treat me better

a slight lapse of judgement

Seonghwa realized he might have made a slight lapse of judgement as he woke up to the sound of people jeering at him. He was supposed to spy on the enemy's warcamp from a safe distance, but his curiosity had driven him to the outskirts of the camp where he thought he was safely hidden by a large bush. He barely had time to react when he heard footsteps behind him and was discovered by a guard. The man had overpowered him too easily with his much larger frame and pressed two fingers to the back of his neck for a rather involuntary nap. The last thing seonghwa saw was the man's sword still being in it's sheath, as he clearly didn't presume the pink haired scout was much of a threat. He'd been carried into the camp and was now stuck in wooden cage that he couldn't fully stand up in. Seonghwa realized with a start it must've belonged to the guard dogs as he saw some bones and a water bowl in the corner. His fear was quickly taken over by annoyance as some men next to the cage tried to persuade him to drink from the bowl. He decided to use the opportunity to his advantage and took in the layout of the camp while ignoring the brutish men in front of him. The camp was located in a large clearing surrounded by pine trees. He couldn't see any woman and children and the men all seemed to be covered in large pelts and furs to protect them from the biting cold. Their tents were similarly covered and he counted about twenty men in his near vicinity. The scout decided there must be about a hundred men in the camp and he was sure to relay all this information to general Choi once he found his way back home. Of course he hadn't figured out how to get out of the camp yet but the pink haired man assumed that it should not be too hard to trick this group of rogues. The cage was set on a wagon the had been left in the middle of the camp. Right next to the cage people were cooking meat and seonghwa realized that some time must have passed since he was dragged into the camp. His stomach protested loudly and he decided to ask his captors for some food. The men laughed loudly at his request and as he was about to give up and ignore them again the man closest to him yanked his arm through the bars. Seonghwa stumbling off balance and hit his face against the wood. He winced as the man smiled meanly at him and said, "no one gets to eat before the general, especially not the dog." As the the man let him go, Seonghwa quickly sat back while rubbing the side of his face. There would probably be a bruise there, he thought to himself. The men finally went back to their tents, leaving the scout to huddle up in the cage trying to shield himself from the biting cold. As he sat there in self pity he did realize that they had overlooked one thing. It seemed that this whole camp was occupied by alphas and betas. And even though it was not uncommon for omegas to join the army, they probably did not recognize him as one. So he decided sourly that these brutes probably assumed he was a beta and left him relatively alone because of it. Seonghwa wasn't sure if that would stay the case if his scent blocker wore off though, so he quickly sprung back into action as he tried to find weak spots in the wooden bars. He tried to twist them sideways and kept a weary eye out for onlookers. He'd almost tristed a bar loose when he suddenly heard someone giggling. He turned around and came face to face to a pare of twinkling eyes and a bright smile. He was a little shocked that a man who could hardly reach his eyeline over the wwagonwas a part of this army. He had silver trinkets braided into his raven hair and a delicate upturned nose that almost made him look like an elf. "What are you doing?" The man asked. "None of your business." Seonghwa answered while trying to put the bar back in place. He noticed people joining the small man as he unfortunately attracted a crowd again. "Well I came outside to have some meat, but it seems that my men have caught me a couple pounds of fiesty omega." The man retorted while still smiling. Whoever had joined either laughed or looked at the scout with renewed interest. The pink haired man suddenly realized his mistake and recognized the man in front of him. He'd dyed his hair and changed his accessories but this was without a doubt general Kim Hongjoong. They had met before during peace negotiations but seonghwa assumed the enemy general would not find him important enough to recognize him. Especially not his second gender. Hongjoong turned to the man next to him and said, "I'm going to eat something, bring the scout to my tent. Unharmed." He said the last part while pointing to seonghwa, who was sporting a painful looking bruise on his face. As the general left to eat his meal, most people followed after him. Three men stayed behind to fulfill the general's request. They quickly realized it wouldn't be an easy one as the scout fought them every step of the way. The minute he was out of the cage he tried to sprint out of the camp. They had anticipated this and quickly grabbed him by his nape as if he was a lost kitten and managed to sling him over one of the men's shoulders. He tired himself out soon enough as he tried to kick and punch the man who seemed to be made out of stone and only adjusted him every so often. The other two men simply laughed at him as he eventually gave up with a petulant last punch. When they entered hongjoongs tent, the omega suddenly got hit by the smell of cinnamon and firewood. He felt his head swim as the soldier placed him against a tent pole and held him in place as the other bound his hands and feet. Seonghwa felt drowsy as the man finished binding his hands to the pole and ruffled his hair as a goodbye. He made an effort to bite the hand but he was too slow and the soldiers simply laughed again as the left the tent. The tent was very warm and seonghwa noticed the pelts lining where Hongjoong probably slept. There were maps and journals all over the place and the scout felt an incessant need to sort them while pulling on his bindings. He felt himself getting drowsy as he waited for the general, his head leaning against the tent pole. The only thing keeping him awake was his hunger and the discomfort of not knowing what the general wanted from him. Eventually he closed his eyes and felt sleep coming over him.