Chapter Five: Just Breathing

Hae held out the stick. Impaled upon it was a fish, shriveled from heat. She had gutted it, but didn't bother with descaling it. It was too much of a hassle. "Aren't you going to eat, your highness?" The campfire casted its warm glow on his haggard face. There came no response, no acknowledgement, and Hae drew her arm back. Perhaps it didn't look appetizing enough… "If you don't want fish, I can catch a bird."

But those purple eyes stayed on the fire, which danced in the hazy, glassy depths. Hae looked there, too, resigned in her continuous failures, failures to protect, to help, though she would never stop trying to do either of those things. She poked another stick at the fire, the cracks and pops blending with the susurration of the leaves. "You should eat a little, at least. The mountain paths from here on out will be much more difficult. I don't know how much food I'll be able to find. Here we know there's fish."

Her only answer was a log falling and releasing sparks into the air.

Fire out and fish stored for later, Hae led Yonin down to the river. Yonin didn't seem to care, but he was still caked in mud and blood and dried sweat. His hair hung limply about his shoulders. Hae thought it would do him some good to bathe. Every couple of steps, she made sure to look back. The light of dawn hadn't quite reached through the canopy, but anyone could tell that wasn't why Yonin walked so slowly. In the dim, he shuffled like some despondent, sorrowful spirit to be burned away by the rays of the sun.

'He's getting weaker and weaker.'

The gentle babbles of the stream became clearer. Fortunately, there was a pond, about waist-deep to someone Yonin's size. Hae turned away and listened to the prince's mechanical movements, like a stiff marionette, as he undressed. Splashes, wading, more splashes, and Hae turned to snatch up the prince's clothes and clean them off elsewhere.

'The weakness isn't just physical, either. Time's passing, but he still can't face the reality of the situation.' There were relatively few spots of blood on his clothing, and Hae's jaw clenched when she realized the blood wasn't Yonin's. 'Her majesty's death, Wan-soo's betrayal-'

"Aah!"

The instant she heard the cry, she bolted up, an undergarment clenched in a white-knuckled grip, and rushed to Yonin. Shivering, wet red hair plastered to his skin, Yonin sat naked on the rocky shore. All over his long pale legs were thick, glistening black lines.

"W-What are these things?" he breathed.

Hae sighed a breath of relief. "They're leeches." She knelt down. "Hold still." Unflinching, she began picking them off and flicking them back into the water."Take that!" She moved onto the next slender leg, which Yonin unconsciously shifted for better access. "They suck blood. You can find them in swamps and ponds like these."

"... blood…?"

"Don't worry, they can't hurt you." She tilted her face back up to Yonin's.

Water glistened on his pristine skin, an arm wrapped around his torso and the other barring his more… intimate parts from view. Eyes wide, Hae bolted up and turned away. "I'll leave your clothes here when I'm finished." She set the long cloth on a rock, and Yonin took it to dry himself off.

The image of that glistening flesh wasn't banished as easily as Hae hoped. 'Crap. Don't get any funny ideas,' she snarled to herself. Intrusive thoughts like that had no place in this situation because 'From now on, I have to take him everywhere I go. And, normally, he would've swatted me upside the head.' His listless expression stared back at her every time she blinked. 'How long is he going to be in this condition? He doesn't eat. He goes wherever I put him. He's like a doll.'

"Are you happy now?" she growled to the darkness. 'The years we spent together, the prince who adored you - you destroyed it all.' Her lips twisted into a snarl. 'Are you satisfied, Wan-soo?' Rage quaked through her every nerve and tendon, and she breathed deeply, each inhale slowly piecing her composure back together. She gathered up the rest of Yonin's clothes. Something clattered from the folds and onto the stones.

A small gilded band, tiny emeralds and pale wood.

Hae knelt down and picked it up. The gold felt cold and harsh and dead in her hand. 'This is the bun pin Wan-soo gave him at the party.' It seemed like a lifetime ago. Smiling and laughing and talking. 'He kept it.' Her fingers tightened around the pin.

Blue eyes glimmered coldly in the waxing light.

The morning sun reflected brilliantly off of his hair, but his shoulders were still slightly hunched and limp.

"Prince Yonin," she began. He looked over his shoulder. The pale traveling cloak dangled from her fingers. "We have to hurry. We need to cover more ground before dark."

Winding through the woods, tugging him by his wrist, occasionally foraging for edible plants and mushrooms. The sun ascended and descended, and Yonin just barely noticed his not noticing. Though the forest remained, the terrain became more rocky, and when they came upon a small cave yawning into a hillside, Hae halted.

"Let's stop here for the night."

He blankly stared at a centipede scurrying over a rock, legs undulating and antennae flicking back and forth. Hae followed his gaze. "Don't worry, the bugs are harmless." When Yonin still didn't sit, she continued, "And I got rid of all the leeches back at the pond."

The pond.

Yonin's eyes widened, and he grabbed beneath his cloak. His fingers only closed around fabric. He sharply inhaled, hands frantically patting his kimono down. It was gone.

"What's the matter?" Hae asked quietly, blue eyes sharp, "Did you lose something?"

Purple eyes blinked at her, red hair swaying as he shook his head.

She turned away to start the fire. Eventually, the pair sat in silence, save for the rustling of leaves in the wind and the crackling of the flames.

'I don't need that thing.'

Hae offered him some berries, but he distractedly waved them off.

'I don't need it at all.'

"Yonin… I think your hair is wonderful… Such a beautiful red… like the sky at dawn…"

But… It was proof. Proof of… something. That Wan-soo wasn't entirely evil. Or was entirely evil, deceptive, deceitful. Or wasn't. Yonin needed that proof, whatever it was proving. He looked over his shoulder to stare into the foreboding forest of darkness.

Maybe it got lost on the way.

He stood and began to take a step out, out into the night, when a small, calloused hand wrapped around his and tugged him back.

"Where are you going?" Hae asked as the prince stumbled back, their faces coming close together so she could scrutinize him.

Yonin righted himself and blinked down at her half-crouched form. "O-Oh… um…" Those blue eyes seemed purple, too, in the red firelight. "I-I was just…" He flushed and sweated nervously. He couldn't tell her.

She mistook the cause of the flighty anxiety. 'Oh. He must need to relieve himself.' She released his hand. "Hurry back, okay?"

He nodded curtly and rushed into the dark. Only starlight guided him as he frantically retraced their steps. It had to be out there, somewhere. Numerous times he stumbled to his knees, and each time he came up he was that much more panicked. Branches and leaves rustled, but he only saw Wan-soo's beaming face. Sticks and twigs caught at his clothes and hair and skin, but he only saw his mother's blood unfurling on the floor. His toes caught on a root, and he collapsed to his knees. Pale fingers clutched at red hair to try and keep those haunting images out. A bush crunched beneath his foot as he staggered upright. When he was still, catching his breath, the leaves still stirred.

Then, he heard a hiss.

His heart stopped in his chest as he looked over his shoulder.

There, waxy scales dully reflecting the moonlight, coiled a snake. Yonin stood, frozen in fear, as the head slowly rose up.

"The woman you knew…"

It hissed in warning, coils tensing and poising.

"... never existed."

Trembles raced down his spine, but he still couldn't get his locked muscles to move.

"If anyone gets in my way…"

The serpent lunged, fangs flashing.

"... I will destroy them."

"No!" Yonin cried.

Arms wrapped around him, yanked him back. It was Hae. Yonin ended up on his knees, Hae crouching above him. Beyond her shoulder, the snake writhed in its death throes, the blade of Hae's polearm skewering its head to the ground.

"You were gone for so long," Hae began, countenance reproachful as her panic faded, "Why did you come all this way?" When Yonin didn't immediately reply, her hands latched onto his shoulders, lifted him slightly to her face, and shook him with barely restrained anger. "That snake was venomous. And it's dark - you could slip and fall! I can't believe you came here alone! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

They both suddenly paused, Yonin shaking before they looked down at the ground. Dozens of slithering, scaly bodies undulated around their feet. "Not good... " Hae muttered, "They must nest around here." Where they huddled for warmth during chilly mountain nights.

A gasp tore through Yonin's lungs as she snatched him up into her arms damsel-style. Even though Yonin was taller than her, he had also lost far too much weight in the past couple days. He was light enough that she could still grab her quandao in one hand under him.

One step, two, three, and a sizzling hiss before she flinched, staggering a little. "Ow!" Sweat trickled down her jaw, her teeth bared, but the corner of her lip twinged into a stiff smile. "Tch! Fine." She kept running, dashing through the forest. "Just stay quiet and hold on tight, Prince. Think of me as a tool. With her majesty gone, you are my master now." The speed at which they were rushing between the trees actually made Yonin a little dizzy (though most of it was because he'd ate little-to-nothing since they left the palace), so he kept his eyes locked onto Hae's face. "Use me however you have to in order to survive." A grimace of a smirk. "That's why I'm here."

It didn't take long for them to reach the cave, even though Hae insisted on carrying the prince the whole way back. Once there,she quickly set him down. She hurriedly foraged for wild plants, and After applying the salve, she wordlessly wrapped with wound with a strip of cloth.

Without her boot on, Yonin thought her foot looked so small, soft, and slender. Frail, even. The grimaces and hissed breaths and sweaty face didn't help, though. Dismay and worry, so much worry, coursed through him.

Hae, sensing eyes boring into her temple, turned to face him. That distraught expression made her lip twitch. "I'm fine," she murmured, gingerly scooting back to lean against the rocky wall of the cave, "I know how to treat venomous snakebites." A hand delved into her pocket. "Is this what you were looking for, Prince?" She hold out the bun pin.

Stunned, Yonin reached out, hand trembling. Fragile fingers cradled it, like some ephemeral, dying flower. Hae regarded the scene quietly for a few moments before saying grimly, "I'll never forgive Wan-soo." Wide purple eyes flicked up to her, pale hands falling onto fabric. "But the important thing is that I want you to live."

She bent one knee up to prop her wrist on. 'Looking for that hairpin was the first was the first thing you did of your own volition since we entered the mountains. Right now, I need something to hold you together. Even if it's a feeling that you can't let go.'

The morning light streaming onto his face woke Yonin. Slowly, he lifted himself from where he had fallen asleep on Hae's shoulder. Outside the cave, the wind whispered through the trees and birds hopped from branch to branch. Blearily, blinking sleep from his eyes, he glanced down at Hae's leg.

Her robes and trousers beneath had ridden up a little, baring the cloth wrapped around. Unconsciously, Yonin reached out, pale hand unfolding sleepily as he went to touch it.

"I'm fine."

Her voice made him lurch back and wonder how long she had been awake with her eyes closed.

Blue eyes smirked from behind the black hair dangling in her face. "Do you think some lousy snake is gonna do in General Hae?" She shifted forward and stood, no sign of being injured. But Yonin's eyes still followed her with concern. "Now that you're up, let's get moving."

More clumsily, Yonin stood as well. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Oh… um… Hae?"

She was gathering up the remainders of their meager supplies. "Hmm?"

"Why are we going into the mountains?" Yonin had wondered all along, but didn't really have the energy to ask before. "We should find a village. We need food and medicine." Medicine for that leg wound Hae was pretending not to have.

She shook her head and picked up her quandao. "Too dangerous. Even if villagers don't know what we look like, soldiers from the palace could be anywhere. And Wan-soo may have posted sketches of our faces."

Red brows furrowed a little. "Then… where are we headed?"

"The only place we can rely on now; Fuuga, the capital city of the Wind Tribe. My hometown."

CHAPTER FIVE END

"With this, we have finished Vol. 1 of the manga. I hope you guys are having as much fun as I am with this," Draconicmaw says as she thumbs through Vol. 2. "We have lots of fun stuff ahead of us." She chuckles darkly. "So much fun stuff..."