Hi hi! Sorry that this chapter is a bit late! I was having a bit of trouble deciding what I should do for this chapter. I have a lot of backstory that I want to build up for Huan and when I introduce the Yang warrior I have a lot of backstory as well. I was a bit on ends on whether I should put it in now and make a flashback chapter or put it in later and continue with the fight. I decided to put it in now because the fight scene is rather straightforward and I kind of want to put in stuff that wouldn't make sense if there was no backstory to explain it. That being said, this entire chapter is focused on Huan and her life before meeting Yona and the gang. If you are not familiar with my writing style then you should know that things in Italics is either thoughts or flashback. If there are apostrophes (' ') around the Italicized words then they are thoughts. Also I am quite a bit sick 😷 and half delirious so I'm sorry if this makes zero sense.  Thanks for reading!
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Huan's POV
'Blood.... When was the last time it was on my hands?' I ponder in my mind as I glare down at the men I sliced at. 'I wish no one had to die.....' I frown at the dying bodies of men I used to look up to 'But in a world of life and death.... We must make the choice of who lives and who dies' I sadly think as thoughts of my past rush through my head.

~Flashback: 4 Years Old~

"Mama" I look up to the much taller, black haired woman I called my mom.
"Yes Huan?" She asks as she continues to hang up the laundry to dry on the line
"What is it like out there?" I ask as I hand her the last damp robe to hang up
She ponders this for a while before opening her mouth to answer, "Beautiful" she answers simply.
"Do you think that I will be able to see it one day?"
"Of course" she smiles down at me

"Bora-san" my mother and I turn to face the female voice that called out to my mother.
"Hello there Chen-san" my mother smiles at the older woman with ginger colored haired with streaks of grey in it, "How is your back?"
"Wonderful, thank you!  The medicine you gave me is working perfectly Bora-san"
"Chen obaa-chan!" I shout and run over to the woman
"Hello there Huan-chan, how are you doing this afternoon?"
"Great thanks! How are nii-san and the others? I haven't seen them in a while"
"Gun-gi-kun and Haneul-kun are doing well. They are training hard so they can be part of the small defense force we have here"
"Wow! nii-san and the others are really strong!" Chen obaa-chan chuckles at my antics
"Yes, they are"

~Switch Flashback- 6 Years Old~

"M-Mama!!!!" I shout as I watch in horror at my rapidly growing and shrinking fingernails.  A few times they would turn a magenta-ish color before shrinking and turning to it's normal color again.
"What is it Hu-" My mom cuts herself off when she sees my fingernails and my scared expression.  "B-But- it can't be.  She's not even 8 yet" My mother reaches for my hands but I retract them quickly
"Stop!" I shout, "They get sharp and I don't want to hurt you" I cry out as tears form in my eyes.  "W-What is wrong with me?"

"Sweetie" Mama soothes me and starts to rub circles on my back, "Nothing's wrong with you.  It's... Well it's a long story.  But I promise nothing is wrong with you, you are just a very special little girl" she smiles at me.  "I will teach you how to control your powers, but you have to promise me, you will never use them to hurt anyone"
"I promise mama"

~Switch Flashback: 10 Years Old~

"Mama, please wake up...." I whisper softly to the unconscious body of my mother.

She hasn't been out of bed in almost 3 months now and hasn't said a word in 3 days. I have to force feed her soup, water, and her medicine. About 2 years ago she collapsed suddenly when watering the herb garden. I called over Chen obaa-san to help me carry her into the house and she hasn't been the same ever since.  Chen obaa-san comes over with food, water, and other necessities every week but with she can't stay long since she has her own family to take care of and has to run her shop.

Ever since mama collapsed 2 years ago she seems to be a ghost of who she used to be.  Whenever she wakes up, she looks at me with a confused look before silently walking to the kitchen to make tea.  She usually only stays up for a few hours before she collapses again and I have to drag her back into bed.  She also sometimes mumbles nonsensical things or starts yelling and screaming in the middle of the night.  On particularly bad days she finds me next to her and asks who I am.  When I tell her that I'm her daughter she hits me across the room and shouts that she never had a daughter.  After a while, I learned to just tell her my name and say that I am her caretaker.

I sigh and stand up to go and fetch her medicine. In the 2 years when my mother was still herself she taught me how to control my powers and a lot about medicine and poison making. As I walk to the countertop to fetch her medicine, I hear a rapid knocking on the door.
"It must be Chen obaa-san or Lifen obaa-san" I say to myself as I walk to the door

I open the door to find 3 tall men in soldier uniforms.
"How may I help you?"
"Is this the Whang Residence?"
"Yes, do you need medicine o-"
"Search the house" the lead man with dirty blonde hair and a gruff voice tells the other two. The first latchkey with dirt brown hair pushes me to the side and walk straight into the house and into the clinic room
"Hey!" I try to run after them but the lead man holds me back
"We don't want to hurt you. The new general, General Lao orders for the woman by the name of Whang Bora to be executed. If you allow us to do our job then you can carry on with your life"
"W-What? Why does the new general want my mother to be executed?! Let me go!" I try to struggle against the man but unfortunately my powers don't extend to that of super strength. And I couldn't use my nails against him, the lethal poison in them would instantly kill him and I promised mama I wouldn't harm anyone.

"I found her" The brunette says as he gestures to my sickly mother who he draped over his shoulder
"Let's get her back to General Lao right away" the blonde says and tosses me to the side.
"N-No!  You can't take her!  Stop!" I scramble to my feet and run after the men
"Look kid, we don't like hurting children and we have nothing against your mother or anything, but orders are orders" the blonde says
"B-But, what about a trial?!  You can't execute her on no grounds!  I-"

"What's all this blabbering?" My mother wakes up
"M-Mama?  Mama!  You can't let them take you!  You have to fight back like you showed me!  They are going to kill you!  Please, d-don't le-"
"Kill me?" My once kind mom chuckles insanely, "How wonderful!  Finally!  I will be rid of this dreadful curse!"
"C-Curse?  Mama, are you talking about your illness?  I-I promise I will find a cu-"
"No you stupid child!" She cuts me off again, "The curse of the Yin Snake....  What a dreadful blood to inherit.  And now.... Now, I will finally be free!" She starts to laugh darkly, "The curse of the Yin Snake, anyone who inherits it's blood will be forever cursed to live a life of darkness and despair while watching sorrowfully as those around her flourish in happiness until death.  Oh such a dreadful fate, and now.....  I can finally be rid of it!"
"The Yin Snake?  Our bloodline?  Are you saying that we're cursed?"

"Kid, you should just go home.  This lady has obviously lost her mind" The blonde tells me as he walks away and my legs give out from under me.
"Curse, curse, curse" I mumble that word over an over again....  I'm cursed.......

~Switch Flashback: 14 Years Old~

It's been 4 years since my mother was executed and put out of her misery.  I visit her grave almost everyday...... But really it is only a stone that I engraved her name on.  General Lao burned her body and threw the ashes into the mountains.

For the past 4 years I have isolated myself in my cottage.  I only go into town once every month to buy food and sell medicine.  I am no longer visited by the people of the village, all of them eventually figured out that I didn't want to converse with them anymore.

The last words that my deceased mother told me still ring in my ears.  I can't get it out of my head.  I, and everyone in my family's bloodline, is cursed.  We are bound to the fate of never being happy, of always falling from grace.

I spend my days watering the garden and experimenting with medicine and poison.  I have already developed 10 different types of poison, each more lethal than the last.  I was currently working on my newest project, a poison that could be put onto a blade and stay lethal after several hours, when I heard a knocking at the door.  I ignore it at first, thinking that it was just the wind.  It wasn't until the person, or whatever it was, started using the door as a drum did I go and answer it.

"What do you want?" I ask, clearly annoyed
"Whoa, I just wanted some directions" the slightly taller male in front of me answered.  He appeared to be the same age as me, if not only a year older.  His hair was blonde with undertones of pink and was pulled back in a short pony tail.  He had pale skin and ocean blue eyes.  For clothing he wore a white robe with yellow trim with a black belt.  He also had a thick yellow scarf that covered his neck.

"Good-bye" I try to slam the door on the weirdo's face but he stops it with his foot
"OWWWWWW!!!!!!" He screams and starts to hop around on one foot.  "WHY'D YOU DO THAT FOR??!!!"
"Why did you put your foot there?" I ask bluntly
"You're mean"
"And you're a creep" I try to close the door again but he grabs my hand before I can shut the door
"Hey!  I'm lost and I just want to know where the heck I am!"
"You're here obviously" I answer sarcastically
"Thank you captain obvious" he rolls his eyes, "But seriously, can you tell me where I am"
"How and I supposed to know.  I just know that this cottage is here and there is a mountain over there" I point to the mountain.  "I've never been outside of this area before so I don't know what we are close to and what we are not"
"You've never traveled before?" I shake my head no. "Well I'm going to teach you all about what it's like out there"

~Switch Flashback: 1 Month Later~

"Kwang!" I shout to the idiot blonde as I look at the burning rubble around me
"H-Huan-chan?" I hear the familiar voice say in-between coughs
"Kwang!" I pull him up from off the ground, "You idiot! I told you it wasn't a good idea to throw stones at those soldiers!"
"And I *cough* was supposed to know *cough* that the Ge*cough*neral would burn down the who*cough*le village because...." He jokes before erupting in a fit of coughs
"We need to get back to my cottage quickly" I say as we move as fast as we can with him leaning on me

"Help!" We hear someone yelling in the distance, "My son! He is trapped in the house!" An elderly woman runs around frantically
"Huan..." I glare at him, "Please?"
"Fine...." I grumble as we walk over to the woman
"Hah! Serves you right you peasant scum" one of the soldiers laughs at the woman's frantic efforts to get someone to help her
"I'll he-"
"No I'll go in" I cut Kwang off
"Hey! Stop right there brats" the soldier points his sword at us
"No, you stop" Kwang interjects
"Kwang....."
"No Huan, this is ridiculous! They treat us and all the other villagers like scum, and I won't stand for it"
"Look brat why don't you shut your trap and-"

"What's all this about Feng?" A male voice cuts the soldier off
"General Lao" The light tan headed male bows down the much taller man with long, black hair tied in high, ponytail, one reminiscent of that of a samurai, "These children here have been getting in the way"
The general glares at us then glances at the woman. "Scram unless you want to be punished as well"
"Yes, general" she shakes before running away
"But-"
"Silence!" He cuts Kwang off, "You, shut your trap before I make you"
"I would like to see you try" Kwang arrogantly says
"Kwang I would shut up if I were you" I whisper to him

"Shut up!" General Lao kicks me to the side. I cough and the metallic taste of blood fills my mouth
"Huan!"
"I said to be quiet!" The general quickly draws his sword and cuts my friend's left arm off followed by a stab to his right thigh
I gasp sharply and cover my mouth in both shock and terror as I watch my friend start to bleed to death.
"Tsk, weaklings like you have no right living in this world" he tsks before walking away with the solider

"Kwang.... " I crawl over to my dying friend
"H-Huan....." He weakly strokes my cheek as tears fall down my face
"D-Don't leave me you idiot"
"Don't cry, your tears are making my face itch" he teases weakly
"Idiot....."
"Huan.... Can you promise me something?" He asks and I nod my head slightly, "I've told you many stories of my journeys and shown you many of my collections from my travels. Promise me that you will go out and see that world for yourself one day.... And find something that you love Huan..... Find something worth fighting for and fight for it... I know I did.... Thank you Huan" He smiles weakly at me before closing his eyes and his hand limply drops to the ground.
"Kwang? Kwang?! No..... Not you too" I cry my eyes out as the sun starts to rise and the flames around me die out.

~End Flashback~

'I think I might have found something worth fighting for Kwang'

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Wow, this is a lot longer than I thought it would be. Well I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and if not then tell me how you think I could improve! I am totally open to constructive criticism and don't be afraid to tell me if there are any spelling or grammar errors. If you have any suggestions then be sure to comment those too! If you liked this chapter please vote and comment. Thank you for reading and be sure to stay tuned for the next chapter! (<- can I say that for books? 😝)