Cold Blooded

Traitors

Saya tried to twist her hands free from her bonds, as Chongyun jumped from his heap on the ground. He went straight for Fangqi and knocked the large man onto his back. Chongyun hit Fangqi right in the nose and then turned to find his next target. There was a desperate power in his eyes. He jumped for the man holding Saya's wrists and Saya couldn't help flinching back from him.

Just as Chongyun was about to reach the man, a heavy net of chains pushed him back into the snow. He began to twist and claw at the chains, but they only got more tangled in his flailing limbs.

"Hm," Fangqi whipped away a bit of blood that had begun to pour from his nose. He lifted his heavy foot and crushed Chongyun's side with it. Chongyun cried out like a wounded animal and the sound broke Saya's heart as his desperate flails began to weaken and slow. Fangqi only leaned harder on his foot. "So this is the fruit of five years of work. A boy, who can barely stand?"

"Well, now." Pulcinella pulled Fangqi of Chongyun with his deceivingly gentle hand. "The monster is in a passive state, and I am sure that Tartaglia drugged the boy an hour or so ago."

Saya screamed into her gag and looked over at the traitorous man. "Drink some water." That's what he had said as he passed back the skin of water back to them earlier this night. He had drugged the cursed thing and Saya had been so naive she didn't even check. That traitor. How could he?

Saya tried to see a glimpse of regret on the man's face, but there was nothing. He was a mask of disinterest and was that disgust?! How dare this man look disgusted at Chongyun?! He was the real monster here, not the boy lying on the floor!

"Now," Pulcinella clapped his hands together. "Let's have a real show." The old man reached into his coat and pulled out a strange mix between a syringe and a gun.

Chongyun's eyes snapped open the moment that he saw it. The trapped, broken boy was filled with fear, but the drugs had taken their toll and he could barely fight back.

Pulcinella inserted the long needle into Chongyun's neck and laughed as he slowly pulled the trigger.

Chongyun howled and twisted in pain. He clawed at nothing and at himself. Then his eyes began to droop and his arms fell to the cold snow ground. He gave one last panicked cry and his eyes closed. His body froze.

Saya began to scream and kick. Did they just kill him? She threw herself against her captor and tried to reach for Chongyun, but it was pointless. She was trapped. She looked over at that man with desperation in her eyes, but he was frozen and staring at Chongyun. His reddish hair falling into his face.

Chongyn's body slowly began to jerk and tremble. He wasn't dead. Not yet. He managed to roll onto his hands and knees and his body began to surge. Just as it had that first day during that twisted doctors presentation. Chongyun's body practically doubled in size and the skirmishers rushed to hold Chongyun down.

Long dark claws rose out and covered Chongyun's fingers. The darkness snaked up Chongyun's hands and arms like veins of shadows and disappeared beneath the edge of his shirt. He shook his head once, then again. He turned towards Pulcinella and towered over the old man.

Chongyun opened his eyes and they were no longer the soft blue that Saya remembered. She had seen this boy laugh and cry with those eyes. He was a kind person even after everything and you could see it in those eyes, but that's not what stared out of him anymore. Even the maniacal joy from when he had previously turned into the beast was better than this. Now, Chongyun's eyes were nothing but a deep, endless black.

There was no emotion, but hunger. He licked his sharp teeth and lunged forward towards Pulcinella. Chongyun growled when he missed and the chains restrained him. He tried to throw them off, but he was held down tight. He was now easily taller and stronger than anyone here now, but it was like this Something in him wanted to be taken back. It wanted to go back to those cursed towers. Back to the broken doctor. Back to the supplies of karma.

Realization nearly crushed Saya. Chongyun obviously wasn't in control, but neither was 'Yin.' Something else was. Something smarter. Something that knew what it needed to get stronger.

The Skirmishers pulled Saya and Chongyun into the trees and to where they had somehow managed to hide an entire wagon. Atop the wagon was a large age that could hold a raging bear. A cage that could hold Chongyun.

They threw Chongyun in and even though he clawed at the metal bars and threw himself against the sides, Saya could tell that Something was holding back. He would be unstoppable right now. He could rip through those bars if he wanted, but that's not what he wanted.

Saya froze as she watched Chongyun and didn't realize until it was too late that there was someone behind her. That man pulled off Saya's gag and pulled a heavy cloth sack over her head. He held her by the shoulders and his grip didn't allow her to push away.

"I need you to trust me," he whispered in her ear. "I know I totally don't deserve your trust, but please. Just trust me."

"I hope you fall into the depths of the abyss, you traitor!" His hands freeze and fall away. Someone else grabbed her and began to pull her towards what is probably the same wagon as the one Chongyun was locked up in. Saya couldn't do much, but she could scream. She let loose every curse she had ever learned during her time as a sailor until her throat was hoarse and she slowly succumbed to the cold embrace of sleep.