Chapter Sixteen: Work and Worry
A\n: I may be hitting writer's block, but I really don't want to leave my readers hanging. So, I'm basically powering through this writer's block for you all :). So please stick through this with me! T.T Regardless! Please enjoy, and lemme know your thoughts! Happy readings!
Two weeks. Tian had been at the fort for two weeks, and they were the longest, hardest, and most grueling weeks of her life. Never had she worked so hard.
From the time the sun was peeking over the horizon to well after it was down, they were worked to the bone. It wasn't just Tian, obviously, but she was surprised by how many people were gathered in one place.
There were soldiers who oversaw the work. Punishing those who broke the rules with various ways, the most popular being the whips they held at their hips. Though a part of Tian suspected they punished people for their own amusement. Evidence being how they cracked the whips any time someone was slowing down on work, which would scare those people back into work. Tian was just happy they hadn't used those things on her as of yet. She hated to think of the pain she would feel, and still be expected to work. It would be impossible.
There many more men, and women there though, as well. Some children as well. The children did the lighter loads, filling buckets with water, and bringing them to the mud puts, mixing the mud with their feet to turn into would bricks, and other such work. The adults did the heavier work. Putting the fortress together with logs and bricks, for example. Cutting the logs, hefting them up to the people who were placing them carefully together. There was no room for talking, or anything besides work. Even if there was, nobody had the energy.
They were hardly watered, except for those that collapsed from thirst, or when they felt those who were working had earned it. The food they were fed was stale and untasteful at best. Tian was pretty sure her original home treated their prisoners better than this place treated their slaves,and that thought alone amused the dark haired girl.
Despite all this, Tian made sure not to lose her focus. She made sure to watch with calculating eyes everyone's schedules. When the best time to escape would be. How she would be able to do it. Tian needed time to escape, and run away as far and as fast as her body would allow before she would be out of harm's way.
Just wait for an opening. Eventually they'll have to give up on me.
Tian thought to herself, watching the soldier that keeping a particular eye on her. She nodded, looking forward as she hefted up the logs she had carried over a long distance. Tian's arms quivered as the woman took her time gathering each log. Tian wanted to yell for the woman to hurry up, but a soldier already do,cracking his whip, which scared not only the woman, but Tian as she fell backwards, and into another man, knocking them both down. The logs landed onto her foot with an audible thud. Tian hissed, kicking the logs off of her. Her ankle throbbed painfully, bringing tears to her eyes.
"Drink." She was told simply, a small cup trusted in front of her face. Tian took it gratefully.
She never knew water could taste so sweet. Suddenly, she felt a surge of energy, and her pain wasn't as easily felt. It always happened when she drank the water. Tian wasn't sure what was in the water, but if it had that effect on people, no wonder they kept it to themselves. Although, after two weeks of having nothing but this water, Tian wondered why she was continuously surprised by the water. She was roughly grabbed up, and shoved forward.
"Now get back to work." Tian was told. Tian paused only a second longer, and then picked up the logs that had fallen, and hefted them back to another worker.
Jae-Ha sighed heavily, sitting on a branch as he pulled out his favorite book, scowling slightly as he began to read from it. He was jittery. His nerves frayed. He attributed it to his worry over Tian. Not just her, but now that her friend had fully integrated herself into the group, he felt mostly responsible for the young woman's safety. He swore to himself that unlike Tian, where he was unable to keep her safe, he would keep Min-Soo safe. However, that added to his nerves. Jae-Ha just didn't want the extra guilt he would feel if something happened to Min-Soo as well.
"Hey, you! How did you get up there so fast?!" Jae-Ha glanced down at Min-Soo as she looked at him with her head tilted upwards, grinning as she had her arms crossed over her chest.
After two week of being in the group, nobody had clued the woman in on who they really were, and a part of Jae-Ha wanted to tell the woman the truth, but another thought better of it.
So, when she called out to him, he tucked the book away in his shirt, and then jumped down to the ground, stopping at a few branches along the way. Min-Soo watched him, and them grinned again.
"What's going on?" Jae-Ha questioned, walking forward. Min-Soo paused a second longer, and then was by his side once again.
"Well, Yun had found a place for the night to stay. Shin-Ah went out for some firewood. While Yona and Hak…." Jae-Ha allowed his thoughts to drift off as Min-Soo continued speaking.
He wasn't thinking of anything in particular. Or if he was, Jae-Ha wasn't consciously aware of his thoughts. It was something he was plenty used to at that point. There were times when his mind drifted to places that even he didn't know where it went to. Usually during times he was stressed out. He tried to keep it well under wraps, so not to worry anyone else with his problems, but sometimes it felt like it was too easily seen through. Which made him want to hide it all the more.
Min-Soo had continued speaking as they both walked into the camp. What she was speaking about, Jae-Ha could only half guess. He was barely paying any attention to the details.
Almost as soon as they had entered the camp, Yun had looked up at them, instructing them both to help get the dinner prepared by chopping up some food, which both had agreed to do.
There was silence for a few moments as Jae-Ha chopped the meat up while Min-Soo was peeling some vegetables up. The chopping sounds were oddly comforting for him. Then suddenly, Min-Soo decided to speak in a low tone to him.
"Do you ever think about Tian?" The question took Jae-Ha off guard. What kind of question was that to ask? He looked at her with an eyebrow raised, but when she said nothing further, just continuing to slice the skin off the vegetables with a concentrated expression.
"Do you?" He questioned back, continuing to mince the meat. Min-Soo looked at him with a slightly annoyed expression.
"I asked you first." She replied in a slightly childish tone, and then contuined on her task.
"I asked you second." He replied, smirking slightly as he looked at her for a split second, and then continued with his own task. Min-Soo scoffed, shaking her head.
"What a stupid question to ask me of all people. She's my sister. Or at least what I consider a sister. She's in a dangerous position. Of course I'm worried,and think about her alot. I was just wondering if you also think of her." There was a pause, as if the blonde haired woman expected the green haired man to say something, but when he didn't she just sighed, shaking her head, and continuing on." She talked about you all alot. I know he cares deeply about you guys. So I was just hoping I wasn't the only one to worry about her." Jae-Ha glanced at Min-Soo, who was scowling as she finished her task. It took a moment for him to properly gather his thoughts.
"Trust me when I say that we all think of her,and worry about her, but Tian is strong. I know she can handle herself just fine." He answered, smirking a bit.
"Yeah. I know. "Min-Soo smiled slightly, looking up at Jae-Ha with a half grin. Jae-Ha nodded, taking his finished minced meat to Yun.
True, Tian was strong. He knew she could take care of herself, but that didn't stop him from worrying. It was such an alien feeling for hi. To be this worried about someone whose blood he wasn't automatically loyal towards, so it was a bit unnerving. He just wanted to keep Tian safe. Jae-Ha would make sure nothing like this ever occurred again.
"Move out of the way! Make way! Move! Now!" A group of soilders were barking orders angrily as they moved through the crowds.
People were quick to get out of the way,and those that weren't quick enough, were kicked out of the way. Everyone was watching through the corner of their eyes to see what was happening.
The soilders were dragging a struggling, scruffy man, who was yelling. Tian watched curiously, holding her breath as the man was thrown into a stone building a few feet from where she was working. The soilders ignored her as they entered the building after the man, and closing the door behind her. She jumped slightly s she heard a fight begin.
"Get to work! What are you standing around for?!" Tian again jumped when a loud voice called out to her. She shook her head, looking at the man.
He scowled at her, his hands tightening around the whip at his hips. Tian tensed, and was getting ready to get back to her work, but then she heard the man inside the building yell, and she dropped her work in fright.
" You stupid woman!" Tian jumped when the whip was cracked right by her ears. The recoil of the leather, hit her cheek. She yelped, holding onto the bleeding cheek. She looked at the mn, who was scowling at her, holding the whip in a way that reminded her that he was ready to crack it once again.
"They will kill you if you don't get to work." Someone told her in a whisper. Tian's cheek throbbed painfully, and it was still bleeding, but she was quick to pick up where she left off.
"What's happening?" Tian asked in a low whisper to the one had called out to her. It was a woman with short brown hair, golden eyes, and looked to be around Tian's age.
"That man they took in there was an escapee before you came here. They'll probably rough him up a bit, and then later make an example of him later. To scare the rest of us off from leaving." The woman explained. Tian nodded,biting her lips. She was NOT looking forward to that at all.
"Oh this looks good!" No matter how much Min-Soo ate Yun's cooking, she would always be amazed how well the boy could cook. She closed her eyes, taking in the spicey aroma of the food.
Yun began to hand out the food to everyone. Despite how much she had praised it just moment before, Min-Soo felt a weight descend in her stomach as she suddenly thought of Tian. Was she even eating? Was she alright? Was she safe? What the hell was going on with her?
"You should eat." Min-Soo looked over in surprise as it wasn't Jae-Ha, but rather Kija that sat next to her. Normally that position was taken by Jae-Ha, but Min-Soo didn't mind the change.
"Thanks. I know." She replied with a smile as she began eating slowly. Somehow, she felt guilty eating.
"You're worried about Tian. It's understandable. If one of them ever got into a situation like Tian, I wouldn't be able to sit still. I am a bit surprised Jae-Ha has kept his temper. I figured he'd be faster than any of us to get to her." He said, taking a few bites of his soup. Min-Soo glanced t him, and then away.
"I just some peace of mind. I want to know she's alright, and it's frustrating that I can't know. I can only guess. For all I know, she could be starving and weak." Min-Soo sighed heavily, shaking her head as she finished speaking in a hurry. Kija glanced at her, and then smiled reassuringly.
"It seems to me that Tian is the type of person who would yell at you for doing such a thing. She'd want you to keep eating, and be alright." Min-Soo glanced over at Kija, and then smiled slightly as she looked away.
"I know." Kija nodded, still looking at the blonde hair woman for a moment before looking off.
Jae-Ha sighed heavily as he ate slowly at his soup. He couldn't help but to feel slightly annoyed that it was another meal, another closing day without Tian safe and sound near him. He found himself missing her. Jae-Ha missed the way she sniffed at her food, as if expecting something to happen, only to smie as she ate the food. He missed the way she easily blushed over anything. The way the pink added color to such a pale face. The way her eyebrows scrunched together when annoyed or concentrated. The way her eyebrows arched, and the way she would hold herself in general.
Jae-Ha missed her cocky grin. He missed her smile. It brought such warmth to him. He missed her voice. It was so soft, even when angered. He missed those beautiful eyes of hers. He missed seeing them. They were so open, so honest. He didn't even have to ask what she was thinking because it was almost always written in her eyes.
Above all else, Jae-Ha missed Tian's presence. She gave him such warmth. Such comfort. She was comforting to him. Even if these feelings were strange to him, he couldn't deny what it was he was feeling, which made it worse. The fact that he felt genuine love for Tian hurt more becuase he was unable to protect her. He never liked feeling useless. He hated it. The fact someone he loved was in danger in uncertain circumstances was not a good feeling for the Green Dragon.
Not to mention Jae-Ha almost didn't want to accept it because of Yona and the others. Above all else, he was a Dragon Warrior. He had a mission to fulfill with Yona,and he felt it wasn't fair to Tian to fall for her when he still had a mission to fulfill, and he didn't want to be with someone he couldn't fully commit to one hundred percent. Eve if he knew the others would welcome someone a person of the group fell for, it was just the way he personally felt.
"You're brooding, Droopy Eyes. Something on your mind?" Jae-Ha was a bit surprised to see Hak suddenly beside him. Jae-Ha shook his head, keeping a small grin on his face.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me." Jae-Ha replied, glancing at the dark haired man next to him. Hak looked at him for a long moment, an unreadable expression in his dark blue eyes. After a moment, Hak smirked, shaking his head as he looked off.
"Riight." Jae-Ha ignored the sarcasm behind Hak's tone, and contuined looking off, no particular thought running through his mind except one…
Please. Just be safe. Wherever you are, Tian, just be safe.
Tian was so tired. Her entire body ached s if she had been trampled on by animals. All she wanted to do was lay down, and go to sleep. She could nearly keep her eyes open long enough to eat the stale bread and lukewarm soup.
"They're overworking us today because of that person that was caught trying to escape."
"Not fair to punish the rest of us for the actions of one person."
"They'll kill us all if idoits like that contuine they'll kill us all."
"What do they keep us all here for anyways?"
Tian was really trying not to hear what the people around her were murmuring. She nearly had enough engery to spend eating, much less on the people talking around her. Listening to them was giving her one giant headache.
I need rest. Sleep. I can't even eat.
Tian sighed, pushing away her food with a push of her hands as she laid her head down on the table. It was the first time she could ever remember that she had refused food of any kind.
"Hey, you better get up. They're taking us back to the barracks right now." Tian cracked an eye open to the young man who had shaken her awake. She nodded, standing up slowly. She dragged her feet until she hit her cabin, where she promptly fell asleep once in her place.