Hi everyone! It's been a while!

Quick life update: college is crazy, preparing for the future is crazy, and everything is stressful! Sorry for the lack of updates, guys. It's been hard to write for a while. 

If you've been waiting, I want to thank you for sticking around! You guys are the greatest and even when I'm not actively posting, I do read your encouraging comments. Thanks for all the love! I'm glad you guys adore Ezra and her character as much as I do.

With all that said, Yona and the gang are embarking on a brand new arc in the coming chapters, and it's super exciting. I hope you'll enjoy it!

***

Ezra sighed as she shoved her bedroll into her pack, wincing when she felt a sharp sting of pain from one of her lingering injuries. It had been about a week since the bathhouse incident that had left the entire group in hysterics, and Yun was beginning to complain that they were running out of money.

Ezra knew that that meant. Now that the worst of their injuries had healed, Yun was going to put them to work.

There was a dangerous glint in Yun's bright blue eyes that all but confirmed Ezra's suspicions as he finished packing some medicinal herbs in a bag. He hoisted the bag onto his shoulders and turned to face the group. 

"Alright, beasts!" he announced. "Listen up. We're all going into town to make some money."

Kija glanced up from his task of banking the fire with a frown. "Won't we stand out too much if we all go into town?"

Yun shook his head. "This town is a merchant town. They get all kinds of traders and entertainers, so even Shinah's mask won't stand out."

Ezra glanced across the camp at Shinah and turned away, blushing slightly. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Yona asked. "Let's go!"

Yun led the way into town, humming a small tune under his breath. Ezra walked alongside Shinah, fidgeting with the shorter sleeves of her tunic. Ever since the battle in the Sky Tribe lands, Yun had made her switch from her usual long-sleeved tunic to one that allowed him easier access to the wounds on her arms. She understood the necessity of the less restrictive clothing. That still didn't make her feel any better about not have any shuriken stashed up her sleeves. 

Shinah glanced down as he noticed her restless movements. "You have... so many scars," he murmured. Yun had removed her bandages a few days ago, and her new tunic made visible the multitude of cuts and gashes, both old and new, that peppered her skin.

Ezra turned her arms over, studying them thoughtfully. "I do, don't I?"

"Does that bother you?" he asked.

She glanced up at him. Ever since the group had returned to their aimless wandering, he'd taken to wearing his large wooden mask once more. Ezra had to admit that while he looked more like, well, Shinah with his usual mask, she was once again left unable to read his expressions. 

She shook her head in response to his question, smiling slightly. "Not at all. I like my scars."

Shinah tilted his head in confusion. "Why?"

"Each of these scars tells a story about a battle that I lived through," she told him. She pointed to a small scar on her wrist. "Take this one, for example. I got this during the battle in Awa; an archer was aiming for my head, but I blocked it with my wrist."

Shinah was silent for a moment, thinking deeply. After a minute, he raised his hand and pointed to a years-old scar on her forearm. "What about that one?"

"Oh," Ezra said with an embarrassed smile. "That one doesn't have an exciting battle story. I got that when I was ten. My brother and I were playing a heated game of tag, and I was so busy running from him that I wasn't watching where I was going. I tripped over a rock and fell on my face, scraping up my entire arm as I did." She rolled her eyes. "Noah didn't even bother to help me up. He just stood there, laughing at me while I tried to spit the dirt out of my mouth."

Shinah grinned as he pictured the scene. "Cute," he murmured.

A blush colored Ezra's cheeks. She faced forward, suddenly unable to look at Shinah. "Y-yeah," she stuttered.

~~~

Before long, they arrived at what Yun called "the Wanderer's Market".  Stalls lined up along a main street, selling everything their group could possibly need; food, jewelry, clothes, weapons, and so much more. Ezra took in the whole scene with wide eyes.

"This is almost as great as the market in Awa!" she exclaimed, remembering an extensive market along the glimmering shoreline. 

Yun glanced at her. "Yes, it's amazing, but we're not here to shop, Ezra. We're here to work."

Ezra pouted. "Why can't we do both?"

"Because as of right now, we have no money!" Yun snapped. "So we need to make some."

"If we make some money, can we go shopping?" Ezra asked excitedly. "I see a lovely dagger over there..."

"No," Yun refused flatly.

"No fun." Ezra puffed out her cheeks.

Shinah grinned, finding the expression adorable. 

A few minutes later, Yun found an empty space towards the end of the street. He set his bag down and began laying out cloths on which to display the medicine he'd been gathering since the battle at Hiryuu Castle. 

"Merchants of all kinds are allowed to open up shop here, so I'm going to display my medicine so I can sell it. But all the way down here, there isn't as much foot traffic." Yun stood, facing them with his hands on his hips. "I need you guys to bring customers down this way so we can make some money."

"Huh?" Yona asked dumbly.

"Bring. Customers," Yun repeated. 

"But... I've never tried to solicit customers before," Kija murmured nervously.

"If you guys don't bring any customers in..." Yun paused, his eyes glinting maliciously. "You don't get to eat."

"We're going!" Everyone shouted at once, turning on their heels. They marched back towards the densest area of the market, deep in thought.

"I wonder how you solicit customers..." Yona said to herself.

"Leave it to me," Jaeha told her with a wink. He approached a couple of young women, smiling flirtatiously and gesturing towards the end of the market where Yun had set up shop. 

After a few moments he waved at the group, eyes glinting with triumph, as he led the girls towards the stall.

"He did it," Hak said, eyes wide with surprise.

"Amazing," Yona exclaimed. 

Jaeha returned to them after leading the girls over to Yun. "And that's how it's done," he said smugly. 

"What? How did you do that?" Kija asked.

"Like this." Jaeha leaned over to whisper in Kija's ear. Shinah scooted closer to listen in on the conversation as Kija's face grew bright red. 

"What?" Kija gasped. "How can I say that?"

Shinah just looked confused.

Yona stepped closer to Ezra. "What are they talking about?"

Ezra pursed her lips in thought. "Knowing that pervert, it's nothing we need to trouble ourselves over."

"Alright, now you try it!" Jaeha had finished his lecture. He grabbed Kija's and Shinah's shoulders and turned them towards a small group of girls. "Alright, Shinah, go three seconds without your mask!" Without waiting for a response, Jaeha slipped the mask from Shinah's head.

Shinah immediately lowered his face and covered his eyes with his hands. Kija smiled timidly at the girls.

"Mask..." Shinah said, turning towards Jaeha and blindly reaching out for his mask, eyes squeezed tightly shut. 

"I said three seconds!" Jaeha protested, holding the Seiryuu's mask over his head.

"Give it to him," Ezra ordered, her hands on her hips. 

Jaeha looked like he wanted to protest, but then he caught the serious edge in Ezra's normally carefree eyes. "Yeah, yeah, alright," he muttered dejectedly, handing the mask back to Shinah.

The girls seemed hopelessly confused as Shinah slid his mask back into place.

Kija looked to Jaeha in askance. "Did I help?"

Jaeha gave a wooden smile. "Yes," he lied. 

"Zeno has brought in a young lady!" Zeno announced with a large grin, strolling up to the group bearing a tiny grandmother on his back.

"Well done, Zeno!" Yona cheered as Zeno took the old woman to Yun's stall.

"Alright," Hak said loudly, turning on his heel. "Looks like the combined efforts of Jaeha, Kija, Zeno, and Shinah have already brought in lots of customers. I'm going to go check out the weapons."

"I'll go with you!" Ezra said eagerly, stepping up to join him.

"Wait a second." Jaeha's voice halted them in their tracks, and he laid a hand on each of their shoulders to reel them back. "You two need to bring in customers as well."

"Ah, see, I'm better at the whole 'kicking ass' thing than I am at the 'talking to people' thing," Ezra protested. "Can I get a pass?"

"Absolutely not," Jaeha told her with a cunning smile. "I want to see how many customers you can bring in. Ezra, there are some young men over there who look like they'd love to talk to you. And Hak, there are some young ladies." Jaeha glanced over his shoulder at Yona. "Yona dear, is it alright if Hak talks to other girls?"

Yona blinked in confusion. "Why are you asking me? It's for customers, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's true. Hak, looks like you've gained permission. Now for Ezra." Jaeha looked around until he found Shinah huddling out of reach. "Shinah! Do you mind if Ezra talks to other men?"

Shinah tilted his head, baffled by the question. 

"Of course not," Ezra hissed, swatting Jaeha's hand off her shoulder. "Don't start something you can't finish, Droopy Eyes."

Jaeha grinned, thoroughly amused by her reaction. "Great. Ezra has received permission as well. Now go get some customers!" He shoved them towards their respective targets.

Ezra shot a deadly glare his way before turning her attention to the young men he'd pointed out. She approached them, rubbing at the back of her neck uncomfortably. "Yo," she said by way of greeting. "Do you guys need any medicine?"

"Medicine?" repeated the first man, furrowing his eyebrows. He appeared to be slightly older than Ezra, with light brown hair and eyes. Ezra noticed that he had two knives sheathed at his hips, and his hands were hard and calloused. They were the hands of someone who wields weapons frequently, and his voice bore the slightest rural Fire Tribe accent. 

Ezra gestured towards the end of the market. "My friend is selling medicinal herbs. If you have any wounds or illnesses, he'll know how to help." Her eyes zeroed in on a bandage nearly concealed beneath the second young man's sleeve. "How'd you get that?"

The boy, who seemed a couple years younger than his companion, quickly tried to cover the bandage with his sleeve. "Uh, fighting some bandits." He had dark black hair and bright green eyes, and he carried a two-handed broadswords sheathed across his back.

Ezra frowned at his obvious lie. Why did they seem so nervous? 

"Are you guys from the Fire Tribe?" she asked.

"No!" they both shouted, too quickly.

The younger, dark-haired young man waved his arms wildly. "No, we're... we're from the Wind Tribe!" 

The movement caused his sleeve to slide up, revealing that the bandage on his arm was covered in bright red blotches. 

Ezra sighed. "You guys are horrible liars," she told them. "If you're going to pretend to be from the Wind Tribe, at least change out of your traditional Fire Tribe clothes. Why are you hiding the fact that you're both former Fire Tribe soldiers?"

The older man glanced down in alarm. "I, er, am not sure why you think we're lying, but we really need to go." He grabbed his companion's good arm and started to tow him away.

"Wait," Ezra called. "I'm not going to hurt you or try to bring you in. That looks bad," she said, gesturing at the boy's injured arm, "and I just want to help. Were you fighting at Hiryuu about a week ago?"

"I..." the younger one trailed off, unsure how to respond. 

Ezra stared at the boy, her eyes widening as she realized that she'd seen those clover-green eyes once before. How had she not recognized him before? "You're the one who stabbed Kan Soo-Jin," she breathed.

The young man's mouth fell open. "You were there?"

"Keep it down!" his companion hissed.

"Yes, I was there," she told them. "I was, er, part of the group of bandits that fought the Fire Tribe army."

The older man's eyes grew large. "No way... you're Nightshade?"

Ezra blinked. "Huh?"

"I wasn't near the unit that fought the bandits, but I heard rumors. About a group of men that they called Kouka's monsters, and a dark-haired woman who fought alongside them. They called her Nightshade, because they said she looks harmless but is actually quite deadly." The man stared at her, taking in the scars on her bare arms and the sword sheath slung across her back. "Is that you?"

Ezra frowned, unsure how she felt about this new information. "Uh, I guess?" It didn't sound likely, but who else could it be? Yona had bright red hair and was no fighter.

The younger man was staring at her, eyes as wide as saucers. "I want to fight you!" he blurted.

A startled laugh bubbled out of Ezra's chest. "You're a charmer," she chuckled. "But I think you and I are both in need of some good rest after that battle. There will be no sparring today."

"Aw," the boy pouted.

His companion regarded her with hard eyes. "We still have no reason to trust you," he said.

Ezra raised an eyebrow at him. "Given that my companions and I were at Hiryuu fighting against your men, I think it's safe to say that we are no friends of the Fire Tribe army. No harm will come to you by us." Her eyes drifted back to the bloodstained bandages on the young man's arm. "Will you let my friend help dress your wound properly?"

The men looked at each other.

"She's already figured out my secret," the boy told his friend. "And, if she is Nightshade... then she's right. What would she have to gain by handing us over to the army that her group was fighting?"

The older man sighed. "Your wound only seems to get worse as the time goes by." He glanced up at Ezra. "Lead the way."

Ezra nodded and turned towards Yun's stall. "So, what are your names?" she asked as they walked. 

"I'm Ryoichi," said the younger one.

"And I'm Hiroshi," said his companion. 

"Nice to meet you, Ryoichi and Hiroshi," Ezra told them with a smile. "I'm Ezra." She fell silent for a moment. "Ryoichi, I have to say... what you did back at Hiryuu Castle was extremely brave. I admire you for that."

Ryoichi glanced down, his green eyes conflicted. "I... have mixed feelings about that moment."

Ezra nodded in understanding. "Just know that what you did saved a lot of people. If Soo-Jin had succeeded in killing Su-won... there's no telling what would've happened. It doesn't take a genius to know that he's needed on that throne right now. Kouka's position is precarious." Not to mention, if Ryoichi hadn't done what he did... everything that Yona and her group had done up until that moment would have been rendered pointless.

"At the time, all I was thinking... was just that I wanted everything to stop," Ryoichi said quietly.

Ezra's eyes softened as she watched him stare at the ground. Hiroshi walked silently alongside his friend, his jaw clenched.

They arrived at the stall to find Yun surrounded by young women who were clamoring for either his herbs or for Hak's, Jaeha's, or Kija's attention. 

"Hey, Yun!" Ezra called. "We've got some special customers here. Take good care of them, alright?"

"You got it!" Yun said. He turned towards the men. "What do you need?

Ezra left the former Fire Tribe soldiers in Yun's care, walking to stand by Yona. 

"Nicely done, Ez!" the princess said, patting Ezra on the back.

Ezra's eyes were thoughtful as she watched Yun treat Ryoichi's wound, giving the men instructions as he did so. "Thanks," she responded absentmindedly.

Yona leaned forward, peering at her friend. "Don't tell me you've forgotten about Shinah already."

That got Ezra's attention.

"What? No, no, it's not like that!" she immediately denied, waving her arms. "They're both from the Fire Tribe. They were soldiers who fought in the battle at Hiryuu Castle."

Yona's eyes widened. "Did they desert the army? The Fire Tribe does not take well to deserters."

"Even less to traitors, no matter how justified their actions may have been," Ezra murmured. "The dark-haired one is the man who killed Soo-Jin."

Yona's body stilled as she processed that information. "He... he saved Su-won..."

Ezra let out a sigh. "I know that you and Su-won have a horrible history, but you understand what his death would've done to Kouka."

Yona nodded. "I know, Ez. That's why I rushed us all to Hiryuu Castle in the first place. I will never be able to forgive Su-won for what he did, but... Kouka's well-being comes before any personal grudge of mine. For now, Su-won must live, so that Kouka, too, can survive." Yona watched as Ryoichi laughed at something Yun had said. "He did something very brave, and saved my country from an unknown future. I will be forever indebted to him."

Ezra followed her gaze. "He seemed pretty mixed up about what happened in Kuuto."

"I should thank him..." Yona murmured.

Ezra slid her friend a sideways glance. "Hak would get angry if you told a stranger who you are."

Yona nodded. "You're right, I won't."

For a few minutes they stood together in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Before long, Hiroshi and Ryoichi finished their business with Yun and approached Ezra.

"Thank you for all your help today, Nightshade," Hiroshi said with a short bow. He stood up straight. "Ryoichi's wound should be better in a week or two with the herbs Yun gave us."

Yona frowned. "'Nightshade'?" she repeated.

Ezra grinned. "That's a story for another time. For now, Hiroshi, Ryoichi, allow me to introduce you to my good friend, Rina." Yona bowed to them. "I was just telling Rina about what you did in Kuuto."

Ryoichi's eyes widened. "You were?"

Ezra nodded. "She was there as well."

Yona looked at Ryoichi, her violet eyes earnest. "What you did saved a lot of lives. Please never forget that. This country, and this country's leaders... they're indebted to you."

"Uh, I... thank you," Ryoichi stammered, at a loss for words.

Yona smiled softly. "No, thank you." Her eyes shone with sincerity. "I truly hope that we will meet again."

Ryoichi and Hiroshi bowed. "Us as well," Hiroshi responded. "And now, we must leave." His gaze returned to Ezra. "Again, thank you for everything. Safe travels!"

Ezra grinned at him. "Safe travels."

~~~

The men walked along the street, thinking deeply.

"That girl... Rina..." Hiroshi murmured.

"Hm?" Ryoichi glanced at his friend.

"Don't you think there was something... different about her?"

Ryoichi shrugged. "There was something different about that entire group. Most of them didn't even seem human."

Hiroshi nodded. "I see what you mean."

"But that red-headed girl, in particular..." Ryoichi trailed off, deep in thought. "She's no warrior like Nightshade, but she exudes this aura of power all the same. I wonder who she is."

Hiroshi shrugged. "Maybe we will meet her again, and then we'll see."

"I hope so," Ryoichi said.

"For now, let's get what we need and get out of here," Hiroshi decided. They continued on down the street until they disappeared from sight.

***

Just a disclaimer... the manga makes no mention of the soldier who killed Soo-Jin after the battle, but I brought him back to explore his character just a bit. 

I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Thanks for reading!