"Did you hear me?"

"Hm?" Yona blinked innocently at Hak. "Yes, of course."

Hak frowned at her, his eyes narrowing. "Don't you dare move from this spot. No matter what happens, Jaeha, Kija, Shinah, Ezra, and I can handle it. You are not to step foot outside this circle. Zeno and Yun are your last line of defense."

"Yes, sir!" Zeno chimed in happily.

"You'd better protect us," Yun grumbled. "I'm no good in a fight."

"We'll do our best," Ezra said. She turned to Yona, her eyes serious. "Are you sure you want to do this, Yona?"

Yona nodded firmly. "This is the only way Hiyou will stop going after innocent people. We have to face him head on."

"Then let's get started." Kija said. He took his place in Yona's protective circle, his claw enlarging at his side.

Ezra slid her swords out of their sheath, relishing in the sound of metal scraping against metal. Oh, how she'd missed having her familiar weapons in her hands!

Shinah unsheathed his black blade, taking up the position beside her. Jaeha slipped several small throwing knives between his fingers as Hak whirled his glaive and took up a balanced fighting position.

Passerby in the very public square Hak had chosen as their future battleground stared openly at the strange group as Yona threw back her hood, exposing her face and hair.

"Hiyou!" she shouted, her voice strong. "You want me? Come get me, if you can!"

Ezra steadied herself as the people passing through the square whispered quietly amongst themselves in confusion. Her eyes calmly swept the perimeter of the square, searching for any movement of the shadows.

After a few minutes of tense unease, she finally saw what she was looking for; a darting shadow of movement out of the corner of her eye.

"Jaeha!" she shouted a second before the assassin leaped out of the darkness at the Ryokuryu. Readied by his companion's warning, Jaeha's leg swept up and around, kicking the assassin the face.

Then all hell broke loose. Men poured from the alleys and rooftops, converging on the group from all sides. Ezra threw herself into the fray with vigor, finding her body thrumming with chaotic energy saved up from missing too many fights. She whirled and dodged and struck, aiming to knock the assassins out or kill them outright. The drug addicts didn't feel pain; they wouldn't stop attacking her or her companions unless they were unconscious, or dead.

A whistling sound reach her ears, and her eyes snapped up to see an arrow hurtling towards Yona. She took a step back from the circle, allowing Shinah to fill her spot, as her sword flashed through the air, knocking out the arrow mid-flight. She stood in the center of the dragons' protective circle with her swords ready at her sides, her eyes sweeping the buildings of the square until she saw an archer on a rooftop to her left.

"Jaeha!" Ezra shouted, swiping another arrow out of the air. "Archer at your ten o'clock!"

Jaeha immediately coiled himself and leaped in that direction. Ezra rushed forward to fill his place in the circle. After a moment, the Ryokuryu returned, landing at her side.

"Done?" Ezra panted.

"Done," he confirmed. They shared a nod of camaraderie before whirling around each other, allowing Ezra to return to her spot at Shinah's side.

"How are you holding up?" Ezra asked Shinah, kicking one man in the chest before turning and slashing another across the throat.

"Good," Shinah answered, his black blade slashing in a graceful arc. "You?"

"This is the most fun I've had in ages!" Ezra responded.

A few minutes later, Ezra's chest heaved with labored breathing as she defeated her last opponent. She glanced around, confirming that there were no other assassins lying in wait to strike.

"Is it over?" she asked, risking a glance back at her group. Everyone seemed relatively unharmed, except for Kija whose white clothes were stained red once more. The Hakuryu's fighting style was reckless and unrestrained; he was all offense and no defense, and often walked away from fights all the worse for it.

"Are any of them alive?" Yun asked. "We should question them about Hiyou's whereabouts."

Ezra glanced at the men laying on the floor in front of her. "I have no idea. You guys check for survivors; I'm going to scout the alleys and rooftops for more assassins."

Shinah stepped up to accompany her, but Ezra shook her head at him.

"Stay with the group," she told him. "Be alert. If any more attack without warning, I don't want anyone caught off guard."

He nodded and stepped back, redoubling his grip on his blade. Ezra sheathed her swords and drew two daggers as she ran at the nearest building, leaping gracefully to scale it to the roof. After a cursory glance, she deemed it all clear, checked the nearby alley for more assassins, then leapt to the nearest building. She repeated this process until she had circled the entire square, finding no more men lying in wait.

She returned to the ground, landing nimbly on her feet, and rejoined the group.

"We got an assassin to question," Hak told her. "Let's go."

She nodded and the group headed off, ignoring the stares of the villagers as they left.

~~~

Ezra sat on a crate with her back leaning against the wall, one leg crossed over the other, idly twirling a shuriken between her fingers. She let out a breath of frustration. It had been over a day since their standoff in the square with Hiyou's assassins, and they'd gotten no information on the madman's location since then. Ezra felt as if she was slowly being driven insane from the delay. Their hopes that their public square skirmish would draw Hiyou out of hiding were dashed, leaving the group with no leads on the madman's Sensui operation.

She immediately snapped to attention when Jaeha and Hak stepped out of the shed.

"Anything?" she asked.

He shook his head. "He's extremely stubborn. He won't give up Hiyou's location."

Her shoulders slumped. "Great. What now?"

"Let's go back to the others. We need a new game plan."

Ezra stood with a sigh, resheathing her shuriken up her sleeves. Frustration ate away at her until she felt like no more than a bundle of raw nerves. Her fingers twitched with nervous energy; she needed to either find Hiyou, or find another assassin to fight. Only problem was, Hiyou's location remained shrouded in mystery, and, as they hadn't faced a single attack in the past twenty-four hours, she assumed that the group had already taken care of every assassin at Hiyou's disposal. Maybe she could ask Shinah to spar with her to release some of the tension.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't realize they had returned to their camp until a shock of fiery hair appeared in her vision.

Yona tapped the crease on Ezra's brow with a gentle finger, peering worriedly at her friend. "What are you thinking about?"

"How to find Hiyou," Ezra admitted. "Jaeha and Hak learned nothing new from the assassin. His lips remain sealed."

"I see," Yona said with a frown.

"How are you feeling, Yona?" Jaeha asked.

Ezra blinked. She had gotten so caught up in trying to discover Hiyou's location that she'd nearly forgotten her friend was injured and in pain.

"I'm great!" Yona responded.

Ezra rolled her eyes. "Why do I feel like I've heard that before?"

"You're lying," Hak said, point-blank. "There's no way you're feeling great after moving so much and exposing yourself to the rain."

"Maybe we should stay in an inn tonight," Ezra suggested, looking to Yun.

"No need!" Yona immediately cut in. "I'm fine!"

"Yona, you won't be able to move in the next battle if you're tired," Jaeha reminded her gently.

Yona's face fell as his statement sank in. "Alright," she said.

~~~

"What? Full?" Yun's jaw fell open in disbelief as he stared at the inn owner.

"I'm sorry." The man spread his hands. "The last party just took our last open room."

"Guess there's no help for it, then. We'll sleep outside tonight," Yona said with the smug look of someone who'd gotten their way. Ezra gave her a disapproving frown.

"Let's go," Yun said with a sigh, leading the way out of the inn.

Once outside, Ezra glanced around in surprise. "Are we missing someone?"

Shinah raised a hand and pointed back towards the inn. "Jaeha went into their wine cellar."

Yun frowned. "What's he doing? Is he going to steal their alcohol?"

Ezra laughed. "While I wouldn't put it past him, I've got a feeling this has something to do with finding information on Hiyou. He's probably checking their liquor to see if the inn is giving nadai to their guests."

"Should we help him?" Yona asked.

"He'll be fine," Hak said. "Let's go back to that awful shed."

Ezra followed the group with a sigh, hoping that Jaeha would return to them with some information that she could actually act on.