The suns set was something Yao couldn't stand to see in the godforsaken country. He was dragged in, yet whenever he tried to cross the sea, just to his own home, there was always a stop. He failed out, he remembered his sister or simply, physically couldn't make it across. China seemed like a distant dream nowadays. Just once, Yao wished that dream could be his next horizon.
Though he knew it was pointless he had brought Min, his 16-year-old sister to the waters edge. Not once had he seen a different, more better sky no. Never. He wanted that for her, for them both, to live a better life without the possibilities of what could be or for them 'what is'. Yao squeezed her hand on the docks, pointing to the orange sun and the glimmering waters. "Somewhere up east. We're going to try Min. We have to." he said.
Min stared out over the sea at the setting sun beside him, tugging her lip in her teeth nervously, slowly turning it a bright shade of red. She could taste the metallic tang of blood in her mouth, but was too immersed in thought to even consider she had made her lip bleed for the umpteenth time.
She was scared, no, she was terrified. The setting sun glistening on the water's surface seemed to give hope, to give promise to a new and better life. But that was what terrified her. The surface glistening of diamonds concealed the dark depths beneath, and who knew what lurked there, waiting to tear through the whimsical dream of the surface.
She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but whatever Yao hadn't told her, she'd tried to put together on her own, she was a smart girl, capable of doing such things. She sighed, her frail body trembling from the cool breeze blowing on her face as she turned to face her older brother, uncertainty in her eyes. "Do you think we can?" She tried to keep her voice steady, to stay strong, but how could she, with so much still unknown?
Yao wasn't sure how to return her question. To them both, in all honesty, he wished. All of his thoughts were wishful thinking. But in short, he couldn't answer her. It was like lying to a child. 'You'll get your lollipop, after you get a job' and then forget. It wasn't possible. A hopeful lie. So lovely, but so far out of reach.
"I..." he paused to sigh. "We will." That voice of reassurance, it even felt strange to use again. At a beautiful scene, he seemed to have to. Min was his sister; he would do anything in his way to protect her. Again he squeezed her hand. "We have to try."
Yao looked out to the water again, watching it grow darker as his words set in. The glistening surface turned black, and almost lifeless. Crude and uneven. Too he shivered. It was a small hope but a big wish. Would a star be able to grant that? If only.
Min nodded to her thoughtful brother, reassured at his words. Yao was her brother. Her loving, wonderful, sometimes bossy and a bit of a prick big brother, and he had always protected her. If he said they would make it, they would.
She stared into the inky depths of the water, willing her fear away as she held his hand tighter. They would do this. And when the time came, she would not be afraid. She couldn't. She had to be strong, strong like her brother.
Slowly, she let herself smile, only a little. She wasn't sure if it was real, but at that moment, she felt Yao needed to see a smile on her face.
Only problem being, Yao was one of the specifics. He barely noticed what happened when it was small. The heart-warming sights were a thing of his past. He stood, pulling her up as well and quickly peeked around. He wanted out. He felt trapped, afraid, and he needed to take her from there. He didn't want her to feel the same.
With a strong hint of fear in his hesitance, Yao tugged her forward, bringing them both closer the murky shore. "Trust me. I love you." He mumbled, quiet as ever as he started to peel off her clothing, setting each garment aside gently. "Don't be scared. You have to remember I'm right here." he warned shakily.
It was then, there. He was going to have to try. Leaving everything behind, no trace of them to be found. Yao's breath hitched, he returned to concentrating on his sister, delicately removing what he needed to without a further sound.
Min shivered in the cool night air, shyly covering herself but nodding to his statement. She could feel the fear creeping up on her, and she shook her head angrily to rid herself of it. Strong, brave, it was what she needed to be.
She blinked back tears quickly, forcing herself to look Yao in the eye, putting on the bravest face she could. "I'm not afraid, I trust you..."
She swallowed her doubts and her fears. They had no place right now, none. They would only slow her down, make her weak when she needed to be strong. But somewhere inside, she couldn't help the feeling of dread and she stepped closer to the water.
Yao had already finished, beginning to squeeze her hand again. "We're close." he said. "So close... I'll protect you..." with that, mumbled under the brewing wind, Yao slipped down into the water. No sound was made. It was silent, cold and calming under the water. For once, he wanted to stay there, never come back up. But he had a job to do.
Reaching up to her, he nodded her toward him. "Come on. I'll catch you." he promised, nodding again. The wind blew colder, brittle and sharp as if trying to pull them back to the land. There was a strange atmosphere, dangerous. Min was his precious sister; he needed to keep her safe, even under the resistant air above them.
Min suppressed a whimper against the cold, carefully sliding into the water, holding onto Yao as she did. Opposite of Yao's feelings, the cold water caressing her skin sent shivers up her spine. What she wouldn't give to just get dressed, go to bed and go to sleep. It wasn't a safe life, but it seemed less terrifying than the task at hand.
She took a breath, trying to push her fear back. No, her shivering was from the cold, not the fear. The sick feeling in her stomach was because she was hungry, not because she was terrified. The tears were from the joy of leaving, not the fear of what awaited.
Some part of her knew she was lying though, and that was the part she was trying to ignore.
She was warm and cold. Yao pulled her closer, kicking his legs slowly to keep down the sound. Waves crashed up against their faces, shoveling down their throats with salt and crude unknown mixtures. Yao threw out his stomach contents best he could when the first force went down but even so, he was left with the painful effects.
Shaken and scared, he huffed his chest. He too had to be brave. He had a job, to protect his sister, whether that meant risking his life. He was willing to do so. They were close, only a few short kicks away it seemed before they could get out, be together, be warm forever and ever. So, so close...
She stayed close, gagging and coughing as the waves hit her face, doing her best to stay quiet as she did. Water had gotten up her nose and her whole throat was burning, her stomach felt sick from the water she'd swallowed and she couldn't stop shaking. From fear or cold, she couldn't tell anymore.
Over the crashing of the waves she swore she could hear something. In this water, it could have been anything. She did her best to push the fear from her mind, but it got closer.
"Y-Yao!" She called softly to him, coughing as more water streamed down her throat. "D-Do you hear that?"
A swift movement shifted the water. Yao ducked under, his voice in its frantic cry being cut off by the black water. Over the bubbles, murky blackness lay, rapidly clashing together in miniature waves. The bubbles were gone, the hand, tight and firm at once had relaxed, drifting away with resistance.
A hand reached out, another in front of her, blade in its clutches. It wavered before her face unsteady and threatening, knuckles crackling and water splashing creating the depth of courage and pure anger. They weren't safe anymore. Their dream was slowly spiraling into a deep dark abyss, one they had dug themselves.
Gagging on the water that rushed into her mouth, she panicked. Min looked frantically around her, calling for Yao and disregarding her situation, swimming back in an attempt to avoid it.
However, she wasn't the strongest swimmer. Panicked, fearful, water filling her lungs and stomach, she felt as if she would drown.
A hand gripped her wrist and she screamed, clawing at it. She was focused on the object of distraction, the blade coming at her face didn't register until she felt a sharp pain in her left eye, her vision going red.
A pained scream tore from her throat and she thrashed, the salty water splashing into the wound, increasing her pain. She couldn't continue to fight. The hand on her wrist gripped tighter, and she knew there was no escape.
The grasp on her wrist came from a man before her, dressed in militia uniform. He managed to get a hold her altogether though she struggled fearfully. He scoffed to himself at her attempts finding Min a nuisance, a bother as the rest of them.
Carelessly Min was dragged to shore, bound by the restricting ropes they, the dangerous men, had tied around her ankles and hands. There were no means of escape for a strong adult would have no luck in getting away at this point. Nor were they ignorant enough to do so, or try.
"Ha." The man mocked, spitting down at her. "They'll /feast/ amongst a girl like you." He laughed at his dirty tongue, again dragging her up in his grasp and tossing her into the back of a tattered truck. Seemingly the truck looked old enough to fall apart, or unstable enough for her to simply slip right off and be left stranded along the side of the road.
Not once did any of the soldiers near her pay mind to the opened wound over her left eye. They gave none of the slightest care about it. Some surely laughed heartily at their new prisoner, her broken face and all.
Visibly on the truck beside Min, Yao was tied together, his entire body encased with tight rope. The showing skin was already starting to turn red from contact. He showed no signs of movement. His body was bruised, most likely from being thrown around just as she had been. His hair lay in a bundled mess, falling out of what was his peaceful ponytail and keeping his face hidden.
Min shrieked and struggled as she was brought to the truck. Her intent had been to be brave...but now her screams, her fight, was from pure terror. Yao had never told her what happened to people attempting what they were trying. No, that she had looked into on her own.
Her struggling ceased as her good eye fell onto her brother. She instead turned her efforts to trying to squirm closer to him, her bound hands reaching to touch his face. Her hands gripped his hair as she buried her head in his shoulder, all her fear finally coming forth in a loud sob. Even Yao couldn't protect her now...that was scarier than anything else she could have imagined.
Their ride soon came to an end. Yao didn't wake, nor did he move once until they came to a complete stop, as if the strong jolt had brought him to his senses. Immediately he struggled to sit up, quickly finding himself tied and Min in similar condition to his side.
First thing he noticed was the dried blood and unsee-able eye. Yao's breath hitched. He came to sit up, hair shifting from his view. "M-min! Oh Min are you alright aru? " he asked her, though the answer wasn't needed. What he saw answered his question. But, even a lie was better than anything. A good promising lie was something he wished he could hear then and there.
Again the wishes were pulled away. A hand reached over his mouth, the others grabbing him and picking him up off the truck and toward the land of hell. They untied him, throwing him to the ground on the gravel road like a used wrapper, tossed away to no further use. Obsolete.
The men then made their way to Min, preparing to do the same. Preparing, without preparation.
Min shrieked as Yao was torn away from her, seeming to find her will to struggle again, calling out for him. She knew she hadn't a chance in Hell, but she didn't care, she just wanted out, she wanted Yao, she wanted to wake up from this nightmare.
Her panic had made her forget her current situation, but as the men returned for her, she remembered her lack of clothing. Her blood and tear soaked cheeks turned a deep red as she curled up to try to shield herself, calling again for Yao. She didn't want to go where they were taking them, she didn't want Yao going, she wanted to be home, in bed, waking up from this terrible dream, maybe going to Yao's room, requesting he let her sleep with him. Protecting her again, from her own fears and nightmares. But she knew this was too real to be a dream...
Watching the men take her so heartlessly made Yao want to puke. He didn't dare shout out, having heard of these places. One wrong move and they were both going to pay the price, and no matter what, he just couldn't let that happen. He simply closed his tear shaken eyes and faced the other way. Indeed, everything was too real.
They threw her down, having her untied already. Only one word was spoken from them. "Work."
She cried out as she hit the ground, shakily pushing herself up to look around. She knew from this point on their lives were going to be a lot worse.