'It was a beautiful evening, the sun setting over the lake and the mountain like cliff. The soft rippling sounds of the water made the scene even more peaceful than need be.

Yuuen stretched and smiled, sinking his toes in the cool water, not a care in the world. Behind him, a soft fire from the tribe preparing for dinner. It felt warm and cold at the same time, but he felt wonderful. Somehow, he seemed happier than he had in a long time.

Soft footprints were heard and his name was said in such a gentle tone. When he turned, he smiled at the sight of his lover. And his lover smiled back.

"Yuuen, you've been sitting out here since we left. Are you ok?"

"Mmhm. I'm fine. Just enjoying the lake. Enjoying the tranquil feel."

Yuuen turned to stare at the water, noticing how the ripples were suddenly turning into waves. This was odd. The lake was never this rough, even in the winter. Yuuen tilted his head and it suddenly grew very cold. He shivered, rubbing his arms. Something was wrong...very wrong.

"You left us behind. You turned your back on your people. How could you be so selfish?"

Yuuen gasped and quickly turned, eyes widened when he saw his whole tribe engulfed in fire, Emba also standing there with a dark glare on his face. That was a face Yuuen was very afraid of. He got to his feet and ran to him, gripping his arms and tried to cry out,

"Emba, please! I did not turn my back on you. I left because-"

He was cut off when Emba smacked him across the face, making him gasp in pain and a frightened stare came upon his features. Never, in the year they had all been together, had Emba ever struck him like that. He gulped when the blaze behind Emba grew and the look on his face grew darker and angrier.

"You selfish child...you abandoned your tribe, you're family! I care not for your reasons! You made it clear we are nothing to you...so you are now nothing to us."

The blaze grew and it pushed Yuuen so far backwards that he fell into the lake...which seemed to suddenly engulf him, drowning him. He waved his arms around, trying to stay above the surface to breath. He screamed Emba's name, Yuuli's name, his father...and no one answered. He was drowning so far...he couldn't breath.

A splash of water on his face suddenly jerked him out of what he thought was reality. His eyes snapped open to see Uuka, the man in charge of his kidnapping, standing over him with what looked like a hand made pail of water.

"You were talking in your sleep again. I told you to shut your mouth when you're not awake."

Uuka walked away, leaving Yuuen shivering, naked, wet and freezing, still tied to the tree. He was asleep...that dream felt so real. Groaning, he slammed his head against the trunk of the tree and stared up at the sky. He could barley see the stars like he used to. They were in the deeper part of the forest, trees tall enough to block the sun. But then again, this was the third time they had moved to another location. This location was nice to a point, but the tree that Yuuen was tied to made him burn in the day when the sun was right on his skin and freezing in the night time since the wind was so rough. Every night, when the kidnappers would retire under a hollowed out tree for warmth, they would tie Yuuen even tighter to the tree, leaving him there until morning.

When they would wake up, they would see the young boy trying to curl himself into a ball for warmth, laughing at his discomfort.

It was around this time when Yuuen tried to count how long he was here. Weeks, as far as he knew. His mind was so weak. His body was tired. He was lacking food, water, natural warmth, and probably medical care. He would try to escape, but his moving around kept causing scratching and scars on his back from scrapping against the tree. No doubt his entire back was bloody and scarred.

A cawing made him gasp, eyes front suddenly. He knew that noise...it was time to move.

He watched as all the men gathered their tools (most of which they stole from him) and packed up. Uuka walked over to the tree and untied Yuuen from the large plant, only to tighten the rope around his neck, tie up his chaffed wrists and pull him along as they walked. Yuuen knew better than to fight back. The last time he tried to escape, they whipped him so hard he couldn't feel the back of his legs for weeks.

He was tired...so tired. He wasn't so sure how much more this would go on. He was certainly hoping that one day they would just leave him somewhere. That way, he could at least attempt to make an escape. It seemed unlikely.

"Hey, keep moving, brat!"

Uuka yanked onto the neck rope, making Yuuen gasped and move his legs faster. He heard the other men behind him laughing at him, talking about his...well, his back. How scarred it was, how bloody it was, how painful it must be to bare that look. Yuuen lowered his head, his blond hair covering his shameful face. He tried to set his mind to a happy place, but he was still scared. And besides, after than nightmare, he wasn't even sure he wanted to go to his happy place. He didn't even know if such a place existed.

They moved for hours, all day it seemed. The men had talked for hours about the next tribe to slaughter, animals to hunt, and relief to be deserved. All this while Yuuen was silent and sick to the pit of his stomach. "Relief" meaning raping him until there was nothing left of his dignity.

Phft, what dignity? He knew he was weak, he knew he was useless, yet he left the comfort of his home to make a name for himself, give himself something to be proud of. Yes, he could hunt for his own now, he felt so much better. But here he couldn't even fend off a few kidnappers. He felt even more pitiful then ever.

A month of fending for himself. He was perfect at that. He did so well, he took so many different precautions. A month of being on his own, it worked for him.

But now...an unknown amount of time with these men, only where he could assume was more than at least a month...he made an estimate of at least two. Two months of captivity and sexual slavery. It seemed he was finally at his limit. He couldn't fight how he felt anymore.

Hot tears ran down his dirty cheeks, blocked by his hair. All he could focus on was the thoughts of the life he left behind. His brother, his cocky grin after a good killing. His father, words of wisdom...and Emba...Yuuen tried to forget the dream he had where Emba had called him a selfish child and that he was nothing to the tribe...he thought of Emba's warm embrace and soft kisses to his neck and forehead at night before he went to sleep. He thought of how his love tried to take care of him when he was sick...

He knew what he wanted...it was what he wanted deep in his mind, but refused to admit it. He wanted to go home.

One of the men behind him looked at him and groaned, voicing ahead,

"Oi, Uuka. It's crying again. Make him shut up."

Uuka looked behind him and saw that the boys head was down, soft sniffling from behind his hair. And he stopped moving, with Yuuen not knowing and walking right into his back, looking up at him with a confused stare. When he came eye to eye with Uuka's pissed off stare, Yuuen suddenly grew more and more frightened as he remembered the rule Uuka had when they were traveling.

Yuuen (or as they called him 'it' or 'the toy') was not allowed to make any sounds unless it was a cough or a sneeze. Other sounds were grounds for punishment.

Uuka mentioned for the others to go on ahead and set up camp while he 'took care' of the boy. Yuuen heard them laughing as they ran ahead and quickly shut his eyes.

"What did I say would happen if you made a sound while we moved? Huh?!"

Yuuen kept his mouth shut as Uuka removed his loin cloth and untied the snake skin whip he had around his waist.

"You forgot the rules again, little boy. Chief's son or not, you're ours now. And each time you disobey, it'll only get worse and worse...on your knees."

Yuuen didn't make a move...

"I said on your knees!"

Uuka snapped the whip onto the boys knees, making him cry out and eventually fall to the dirt. He could feel blood pouring onto his knees and onto the dirt as Uuka raised the whip high, then brought it down straight on Yuuen's upper back. But he didn't make a sound. He knew for every cry he made, the beating would be worse. He had an iron grip on his bottom lip with his teeth, tightening as the whip crashed onto his upper back, shoulders and a bit on his waist.

Smirking with great pleasure, Uuka wrapped the whip around his waist and pushed Yuuen into the dirt, seeing how he held back a hiss when his open wounds connected with the ground and rocks.

"You should know by now that your attitude is unwelcome with us. You made the choice to leave a place that kept you safe and look where it's gotten you! You're nothing but a tool. You're own pride blinded you from staying where you should've stayed. You know how I know this?"

Yuuen opened his mouth, then quickly shut it and shook his head. Uuka sighed and said,

"You remind me of my brother. He left our family years ago, thinking that he could bring our tribe great pride and respect by going off on his own...we found his body near the oceans, mauled by hunters.. We tried to talk him out of leaving and when he didn't listen, he ended up getting himself killed. And I hated him for that, for being so stupid and idiotic..."

The boy said nothing and shut his eyes, tears rolling down his cheeks. Uuka was right...he was a tool, he was stupid and idiotic. He left a home that would've kept him safe.

The man got up, not feeling into violating the child. He retied his loin cloth around his waist and yanked Yuuen up by his hair, tightening the rope around his wrists and dragged him down the trail, meeting up with the rest of his crew, who didn't seem to like the look on their leaders face. He looked lost, but angry. And the aggressive way he was dragging their captive, it seemed that something happened while they were away waiting. But they decided against asking about it and continued on their way.

The rest of the day was spent traveling. And when they finally found a decent camping spot, Uuka tied Yuuen to a nearby tree, tying up his neck to a branch and his wrists against his neck rope. Yuuen didn't say a word as the men walked away to hunt for their dinner. He relaxed against the tree, no longer crying but he was horribly depressed. He felt sick down to his core. After the story Uuka had told him about how he compared Yuuen to his brother, there was nothing left in his body as far as worth went. He felt more than depressed...like he suddenly died inside.

There was no point in wanting to go home now. After hearing that story, including the nightmare he had hours before, it seemed like it was a lost cause. Yuuen sighed and leaned his head back, seeing that he could see some of the stars in the sky this time. He saw large stars, brighter than the rest, seemingly in shapes. He saw one in particular and he suddenly remembered a tale his father told him when he was really young, maybe 5 years old.

Yuni had told Yuuen a story of the purpose of the big dipper when he asked about a large pot in the sky at night. Yuni told him that it would slowly fill with water at night and when the rainy seasons came, it would empty out over the land, giving water to the areas who needed it. Yuuen would smile and ask about the smaller pot next to it and Yuni said that was filling with snow, which would fall in the winter in smaller areas.

"Oh father...I'm so sorry..."

Tears ran down Yuuen's cheeks again and he hung his head as much as he could, wanting his father to hold him, wanting to embrace him like he used to when he was younger and afraid. Yuni would always wrap the small child in his fur cloak and rock him back to sleep, whispering how much he loved his child, and that he wouldn't give up him or Yuuli for anything.

If memory made matters worse, Yuuen started thinking about how worried Yuuli must be. His brother must be angry with him for leaving, but scared for his baby brothers safety. He could remember Yuuli and those smug little comments he made when things when bad or even good on a hunting trip. And while Yuuen would always wollow in self pity about being a bad hunter, Yuuli would lift his spirits with a joke about something the other hunters did on the trip. Somehow, it always seemed to cheer him up.

"Brother..."

He leaned his head back, feeling the tears grow larger and more painful. They ran down his face, dripping down his chin. He was almost expecting Emba to gently wipe them away and kiss under his eyes...Yuuen's eyes widened and that's when it hit him hard.

Emba would always be strict, but gentle with him. When Yuuen was sad and in tears, he would pull him into his lap and wipe them away with his thumb, kissing under his ear. When they were together with the rest of the tribe, they would hold hands and Emba would lightly kiss his knuckles. And when they were alone and in their tent, it would be as if no one else was around at all. Emba would make love to him in such tender ways, touching and kissing him. Yuuen never felt so safe with something like this before. After it all, he would be so happy.

The soft, warm memories were too much for Yuuen's broken heart and mind to bare. He slammed his head hard against the tree and let out an ear piercing scream, sobbing horribly. He yanked on his bindings, cutting into his wrists and neck, his screaming growing louder and louder, his throat getting sore. He continued to bang his head on the tree and pull at his bindings. Somewhere down the line, he bit into his tongue, wanting nothing more then to silence himself for good. He wanted to die...it's all he wanted to do now.

His screaming and banging drew the attention of his captors, who growled and smacked the boy across the face numerous times to shut him up. When what didn't work, they untied him from the tree and pushed him onto the dirt, punching into his pale face. Uuka didn't say much. All he did was watch as his crew beat the boy within an inch of his young life. And when he did stop them, he knelled down and looked at Yuuen's beaten face.

His once pale face was covered in purple bruises and dark scars and cuts. There was a large bruise on both of his sides and his neck felt chaffed. He was shivering and whimpering, sobbing softly in his cut up arms. Uuka sighed and stood, popping his neck and turned to his crew, saying,

"Do with him as you please. I'm going back to find us some food."

He walked off down the trail and his men smirked, removing their loin cloths and walked towards the boy, who was still sobbing softly.

He gasped suddenly when his legs were yanked and pulled up to his ears, his ankles held by one of the other men. His arms were pinned down by the mans knees. Yuuen tried to struggle, crying out madly when he felt the mans fingers trail around his tightening entrance. He screamed when three fingers were forced inside, thrusting quickly and rough.

Yuuen pretty much blocked everything else out. He blacked out long before he felt his captors abuse him once again.


Back at the tribe, Yuni sat against a tree branch, staring out at the large lake, a pipe in his hands. The last few days were hectic, among other things...all for the same reason as usual.

Weeks turned to months...still no sign of the young boy...he was almost ready to just give up hope. There was no way Yuuen was still alive after this long period of time.

Bringing the pipe to his lips, Yuni inhaled then quickly exhaled, thinking back about what Yuuen had said days prior to his running away...

"It matters to me...I'm nothing. I'm useless to this tribe and the tribe of our allies...I can't do anything without screwing up."

"Why...would you say something like that?"

Sighing, Yuni threw his pipe into the lake, no longer needing the desire to smoke. He stood and turned to walk back to the village, walking past everyone who shot him a look of grave concern. They all saw what these last few months were doing to their chief and it was slowly hurting them all in the same way.

Yuni walked back into his tent, wanting to just curl up and sleep again, dreaming of holding his son in his arms once again, like he used to all those years ago. But when he walked in, he saw Emba sitting in there, in a bowing position and a look of sadness on his face. Without looking up, he said,

"Forgive me, chief..."

"Forgive you? Forgive you for what? You've done nothing wrong."

Emba shook his head and said,

"No, you're wrong. I have done something wrong. Terribly wrong...I broke my promise to you."

Yuni tilted his head. Promise...when did Emba ever promise him anything?

Emba sighed when he got no response and said,

"I made you a promise a year ago...that I would do anything to keep him safe. I gave up everything for the purpose of making sure he was unharmed and happy...I failed."

Yuni swore he heard a slight break in the mans voice as he spoke, which was rare being that he never saw Emba shed a tear for anyone, Yuuen included. Perhaps the boy's running away tugged at enough of Emba's heart strings that his tough interior was shedding. He walked over to the man and set his hand on his head, running his fingers through his hair, trying to calm him down.

"Emba...what happened wasn't your fault. Yuuen ran away for whatever reason he thought was rational...I know it hurts...it's hurt for what feels like years now."

The chief sat down in front of his friends son and all was silent for a little while. Yuni wanted to smoke his pipe again, but quickly remembered that he threw it in the lake. He groaned silently, rubbing his head. It killed him to even consider what he wanted to consider, but he had no choice. He couldn't risk coming up dry again for every search...

"Emba...it's time we called off the search. It has been over 4 months now...perhaps longer. We can't keep this up anymore...it pains me to say it...but I feel like I have lost hope in finding Yuuen. There's only so much area we can cover in such a short amount of time in the day...I'm sorry."

Yuni stood and turned to leave the tent, in hopes of getting another pipe from Salem, but stopped when he heard Emba let out a choked breath. He didn't turn again to face the man. He just left, not wanting to face the reality of his choice. Tears fell from his eyes and he tried so hard to be strong...

Emba left the tent a few moments after, a look of heart break on his face. With the search over, there would be nothing to take his mind off his own sadness. No doubt Yuuli knew the search was over already and if not, he was going to be distraught for a while.

Sighing, he walked over to his own tent, layed in the bedding and once again, stared at the empty space that Yuuen used to occupy. He rubbed it with his hand and felt it was so cold to the touch, as if it knew Yuuen was no longer alive and no longer coming home. He couldn't accept the fact that the boy who melted his heart was gone. No, he was out there still and he wasn't dead. There was no way he could give up that easy.

Emba then closed his eyes and tried to pull himself into sleep, but it never came. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the memory of Yuuen's sleeping form in his space, his bright hair fallen in front of his face, eyes shut and face so peaceful.

The man knew it wasn't real, but he couldn't stop himself. He reached over to move Yuuen's hair like he used to...and the vision faded away...

Tears fell onto the fur bedding as the man gripped the empty space, heart broken and afraid of the possibility that Yuuen truly was gone. Pride was no longer an issue in this tent, nor was strength or power. When they were alone in this tent, nothing else mattered but them. Emba could open himself up around Yuuen when they were alone like this. And with him gone...it seemed so much more colder...

TBC...

Preview for next chapter

Someone was screaming in the lake, that much he could make out. Emba squinted his eyes to try and see who was out there.

He took two steps in and the screaming got louder.

Another two steps in the screaming grew frantic.

A final two steps in...and he saw a flash of golden hair fly as it fell back into the lake.