Arrows, Swords and a Little Bit of Magic ( Rated M )

Black and White

The thick canopy revealed only a few slivers of the dark sky above them and even fewer stars. The fire Namjoon had built using the flint he got from the Moon village's market burned in hues of bright yellows and oranges, the flames crackling and hissing in the quiet that was only interrupted by the occasional rustle of trees in the wind and their own breathing.

Seokjin stared into the fire, an image of the Royals writhing in flames nagging at the back of his mind. He wasn't a cruel person, not really; all he wanted was to free his people and he would be satisfied if peace could be achieved by brokering some sort of truce with the Royals. But truthfully speaking, there was a small part of Seokjin that found the idea of watching the Royals who hurt his family and people burn rather appealing. It was only a very small part, though – really tiny.

Across from him, Namjoon sat on the other side of the flames, completely lost in thought. The revelation from a week ago was still fresh in their minds and they still haven't been able come to a satisfactory conclusion as to how a whole race of beings had suddenly vanished into thin air. It was a strange and unnatural and left Seokjin's gut curling with dread.

The alpha sighed, finally coming back from his thoughts and pulling his bag close. He pulled out the cloth that held dried meat and offered a portion to Seokjin along with one half of an apple. The prince took his share gratefully, eyeing the meager leftovers.

"Namjoon?" he'd taken to calling the alpha by his given name since giving the other permission to call him by the shortened version of his own. Namjoon didn't seem to mind even if the alpha hadn't explicitly stated that Seokjin could call him that. The alpha raised his gaze to meet his over the fire, a question in his eyes. "Is it not safe to shift yet? The food we have left is enough to get us through tomorrow at best and if we still can't find any animals to hunt by then..."

He didn't need to elaborate because they both knew what he was implying. A long trek through the forest accompanied with no food meant being too tired, starved and weak to protect themselves in case they encountered danger along the way. Their best bet was to shift into their wolf form and quickly find their way out of the forest.

Seokjin's omega preened at the thought of shifting, his wolf begging to be let out so it could stretch its legs and shake out its fur. It had been too long since the last time he was able to shift freely. Half a year, maybe.

Namjoon seemed to contemplate his words seriously before replying. "We should wait until tomorrow. If by evening we still haven't found any game to hunt then we shift. I reckon it would take us three days at most to get out of the forest if we run at full speed."

It would save them a whole day if they could just shift in the morning instead but Seokjin did not point it out to the alpha. The other must know what he's doing, Seokjin reasoned.

"How fast can we find Jimin, then? Once we reach the city?" Seokjin still had a lot of questions regarding Hoseok and his evident – unbeknownst to the prince – acquaintance with Namjoon's cousin. And even more intriguing was the role the ever mysterious Pale King played in all this – Seokjin certainly hadn't forgotten his best friend mentioning the omega king just before they parted ways.

"He is likely to either be at home or at Aelia's healer house." Namjoon replied making the prince recall the alpha briefly mentioning Jimin's decision to be a healer. "But that is assuming the city hasn't been attacked. If it was...then I have absolutely no idea on how to find him. It should probably take us another week to reach Aelia from the edge of the forest though, in wolf form."

"Okay..."

"Mhm."

There was no further conversation between them as they ate their food and even long after that. The heavy silence settled back around them once more and was only broken by Seokjin reminding the alpha to wake him up for his watch shift before the prince drifted off to sleep.