"Oh."
I crawl to Mundok, desperately looking for signs of life in his face. His eyes were closed, his face relaxed. He looks peaceful, like he's sleeping maybe, because he's not dead. Definitely not. Mundok can't die.
drip
I look up at the noise. The sword is dripping crimson liquid into a pool on the ground, and the person holding it is coming closer. They step into the light, and it's...
"Oh."
"You weren't supposed to be here." Soo-won's voice rang out in the room, low and threatening. I've never heard him sound like that.
"I was-" My voice comes out choked. I hadn't even realized I was crying. "I just- I saw you-" I sob out before curling over Mundok's lifeless body. "I saw you leave, and I just- I wanted to make sure you were okay!" I yell the last part, anger slipping into my voice.
I throw my head up to look him in the eyes. He looks stricken by my words, but no satisfaction comes from it.
"Why?" I croak out. "W-we could've been great"'
His eyes tell me he understands. Me, him, Yona. The king, the advisor, the guard. We could've been great. We could've been legendary.
"We still could've!" He screams. His eyes are wild, and there is blood smeared across his cheek. I've never seen him like this. "If you just hadn't followed me!"
Shuffling comes from outside. Soo-won whispers 'shit' right as the door swings open. Guards pour in. My tense muscles relax, and I fall over Mundok again, relieved that they finally decided to show up.
"Did the Prince see?!" One of the guards ask, immediately making me tense up.
"You have to dispose of him, Lord." Another voice says. "We absolutely cannot have witnesses."
My short-lived relief drains away, and once again I stare into Soo-won's eyes. They are wide, trembling. Hesitation floods them.
"He'll only suffer more if he lives."
At that, Soo-won's eyes settle into a determined kind of detachment. I want to scream at him, make him remember he's basically my brother, godammit. All that comes out is a croak. He steps measuredly towards me. I can't bring myself to move. I lower my head, ready to accept what's coming. Maybe the guard is right. Maybe I will only suffer more if I live.
And then the sound of shattering glass breaks through the haze of acceptance I was in. I jerk my head up in time to see Yona dash between me and Soo-won. Images of them kissing, her blushing, her smiling at him flash through my head.
She's on his side.
Everyone's against me.
My small world, of only three people, is now a small world of no one.
She turns to stare at me, her beautiful violet eyes wild and filled with rage. I flinch away.
"What the fuck is going on!" She screams. Silence is her only answer.
Soo-won takes a step back, his eyes wide and trembling again. I don't want to see anymore. Once again, I'm curled over the lifeless corpse of Mundok.
"You fucking disgust me."
I curl tighter around Mundok. Of all the people to say those words, it hurts the worst coming from Yona. I screw my eyes shut and wait for death.
Without warning, I'm flying through the air, away from Mundok, Soo-won, and all the traitorous guards. Screams fly through the air after me. I look up at my savior, confusion washing over me when I see Yona.
"You're... On my side?" I whimper out. Any other time, and I would've been ashamed for sounding so freaking pathetic, but right now I can't find it in myself to care.
She glances down at me. Her eyes are hard enough to cut through diamonds, but they soften when they come to rest on me. "I'll always be on your side." She sighs out, before returning her gaze forward. Blood is sprayed across her face, and I sit there staring at it, mesmerized, almost. I wonder who's it is. I wonder if they're still breathing.
We're moving so fast I can barely see, but a few familiar landmarks clue me in to our destination. "The treehouse?" I croak.
"Easiest way to get over the wall." She replies.
Before I know it, she's jumping up the ladder. We make it to the treehouse in record time, cross the threshold without hesitation, and dive out the window. Yona lands with a hard thump, but immediately she's running into the forested mountains that lay beyond the castle. I curl up against her, and attempt to sort out my racing thoughts.
To my surprise, I simply feel numb. Empty.
Calmed by the constant thrum of Yona's footsteps and the warmth I'm leeching from her, I fall into a fitful sleep.
When I wake up, I'm nestled between the roots of a large oak. Confusion clouds my thoughts, and it takes a few seconds of laying there before I realize why exactly I'm outside.
Oh.
Abruptly, I remember another important thing. I'm the only one in this clearing.
"Yona?!" I try to yell. My voice is ragged in my throat, so it comes out as a throaty stage-whisper.
I throw myself up, searching wildly for a trace of her. There's no sign indicating that she ever was in this clearing, or if she'll ever come back. Nothing showing which way she might've went either.
"Yona!" It comes out louder this time. My voice is shrill, and my wail is mournful.
I don't want to have a small world of none.
"Yona..." This one sounds more like a whine. I realize the futility of the situation, collapsing onto my ass and staring blankly at the tree line. After a second, the bushes rustling draws my attention, and I look over to see Yona emerging.
Before either of us could comprehend the situation fully, I had sprung up and engulfed her in my arms.
She tenses from my embrace. Thankfully, with only a second of hesitation, she's wrapping her arms around me and murmuring sweet nothings. At one point, she asks what happened, to which I snivel out, "I thought you had left."
She looks at me incredulously. "Do you really think I would leave someone as helpless as you in the woods alone?"
Any other time, I would've been quite offended, and pointed out that I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but right now it just doesn't seem important enough. "Well, no, I guess. But still! You can't leave. I need you." The admission startles me, but it's easy to see that it's true. Her earlier words echo in my head, and I truly wonder, where would I be without her? Dead, most likely.
Her eyes open wide at my words, and her mouth forms a perfect "o". Slowly, her face sinks into a reassuring and familiar smile. "I won't leave. I'm your tool, my entire life is dedicated to protecting you. I would never leave. And... You will always be the prince in my eyes. Your command is my law."
I sag against her in relief. Maybe it's not exactly what I want to hear, but it's something, and I'll take anything.
She let's go of me, and when I examine her face I find her giving me a shy smile. Adorable. "I left to get us some water, by the way. Are you thirsty?"
Her question reminds me that I am, in fact, extremely thirsty. My face gives me away, she hands me the water while her smile morphs into a smirk.
After I had a sufficient amount of water, I ask a very important question. "Where do we go from here?"
"Anywhere you're happy." She replies without hesitation. Her face looks so serious that I can feel mine heating up. She smiles at me after a moment, shakes her head, then gives a more concrete answer. "Home. My home. We're going to the sky tribe's capital city, Uso no Tochi."
Her eyes glimmer with excitement. The last time she went home was at least 3 years ago... What would it be like to be away for that long?
Her voice breaks me out of my thoughts, "Are you hungry? I could get us a bird, or some rabbit or something."
My stomach growls in answer, and she giggles, an adorable, pure sound. "Rabbit it is, then."
Soo-won stood at the edge of the castle wall, staring over the bustling capital city into the dense forest beyond. Far above the ground, the sky just barely turning from black to purple, it was quiet.
"Lord Soo-won!" A guard approaches, tearing him from his turbulent thoughts. "We have yet to find the prince, or his bodyguard! We are prepared to start sending search teams into the mountains!"
Soo-won doesn't reply for a minute, reverting to staring into the dense forest. He knows if he closes his eyes all he'll see is bright red hair and catlike blue eyes. He can almost taste her lips, if he tries hard enough. He doesn't know why he tries, but he knows he shouldn't.
"There is no need." He finally says. "They can't do anything outside of the castle, and it would only waste precious manpower." He smiles, a tired smile, and tilts his head downward. His next words come out as a sort of reverent whisper tinged with loss and regret. "Plus, it's not like you could ever catch up with Yona." Implications hung in the air, along with a depressing sense of finality.
The guard leaves just as abruptly as he came, and the soon-to-be king is left alone once again. He watches the dawning sky and ponders on colors, and the fact that red and purple is a surprisingly breathtaking combination.
"C'mon, you slowpoke!" Yona calls from her spot ahead of me. She's twisting and hopping a bit, maybe doing some kind of weird dance?
I catch up to her swiftly, and peer over the ridge where she graciously stopped to wait for me. At least she's not carrying me anymore. Now that, that was embarrassing.
As soon as I can peer over the edge, I stop, astounded at what's spread out in front of me. Before me is the single most amazing thing I have ever seen. Below us, a valley is spread out, encased on all sides by purple-tinted mountains. The craggy peaks of those jutted well into the afternoon sky, giving a sense of safety and seclusion to the lowland they stood guard over. In between the peaks, waterfalls of various shapes and sizes churned to the spiderweb of rivers that separated the valley into sections. In the middle of the secluded basin, a lake encases a castle of the utmost opalescence. It seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, blues and purples and reds all flitting across the surface.
I realize Yona's gaze upon me a bit too late to save face, but at least it reminds me to pick my jaw off the floor.
"It's pretty great, isn't it?" She says, with a wide glowing smile.
"It's... Like nothing I have ever seen." She doesn't point out that all I've ever seen was the castle and capital, and for that I'm grateful.
"C'mon, I can't wait to see papa again!" She says, excitement apparent throughout her entire demeanor. I shift uncomfortably, aware that the reason she hadn't been home in forever was me. There's no accusation in her voice though.
She was displeased with my stagnancy, and she showed it by grabbing my hand in hers and tugging me down the veritable cliff we had been on top of. Even after I had started walking of my own accord, she'd didn't let go of my hand. I knew, logically, that it was only because of how high up we were, but that didn't stop my face reddening.
I was way too focused on making sure my hand wasn't sweaty and I wasn't clenching hers too hard when a rock slipped out from under my foot.
"Uh-" I managed to gasp out, before I fell. It wasn't that far to the bottom, but it was definitely far enough to break a leg, or two. My hand was still grasped in Yona's, but she was just as surprised as me. To her credit, she didn't let go of my hand, but she also didn't have anything to brace herself with, so when I had fallen farther than she could reach, all I could do was watch helplessly as she was pulled down with me.
She gawked at me, her eyes wide open in surprise, before they squinted in a grimace of determination. Mere seconds before we hit the ground, she had curled around me, hitting the ground first and using the momentum to roll, further protecting me from any damage. There was a bit too much momentum though, because at the end of her roll, instead of getting up gracefully like I had seen her do in practice countless times before, she fell flat on her face.
Because of positioning and stuff, this also meant she was draped across me.
"Are you okay?" I ask, once my brain catches up to my body.
She coughs, a ragged, dying kind of cough, before peeling herself off the ground and me.
"I'm fine." She says stoically. She's grimacing, and I don't know if it's because she's in pain or if she's disappointed in me for falling like that. She coughs again, into her sleeve this time, and when she inspects it her grimace deepens. I examine her quizzically, but she makes a point to not show me.
She drags herself to her feet, wobbles just the tiniest bit, then offers her hand to me. "We're so close, it would be a shame to stop now."
I take her hand, but do all the work involved with me getting up. I might have imagined the thankful glance she gave me, because it was gone so quick, but I like to believe it was real.
She walks ahead of me, over a bridge that crosses a deep and clear river, and down a path of dirt. She obviously knows the way, and with every step I can see her excitement growing.
"Yona!" A voice yells from ahead of us. My bodyguard, who had been walking silently, staring at her feet, perks up and searches for the noise. No one is on the path ahead of us, nor behind us, but this realization only makes her smirk. Before I can even comprehend what was happening, she's leaping into one of the centuries-old oaks around us, nimbly switching branches with the grace of someone who's been doing this her whole life.
She tackles a boy with thick, shaggy blond hair, sending them both tumbling down onto the wide branch below. All I can hear from them is squealing. Yona's hugging the small boy and bouncing up and down with excitement, while he's trying to scramble away half-heartedly.
After a few minutes of conversation I can't hear, the boy gestures down at me. Yona follows his motion, and looks almost surprised to see me there. Thanks. I stick my tongue out and her, and she returns the favor, before replying to the young boy. She scoops him up, an action that he doesn't seem welcoming of, before gracefully jumping from tree branch to tree branch down to the ground.
She lands in front of me, and allows the boy to spring out of her arms. "This is Kuzo!" She says excitably.
Kuzo stands by her, scrutinizing me carefully. He either finds what he was looking for, or gives up, because he turns back to Yona and in an innocent voice comments, "I can see why they fired him."
I was about to question exactly what he was talking about, but Yona's face silences me. Her finger is pressed to her lips, her eyes wide and commanding. I frown at her, but keep quiet.
Luckily, the boy notices nothing amiss, and starts babbling about who Yona has to go meet first, and who missed her the most, and that now that she was back she needed to teach him some super-cool attacks.
She ruffles his hair with a smile, and promises she teach him all kinds of supercool attacks to make up for her absence. Before I even realize it, they're continuing down the path without me. I hurry to catch up, and fall into step beside them, eavesdropping as Kuzo explains everything that's happen in her absence. Yona smiles at all the right moments, laughs at pranks that have been carried out in her memory. She frowns mournfully as he explains the death of a village elder, and he promises to take her to the grave to pay her respects.
Before I know it, we're in town, and Yona's name is being called from all sides. My bodyguard flits around, holding a conversation here, tasting some food over there, playing with a group of children off to the side of the road. I follow her as best I can while she talks with a pregnant woman, before being pulled away to examine a teenaged boy's new bow he made.
It's overwhelming how many people know her, and downright amazing to see how well she handles all of them. Even more impressive is the fact that while the distractions have slowed her down quite a lot, she's kept heading in the direction of the castle situated in the middle of the sprawling city.
I lose sight of her in the crowd at one point, but before I can start freaking out, she appears again at my side. "C'mon, you slowpoke. We'll never get there if you keep dragging your feet."
"You're the one who has to stop and talk to every single person we pass." I tease.
She sticks her tongue out at me before tugging me along with her hand. Our pace doesn't improve, because she's still talking to literally everyone, but it's nicer when she's making me stay close. A group of old ladies she's talking with points out our interlocked hands, giggling and hiding their faces like schoolgirls.
Yona laughs back, but I don't miss the way her face flushes. "It's not what you think! I just can't trust him not to get lost and kidnapped."
"That was one time!" I exclaim.
She giggles and shoots back at me, "y'know, most people never get kidnapped in their entire life."
I pout at her, causing the old ladies to break into another round of giggles. "I don't know why you're denying it, Yona. You guys even fight like a married couple."
Her face reddens at that, and she throws my hand down swiftly. We leave the old ladies to their giggling. We continue to head toward the castle, and, much to my pleasure, as soon as she deems us past the old ladies vision range, Yona grabs my hand back.
"Can't have you getting kidnapped." She says as a way of explaining.
"I'm not even a kid anymore!" I argue, but grip her hand anyway.
After a few more detours to talk to people who know Yona, we've made it to the giant drawbridge that links the land on either side of the lake surrounding the castle.
The gatekeepers are two teenage boys, who wave us through as soon as they see Yona. They call after her to come and talk to them after their shift ends. She responds with an affirmative, yelled over her shoulder.
As soon as she steps over the threshold she stops, staring at the chubby, pleasant looking man in front of us. He'd obviously been waiting. News travels fast, I suppose.
"Papa.." She says, before launching herself into his arms. I stand back, awkwardly, watching father and daughter reunite for the first time in three years.
After an uncomfortably long hug, her father steps back and examines her. "It's been far too long, Yona." He tilts his head to the side, and smiles a melancholic smile. "It's nice to see that you've become everything I never wanted you to be."
Papa steps back and rakes his eyes across me. His eyes pause at the scrapes that cover me from our fall earlier, and the mud that has probably irrevocably stained the expensive kimono I wore. He even sees the blood stain that was a result of me hitting the ground wrong saving Hak earlier. I had been dutifully keeping it from the Princes sight, lest he blame himself, or freak out. After all, coughing up blood is generally something to be concerned about. His eyes also stopped at the sword strapped securely to my obi. My peace loving father tilts his head a bit, and before he closed them I saw the faintest glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes. He smiled wistfully.
"It's nice to see that you've become everything I never wanted you to be."
I smile back, because to me, that is a compliment of the highest order. He had never wanted his daughter to even pick up a weapon, much less fight for a living, but they don't call me strong-willed for nothing. I had trained in secret at first, picking up a tutor along the way, then I had simply told him I would fight, and that he couldn't stop me.
To my fathers credit, he had simply smiled a tight smile and said, "I know."
His reaction had been much stronger when Mundok appointed me as his sons bodyguard, but eventually, he accepted that too. It helped that we had been childhood friends for a few years by then. It also helped for him to see how protective I was of Hak, it resonated with some part of him. Or maybe he just felt bad about how helpless Hak was. It wasn't really his fault, he didn't want to be raised as a Prince. In fact, I found it slightly adorable.
A cough draws my attention away from my rambling thoughts, and back to the boy who was at the forefront of them. "Papa, could you get someone to prepare a room for my friend? He's had a long journey, and you and I have much to talk about."
"But-" Hak begins to argue. A servant appears and attempts to lead him away, but instead he closes the distance between us and grabs my hands in his. "Promise you'll come back?" He says, his gaze intense and pleading.
I let my face melt into a smile before I reply. "I'll always come back if you want me to."
He smirks. "Well, I guess you'll keep coming back forever." Then he lets the guard lead him away.
My mind blanks as I turn back to my father, who smiles at me knowingly.
"I'll have some tea prepared. I take it this will take a while."
I nod the affirmative, and he leads me up a winding staircase to his quarters.
After I'm done spinning the tale that had me running back home, papa asks the question that I had been avoiding. "What will you do now?"
"Survive, I suppose." I reply. We are both entirely too aware that I was avoiding the question, but thankfully, Papa has always been good at knowing when to drop it.
"I was called to a meeting of the generals." He says evenly. "I believe, after what you told me, that it will be about our approval for crowning Soo-won king."
My breath catches in my throat. It was logical that he would take Hak's rightful place now, but I hadn't given it any actual thought to come to that conclusion.
"When I go, I will accept him as the new king of Kouka."
I splutter at that. "How could you?! Even after you know what he's done to get the throne?!" I argue shrilly.
"That's exactly the reason I will accept. If he's already killed Mundok, the man he loved like family, what would stop him from killing me? From launching a full scale attack on the sky tribe? If what you tell me is true, his loyalty is shallower than a puddle. I must put the protection of my people above my sense of righteousness."
I deflate at his words. His reasons are valid, but a fire of indignation is still burning in my chest.
"Plus, it hardly seems as though Hak is ready to claim the throne. And, a king is a necessity as of right now. We have countries on either side of us just waiting for us to let our guard down. Soo-won May be a ruthless man, but he will not let the kingdom fall into disrepair."
The fire of indignation simmers down till it's just embers. Papa was always good at soothing my fiery soul. The embers still provoke me to do something, so I promise that which can't happen just yet. Eventually, I will give you back your throne, Hak. I swear.
"So, what else has happened since I last saw my darling daughter?" He asks, an obvious attempt to take my mind off of the events of the past few nights.
I humor him, regaling him with tales of pranks that the Hak-Yona-Soo-won trio had played over the years. He laughed especially hard at the time we had snuck out in the dead of night to throw soap in the grand fountain. We had stayed out till morning, using the ridiculous amount of bubbles to play a bastardized hide-n-seek. Mundok had been absolutely furious with us, but by the time he had found out, we were all situated on the roof, the one place he had never thought to look for us.
Tears prick at my eyes. I had never expected those carefree days to end, and now that they have, it's hard to figure out what's next.
"I must be at the castle by dusk tomorrow. For now, I think it would be best if you retired to your quarters. It's been a long day." Papa says, standing up. "You are welcome to stay until you figure out your next move. You are welcome to stay forever, though I know you won't."
"You do know me far too well, Papa." I reply.
"I suppose so." He replies. "Well, you know the way. No one has touched your room since you last visited."
He closes the door softly behind me while I decide what to do. I don't feel tired, instead, my mind is buzzing with questions only one person can answer. I wish I had time to talk before we left but... The evidence was clear. And incriminating. And it wasn't as though I could sneak both me and Hak into the castle, and Hak would most definitely not let me go alone.
And even then, would Soo-won even answer?
I shake my head in a vain attempt to get my thoughts in order. Okay, what needs to be done? I need to get to bed, but I can't with these racing thoughts, and I know there's no way I can drift off without making sure Hak's okay. With these stipulations in mind, I create my master plan of falling asleep.
Step 1: Get some booze.
Step 2: Make sure Haks still breathing.
Step 3: Drink myself to sleep.
Normally, I wasn't big on alcohol, but anything to slow my wild thoughts was welcome right now.
I sneakily sneak to the kitchen. My search bears no fruit for the first few minutes, until I decide that a certain rug looked mildly suspicious. I drag it to the side, uncovering a cellar.
Opening the trapdoor reveals rows upon rows of booze in various forms. Jackpot. I grab the largest one in reach and depart swiftly. I make sure to pull the rug back over the trapdoor before I embark on step 2 of my plan, heading in the vague direction I saw a servant take Hak earlier.
It soon becomes apparent that finding Hak will not be a simple task, considering the enormity of my home and the fact that there are hundreds of rooms he could currently be in. Instead of letting this discourage me, I smirk. I love a challenge.
I open the bottle of alcohol I swiped, gulping down the burning liquid before continuing in my quest. I stumble through the halls, skillfully avoiding the gaze of guards and servants alike. I sway into rooms, most empty, some occupied, but none occupied by Hak.
I take another few swigs after I climb the stairs, having exhausted all the options in the ground floor hall. I open more doors quietly, just in case their occupants are light sleepers, but I find no trace of Hak. Worry has yet to grasp me, but it's close.
Soon, I come to my door, which I open purely from curiosity. To my surprise, a head covered with messy black hair is resting on my pillow. Embarrassment floods me as I look around my room. It's filled to the brim with stuffed animals, jewelry, anything pink that I could lay my hands on, along with various children's toys. The walls were painted pink, for god sakes, with purple trimming.
I had gone through a very girly phase, and by the time I made it out the other side I was already the Princes full-time bodyguard, living at the castle. In the short trips home I had, it had never seemed worth it to change the decor.
I go over to the side of the bed. Hak is sleeping, his face slack and peaceful. It's comforting to see. The Sky tribes capital is very close to the castle, so we only had to spend one day outside, but it was a restless night, filled with Hak's endless nightmares. I had wanted to get a room at an inn, but I couldn't risk the chance that we'd be recognized, especially when we were that close to the castle. The Princes life is more important than his comfort.
Speaking of his comfort, he was looking quite snug. The only problem was the fact he was in my bed.
I was torn. On one hand I wanted to kick him out, find the servant who brought him here, and give them a piece of my mind. On the other hand, his face was so peaceful, and if I'm being honest, he looked kind of... Cute.
I was saved the hassle of deciding when his eyes opened. They were glossy and unfocused, hinting that he wasn't really awake.
"Why are you in my room?" I ask, only slurring slightly.
"Asked for it... S'cute." He says. I flush at his words.
"W-Why are you in my bed?" I ask, slightly flustered that he called my pink train wreck of a room cute.
"Took too long... S'comfy."
"Will you leave?" I ask. I know, deep down, he won't say yes, but it would be quite a bit easier.
"I-I thought you said you wouldn't leave me alone." He pouts. Adorable.
"This wasn't exactly... What I meant." My words fall on deaf ears, because once again, Prince Hak is dead to the world. "Well, this is your fault, don't blame me in the morning."
I walk to the other side of the bed, take swig of alcohol, and curl up above the covers. The alcohol did it's job, and I drift off to the soothing noise of Hak's breaths with no thoughts.
A/N: You guys get a super duper long chapter, because I got so many kind reviews! It was seriously the best, all you guy are so kind. I can't even handle it. Normally my chapters are just shy of 3,000 words but this one was 5,000! Holla! But really, Thankyou so much for reviewing, it really means a lot to us authors. t. .
