We head for the capitol in the early morning, leaving a worried looking Ik-soo behind us. The dragons, Yoon, and me back into familiar glare. Ik-soo drew Yoon in for one last hug. "Stay safe. Listen to Barram."

Yoon grumbled, but his knuckles were white, fisted in Ik-soo's robe. I looked away, chest tight. Fourteen and I was bringing him into a war zone. Younger than I was, that first time. I should leave him behind. Let him deal with the sick and the elderly.

But... Yoon wasn't me and he wouldn't thank me for babying him. Yoon didn't have fifteen years of peace behind him. Yoon didn't have any reason to think of the world as flawed. Of wars as anything but inevitable. He was an orphan faced with the threat of starvation from birth. He's stronger that me at fifteen, mentally if not physically.

Yoon was the first to take a deep breath and let go. He took a small step back, towards us and the open road. He gave Ik-soo a slightly watery smile. "Don't hurt yourself. Go to the village if you're hungry, don't try to make anything yourself. I'd like to have a house to come back too."

Ik-soo managed to smile through his worry, still not voicing the clear reluctance of this parting. He understood more than anyone, Yoon's need to help. Yoon wasn't one to sit at home, not if he had the means to go and make something better. It was the doctor in him, I think.

"I'll keep that in mind." Ik-soo waited for Yoon to turn away - then he looked at me. There was no demand in his eyes. Just a question. A simple request.

Will you keep him safe?

I glanced at Yoon and thought about finding him sitting over me some nights - bad nights, the nights after king Il and Soo-won, when all I could think about was blonde hair and dark eyes. When I thought about falling. When I woke, Yoon was always by my side, even though he was exhausted.

I looked back at the priest, met those clear eyes - and I gave the slightest nod.

I will bleed myself dry before I let a single drop of his blood hit the ground.

It was what I owed him, the very least of my debt. I wasn't going to be around long, but so long as I was, Yoon would be safe. That I could do, as long as I could.

Ik-soo looked at Yoon again, safely in the middle of the dragons and wiped his eyes. It didn't help - the man was a terminal crybaby. He bowed to me, a properly deep bow, and I could hear the roar of a mountain shaking in the background, a now familiar voice just on the edge of my understanding.

I glanced over my shoulder, even though I sensed nothing. The gods never appeared and it didn't matter. The sound of scales approaches ever closer, like ten thousand leaves shaking in the wind, or the roar of some distant ocean. I shake my head and turn back to the Dragons and Yoon.

The horses we borrowed from Tae-jun shied back from the dragons, but with a little finesse we manage to get everyone on top of one. The army was large but it sounded like they didn't care about stealth. We were behind them.

"Let's go." I said, guiding my bay mare around. "To the capitol."

The tree's foliage were on their last legs. We have no trouble following the army. Once beautiful paths were churned to mud and the red leaves were ground down under countless hooves. The fire tribe army was still ahead of us, and I could smell smoke on the wind.

I stretch out my legs, the soreness from riding all day was taking a toll on me.

It was worse for the others (expet for Yoon, who took to it like he took to everything else: that is to say, perfectly). I, at least, knew how to ride a horse, even if I didn't like it. Working with as many nobles as I have, it was learned in necesity.

Kija wobbled when he hit the ground. "I hate this." He said, voice flat. "Horses are evil."

Zeno laughed. "Don't say that! They might hear you and take offense."

Kija turned to look at him slowly. "Horses can understand me?"

"Maybe!"

"...I can't tell if you're kidding." Kija looked at the horse with a suspicious eye.

I smiled a bit. No matter how strange it felt. I was going into a war - how could I be any sort of happy?

The capitol was near and the signs of the army passing were ever present. The smile didn't last long. We came across the first village burned to the ground. Huts made of mud were trampled. The wooden roofs were burned. I carefully stepped over the corpse of some family's dog. There was blood on the muzzle. Not far away is the body of a young woman. Clothes torn. Eyes open.

Kija was quiet. His mouth was pursed, but he can't hide the stricken look in his eyes. He knelt by the body and closed her eyes with his human hand, gentle as anything.

I looked up to the sky. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ten years and a thousand miles between the two, but all armies are made up of the same thing: people.

Yoon took a step forward, but I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

Yoon hesitated. "I just want to -"

I sighed. "Yoon. We can't stop here."

From the look he gave me, dark and poisonous and full of despair, he knew it. "We're still in fire country."

"I know."

"His own people. I don't understand." Yoon looked over the blackened village.

A familiar sight. I thought of days on the battlefield, watching the people around me turn from men into monsters. I watched them burn filds and homes. I saw them do worse.

And I was too tired, to numb, to full of blood to care about it. To stop them.

And here was the reason I wanted to leave Yoon behind. He was kind, in every way that mattered. He lived and bled for the chance to help one more person. He was a doctor by choice. By nature.

He cared.

Looking out over the village, all I felt was a little tired. A little sick. It wasn't new. Like trying to wring blood out of a stone, my horror was long spent.

I ignored the small tremors that ran up his frame and turned him away from the village. "We need to keep going, Yoon."

He took a deep breath. Having something to focus on rather than the smell of smoke settled him. "Right." He wiped his face, and with one last look at the village, he turned back to the group. "Let's go." He said, expression resolute.

The four dragons exchanged glances.

"Alright." Kija said.

None of them wanted to hang around the village either.

Joo-doh kept his eyes forward, staring at the far wall of the throne room, ignoring the fire tireb solider cowering on the stone floor. It's hard to ignore the rage building up in the pit of his stomach. He wants to take a step forward, tower over the man by at least a head. Not many are tall enough to look down Joo-doh.

He doesn't. That's not his job right now. Besides - Lord Soo-won was doing a fine job all on his own.

Lord Soo-won stared at the sweating messenger, dressed in fire tribe red and gold. "I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?"

His voice is even. Polite.

It's not a request.

The man swallowed. "The most - most high general of our Fire tribe, blood of the dragon king and rightful ruler of the land and kingdoms of Kouka means to occupy his place upon the fire throne. The - the pretenders of s-sky tribe will g-give up the throne..." The man, not so arrogant under Joo-doh's dark eyes stutters and trips over his words like a new recruit.

"Lord Kan Soo-Jin." Joo-doh said, rage getting the better of him. His fingers flexed. If that fool was in front of his at this very moment, tribe laws or no, Joo-doh would take his head off.

Blood of King Hyuruu? The man was simply using an old folk tale to fuel his stupid pride. Senseless ambition. King Il just died!

Kouka can't take a civil war.

"Quite." Soo-won gestured. "Guards, arrest him."

Joo-doh doesn't bother watching one of the guards drag the pale messenger away. He turned to Soo-won. "My lord, the queen -"

He stopped.

Joo-doh was a man with a core of steel. He has served two - now three - rulers, and accomplished his duties to the best of his abilities, pushed himself so far his body broke. His heart was made of sterner stuff, iron and stone like his will.

The look in those eyes shakes something in his chest.

Lord Soo-won wasn't smiling. His hand covered his mouth, his arm propped up on the advisory seat, his hair hanging around his beautiful face like a veil of spun gold. He looked like a statue, like a thing of marble and chisel instead of a person. In that moment, Joo-doh felt something he hadn't in a very long time: uncertainty.

It was difficult to remember sometimes, that this was the son of the man who trained Joo-doh. Not now. Soo-won was mirror image of his old mentor, and his eyes were blades of glass. Those eyes watched the messenger being dragged away, his fingers tapped upon the plain wood chair the first adviser, rather than the king. Even now, with the queen away, Lord Soo-won didn't sit upon the throne - and it made no difference.

This was the face of a king.

Joo-doh held as still as possible. He didn't know what Lord Soo-won was thinking. It was a familiar, slightly bitter feeling. Jeong, damn them, left deep shoes behind them after their traitorous act. Joo-doh didn't know how to read his lord, but he did his best. This - this stillness was new. A part of him always thought that Soo-won was far too silly to lead a country. His only two settings were pouting or sparkling.

This Soo-won was a sharp edged, vast thing and Joo-doh was in range of his blades. The only thing he could do was wait.

"General. How large is the fire tribe army?" Soo-won asked, without looking.

Joo-doh clears hi throat. "Not big enough to take the castle."

"Hmm. Why is our friend so confident, then?"

That... was a good question. With General Hak and Joo-doh himself in residence, the fire tribe didn't stand a chance of winning.

But Kan Soo-Jin sent a messenger.

Why?

It was insanity. Any solider worth their salt knew that surprise attacks were a vast advantage.

Soo-won finally looked up, and a smile darted across his face. It wasn't a happy thing. "It appears our dear general has been making some friends."

"It must be Sei." Joo-doh said. "The Xing contingent has been here for months, but nothing was observed from them."

"We did start negotiating a small trade deal with Queen Myeongseong. They have no reason to attack us."

Joo-doh held his tongue.

No. Not quite nothing. It burned to know that Jeong was out there somewhere, breathing. Living and changing, while King Il received only a cremation. King Il was a good man. Joo-doh saw the body, and knew that King Il suffered before he died.

If Joo-doh got the chance, he would return the favor.

"Start making preparations." Soo-won stood up from the advisers throne. He stood at the top of the dais. The three large steps put him a little higher than Joo-doh, but it felt like more than a few inches. Soo-won was a giant, proud and tall.

Joo-doh found his head bowed all on it's own, like standing underneath a large waterfall. His heart was fast. "Preparations, sir? Will we be fighting them?"

That would... not go well. The citizens would panic. War didn't happen near Kouka Castle, not since the founding of Kouka itself. Joo-doh's insides clenched at the very thought of this place being harmed. It was a testament to the country, a living piece of history, something that never failed to shelter the heart of its people.

You did not fight in the castle.

Outsiders never seemed to understand that.

Soo-won's smile was calm. "Fighting? Goodness, no. We will be setting up a... welcoming party of sorts."

Joo-doh's head was still bowed, but he could see Soo-won's face out of the corner of his eyes. it was like looking at a still pool. Nothing resembling mercy could be found within it.

He bowed, deeper still. "By your command, my lord." Perhaps the boy had more of his father in him than Joo-doh thought.

A small, vicious part of his heart thought of that spoiled brat (Kan Soo-Jin and smiled. If he wished to style himself as King Hiryuu the second, a god among men, then it was only right that someone like Soo-won was the one to make the man come down to earth.

It was about time.

Soo-won's smile never faltered during the outline of his plan, and Joo-doh can't help but stare at his lord's face.

It's a vicious, mean plan, and it would work.

Joo-doh bows again, deeper this time. "It will be done my lord."

"Of course. I have nothing but faith in you, General. We must keep the castle safe while Her Majesty and General Hak are away."

Joo-doh agreed, but in his heart he doubted. Her majesty was clearly trying her best, but... Soo-won lived and breathed the power of a king. Why did he not take the throne? Joo-doh doubted Yona would have begrudged her cousin it. She didn't even seem to enjoy it very much.

He said nothing. It wasn't his place.

Joo-doh only had to follow Soo-won's orders. He saluted, hand over his heart and went to do so.

Kan Soo-Jin would regret this.

Fa crept along the side of the road, out of the woman's dress and into their own familiar leather and black cloth. They stayed the path, even with Jeong's strage group out of his sight. They knew their own skill - and they also knew jeong's.

They were Jeong's teacher after all. It's been...years, but people don't change. Not that much.

Fa scaled the last hill, keeping their bodies low and their mind on their work. the past was already gone. There was nothing Fa could do to change things.

There. Below them, laid out in the ruins of yet another burnt village, with the smoke of the fire disguised by the plumes drifting off the houses. Clever

They stilled, stopped well out of earshot and studied the group. Studied Jeong.

Tall, as ever. They wore a fine red overcoat, tied shut over a dark undershirt, dark pants worn loose and bracers on their arm. It was like looking back into the past - the scars were a bit different and their hair was worn back instead of in a high tail, but -

Fa's heart cracked the slightest bit.

Jeong. Their best, brightest student, who did what they thought was right. Who saved Fa. Who Fa could never repay.

Their fingers curled into the soot, the dirt, tried to find purchase within their resolve. They have to keep going. The queen - they swore. They swore.

("Take care of her." Tired eyes. Blood aginst tanned skin.

It was the last thing Jeong asked of them before Jeong fled the palace.

Fa promised.)

Fa swallowed. Jeong was right there - all they had to do was stand up and walk down the hill. Would Jeong welcome them? Would they attack?

The last time Fa and Jeong spoke laid in the back of Fa's mind like a burr he can't quite shake. The bitter eyes, the slumped shoulders, the utter grief shared by the both of them. Li backed away from the two of them, cradled the body of their king in his arms and wept with the freedom Fa loved about him most. It hurt only a little less than receiving their first punishment from failure.

Li would understand, when Fa took them to the dungeon. Showed them the body. Later, he would forgive Fa. Now - it was Fa and Jeong at the gates of the castle. Jeong's face was splattered with blood. Fa didn't know who the blood belonged to - the boy, the father, the king? Either way, it was terrible, and they fought the urge to strip it from Jeong's skin.

They can't look away.

Jeong keeps strange company.

Fa looked over the group, still and watching. Jeong's companions are cheerful young people, with a variety of hair colors. One of them wears a mask and a fur ruff. None of them can be older than twenty, except jeong and the green one. Though, there's something… strange about the cheerful one with the headband. Something about the way he moves bothered Fa.

It wasn't strange. Jeong always preferred to spend their time with children. They were a protector at heart, one more thing that made King Bai pick them to be his daughters personal guard.

The companions also made Fa's skin crawl. It's nothing on the surface - not even the white haired one's strange hand. Fa has seen stranger things in their time.

The yellow-haired one. He moved like a beast, when no one was watching. Like his skin contained something much larger and stranger than it seemed. Foreign and wild, and Fa didn't want to face him in any sort of combat.

The only one who didn't ping Fa as Dangerous was the youngest looking. Skilled hands and proud posture - the doctor, information that Fa charmed out of a villager. He was kind. He didn't fight.

Fa watched a tall figure bend to speak to Yoon.

Jeong was fond of the young doctor.

Oh, Jeong. They were headed into a war. hadn't Fa warned them about wearing their heart out on their sleeves?

In a battle - anything could happen.

People don't change that much. Jeong was always too soft to last.

Fa took one last glance at the group. The palace was a days run away.

They turned and walked into the night.

Far, far away the capital, a bird swooped down to land on a berry bush. It picked happily at the dark blue fruit. It wasn't much longer until the autumn passed and winter came with it. It was late flying to warmer weather.

A roar, like a roll of thunder across the sky, brought it to awareness. It looked up - the sky was clear.

The first horse rolled through, black lightning, stirring up the dirt beneath it. Then the march of booted feet, stepping in time.

It was the first, but it wasn't the last. Soldiers and horses crested the top of the hill and down in a wave of humanity that blacked out the land beneath it.

The bird took flight with a rush of wings like a heartbeat.

The horses continued onward, towards the capital.

i did so much editing you guys.

most people said jeong was hufflepuff, which surprised me. i always thought of them as more of a gryffindor type.

anyway, i need some inspiration music! instrumental would be best, but others are good too. do any of you know any playlists that go by mood? im gearing up early for nano in november, which includes setting up buffer chapters for this fic so i don't do another month long hiatus