over the port town.

"What?" Yun shouted in exasperation. "You didn't buy anything?"

Ezra smiled sheepishly as Hak shrugged. "We couldn't find anything."

"You're useless," Yun muttered, crossing his arms. "That's it! Tomorrow we're all going into the city."

"Hooray!" Yona cheered.

Hak and Ezra shared a glance before nodding in agreement. They wouldn't tell the others what had happened in the city; at least, not yet.

Ezra glanced over at Kija and Shinah to see them standing on the cliff, overlooking the ocean. She strode over to them. "What's up?" she asked lightly.

"We can feel him," Kija said, not taking his eyes off of the water.

"Who?" she asked.

"Ryokuryu," Shinah said quietly. "He's... towards the ocean."

She frowned, looking out over the ocean with the two dragons. Why is the Ryokuryu on the water? she thought to herself. Is he on a boat?

~~~

The next morning, the group was hiking along the cliffside, following Kija and Shinah's dragon senses.

"He's over this way!" Kija said, pointing forward along the path they were following.

Hak grabbed Ezra's wrist as they followed the group, pulling her away from the rest. "We're going to go on our own for a bit," he announced, tugging the raven-haired girl along after him.

"Huh?" Yun asked, perplexed.

"There are some really cool weapons shops in the city. Ezra was admiring a scimitar yesterday," Hak told them. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the hurt look in Yona's eyes. He strode back over to them, handing his glaive over to Kija. "Hold onto this, White Snake."

"Why me?" the silver-haired dragon complained.

"Hak..." Yona mumbled.

Hak placed a hand on her head and gave her a soft smile before turning and joining Ezra. Together, they headed back down to the city.

"Make sure you actually buy something this time!" Yun called after them as he turned, leading the others towards the Ryokuryu.

"The officials saw our faces yesterday," Hak said quietly once they were out of earshot. "If we stayed with them, we'd put them all in danger."

Ezra nodded her understanding.

Twenty minutes later, they found the stall selling the scimitar that Ezra had seen yesterday. "See, Hak!" she said, pointing. Her amethyst eyes were sparkling. "It's beautiful!"

Hak frowned as he caught sight of the price tag. "Yeah, beautiful and expensive."

Ezra pouted. "At least let me buy some shuriken to replace the ones I lost yesterday."

Hak sighed as he complied, handing some money over to the merchant in exchange for the shuriken. Ezra squealed with happiness as she tucked them carefully up her sleeves.

"Oh! It's you two."

Hak and Ezra turned to find the same green-haired man from yesterday. He was still wearing his foreign robes, with his long hair tied back by a pink ribbon in the shape of a bow.

"It must be fate that brought us all together again," the man said, his violet eyes twinkling. He slung an arm around both of their shoulders, bringing all of their faces close together. Ezra wasn't short, but she felt dwarfed by the two tall men. She hadn't noticed it the other day, but this stranger was just as tall as Hak. "Could you come with me for a bit?"

"Huh? Uh, no, we..." Hak muttered.

The stranger's voice lowered considerably. "Someone is coming after me."

"An official?" Ezra asked.

"Something like that," he said, waving a hand. "Don't worry, you won't get hurt." He led them away from the stall, steering them into a nearby building.

He sat them down at a table in what appeared to be a private room before taking a seat across from them and exchanging words with a girl who seemed to work there.

"What is this place?" Ezra asked curiously. Her question was immediately answered when girls flooded the room, surrounding the men. The women seemed confused at the sight of Ezra, but then they shrugged and started to crowd her, too. "Uh, Hak? I'm extremely uncomfortable."

"Me too," Hak muttered, trying to politely push the girls away. "What is the meaning of this? Why are we here, and during the daytime, no less?"

Several girls hung off the handsome stranger's arm, and he looked fairly pleased about it.

"It's easier to hide in these places," he answered with a warm smile.

"We don't have time for this," Hak said, standing.

"Hak! Help!" Ezra squeaked, trying to get away from the women crowding her. Hak grabbed her wrist and hauled her to her feet, sighing as he did so. Sure, an imposing man holding a glaive to her face she was totally fine with, but throw her in a brothel and she was a regular damsel in distress.

As Hak turned to the door, a girl threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind. "No, sir! Don't go!"

Hak shot her an irritated glance. "Huh?"

"Oh, my!" The girl swooned, dramatically placing the back of her hand on her forehead. "That man could kill a woman with one look!"

"Really?" The strange man stood, his eyes alight with excitement. "Try it on me! Go on, try it!"

Hak was nonplussed. "I didn't do anything." Then a small smile lit his face. "Though, there were many attractive women in my village."

"Oh?" This made the man even more excited. "Where's your village?"

"Fuu--"

"Where are your clothes from?" Ezra quickly interjected before Hak could give them away, grimacing as a girl about her age sidled up to her.

"Oh!" The man smiled nervously. "I had these imported from the Kai Empire. You can buy anything in a port city."

"So it would seem," Hak muttered. "Speaking of this place, something strange seems to be happening here."

"It seems normal at first," Ezra said quietly. "But you look closer, and everyone's eyes are kind of... lifeless."

Oh? They noticed? the stranger thought to himself.

"You're perceptive," he noted, smiling slightly. "The Lord of this region, Yan Kumji, holds a lot of power in this port. Everyone in the city is afraid of him."

"Hmm..." Ezra murmured.

"He conducts shady business that the kingdom doesn't know about," the man told them.

"How shady?" Hak asked.

"Who knows?" the man said vaguely. He folded his hands in front of him. "Taking a person's freedom... that's the least beautiful thing a person can do in this world. People who do that should rot in the ground to be reborn as roses."

Ezra shuddered at the suddenly dark expression that had crossed the stranger's face.

"Wouldn't you agree?" he asked, staring directly at Hak.

Hak glanced down. "Well, I'm a bodyguard."

The man's violet eyes widened. "How awful!" he gasped.

Hak shrugged. "It's not so bad. I made that choice, after all."

"I don't understand such a choice..." the man muttered. "Though I wouldn't mind protecting you ladies!"

All the women in the room had gathered around the stranger, leaving Hak and Ezra free. Ezra let out a sigh of relief.

"You're pretty particular about freedom," Ezra observed. "Did something happen to you?"

His expression immediately darkened. "I--"

His next words were drowned out by the sound of shouting coming from below.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU TWO THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Hak and Ezra flinched and whirled, looking out the window to find Yun and Yona staring up at them. Yun looked annoyed, while Yona just looked puzzled.

Whoops. Busted, Ezra thought.