4 hours ago, Nyla palace
"Hongjoong? But he's a blacksmith."
"Exactly. He's a blacksmith and he's good at drawing. In order for him to mould his metals he will need to draw his ideas first. Have you guys really have no idea? Go to his hut and you can see all the drawings that he hung up on his walls," Jongho explains.
"Okay, we can ask for his help... but will he want to? He hates Lucida soldiers with all his heart and all of you know that."
"We don't have time to ask someone from town. I don't think anyone else in this palace is as good as him. We would also need time to print out all the posters," Jongho presses on.
"Fine, but who's going to ask him?"
The atmosphere turns quiet. They know that even hearing the word 'Lucida soldier' will make Hongjoong lash out, but they are currently desperate. Still, no one dares to offer to ask him. They know how scary it can be, and it's never a good idea to ask someone who lives in a hut full of weapons something that will definitely make him angry.
"What about Jongho? He suggested it."
"I suggested it but I didn't say I'm going to ask him to do it." Jongho is about to get up to escape but Wooyoung pushes him to sit back down.
"You're not going anywhere you little shit."
"Then what about Seonghwa? They're the same age and I'm sure he won't get mad at him, right?" Wooyoung suddenly says.
"Excuse me? You know, this is the reason why I like being around living things that are not humans. They don't betray me."
"Then, San?"
"I'd still love to live longer, thank you very much. I can't afford to get killed when I'm still young."
"I'll go and ask him," Yeosang announces. "On a condition that all of you must follow me. If you ever try to push me alone into the hut, I will hunt all of you down. If he happened to get angry and I got killed, I will haunt all of you as a ghost you will not get a good night's sleep anymore. So don't ever try to run away. I'm serious." He glares at Jongho who is still trying to escape while Wooyoung and Seonghwa both restrain him.
After the agreement, they make a beeline for Hongjoong's hut. They forcefully drag San, who still haven't finished eating his breakfast, despite his protest. Jongho has been fiddling with his fingers since they started walking, regretting the fact that he was the one who suggested the idea. Seonghwa and Wooyoung look a little nervous, but they still try to appear calm because they really wanted to help Akira. Yeosang, on the other hand, only quietly traces the steps to Hongjoong's hut.
If Hongjoong is really mad, it is never a pretty sight. He can get violent, but only towards inanimate objects. He never hurts people, but the amount of things he has broken, the walls he has punched and the objects he has kicked are tremendous. The worst they've seen him was 4 years ago. He isolated himself and became a wreck. That was also the reason he swore that Lucida soldiers are his enemy. He became angry at Jongho too, who at that time just arrived at the palace from Lucida. He almost hurt Jongho because he was blinded with his hate towards the soldiers, but Wooyoung and Seonghwa quickly stopped him from doing so. It then took Mingi and Seonghwa months to calm him down, bring him back to his right mind. It wasn't complete, but at least he didn't lock himself up all the time in the hut anymore.
It was an incident that changed his life. An incident that changed who Kim Hongjoong was. Gone was the cheerful blacksmith who liked to help people around town. Instead, came the broken blacksmith that bears deep scars and prefers isolation.
They arrive in front of the hut, and it takes a lot of pushing and nudging before Yeosang gathers up his courage to knock on the door. They didn't expect Mingi to open the door, and when he did, the rest behind Yeosang pushed him up front in unison. Yeosang glares at them but immediately turns to look at Mingi. "We need Hongjoong to draw something. And we need it fast."
Mingi lifts up his eyebrows. "Really? He's about to start moulding his next dagger. I came from the woods to look for his materials and I just gave them to him. Is it really that important?"
"You must have passed through town haven't you? Did you perhaps see Akira anywhere?" San butts in.
"Akira? What do you mean? Why would she be-" His eyes widen before he lowers his voice. "Did she run away?"
"Unfortunately yes."
"Who's at the door?" Hongjoong's voice comes from inside.
"It's the rest of the boys," Mingi replies, pulling the door wide open. "You guys better have a backup plan. I don't want to be running out the hut being chased with a machete," he whispers, enough for Yeosang and San to hear him. They only give awkward smiles, enough for him to know that they don't.
"Ah, what brings you guys here? I see all of you are here." He sweeps his vision to the new five faces before asking, "Is there anything? I need to get started on this if I don't want to get behind schedule."
"We... need your help to draw something- someone," Yeosang starts.
He wipes his hands on his apron before turning his body to fully face them. They are standing in a row, all looking like children who were about to get punished. Even Mingi seems to be getting in line. "A portrait? Of whom?"
"Akira Hwang."
His body goes rigid and he gives off a tight smile. They hold their breaths but let it go when he calmly asks again, "And why do you guys need a portrait of her? Don't tell me you are going to hang it up as sort of a tribute on the walls of the palace?"
"She's missing and we are planning on finding her through handing out posters," Jongho finds his voice.
"Before you go asking why we're doing this, it's because she's in danger. When I'm talking danger, it's real danger. Her queen is mad that she can't kill off the general that she has ordered the rest to kill her on sight once she steps into Lucida. The lieutenant sent her a letter to ask her to stay in Nyla for the time being."
"That is quite bold of the lieutenant to assume that we are willing to keep her for long," Hongjoong shoots back. He sighs. "I'm not doing it. I can't bear to waste my time drawing the face of Lucida's general."
"You're the only one that can help us right now! It'll take us time to go to town to search for painters-"
"Then go and find her your damn selves. I don't care about her anymore. Isn't it good that she's gone now?"
"You really have no regards for the people around you, don't you?" Wooyoung suddenly steps forward, facing Hongjoong directly. "We are worried for a person who is about to get killed. Fine, you have your valid reason for hating the soldiers. But so does Seonghwa. He has a damn valid reason to hate the whole kingdom of Lucida too. But you don't see him being a baby about it right now. It's not even Akira's fault for whatever happened 4 years ago. She wasn't even there. Heck, she probably wasn't even a general back then. Let it go, Kim Hongjoong. It's all in the past."
"Wooyoung, it's fine. We can't force him to do it. And don't disregard his hate. He has a solid reason why and I would do the same if I was him. We can always find another painter or forget the posters. We will trek down Akira ourselves," Seonghwa pulls him back, afraid Hongjoong might do something unexpected.
Hongjoong turns back to his workstation, too tired to fight back. The rest of them quietly nod to each other as they file out of the hut one by one. Almost giving up, San is about to close the door when Hongjoong quickly shouts from inside, "If you really want me to draw her portrait then describe her to me. I can't remember what she looks like."
So they spend the next hour describing what she looks like - from her hair, skin, eyes, nose, lips, and even the shape of her cheekbones - occassionally fighting with each other on her details.
"No, I'm telling you, she has high cheekbones!"
"I swear I could see a dimple on her left cheek."
"Eh? Isn't her hair a bit brownish and not fully black?"
"That does not look like her."
"I think her hair did not go past her shoulders."
"Her lips are smaller, though."
"She has a pointed nose, a pretty one."
"I am sure she has double eyelids and not monolids."
After a lot of arguments, sighs and glares from Hongjoong, he finally holds up the paper at arms length to let all of them see his work. They are all satisfied with the result, so Jongho quickly snatches the paper from his hand and declares, "We need to work fast. I think it's better if we separate ourselves. Mingi and Wooyoung, you guys go and print a lot of these and paste them in town. I'm pretty sure both of you know a lot of people around town to ask them for help." He passes the paper to them, to which they nod vigorously and with that, they're gone. "I think it's fair if Seonghwa and I go to the forest border to look for her, just in case she's already on the way to Lucida. Yeosang, maybe you can trek her down at the housing areas and see whether she's there, although it's the least likely. As for San, stay back in the palace in case she decides to come back. As for Hongjoong," he looks down at the blacksmith. "We are grateful that you are willing to help us this one time."
"And... grateful to live another day," San adds.
They then disappear. Hongjoong lets them go with a slight smile on his face and returns to his workplace. He might not be fully recovering, but he's trying. It's hard, but... he's trying.
---
She's rushing to go back to the inn, all the while careful to keep a lookout on anyone that might recognize her. She doesn't see anyone from the palace, nor does anyone seem to pay any attention to her. She tries to calmly find her way back to avoid attracting further attention. She doesn't have a chance to heave a sigh of relief as she passes by the confused owner, jumps up the stairs as fast as she could and bursts into her room. Thankfully, she doesn't leave much of her belongings scattered around, so she only takes a few seconds to gather them up and dump them in her luggage. Making sure she has all with her, she hastily closes the door, makes her way downstairs and informs the owner that she will no longer be staying there. After a brief thank you and a slightly confused look from the old lady, she returns the key before almost dashing through the double doors.
Out in the streets, she quickly identifies her position and calculates her distance from the giant gates of the Nyla kingdom. Knowing that she has no time to lose and they will catch up to her anytime, she looks around as she walks towards the gates. The gates seem further than they actually are when she's in a rush to get out of Nyla. She doesn't know why the palace occupants are looking for her, but she can't risk it anymore. She doesn't want to associate herself with them, so as her first foot sets on the ground outside Nyla, she keeps thinking, why are they looking for her?
Did they change their minds and plan to punish her instead? What if it was the command from the Shadow King?
The king must have wanted to punish her because she has been a threat to their kingdom and his position. After all, she knows that is what Queen Emira would do if that were to happen to her.
She cannot think of a single good thing that will come out if she were ever to return to Nyla, so escaping here might be her best decision yet. She finds herself crossing the bridge, and entering the central forest that divides the four kingdoms. The forest where it all began. The beginning of her journey towards death.
She must have walked at least 15 kilometres, still unsure on which direction she should head to. It doesn't take long for her to realize that she's not the only human in the forest as an arrow flies past her, missing her forehead just by a few centimetres and lodges itself in a nearby tree bark. She drops her luggage, turning around to locate her newfound enemy.
She almost laughs after she realizes she has been surrounded by 10 men. Men from her own troop; the soldiers of Lucida. However, she now knows that they are no longer on the same side with her.