It was like a vexing of the soul for what they felt was not human, it was twisted and distorted but it was something strong, stronger than all but one could understand at the moment. It burned so bad like fire lacing their veins and creeping up their spines, their eyes were beginning to ache from looking at such a vibrant red but all Yona could feel was desire; a deep insatiable desire to hate. It seemed that at that singular moment in time, she was intoxicated with an emotion that she had no intention of ever feeling prior to that night.
There was something residing within her, something she couldn't explain, waiting to be spat out of her mouth in foul and vulgar words that she would no doubt be stared at for saying, but she couldn't bring herself to become one with the sirens call of hatred and she didn't know why. 'So hot ... It's like fire. I can't look away.' The beautiful soft violet eyes of the princess her had come to adore so much were gone, in their stead were orbs were a violet flame ablaze with rage. The flame has no warmth, no pity, no mind, yet it consumes whatever it pleases.
It's only criteria is if it can take it and reduce it to ash or something molten and foul, then it will. The flames burn hot, short and violent, with no care what will be left behind. So when Kan Tae-Jun stared into that flame in her eyes it wasn't fire he saw, but rather it was a hot tear-drop dancing a crimson hue in the soft sunlight as it taunted him with how it burned him so unexpectedly. 'Has the princess always made these expressions?' There was a tension in the air, similar to that of a wildfire. It seemed to paralyze people like they were fearful of getting burned by such an unknown power.
The princess' face was stern and harsh, no longer there was the one he could push to his whim or be saved by The Thunder Beast. No, in the place of such a child now resided the true essence of what a royal should be, commanding, authoritative and having such a look that it left no room for questions. Kan Tae-Jun stood fearful of the female before him as she gazed upon him in such a way, though a small part of him was concerned. Had the Kings death by Soo-Won's hand really affected her so much that it had forced such a change upon her mind? Tae-Jun didn't know, and with such a look directed at him, he wasn't sure that he wanted to know.
The voice of Son Hak cut through the thick atmosphere as he yelled out to her, "You idiot!" Hak's voice broke the princess from her stupor and made her flinch as she realized where exactly it was that she stood, a battlefield, and one where the life of the only person she could trust as of that moment could die there. However, the voice of the former Wind Tribe General also caught the attention of the young Lord Kan Tae-Jun, with a quick glance he looked down to see both Son Hak and the unknown figure were still fighting below them.
Son Hak was beginning to falter, as the poison from the arrow took a harsher effect on him. He swung his weapon around as best her could but it was sloppy and desperate, he could barely see straight and attacked all the blurry figures that he could as to keep himself alive, which was needed for him to protect his princess. The unknown figure was faring no better that Hak, she could feel the shortage of breath; the first sign. She's breathing but the air just won't go in, like her lungs are surrounded by metal bands restricting her lungs from taking in the necessary oxygen.
Next comes her rising panic, she can't breathe, she can't breathe, she can't breathe. The dizzy feeling and the need to get low to the ground, she's panicking but she can't show it, if she does then they'll take the opportunity and kill her. She can't die yet, she still has to see them, Ik-Soo, the one who swore to her Mother to take her in as her Father the day that they got married. Or rather the day Yoon and herself married the two. She still had to see him, Yoon, the one who she so adored. The one who she promised to see each other again, she finally had the chance to see them and make good on her promise, she had to, she had to, she had to. Her mind blanked as she entered a semi-conscious state, a single thought in her mind, 'I will do whatever it takes to get back to them.'
The exertion of battle brought on more breathlessness, it felt as if the air around her was devoid of oxygen. As if the air was there but she could not breathe it as she used to. Her ribs heave up and down but no benefit came from the actions. Dizziness overtook her as she slumped to the ground and for a moment, she couldn't see. It finally sank in and she panicked even more, her discomposure showing slightly she couldn't see, she couldn't see, she couldn't see anything. Dark clouds filled her vision as she sank to the cold harsh stone beneath her feet only being held up by the shaft of her weapon.
The thoughts are accelerating inside her head. She wanted them to slow so she could breathe but they wouldn't. Her breaths came in gasps and she felt like she would black out. Her heart was hammering inside her chest like it belonged to a rabbit running for its life. The world spun around her as she kneeled down on the floor. She tried all she could to make everything slow to something her brain and body could cope with. She feel so sick, she felt so disgusted with herself.
A part of her wanted so badly to help them, but it was restrained by the knowledge that there was nothing that could help the poor, poor people around her. She didn't know what to do, her mind sped up faster and faster as she couldn't even make out her own thoughts as they slowly turned into white noise inside her mind. 'what do I do, what did I do, why did I do it ... too far away, they're gone now, they went ... breathe, gone, what happened, too far away ... blackness ... creeping darkness ... not safe, not safe, not safe, NOT SAFE! ...'
All of her thoughts after that she couldn't decipher, it was as though her thoughts didn't even register. The unknown thoughts only made her panic more and more as she couldn't even understand her mind, it was terrifying. She knew she was panicking and she was trying to calm herself down but that only made it worse, she couldn't calm herself down from a panic that she didn't even understand. She was lost. She forced herself to ground herself using a trick Ik-Soo taught her. '5 things I can see. The trees, the stone, bugs, plants and blood. 4 things I can touch.
'The stone, the plants, myself and blood. 3 things I can hear. The wind, my breathing and birds. 2 things I can smell. The mountain air and bloo- no, not that. I can smell the mountain air and flowers. 1 thing I can taste. Dirt.' With that she could now slightly breathe, but she was still panicking slightly but accepted it. Slowly as her breath slowed to a natural pace her panic started to fade slightly. Her vision came back and though still blurry, she could see.
She was on the cold floor as she collapsed into a ball-the fetal position with her back to the sky, her face in the ground and her scythe on the ground next to her. Slowly, oh so very slowly did her breath return to normal, unlike Yoon who disliked the dark when he was alone and disliked being in small spaces, being in small spaces helped her calm her mind. She wasn't sure why this happened but it just did. 'I can worry about this later, now is not the time for panic, I have to focus,' With that thought her breathing finally returned back to normal, her vision finally cleared up enough to see what was going on, her ears finally had the ability to hear what was going on around her and her brain was finally calm enough that it could register what was going on around her.
Thankfully, no soldiers noticed her rather unnervingly quiet "situation" and had instead focused on Son Hak and Princess Yona. She looked to the side and gently picked up her scythe as she observed the situation, she would not run in headfirst into danger, not unless it was someone she trusted like Yoon or Ik-Soo. The red haired princess may have been Hiryuu's reincarnation but that was just a title, Karasu didn't deem Yona ready for the respect and honor that came with such a title. Yona had yet to earn it, yes, she knew she was being slightly harsh but as of right now the redhead still had the attitude of a spoiled princess despite her fit of rage, which is all that it really was, a fit thrown by a child who didn't understand the way the world worked.
Karasu cleared her head of such thoughts and focused on the scene before her as she processed what was happening and what the best solution would be. The princess had just cut off her long hair and defended Hak as he gripped the edge of the cliff. "Hak, I'll save you." She said as she kneeled down by the cliff side, she gripped his forearm as tight as she could. "You idiot! Run!" Hak frantically tells her, Karasu knows by know that Hak would rather die than be at fault for harming the princess or worse being the cause of her death.
But the princess seems to have her own agenda about what she should and should not be doing, as shown by the fact that even through Hak saying she should run away and leave him to die and her refusing to even entertain the thought. "You can't do it! Run far away!" Hak pleads with her, his eyes desperately trying to convey his want for her to live even if that means his death, but his princess pays him no mind. Yona tries even harder to pull him up with what little strength she possesses at her bodyguards words.
"No! Never!" Yona cries out, Hak flinches at her words and sees a clear substance drip from her eyes onto his cheek, his mouth agape in shock at this new side of the princess. More tears follow the first and they show no intention of stopping as they roll down her soft cheeks in waves. "Hak, I'd never forgive you for dying! I'd never forgive you!" Yona's voice is laced with exhaustion and fear, desperation being the most prominent that one is able to hear, she refuses to even acknowledge the fact that leaving her childhood friend is an option she could take.
Kan Tae-Jun regains his senses and slides down the rocky slope towards the pair as fast as he can, trying to get to his prize as best he can, though Karasu must admit it looks both uncomfortable and inefficient with how he is using his entire side to slide down. She sighs and attempts to stand up, she fails as both the poison and her "situation" from before played a part in her exhaustion but she tries again and again to get up. Karasu isn't stupid enough to believe that this encounter is one that would end well, for anyone involved.
"Wh-What are you doing? Get the princess away from Hak!" Cries the desperate gray haired male, only adding to the princess' desperation to get her childhood friend to safety, despite her lack of capability to do so. The soldiers sheath their swords and jog towards the two, Karasu finally manages to stand though she finds herself leaning slightly on her weapon to steady herself. In shock the red haired princess looks behind her and gasps, both at the sight of the soldier walking towards them and at the unknown figure with the red eyed mask sprinting towards her, Yona loses her position at the edge of the cliff side as the rocks beneath her crumble, her screams fill the air as she falls down the cliff side.
The unknown figure sweeps the two soldiers off their feet, which ends up making her toss the scythe off the cliff due to her still being dizzy from the poison. Nonetheless, she jumps off the cliff as well and pushes Yona into Hak's embrace as they fall. Tae-Jun only makes it close enough for his fingers to slips through the soft locks to the unknown figure's hair as the triad fall into what would most certainly be their death. Using her feet to direct the two of them, she pushes them towards where the trees are more prominent, therefore making a softer landing for them. Because of this however, the unknown figure lands, right arm bent, with her wrist near her shoulder, onto a thick tree branch.
Her forearm and bicep take the brunt of the damage from the tree, a sickening snap sounds throughout the forest, causing all the birds, that didn't already fly away, to fly away in shock at the sound. Down she fell farther and farther down the canopy of trees to the ground, eventually she made it to the ground but it might have only made things worse, because as luck would have it, the back of her skull hit a rock, causing her to pass out. Luckily enough though, this wasn't enough to kill her. Just knock her out for a bit. Elsewhere in the woods there was a young apricot hair colored male who just so happened to be taking a walk through the forest as he sang a Fire Tribe song, called "The Fire God".
"Once upon a time, oh so very long ago, when the big red sun was eaten from the sky, and when darkness swallowed the whole world-" The feminine male stopped short of finishing the verse and took a bite of his apple as he looked down as what appeared to be corpses "What a bother. Someone's dead." Yoon sighed and ran a hand through his hair, 'Why now of all days to have dead people show up?' Yoon really didn't feel like taking care of people on the brink of death, especially not today of all days, his Karasu would be coming back home today.
But even he knew that whether she came or not, he didn't have it in him to leave someone to die when he could have helped them. The guilt would have eaten him up inside, and since she was coming she would have found out right away. The thought of her not liking him anymore didn't sit well with him, he sighed exasperatedly and picked up the red head, placing her on his back as he slowly made his way back to his home, wondering how exactly it was that he was going to get the other guy in his house to tend to his injuries, he didn't exactly have the muscle for it after all.
Karasu woke up dizzy, the world was spinning and she could barely feel the ground beneath her as the nausea overtook her mind, she rolled onto her side and sat up, swaying slightly as the nausea spiked for a moment. She recalled the tips Yoon gave her when she was feeling dizzy from one thing or another, they were a bit hazy in her mind but she was able to recall a few of them. 1) Sit up but avoid crunching the stomach, this was because when lying down gastric juices may rise and increase feelings of nausea and overall discomfort and crunching the stomach may also worsen nausea as it compresses the area and makes you less comfortable in general.
2) Fresh air, it eases nausea symptoms in many people, although it's not clear why. It may just simply help you focus on something other than the nausea. 3) Apply something cool to the back of the neck, when nausea occurs, your body temperature may increase and placing a cool compress on the back of your neck for several minutes can be soothing. It also helps decrease your body temperature which, if high, may cause nausea. She didn't have a cool compress but her hands always had a tendency to get cold quickly so she improvised and placed her cold palm against the nape of her neck as she thought of other tips that Yoon had given her.
4) Deep breaths and meditation, deep breathing is a meditation technique, meditation is the practice of focusing and calming the mind, and may help relieve nausea. It's a type of relaxation technique that may be especially beneficial for nausea caused by stress and anxiety. It can also quell stress-related nausea, for this there was a certain way to breath to best get rid of nausea. Karasu searched her mind for the information before it finally came to her. 'Breathe in slowly through your nose, hold your breath for three seconds, and slowly breathe out. Repeat several times until nausea subsides'
Using these techniques Karsu was able to slowly ebb away at her nausea, her vision cleared from the weird cloud looking things that blocked her sight and sighed in relief. She looked herself over and winced, not in pain but in guilt, 'Yoon's really not going to like this,' She thought to herself as she gazed down at her right arm, which was very much broken in two places and probably fractured in more from her fall. The top half of her forearm was slightly tilted down as gravity worked on it and she could feel her upper arm had something wrong with it. She just let it lay there, thankfully covered by her sleeves, which went down to her wrist.
She heard Yoon before she saw him, grumbling about someone's weight as he walked. Hearing his voice after so long had her heart jump for joy, something not really noticeable through her mask of indifference. She stood, careful not to jostle her fragile arm and walked slowly to where she heard the voice, she saw him and her heart leapt into her throat. Even after so long, she was still able to recognize him for who he was, and beneath her mask a small smile snuck its way onto her lips as she felt her walls fall at the sight of him.
Yoon still had a feminine face and a short stature, nothing much had changed, though she realized how tall she was in comparison to him as of now. Karasu stood at 6 foot even, while Yoon stood at around 5 foot 3 inches. He probably didn't make it past her chest now, she sulked slightly at that fact, sad that he would no longer easily be able to pat her head when he though that she did well. When the two of them were younger Yoon was a couple inches taller than Karasu, something that dramatically changed with a couple years away from home.
It was something that she cherished and liked quite a bit, but maybe now, with her height she would be able to return the favor. He still had his very fair skin, and nothing changed about his beautiful pair of bright blue eyes and short apricot-colored hair, she noted that his long bangs parted in half that hangs down to his cheeks, framing his face quite nicely. Her heart practically stopped when she saw what adorned his hair, it was a pair of small white feathers, each with a fluff ball attached to the ends. He had kept the birthday gift she made for him. The thought that he treasured such a trinket filled her with immense joy as she remembered making it for him in secret.
Yoon's grumbling grew closer and closer as time passed, and she stepped into his view, forgetting that her mask was still on. Not that it mattered though, as even with the many years since they had seen each other Yoon still knew that it was her, she stood with a flowery aura as he approached her. 'Nothing changed did it? You're still you,' Yoon fondly thinks to himself as he crosses over a small hill to get to her, a small sweat drop appearing at the side of his head at the dramatic change in her height.
'How the hell did she grow so tall?!' Yoon's mind screams at him, noticing how much he had to look up to meet her eyes. He didn't hate it as much as he thought he would have, but it still irked him that she had grown so much compared to his average height. He sighed and motioned with his head to the red haired female on his back, "Think you can take her inside while I prepare the medicine? Apparently her and her friend thought it would be a smart idea to take a swan dive off the cliff. What kind of an idiot would willingly jump off what is almost certain death?"
Karasu nodded to his first question and slipped the redhead onto her back with one arm, miraculously not dropping her in the process or notifying Yoon to her other injured arm. At the word "Idiot" Karasu could almost feel a comical arrow labeled "Idiot" pierce her abdomen, but she shook it off and continued on her way to her home, 'Home' Just the thought of it made her extremely happy, so she continued on her way, being mindful of her injured arm as to not make it any worse. Though as she walked she noticed a slight pounding in the back of her head, she struggled slightly to keep her balance and was slightly disoriented.
The nausea from before came back slightly and there was a soft ringing in her ears as she walked, but she pushed through it. As she entered her home, she stopped for a moment to reminisce in the memories before walking over to a futon (A/N did I use this correctly?) and laid down the female as gently as she could with only one arm. She turned to Yoon who was busy making medicine and kneeled down behind him, placing her chin on his shoulder, watching as he worked on the medicine.
Yoon pat her head and Karasu leaned into his touch as she relished in the relaxation he provided, a flowery and childishly happy aura once again surrounding her. Yoon carefully set down the medicine and turned to Karasu sheepishly and slightly embarrassed. "Think you could get her friend for me?" Karasu nodded happily in response to his question, Yoon smiles fondly at her enthusiasm and tell her the directions to where she would find the other "probably dead person" as he so delicately put it. Karasu took off walking into the forest in search of the redheads companion, her fake husband is Karasu remembers correctly.
Eventually, Karasu comes across the black haired, blue eyed, well built fake husband Hak. The male was about 2 inches or so taller than her and was quite heavy once she managed to pick him up, she put him at just under 200 Lbs, maybe 180 pounds or so if she had to guess. She knew it probably wasn't smart to carry him as she did the redhead, his much heavier weight compared to her maybe 100 Lbs would be too much strain on her shoulder and wounded arm. So instead she settles on hauling him back home over her shoulder like some kind of human sack of potatoes.
It was only until Yoon gave Karasu a strong "Welcome Back" hug did he realize, she was wounded as well. She had done manual labor while injured and she didn't tell him that she was injured. The screaming that ensued could be heard all the way from where Ik-Soo was meditating, let's just say that it was nothing short of a miracle that Yona and Hak didn't wake up. After the rather long lecture Yoon gave Karasu, he proceeded to rather angrily tend to her, and though he wouldn't admit it, he did his best to be as gentle as possible as he treated her.
Even though Yoon was yelling at Karasu, she knew enough to know that he didn't really mean the insults and was just very worried about her, it made her happy to have him worry over her. After so long away from him, it was just nice to hear his voice again. After he tended to her wounds Karasu just let herself fall into Yoon, allowing her body to relax completely which lead to her falling asleep. Yoon grumbled at the girl whose head was in his lap, dead asleep.
But he did nothing to mover her off of him, instead choosing to take off her mask and ponytail, silently admiring her face for a moment, then running his fingers through her hair. Yoon allowed himself a couple minutes to just relax with Karasu's head in his lap before returning to making the medicine that the two "dead people" needed. He blushed slightly as he felt her cuddle into his lap, he began muttering about how much of an idiot she was for not telling him she got injured before he found out.
Yoon, rather reluctantly, moved her head from his lap and tended to his two "patients", giving them the proper medicine and bandaging their injuries. He moved as efficiently as he could, covering them with blankets before heading back to the sleeping red eyed female. Yoon pulled out another futon and managed to get Karasu on it, covering her with a blanket. He kept making more medicine for when his "patients" would need more in the morning. Yoon stayed up late into the evening, and since he was not used to staying up later usual he passed out while finishing up the medicine.
Later that night when Ik-Soo came back, he smiled upon the sight he was lucky enough to lay his eyes on. Karasu was hugging Yoon close to her as she draped the blanket over the both of them, ensuring that Yoon stayed warm and comfortable throughout the night. Ik-Soo pulled out his own futon and went to bed, smiling warmly at his two loved ones being cute together.
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Word Count: 4483
(A/N) Hey guys, I'm sorry for not updating, my family was out all day for the last couple of days so I didn't have the chance to write as I had wanted to, for that I sincerely apologize. I hope that this makes up for it, I made this twice as long as usual, 4000 words instead of around 2000. If you have any questions that you would like to ask me, just comment, I'll answer them if it directed towards me or if something doesn't make sense to you. Anyways, thank you so so much for reading my story, it means the world to me. Vote, Comment and Share. Thank you again!!!
-Liz D. is out!!!