"It is better to loose your pride to the one you love, than to loose the one you love to pride."
-Anonymous
Yoongi released a deep sigh through his nose as he stared at your clothed back. Your braided (h/c) hair was hanging down loosely, occasionally being moved by the soft breeze.
His orange eyes trailed down to watch the swishing of your horses tail for a moment before ultimately falling back onto your laughing form.
Your blue eyes twinkled as you clutched your stomach from laughter, your hand reaching over to swat Jungkooks arm.
The chestnut headed prince laughed along with you, rubbing the spot where you had smacked him.
Yoongi frowned.
He was extremely confused.
Just a few hours ago you were running into the forest crying, and doing everything you could to get away from him, but now you acted as though nothing had happened, and you were never upset. It is true that you hadn't spoken to Yoongi since this morning, but when you arrived he had expected you to go off on him. To yell at him or even push him.
But you didn't.
You kept your composure and avoided any actually confrontation.
It was confusing for the young prince to see a woman with such dignity and self-control. Any woman Yoongi had met was either a whore, or a stuck up noble woman. You were so very different, whether or not that was a good thing, Yoongi didn't know.
At times you were bright and hopeful, at other times you were stubborn and bullheaded. Yoongi couldn't wrap his head around you.
In a way, this was better for Yoongi. In a few days the troop would reach Pamelia and you would be dragged back to his kingdom to die. If the black haired prince had an attachment to you, that would make his job much, much harder.
You weren't his friend, or companion. You were just a sacrifice that had to be made.
The horses stopped suddenly.
Yoongi's tangerine eyes snapped up at the lack of motion, his mouth opening to speak, but stopping upon seeing the sight infront of him.
Your blue eyes were wide as you stared ahead at four men that stood in the middle of the dirt path.
The first man was tall and lanky, his hair a light shade of blond , his long arms were holding a bow and arrow as he stared down the silver haired prince at the front of the line.
The second man was slightly shorter than the first, his hair was black, the bear that trailed from his chin was tangled and messy, he held a sword in his right hand.
The third male was shorter than both the first and second, his hair was red (not like Hoseok's, like normal red.) and freckles dotted his face, he looked to be the youngest of the group, he couldn't have been over 18. His hands were shaky as he held a bow and arrow.
The last man was almost as tall as the first and was clearly the head of this group of people. His face was clean shaven and his dark brown hair was neatly combed to the side, he held no weapon, but instead had his arms crossed over his chest as he smirked up at Jimin's form on his horse.
You raised your eyebrow, turning to face Jungkook.
"Is this normal?" You asked quietly.
Jungkook frowned.
"No." He stated as he unsheathed his sword and hardened his gaze. "It is not."
You gulped inwardly, moving your eyes to look behind you to check up on the others.
Yoongi's orange gaze locked with yours.
You instantly shot your eyes back to the front where Jimin was now speaking with the leader man.
"Well, well, well, if ain't the prince Jimin." He said with a thick British accent.
Jimin eyed the male curiously, his right hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
"Travis. What are you doing here?" Jimin asked with a dangerously low voice.
The man smiled, showing off his yellow teeth.
"Why Jimin, If I didn't know any better I'd say you weren't happy to see me." The man stated.
Jimin frowned.
"Why are you here?" He repeated.
"Well, it's quite simple really," Travis began as he signaled his men with his hands. Each of the men nodded and began to walk around everyone in our troop. "You have something, or should I say someone, that I want, and I've come to take her."
The bearded man stopped when he saw you,a large smile forming on his face.
Your hand immediately shot to Jungkooks, seeking any kind of comfort, but Jungkooks eyes were already hard on the man before him.
"Boss," the man spoke with a gravelly voice, his green eyes twinkling sadistically. "She's here."
Travis smiled even brighter, turning his eyes to look at you.
A shiver ran down your spine at his intense gaze.
"Bring her."
Those two words started an uproar of protests from both yourself and the other men around you.
Before you knew what was happening, your foot was pulled harshly and you slammed into the ground beside your horses feet.
"What are you doing?!" Taehyung yelled. "Release her now!"
His screams were ignored however and you were pulled up to your feet by the bearded man.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, TaeTae." Travis chuckled. "You see, she is a valuable piece of meat, and I don't exactly fancy letting anything valuable go to waste."
The bearded man held your upper arm with intense straight, causing you to wince in pain at his grip, your shoulder burning from the Umbra bite.
He pulled you to the front of the line and shoved you back on to the ground, directly infront of Jimin's horse, the silver of his blade came to rest along your neck.
You gulped at the closeness of the blade and allowed your body to become completely still.
Jimin was livid, he wanted nothing more than to jump off his horse and chop off the mans head, but the arrow that the other man had aimed for his own head stopped him from moving.
"She's cursed with dragon fire." He tried to reason. "If you take her, those monsters will find you, and they'll kill you too."
Travis only smiled, kneeling down to look at you closer.
"That just means we'll have to sell her faster."
Your eyes widened at his words, fear evident on your soft features.
"What makes you think someone will buy her? If she's cursed, no one would want to be within ten feet of her."Jimin stated
Travis chuckled, placing his hand at your face and caressing your cheek softly.
You felt the strong urge to vomit.
"Oh Jimin, a lot of people want that wall down, and those who don't, will pay a pretty price to see her head on a stake, and for those who don't really care about the wall..." he chuckled. "Well, they can always pay for pleasure."
Your eyes widened in terror.
"Get your hands off of her." Jungkook growled lowly, his hand still resting on his sword in a threatening manner.
Travis chuckled standing straight again.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, I've got arrows trained on your brothers head, and a sword on your lovers neck, one wrong move and I'll kill them both."
Jungkook frowned and only nodded, his golden eyes trailing to yours, begging you to stay safe.
"Good." Travis purred. "Now, every one of you, drop your weapons."
The sound of metal clanging together filled your ears and your stomach dropped to your feet in fear.
They had no weapons now.
"Even better." Travis said. "Now, dismount your horses and come stand in line to be tied up."
All the men reluctantly did as they were told, their feet hitting the dust beneath them. Their feet moving slowly as they all walked to stand infront of Travis.
The other men, including the man that held the knife to your throat, went to work quickly and began to tie everyone's hands together.
This was your chance.
Your hands weren't tied and the other men didn't have their weapons out, seeing as they were too busy tying everyone up. Taehyung had given you a weapon. A dagger, small enough to be easily hidden from prying eyes. Your fingers grazed over the cool metal of the hilt.
It was now or never.
You shot into action, your figure leaving the ground swiftly.
You took the knife in your hands and lunged towards Travis, slicing his face with the blade.
He yelled out in pain and glared hard at you.
"You little-"
He was cut off by the sound of fighting from behind him.
The boys must have caught onto your plan, they were head butting the other men and sending blow after blow to their faces.
Travis' eyes snapped back into your form and he released an animalistic growl, lunging for your body.
You quickly dodged out of the way and shoved your elbow into his back, causing him to loose his balance and stumble forward onto the dusty ground.
Travis was quick to jump back up, his hands reaching for the hilt of his sword.
Your eyes widened.
If he got his sword, you would be done for.
You shot forward again and rammed your blade straight into his stomach.
Travis groaned and his green eyes widened.
You pulled the blade out swiftly, watching as the man before you fell onto his knees clutching his stomach in pain, his own blood staining his hands.
He looked up at you for a moment, his mouth opening and closing in shock before ultimately falling onto the ground and passing out.
Your blade wasn't long enough to kill him, or harm anything important, but just long enough to cause him to loose enough blood to pass out.
Your chest heaved in heavy breaths, your blue eyes trailing up to eye the men around you.
They had easily subdued the others and were now all breathing heavily.
"We need to move before they wake up." Namjoon stated.
The boys all nodded, and began making their way over to their horses.
You sighed, as you ran a hand through your hair, sheathing your blade and placing it back into your pants.
The men began to collect their weapons that had been thrown into the ground, picking up their swords and knives.
"What was Travis doing here?" Jin's voice asked.
Jungkook shrugged.
"I have no idea. He usually doesn't leave the bear Kingdom." He stated.
"Maybe he heard that the Great Barrier is broken, So he panicked and moved his trade to the Lion Kingdom." Jin suggested.
"It is possible, but it's still odd. How did he know about y/n? Her existence had been a secret until the ball and there's no way someone from the Bear Kingdom would get that news so quickly."
"Maybe he was already here when he heard about her." Nathaniel suggested.
Oh yeah.
You had forgotten that Nathaniel was there.
"Maybe." Hoseok started. "But Travis has never sold humans before. Everything about this situation strikes me as odd."
"Well, it's not like he was wrong. Y/n is extremely valuable to the right people. The dragon fire in her eyes could definitely fetch a fair price." Jimin stated with a sigh. "But, how did he know where we would be?"
"That's actually a really good question." You stated, grasping everyone's attention. "There was no possible way for anyone to know where we were going."
As everyone proceeded talking, you failed to notice that the red headed man behind you had regained consciousness.
His green eyes fluttered open and glanced around in confusion, his gaze falling on the unconscious forms of his friends.
Anger and humiliation boiled in him and he moved his eyes to stare at you.
A sudden urge to snap your neck flowed through his body and a smirk formed on his face.
The male watched as you walked over to your horse and began looking through the saddle bags.
He suddenly remembered his employers words.
"No matter what happens, the girl must die."
The man began to move slowly towards his weapon, smiling to himself when his fingers brushed the bow.
He placed the arrow on the string and pulled back, wincing at the pain in his shoulder where Jungkook had hit him.
He was now aiming his arrow, directly for your head.
He bit his lip in anticipation, his mind wanting to see your body fall lifeless at his hands.
The bow string was drawn back and he was prepared to shoot.
The man swallowed hard.
And released the arrow.
Yoongi's eyes moved to glance at your figure, his orange gaze checking your body for any possible wounds.
You stood, wiping blood from your knife and sheathing it, your forehead glistening with perspiration.
You looked beautiful.
A silver glint against the sun caught Yoongi's attention.
He watched as the redheaded male released the arrow, that was aimed straight for your head.
Yoongi didn't think.
He didn't calculate.
He just moved.
"Y/n!" His yell escaped his throat before he could control it and his legs moved his body to stand protectively infront of yours.
Your blue eyes widened as the arrow pierced Yoongi's upper body.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Yoongi's eyes were wide as his hands wrapped around the arrow.
Yoongi's body jerked back upon the impact of the weapon and his eyes went wide.
His body fell limp to the ground, you moved swiftly and caught his head with your hands, lowering him to the ground slowly and allowing his head to rest in your lap as you stared at the arrow in utter shock.
He just saved your life.
Yoongi just saved your life.
Your eyes instinctively shot to find the source of the arrow, eventually landing on the red headed boy.
You watched as Taehyung and Namjoon ran to the male and disarmed him harshly, before tying his hands up.
The man's green eyes were on you, his smile was unnerving.
Yoongi groaned in pain from your lap.
Your gaze shot down to Yoongi and you gasped.
Blood.
Blood was everywhere.
It had stained his one white shirt and was now covering Yoongi's hands as he moved to touch his wound. Your hands shot to hold his back, not wanting him to harm himself any further.
Yoongi's eyes were glazed over in pain as he stared up at your worried expression.
"Don't worry, Yoongi." You said lowly. "You'll be okay."
Yoongi tried to speak, but he found that his mouth was way too dry, so he only nodded weakly, moving his fingers to intwine with yours over his heaving chest.
Your eyes widened slightly at his gesture.
Hoseok rushed to your kneeling form, worry etching his whole face.
"Yoongi, are you okay?!"
Yoongi breathed heavily, groaning in pain.
You glanced back up to look at the red headed man who stood smiling at you as Namjoon continued to tie his hands.
"C-Can you heal him?" You asked, as tears began to form in your eyes.
Hoseok eyed you curiously, and nodded.
"I don't think I can use my magic, but I can take the arrow out." Hoseok stated. "I will need some linens and water."
You nodded and moved to stand up, stopping when Yoongi's fingers tightened around yours.
You glanced down at him, his usually bright orange eyes had now dimmed to a light yellow, causing him to look helpless.
You placed your hand on the side of his face, and caressed his cold, pale cheek, watching as he leaned into your warm touch.
"I'll be back."
You carefully moved Yoongi's head to lay in the sorcerers lap.
You stood up and began rushing towards the saddle bags, pulling out any linens and water you could find. Mentally praying for Yoongi's safety.
'Dear god,' you thought to yourself. 'Please don't let him die.'
A/N,
This chapter sucks. 😂 but it was needed for necessary character development. Who do you think the reader should end up with? Or should I just do multiple endings? Comment/ message your answer and reasoning.😉
-Max