Ezra sighed as she submerged her body in the cold stream, shivering as she washed off the grime and dirt she'd been collecting on her travels. It had been weeks since she'd last bathed. There was a waterfall pounding into a small pond a little ways down the stream; Ezra swam towards it, enjoying the feel of the water splashing her face.

Suddenly she heard shouting; something about a blue dragon? Ezra hurriedly swam behind the waterfall, using it to hide her body before she peeked out from behind the rushing water.

A man wearing a peculiar mask stood at the water's edge, a small creature (a squirrel?) perching on his shoulder. A red-haired girl stood behind him, accompanied by a silver-haired man wearing white robes and a black-haired man in blue robes. A young boy with strawberry-blond hair emerged from the woods behind them. They made a strange collection of people.

Ezra watched curiously as the masked man removed a tuft of fur that had seemed to be attached to his mask and dropped it on the floor. Then he dove, fully clothed, into the water.

Doesn't he know how cold this water is? Ezra thought to herself, shivering as the freezing water hit her head from the waterfall. He should've at least taken off his outer layers! Is this guy an idiot?

"HE'S DROWNING HIMSELF?" exclaimed the silver-haired man.

"What're you gonna do, White Snake?" asked the expressionless black-haired man. "He's drowning himself."

"Is it my fault? Is it my fault?" White Snake seemed to be panicking, fanning his face with his hands. Ezra peered closer and noticed that one of his hands resembled... a claw? What the hell was that?

Suddenly the blue-haired masked man reappeared, holding a fish in his hands. He climbed out of the water, triumphantly holding up his catch.

He caught that with his bare hands? Ezra thought, amazed. Not even she could manage to catch a fish without a weapon, and her reflexes are much faster than average.

The masked man handed the fish over to the silver-haired man without a word. "You want me to eat this and regain my strength?" the silver-haired man asked, looking oddly touched. "I appreciate it, but could you use words?"

The masked man shrugged before turning away. He huddled on the ground, hugging himself as he began to shiver. Ezra rolled her eyes.

"That's what he gets for jumping into cold water with all of his clothes on," she mumbled to herself, the sound of her voice drowned out by the pounding of the waterfall.

"What will you do now, Big Brother White Snake? He's cold," said the black-haired man.

"Is it my fault?" White Snake panicked.

The red-haired girl and strawberry-blond boy approached the man shivering on the ground. "Are you okay?" the girl asked worriedly.

"I'm surprised you knew there was a river here," said the boy, not appearing concerned.

The man reached up and tapped his mask in response.

"Oh, that's right... those eyes can see across great distances," the boy mused. "You caught that fish so quickly, too. Your kinetic vision must be excellent."

What are they talking about? Ezra wondered.

"Is it true that looking at your eyes will turn people to stone?" the boy asked.

Ezra's eyes grew wide. Just who were these people?

A beat passed before the masked man shook his head.

"Then why don't you take off your mask?"

The man never answered. His shoulders drooped, almost as if he were trying to make himself appear smaller.

That guy must have issues.

"Well, then let's go make a fire to warm ourselves and cook this fish the Blue Dragon caught for us," the boy said, apparently giving up on the subject. The others in his group nodded, and they turned to head back through the woods. Ezra emerged cautiously from behind the waterfall, watching them go. They'd piqued her curiosity, and she wanted to know more.

She swam to the river's edge where she'd left her clothes and dressed before heading in the direction the group had gone. It wasn't hard to find them; their bickering was quite loud. They were either very stupid, or very confident that they could handle any threats that headed their way.

She climbed a tree near them and peered into their camp. The strawberry-blond boy was standing over a pot that sat on the fire, stirring its contents. Her stomach growled in response; the soup he was cooking looked amazing. The masked man sat on the ground, huddled in the fur he'd taken off when he jumped into the river. His clothes were on a line, hanging to dry, but they were dripping wet. Ezra shook her head.

Should've taken them off before taking a swim, she chided the man silently.

Suddenly, her keen ears picked up movement. Off to her right, she noticed that a man with a large scar trailing from his temple to his chin was stalking towards the group. He was taking care to muffle the sounds of his footsteps, so that they would be hidden among the sounds of the group's bickering.

The young men and the girl had gathered around the masked man, discussing something. The strawberry-blond handed the huddled man a bowl of soup, which he began to eat gratefully. None of them noticed when the bandit stalked closer, behind the majority of the group.

Ezra sighed. No help for it, I guess.

The man didn't stand a chance. By the time he heard the sound of a knife whistling through the air, it had already buried itself deep in his back. Ezra hopped off of her branch, landing lightly on the balls of her feet, as the man slumped to the ground, dead.

"Who's there?" The shout rent the air as Ezra went to retrieve her knife. As she plucked it by the handle out of the dead bandit's back, she found herself staring a glaive right in the face.

The midnight-haired man's blue eyes were narrowed in distrust as he held his large weapon up an inch from Ezra's nose, his every muscle tense. "Who are you?" he snarled.

Ezra held out her hands in a placating gesture. "Relax," she said. "I was only trying to help. This man was attempting to sneak up on you."

The moment the man's blue eyes shifted to the bandit on the ground, Ezra moved so lightning fast that before he knew what was happening, she'd shoved the glaive out of her face and danced in close to him. She'd tried to pull the weapon out of his hands, but, as expected, his grip was too strong to be broken easily. She settled for keeping a firm grip on his weapon while holding her still-bloodied knife to his neck, preventing him from moving lest he wanted his throat slit.

"It's not very nice to hold the person who just did you a favor at glaive-point," Ezra said chidingly.

The man frowned. He still had a grip on his weapon, but the girl's hand was firmly on its shaft, keeping him from using it. Not to mention the very sharp knife she held to his throat. "Glaive-point?" he said questioningly. Truth be told, he was amazed at the girl's lightning quick movements; she'd turned the tables on him before he could even blink. And even though she was currently holding a knife to his throat, he didn't sense any ill intent in her face or posture.

She rolled her brilliant amethyst eyes. "This," she emphasized, wiggling her knife, "is knife-point. I don't know what to call it when some rude stranger points a glaive at me."

"Hak!" The girl's shrill voice rang out as she burst through the trees, her eyes widening when she found Ezra holding her friend at knife-point. The White Snake followed behind.

The man, whose name was apparently Hak, sighed, relaxing his grip on his weapon. "Fine," he grumbled, stepping back and releasing his offensive posture. Ezra let him, lowering her knife to her side.

"I'm Ezra," Ezra introduced herself, smiling brightly.

~~~

Hi!

If you're taking the time to read this far, I need to let you know just how much I appreciate you! (Trust me, it's a lot!) So far I've introduced you to Ezra, an OC I created when thinking about how I would love to go on adventures with Yona and her group. I think a lot of me is in Ezra, but Ezra is also a lot cooler and more badass than I could ever hope to be. I hope you enjoy getting to know her!

Throughout this entire writing project, I'm trying to keep all interactions as in-character as possible. Please DO NOT be shy to let me know if you think something is strange or out of character!

And on that note, enjoy! Please vote or comment to let me know if you're enjoying the story :)

--Veratia0011