Bandits- A Markjin FF

Part 43

Mark

    "Jaebum calm down." The woman's voice shook as she slowly stepped away from the angry bandit leader. All of the bandits left off to the side watched the scene with shocked faces, unsure how to feel about what has just happened. Jb had called the King his father, his father,"I will not calm down!" What were the bandits suppose to think of their leader now, as he glared down the Queen, his Mother. The only thing we could all be sure of, is that Jb had lead us into something we weren't ready for. I couldn't ignore the pride I felt as bandits one by one visibly lost some sort of trust in their leader, who I had never trusted in the first place. Their perfectly placed image of a heroic man who always had their interests at heart, broke like a punched mirror, only taking seconds to hit the ground and pierce their skin.

We had been brought here for Jb's own selfish purposes, which he so kindly forget to mention to the rest of us. Now the panic was visible in everyone's eyes as they didn't know who to turn to, or what to expect. Even though no bandit was on good terms with the King, we had all grown up in the villager where children were taught to respect him. Our first instinct was to bow when we saw the King, not threaten his wife with a blade. Jb's eyelids held back tears that one might not have noticed if it wasn't for the reflection of the moon on a simple window seal,"I'm giving you ten seconds to answer. Ten-" He took a step forward, and she moved back, legs trembling. I couldn't help but picture my own mother. Her body trembling as she told me to hide, when she stood in front of the two bandits and lied to protect me. How I couldn't save her that day, how I couldn't save anyone I cared about. That day my family was taken.

"Please, you don't have to do this, your my little boy remember?" The words did the opposite of their hopes effect. Jb's voice grew harsh as he flinched towards her in a mock attack to show intimidation,"Was I really your little boy when you threw me out? Huh?" When the Queen didn't answer he scoffed,"If you don't have an answer, my father will. Tell me where he is, only six seconds left now." She shook her head rapidly,"How can I tell you where he is when I woke up to an empty bed?"

  "Five."

The woman now began to panic, not that she wasn't panicking before, but now it was way more visible,"Jaebum, you wouldn't hurt me would you?" I could tell she was trying to reassure herself, and stall, all at once. The tactic almost worked as he paused mid step, head tilted to the side in thought,"If you still trust I wouldn't kill my mother, get over it. I'm not here for a reunion, I'm her to find my father." His jaw clenched, eyes flashing with anger and hidden sadness,"You've run out of time." Moving forward in a lunge Jb dragged his blade across his mother neck in a quick death. I found myself moving my eyes away from the sight, feeling that it wasn't my place to watch. The sound of the weight of a body hitting the wooden floor was followed by a blade being put back into Jb's belt, a noise I was familiar with.

The smallest gesture of a comforting hand on my shoulder made me turn to see BamBam's own eyes cast downward, all hope draining from him right in front of me. If only I could say something to him, make his eyes light up again with that childish glow that made everyone in the room smile. I hadn't seen that light in a long time. The wood creaked under Jb's foot,"Come on!" He snapped,"We are searching the castle until we find this damn man!" BamBam and I turned away from each other to follow the crowd, until,"Mark, get over here." There was no room for question in his tone, and no one was really in the mood to say no to Jb, that included me.

Deciding not to take my time I jog over to Jb where he stood in the doorway of the Queen and Kings- now just the King's- bedroom. The only emotion now on his face was the frustration in the way his eyelids slightly dipped down, or how he refused to make eye contact with anyone, instead fixing his gaze on his belt where his weapon was placed,"We will check the combat room first. Maybe he was training knights overtime-" Jb's eyes glazed over with sullen,"-he used to do that all the time." Shaking off the feeling we exchanged an all business nod as Taehyung and Yeri left their post to join the group. Both unaware of what had just happened inside. Taehyung took a quick glance at Jb with his eyes practically shining in admiration. I was slightly glad he hadn't been in the room, the poor boy would be crushed.

We walked in two lines, boldly sticking out with our dirty, ash filled appearances contrasting to the bright sparkly clean castle. The shine on the walls almost sickened me, I had never seen anything so clean in my life, and loathed the Royalty for keeping it to themselves. On second thought, why had the King or Queen never stepped in to save the village from starvation, or the bandits? My eyes unconsciously went to Jb. Is it because their son was one of them? I thought as we walked side by side, the man obviously knowing where he was going without a second thought. This had been where Jb lived during his childhood, you never really do forget your first home. Even if it's just a blur of memories, it still holds dear to you in some way.

"We are here." Jb shout-whispered, the message being passed down the line. Stopping in front of a door not quite as fancy as the first one he gave us no time to prepare, ramming it open instead. The bandits all stumbled in, Jb coming to a stop right in front of me. I hit his back with my body, eyebrows narrowed, wondering why he had stopped so suddenly. Only seconds later I felt his hand go to his belt, and looked around him to see four people standing before us. All four of them stood tall, bodies fully covered- except for the mouth- with silver amor, something only knights of the castle had. Then I remembered Jb had mentioned we were going to the combat room, of course armed shoulders would be here. Jb ignored the knights completely and scanned the room. He is looking for the King. When Jb came up empty handed he shook his head,"Taehyung, grab the three closest people to you and fight these-" He motioned to the startled knights who know had their weapons out and ready,"-royalty puppets."

  At the insult the four charged in sync, Jb and I moved out of the way, revealing where the four bandits were now standing, all ready with their own weapons. Though the blades were unevenly matched, I had a feeling the rage the bandits held from all the pain of abandonment would easily over power the knights. Turning around without a care Jb motioned for the rest of us to follow him,"I have a few more places he could be."

  We followed helplessly, lost in a building bigger than the entire village combined, we were seeing things for the first time and it was overwhelming. Jb wasn't bothered in the slightest. We opened a door to an open room, filled with grey counters, made of marble. The only time I had seen marble was when a servant had come to pick up a marble frame for the King. My eyes got caught on the exact same frame hanging above a cabinet. A picture had been placed inside, and Jb pushed us out before I could catch sight of who the figure inside it was.

Walking down hallway after hallway, all covered in red carpet, we passed a large window that looked over a forest. It was the only time Jb had actually stopped to stare at something, we all did. The interesting thing about this forest was that a quarter of it was gone. Almost as if someone had cut out a circle in the middle and replaced it with dead grass and black specks. Pieces of broken down wood made most of us gasp, and all of us glare. It wasn't trees that laid on the ground, it was pieces of houses. We could all make out the path that lead to the arena, and the two neighborhoods all of us were familiar with. The King had a window looking over the bandit camp. He had known where we were this whole time, able to attack whenever he pleased,"That damn man!" Jb's voice echoed, bouncing off the walls. And then we were running, running down hallways and bursting into rooms with all of us now on the same page. We had to find the King, even if it was to get him to just explain, we needed something.

  It was just another door, similar to all the rest of them, but when Jb opened it, and the golden robe caught the light, we knew we had found him. The King himself sat casually in his throne, only slightly startled when we entered. Two knights stood on either side of him, there to guard their King from people like us. The 'bad guys'. The King hummed, his features almost identical to Jb's,"So this is how my son returns?"

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Imma keep this short and simple cause IM TIRED AF

  Hope you guys had an awesome week! Mine was hectic but we survived

  The chapters left for this are numbered, but never fear, I have more stories on the way

Also, if you haven't already, go check out my markjin one shot book! I'll be posting a new on shot this week(if I can find time, which I'm really trying to do)

Random question of the week: favorite fast food restaurant?

Mine is Taco Bell(we have nothing out here. I love Taco Time from Washington and In-n-out which we don't have 😭)

BTW I JUST WATCHED KIMI NO NAWA AND I LEGIT ALMOST CRIED ITS SO GOOD