Walking the Path Chosen
Chapter 7: The Woodalchi
by deadkitty1
Eventually, the time comes when the battles fade and a new king takes the throne. The only remnants of the Red Moon Crescent Army's legacy is Choi Young who sadly receives a summon to return. He assumes no expectation from the new king, other than resembling the tyrant from before. Being a commander with no soldiers, his position is immediately rectified. He's newly assigned to a band of soldiers that belongs to the king's bodyguard, the Woodalchi. Again he's put in charge of a bunch of men he could care less for. He wished the young king gave him a lower rank so he can spend the day lofting about in his dreams to meet his past. Sleeping and eating is the life he'd rather live. He would not wish for anything more, and then he gets awakened back to reality, reminding him of his palace of troubles.
The Vice Captain shakes him awake from his long three day slumber. Rumors of Choi Young have spread throughout the barracks of the Woodalchi, who has grown to fear their new mysterious captain, all except one. The Vice Captain is a witness to the killing of the Red Crescent Moon Admiral, so he understood the circumstances surrounding the young leader and how he's brought to their lowly abode. They aren't the best fighters and hardly cut out to be appointed by the nobles. Being called the king's bodyguards is a laughable label on these rookie soldiers, most too young too have seen a battle and others too old to even bother. Still duty has to come first. No matter how big the grudge or resentment their new leader has on the king, he holds the name Woodalchi in his hands and he needs to take responsibility for that.
"Ya. Ya! Get up!" yells the vice captain as he kicks the bench hard.
Choi Young stirs with a moan but soon lends an ear to the troublesome man. The urgency in his voice vibrates the nonchalant attitude out of the young captain as the vice captain addresses him with grave urgency.
"Captain! A few of our men have recently been attacked by the other guards. I know you probably don't care for the Woodalchi but understand you are our captain now. We need to uphold our honor and name. Please, talk to them."
The young captain rubs his eyes, still full of sleep, as he stretches his stiff shoulders. After a very long yawn, he turns to the former Woodalchi captain with sleepy look still planted on Young's face.
"Where?"
The vice captain points towards the general direction of the other camp and escorts him promptly to the place. The sleepyhead follows him as he walks fast out of the door, grabbing the attention of the Woodalchi men training outside. One of them stops midway of his wooden sword as Young intimidates the man to hand it over and thrusts his own sword in the arms of the fallen Woodalchi recruit. Everyone stares in alarm at the scene as they proceed to follow, eager to see what would happen. Nobody stops them. Not even the vice captain. It takes as little as a few minutes for them to reach the other barracks as the Woodalchi soldiers line up behind their new captain.
The atmosphere is very different from the barracks he was in. Not only does it stink of men and alcohol, but it's obvious these soldiers are favored more by the king and nobles with the shiny equipment and training gear these soldiers have up for show. Money blesses corrupt men. It reminds him very much of those greedy thieves he encountered so long ago.
The other soldiers jeer and taunt at the Woodalchi with obvious disdain, halting them from coming inside. Fully aware of the sizzling atmosphere, Young gets right to work.
"I am the captain of the Woodalchi, Choi Young. Who is it that attacked my men?" he hollers out loudly.
On his announcement, he earns an indignant laugh from the warriors mocking his use of authority. The perpetrators of the crime do not come out. Instead a majority of arrogant men surround the young captain, not at all afraid of the consequences he can inflict on them.
"Ya! The young captain has a lot of spunk, huh? Since you're new, we'll give you a warning. You Woodalchi are here – ," one of them taunts, stomping his foot at a yellow flower then points up to the sky, " – we are there. If your men get beaten up, it's because they deserved it. Next time, why don't you train better so you might actually have the guts to rise up instead of always facing the ground."
The captain can hear the angry remarks under the breaths of the Woodalchi ready to unleash their rage. Still in slumber land, the captain sighs at the idiot's comment.
"We are guards personally chosen by the king himself. We are on the same side. Why even fight?" Young asks simply, getting bored of the argument.
The man looks at him incredulously. The captain should understand the social structure and it exists even among the guards. The guard scoffs at the captain's naivety. All those fights must have jogged out what he learned about bowing to superiority.
"You're a weird one, aren't you? Why don't you just crawl back to your place, Woodalchi. You rats need to understand your place," the irritating man taunts.
The man reaches out to push him but Young snatches the man's arm so he can pound him on the face with the handle of the wooden sword. The taunting man has no words as he falls flat on the ground with a thump, alerting the others into the fight. Another man yells in guttural madness, waving his steel sword as Young pushes his own sword on the man's joints, rendering him useless. More and more storm at him, pulling cheap shots and more shows of strength as he easily avoids each blow to lash it back to them before they even have a chance to counter.
The Woodalchi watch in amazement as the troops get decimated by the quick movements of their legendary leader. His moves are natural and require less effort. It takes as little as ten minutes before all the cocky men whimper in pain beneath his feet. He strolls right up to one of his men gripping his sword as he takes it back and hands the wooden sword to the man's hands. Then he promptly goes back to the same spot, hoping to catch the remnants of the dream from before as he dozes off once again through the day. As he snores away, he fails to notice the flowers by the Woodalchi entrance has bloomed the minute he passed by.
As news of the new Woodalchi Captain's strength passes through the palace, other soldiers take note to think before they act. Even the Woodalchi soldiers grow to admire their captain as he's unmistakably claimed their loyalty through his several acts as a leader for them. For Choi Young it's about business and nothing more, the Woodalchi soldiers see it as being understanding and brave for him to stand up to lowly warriors like them. No one has ever stood up for them like he has. It has made the soldiers take notice and do their best to obey their captain's command.
Captain Choi Young resumes his training and teachings for the Woodalchi to become proper warriors. He's had enough playing deviant and chooses to help mold these men as strong fighting individuals, so he won't need to run to their aid every time. They're astonished by his breadth of knowledge and tactical experience as he outlines tips for them to use. The days pass on with the rest of them training each day to learn and fight. In months time, the palace security get overrun by Woodalchi ready to do their job as the other warriors, despite wearing low class armor and old fashioned weapons. The captain has worked with far worser equipment and knows that sometimes the old outwits the new.
Starting from the bottom rung of the ladder doesn't insult him. He figures with the way his life is, he'll constantly be thrown down there with none other than fate to blame for toying with his soul. He doesn't mind working with people such as the Woodalchi. They ground him and remind him of his father's words: To trust gold like a piece of stone. Living simply has always been his way. It's far better than how he's seen in the lives of the rich who don't even know how to dress themselves without a helping slave. He can imagine a dozen nobles running naked if their slaves happen to disappear, and then he's glad to know money hasn't made him stupid like them.
The Woodalchi are a rambunctious crew with more similarities to the Red Moon Crescent Army that he'd like to admit. It's true they lack in training which can be corrected with his leadership, but they share a humbleness in being human. Being bullied, mistreated, and scolded by other people of the same rank as them has opened their eyes to seeing themselves. They were once people of money who also looked down on others. Now being on the opposite side of the fence, the Woodalchi are more kinder to others no matter their rank or gender. To judge others, they look beyond a person's wealth and straight into the person's heart which is more than anything Young will ever teach. As the Woodalchi are in awe of his skills, he is in awe of their grace in the people.
Try his hardest, the young captain unconsciously become attached to the crew of men. Each single one has worked their way into his heart and they learn to understand the strong silent man that is their commander. His past and his secrets don't act as a barrier for the Woodalchi but rather they accept it as a part of their captain whom they don't need to know. While it's fun to hear them make up stories of how he slaughtered a group of men with his bare hands, the captain reminisces to his life with his pledged siblings, to a time where he was happy, but he remembers his life is here and now with these men. He thought he'd never be able to find one, let alone a bunch of people, he'd be able to fight side by side until meeting them. He may not be as happy as before but once in a while, a smiles manages to make it upon his face, even when he least expects it.
His aunt, Lady Choi, welcomes him as she becomes a great help informing him about the happenings, not only around the palace, but with the politicians and other suspicious activities outside the country. She has been keeping tabs on her nephew all this time. His long list of achievements matter little to her when she scorns his naps and sloppy attitude with other nobles. While she'll always see him as a child, it would be nice if he can prove her wrong by acting like a grown-up once in a while. It's embarrassing to even be connected by blood to this slob of captain. Nevertheless, Young uses her information to know the people inside and outside so he can better protect the king. He will not stress himself out on the problems of Goryeo, even if he does have inside information on corrupt individuals. He will only go as far as what is asked of him. That's where his limits lie so when he's summoned to meet the king face to face, he pouts the growing annoyance away. It's just what he needs, to look after a figurehead of a child. Great.