"One..." Hoseok said, flashing his teeth.
Taehyung flipped the knife in his fingers, staring deep into you.
Was Hoseok going to allow...?
"Two," he continued. "Losing time, sweetheart. Three..."
Taehyung gripped the knife handle.
You ran.
Fatigue consumed you as much as the adrenaline did. Hours of avoiding Hoseok had drained you. Now you had to fight for your life.
You knew Taehyung could hear your heavy footsteps. You didn't have any stealth before, and now drained of all energy and patience, you had even less.
Why is he doing this?
There has to be another way. Not hiding. Not being sneaky.
Maybe... maybe the opposite is the answer.
The trees got thicker, scraping your arms as you squeezed through. You tripped over the roots sticking out of the ground. You didn't know if you were getting deeper into the forest or coming out of it, but you knew one thing...
It had been 20 seconds.
You ran down the path, then took off your shoes, tucking them into your robe. You backtracked down the path you came, trying only to leave faint steps in the ground as you walked. The leaves and branches nipped at your feet, and you winced but made no sound. You found a large trunk with a low branch and began to climb, cursing internally at the rustling leaves.
You sank low in one of the branches, flattening yourself against it.
Taehyung came not long after. His skin and knife glistened in what little light there was, sending your heart back in your throat. He looked around, then crouched low.
He followed your path, his moves light and effortless. There wasn't a single sound in nature as he walked, as if he had the earth at his command.
He reached the end of the path and stopped. You inched up to a sitting position. Finding a gap in the roof of leaves above you, you tossed one of your shoes far above the trees and over Taehyung's head. There was a swish as it made its way down the trees further away.
Taehyung paused, then moved in that direction. Even with sudden sounds, he made no quick movements.
In all your training, you had never seen such control.
He disappeared into the forest, and you sighed with relief.
Safe.
But wait...
Hoseok never said how to finish the game.
You held to the tree a bit longer. Every muscle ached as you waited, and you couldn't tell if laying in the tree was solving the problem or adding to it. The bark cut into your stomach like hunger pains, making you think of dinner that was hours ago; long forgotten by your body since you burned it all off in your training.
Hoseok had been feeding you extra this week. You acted like you hadn't noticed that his portions were smaller than yours at every meal. You had to loosen the ties on your robe yesterday - a first in almost five years. When you looked down at your bare body after bathing, you actually saw some fat hugging to your hips and ribs, instead of just your skin.
For the last three years you had been too scared to eat, giving your portions to Jungkook out of fear that you would watch him starve to death, just like your mother.
But in turn, you were afraid you were the next one to die of starvation.
If the emperor hadn't increased taxes on the farmers... and if Namjoon hadn't left...
The anger from your memories brought strength back to your bones, and the ache in your muscles numbed.
And more than that, your curiosity drove you.
Hoseok was feeding you, training you, and pushing you to your limits.
...But why?
You dropped down from the tree, starting back the way you came. But before you could take more than three steps, a ghost sprung from the trees.
"Amateur," Taehyung said, clutching his knife. "You think I can't tell a difference between a noise from the sky or from the earth?"
You bent your knees. "I wasn't sure you could hear anything over your ego."
"You should talk. You act like everyone here owes you something just because your precious little brother is in prison. Guess what, princess? We don't work for you. We're not obligated to help you."
"You hate the emperor and his guards. We have the same objective."
He hissed through his teeth. "Our objective is to work as a force to resist oppression on behalf of all citizens. Your objective is to protect your own personal treasures. What are you going to do? Snatch your criminal brother out of prison and live to die of treason or starvation?"
"He's not a criminal."
"Not my point."
He twirled the knife between his fingers, not taking his eyes off you.
"Master Jung always says that pain is a good teacher," he said. "But it seems he's not willing to teach you what you need to know."
You dug your heel into the dirt. "And what do I need to be taught?"
His fingers gripped around the handle once more, his arm dropping down to his side. "That we aren't beneath you. You're beneath us."
He lunged.
You jumped to the side, twigs digging into your bare feet. You round-housed him in the chest, sending him back for a moment. He grunted as he stepped forward again, raising the knife to strike. You dodged to the side, but not fast enough. It grazed the skin on your shoulder, tearing at your robe. You kicked out his knee. As he stumbled to the side, you sprinted into the forest.
The trees showed no mercy. The roots grabbed at your toes as you rushed past. You could feel the blood starting to drip from your shoulder, reminding you that you could lose a lot more if you stopped.
Taehyung followed close behind, his quick and quiet footsteps threatening to take over at any moment. You turned hard, scraping against the trees in the process. You could hear him breathing. Panting. Ready for the kill.
You turned hard once again, only to face a pathway blocked by a mountain of rocks. You leaped for it, sticking your bare toes in the crevices. You scrambled up the rocks, reaching a third of the way up before finding a suitable position to look back. Taehyung was still on your tail, cautiously climbing up the rocks after you.
He looked up at you, his eyes threatening you from the darkness below.
You jammed your foot into the rock under you, leaping for the next one before it crumbled beneath you. You ripped more rocks out of their positions as you climbed. The hollow clang of them hitting each other on the way down was the only sound in the forest besides your heavy breathing.
Until Taehyung screamed.
You jerked your head back to look down the mountain of rocks, only to see Taehyung sprawled out against the ground. He was curled up in a ball, hissing and grunting. He crawled to the nearest tree, propping himself up against it. Even this far away in the darkness, you could see the drastic way his chest was rising and falling; and even if you couldn't see his body, you could hear his ragged breath from where you stood.
Your fingers nestled in their current positions.
Did I kill the bastard?
He kept still, still leaning against the trunk.
Hoseok will kill me. If I leave his successor to die...
You called out for Taehyung, but he didn't answer. When he didn't answer, you called out for Hoseok, immediately shaking your head at your foolishness.
You scrambled back down the mountain of rocks, calling for Taehyung again as you climbed down. When he didn't answer again, you dropped to the ground completely, approaching him slowly.
His eyes were open, but barely. The top of his robe was pulled apart, showing his shallow and quick breaths.
And blood. Blood gushing from his chest.
His hand pressed against his old wound, which was now ripped open and spurting fresh blood. He glared at you as you stepped forward.
"Stay where you are," he commanded.
"You're going to bleed to death," you returned.
"Isn't that what you want?"
"Yes. But Hoseok seems rather fond of you for some ridiculous reason."
"Funny. I say the same about you."
You stepped forward. "Let's both go back to him, then."
Taehyung eyed you for a moment. You held out your hand.
"Can you stand?" you asked.
He looked down at your hand, inches from his face. Reaching up, he wrapped a weak hand around your wrist, then pulled his knife and cut you deep across the arm. You snarled, stumbling backwards.
"Don't play with the snakes, princess," he growled. "You're not experienced enough to know which ones are harmless and which ones have venom."
The blood trickled down your arm, making everything in your sight turn red. You jumped back and bared your teeth.
"Die then," you said.
Not needing to bother with a mountain of rocks to escape Taehyung, you ran back down the path, trying to recall the way you came. The sights and sounds were the same - completely nothingness.
You turned through the trees, until suddenly there was nothing below your feet.
You tumbled down a large hill, the ground cutting up your feet and face even more than they were. Hitting the bottom, pain ripping through your body and bursting from your bloodied arm and shoulder. Cursing, you curled up in a ball, shuddering against the twigs pressing against your face and shoulder.
Everything ached. Fatigue took you over in a moment. And worse - complete hopelessness dominated your thoughts.
I'll die here as a murderer, or Hoseok will kill me. My brother will die an innocent child.
"So..." a cool voice said behind you. "It looks like you've run out of options."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOUNDTRACK: Approaching Target 3 from the Assassin's Creed 2 Soundtrack
My next post might be a bit late. I'll be out of town this week. I'll update asap! Don't worry!