A Twist In Time?

CHAPTER 15

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By the time Tae-mi, Yun-ho and Ji-han reached the village, it was near sunset. Tae-mi looked up and saw the sky, admiring the beauty of it. She couldn't help but smile a little at the way the gradients all mixed so flawlessly, enhancing the sunset. The clouds all formed irregular yet elegant patterns, the color varying from a deep red to light pink to saffron. Although she couldn't see the sun setting because of the tall trees, she did see the rays shimmer the sun's last light for the day onto the tree-tops, that looked like a lighter shade of green than the bottom part of the crown of the tree.  It was sight so simple yet so mesmerizing and aesthetic.

She snapped out of her daze when the horses came to a stop. Ji-han got off, making Yun-ho and Tae-mi get off too. He looked around, scanning the place for any guards or people. Once he got the green signal he turned to Yun-ho and Tae-mi, saying in a serious tone.

"We go on foot now, it's just a few minutes walk don't worry. The horses can stay here, I doubt anyone can find them here."

The two nodded, grabbing their stuff and set foot, making their way through the bushes, occasionally stopping when they saw a few guards. They hid behind trees or the bushes. 

After a three minute walk, Ji-han stopped them and pointed to three guards chatting. Probably enjoying their break. He whispered to the other two, so low they almost couldn't hear him.

"I see three now, no fighting, you both find Eun-cha using the back route, I'll go into town. Sound good?"

Tae-mi scoffed a little and asked jokingly,

"You going for shopping?"

Ji-han smirked and made himself invisible. Yun-ho looked at Tae-mi,

"Maybe I am"

They heard the soft rustle of leaves as Ji-han walked away. Tae-mi turned to Yun-ho who looked at her too.

"Alright he said to use the back route, but I don't know the way so let's just follow the guards, I see them leaving"

Yun-ho whispered, keeping an eye on the guards as he got his weapons ready and tucked. Tae-mi nodded, crawling along the bush to see if anybody was there. Surprisingly there were not many guards or people. They both quietly followed the three guards from the bushes, occasionally stopping when their hands got tired from the crawling.

Ji-han on the other hand, had no worries about getting caught. In fact, that was the least of his worries. He scanned every man, woman and kid he saw, sensing for anything fishy. No-one could be trusted from this village. Not even toddlers. He kept walking for a few minutes until he heard the name. Him-chan. He quickly found the owner of the voice and saw a woman around his age. She seemed to hand the person she was talking to a weapon. If Ji-han were someone else, he would've been fooled, but he knew too well. He quickly found the man walking away from the town commotions, into the housing communities until he heard something which made his heart pound. The man seemed to have sped up, slightly jogging to an opening far away from the main village. There Ji-han saw it. He saw what he dreaded and froze.

--BACK WITH YUN-HO AND TAE-MI

The two crept along the bushes until the three guards stopped. They sat in confusion. It faded once they saw around six more guards show up and turn around, all looking in the direction where Tae-mi and Yun-ho sat. At first they thought they had been spotted but then the soldiers swiftly ran past their hiding spot. Tae-mi let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She turned to Yun-ho and whispered,

"I thought they were gonna come at us."

Yun-ho nodded, peeking to see if the coast was clear. It was dark at the time, so it wasn't that easy to make out, but once he was positive no one was there, he got out of the bushes followed by Tae-mi. They stopped dead in their tracks when they heard a scream. So many emotions hidden in one scream. Agony, pain, frustration and most of all, anger..

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