The next day, Hak, Yona, Yun, and Kija went back into town after the Ryokuryu. Ezra, who felt bad for forcing Shinah to stay behind the past few days while they adventured in the city, decided to stay with him so he wouldn't get lonely.

"Be careful, Hak," Ezra told him quietly before they left. "I've got a bad feeling about today."

Hak shivered. "Me, too. But we'll be fine. Promise."

Ezra's expression immediately darkened. "Don't make me a promise you can't keep," she said. "I don't accept empty promises."

Hak's eyes widened in surprise. "I didn't mean--"

"Thunder Beast! Let's go!" Yun called.

"Just be careful," she told him, her eyes unreadable, as he stared at her in shock.

A beat of silence passed before he nodded and turned, and they left to go to town.

Ezra laid out on the grass next to Shinah, letting out a long sigh. She closed her eyes smiled, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face.

"Thank... you..." Shinah whispered.

She opened her eyes, glancing at the masked young man. "For what? For staying with you?"

He gave a slight nod.

She grinned at him. "It's not a problem. We're friends, right?" It seemed like he did nothing but stare at her, but she couldn't tell what exactly was happening beyond that mask. "Besides, the city's not all that exciting. I got bored."

"...Really?" Even though his voice was quiet, she could hear the doubt in his question.

She laughed. "No, not really. It's actually a bit too exciting. We had evil city officials chasing after us and everything. Then we didn't buy anything and Yun got angry at us and a green-haired stranger forced us to go to a brothel... There were women surrounding me, and I had no idea what to do!"

She was rewarded for her rant by a small chuckle. She grinned at Shinah. "So it's nice to have a bit of relaxing time," she concluded. He gave her a small smile in return.

A comfortable silence settled over the two as Ezra crossed her hands behind her head, closing her eyes and soaking up the sun's rays.

After maybe twenty minutes, Ezra's eyes peeked open. She studied the Seiryu as he sat with his arms around his knees, staring at who knows what. "Can you see what the others are doing?" she asked.

He nodded. Her eyebrows raised. Cool.

"I've been meaning to ask you, Shinah..." she said quietly. His face turned towards her. "Why do you always wear that mask?"

He was silent for several minutes. Ezra waited patiently, not wanting to rush him or try to force him to answer. "Seiryu's power... must never be discovered," he finally told her.

"The power of the dragon's eyes..." she murmured. Her expression grew sad. "I see."

He stared back out over the water.

"Is that why you carry a sword? Because you can't, or won't, use your power?" She'd noticed Shinah's dark sword on his back; she'd always been curious about it. It was a peculiar blade.

He nodded in response to her question.

Another several minutes of comfortable silence.

"Say, Shinah..." He turned towards her once more. "Will you show me your eyes?"

His lips parted in surprise. She sat up, her amethyst eyes earnest. For a few minutes he stared at her. She didn't know what was going through his mind in that moment, but she held her gaze with his.

Finally, she lay back down with a small smile. "No worries, Shinah. You don't have to. That was insensitive of me."

A minute later she heard the sound of fabric rustling, and she glanced up. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that Shinah had actually taken off his mask.

His eyes were breathtaking. Like a dragon's eyes, they were the color of amber with slit pupils that gave him an almost predatory gaze. He had red markings on the tops of his cheekbones and his short blue hair swayed with the slight breeze. His face was much younger than she had thought; he couldn't have been much older than she was. His expression was wary, unsure, as he held her stare.

"Shinah..." she whispered, reaching a hand out. She seemed to think better of it, drawing her hand back just before it touched his face. "Your eyes are beautiful."

Some indecipherable emotion flickered in their amber depths. "They are cursed," Shinah said quietly.

Ezra shook her head. "I don't believe that at all."

Genuine happiness flickered across his expression. She smiled at him, pleased that he trusted her enough to take off his mask in front of her.

"Is it uncomfortable wearing that mask all the time?" she asked.

He shrugged. Neither a yes or a no, she supposed.

She picked up the mask he'd discarded, staring at it. "There are no holes for you to see through this with!" she exclaimed. She flicked her gaze up to Shinah's golden eyes, her expression curious. "Can you see through this wood?"

With a bashful smile, he nodded.

"Incredible..." she whispered, setting the mask down next to him. To her surprise, he didn't pick it back up immediately. He let it rest on the ground as he stared out over the ocean, admiring the sun without the hindrance of the mask.

She laid back down and closed her eyes, smiling to herself. "Thank you, Shinah," she whispered. He glanced at her sharply, confusion written across his face, but she didn't see his expression. "For trusting me."

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes to find Shinah's golden eyes trained on her. She tilted her head at him. "Well, Shinah... you've shared something pretty significant with me. I think it's only fair if I shared something with you as well. Is there anything you wanted to know about me?"

His mouth turned down and he gazed into the distance in thought. When he finally spoke, he wasn't looking at her. "Do you have any family?"

She leaned her head back, staring up at the sky. "As you know, my mother died. My father is alive, but I'm not sure where he is. I also have an older brother; Noah." Her amethyst eyes grew sad. "He was taken for the Fire Tribe army when he was fourteen. That was five years ago, and I have no idea where he ended up."

Shinah's face softened in understanding, and they lapsed back into a peaceful silence. For the rest of the afternoon, nothing more was said. Ezra occasionally sneaked glances of Shinah's beautiful eyes only to find more often than not that he was furtively looking at her, too. Every time this happened, a blush would color her cheeks and she would go back to studying the sky.

~~~

A few hours later, Shinah scooped up his mask. "They're coming," he said as he fastened it back over his face.

Ezra watched him put the mask on with a mixture of sadness and regret on her face. He gave her a soft smile in response to her expression.

"This won't be the last time I see your eyes, right?" she asked quietly.

His smile grew wider. He shook his head.

Happiness stole over her expression, and her answering smile was as bright as the sun. She was so full of light that she burned his eyes, and yet he found that he couldn't look away.

"We're back!" Yona called, waving.

Ezra sat up, resting her elbows on her knees. "Welcome back!" she answered, her bright smile still in place.

"My, don't you look happy!" Yona quipped.

Ezra glanced at Shinah, her amethyst eyes sparkling. "We had a pretty relaxing day," she said.

~~~

"WHAT?!" Ezra shouted. "That perverted stranger was the Ryokuryu?!"

Hak shrugged. "I know. I was surprised, too."

Ezra shifted her eyes from Yona to Hak in suspicion, her expression full of shock and disbelief. "And he's a pirate? And we're going to see his captain tomorrow?"

"Stop screeching already," Hak complained. "You're just repeating back to us what we just said."

Ezra took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, it's just all... a little unbelievable."

"I know how you feel," Yona said, grinning.

"You shouldn't have surprised me like that," Yun scolded her, cutting up some vegetables for their dinner. "You almost gave me a heart attack when you asked to meet his captain."

Yona shifted sheepishly. "I'm sorry for not talking to you about it first," she said. She glanced down. "I just really want to meet their captain."

Emotion shimmered in her violet eyes. Ezra leaned closer. "Did something happen, Yona?"

She nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "The officials killed a child. We could've helped them, but we didn't. When we came back, their store was trashed, and a child was... dead."

Ezra's face softened in understanding, and she rubbed Yona's back.

"But what are you going to do if the pirates get violent?" Yun asked.

"This was my decision," Yona sniffled. "You don't have to come, Yun."

"Like hell!" he sputtered. Her eyes widened in shock. "I'm going with you!"

"I will go as well!" Kija joined in.

Shinah nodded.

Ezra grinned. "Sounds like my idea of fun. Count me in."

Yona laughed. "You have a strange outlook on what 'fun' is, Ezra." Her expression grew serious. "But thank you guys."

"We've got your back," Ezra said with a smile.

Later that night, Ezra went through her normal training exercise. She practiced throwing her shuriken and daggers before going through a few swift passes with her sword. By the time she returned to the camp, she was panting with exertion and her raven hair stuck to her sweaty face in matted clumps. She brushed it away in annoyance as she noticed Hak and Yona off talking in a corner. Hak was smirking at Yona while the red-haired princess was blushing and pouting. Ezra giggled to herself.

She walked to where her bedroll was laid out and noticed Shinah watching her from where he sat up against a tree. He, like Hak, had a habit of sleeping leaning against trees rather than laying out flat on the ground. Ezra gave the Seiryu a wink and a smile as she settled down for the night.